All language subtitles for Gladiators 03

(SOFT MUSIC)
(RAINFOREST AMBIENCE)

The rainforest.

The busiest and most diverse habitat
on Earth.

(BIRD TWEETS)

Home to half of all plant
and animal species,

living cheek by jowl...

(LEOPARD GROWLS)

...in tightly packed communities.

Here, in the Americas,

it's hot, humid,

and unforgiving.

(THUNDER)

Up to 2 metres of rain falls
each year.

But for a few, short months,
the clouds give way...

...to blue skies
and unbroken sunshine.

In this brief dry spell,

animal fighters
step from the shadows

to make the most
of the fine weather.

Along one stretch of jungle river,

it's the time for
a new generation of creatures

to learn the brutal rules
of the forest.

These novices must face
their rivals...

...fight to secure a mate...

...and battle for the best food.

Their arena is littered with danger.

The competition is fierce.

Only the toughest
will taste victory.

(SNAKE HISSES)

(GROWL)

Beneath towering trees,
a winding river cuts its path.

With the rains abating,

the current is already
beginning to slow.

For one young animal,
it signals a big change.

(SOFT, DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Caiman.

His kind first spread
through these jungles

more than 60 million years ago.

At five years old, Caiman is still
on his way to maturity.

This dry season
is his time to prove himself.

In the drier months,

this stretch of river has everything
this young hunter needs.

As the water level drops,

the fish are forced
into ever smaller pockets.

Caiman has the perfect strategy,
to catch them.

(CAIMAN HISSES)

He fills his lungs with air to float
motionless at the waterline.

Faint vibrations
from fish swimming nearby

ring like a dinner bell.

His timing must be perfect.

He strikes in under 50 milliseconds.

Caiman's prime fishing spot
hasn't gone unnoticed.

Other males want to fish here, too.

(GROWLS)

He emits an infrasonic rumble.

(GROWLS)

His message is clear...

...this territory is taken.

(GROWLS)

The violent vibrations from his
scaly back, make the water dance.

It's a visual display
to attract mates

and intimidate nearby males.

(GROWLS)

Under the water,
it's a thunderous roar

that can ward off rivals
up to 2 kilometres away.

One older, larger male,
is undeterred.

He senses Caiman's inexperience...

...and wants to challenge him
for this territory.

(LOW GROWLING)

(LOW GROWLING)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC BUILDS)

(CRUNCHING)

Caiman locks on.

Jaws lined with over 70 cone-shaped
teeth hold his rival fast.

It secures him an early advantage.

(HISSING)

He has his rival pinned,

with one of the most powerful bites
in nature.

But the muscles that open
these predators' jaws

are relatively weak,

it's impossible to push back.

Instead, his opponent
can only rely on his defences.

A reinforced bone
above his eye socket,

absorbs the crush
and spares his eye.

Caiman continues to squeeze

with enough a force to crush
a human skull.

He won't let go until
his opponent yields.

But both are tiring.

Caiman, mustn't falter now.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(HISSES)
(MUSIC FADES, ENDS)

The older male relaxes his body.

Surrender.

He slinks off into the wings.

Young Caiman's impressive display
of dominance,

has earned him the right to continue
to fish in this territory.

Along the tangled riverbank,

another young hunter explores
the drying undergrowth.

The largest big cat species
in the Americas.

(WET GROWL)
(LOW, TENSE MUSIC)

Jaguar.

He's the apex predator here.

But at just four years old,

he's in the most precarious phase
of his young life.

Jaguars are solitary animals.

And since leaving his mother's side,

he's walked over 80 kilometres
in search of a territory of his own.

Finding the right one,
is his biggest challenge yet.

The best hunting grounds,
are occupied by other males.

He can smell markings left by
an older cat,

who passed by here recently.

But he's also sensing
something closer.

A potential meal.

On the riverbank, there's plenty
of cover for stalking prey.

His rosette-patterned coat,
blends with the shadowy undergrowth.

His vision is six times better
than ours...

...but to make the kill,
he'll need to close the gap.

(BRANCH SNAPS SOFTLY)

In the dry, still conditions,
Jaguar must tread with caution.

(BRANCH SNAPS)

(CRIES OUT)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(MUSIC FADES, ENDS)

He can't compete with
a tree-loving coati

on thin branches like these.

He needs to find
a better place hunt.

Along a bend in the river,

the falling waterline
has exposed a sandy beach.

An ideal spot to ambush
sunbathing capybaras.

But the sandbank
has also been scent-marked,

by the territorial male.

He can't see him,
but he senses he's there.

Jaguar continues his quest, elsewhere.

(SOFT MUSIC)

At this time of year,

all the forest's residents are
adapting to the drying conditions.

Some creatures stop at nothing

to find even the smallest pool
of water.

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog.

A young male, in his first
dry season as an adult.

He's scouring the leaf litter
for any remaining pools of water.

To ploy, to attract a mate,

because females need water
to lay their eggs.

(FROG CHIRRUPS)

At 20 millimetres long,

and navigating a maze of
towering plants and predators...

...it's a big journey,
for a small frog.

This tiny pool
in the cup of a dead leaf

is exactly what he's after.

But someone else is already here,
another male.

(FROG CHIRRUPS)

To claim this pool,
he'll need to fight for it.

(BOTH CHIRRUP)

(MEXICAN STANDOFF MUSIC)

Frog processes his odds.

His large, dark eyes
assess his opponent's hue.

(CHIRRUPING)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)

The redder his skin,
the more aggressive he is,

the longer the odds of victory.

As a relative youngster,

Frog has never been
in a scrap before.

But fighting is in his genes.

Instinct tells him the surest way
to secure victory.

Strike first.

Quick-release tendons in his legs
catapult him like an arrow

from an archer's bow.

He travels 25 times his body length
in a fraction of a second.

(WESTERN MUSIC)

Frog locks on.

He clings to his opponent
with eight long, supple fingers.

Tiny suction cups on each tip hold
fast on the opponent's moist skin.

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

Strawberry poison dart frogs
are champion endurance wrestlers.

These territorial fights
can run for over an hour.

Eventually, exhausted from the
fray...

...the opponent calls time.

(FROGS CHIRRUP)

Frog's youthful tenacity,
has won him victory.

Claiming ownership
of this coveted pool of water,

is already paying off.

A female is here,
ready to check out the goods.

(FROGS CHIRRUP)

As sunlight floods the canopy...

...even the plants are locked
in conflict.

Just 2% of the sun's rays reach
the forest floor.

So the vines and saplings
must fight to get to them.

The forest is also producing
less fruit...

...making figs and berries
a precious commodity.

(BIRDS SQUAWK)

This is Coati.

She's a young, tenacious female

well versed in evading
the predatory attempts of Jaguar.

She's also a leader.

She's earned her place
as the matriarch

of a close-knit group of females,
known as a band.

Imprinted on Coati's brain
is a map of the jungle canopy.

She knows the locations
of the best fruiting trees

and is leading her band on
a 2-kilometre trek to find them.

The moist skin around Coati's snout

is packed with
sensory nerve endings,

giving her a powerful
sense of smell.

She uses it with pinpoint accuracy

to sniff out fruit and insects
in the leaf litter.

With sharp, non-retractable claws,

she makes quick work of an
armour-plated flat-backed millipede.

But Coati is most at home
40 metres up, in the canopy.

She's found what she's been
looking for.

A fig tree, full of fruit.

It's an opportunity
for the entire band to feast.

Using their long tails for balance,

coatis are in their element
in the branches.

Eating in the canopy is safer.

And it allows Coati to watch for
dangers down on the forest floor.

She spots unwelcome company.

A wandering male.

Males aren't tolerated in the group,

apart from brief periods of mating.

But this isn't the breeding season.

Coati has secured
this fruiting tree for her band,

there's not enough to share
with a large, hungry male

looking to muscle in.

What's more,
males will often kill any young

fathered by other males.

The interloper picks his way
through the branches.

Coati must scare him off.

(TENSE, DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(SQUEALS)

She lets out a chorus of squeals

and swipes her claws
at the male's face.

But he isn't deterred.

(SQUEALING CONTINUES)

He corners her on the end
of a branch.

It bows under their combined weight.

A fall from this height
could be fatal...

...so the male backs off.

Coati takes her chance to give
him the slip.

Time to change tactic.

On the forest floor,
she rallies the sisterhood.

(SQUEALING)

By the time the male reaches them,
they've formed a united front.

Coati leads the charge.

The band's collective shrieking
and biting keeps up the pressure.

The boldest females
take turns at mobbing the male.

Together, they overwhelm him.

It may not be
the last they see of him...

...but for now,
Coati has kept her band safe...

...and they can return
to foraging for fruit in peace.

(SOFT MUSIC)

As the forest dry season rolls on,
leaves crack and fall.

And creatures of all kinds
crawl through the dry leaf litter

searching for food.

As the sun sets, a night hunter
creeps from his burrow,

into the moonlit forest.

A giant of the arachnid world.

Orange-Kneed Tarantula.

At four years old,
he's entering the prime of his life.

This dry season is the first time
he's old enough to mate.

Paired appendages beneath his eyes

are covered in sensitive hairs
that can absorb airborne pheromones

through microscopic holes.

He picks up the scent left by
a female,

but she's two kilometres from here,

across the dry jungle floor.

It'll take tenacity
and good fortune to get there.

So before embarking on this mission,
he must feed.

He's a voracious carnivore.

(CRICKET CHIRPS)

And the night forest brings its own
unique offering of insects.

His eight, tiny eyes...

...give him an almost 360-degree
field of vision.

(RUSTLING)

But he can only detects
the blurred outline of shapes.

It's through his front legs

that he picks up
the most detailed information.

At the entrance to his burrow,
he's set a trap.

An early warning system

of delicately constructed,
fine silk.

(CRUNCHING)

Tarantula holds the cricket
with his front legs

and drives a pair of
4-centimetre-long hollow fangs

through its exoskeleton.

He injects a powerful venom,
paralyzing his prey.

Then pumps in a cocktail
of digestive juices

to break down
his victim's body tissue.

Finally,
he uses his sucking mouthparts

to drink the liquefied insides,
like soup.

He'll feed for the next 24 hours.

Then he'll be ready to continue
his quest for a mate.

(SOFT MUSIC)

As the sun rises
over the jungle canopy...

...Poison Dart Frog
is making himself at home

in the area around his tiny pool.

But his new patch
is plagued by an infestation.

Poisonous ants.

Luckily, he knows just how
to deal with the problem.

He can munch 14 ants every hour.

(SOFT CROAKING)

Downing poisonous insects
is no party trick.

He has a taste for spicy food

and deliberately seeks out ants,
mites and termites

laced with formic acid.

(SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC)

His body distils the toxins
to make himself fatally poisonous

to any would-be predators.

An ingenious defence strategy.

(RUSTLING)

But one that only works if
your enemies know not to eat you.

(LOW, TENSE MUSIC)

(CHIRRUPS)

Following Frog's successful
courting of a female,

he's now got even more reasons
to keep his patch free of intruders.

(CURIOUS MUSIC)

A precious clutch of eggs.

He'll diligently guard them
for the next two weeks.

Long enough for them
to hatch into tadpoles.

If Frog can successfully
protect them,

his small pool will become a creche.

(SOFT MUSIC)

While Frog is holding ground,

Jaguar is still searching tirelessly
for a territory of his own.

He's had no luck finding
an unoccupied patch.

So, his quest has led him back
to the exposed sandbank.

A prime hunting spot.

Jaguars communicate with each other

by leaving pungent scent markers
across their range.

They're odorous calling cards
that broadcast their status.

Jaguar, can smell that this area
is well used by an older male.

The rival's scent
on this side is fresh.

But there's a chance the far bank
is unoccupied.

He's the strongest swimmer
of all the big cats.

And with the river so low,
it's just a short crossing.

(LOW, TENSE MUSIC)

It's not just Caiman
following his every move.

(GRUNTS)

The established male is here,

laying claim to this riverbank too.

Jaguars rarely fight for territory.

An injury could prevent them
from hunting successfully.

In effect, a death sentence.

So their rule is finders keepers.

But Jaguar has few good options.

He calculates that this riverside
hunting ground is worth the fight.

(GROWLS)

Jaguar keeps his back to the grass,
sizing up his rival.

(GROWLS)

A ligament behind his nose vibrates
to produce a guttural growl.

(GROWLS)

A final warning.

(HISSING GROWL)

Jaguar lunges.

His 5-centimetre-long claws

narrowly miss his opponent's
soft belly.

(LOW, TENSE MUSIC)
(GROWLING)

The rival swings one back.

Jaguar launches with both paws.

(GROWLING)

Manoeuvring to keep his high
vantage point, he goes again.

With his head and body
low to the ground...

...he delivers a powerful
vertical down-swipe.

His rival senses that Jaguar
isn't going to give up.

And so, to avoid serious injury,
he retreats.

Jaguar's gamble has paid off.

Now he's laid claim to this spot...

...his hunting opportunities
will be greatly improved.

It won't be easy for a young jaguar
to hold this territory.

But he has shown that he has
the necessary strength and courage

to match his rivals.

(SOFT MUSIC)

Nocturnal Tarantula is so focused on
his mission to find a female

that he's still out and about
in broad daylight.

For three days,
he's been roaming the jungle.

Lured by the lingering scent
of a potential mate,

he's ventured more than
a kilometre from his burrow.

Coati and her band have been
happily gorging themselves

on fresh figs.

But fruit isn't the only thing
on their menu.

Coati is an opportunistic omnivore.

90% of her day
is dedicated to foraging.

And her powerful nose is primed
to seek out anything edible.

Tarantula must proceed with caution.

His vision may be limited,

but he can sense a mortal threat.

Coati's finely-tuned senses
are tingling too.

She smells the spider nearby.

Tarantula retreats
into a hiding hole...

(RUSTLING)
...hoping Coati moves on.

But she won't pass up
a high-protein snack so easily.

(LOW, TENSE MUSIC)

Tarantula raises his head and legs,
exposing his venom-loaded fangs.

But she isn't deterred

and thrashes at the spider
with her front paws.

Tarantula goes into fight mode.

He spins around
and aims his rear at Coati.

Using his hind legs, he flicks out,

dislodging a volley
of microscopic hairs.

Each is armed
with a stinging barb.

(SQUEALS)

They lodge in Coati's fur,

causing severe itching
and irritation.

As she's scratching in pain,

Tarantula seizes
the opportunity to slip past.

Spotted.

Aggravated by the spider's defences,

Coati strikes even harder.

With arms outstretched,
she paws at Tarantula,

then rolls him...

...trying to strip
the irritating hairs from his body

to make him more palatable.

But Tarantula's barbed hairs
infiltrate her coat.

He makes his escape.

While Tarantula and Coati
are parting ways...

(FROG CHIRRUPS)

...Frog's game plan
is all about staying put.

His hard-won territory
is now the centre of his world.

At its heart, his clutch of eggs...

...now just a few days from hatching.

But as the forest
continues to dry out,

damp pools worthy of a female's eggs
are becoming increasingly rare...

...making Frog's patch even
more appealing to outsiders.

Invaders are closing in.

(CHIRRUPING)

Nearby, a male calls,

signalling that he wants
this territory.

And he'd happily eat Frog's eggs
for breakfast.

Frog has battled hard for this spot.

(CHIRRUPS)

He'll do whatever it takes
to deter the intruder.

(FROG CHIRRUPS)

He aims a volley of repetitive
croaks, towards the rival.

Not just loud, but precisely timed.

(REPETITIVE CHIRRUPS)

His calls match the intruder's
signal...

(CHIRRUPS)

...in volume and tone.

The message? "I'm bigger than you."

"And I'm stronger, too."

But the intruder is undeterred.

Frog steps things up...

(DEEP REPETITIVE CHIRRUPS)

...bellowing a louder,
deeper warning.

But the rival stands firm.

The fight is on.

It will be a test of endurance.

A battle to exhaustion.

The intruder peels away,
then launches himself at Frog.

Both contenders desperately try
to gain the upper hand...

...flipping each other over and over.

(TENSE, DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Frog is trapped.

His opponent's long arms tighten,
choking him.

Frog's legacy hangs in the balance.

More than an hour ticks by,
but neither is willing to yield.

It's time for Frog to execute
his special move.

Using his sticky fingers,

he grips his opponent
in a half nelson

and with his last reserves
of energy...

...he delivers one last slingshot.

His rival is utterly exhausted.

Frog is tired too,
but he's protected his eggs.

He's the undisputed champion
of this small patch of forest.

And under their father's watchful
eye,

this next generation
of poison dart frogs

now have a fighting chance.

On the riverbank,

Jaguar is patrolling
his new territory.

His defeated rival
has left him in peace

to focus on finding food.

The trees overhanging
the river's edge

provide ideal hunting cover.

The perfect spot to launch an ambush
on any prey hiding underwater.

Jaguar's wide-padded paws allow
him to walk almost silently,

so as not to alert his quarry.

He needs to find an overhang with
a clear view down to the water.

Jaguars have been known
to take caiman

up to three metres in length.

But they're a dangerous prey.

A caiman's defensive bite
can cause a serious injury,

even death.

Caiman's turret-like eyes
sit above the waterline.

But his vision has a weakness,
a blind spot.

Behind him.

The indigenous name for jaguar means
"he who kills with one leap."

His strategy is to launch
himself onto Caiman,

and deliver a piercing bite
to his skull.

He extends his hind legs like huge,
muscular springs

hurling him over three metres
through the air.

But in the thick vegetation,
Jaguar misses his mark.

Caiman reacts in an instant.

He grips on to Jaguar,
whips his tail,

and pulls him into a death roll,
trying to drag him underwater.

Jaguar is an expert
at holding his breath.

But Caiman can stay submerged
for up to an hour.

Jaguar finds a footing
to grab a breath.

But both animals are tiring.

Caiman's thick skin is among
the toughest in the animal kingdom,

but Jaguar grips hard
with his claws and teeth...

...and slowly drags him to the bank.

(TENSE, DRAMATIC MUSIC)

In the shallows...

(CRUNCHING)

...Jaguar uses his muscular jaws,
to deliver a final, powerful bite

that crushes Caiman's skull.

It's a huge meal
that will feed him for many days...

...giving him the energy
he needs to patrol

and mark out this new territory.

If he can stay here
through the rains,

there's every chance
he'll be able to secure a mate.

Across the forest,
Tarantula's marathon hike is over.

The female he's been following,
has welcomed him to her burrow.

But the danger isn't over.

He'll likely end up
as her post-coital snack.

Such are the rules of the jungle.

(THUNDER)

As the curtain falls
on the dry season...

...the river swells.

The remaining caiman
can escape the confines

of their territorial pools
and spread out once more.

For Poison Dart Frog,
the rains bring relief.

The entire forest floor
is awash with puddles...

...drawing the attention of other
males away from his territory.

His duty of care is nearly over.

The tadpoles' mother will soon
return to delicately ferry

each of her young
to pools of their own.

When they grow to maturity,

they too will enter this arena
to fight for their own patch...

...along the jungle river.