All language subtitles for Gladiators 02

(WAVES CRASH)

NARRATOR:
Sun-drenched coastlines.

Vast forests of eucalyptus.

Rolling grasslands.

The animals that thrive
in this Australian wilderness...

(HOWLS)

...are some of the most iconic...

(SNARLS)

...and deadly, on Earth.

(BIRDSONG)

But a great shift is underway.

Born of climate change,

wildfires and flooding

are hammering the continent.

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

The ancient status quo
has been disrupted,

allowing new leaders to emerge.

Along a small stretch of coastline,

the shifting conditions create
new opportunities

for those bold enough to take them.

A chance for animal gladiators
to conquer new territory...

settle old scores...

and to fight to survive.

Among the coastal grasslands,

an Australian icon is on the move.

His kind have existed here
for 15 million years.

Eastern Gray Kangaroo.

A large and muscular marsupial.

But this male
has fallen on tough times.

Last year a wildfire
ripped through his territory,

forcing him and his mob to flee

and take shelter
in this new valley.

The dominant male,
who ruled over the mob

didn't make it.

He was in charge
of maintaining harmony

in this highly social group.

He kept the other males in check

and was the mob's main protector.

So now a new leader
must rise through the ranks.

And Gray has his eye
on the top job.

But he's not the only one
with his sights on the crown.

Several other bucks also
fancy themselves for the role.

Whoever succeeds

will carry the safety of the mob
on their shoulders,

because their new valley
is fraught with danger.

(HOWLING)

(HOWLING)

(HOWLING, BARKING)

Dingoes.
(HOWLING)

The wily gangsters
of these coastal grasslands.

Fierce carnivores.

And one of the few
natural enemies of kangaroos.

Two of the dingoes
break from the pack

and move to ambush the kangaroos
from the thick scrub.

Gray's cat-like hearing,
senses their approach.

(BIRDS CALL)

It's an opportunity
for him to prove his worth

and protect the group.

Thumping the ground
with his hind feet,

he signals to the mob to flee.

Gray races off

and the mob follows.

But the dingoes try to slow them

by funnelling them up
a steep valley.

They're looking to pick off
a young straggler.

Huge tendons in Gray's hind legs
work like springs,

they absorb energy
with each foot strike,

and release it
with explosive force.

He picks a safe route
for the mob to follow.

Dingoes can reach speeds
close to 50 kilometres an hour.

But in open terrain
kangaroos can do 65.

Gray's clawed feet pound
the ground like a jackhammer,

guiding the group
past the rocky scrub

and into the open valley.

From here, it's a footrace.

The dingoes have no chance.

Gray's quick thinking has shown
he has the makings of a leader.

But his greatest battle
is yet to come.

Across this arena,

animals of all kinds are adapting
to life after the fire.

But one in particular,

the extreme conditions
have worked in its favour.

The hollow where she lives

is littered with the spoils
of past battles.

Victims seized
as they fled the wildfires.

She's perhaps the most iconic
of all Australian arachnids.

Redback.

One of the most venomous spiders
in the world.

As this stretch of coast
has become hotter and more hostile,

redbacks have rolled
with the punches.

Originating in the deserts
of Western Australia,

they've quickly adapted
to the shifting climate

by pushing into new
territory here.

Redback is a newcomer
in this arena,

and she's on a campaign to
increase her stake on this land.

Right now,
she's hatching her plan.

She's brewing
a chemical weapon.

In the glands around her mouth,

she's combining a deadly concoction
of enzymes and toxins.

When injected, this venom will cause
extreme pain and paralysis.

But Redback
is no larger than a pea,

and she'll remain in the same spot
for most of her adult life.

So, her plan is to get an
unsuspecting victim

to come to her.

(BIRDSONG)

(BIRDSONG)

NARRATOR: As fires and rising
temperatures blight the land,

the effects are being felt
in the waters too.

A warming ocean and overfishing

have made food
harder to find here,

making the battle for resources
underwater tougher than ever.

Even for one of the most
efficient hunters.

Great White Shark.

Evolution made his kind
such effective predators

that they've remained unchanged
for millions of years.

But the world around him
is shifting.

With fewer fish in the ocean,

the seal colonies he hunts
have shrunk.

So he's travelled thousands of
kilometres through open water,

to find better hunting grounds.

He's come to the right spot.

An exposed stretch
of rugged coastline.

This is home to another
elite predator.

Fur Seal.

She was born on this beach
15 years ago.

The changing ocean
has affected her too.

She must swim
ever further offshore

to reach increasingly
depleted fish stocks.

The shallows close to shore
are Fur Seal's safe place.

But 30 metres out,

a steep drop-off
gives way to a labyrinth

of kelp beds and dark gullies.

The best food is beyond here.

But so too is Great White Shark.

And he's already on her tail.

Fur Seal's scent is irresistible.

Great White's nose is the most
powerful of all sharks'.

Other exacting senses
draw him closer still.

Detectors around his nose

feel the electromagnetic currents
emitted by Fur Seal's muscles.

And as he draws closer still,

he zeros in on the pulsing
of her heart.

Fur Seal is equipped
to avoid him.

Like a cat,
the linings of her large eyes

reflect and amplify weak light.

Flexible joints
between her vertebrae

enable her spine
to bend back on itself.

She beats her powerful
front flippers

to propel herself
away from the shark

and rockets to the safety
of the shallows.

Perhaps this isn't the best time
to go fishing.

But sooner or later
she'll have to.

It's not just her own survival
at stake.

Up on the rocks,
her three-month-old pup.

(BARKS)

There's no shortage
of dangers up here, either.

Aggressive breeding males

have a careless attitude
towards the colony's young.

This amped-up bull could
easily crush Fur Seal's pup.

(SNARLING)

She moves to draw
his attention away

from her vulnerable youngster.

The male is over three times
her weight.

But what Fur Seal lacks in bulk

she makes up for
in know-how and bravery.

She throws open her jaws

to give the male a full show
of her curved canines.

His thick blubber
acts like body armour.

But the male
has an Achilles heel.

Fur Seal sinks her canines
into his exposed neck.

(SNARLS)

Her painful bite
has the desired effect.

With her pup watching,

Fur Seal has demonstrated
a vital rule.

Bigger doesn't always mean better.

As the tougher conditions continue
to put pressure on this arena,

there's a resourceful wanderer
in the tree line

who has reaped great benefits.

This is Bull Ant.

After the fire
blazed through here,

it left an abundance of dead insects
for her colony to dine on.

With each day, she's getting
stronger, fitter and bigger.

Evolving in Australia's extremes
for millions of years

Bull Ant is a giant
of the ant world,

a full four centimetres long.

And she's endowed
with an impressive armoury.

Up front,
giant scythe-like mandibles.

At the back,
a venom-loaded stinger.

Most ants have poor vision

but Bull Ant's huge compound eyes
give her superior eyesight,

exceptional for navigating
and finding food

in all light levels.

Her vision rivals that of a dog.

She uses her extra-large eyes

to scan and memorize landmarks
in her environment,

and spot her next meal
from up to a metre away.

It's one of her favourites.

Packed with energy.

But the larvae in her colony
need protein to grow.

She needs to find something
a little... meatier.

She must tread carefully.

There are bigger predators
prowling the woodland.

Ant's jaws are on a hair-trigger.

A thousand fast-twitch
muscle fibres fire together

to clamp its mouthparts
tightly around the moth.

But the moth fights back.

It sheds a cloud of dusty scales
to throw Bull Ant off her stride.

She's temporarily blinded,

But she rallies,

and uses her superior strength

to get the moth
just where she wants it.

Then, she triggers her
needle-sharp hypodermic stinger

to deliver a deadly shot of venom.

The moth isn't dead,
just paralyzed.

Bull Ant must drag it
back to the colony,

where she'll pull it apart
and feed it to the larvae.

It weighs three times more
than she does.

But Bull Ant is a power-lifter.

She can carry loads
up to 50 times her own weight.

She drags the catch
back to her nest.

Beyond the tree line...

(SNORTS)

...Gray is gaining stature
within the mob.

But it's a rival buck
that makes the first move.

The flex is an unmistakable
display of dominance.

In the searing 40-degree heat,
everyone is on edge.

Gray must keep his cool.

Resting kangaroos can't sweat,

so they pant rapidly,
and lick their arms.

(FLIES BUZZ)

Worse still,
the extreme temperature

has unleashed a wave
of pestering flies.

The cracks in the mob
are beginning to show.

They need a new leader
to bring calm and security

now more than ever.

Even the rookies
are flexing their muscles.

They're not long out of Mum's pouch,

but already they're eager
to prove their grit

to anyone...

or anything.

A kick here.

A jab there.

Extra points
if your opponent runs away.

Scuffles like this
are just play fights.

A way to practice
their boxing skills

and build their muscles.

These joeys are still a long way
from leader material.

But Gray carries the hallmarks
of a real mob boss.

He's big, with bulging biceps

and bags of attitude.

He weighs 70 kilograms,
half of which is pure muscle,

and stands close to
two and a half metres tall.

But so does this opponent.

(GROWLS)

Gray emits a low guttural growl,

an attempt to state
his dominance.

The rival retorts
with a full body flex,

trying to scare Gray
into submission.

If Gray is to become leader...

(BARKS)

...it's clear he must get physical
with this challenger.

(GROWLS)

This won't be a play fight.

(GROWLS)

The fighters go toe-to-toe.

Gray, in the left corner,

attempts to stare down
his competition.

But the challenger
holds his gaze

in a bid to intimidate him.

Neither is willing back down.

(GROWLS)

It's time for Gray to be smart.

He pushes the challenger
backwards,

trying to assert
his heavyweight credentials.

But he mustn't commit too soon.

These dominance battles
can last for days.

And the challenger's low kicks
show that he's game for a fight.

As darkness falls,
the fighters disengage.

But their battle
is just getting started.

(WIND WHISTLES)

(SEALS BARK)

From the safety of dry land,

Fur Seal has been diligently
raising her pup

over the first four months
of his life.

Her milk is some of the
most nutritious

in the entire animal kingdom.

But to keep producing it,
Fur Seal must eat.

But the bony fish, squid,
and octopus she hunts

are harder to find

and further from shore than ever.

To reach them,

she must run the gauntlet
against Great White.

(BARKS)

On land, Fur Seal
is ungainly and cumbersome.

(BARKS)

But in water...

she's an athlete.

On a single foraging trip,

she can travel 200 kilometres
from her home base.

Her plan is to sneak past
Great White,

feed up on fish and squid,
and return safely to her pup.

She passes the drop-off.

Her single breath
will last close to ten minutes.

After that,
she'll need to break for air.

It's when she'll be most exposed.

The kelp beds provide ideal cover
for Great White.

His dark upper body blends
with the shadowy depths,

making him hard to see from above.

So, his tactic is to find
distracted seals near the surface

and ambush them from below.

Fur Seal stays close
to the sea floor.

She's memorized foraging routes

past every boulder and gully
in these kelp beds.

It's like a built-in GPS

and it allows her
to find a safe path through.

She's past the first hurdle.

But to return to her pup,

she'll need to slip past the shark
a second time.

She catches her breath.

And now it's time to feed.

In the deeper water,
she locates a huge shoal.

Her thick, wiry whiskers,

packed with nerve endings
at the base,

are highly sensitive to movement

allowing her to home in
on a single fish

and make millimetre adjustments
to make the kill.

After an hour of feeding,

it's time for her
to head back to shore.

But Great White
is on high alert,

and this time he picks up
on Fur Seal's approach.

He's precision engineered
for this scenario.

Tiny structures all over his
skin work to reduce drag,

enabling him to swim fast
and silently.

To avoid getting caught
in the open water,

Fur Seal weaves
amongst the gullies.

Keeping low
makes her less exposed

to a surprise ambush.

But her air supply's dwindling.

She must break
for the surface soon.

From deep below,

Great White spots her.

As he accelerates,
it creates a pressure wave.

Fur Seal senses it,

weaves in a zig-zag

and dodges the shark's jaws
by a few centimetres.

Great White's muscular body
gives him deadly speed,

but he's not built for endurance.

His failure to kill
with his first strike

has slashed his chance of success.

Fur Seal makes a bolt
to the shallows.

But she's in a dead end,
with no place to haul out.

The shark has her cornered.

So she uses the underwater
landscape to her advantage.

She keeps close to the rocks.

Great White can see her,

but he's too big to manoeuvre
this close to the jagged shore.

If she can stay out of reach,
she'll tire out the shark,

and he will be forced
to give up.

But she goes one step further.

She circles round and swims
in Great White's blind spot.

Great White is disorientated
and losing energy.

It gives Fur Seal
the chance she needs

to make a break
through the shallows

along the coast,
to a safe place to haul out.

Great White resets.

And, in the deeper water,

turns his attention to a group
of less experienced seals.

Four huge muscles do the work
to clamp his jaws shut,

as 50 serrated teeth
puncture the seal's body.

Fur Seal is reunited
with her pup.

(SEAL CALLS)

Great White may have vanquished
one from the colony,

but Fur seal has shown that her kind
can best a bigger, stronger foe.

And by safely delivering
another rich meal to her pup,

Fur Seal is helping ensure

that her colony continues to grow
and thrive along this coast.

(BIRDSONG)

Back inland,

among the dry coastal woodland,

Redback's strategy
is entering its next stage.

She starts to spin silk.

Rappelling down,
she pulls her thread behind

and fixes it in place,

then returns to the roof

and attaches the other end
of the line.

Line after line,
she weaves her tangle web.

By the time she's done,

she's laid 70 tripwires.

It's a finely engineered trap.

Bull Ant is on another foray
to feed her colony's young.

Redback's lair is the sort of place
a meal could be lurking.

Impelled to forage for her colony,

she tries to pick her way
through the labyrinth of wires.

The trap springs like elastic.

She's snared.

The high-tensile lines
are tougher than Kevlar

and coated in liquid silk

that acts as an instant glue,
fixing it to the ant's body.

The vibrations tell Redback
her trap has been sprung.

By sheer strength,

Bull Ant is able to pull free
of some of the lines.

But Redback's trap
is too extensive.

Redback goes on the offensive.

Ant tries to grab her
with her mandibles,

but runs into another
sticky snare.

She braces against the line
with her clawed feet.

It's stuck fast.

Redback lunges.

A chance for Ant to grasp
the spider with her jaws.

But Redback smothers them
with silk.

Combing out the thread
with her back legs,

she binds Ant's mouthparts,
like a muzzle on a dog.

Each new strand wraps
Ant's mandibles tighter,

neutralizing her primary weapon.

But Ant still has her deadly sting.

She arches her back,
trying to reach the spider.

She can inject six times
as much venom as a bee

if she can get close enough.

But she's tiring.

Escape is all but impossible.

Bull Ant tries to land
a fatal sting as her final move.

But she's overwhelmed with silk.

Only now can Redback move closer,

to deliver a fatal bite.

With two pin-sharp fangs,

she injects
her neurotoxic cocktail.

Its effect on Bull Ant's
nervous system is almost instant.

Slowly, Redback begins to feed.

Her reward,

a vital meal that will keep her
going over the coming weeks.

And as the southern coast's climate
becomes increasingly extreme,

Redback's kind will continue
to expand their range here.

(BIRDSONG)

(HAWK CALLS)

While Redback
is tasting victory,

Gray is preparing
to go another round.

(LOW GROWLS)

The previous night was a chance
for Gray's challenger to back down.

But today, he's back

and even more fired up
for the fight.

An all-out battle for dominance
is now unavoidable.

The prize, to become
the undisputed champion...

(GROWLS)

...and take the title
of Mob Boss.

Gray's opponent
makes the first advance.

But Gray countermoves,
with a burst of flying kicks

and a volley of punches.

(SNARLS)

Their muscular forepaws,
tipped with sharp claws,

are nature's knuckledusters.

If Gray lands one right,

he can blind his opponent.

But the challenger
throws back his head

to keep it out of reach.

So Gray changes tack.

He moves to grapple his opponent...

(GROWLING)

...and throw him off his feet.

His opponent shrugs it off,
so Gray steps it up a gear.

Using his metre-long tail
for support,

Gray lashes out with both legs.

His double-barrelled kicks hit with
the force of a heavyweight boxer.

Just one of these clawed kicks
could disembowel a human.

But thickened belly skin
enables his opponent

to withstand multiple strikes.

So Gray picks his moment

and delivers
a gut-crushing shot.

(GROWLING)

His opponent is left reeling.

Gray in the left corner
has the upper hand,

but he must keep up the pressure.

It's now a battle of attrition,
a true test of grit.

Gray's opponent is wounded
from the belly shot and tiring.

(GROWLS)

But still, he won't back down.

So Gray goes in
for a final strike.

And this time,
it's too much for his rival.

(BARKS)

Gray has won the title
of Mob Boss.

The loser must decide
whether to get in line

as a lower-ranked male

or leave
and move elsewhere.

The power vacuum has been filled.

With Gray now in charge,

security and order
can return to this group.

(BIRDSONG)

Along this stretch
of wild Australian coastline,

brave animals have risked it all.

(SEAL BARKS)

An underdog seal
has outwitted its ancient foe.

A champion boxer has been crowned.

And Redback's patient strategy
overwhelmed her quarry.

Extreme conditions and hunger

will continue to challenge
all who live here.

But they've proven themselves
true survivors...

(GULLS CRY)

...earning the right to live
and fight another day...

(HOWLING)

...in the badlands of wild Australia.