Original subtitles

[narrator] Power. Dominance.

It's more than muscle.

Aggressive geese.

Furious buffalo.

They back off, catch their breath

and they go at it again.

[narrator] Whether the lion prowls the sea... - And they hold nothing back.

[narrator] ...or is the apex of the savannah.

It's the lioness that's really running the show.

They'll just grab a hold of the neck

and start to pull it down or use their body weight.

[narrator] When these alphas make a plan...

The death blow comes from those teeth.

[narrator] ...it's just a matter of force.

Every day, everywhere,

our planet is a battleground. [elephant trumpeting]

[horse neighing] [growling]

Turf wars...

food fights...

and mating mayhem rage on

as animals outwit and outmanoeuvre their own kind...

in Battle of the Alphas.

[roaring]

[seagulls squawking]

January, on the Pacific coast of Peru.

Mating season for the South American sea lion.

[roaring]

It's about seventeen to one females to males,

so there's plenty to go for if you're a bloke

in these sea lion colonies.

[narrator] Hot sun.

Cool water.

It might look like paradise,

but to the South American sea lion bull,

it's a frying pan.

If you are an animal that is covered in blubber

to keep you warm in the sea and covered in hair

to keep you streamlined and also warm,

that's not going to do very good

sitting on a beach in Peru in equatorial sun.

There's nothing they can do about their blubber.

There's nothing they can do about all that fur.

So the best thing they can do is take a dip in a cool,

cool ocean regularly.

[growling]

[narrator] The equatorial heat has forced these powerful

sea lion alphas to adapt their mating game.

Normally, you would see a large male

get up high up onto the beach into what is considered

really good territory and protect an area

for females to come into and form a harem.

That's what we would normally see.

This isn't an option here because the sea lions

cannot afford to be out and that high up the beach for that long.

They're just not going to survive.

[growling]

[narrator] The alpha solution: grab the spots

closest to the water where it's cooler.

And then defend them.

When it comes to fighting for your spot on the beach, it's all about power.

The males can be up to three meters in length and weigh 350 kilos.

That is a serious, serious animal.

They're fighting over just this particular spot

that gives them access to where the females are going to walk past.

[narrator] While the sea lion bulls are positioning themselves,

the females are watching.

And all the while, females are assessing these males,

they're like, "Okay, I'm walking down the beach,

I'm checking out the beach bodies,

and I'm seeing which males are more fit."

[narrator] The bull with the pull on the beach front

is going to get the girls.

That's how they demonstrate their strength.

That's how they demonstrate their dominance.

The females can pick whoever they want,

and once the males have established

who's who and what's what, the fighting decreases.

That means they've got more time to mate.

They can look in better conditions.

They're not pulling scabs out of their face.

In other words, everyone knows who all the players are.

And they kinda respect the status quo.

But all this harmony gets thrown into disarray

when a new male bull appears.

[growling]

And they will force their way into this line up looking to try and grab a bit of territory.

He comes fresh out of the water,

and literally, everyone's looking at him like,

"Where's this guy going to go?

What does he think? He's moving in next to me?

Next to me, this guy is?!

[growling]

No, he's not."

And so, they'll give him a shove.

Actually, his neighbours,

they don't want the extra drama, either.

They know this guy.

So they will help the embattled sea lion

fight off the newcomer because that retains his space,

but it also means less hassle for them.

[narrator] But this newcomer isn't taking "No Vacancy"

for an answer.

- They've only got one tool when - it comes to a brawl. - And that is their mouth, and they hold nothing back.

All the machinery is in those knife-like canines.

They will look to attack and bite the face,

the head, the neck.

They're trying to get hold of the other sea lion

thrashing around.

So they throw their head back and lash down,

throw their head back and lash down.

And they're trying to get a stab in anywhere

in that fleshy part around the head and neck and upper chest.

So if your opponent is aiming for your eyes,

that's going to make you flinch.

That's going to make you back down.

[narrator] The newcomer breaks through the wall of resident blubber, but he is effectively beached.

And in this case, this leaves the new bull,

the one that was trying to push his way in

and get a front row seat. It leaves him high and dry,

literally stuck on the wrong side of the beach

and away from the females.

And so, even if he manages to push through,

he finds that he's too far away from the water.

[narrator] He must stay out of the sun

and wait for an opportunity

to push back toward the cooling ocean.

If you don't get a spot at all,

your likelihood of mating is really, really low.

You're not going to come in contact with the females

and you've got to wait next year

before you have a shot at it again.

You have to put it all on the line today

because tomorrow isn't promised.

[narrator] The pool-side seats are reserved for the powerful.

This method of breeding is so different

to what we'd normally see in South American sea lions,

I mean, these bulls, they set up shop,

they stick and stay, make it pay.

And they're guaranteed to get a mating

with at least one or two or maybe even more females

without even trying.

Now, for them, that is a real big win.

And so, only a few sire the many.

[narrator] For this beach bully, it's all about

staking a claim, and then, playing the waiting game.

From beach behemoths to bossy bovines...

The Cape buffalo is the most powerful alpha on hooves.

It thrives across Africa.

From savannah... to swamp.

From highlands... to lowlands.

Vast herds testify to its adaptability...

...and its bull-headed nature.

[growling]

The Cape buffalo is a pretty intimidating creature.

They look at you like, one: they're not afraid.

And two: they dare you.

[snorting]

[narrator] When it's not bashing heads,

the Cape buffalo is grazing.

Three quarters of its time is devoted to grazing.

And you never know what might be hiding in that tall grass.

This is an animal that is not all that worried about lions,

and that tells you something about just how tough it is.

It's almost, he's screaming, like, "I see you guys."

[narrator] This ungulate isn't tall.

[growling]

Between a metre and a metre and a half.

But it is long and solid.

Two metres from snout to tail.

And it can weigh almost a tonne.

Its horns can span over one metre.

It's this thick, solid piece of bone

that's growing just outside their cranium.

Think of handlebars on a bike.

[narrator] One nod of this bull's handlebars sends a lion running.

[growling]

Mother buffalo are even more assertive.

The bond between cow and calf is long and intense.

Gestation is almost a year. But they nurse these babies

for almost a year as well.

[narrator] Small wonder a Cape buffalo gal is picky

in her choice of mate.

She's looking for the best "boss".

Where the horns come together in the front on the forehead.

It's called a boss. It's like a big medieval plate

that they could use to smash into things.

That ornament is just an amazing signature

that tells so much information,

not just about fighting ability,

but about health, about condition.

[narrator] The bull with the best boss

isn't always the best bull. But it's a start.

If you're a male, you're really interested

in which females are ready to mate,

and you can tell by the way they smell,

but your normal smell pathways

aren't going to tell you the whole story.

[narrator] The Cape buffalo has a specialized organ

in its face to detect the presence of estrous females.

Its curled lip is called the Flehman Response.

It's almost like they're sniffing

and chewing on the odour to get a really good sense

of who is out there.

And so, by doing that, they can smell specifically

for females to find out which ones are ready to mate.

[narrator] When two bulls share an interest in the same female,

the ritual bossing match begins.

They'll do these little head-on-head on tussles

and they'll push back and forth, and they last...

Each bout or round is about ten seconds each.

And it is almost like an imaginary bell ring.

They back off, catch their breath,

and then they go at it again.

[narrator] But if the ritual tête-à-tête doesn't end

in a technical knockout, it's time for the horns to lock.

They get into close contact with another bull

and they just transmit forces

from one back-and-forth to the other.

They're clashing their boss,

clack, clack, clack,

pushing, and they're also moving their head

and they're raking their horns.

They potentially can either grab one another's horns

and kind of take one another off-balance.

[growling]

So they can push each other, twist each other

and try to outmaneuver each other,

so that they can get the upper hand

and show the other bull that they're the one who should win.

[growling]

[narrator] The two bulls lock horns.

The twisting is even more aggressive.

Finally, one has had enough.

And what happens at the very end is really important

because it's not just over when one of them taps out and walks away.

There's a... Part of the ritual is for the male that won

to chase the other one out of the area

as an advertisement to everybody around.

"Look, I won. This other one is leaving.

I just want to make that very clear

so that when I turn around and come back,

if anybody wants to have sex, I'm available."

There's hundreds, sometimes even thousands of animals around,

so it's not worth fighting and dying over.

These super violent, bloody fights are very rare.

Because even though that male may have lost,

he can move on a few hundred yards

and potentially find another clan of females...

[narrator] Potentially.

This powerful boss still has to face a choosy row of judges.

[squawking] [growling]

From the African plains to the skies of North America.

[honking]

Early spring in southern Canada.

And Canada's namesake geese are back home for breeding season.

Time to establish the pecking order.

Canada geese are incredibly powerful animals

and they need that power in almost everything they do.

[narrator] This is a big bird.

Up to 11 kg and over a meter tall.

Their wingspan stretches almost two metres.

Those giant wings require giant muscles.

Muscles they can also use in a fight.

It could happen in the water.

It can happen on land, in the marsh.

These birds are very much primed to be aggressive

to get what they want.

[narrator] The female builds the nest.

But she does much more than roost.

So it's not just the male that's really aggressive.

Pairs of geese are really good teams

when it comes to defending their territory

and their nesting sites against other geese,

including their offspring from the year before.

[narrator] The nest is ready, the eggs are laid.

Time for these Canada geese to stand on guard.

The first line of defence is making a lot of noise

to try to tell that other Canada goose that this is our territory.

You better back off.

[narrator] Honking gives way to hissing.

That's when you know that you're really in trouble

when you hear that hiss.

[hissing]

Geese have these long necks that are incredibly expressive.

[narrator] This is called "the aggressive approach".

[honking]

And they will roll their neck in quick movements

to try to again intimidate these other birds.

And they'll run after the object of their aggression

and they'll kind of scare them away.

[narrator] But the Canada goose's best weapon

is its powerful wings.

Once the wings come out, that's the final straw.

There's a lot of flapping involved, a lot of pecking.

If they're on the water, you can see a lot of splashing.

The whole purpose is for one goose to get the other to retreat.

[narrator] Those long wings conceal the goose version

of a clenched fist.

It's called the alula.

It's really a sort of bony protrusion at the wrist,

but it does stick out and they can actually use it as a weapon.

This is a way of punching your opponent

and you can really hurt them that way.

[narrator] Punching, kicking...

There's nothing it won't do to subdue.

If they cannot defend their territory,

they will get pushed out and another pair or other birds

will come in and take over

and they won't be able to nest in that location.

If they're already nesting, that could be a real threat

to the eggs that are there at that moment.

So it's really life or death for their family

if they can't defend their territory.

[narrator] When a defender gets a gander of an invader,

he gives chase...

They will use their beak to try to bite the other birds,

pluck feathers out.

[narrator] The final thrust leaves his opponent

with no doubt of his status.

Talk about a water foul.

Once they've vanquished their rivals,

the mating pair takes a moment to congratulate themselves.

They will do something called a triumph ceremony,

and this really is like a greeting between the male and female.

And this is something that can happen multiple times a day.

[honking]

They will stick their necks out

at about a 45-degree angle with their beaks open,

and they will raise their necks up and down,

alternating and honking very, very loud.

But it also is presenting a signal to any other birds nearby

that we've got a tight family unit.

And you better back off.

[narrator] For this goose and her gander,

sometimes, it's good to honk your own horn.

[growling] [roaring]

All species fight their own kind...

But for the top of every food chain,

there is no contest. [fly buzzing]

This is an apex alpha.

People call lions the king of the jungle,

that's wrong for two different reasons.

One, they're not in jungles, they're in the savannah,

but two, it's not the king that's doing most of the work.

It's the queen.

[narrator] The real power is behind the throne.

The lionesses are really much more capable hunters

because of their physical structure.

[roaring] [narrator] The male is huge.

Over three-metres long from nose to tail.

Up to 250 kilograms.

The lioness is much more compact.

Females can be up to three-meters long

and weigh up to 180 kg.

The "main" difference is on his head.

The mane is useful for intimidating other males.

But for hunting, it's a big drag.

That gigantic mane,

that, not only will create problems with thermoregulation,

they won't be able to keep themselves as cool

as a female would because she doesn't have as much hair to deal with.

But it's also the weight of the hair,

and it's also... Think about camouflage.

You know, it's going to be a lot harder for a male

to keep himself out of sight with all that hair.

[narrator] And keeping out of sight

is the first rule of the lioness hunt club.

They get low. The ears go down.

They're totally focused on their target.

They wait till the thing is looking away

to make any moves and then freeze again

when the thing's looking back in their direction.

They have to get as close as possible before they're revealed.

It's a sneaking-up strategy that is the only way

they're going to be able to get food.

[narrator] Her lean profile pays dividends at speed.

She can maneuver better. She's more agile.

Females are built to hunt.

They're 30% faster. They can go up to 60 kilometres an hour.

[narrator] But with bigger game, sometimes, fast is not fast enough.

They're not built for speed. They're built for acceleration.

Their top speed is nowhere near

what the top speeds of their prey are,

but they can get to those high speeds much faster.

[roaring]

So as long as they catch up early,

they're going to be able to get their food.

[narrator] Her pounce is powerful.

She can jump on her prey much more easily.

[roaring]

So they just hold on. Zebra kicks as much as it wants.

[narrator] Catching up and even catching the prey

may still not be enough.

That's when the beauty of the pride comes in.

[narrator] Another set of helping claws makes the difference.

They're very observant of one another,

and they're really communicative to ensure

that they all work towards the same goal.

There are many different kinds of cats in the world.

But there's only one that has figured out

how to hunt socially, and that's the lion.

And it's made a huge difference

to the number of animals they can take down.

[narrator] Regardless of the menu, this apex alpha

brings powerful tools to the table.

They have these retractable claws

that they can use to hold onto an animal.

They have extremely powerful muscles they can use

to pull that animal down to the ground and get it on its back.

They'll just grab a hold of the neck

and start to pull it down. They'll use their body weight.

But ultimately, the death blow comes from those teeth.

Those canines are perfectly suited to biting into the neck

and either severing the spinal cord

or just choking the animal until it suffocates.

They will hold it so that that animal can't breathe

for up to ten minutes until it's dead.

[narrator] Just as dinner is served, a party crasher arrives.

[roaring]

Here's the disgusting part about lion culture.

The females have done all this work,

they've taken down the prey, then the male struts over

and he gets to eat first.

This is really just a bonus that he gets

from having been built to fight with other males.

He's really built to fight lions

more than he is to take down prey.

So he's really there as kind of the bodyguard

of the pride.

And the lionesses really take care of the logistics

behind the scenes and keep everybody fed and safe.

[narrator] This apex alpha takes everything in stride.

We think of lions, we think of the big,

dominant male with the giant mane.

And although they're formidable,

it's the lioness that's really running the show.

The real apex predator is the lioness.

She's calling the shots because the lionesses

are the ones that not only take care of the young,

but they go out and they are the ones

who bring home the warthog bacon.

[narrator] But for this apex hunter, tonight,

she has wildebeest back on the menu.

[roaring]

Temperamental parents...

Brawny showdowns...

[roaring] Unrelenting focus...

When winning is a matter of life or death,

the force better be with you.