Original subtitles

(dramatic music) (birds squawking)

Downloaded from YTS.MX

The world is full of giants,

huge creatures that fill us with awe and wonder.

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

(buffalo snorts) (dramatic music)

There are different ways of defining big.

Biggest in volume or the biggest of their kind.

(triumphant music)

Some are gentle giants.

Others are deadly hunters.

Sometimes titans clash.

(dramatic music)

(birds squawking)

But one thing is for sure,

the huge animals of this world

are fascinating, diverse, and beautiful.

(gentle music)

(dramatic music)

(hippo snorting)

(dramatic music) (water gurgling)

A giant looms in the dark.

(water gurgling) (dramatic music)

A diver seems unaware,

until a shadow appears from the murk.

(suspenseful music) (water gurgling)

An enormous shark.

(mysterious music)

But there is no need to panic.

Despite being the second biggest fish on the planet,

it eats only the smallest inhabitants of the sea.

(mysterious music)

This is the basking shark.

It might just fall short of the record for the biggest fish,

but it's a true giant up to 12 meters long and over 19 tons.

(gentle music) (water gurgling)

And as fish go, its mouth is the biggest,

a vast sieve, a meter across.

(mysterious music)

Its gills, fanned out to the sides,

not only extract oxygen from the water,

but they are also modified

to trap tiny particles from the sea.

(gentle music)

It locates and swims through areas of dense plankton,

sifting through 2,000 cubic meters of water an hour,

and filtering out the tiny food.

(gentle music) (water gurgling)

Humans seem drawn to the giants that share our world.

They fascinate and inspire,

but what is the attraction

and why are these monsters so huge?

(gentle music)

The world can sometimes seem like a big place,

a land of colossal creatures.

These multi-ton mammals certainly dominate

and even alter the landscapes,

overshadowing their neighbors.

(gentle music)

But size isn't everything

and giants can come in all shapes and sizes.

(gentle upbeat music)

(birds chirping)

Even little things can be giant

when something's the size of a black rat

it doesn't sound very big unless it's a spider.

(dramatic music)

The world's biggest spiders can be 30 centimeters across

and weigh 175 grams.

They can even feed on small birds and mammals.

(dramatic music) (birds chirping)

Despite their fierce reputation,

this tarantula's a diligent mother.

She laid eggs on the ground and tended them for a month.

Now the little ones will continue to live

under her protection

until they are ready to fend for themselves.

(dramatic music)

These creepy crawly colossi can terrify us.

Of course, they have no interest in hunting down humans.

We are the giants to them

and they'd rather stay out of our way.

(suspenseful music) (insects chirping)

Climbing the size ladder,

the biggest rodents can be as big as dogs.

(mysterious music)

We think of rodents as small, scurrying pests

that hide in our skirting boards,

but capybara are like monster mice.

(mysterious music)

Over a meter long and 66 kilos, bigger than a Labrador.

(birds chirping)

Their chunky bodies is a perfectly designed

for a semi-aquatic life

with their eyes, ears and nose high on their heads

so they can stay submerged to escape the fierce midday sun.

(birds chirping)

The social mammals hang out in pods

with numerous adults watching for danger

while their youngsters play.

(birds chirping)

Capybaras are harmless gentle giants,

but not all of the biggest are benign.

(birds chirping)

Crushing the scales at nearly a ton

and able to stand upright to a height of 2 1/2 meters,

as tall as a school bus,

the lord of the Arctic, the polar bear.

(birds chirping)

Most bears are omnivores, but not this one.

This is a carnivore through and through.

One of the few creatures on earth that sees humans as food.

(birds chirping)

With legendary strength, it can kill whales,

pulling them from under the ice.

(birds squawking) (waves crashing)

But in this case, he doesn't need to.

A giant carcass has washed ashore.

(birds squawking) (waves crashing)

Polars can act like bears with sore heads.

They don't usually like company,

but when the sea serves up such a feast,

they congregate in an uneasy truce.

(birds squawking)

Usually females with cubs

avoid the big, dangerous males at all costs.

But with the boys bulging with food,

they feel safe enough to join in.

(birds squawking)

Polar bears can eat two kilos in a sitting,

and it's not long before they are picking ar the bare bones.

The Arctic doesn't always lay on such a feast.

And as the summer draws in bears can go hungry.

(dramatic music)

Both their fat reserves and their tolerance wear thin.

(gentle music)

The first snowfalls are a sign that winter's coming,

but it will take weeks for the seas to freeze

and enable the bears to hunt for seals,

(bright music)

They're landlocked and hungry, and now tempers fray.

This bruiser, missing his ear, is testimony

to the potential severity of the fights.

But for the most part,

it's more like a point-scoring wrestling match.

(wind whistling)

(bears huffing)

It's not to be taken lightly.

30 centimeter paws are tipped with five centimeter claws.

(dramatic music) (bears growling)

And the skull, nearly half a meter long,

can bite with 5,000 kilos of force.

(dramatic music) (bears growling)

The bears use their battles to sort out a pecking order.

The biggest badass bears will dominate the best areas

and will get to eat first at feasts.

(dramatic music) (bears growling)

The bigger the bear, the harder the fall.

Big can be deadly, but also beautiful.

(wind whistling)

(birds chirping)

(tiger roaring)

With looks that can kill,

the Siberian tiger is the biggest of cats.

(birds chirping)

It's so big and scary that it's been hunted by farmers,

wanting to protect their livestock and families.

That, combined with the fashion for beautiful furs,

have pushed these giants to the brink.

(birds chirping)

Now they haunt only lonely remote areas

of the boreal forest.

(moose bellowing)

This one follows in the tracks of some giant prey.

Big cats need big meals.

Moose, standing over two meters at the shoulders,

are the largest members of the deer family.

(birds chirping)

Moose make their living nibbling twigs

when no green growth is available

and their broad hooves can act as snow shovels

to uncover traces of grass.

(dramatic music)

But even when the feeding's hard work, they remain alert.

(suspenseful music)

(birds chirping) (suspenseful music)

Their long legs enable them

to step over the deep snow drifts

that slow the tiger down.

(dramatic music)

Next time, he'll need a stealthier approach.

(birds chirping)

Next in line to the throne, the king of beasts.

(wildebeest bellowing)

There is no doubt that lions are magnificent cats

and not exactly small.

Big males can weigh 270 kilos.

The characteristic manes of the males can vary

in different parts of their range

and can be any shade from black to blonde.

They also have one of the most impressive voices in Africa,

deep rumbling sound waves that can be heard

from eight kilometers away, even by human ears.

They're not quite as huge as their stripey counterparts,

but they make up for size with teamwork.

(dramatic music)

The plains of Africa have some of the biggest inhabitants.

As the plant eaters got bigger,

the predators needed to evolve new strategies to hunt them.

Lions are the only members of the cat family

to function in prides.

(lions growling)

Prides typically consist of related females

and the few unrelated males who have claimed the throne.

Among cubs, only the male's bloodline will be tolerated.

(hooves thudding)

With the extra muscle power, there is no giant of the plains

that's too big for this gang to tackle.

(dramatic music)

(dramatic suspenseful music)

But with their social development,

lions have also evolved a complex hunting behavior.

(suspenseful music)

The pride fans out with flankers moving into position

to cut off their prey's escape routes.

(dramatic music)

While the strikers creep in as close as they can,

ready to spring the trap.

(suspenseful music)

(wildebeest bellowing)

(suspenseful music)

(wildebeest bellowing) (suspenseful music)

One of the strikers fall short of the mark.

(dramatic music)

But the frightened herd's playing into the pride's paws.

(dramatic music)

A wildebeest can weigh 250 kilos,

but it's a push-over for this pussy.

But despite their strength and pack play,

still only one in 10 of the big cat's hunts end in success.

(gentle music)

A successful hunt largely comes down

to assessing the strength of prey.

If they pick the right victim,

there'll be on the fast track to success,

But they're not the only giants to gang up.

(buffalo grunting) (mysterious music)

Cape Buffalo are no easy target.

Giants in their own right,

these bad tempered, wild cattle can weigh

nearly a ton topped off with 130-centimeter sharp horns.

(suspenseful music)

The most dangerous predators

are the ones you don't see coming.

The buffalo prefer to have the upper hand

and when they spot danger, they present a United front.

The lion tries to call their bluff,

but faced with many tons of horned heavyweights,

his nerves crack.

(dramatic music)

Buffalo have been known to disembowel lions

with a flick of the horns.

These gangs routinely clash,

and there can be casualties on both sides.

(suspenseful music)

When caught alone or taken by surprise,

the buffalo can be in trouble.

(dramatic music)

(suspenseful music) (birds chirping)

For lions, it's worth the risk.

A carcass this size can keep a family

in beef dinners for a week.

Buffalo are formidable foe.

Their herds can be so huge,

both in numbers and tonnage

that they must keep constantly on the move

so they don't graze themselves out of house and home.

And when they stand together, they are almost untouchable.

The titanic battles of predator and prey

aren't limited to the plains.

(water whooshing)

(gentle music)

Sperm whales are true giants.

The bulls can be 19 meters long and weigh 50 tons.

They're enormous heads can make up a third of the length

and house fist-sized teeth.

In fact, they're the biggest toothed animals on earth.

(gentle music)

(water gurgling)

They also have the biggest brains.

At eight kilos, they are five times than our own.

(gentle music)

And they use their colossal intellect for social skills,

but also for their abilities to hunt.

(water whooshing)

They are record breaking divers,

descending two kilometers deep and holding their breath

for nearly two hours to hunt

in the cold dark depths of the ocean.

(gentle music)

(water whooshing)

The details of what happens there are lacking,

but it is known that they hunt and eat giant squid,

the biggest and most intelligent invertebrates.

(gentle music)

(water gurgling)

Giant squid are rarely seen,

but they are almost identical to these smaller cousins.

Fierce predators in their own right, fast and brainy,

squid are not easy targets and sperm whales carry scars

that prove giant squid are capable of putting up a fight.

(water gurgling)

Every group of animals seems to have tried supersizing.

The birds have done a pretty good job

and several giants tower over their peers.

(birds chirping)

Male ostriches are bigger than the females.

They can tower two meters into the air and weigh 130 kilos.

To a predator, that could equal one big bucket of chicken.

These giants are too big and heavy to fly.

But sometimes the benefits of being big outweigh the loss.

(suspenseful music)

With the biggest eyes of any land animal,

the male's quick to spot danger.

He fans the contrasting white wing feathers,

showing that while they might not be good for flying,

the wings can still put on quite a show.

(suspenseful music)

(dramatic music)

He weighs twice as much as a cheetah

and the hungry cat backs down.

A wise move.

An ostrich can kick with bone shattering force.

(birds chirping)

Because of their intimidating size and incredible vision,

ostriches are useful neighbors

and many hoofed animals stay close

knowing the ostriches will warn them of approaching danger.

Their ancestors were large, heavy-bodied flying birds.

Thanks to their wings, they were able to spread

and around 70 million years ago,

colonized new areas of the world.

(upbeat music)

But this family of birds had lofty ideas.

Wherever they landed, they seemed to evolve the same traits.

The ostriches of Africa have cousins

in South America, the ria.

And in Australia, the emu and cassowary.

(gentle upbeat music)

Collectively, they are known as the ratites.

All have abandoned flight in favor of size.

They have a few other traits in common as well.

In all species, it's the male

who does most of the parenting.

(birds chirping)

Down under the proud pops go a stage further

and raise their chicks alone.

The emu dad leads his chicks to water.

(birds chirping)

In the desert,

a knowledge of water sources is the key to survival

and the chicks will learn from their parents' guidance.

(water splashing)

All ratites are born with humbug striping,

a useful camouflage against predators.

Although only the bravest of hunters would try

and snatch one of these youngsters.

They're single dad's diligent and blessed

with eagle eyes, fast speeds, and a powerful kick.

(birds chirping)

(water whooshing)

But moving from the desert to the jungle,

the ratites have raised the stakes in the arms race.

The distinctive cassowary, with his bold blue head topped

with a magnificent helmet style crest

is often labeled the world's most dangerous bird.

The first toe on his huge feet is tipped

with a 12 centimeter claw.

(water whooshing)

He won't hesitate to draw this weapon

on any predator that threatens his brood

(water gurgling)

(water whooshing) (birds chirping)

Cassowaries are often likened to the velociraptor

for their lethal claws.

And because the meat-eating dinosaurs

were very closely related to modern birds,

this is probably as close as you can get

to watching a living dinosaur.

(birds chirping)

His chicks are just a few weeks old.

They will follow their father for nine months.

(birds chirping)

They need this extended field school

to learn about the dangers of the forest

and how to identify the 25 different families of plants

that are safe and nutritious to eat.

(gentle music)

The favorite food of these giant birds is fallen fruit

and they are especially attracted to any food

that color coordinates with their spectacular necks.

(gentle music) (birds chirping)

The chicks scrutinize his every move,

mimicking him to get the technique right.

(gentle music)

Sometimes they jump the gun

and bite off more than they can chew.

(dramatic music)

But luckily, before they choke, dad comes to the rescue.

(gentle music) (birds chirping)

(bright music)

They will stay with him for nine months

and eventually they'll get the hang of things.

(gentle music)

Not all giant birds are flightless.

(dramatic music)

Hunting the Aussie Outback, a kookaburra,

the world's biggest kingfisher.

(mysterious music)

He's not exactly huge,

but he's 10 times the size of the European kingfisher

and with a 10 centimeter beak.

(gentle music)

(birds chirping)

(dramatic music)

He's good at using that weapon

against a wide variety of victims.

(dramatic music) (birds chirping)

(water splashing)

Fishing is a family trait,

but he'll also turn his attention

to insects, rodents, lizards, baby birds.

(dramatic music)

This time it's a yabby,

a freshwater crayfish that catches his eye.

(dramatic music)

(birds chirping)

It's a powerful crustacean with vicious claws.

But the kookaburra is an expert at disarmament.

(dramatic music)

The kookaburra shares the bush

with Australia's largest native mammal.

(dramatic music)

The biggest of bouncers, the red kangaroo,

is the largest marsupial in the world.

(dramatic music)

The females are big,

but the big reds can be twice their size,

two meters by 90 kilos.

(triumphant music)

They're incredible legs can carry them

a whopping eight meters in a single bounce,

but thanks to a unique design,

rubbery tendons stretch and store energy

from each bounce to propel the next.

So no matter how fast the kangaroo is traveling,

it hardly expends any energy.

(dramatic music)

Being efficient is vital, both to save energy

in a scorching landscape where food could be in short supply

and to cover vast distance on this huge continent

where it might take days to travel

from one water source to the next.

(dramatic music)

The red giants don't start out that way.

They begin pink and puny.

Being marsupials, the babies called joeys,

are born prematurely and will finish their development

in their mother's pouch.

(heartbeat thudding)

At birth they are barely the size of a kidney bean.

It will take two years for them to jump up the scales.

Size is everything in kangaroo society.

(birds chirping)

These bouncers are boxers.

During the breeding season,

the boys spar to demonstrate their strength,

hoping to impress the ladies.

They lock arms and kick.

(dramatic music)

Their legs are so powerful

and tipped with big sharp claws

that they can disembowel a man.

But luckily the skin on their bellies is thickened.

So serious injuries are rare.

(dramatic music)

But these roos are just youngsters, practicing,

ready for the big fight.

(dramatic music)

It's a bit more serious when the big boys take the stage.

(dramatic music)

Muscles bulge and fur fliers as they battle for supremacy.

Whether mammals or birds, the world is full of giants.

(wind whistling)

Some of the biggest fliers are birds of prey.

One meter 30 from wingtip to wingtip,

the Stella's sea eagle could have inspired dragon myths,

a true monster of the skies.

(triumphant music)

It pays to be big in this toughest of environments.

The ice floes of northeast Asia

will be their home for winter.

(birds squawking) (dramatic music)

The flock together, not to be social,

but to cash in on an abundance of fish,

which they catch with fist-sizes talons.

(dramatic music)

At nearly a kilo in weight, they are the heaviest of eagles.

They can carry fish almost as heavy as they are.

(dramatic music)

(water splashing)

(birds squawking)

But despite the abundance,

there are always some that would rather avoid the hard work

and take advantage of someone else's catch.

(wind whooshing)

Ravens join the buffet.

(birds squawking)

(dramatic music)

But as bird numbers grow, so does the tension.

(dramatic music)

Though they appear to have meat cleaver beaks,

that tool's saved for eating.

Their talons of our primary weapon.

(birds squawking) (dramatic music)

(wind howling)

(gentle music)

The biggest bird of prey has a very different disposition,

soaring over massive mountains, the colossal Andean condor.

Nesting high above the world,

these huge vultures exhibit their tender side,

performing a courtship ritual before heading off to feed.

(birds hooting)

They use the thermals,

drafts of hot air rising from the land,

to lift their 15 kilo bodies on 3.3 meter wings.

So despite their weight,

they barely need to flap and hardly expend any energy.

The giant condors take their time,

scanning the area to make sure it's safe.

It's sometimes hours or even days

before they are confident enough to land.

(birds chirping)

But once they have, all manners go out the window.

They gorge themselves.

They can eat over a kilo of flesh in a sitting.

(birds squawking)

They need to eat quickly.

They never know when they might be disturbed.

(guanaco squawking)

It doesn't take much,

even some squabbling guanaco can be enough

to panic the birds and send them back

to the safety of the skies.

(gentle music)

Bird's truly rule the air.

There's very little competition.

Mammals don't come close to outsizing condos,

but they do try.

(dramatic music)

The biggest bats barely weigh 1.6 kilos.

But with wings spanning nearly two meters,

they are an intimidating sight.

These gray-headed flying foxes are from Down Under,

in more ways than one.

They spend most of the day hanging by their feet,

using their wings as a huge fitted sheet.

Like all bats, they are mostly active by night.

Smaller insect eating bats have poor eyesight

and find that way and their prey with echolocation.

(bats squawking)

But the biggest bats are fruit eaters.

They like to see where they are going

and have big eyes giving them fox-like faces,

hence their name.

(bats squawking)

Baby bats are cling-ons,

they'll ride their mothers for three weeks

until they are old enough for their first flying lessons.

As the sun begins to set,

they stretch their wings

and prepare to take to the night skies.

When they eat fruit bats,

bats disperse and help fertilize seeds.

And when they feed on nectar,

they do the same job as bees,

transporting pollen from one flower to the next.

They are vital to the ecosystem.

(birds chirping)

Most mammals like to keep their feet on firm ground.

Though, there are a few giants that prefer to paddle.

These are the biggest otters on earth,

not surprisingly known as giant otters.

(otters grunting)

The largest males can be the size of a man.

These fishy carnivores build dens

on the banks of the Amazon River.

When the family's coming and going,

they spend a great deal

of time scent marking the neighborhood,

signposting their boundary lines.

(otters chattering)

They live in close-knit family clans,

up to 20 animals in each group.

The gang are at their most happy in the water.

(otters grunting)

The giants are often known as a river horse,

not just because of their large size and fearsome jaws,

but also because they hunt in packs.

(water splashing)

After a bit of playful banter in the water,

they set out to hunt,

working together to flush out fish from the vegetation.

(otters grunting)

Through teamwork, they can tackle pray

as big and dangerous as caiman.

But today it's fish on the menu.

(water gurgling)

By working together, they are efficient hunters

and can quickly fill their bellies.

Birds follow the otter's antics.

They know the otters are messy eaters

and hang around to tidy up.

The hopefuls are also useful to the otter.

Their keen eyes can also spot danger and sound the alarm.

(dramatic music)

(otter grunting)

The big, just keep on getting bigger.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

(dramatic music)

Every animal's family has its giants,

but there are some outstanding animals

that take size to the extreme.

(dramatic music)

Hippos are the fourth largest land animals,

but though they might not be at the top,

they make up for it in mouth.

(dramatic music) (hippo grunting)

The biggest, widest gape, 150 degrees,

exposes enormous canine teeth,

ivory blades that can reach half a meter.

(dramatic music)

Though the fangs can be used in fierce battles,

they are mostly for show.

The giants gape at one another to enforce personal space.

(dramatic music)

Though when bulls go head-to-head,

those colossal teeth can tear through flesh.

(water splashing)

The victor will rule the roost,

calling the shots in his kingdom,

a stretch of African river.

(water splashing)

Hippos might have weight behind them,

but three would have to stack on top of each other

to look a giraffe in the eye.

(birds chirping)

Though, they are mostly neck and legs,

these lanky herbivores can still weigh close to two tons

and look down on the world from a height of 5.7 meters.

Of course, the number one advantage

of their lofty position is that they can pluck vegetation

from the trees, picking tender growth

that's out of reach of other animals.

(gentle music)

Social by nature, their gathering seem

to attract quite a crowd,

But the zebras and other creatures of the plains

don't gather for the giraffes' bubbling personalities,

but more to use them as mobile lookout towers.

(gentle music)

The African plains are full of danger,

but with their huge eyes positioned so high,

they have a bird's eye view

and are usually the first to spot danger.

(dramatic music)

Lions try to ambush the group.

(suspenseful music)

But their cover is blown.

(dramatic music)

(zebra squealing)

The lioness falls short of her mark,

thanks to the noisy neighbors.

(lion growling)

(birds chirping)

Nobody likes being looked down on.

(hooves thudding)

But on the plains, there is one clear winner

in the size sweepstakes,

the largest land animal on earth,

the African elephant,

(elephant trumpeting) (dramatic music)

The record breaker was nearly four meters at the shoulder

and a colossal 11 tons.

(dramatic music)

The biggest tusks were 3 1/2 meters.

(dramatic music)

He shows off the biggest ears, some two meters across.

And he has a five kilo brain, the biggest on land.

(gentle music)

Elephants are so huge

that their presence shapes the land around them.

They control the growth of vegetation

by tearing down trees and flattening grass.

(dramatic music)

Elephants can bring water to other animals by digging wells

(gentle music)

and can transport soil

by walking off with mud on their bodies.

(gentle music)

In the past, the world was dominated by giants,

but as humans evolved and spread around the globe,

they hunted the biggest animals for food

and to get rid of dangerous competition,

mammoths, giant cats, camels, sloths,

birds, lizards, all were removed by human hunters.

(dramatic music)

Today there is still a huge trade in giant animals

and their body parts like polar bear skins,

hippo's teeth, rhino's horn

and of course the tusks of elephants.

(dramatic music)

But perhaps humans are slowly learning

to recognize the importance of our giant wild neighbors

on the environment and the inspiration they can bring to us.

(gentle music)

Perhaps enlightened, we can look with awe

and set aside space for these most wonderful creatures,

keeping the world big and beautiful.

(triumphant music)

(lion roaring)