- I know you guys are thinking right now,
uh, can we see the lion's teeth?
Yeah, we can see the lion's teeth.
You guys ready?
(growling)
(intense music)
Since sunrise, the crew and I have been on the search
for Kariega Game Reserve's pride of lions.
Working in tandem with the reserve protection agency,
and a team of field veterinarians,
today's goal is to safely tranquilize
and collect biometric data from these predatory cats.
- Coyote, the other teams got the lions over the hill.
- A radio call from the opposite side of the reserve
delivered confirmation that the lions had been located
on a fresh kill.
For the safety of the lions
and the veterinarians collecting data,
the field team decided that
all four of the cats would be darted.
So with everyone in position, the final moment was upon us.
And the only thing left for Doctor Waldo Dreyer to do
was hit his targets.
Wow, those are some big cats.
Let's get ready to dart.
Here we go.
Target right on that female's rump.
Ooh!
Got one, got one.
Nice shot.
Wow, did you see them spring into action like that?
Okay, we thought that maybe the lions would
move off when we darted one but you've got four lions.
Three females and a young male?
A young male, right?
Wow, still an enormous cat.
Alright, getting ready for the second dart.
Here we go, we've got the male
coming up around the backside here.
(gun fires) (growling)
The upper forefront of her chest.
Go, go, go, go!
No, not yet, not yet.
Can't miss the females, I must have a clear shot.
It's super windy, though. Could throw off the dart.
Do not want to hit the animal in the face.
Here comes the shot.
(growling) Got 'em.
Alright, the male as been darted.
One lion left.
Wow, okay, we have three of the lions darted at this point.
Male and two females.
One female still does not have a dart in her, though.
So we're trying to move the vehicle
to get in a better position.
This is intense.
Hold on guys.
Be aware you've got a lion.
Here we go, look at this good shot, zoom in, zoom in.
Got it!
All lions have been darted.
And they are all staring at us now saying,
"Okay, uh, what are you guys doing out here?"
Wow, that's intimidating.
With all four cats successfully darted,
we watched from a safe distance.
As one by one, they succumb to the effects
of the tranquilizer serum.
Alright, now it's just going to take a few minutes
for the tranquilizer to set in.
They'll tell us to get out of the vehicles,
we'll move in, get that biometric data.
Wow, my heart's racing right now.
How 'bout you?
This is crazy.
Time was of the essence,
so the vet team needed to move quickly.
This meant that as a camera team,
we would have a very limited window of time
to capture an up-close presentation
with these sleeping carnivores.
Given his iconic stature,
I was beyond excited to showcase the male.
While in the background, the veterinarians would be
collecting the sought-after biometric data from the females.
In human terms,
this procedure is comparable to a check-up a the doctor.
When it comes to lions,
this includes pulling a small hair sample from the tail,
checking body length, paw length, overall health,
and lastly, microchip identification.
That is a big cat right there, look at that.
This other female down right here.
- [Cameraman] Hey, just lions laying around everywhere.
- Yeah, lions everywhere.
Come on guys, these lions are just asleep.
None of these animals are actually hurt.
Here it is, here's the male.
(powerful music)
That is unbelievable right there.
This is the closest I have ever been to a wild apex predator
of this size.
Oh, You can feel him breathing.
Ah, beautiful animal.
Now this creature is enormous
and it is still a sub-adult male lion.
I wanna come on this side just to show you this paw.
You've got the mane.
You can see his face is covered up there, it is asleep.
Look at the size of this animal's paws.
It's bigger than my hand, that is crazy.
And so heavy, so much weight and so much muscle
in the front section of this cat.
You guys wanna see those claws, don't you?
- [Cameraman] Oh yeah.
- Ready for this?
Hold on, let me kinda sit down here.
Get ready.
That is impressive, right there.
And these claws are constantly growing
throughout the course of the animal's life.
Now like all cats, they have four toes up front.
But also, a dew claw on the side.
You see that?
- [Cameraman] Wow.
- That is the key piece of power right there.
Because when they lunge toward a water buffalo
or a wildebeest and they latch on,
it's this claw that hooks in place
and makes sure that that prey does not get away.
And that's what they do, latch on, and they go for the neck.
Now the lion, believe it or not,
does not have that powerful of a bite force
as compared to other big cats.
Only somewhere between 600 and 900 pounds per square inch.
But what they wanna do is go for the trachea.
You get the trachea, you're cuttin' off the windpipe
and that animal's gonna suffocate.
Now the males, while they can hunt,
aren't the ones that are actually hunting.
So while when we came up on this pride,
you see that they'd taken down an impala.
It's likely the females that killed the impala
but then the males will come in and they will feast first.
Wow, this cat is just the coolest creature
I have ever been around.
Let's take a look at its' head real quick.
Look at the size of the ears, massive ears.
They're capable of moving these individually.
They have incredible sense of hearing.
Look at the mane of this animal, it's so dense.
And, oh, it smells like South Africa.
It smells like the Savannah.
A little bit of grass, and a little bit of sand.
Now you look at this mane and you think,
well what is the purpose of a mane on a lion,
other than to have an epic hairdo?
And the purpose is actually to protect them
when they're fighting to protect territory.
All this dense fur, when another male's rearing up,
using its' claws and its' teeth,
protects this lion's throat and his face.
Alright, you guys ready for the reveal?
- [Cameraman] Let's see it.
- Okay, I'm gonna pull this back very slowly.
Let's see the lion's face.
(gasps) There you are buddy.
Oh my gosh, that is incredible.
What a handsome animal right there.
Look at its' whiskers, incredibly dense.
I know you guys are thinking right now,
"Uh, can we see the lion's teeth?"
Yeah, we can see the lion's teeth.
You guys ready?
- [Cameraman] Yeah.
- [Coyote] I'm slowly just gonna pull
the lid back here a little bit.
Wow! - Whoa.
- [Coyote] Look at those canines.
- Holy smokes. - Unbelievable.
Now lions have three types of teeth.
Up front here, you have these incisors.
Which you use to carry things,
the females will carry their cubs around.
They're also used to pull meat away from the bones.
Of course the canines are used to inflict a kill.
And then in the back here, go ahead and zoom in.
You see that?
All these pre-molars are used like
serrated shears to saw through the meat.
I can see the lion's tongue in there.
It's incredibly grippy, like sandpaper.
They can actually use that tongue to
lick meat away from bones, they can lick fur off,
and believe it or not, if a lion were to lick your skin
it would take the skin right off.
Not exactly like your house cat.
Wow, how ya feeling?
Let's see can I take a look at his eye, there.
See, zoom in there.
See, pupils are slightly dilated.
He's completely out right now.
See that, get a tight shot there.
Lions have incredible eyesight,
not only during the day but also at night.
- [Cameraman] Look how big its head is compared to you.
- Massive.
- [Cameraman] It's as big as your body.
- Can you imagine what it would be like
to get an appendage of your body or your head
stuck in the mouth of an animal like this?
And keep in mind guys, this is still a sub-adult.
They get bigger than this.
I'm guess this lion is somewhere between 250 and 300 pounds.
They can tip the scales well over 500.
Okay, I'm gonna just flip this back up over its' head
so that the sun stays out of his eyes.
Oh man is your adrenaline rushin' as fast as mine is?
- [Cameraman] I'm just trying to stay calm, actually.
- [Coyote] Okay, we ready to collect biometric data?
Alright, let's do it.
Gotta get he measurements on this lion.
- [Staff Member] Okay, we go all the way
to the backside here, say I've got 123 and a half.
- 54. - 54.
- [Coyote] Paw measurements.
- [Staff Member] Six.
- [Coyote] And this is important data for us to know.
- [Staff Member] Eight.
- Exactly the size of this lion's paws
so if they're out there,
Looking for tracks, they'll know exactly which lion this is.
- All these kind of markings on the face
also, over time will help you identify individuals.
It's quite a striking one right here.
- [Coyote] Yeah.
- [Staff Member] Alright, we'll stick that up.
I think he's (mumbles).
- Alright guys, what's really cool is that this lion
doesn't actually have a micro-chip in it.
So, we are gonna get to insert one today,
and that will allow us to keep a tight record
of this animal, anytime they then tranquilize in the future
to be able to collect its' biometric data.
Wow cool, alright, so where do you insert the micro-chip?
- The way I insert a micro-chip is basically,
a big needle, it's about the size of a grain of rice.
- [Coyote] I don't like needles,
I don't do very well with needles.
- So we insert it right in the middle
between the soft shoulder blades.
So we just make a little dent in the skin,
put it underneath the skin.
- Just a little prick right?
Boom, just like that, wow.
Alright guys well it's time to
apply the reversal drugs so that this male wakes up
and heads back off into the wild.
But this certainly was epic, getting to explore here
at the Kariega Game Reserve, tranquilizing four lions,
getting up close to collect biometric data.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next adventure.
Alright, time to wake up.
- [Man] Just get it in the muscle, push the prongs
back a bit as soon as you're in.
There you go.
Yes.
- Alright guys, lion's about to wake up.
Let's head back to the trucks.
Whoo!
Man! - That was amazing.
- [Coyote] That was cool, that was cool.
- [Cameraman] Alright Coyote, what's happening right now?
- We have administered the reversal drug
and now we are just safely back in the vehicle
waiting for the lions to wake up.
I've got a GoPro positioned just in front of this female.
We've got zoom lenses on the male.
The ones up here underneath the bush,
we're gonna also keep an eye on them.
In just a few minutes here, they're gonna pop back up and
disappear into the underbrush.
(peaceful music)
You can see the lions are beginning to wake up.
This lioness right here in front of us is starting to move.
It's been 'bout 15 minutes. Sounds about right.
Since the dawn of mankind, we have feared
that which is capable of hunting us.
So much so that we in turn chose to hunt many of these
natural predators to the brink of extinction.
The lion is no exception.
Today our mindset has changed.
And fear has been replaced with love and protection
for these incredible beasts.
Several hours after the vet procedure had concluded,
we returned to the hilltop and checked in on the pride.
Our hope was that they would still be in the area,
allowing us to get a final glimpse of these beautiful cats.
(lion growling)
That's a lion.
Then suddenly, in what seemed like a moment slowed in time,
the king of the Savannah materialized from the underbrush.
(growling)
He stepped into the golden glow of the setting sun,
and moved with an elegance that defined him
as the ruler of this land.
And as we watched, our camera all fighting
to capture the moments as they played out before us,
it was not difficult to pull my eye away from the viewfinder
so that I could appreciate all of the beauty in this animal
with my own two eyes.
I know that I will never forget
my time spent alongside that sleeping giant.
My fingers placed upon its' massive teeth,
the moment it woke back from its slumber,
and the sight as it strolled along
through the flowing grasses,
staking claim as King of the Savannah.
If you missed part one of our incredible
African lion adventure, make sure to go back and watch
from the beginning.
As we embarked upon an epic journey
that brought us up-close with a pride of lions.
And don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.