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[narrator] Pointy bits.
Whether they're on the top,

out in front,

or corkscrew,

sometimes it takes a sharp tool
to stay on top.

Jabbing...

They're trying to do as much
damage as possible.[narrator]
Stabbing...

They just get full of rage

and want to fight everybody
all the time.

[narrator] By crook...

It can gouge an opponent.

[narrator] ...or by hook.

Whether within species
or an apex alpha.

Because if you get in the way,

you might get a bill through
your head.

[narrator] The battle
isn't over

until someone gets the point.

Every day, everywhere,
our planet is a battleground

Turf wars,

food fights

and mating mayhem rage on

as animals outwit and
outmanoeuvre their own kind

in Battle of the Alphas.

Across southern Africa,

the world's largest antelope roams.

The eland.

Eland are nomadic.

So they're moving around constantly,

and as a result of that, they're
never defending territories.

[narrator] They may not fight
over territory.

But they fight
over everything else.

Males fighting over females.

Males fighting females
over food.

Females fight females over
males and food.

It's just absolute chaos
if you're an eland.

[narrator] Only the kids seem
to get along.

An eland bull is a big beast.

Up to a tonne,

twice the weight of a female.

With horns
over one metre long.

This is the biggest of
the antelope.

It's got these spiral horns that
it uses for defence

and for conflict with
other elands.

[narrator] But a fight
can be averted

if they listen carefully.

Because what sets this
alpha bull above his peers

is the tone of his click.

Male elands have this quite
bizarre evolutionary trait.

It's the clicking sound
that they can make

using tendons in their forelegs.

[narrator] As the tendon slips
over a bone in the knee,

it vibrates like a string
on a violin...

or a cello,

or a double bass.

The length and the width
of that tendon

grow as the animal gets bigger.
And that has the result

of making the sound deeper.

[narrator] The sound can travel
over hundreds of meters.

Elands can send very accurate information

to the other elands around

about how big it is,
how fit it is,

and how you probably
don't want to fight with it.

And this is actually
really clever

from an evolutionary
point of view.

Because any potential eland
that's roaming around

wanting to come in and fight
can hear this sound.

And he knows that
if he's got a tendon

that sounds like a cello...

and his opponent's got a tendon
that sounds like a double bass,

he's going to get outplayed.
He doesn't stand a chance.

[narrator] But an alpha
isn't an alpha

until a challenger comes along
to prove it.

If the knee click's
not enough,

it has other things
to show off

that can hopefully prevent
the fight from happening.

[narrator] It starts with
the face.

Older, more powerful males
have a darker face mask.

He also has a large dewlap,

which is that flap of skin
under his neck there.

Essentially,
it's his way of saying,

"Look at me, I'm going to win.
Don't come near me."

All these pieces of equipment
that show off

just how big an antelope
this is.

And with any luck that
makes the competitor go away.

But of course, some competitors
just never get the message.

The last thing any animal
really wants to do is fight.

It uses up a lot of energy
that would be much better

to put in something
like foraging or mating.

[narrator] If a challenger
is unimpressed with the click

and all those traits
are falling flat,

it's time to hit some
sharp notes.

He's going to put his horn
into the ground

and dig up some dirt,
like he's plowing,

kind of like he's drawn
a line in the sand.

[♪]

And then what happens next
is a little bit gross.

What he does is he squirts
some urine onto the ground.

He puts his horn back down
and start mixing it up again,

kind of like a hormone cocktail.
And then he's like,

"Oh yeah,
you want to taste this."

[narrator] But the other bull
is calling his bluff.

Is it foolhardiness?

Or is it ukali?

This rage of hormones,
this surge of testosterone

that essentially
makes the bull act crazy.

And it's a Swahili word
"ukali."

They just get full of rage

and want to fight everybody
all the time.

[narrator] Time to bring out
the horn section.

If you look at the neck
of an eland,

you'll see that it's powerful,
it's big, it's strong.

It's like this big, chunky powerhouse.

So they wrap their necks
around each other,

really try to overpower
the other one,

show that they're more dominant.

[narrator] The corkscrew horn
gives each bull

leverage on the other.

But it turns out that
most of the force

isn't a stabbing motion,
it's a bending motion.

And if you're going to bend
a horn,

it's going to be way stronger
with that spiralling

than it is if it's just straight.

And that's why the males
have that spiral.

[narrator] They push.

They shove.

Each tries to make his point.

And they're trying to stab
each other in all the soft parts
of their face.

So the eyes, the cheeks,
anything they can get to,

they're just trying to do
as much damage as possible.

Fights between bulls can
end with death,

but most of the time,

one of them figures out
that they've lost.

[narrator] To work it out,

sometimes they just have
to keep their ears pricked.

And wait for something
to click.

[♪]

Speaking of getting
to the point.

It's flown 8000 kilometres

from South Africa to
northern Europe.

The white stork
is coming home to breed

If you can imagine a stork
returning from a long migration

and coming back to the nest
that they used

for maybe the last five,
six years.

And arriving maybe a day or two
later than normal

behold, there's already
another stork sitting there.

This is going to lead
to trouble.

[♪]

[narrator] A nest is worth
fighting for.

A stork nest, for its size
and its beauty

and its complexity,
is truly

one of the mega-mansions of
the bird world.

It is an incredibly impressive structure,

and it is enormous.

You're looking at something
that can be about nine feet deep

and four or five feet wide.

Layer after layer
after layer has been added
throughout the years.

Because
it's so labour-intensive,

they don't want to rebuild
a nest year after year.

[narrator] And no nest
lasts forever.

Maybe you had a nest site
and a mate,

but it got damaged,
blown down in a storm,

something happened.

You might try and sneak in

on the territory
of an established pair.

[narrator] There are plenty
of storks in the housing market

and nests don't come with
locks and keys.

The race is on to establish ownership.

The male is the first
to return.

Like they say, possession is
nine tenths of the law.

The same is true with
stork nests.

These storks are
really motivated to come back

from migration as early as
possible and stake their claim.

But of course, if
you have a really nice nest
in a neighbourhood,

you're going to be the target
of other birds

for wanting to nest at
your location.

[narrator] When a stork feels challenged,

it will perform several
visual displays.

Really kind of showing that
they're big, they mean business.

And if you land here, I'm going
to use this beak and attack you.

They have this
very characteristic

bill-clacking noise
that they make.

[clacking]

And that shows that
they're feeling kind of angry.

[narrator] A prime nest
is worth fighting for

but fighting beak-to-beak
is risky business.

The bill of a stork
is absolutely its best weapon.

It is long and straight
and pointed and very sharp.

They could very easily
kill any bird with that beak,

but it is a tool of last resort.

[narrator] A fight can break
a bill.

And it would probably impede
their ability

to properly catch food.

It would be a death sentence if
their beak got damaged.- They do
throw their heads back and they
start to posture

with their neck and their wings.

It'll hiss, it'll pump its
wings up and down very quickly.

[narrator] A big male
has a wingspan of a 1,5 metres.

And it's a very
intimidating-looking display

for any bird that's thinking
this might be

a nest they can take over.

[narrator] If the invader
presses his point,

the defender will move to
"threat display".

The resident stork
will actually try
to cover up the nest

with its wings and look
and hiss.

And give a threatening look to
any birds that come down.

[narrator] And these conflicts
can be contagious.

You are going to
attract the attention of
other white storks,

who might think that there is
a nest up for grabs.

And this third lone stork,

who hasn't had any success
in finding a nest site of their own,

may be attracted to this
argument and to this competition

because they might be able
to benefit also.

Finding a nest site
and building your own nest

is a lot of work.

So it's easier to try to steal
a nest.

[narrator] But sometimes
home invasions

can have unintended victims.

And if there are eggs
and chicks,

they can fall victims
to this kind of skirmish.

In the fight to keep a nest,
they've lost

their entire hope
for that breeding season.

[narrator] This prompt pair
has fought to keep a sweet home

In the world of the white stork

the early bird gets the castle.

[♪]

From sharp bills to
pointy horns.

An alpha rhinoceros can weigh u
to 3,5 tonnes.

Even the elephant knows
not to mess

with this angry busload
of muscle.

Its head alone weighs nearly
a tonne.

But for all that size,
it has a pretty small brain.

And the eyes don't even work
that well.

But don't you confuse that
for them not being able

to process the world
around them.

[growls]

They are amazing super-sniffers.

So a lot of that brain space
is actually dedicated

to detecting and analyzing

chemical information
like odours.

[narrator] Odour plays
an outsize role

in rhinoceros social life.

The medium is the message
that can start a fight.

The poop for the rhino
is more than just

waste being eliminated.
It's a message board.

Big male looking for a female
that wants to mate.

Where does it go?
Social media.

They're reading
all the status updates

There is a female around that
is ready to mate.

So, it's also a dating app.

[laughs]

[narrator] All species of rhino
communicate through their dung.

She's sniffing it
and getting information

about his overall condition.

There are other males
in the area looking to mate

that they're going to have
to compete with.

[narrator] Hormones
in the rhino scent trail

deliver data on age,
strength and fertility.

The aroma of an estrous female
gets the bull's nose twitching.

Because there's no specific
breeding season,

they have to wait
for the females to be ready.

[narrator] Rhino gestation
is long,

up to 18 months.

And the mother
won't mate again

until the calf is at least
two years old.

That's how long she's taken
out of the dating pool

between being pregnant and
raising her calf.

[narrator] That's a long time
for a bull to wait.

So if you've got a male
and they're standing between you

and your one chance
to reproduce that year,

you've got to fight
with everything you've got.

[narrator] When one bull
challenges another

over a female,

the horn is more
than a hood ornament.

If a rhino has a competitor
coming into their territory,

it can put its head low
to the ground.

It can even take its horn and
dig a little bit in the dirt.

Almost like they're running
a knife over a whetstone.

Left, right, left, right.

They're getting themselves
worked up.

But then, they're also sending
a message to the competitor.

"You see what I have here?
You don't want any of this."

[grunts]

The rhino horn is unique.

It's not actually a horn.

It's a big, weird fingernail

that grows on the front
of the nose.

[narrator] Horn size matters.

The average male
has a 90-centimetre horn.

Some can grow up to 1,5 metres,

lengthier than
a medieval long sword.

It can gouge an opponent.

They'll swoop their head down
and dip and push up.

Because the head is so heavy,

the musculature that can raise
the head is super strong.

Imagine a forklift.

They can come in at each other,

and they'll push their head down
and scoop them up.

It could trip them up.

[narrator] The rhino
on the right has a scimitar.

The rhino on the left
has a short axe.

It's no contest.

Time to back off.

And with good reason.

The rhino that has
one of the highest injury rates

based on using their ornaments.

[narrator] Male combatants are
not the only fatalities.

Sometimes there are innocent bystanders.

If there's a female
that comes in and she's not
interested in mating,

a lot of the times
he'll fight her, too.

And that can result in death
of one of them

because those fights are just
so brutal.

If they see a female
with a small, young one,

they'll sometimes attack
that small, young one.

Because the sooner
that baby dies,

the sooner mom goes into estrus
and is ready to go again.

It actually triggers them
to go into heat,

to be receptive for mating.

And for that rhino,

it has no genetic investment
in that other baby.

It just makes sense to kill it.

You're probably not going to get
hurt killing a baby rhino,

so why not do it?
They're jerks.

[narrator] For now,
the fighting is over.

And this pointy alpha
is occupied.

[♪]

All species
fight their own kind.

But for the top of every
food chain there is no contest,

this is an apex alpha

The Pacific Ocean,

off the coast
of Baja California.

Water as far as the eye can see

There is nowhere to hide

from the striped marlin.

They are top predators
in the open ocean environment.

These fish are totally built
to kill.

[narrator] The striped marlin
can reach

over 2.5 metres in length.

And weigh up to 240 kilograms.

That's all muscle that
just powers this thing forward.

[narrator] Its fusiform
body shape is designed for fast

continuous swimming.

And by focusing that power
into the tail,

it allows for the striped marlin
to have incredible

bursts of speed.

[narrator] Up to 36 kilometres
per hour.

That dorsal fin allows them to
keep straight in the water.

It stops them from just
spinning wildly out of control.

[narrator] Specialized blood
vessels keep its brain

and eye tissue warm,

allowing it to operate
at peak efficiency

even in cooler waters.

They are also working
at a faster speed,

a higher temperature

than the brains and eyes
of their prey.

And it just gives the marlin
that incredible edge.

And to top it all off,
on the front of their face,

they've got an enormous spear.

It's actually an extension
of the skull out over the mouth.

[narrator] Normally solitary,

marlin come together in groups
to spawn

and sometimes to hunt.

To understand marlin hunting,
you have to stop thinking

about individuals and
you have to think about groups.

[narrator] A solitary prey fish
is a tough catch.

Herded into a school,
they become a moveable feast

called a bait ball.

Off the coast of Baja,

marlin have some unique collaborators.

Sea lions.

They're not really
in competition

because there's enough food
for each of them. And in fact,

they're kind of working together
because they're both interested

in tightening up that
ball of fish.

They work in this fabulous
kind of synergy.

You can have sea lions
diving beneath the ball,

keeping it up to the surface,

allowing the marlin to continue feeding.

So although they might be
unlikely dining partners,

they work really well together
when that feast is on.

You now get this shimmering ball
of madness

as the bait fish do whatever
they can to avoid

being stuck on the outside and
therefore a target.

But really,
they've isolated themselves,

and this is when the marlin
can go to town.

They'll work as a team to make
that ball of fish tighten up.

And then they'll push it up
against the surface
of the water,

where basically it's up against
a wall and has nowhere to go.

All the other marlin come in
and they start to circle

and stalk their prey
from all possible angles.

[narrator] Herding a bait ball
of hundreds

and even thousands of fish
demands lightning pivots

in three dimensions.

These incredible pelvic fins
that give the striped marlin

just that little bit of
fine adjustment.

Allowing it to make
these laser-sharp turns,

allowing it to just twist back
on itself

and not snap its own spine, frankly.

[narrator] Marlins will work
in groups up to 40.

They corral the fish.

And then they take turns.

You don't need to be
a rocket scientist to know that,

if you're diving in headfirst
to a writhing ball of fish,

you don't want Steve coming
in from the right

and harpooning you
with his bill.

[narrator] To avoid stabbing
a fellow feeder,

the marlin puts its stripes
to work.

It has this one trick
that I can't think of any
other alpha predators

that can do this,
which is to change colour.

And they do that using
something called chromatophores.

And these are basically bags
of pigment

that are in the surface
of the skin,

that are under muscular control.

They actually flash signals to
other members of their species

to say what
their intentions are.

That is his version of ringing
the dinner bell for him.

That's him saying,
"Everyone, I'm going in,

I'm making a strike,
I'm going to have a feed.

Back off, because
if you get in the way,

you might get a bill through
your head."

[narrator] The marlin doesn't
use its bill to spear prey.

Because if you think about it,
if you skewered a fish

on the end of
a three-foot-long nose,

how on earth are you going
to get it to your mouth?

It goes in, whacks a whole
bunch of fish to stun them,

and then it turns around,
comes back and eats these fish

that are basically immobilized.

It's a really effective strategy.

[narrator] The striped marlin's
bill looks smooth.

It's anything but.

With a microscope,
you can actually see

tiny micro teeth
on the outside of it.

So this is a fish that
has teeth outside its mouth,

and it uses those to make
that sword more effective.

And it changes it from
like a foil into a light sabre,

so that if you get hit from
the side, it does some damage.

[narrator] If the first bite
doesn't polish off the prey,

it's a quick turn to finish
the job.

And the striped marlin has an
important impact on its habitat

Marlin are so vital

for the health of
these open ocean ecosystems,

these lone wanderers you know,
like sheriffs,

they will be controlling
any populations

that get out of hand.

And if there are too many
of any of them and it starts

upsetting the balance
of our open ocean ecosystem,

the marlin will come in
and deliver some of its justice.

[narrator] This is one sharp customer,

an alpha sheriff
with sea lion deputies.

Thorny dilemmas.

Acrimonious antelopes.

Knives on storks.

For these pointy alphas,

winning is everything,

even if it's by a nose.