These are the animals all others fear the apex predators the top hunters in their realm the killers no nearby animal would dare to challenge these are the world’s deadliest [Music] the ultimate predators in the world of hunters one apex predator is legendary for efficiency the great white shark it seems evolution has created the ultimate killer this is one of the most lethal sharks on earth one that all other animals steer clear of but even this top predator misses more than it catches along the coast of south africa a great white shark is on the prowl here there are roughly 1 000 fur seals for every great white [Music] at over 100 pounds an adult fur seal could be a good meal for a shark but a seal that’s grown this big has learned ways to avoid great whites the younger seals aren’t nearly so wise and the shark could almost catch them at will [Music] but seal pups are too small to keep this shark satisfied for long because at more than 20 feet in two tons there’s a lot of great white to feed great whites have excellent eyesight both underwater and above they are the only known fish species that will spy hop or stick their heads out of the water to see what’s on the surface [Music] site is so important to a great white then in the last seconds of an attack it rolls its eyes back into its head to protect them many great whites have scars around their eyes from seal bites the older seals know what’s waiting for the younger and unlucky but they need to reach deeper waters to fish [Music] but the shark has more than speed good eyesight and surprise on its side it can hear extremely well and can detect motion from over a mile away its face is covered with jelly filled pouches that are so sensitive to electric fields it can detect muscle movement and heartbeats if there’s a seal in the water near it the shark will almost always sense its presence lying in weight rushing up at 25 miles per hour the other seals flee but they can’t relax for long this meal will only hold the shark for two days then it will be back and the hunt will start all over again the great white brings multiple weapons to a fight
[Music] while other predators rise to the top by specializing [Music] south america’s jungles have their own versions of water-bound terror but only one group the constrictors uses sheer muscle power to become the apex predator they literally squeeze prey to death and the largest and most muscular of the constrictors south america’s green anaconda this is one of the most massive snakes on earth it weighs over 200 pounds and measures close to 20 feet long the anaconda shares this flooded plane with the capabara the largest rodents on earth often reaching more than 100 pounds capabara are social animals and herbivores much of their diet consists of aquatic plants so they spend a lot of time near water prime hunting ground for the anaconda
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under water it can stalk without being seen poking its head up just long enough to gauge the distance [Music] then it waits lying in ambush the capabara stays within range the anaconda strikes latching on with six rows of teeth coiling itself around the large rodent every time the copper bar exhales the anaconda tightens its grip it constricts the blood flow to the copper barra’s heart causing cardiac arrest the anaconda can’t tear its prey apart so it has to somehow fit the entire four foot meal into its stomach at one time its lower jaw is not fused to its skull the jaw separates in the middle and flexible ligaments permit the jaw to open extra wide the remarkably elastic jaw and teeth that bend backward allow the anaconda to engulf its prey in one gigantic bite it’s a huge meal the anaconda will rest digesting its catch for more than two weeks a cup of bar this size will satisfy it for months but eventually it will need to feed again and nothing will be safe from the ultimate death squeeze the anaconda’s mammoth coils may give us nightmares but the australian dingo looks like the family pet [Music] it seems too cute and cuddly to be deadly but don’t be fooled this is australia’s top predator dingoes were domesticated dogs when they arrived here aboard traders canoes about five thousand years ago but they escaped their owners and returned to the wild ever since they’ve thrived across the entire continent with no real rivals at the top of the food chain
[Music] they’re so successful they strike fear into australia’s largest animals like the grey kangaroo
[Music] [Applause] almost nothing not even the fastest animal can escape them for long but this relentless hunter is also a doting caregiver there’s a new litter and everything is given over to the young including the hunter’s most recent meal
[Music] for a youngster any animal like an echidna is something to poke prod and nibble to see how it tastes sharp spines protect it from becoming just another chew toy a dingo becomes most lethal when it teams up with others as they get older the pups learn to work in tandem spotting a monitor lizard on the beach two siblings have a new unwilling playmate
[Applause] finally the monitor gets far enough to submerge and the puppies are reluctant to follow by the time they’re mature dingos like all predators go after prey that put up the least resistance domesticated sheep and cattle are like dingo fast food the dingo’s prowess has earned them the wrath of ranchers who see them as pests their aggression isn’t limited to prey dingoes work out a hierarchy through intimidation and the occasional fight this way each dog knows his or her role when it comes to the hunt [Music] they need to work as a team to bring down prey as big and powerful as a grey kangaroo kangaroos can weigh over 145 pounds and hop at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour
[Music] to wear one down the dingos take turns chasing it [Music] working in relays
[Music] there’s little time to celebrate every dog needs to eat as quickly as it can because a pack this big can devour an entire kangaroo in a matter of minutes for dingoes it’s all about the family unit [Music] this is where life’s lessons are passed from one generation to the next [Music] the ability to teach and learn is what separates some apex predators from the rest of the pack
[Music] for a grizzly bear cub the lessons started day one and the best teacher is mom late spring in yellowstone park for elk it’s calving time newborn calves follow their mothers around intently learning what they need to know to survive
[Music] for grizzly bears the elk calving time is dinner time and the sight of a vulnerable young calf is hard to resist when she gets lucky and close enough to a calf she can take off in a quick burst and chase it down
[Music] grizzly bears can and will eat just about anything most of their diet isn’t even meat they’ve developed grinding teeth in the back to chew tough plants [Music] long claws to dig up insects and roots and even shellfish a grizzly is on the prowl constantly searching for any food digging grazing scavenging [Music] the strong stomach is just part of what makes this bear an apex predator size is a factor this grizzly is almost one thousand pounds and where fish is plentiful its cousins grow even larger
[Music] when the salmon return to spawn they fill the rivers and provide a fat rich bounty for bears [Applause] young and old they all gather to fish the biggest claiming the best spots and using their bulk and mean tempers to take what they don’t catch farther inland the bear has to develop other hunting strategies today bison could be on the menu they’re twice the size of an average bear no easy take down but where there are bison there are bison babies the key is to separate the calf from its mother [Music] [Music] a bear attack is all about speed and power but another even more lethal hunter prefers a game of cat and mouse in isolated pockets of siberia and india they are the one hunter of all animals including humans fear
[Music] tigers weighing as much as 600 pounds bringing in a nasty set of canines and claws to every encounter sprinting at 35 miles per hour but the biggest and most powerful cat on earth misses far more often than it kills because it lacks one key quality stamina a large tiger has to get within pouncing distance of its target otherwise it tires quickly and has to give up the chase to succeed the tiger depends on an unlikely weapon its stripes [Music] their color and pattern help this one blend into the grass [Music] on silent paws a female moves undetected through the brush stealing towards a band of monkeys [Music] out of sight she now has to wait for one to come close enough for a quick strike [Music] success but this monkey is little more than an appetizer or a snack to share with her young the cubs depend on the mother for up to three years only half of them will survive that long and when they do make it staying fed can be a full-time job a large tiger needs to eat at least 12 pounds of meat a day in summer the watering holes begin to shrink [Music] animals crowd around they’re on edge watching for the hidden menace [Music]
[Music] the tiger’s challenge is to get as close as possible [Music] [Music] with a kill that can hold it through the night the tiger melts back into the grass tigers need a huge hunting territory but another apex predator has learned to thrive in a relatively tiny range [Music] the galapagos islands where life has evolved in unique ways [Music] so [Music] here in the galapagos islands the apex predator isn’t a large mammal or even a reptile it’s a bird of course this is no ordinary bird the galapagos hawk is armed with a vicious beak and a set of talons with no enemies the galapagos hawks have their pick of animals to hunt a favorite meal is another galapagos oddity big males stand their ground too strong for even a hawk the real hunting opportunity comes when the iguanas leave the coast once a year females venture inland to dig burrows this is where they lay and bury their eggs and for hawks it’s a chance to gorge but the lizards are wearing their burrows double as hideouts [Music]
[Music] even when the hawk sinks its talons into this iguana the fight isn’t over the lizards are surprisingly powerful and can wriggle free from the hawk’s grip [Music] struggling to reach safety one battles to reach the water but it’s too late the real feast is held almost exactly 100 days later however the hawks gather around the burrows sensing the approach of dinner like clockwork young iguanas pop out but they seem to know something nasty waits for them if they’re not careful the fate of each hangs on its short legs good luck and the sheer number of how many of its siblings and cousins make a break at the same time it’s a mad one-sided race [Music] the hawks gorge themselves on the iguana hatchlings the iguana hatch coincides with the hawk’s own feeding them fresh iguana they raise another generation with a taste for the galapagos delicacy learning their craft can never start too early for apex predators but some are just natural born killers crocodiles seem to spend their entire lives with every sense turned towards the hunt on a riverbank in east africa crocs are hatching the gender of each is determined by the heat in the nest if the egg stays between 88 and 90 degrees it produces a male higher or lower and it produces a female now they’re vulnerable a quick snack for hungry predators [Music] but this is their mother and she’s not eating them she’s protecting them to gently pick up her babies she uses the deadliest jaws on the planet they’re capable of delivering a bite force of five thousand pounds per square inch which makes them more than seven times more powerful than a great white sharks bite this mother carries a mouthful to safer waters even then she has to stand guard only one percent of newborns make it to adulthood this youngster’s instinct to kill is there almost from day one [Music] as it grows bigger it moves its way up the food chain feathered furred or otherwise all that matters to the croc is that it’s edible after 20 years it grows to 14 feet long and weighs 500 pounds to a crock this big anything that ventures near a watering hole is a potential meal crocodiles can’t easily chase down prey they are ambush hunters that prefer their prey to come to them [Applause] it’s feast or family for the crocodiles so they gorge when food is plentiful and the biggest meal of the year is about to arrive searching for water in green grass millions of zebras wildebeests and antelopes join one of the largest mass migrations on the planet rivers are one of the few reliable sources of water but they are also home to crocodiles the herd gathers at the river’s edge they’re suspicious and the crocs don’t want to scare them off so the crocs lay low hoping to lure as many into the river as possible the croc can stay underwater for up to two hours at a time [Music] it works its way to the edge [Music] waiting for the right moment inches from the kill but it misses spooking the first row of animals however there are hundreds of thousands more that need to cross the croc just has to retreat and bite his time driven by their migration the herd crosses the river’s edge when the pressure mounts from the herd pushing from the back the ones in front are forced into the river it’s like a dam break and the croc has its pick of prey it has up to 68 pointed teeth that it uses to catch and latch onto its prey but it can’t tear and chew its meal instead it thrashes and spins to rip apart pieces then swallows the pieces whole [Music] when the rains come and the river isn’t the only source of water easy kills become rare but the croc has one more trick it can slow down its own metabolism so when food is scarce it can fast for months [Music] [Music] many top hunters look the part but it’s hard to picture some as ruthless killers with the leopard seal appearances are deceiving this is one of the antarctic’s deadliest hunters but on the beach an adult seal can barely roll over let alone pose a serious threat [Music] for the penguins this leopard seal is little more than a speed bump on their path to the water and it’s a large barrier at ten feet and one thousand pounds but when the seal drops into the water it’s transformed with a streamlined body and powerful flippers it can reach speeds of 14 miles per hour and turn on a dime [Music] the seal looks like an aquatic ballerina until it opens its mouth to reveal sharp one-inch canines [Music] the seals tactics are pretty simple swim along the edge of a penguin colony staying under water and out of sight [Music] and there’s nothing complicated about the kill either it grabs a penguin by the feet and repeatedly beats it against the surface the seal literally smashes it to pieces [Applause] then it can eat the flesh and the fatty parts letting the rest float away [Music] leopard seals are sloppy killers compared to one of south america’s apex predators in murky tributaries of the amazon river it uses what could be the strangest hunting tactic of all [Music] this six foot long animal produces what almost no other animal can conjure a killing shock of electricity [Music] known as the electric eel it’s a unique creature more closely related to a catfish than an eel [Music] so [Music] first it produces a small electric field sensing distortions in it to navigate and to find other animals these fish have no idea that their heartbeats and muscle action are drawing a killer closer the electric eel probes likely hiding spots the eel is not going to rest until it’s eaten
[Music] sensing prey the eel flushes it out into the open and delivers its death blow 500 volts enough to stun an adult human quiet until hunger moves the eel to hunt again [Music] full the eel disappears into the murk [Music] at the other extreme of the planet one hunter is so dominant it never hides and has nothing to fear in the eyes of a polar bear everything looks like lunch a bear can kill anything it catches but seal is a favorite meal the polar bear’s keen sense of smell can detect a seal from a mile away in under three feet of snow seals use air holes in the ice where they can breathe and a bear can follow the scent of the seal’s breath the bear waits until the seal surfaces and pounces seals also build dens under the snow and once the polar bear locates the den it smashes in the roof and pulls out its meal the bear is so successful in this short period it often grows a white shadow an arctic fox it follows the bear everywhere feasting on the leftovers the polar bear eats the blubber leaving the meat for the fox ideally the polar bear will catch 20 seals in just two months but when the pack ice melts the seals disperse and the hunting becomes lean again the polar bear resorts to hunting any and everything including sled dogs notoriously fearless polar bears were photographed investigating a nuclear submarine one tried to bite the hull searching for prey the polar bear can swim up to 60 miles paddling with its four legs and steering with its hind legs it scours the ice and rocky islands in search of anything edible coming up on a group of basking walruses hunger leads it to push its luck many of these walruses are twice a polar bear size and their tusks are capable of wounding or even killing a bear [Music] the element of surprise is key to the bear strategy it’s caught sight of a potential meal and fights her way through the bears got a walrus pop the pup’s mother turns to attempt a rescue but her defense is futile it doesn’t matter how they fight because winners come in all shapes and sizes but to come out on top they have to be the best the ultimate success stories the ultimate predators [Music] you
