All language subtitles for y07

[narrator] Colours. Patterns.

They're more
than meets the eye.

A dominant demonstration.

A warning symbol.

A coat that cloaks.

They don't seem to back down
from a fight.

[narrator] Whether it's
for display...

You have got to be ready
to fight them.

[narrator] ...or dirty dancing...

Jabbing and punching.

[narrator] ...or an alpha
predator hiding in plain sight.-
And then they can get in there
and go for that jugular.

[narrator] To earn
your stripes...

The most violent fights happen

at one of these water wells.

[narrator] You've got
to be bold.

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.

Winter in the mountains
of central China.

[♪]

The most non-monkey place you
could possibly find a monkey.

[narrator] The golden
snub-nosed monkey.

That thick golden coat
isn't just for show.

They're the highest up
of any monkey.

They're in the coldest
temperatures of any monkey.

And they are hardy.

[narrator] Their behaviour
and biology

are all about
heat conservation.

Even their hands are
covered in fur, like mittens.

The inverted nostrils
of the snub-nose

may be an adaptation to avoid frostbite.

The habitat is extreme
for a primate.

Warm summers,
when food is abundant.

They're vegetarian.

They're eating foliage,
they're eating fruits,

they're eating nuts.

There's lots of stuff to eat.

And so there's less competition.

These monkeys will hang out in
groups of up to 600 individuals.

No problem.

[narrator] But at this altitude,

the days of plenty are limited...

...and so is the peak period
for mating.

When the temperature drops

and food grows scarce,

tensions within the snub-nose
community rise,

priorities change.

All of a sudden you don't like
being part of a big crowd.

You don't like having
to fight for food with that
many individuals.

And that's when the group sizes
shrink down

to like 20 or 30 individuals,

mostly related to each other.

You have a handful of adults,
a primary alpha male

and then two to four
adult females, and their young.

So they're all part
of this social group.

Their winter band
all coming together.

And they have no time
for other monkeys,

except the ones in their group.

[narrator] As winter
settles in...

...and the snow
blanket thickens...

...food becomes harder
and harder to find.

Instead of having
all this nice foliage to eat,

they're eating bark.

They're eating lichens.

They're searching and scavenging
for any leftover seeds

and nuts that might be
on the forest floor.

When you see
that monkey trying to get
food out of nothing,

you can't help but sympathize.

It is a hard time of year.

[narrator] When one monkey
finds something,

it lets the others know.

But what really makes them
stand apart

is that they engage in what
we call cryptic vocalization.

In other words,
there's no obvious movement

of their face or body as they're
making these little whines

and shrills
and other little calls.

[narrator] Constant hunger
is stressful.

Especially when another
family group comes
on the scene.

They could very well be individuals

that just the summer before
they were all happy

and hanging out together.

Now it's a completely different situation.

They're now competitors
for a very limited resource.

If other monkeys show up
that want to eat some of
the food in the neighbourhood,

you have got to be ready
to fight them.

[narrator] That golden coat
signals dominance.

As males mature,
the gold grows richer.

And the blue hue
in its face deepens.

The face of a fighter.

They don't seem to back down
from a fight.

Usually, it's the two males
that start things off.

They're bigger than
the females.

They've got the biggest weapons.

They come face-to-face and
just start slugging.

Those canines are really long.

They open up their mouth.

They use their hands to swat
at one another and hit.

Try to pin another
individual down.

They'll bite at them.

There's kicking, hitting,
chasing, threatening. - You
can't help but imagine what it
would be like

to be on the receiving end
of that.

When these clashes occur,

it's the male
that's in the best condition,

that's the one likely to win.

If they're too young,
they don't have a chance.

If they're too old,
they don't have a chance.

It's got to be that male
that's ready to go

at the best time of his life to
have that kind of a fight.

And in turn, females only want
strong males

to be a part of their group.

One, because he does offer protection

when other groups
come around.

Offering warning calls for
potential predators and danger.

[narrator] More male muscle

will lead to better
food sources.

But then he's also
contributing to the next generation.

You want the fittest male possible

to father your future offspring.

[narrator] And to pass along
a warm and colourful fur coat.

[♪]

From multicoloured monkeys...

...to pretty aggressive
in pink.

The flamingo.

If birds of a feather
flock together,

the pink ones take it
to the max.

You're going to see
concentrations of thousands

and thousands of flamingos
in one area.

[narrator] There are six
species of flamingo

on four continents.

From Africa to Asia,

to North and South America.

But they all share a similar habitat.

It's usually centred around
a large water body,

that's right at a certain depth
that they need

to find all of their food.

Being part of a big flock
is a huge advantage

for flamingos because
the only way for them to eat

is to stick their head underwater.

And when your head
is underwater,

it's really hard to watch
for predators.

[narrator] A big flock also
provides many pink babysitters.

So what you end up with
is a lot of parents

that are cooperatively looking
after their eggs,

that are getting along
when they're sharing the space.

[narrator] But that doesn't
mean things are always peaceful

There are certain times a year
when things get territorial,

even amongst a large colony.

And what you find
in the breeding season

is that males will do
a lot of displaying.

The females are judging these
males on their fitness levels

to see whether they're going
to be a suitable father

for the offspring.

[narrator] The male contestants
score points in two categories.

Number one: can it dance?

Dancing and displaying
with flamingos is contagious.

You know how like
when somebody sees you yawn

and they can't help but yawn.

It's like that,
but with mate dancing.

A male performs this display.

Then another male sees it
and he's like,

"Oh, I want to do that too."

Once it starts happening,

you could have all sorts
of individuals dancing

and showing off and displaying.

The really crazy part is
it's not just males,

the females are doing it too.

Everybody is doing this crazy
performance together. It's like
you're at a disco all of a sudden

and everybody's paying attention
to everybody else.

[narrator] In this crowd,
it's hard to stand out.

Hence, category number two.

Pinkness.

In fact, "peak pinkness" may be
category number one.

A species' pinkness is based on
carotenoid pigments

in the small crustaceans and
algae in its diet.

The same goes
for individual birds.

The more beta carotene an alpha
flamingo eats,

the pinker its feathers.

And that's not all.

Researchers found
that the pinker the animal,

the more likely it is
to initiate an aggressive encounter.

Those birds are actually
more dominant

and will actually be
more aggressive to other birds.

Basically showing,
I am the dominant one.

You better back off because
this is my territory.

But when you've got a nice
red colour,

you're in it to win it,

and that's where
the conflict happens.

Those are the ones that
are eating more

and they are more fit.

That pink colouration shows
you've got lots of energy

that you can put into
your offspring.

And that you're going to be successful

in raising offspring
that survive.

[narrator] But sometimes
pinkness and solid dance moves

aren't enough.

Sometimes a flamingo must
assert itself.

They make themselves as tall
as possible.

They open their wings

and they'll come right at
their rival male.

And they'll use their bill.

It's all about
those big, long necks.

The head is swivelling around,
it's moving.

They'll use their beaks
to go after the other bird

and they'll actually go
chest-to-chest

and try to push it away.

And it can actually go on
for a bit of time.

And usually what happens is

the aggressor will go
after them.

Try to pull some feathers out
of the tail,

try to just really show
that animal that it picked
the wrong fight,

and to really drive home
who the winner is.

[narrator] The loser
wanders off,

he needs to be in the pink.

The flamingo,

Mother Nature's proof
that we are what we eat.

[♪]

From fighting in the water...

...to fighting over water.

For the gemsbok,
it's all about water.

When there's enough,

there is peace in the herd.

The females can survey
the bull market.

That kind of facial profile,
with the colours,

really plays a role
in attraction of mates.

And so it indicates something
about the quality of the mate

that they find attractive.

[narrator] But when water
is scarce,

gemsbok society goes
down the drain.

The lack of water is an even
greater threat

to these animals
than predators are.

[narrator] To survive
long periods of drought,

it has adapted ways to suck up
every drop of water.

They will do their grazing
at dawn and dusk.

And this is when there
is the greatest likelihood

of there being condensation
on this vegetation.

They can dig deep into the
ground to access trapped water.

So making wells, as well
as accessing wild cantaloupe.

[narrator] Once water is
in the body,

the gemsbok's biology is
designed to retain
that moisture.

to keep it fighting fit.

The gemsbok has
a low metabolism.

On hot days, it can elevate
its core temperature

up to 45 degrees Celsius.

Inside of their body
gets closer

to the heat that's outside.

So their body's not fighting
to become overheated

because they've raised the bar themselves.

So they aren't experiencing
an extreme stress in the brain

when they're having to fend off
other predators

or other gemsbok.

[narrator] Alphas are identifiable

by their position
in the herd.

The dominant female typically
takes the lead.

The dominant male brings up
the rear

and retrieves stragglers.

It's yet another way the gemsbok
minimizes its energy output.

You can conserve energy
if you're not always jockeying

and fighting for positions
in the hierarchy.

[narrator] But the gemsbok's
greatest challenge

is in the sky.

As the dry season approaches,
the days are longer.

In a matter of weeks,

the scorching sun sucks
the water away.

So the little water that
was there at the beginning of
the season

just begins to go down more
and more each day.

When they are challenged with
a water shortage,

alliances and hierarchies can
actually fall out the window.

It completely reshuffles
the deck.

All of a sudden,
all the big males,

the more dominant ones,

will focus on just
protecting water.

It's almost as if there's
a totally different set of rules

when extreme drought sets in.

They're monopolizing
the water resource.

This means that lower-ranking
males and females

are having to go
to the watering hole

in the middle of the day.

And this is precisely when

the sun is beating down
its hardest

and when they're exposed, possibly,

to other predators as well.

[narrator] As water grows scarce,

weaker animals succumb.

The situation is desperate.

The dominant males
are facing off.

Their weapons are fearsome.

Imagine having a two meter
spear sticking out of your head.

Those really dark markings in
the face

seem to go straight up into
like a "V".

It really helps accentuate and
draw attention to those horns.

[narrator] The horns are not
just for defence.

They communicate fitness.

The horns of the gemsbok grow

as the individuals become older.

The longer your horns are,
the more dominance you have.

Adult males can be around
200 kilograms.

They're not easily shoved.

They'll go head-to-head.

Literally kind of touching
in the frontal part of the skull

where their horns are likely
to rake past one another.

Individual males can use
their horns like fencing sabers.

Jabbing and punching and
throwing themselves around.

If he gets up under
the shoulder blade,

up under the arm,
it could pierce the chest

or the abdominal cavity.

The most violent fights
in the gemsbok life

will probably happen
at one of these water wells.

[narrator] Eventually,
one bull decides

he's not quite as thirsty
as he thought.

So, from a survival point
of view,

the best thing to do
is to conserve as much energy

and water as possible.

[narrator] As these masked
bulls bash it out,

all this female gemsbok can do
is seek an alternative well

and wait for rain.

[♪]

All species
fight their own kind.

But for the top of every
food chain,

there is no contest

this is an apex alpha.

The grasslands of Kenya.

She's the world's fastest
land animal

and she's barely moving.

Invisible in the grass.

Those spots help to break up
their silhouette.

They're incredibly difficult
to spot.

[narrator] This
super-specialized
alpha predator

is in a league of her own.

So not only is their agility
and their body structure

highly optimized
for their habitat,

everything about the cheetah
is perfectly designed

to keep them at the top.

[narrator] The cheetah keeps
pace with its rivals by working
different hours.

They're the only one of
the larger cats

that hunts diurnally or
during the day.

So they don't necessarily have
to compete

with the other apex predators
for access to these animals

because they're really the only
ones out at this time of day.

[narrator] This cat is adapted
to life in the noonday sun.

They have these markings
on the eyes to kind of mitigate

the amount of sun glare,
to optimize their vision.

[narrator]
The black streaks are called
malar stripes.

Like a linebacker in football
that puts those dark patches

on their face to absorb
the sun.

[narrator] The cheetah's
fovea,

the centre of the retina at
the back of the eye,

has more cones and fewer rods
than other cats.

They have a higher-than-normal
concentration of nerve cells

going to their optic nerve.

[narrator] As a result,
its night vision is weak.

But that means nothing
to a cat who hunts by day.

When the sun is shining,
she can see for five kilometres

They have very wide-set eyes
that are up high in their head.

And this helps to give them
a wide-angle view

of their surroundings.

[narrator] Once the prey is
in sight,

stealth is the next order
of business.

The closer they're able to get
without the prey noticing,

the higher the chances are
of a successful attack.

[narrator] In three seconds,

she accelerates from zero
to 100 kilometres per hour.

Part of the reason they can
achieve such speeds

is because they have a spine
that's extremely flexible.

Essentially, it acts like
a spring against the back legs.

They have these really sharp
shoulder bones

that aren't connected to
their collarbone.

You can see these shoulders
moving as they're running.

This functions to increase
the large,

long, stretched-out body.

A massive stride length
of seven meters.

Imagine a single stride,
seven meters.

[narrator] Hunting at 100
kilometres per hour

is major cardio.

Shorter nostrils
speed the delivery of air

to the cheetah's lungs.

This maximizes the amount of
oxygen that they can take in not
only as they're running,

but when they're making
the kill.

[narrator] Keeping the target
in sight at speed

requires a steady gaze.

As a cheetah runs, the head
hardly moves around at all.

And this is because
of the inner ear system.

It's actually quite remarkable.

[narrator] Its enlarged
inner ear gives the cheetah

an almost gyroscopic balance.

This is extremely important
for a visual lock.

Common prey animals like gazelles

have evolved very unpredictable
and fast behaviour.

[narrator] Like a race car,
the cheetah isn't just fast,

it has responsive brakes and
exquisite handling.

Recent research has shown

that cheetahs are not just
about the speed.

They're actually able
to slow down very, very quickly.

When it starts to turn
and when it starts to maneuver,

you'll see that tail making
different movements.

It'll act almost like a rudder
to provide stability

as the cheetah is quickly
changing directions.

[narrator] Semi-retractable
claws and wide paw pads

act like an off-road
tire tread.

This really functions
to prevent skidding

when they are quickly
changing direction.

[narrator] Even when
they're down,

this fast food isn't easy
to take out.

They can pretty much
body slam it.

That'll knock the animal down,

and then they can get in there
and kind of go for that jugular.

Because cheetahs have
these enormous nasal passages,

they don't have the space
for large teeth

to be anchored in their jaw.

And this means that they have
to kill their prey

through asphyxiation.

So they have to be smart about
where they strike on the throat

and get that animal down
as soon as possible.

Otherwise, it can just get up
and start running again.

[narrator] Knowing the speed
of this stealthy apex alpha,

dinner won't get far.

Whether it's flamboyant feathers.

Some flashy fur.

Markings that can conceal,

or accentuate.

These alphas
make competition...

colourful.