All language subtitles for y11

[narrator] Loners. The
strong, silent types.

Loners that have everything
they need to get the job done.

[narrator] They're solitary, reclusive...

They're not trying to be
around others.

But if they come into contact,

some type of fight might begin.

[narrator] But "me time"
isn't all the time.

Whether it's a deadly tango

or an apex alpha
at a table for one...

They don't just look like
a leopard,

they act like a leopard.

[narrator] It may not be fast...

That is a boulder with feet.

[narrator] ...but it's always furious.

They smash it against
the surface of the water

to rip it apart.

[narrator] Everyday,
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.

As the wind blows across
the Galapagos Islands,

the native giant is doing
what he does best.

It is a very easy, sedate life
for the Galapagos tortoise.

They spend at least 16 hours
a day doing...

nothing.

[narrator] While the Galapagos
finches feed on his parasites,
the giant tortoise can wait.

This loner can pass an entire
year without eating

or drinking anything.

But today he's hungry.

Which is why he's on the move.

He's on the path
to his cactus tree.

By acquiring this cactus tree,
acquiring this food,

they're also having this
second benefit

of potentially luring females
closer to them,

which would benefit
in the mating process.

[narrator] But his cactus tree
is on the other side
of the island.

And his top speed
is six kilometres...

a day.

It takes time to move
a boulder up a mountain.

The giant Galapagos tortoise
totally lives up to its name.

They can reach five feet
in length.

And about 230 kilograms,
about 500 pounds.

That is a boulder with feet.

[narrator] Our hero is
making headway.

But there's a problem.

Another male tortoise
is on the path.

Don't forget these are loners.

They're not trying to be
around others.

But if they come into contact,
some type of fight,

some type of altercation
might begin.

[narrator] The tortoise alphas
must still compete

for resources and for
the attention of females.

The adrenaline starts pumping... slowly.

These animals
will fight quite regularly.

It's just you might not notice
them doing it.

It's a little bit subtle
and it's a little bit boring.

When we think of fights,
we think of punches

and we think of thrashing.

It is essentially the world's
longest staring contest.

They're glaring.
They're really making
direct eye contact.

Their mouths are gaping open.

It's not what we would think
of as a fight,

but to them, they think
it's a fight.

[narrator] Then again,
these combatants

put the emphasis on
"veteran".

On average, they're living
to be about 100 years old,

which is already mind blowing
for us, humans, us mere mortals.

However, they actually have
been known

to live up to 175 years old,
which is crazy.

[narrator] Imagine being
175 years old

and carrying your house
on your back while fighting.

The giant Galapagos tortoise's
shell is not as heavy

or as cumbersome
as you might think.

It's really just a cluster
of these honeycomb shaped structures

that contain air chambers that
can actually sometimes

make it easier for the turtle
to walk and move itself.

[narrator] And fight...
tortoise style.

As huge as he is,

even this giant
knows he's out-bigged.

The defensive turtle might
then have what is called a head withdrawal,

when it actually will tuck
its head into its shell

and really bottle itself up
much more tightly.

[narrator] That hissing sound
is not an expression

of animal emotion.

It's the sound of air escaping
the lungs

as the tortoise draws his head
inside and closes the shutters.

If a fight continues
to escalate

that's the point where they
draw their swords, if you will.

But in this case, their swords
are actually their necks.

Really, what's key here is
their incredibly muscular necks.

And their necks aren't
necessarily muscular

so that they can hold up
their heads

cause their heads
aren't very heavy or big.

But the reason they have these
muscular necks

is so that they can extend
and withdraw their neck

very quickly.

They will come together
face on

and then look to extend
their necks as far as they can.

[narrator] Those mouths
can rip into a cactus.

But a bite is the least
of their concerns.

They're just trying
to show each other who has
the longer neck.

Nothing to do with their overall
body size,

but the height that
they can get their neck to.

That is what determines
the victor.

That one is always the winner.

[narrator] Our prickly hero
gets to have his cactus

and eat it too.

There is some consolation
for the loser.

You have less energy, you move
slower, but you live longer.

[narrator] He has time
on his side.

[intense music]

From ancient outsiders
to slithering solitaries.

Spring in Gloucestershire, England

A male European adder.

All alone
with a bad hangover.

He's recovering from the snake
version of hibernation.

You'd have thought
there'd be two things that
they most want to do:

eat and find a mate.

But that is not the case.
The first thing they must do

is warm up and bask.

[narrator] The European adder
is the most northerly

venomous snake in the world.

So sunshine is a precious resource.

He doesn't want
to deal with anybody else.

He just wants to lie in the sun

and build up sperm
so that he can multiply.

They need that sunshine
to actually maturate the sperm,

so that they can then go and
find a female and mate with her.

[narrator] Snakes don't rely
on eyesight.

Finding a mate is more
a matter of common scents.

When they flick that
tongue out and they whip it
through the air,

the tongue will collect
particles of scent,

these chemical signals.
It's then brought back into
the mouth,

and it's stuffed up
into a chamber above the mouth

called the Jacobson's organ.

It weighs up pretty much
the amount of chemical on

this lobe versus this lobe
of the tongue.

And if there's more on
the right than there is
on the left,

it sends a signal to the brain
saying turn right.

But the one slight issue is

there'll be a number
of male adders

that may well have picked up
that same pheromone

from that very same female who
will be thinking,

"This is my opportunity
to mate."

[narrator] And when they do,
the race is on.

They will make a beeline
to any potential female.

[narrator] Time to prove who is
the badder adder.

Now there are a number
of rules.

First and foremost, of course,
they have no legs and no arms,

so there's no punching each
other and no kicking each other.

And it's wonderfully described
as an adder dance.

Because they will go
face-to-face

or they will go back-to-back.

[narrator] These legless
dancers can stretch

85 centimetres.

They will rear up, at least
half the snake will come up,

and they will often entwine
belly-to-belly

or get completely coiled together.

[narrator] There's one weapon
an adder won't use

in a fight with a rival.

The one thing they don't do
is bite each other.

And it's interesting
they don't use their most
formidable weapon

because they could be
wasting venom,

which is energetically
expensive to make.

And they don't want to be
wiping out their own species

and leaving just
female adders around.

[narrator] Is it the tango?
Or is it the twist?

It's a pushing and
shoving match.

And frequently they'll fall
over, and they'll rear up again,

and entwine, and then push
each other right down again.

If you win this dance, you've
got a chance to have kids.

And for the most northern
of all the vipers,

that is very, very important.

And eventually, slowly,
one will start to dominate.

And that basically comes
down to this test of stamina

and a test of strength.

The heaviest snake is the one
that is the most successful

because he's got more leverage.

He can get higher into the air

and beat his opponent down
into the ground.

[narrator] At last,
the loser slithers off.

But the alpha isn't home free.

It's a tough environment
living this far north
latitude-wise.

And quite often the females
will only rear young

at best every couple of years.

[narrator] To aid in mating,

the male adder is blessed
with not one but two penises.

And the male actually
has what's called hemipenes.

He has two hemipenises.

They look just like
a small "V",

and he only uses one of those
hemipenises to mate with.

[narrator] When it comes to
mating position and frequency,

scientists theorize
that two is better than one.

He'll insert
into the female's vent,

and it's not a quick process.
It can last several hours.

This is also a really good way
of keeping other males away.

Because if you're taking a long
time to mate with a female,

it means that other males
can't mate with her.

So the longer you can take
making love to your lady adder,

the better.

[narrator] But the northern sun
is warming more males.

More challengers.

And the female adder
has her own agenda.

She wants the best for
her eggs, the absolute best.

But that might be from three
or four or five males,

so she'll breed multiple times
with the best of the best.

[narrator] These snake babies
may each have

different daddy adders...

but the winners will never know
their sperm was not alone.

[intense music]

From solo snakes
to lonesome lizards.

Southern Europe.

The lacerta lizard.

Normally, they love
to sunbathe alone.

But these days,
the males are restless.

Because even the most solitary
lizard needs another lizard

at least for a short while.

And that's all the time he has.

Their mating season,
their period of time they
have to mate,

may only be about one month.
But in some cases,

it's actually been reported
as short as 17 days.

And with that kind of
pressure to...

set your genes on
for the next generation,

males are willing to go
to great lengths

to bag themselves a female.

[narrator] And that means fighting.

They're incredibly aggressive
when it comes to

their mating season
and courtship.

[narrator] The first
close encounter.

A showdown for show-offs.

They're trying to look big.

They're trying
to look ferocious.

Because size in lizards
really does matter.

[narrator] Larger males can
reach 20 centimetres in length.

If one's clearly larger, the
other one's likely to back away.

[narrator] Colour is another
alpha marker.

Lacerta lizards
get greener as they age.

So, the greener the lizard,
the more seasoned the mate.

And so that's also why
we see younger males

typically reproducing less
than older males

because again,
that green colour is really

what's attractive to females.

So the males, if they see
someone who is as green as them,

or maybe even greener, well they
will go green with envy.

[narrator] And as they
get greener, they get meaner.

They're both maybe eyeing
the same female.

They're going to show a lot of
different forms of aggression.

So one might be that
they arch their backs.

One might be that they really
puff out their throat.

[narrator] That's the threat
display the human eye can see.

But the competitor
sees something we cannot.

Science has found that
the throats of very healthy,

very successful males have
a higher UV reflectivity

than those of less
successful males.

We have scientific
backing showing

that when a male has less
UV reflectivity,

it is more probable that
it is going to be the individual

to back down from a fight.

It's essentially a way
of saying,

"I'm fit, I'm healthy,
I get loads of food,

and to show that look how much
UV I can reflect from my chest."

Because that costs
biological money

to put on that kind
of internal sun cream.

[narrator] If the two rivals
are mutually green and mean,

things get rough.

These lizards will actually
flip each other over

and it can be
pretty aggressive.

They're scratching.
They're wrestling.

They're looking to overpower
and pin their opponent.

And they're going to use
their mouths to do that.

That's the best tool
that they've got.

So they're looking to bite
around the head,

around the neck,
force the opponent down

and get them to submit
and accept that

they're bigger, badder,
and better.

And actually, we have seen
that older lizards that have,

you know, been through it for
more time than younger lizards

will have scars, you know,
and previous lacerations

noticeable on their body.

These battles can actually
result in really significant damage.

[narrator]
Like a severed tail.

Scientists believe the tail
continues twitching

to distract attackers.

But even a missing tail is
not the end of the love story.

This alpha lost a tail
and he's still found a mate.

He now directs his aggression
into courtship.

So what they tend to do is
attack the female,

which sounds completely insane,

but it's more of a love nip
than a full-on bite.

And they will start biting
the female around the base
of her tail.

Often that's to position
the female to ensure that

she's in the right angle
for him to effectively mate
with her.

[narrator] But the male lacerta
is not in the clear.

There is a bit of a catch. Ultimately,

the male that breeds or
mates last with the female,

that's typically the one
that's going to fertilize that
female's offspring.

And so, because of that,
these lizards will actually

partake in what
we call mate guarding.

[narrator] By preventing
any other male from mating with
the female,

this lizard is covering
a lot of bases.

It serves lots of purposes.
It is a marking territory.

It's saying, "Look,
this is my mate.

Back off, you know,
I've got this close.

Don't bother.
I'm going to mate with her."

They're aggressive
before mating.

They're aggressive
after mating.

And they're pretty much just
going to be aggressive

for that entire
17-day-to-one-month
window they have

to initiate this courtship behaviour

and propagate their genes.

[narrator] Mission
accomplished.

This lacerta can enjoy
his solitude once again.

All species
fight their own kind...

But for the top of every
food chain,

there is no contest,

this is an apex alpha.

[***]

With a reptilian-like head,

menacing teeth,

and a killer appetite,

leopard seals are one of
the most dangerous predators

in Antarctica.

When it comes to finding food,

leopard seals don't need help
from their friends.

They are perfectly capable
solo artists.

They're loners that have
everything they need

to get the job done
by themselves.

[narrator] Of the six
species of seals that live
in the Antarctic,

leopard seals are the most fearsome.

They don't just look
like a leopard.

They act like a leopard.

They are seriously
dangerous predators.

In fact, they are one
of the top predators

that you will find
in the Antarctic circle.

They eat pretty much
everything and they have nothing

to worry about except
for maybe the occasional orca.

And even then, if the leopard
seal is close enough to land

or a big lump of ice,
it can jump out

and wait until
the orca gets bored.

That's a pretty handy
escape method.

I mean, the leopard seals
are at the top.

[narrator] And they've got
one brutal behaviour

that sets them apart.

They regularly hunt other seals

They are so big,
they are so powerful,

that they will eat the babies
of other species

that live in their habitat.

[narrator] This is an adult female.

She's a big girl
and she's looking for supper.

The females get bigger
than the males,

and the females will potentially
do three and a half,

perhaps pushing four meters.

Males are usually a bit smaller,
'round about two meters.

So it is a seriously sized beast.

[narrator] She's patrolling
a tidal cove.

A spot she chose deliberately.

It's summer in the Antarctic

and rocky beaches
are teeming with new life.

We see with things
like penguins

and also things like
polar seals,

that they have very specific
areas of Antarctica

that they regularly come
and go from.

These are like the highways of
Antarctica for these creatures.

So the leopard seal knows

where the most business
is going to be.

[narrator] Not only
has she picked the spot,

she's chosen the time too.

They know which prey to go for
at which time of day.

So if it's nighttime,
they can get krill

that are coming up closer
to the surface.

But during the day,

that's when it goes into
full-leopard predator mode.

So it likes to stalk its prey.

It's an incredible
ambush hunter.

It's very intelligent,
and on the menu

are things like seabirds
and fish.

But the prize meat,
the creme de la creme,

are the penguins
and the baby seals.

[narrator] Which is exactly
what she's here for.

A fur seal pup,
just a month or two old,

not yet wise enough to know
what lurks in the shallows.

So the leopard seal will stalk
these pupping grounds

where the seal pups are
just keeping its eyes

and the tip of its nose
out of the water to be able

to breathe, take in the scents,
keep an eye on its prey.

And it will wait until one
of the pups has got close enough

to the edge of the water
that it can literally leap
from the sea,

grab one,
and pull it back in.

[narrator] It's a hunting
strategy they use specifically
for pups.

When penguins are on the menu,
they switch it up.

Leopard seals will hide
underneath the ice

on the edge of the ice shelf
just where the penguins

are about to jump in.

And as soon as they do jump in,

the leopard seal will strike
out from under the ice,

from undercover,
and grab hold of one.

It's an apex predator
that has a whole bunch of
tools in its toolbox

for how to take down
different kinds of prey.

[narrator] This ravenous female
makes her move...

Her jaw opens wide
then clamps down hard.

Leopard seal is a huge animal,

but the real trick
to its success is its mouth.

I mean, that's really
the business end.

It has the longest jaw
of any seal in the world,

and it can open that jaw
incredibly wide.

That means that they can
access a whole range of prey.

You don't want to be in an area
like the Antarctic,

where every meal counts,
and come across something

that you cannot physically eat.

The leopard seal
doesn't worry about that.

[narrator] Her
2,5-centimetre-long canines

pierce deep
into the pup's hide.

Then, she begins thrashing.

Leopard seals have a mouth.

They don't have hands.

They don't even have shearing
teeth to cut things up,

so to chew the meat up.

So to take an animal apart,
they are pretty ingenious.

They take the animal
and they smash it

against the surface of the water
to rip it apart.

And if they didn't have that
genius strategy,

there'd be no way
to actually get the food
into their bellies.

[narrator] It looks ruthless
and exhausting.

After smashing a meal
to smithereens,

you might think
it's time for a break.

But no, this apex alpha
just keeps going.

They basically feed
nearly all day.

In fact, the average
foraging/feeding period

for a leopard seal is around
about 17 hours.

So they are always
on the munch.

[narrator] Female leopard seals
have been recorded

catching up to eight penguins
a day

and as many as four pups
an hour.

Female leopard seals are
so successful at what they do,

that one study has shown that
75 % of hunts result in a kill.

And that is pretty good going.

[narrator] They don't miss and
they don't share.

Males are rarely seen
at the same hunting grounds.

Now, the male leopard seals
really don't get a chance

to hunt seal pups.

The seal pupping grounds
are the best territories,

so they've not got a hope
of displacing a big,

powerful female.

But even then, among
the female leopard seals,

studies have shown that
it's only a very small cadre

of massive, dominant females
that control

all the hunting grounds
of the seal pups.

[narrator] This lone hunter has
finally had her fill.

She hauls out to rest.

And while she may look
clunky here,

when she returns to the water
she'll once again transform

into a ruthless,
calculating predator.

Untapped venom,

solitary confinement,

ancient warriors...

Teamwork has its advantages.

But for some alphas

battle is strictly DIY.