0:00:02 > 0:00:06On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Here's just one of my many favourites.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13This is Deadly 60...
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Bites!
0:00:15 > 0:00:18My crew and I are on a mission
0:00:18 > 0:00:21high in the Drakensburg mountains of South Africa.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22Because I've got a date
0:00:22 > 0:00:26with the most astounding aerial assasin on the continent.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Look at this! He's folding his wings, stooping,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33coming crashing in to land!
0:00:33 > 0:00:34Wow!
0:00:35 > 0:00:37That was extraordinary!
0:00:37 > 0:00:39Keep your face away.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40That's it.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43So, obviously, this isn't a wild eagle.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45This is Rourke. He was rescued as a very young chick
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and has been living, for the last five years,
0:00:48 > 0:00:49in very good human company.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53He is an utterly magnificent predator
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and if you want to see why, you don't have took any further
0:00:56 > 0:00:58than those talons.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59Look at those.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Each one is like a long, curved kitchen knife of a weapon.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Owner Doug assures me that,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08if I wasn't wearing this thick leather glove,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12he could punch that talon through my hand and out the other side.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Now, though he is magnificent sat in my hand,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17you can see what he really wants to do.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21He wants to show you what eagles are all about - and that's flying.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Come on, Rourke. Do your thing.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29And there is only one way to see how difficult this flying lark is.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33'Time to slip into something a bit less comfortable
0:01:33 > 0:01:34'and catch some big air.'
0:01:36 > 0:01:38OK, Hans? It's good to go.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41One, two, three, let's go.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Run. Run, run, run, run, run.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Hay-hay!
0:01:46 > 0:01:48And there he is! Look!
0:01:49 > 0:01:50There he is, right there!
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Just flying under my feet.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57We are sharing the air
0:01:57 > 0:02:01with Rourke, the black eagle. How good is that?!
0:02:06 > 0:02:09He just soared right under our canopy!
0:02:09 > 0:02:10That was unbelievable!
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Just incredible!
0:02:17 > 0:02:19OK, now the real trick...
0:02:19 > 0:02:24to this paragliding lark, is very much the same thing
0:02:24 > 0:02:27that the eagle will be looking for, and that's thermals.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29A thermal is a rising current of warm air,
0:02:29 > 0:02:34which would especially come up off a dark ploughed field,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36a big area of road.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Just that warm air is enough to get you heading for the heavens
0:02:40 > 0:02:44and that's the weapon the black eagle uses to get high.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50'We're sharing the skies with a true master
0:02:50 > 0:02:53'and Rourke is giving us a proper flying lesson.'
0:02:55 > 0:02:58'Using every single air current,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00'Rourke was soon way above us.'
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Where's Rourke? Where's he gone?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Rourke will be up top, there.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05'This Top-Gun ability
0:03:05 > 0:03:08'allows black eagles to cover hundreds of miles a day,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11'scouring the ground for their prey.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14'And it's a lot harder than it looks.'
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Aaaargh!
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- CRASH! - Ugh! Oh!
0:03:20 > 0:03:25And that was the worst landing one could imagine.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28- STEVE LAUGHS You're OK, are you?- Yes.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32That's what you call a crash-landing.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Yes. Absolutely.
0:03:34 > 0:03:40Aw! Guessing that his landing was a little bit more graceful than ours!
0:03:40 > 0:03:43In fact, everything about the black eagle
0:03:43 > 0:03:46is done an awful lot better than we did it
0:03:46 > 0:03:48and there's no way we're leaving here
0:03:48 > 0:03:51without putting the black eagle on the Deadly 60.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54What a bird! Come on!
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:03:58 > 0:04:01E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk