- [Narrator] Her strategy, make like a bush.
She has to remain dead still.
But stillness attracts flies.
And flies make her fidget, a true test of resolve.
(flies buzzing)
It seems to be working.
She just has to choose the right target.
Small enough to take down,
big enough to feed a family of three.
(animals yelping and groaning)
A perfect hunt.
On the northern edge of the Marsh Pride's territory,
Africa's most resourceful cat is on the hunt.
Nikita is relegated to the rocky outcrop zone.
The hunting area no other cat wants.
The pickings are slim, but Nikita's incredibly creative.
Owls.
(dynamic music)
It's an odd meal for a leopard, but she's an unusual cat.
30 feet up is a nest full of chicks.
And the morning light means it's bedtime.
For Nikita, it could be breakfast time.
Nikita's just feet away from a possible barn owl breakfast.
She's gotta take her hunt 30 feet vertical.
If she can get to the first fork of the tree quickly,
she'll catch them before they flee.
Timing and speed are key here.
(dramatic music)
They're huddled inside.
Nikita gets to work tearing down the hole.
One owl flies the coop.
(owl screeches)
(Nikita growling)
Nikita's strategy unfolded perfectly.
Great innovation and action.
Even if it's little more than a mouth full of feathers.
Leopards remove all the feathers from birds
before eating them.
So once the chick has been plucked,
it only qualifies as an appetizer.
That's why Nikita is always on the hunt.
Leopards need to eat over seven pounds
of meat a day to stay healthy.
(ominous music)
Nothing is off limits.
If it's alive and within range, it's food.
One of these jackals will be a lot meatier than an owl.
She's in good grass cover.
Leopards are built for the short distance sprint.
So she must sneak up to within 30 feet of them undetected,
or they'll have time to escape.
Normally it's dogs that chase cats,
but in Savuti, the cats have turned the game around.
(ominous music)
The jackals are onto her.
(jackals yelping)
She tries to look innocent.
(Nikita grumbles)
She fools no one.
The jackals alert everyone in the area to her presence.
With her cover now blown,
the rocky outcrop is no longer a viable hunting zone.
(water splashing)
This is the dominant croc in the group, DC for short.
He's bigger, meaner, and faster than all the rest.
If DC wants privacy, it's best to obey quickly,
or suffer a painful reminder of his status.
Crocodile hierarchy is not complex.
Bigger is better.
In this section of the river,
no one fights in DC's weight class.
And yet, DC spends a great deal of time
and energy defending his position.
It's a preemptive strategy.
Get the others out of the way early
and reduce the competition for food.
Aggression is the only language rivals understand.
(dynamic music)
A brutal life has left its mark on DC.
He has an open wound on his nose
that flares up after any rough-housing.
But DC seems unfazed by the gash,
as if it's a token of his power.
Only when this rival lifts his head
in the ultimate gesture of submission does DC ease off.
A clear pecking order is important
when the good times don't last long.
As usual, the wildebeests set things in motion.
The next big herd arrived to drink.
It's a pit stop hunt.
DC's up.
He must approach without being detected.
But this time, he's got a new game plan.
He'll submerge way in advance of his strike.
An hour underwater.
The maximum stretch he can hold his breath.
(wildebeests groaning and huffing)
Crocodiles don't see very well underwater,
so DC will navigate using sound and touch.
So far, his sneaky technique works.
These wildebeests are far less skittish
than the earlier group.
His strike comes out of nowhere.
A perfect ambush.
The rag-tags react immediately.
Those splashes are as clear as a dinner bell.
This water is deep enough to drown the adult cow.
DC picked a good spot.
In less than two minutes, it's all over
The rag-tags move in.
DC tries to drag his carcass upstream,
but the rag-tags have him surrounded.
DC, the dominant croc,
is not about to give up his prize without a fight.
The rival male will be taught a lesson.
It's a show of dominance and a punishment for theft.
(aggressive music)
But DC underestimates the rag-tags.
The big crock is only a decoy.
While DC is distracted, the others steal his kill.
His wildebeest is already a mile away.
It's a clever strategy for a tough predator zone.
All of the benefits, few of the risks.
DC is so focused on the rival,
he doesn't even notice his dinner's gone.
His need to prove he's the alpha male costs him a meal.
(gentle music)
Just two miles away, Ndutu's open grasslands
give way to marsh and woodland.
Here, another mother is on a solo mission.
Bringing up cubs.
She's part of a big pride,
but she needs to keep the cubs away for their safety.
Males will kill cubs that are not their own
to ensure his genes and not someone else's are passed on.
Infanticide is the cause of almost a third of cub deaths.
Now, the pressure is on her to be the sole hunter
for two hungry cubs, and this calls for a special strategy.
(somber music)
The herds consume 7,000 tons of grass per day.
Moving constantly.
Exhausting one patch before moving on to the next.
As they move into the edge of open ground,
they enter the heart of the lion's territory.
At twice the weight of a cheetah with half the speed,
she needs to get much closer before making a chase.
And that requires cover, which is why she targets prey here,
hunting zone number two, The Edge.
A mix of open ground and trees.
She doesn't have the speed of a cheetah,
or the backup from her pride.
The only way her solo hunt can succeed
is if she surprises them.
Moving in from downwind,
she starts with silent footsteps.
(wildebeests grunting)
Softly moving towards the prey
and freezing every time they look up.
If she gets close enough without detection,
she just might be able to feed her cubs.
(suspenseful music)
It backfires.
Even lions live in fear of angry wildebeest.
Without support from the pride, she cannot risk injury.
This time, she walks away hungry.
For her strategy to work, she needs a better ambush point.
She knows just where to find it.
She heads out to hunting zone number three, The Gully.
At the peak of the rainy season,
the open ground becomes saturated,
and run-off water forms gullies
as it searches for the fastest way down.
In their quest for fresh grass shoots,
wildebeest followed the most direct route.
Down the banks of the shallow valley
and over the gully to the green field.
Hundreds of wildebeest cross the gully.
She is waiting on the other side,
ready to intercept them.
With prey heading straight towards her,
up a small but significant incline,
she has the height advantage for an epic ambush.
The incline slows the herd down.
They're moving right by her.
Lions can only sprint at top speed for 50 yards,
and she's well within that range.
Her strategy, make like a bush.
She has to remain dead still.
But stillness attracts flies, and flies make her fidget,
a true test of resolve.
(flies buzzing)
It seems to be working.
She just has to choose the right target.
Small enough to take down,
big enough to feed a family of three.
(animals yelping and groaning)
A perfect hunt.
(soft music)