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This is the inside story of four extraordinary predators. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:07 | |
The peregrine falcon... | 0:00:07 | 0:00:09 | |
the Nile crocodile... | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
the cheetah... | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
and the great white shark. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:15 | |
With ground-breaking computer graphics... | 0:00:23 | 0:00:27 | |
and incredible close-up photography... | 0:00:27 | 0:00:31 | |
we reveal the inner alchemy that gives our hunters the edge. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:35 | |
Reconstructing their intimate lives as they make their kills. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:45 | |
But who is the planet's perfect predator? | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
Living right above the heads of the people of London... | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
..the fastest animal on the planet, | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
the peregrine falcon. | 0:01:30 | 0:01:32 | |
Man-made cliff tops offer sanctuary to the peregrines... | 0:01:44 | 0:01:49 | |
..but they also present new dangers. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:53 | |
With the arrival of spring come new demands | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
on the peregrines' hunting skills. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:10 | |
Demands that will stretch them to their limit. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
There are new mouths to feed. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:31 | |
If these chicks are to survive long enough to fly the nest, | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
their parents will have to catch two pigeons a day for the next month. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:49 | |
This will be the greatest challenge of their mother's life. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:04 | |
Her secret weapon is speed. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
But on the flat, a pigeon can out-fly a peregrine. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
She must use gravity to reach her maximum speed. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:33 | |
For this, she rides the updraft. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
Half a mile above the city, | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
she can now survey the whole of her territory. | 0:03:56 | 0:04:01 | |
Of all the four predators, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:04 | |
the peregrine falcon has the keenest eyesight. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
At the base of each retina, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:12 | |
she has two concentrations of visual sensors, | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
where humans have only one. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
This gives her incredible powers of triangulation. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
From two miles away, she locks on to her unsuspecting target. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:30 | |
The hunt is on. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
While this peregrine falcon must kill every day, | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
there's one predator that can survive without food for a year. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:55 | |
It lives in the rivers of Africa. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
Even when they have run dry. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
Months ago a five-metre, half-ton Nile crocodile | 0:05:28 | 0:05:33 | |
scraped out a burrow to escape the heat. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
Now he's in a state of suspended animation. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:43 | |
His heart beats only twice a minute... | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
..delivering just enough blood | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
to keep his vital organs from shutting down completely. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
To survive, he draws on the fat reserves | 0:06:10 | 0:06:15 | |
accumulated from last year's hunt. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:17 | |
In this condition, he rides out the worst of the drought. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:28 | |
THUNDER RUMBLES | 0:06:31 | 0:06:35 | |
When the rains finally return... | 0:07:05 | 0:07:08 | |
..the predator | 0:07:09 | 0:07:11 | |
flickers to life. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
But before the cold-bloodied reptile can hunt, it must first power up. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:35 | |
The ridges of scales along his back are more than just body armour. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:55 | |
They act like solar panels, absorbing the heat. | 0:07:57 | 0:08:03 | |
Just beneath the surface, a web of capillaries carries the warm blood | 0:08:05 | 0:08:09 | |
to the crocodile's core... | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
..activating his systems. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
His eyesight sharpens. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
His hearing tunes in to the world around him. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:32 | |
BIRDS SCREECH | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
For the next six months, he must make do with only fish to snack on. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:47 | |
Then, it is the moment he's been waiting for. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
Inside his ears, | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
minute hair-like structures detect a low-frequency sound | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
well beyond human hearing. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
It's the rumble of a distant stampede. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
Hordes of wildebeest on their never-ending quest | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
for fresh pastures. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:41 | |
Finally, he has his quarry in his sight. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
The hunt is on. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
While the crocodile can wait for prey to come to him, | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
another predator must make an epic journey to reach hers. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:35 | |
Deep in the Indian Ocean, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:44 | |
the world's largest predatory fish is heading to her feeding grounds. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:49 | |
One ton and five metres long, this female great white shark | 0:11:10 | 0:11:15 | |
left the coast of Australia over 100 days ago on a 7,000-mile journey. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:22 | |
She cruises half a mile down, in a world of pitch black. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:32 | |
Up above, | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
fishing fleets are scooping out the last of the big shoals. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:52 | |
Down below, the shark is burning the last of her fuel supply. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:05 | |
She has almost exhausted the fatty oils in her liver. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
She must get to her feeding grounds soon. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
Highly sophisticated electro-sensors in her nose... | 0:12:40 | 0:12:45 | |
..allow her to detect the Earth's magnetic grid... | 0:12:47 | 0:12:51 | |
..and accurately compute her position. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:59 | |
Occasionally, she returns to the surface, | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
possibly to get her bearings from the stars. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
Finally, the near-starving shark reaches her destination, | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
the coast of South Africa. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
It's early winter and she has timed her arrival to perfection. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:47 | |
Thousands of six-month-old Cape fur seals are venturing | 0:13:55 | 0:13:59 | |
into deep water for the first time. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
Thanks to their energy-rich blubber, | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
these seals would make a perfect meal for most sharks. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
But most sharks can't cope with these cold temperatures. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:28 | |
They're cold-blooded | 0:14:36 | 0:14:38 | |
and lose body heat as their blood passes through their gills. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:42 | |
The great white, however, | 0:14:48 | 0:14:50 | |
uses a specialised network of blood vessels to reabsorb its body heat. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:55 | |
Because of this, it can raise its body temperature | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
14 degrees higher than other sharks, | 0:15:07 | 0:15:11 | |
giving it superior strength, speed and brain power. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:16 | |
She's crossed an ocean to be here. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:29 | |
It's time to eat. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:34 | |
From two miles away, she can smell the colony, | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
able to detect one molecule of blood in a million of water. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
From 250 metres away, | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
she can distinguish the sound of seals from the background surf. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
From 25 metres, she can make out surface objects | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
only 15 centimetres across. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
The hunt is on! | 0:16:23 | 0:16:25 | |
While the ultimate sea predator can go without a kill for weeks, | 0:16:41 | 0:16:46 | |
the ultimate land predator must kill almost every day to survive. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:52 | |
The fastest animal on land | 0:16:58 | 0:17:00 | |
has had the run of the African plains for millennia. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
But sometimes speed isn't enough. | 0:17:08 | 0:17:11 | |
The cheetah. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
So far, this mother has succeeded in keeping her three cubs alive... | 0:17:25 | 0:17:30 | |
..when typically, only one would reach its first birthday. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:36 | |
Hyenas. | 0:17:55 | 0:17:58 | |
They will kill cheetah cubs. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
Not only do they have strength in numbers, they're also bigger, | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
with bone-crushing jaws. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:10 | |
To protect her young, the cheetah must act as a decoy. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:28 | |
Inside, her body fires into action. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
Adrenalin is quickly flushed into the bloodstream. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:40 | |
Her huge heart doubles its rate to 250 beats a minute... | 0:18:44 | 0:18:48 | |
..sending extra oxygen and sugars directly | 0:18:53 | 0:18:57 | |
to her enormous leg muscles. | 0:18:57 | 0:18:58 | |
She is now ready to engage the enemy. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:05 | |
This time, she has won. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
But her cubs are hungry. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:54 | |
They need meat and milk every day. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:57 | |
She too is weakening. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
To achieve her killer speed, she carries little fat | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
and is constantly on the verge of starvation. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
She must eat. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
Cheetahs have enhanced vision in the horizontal plane... | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
and can spot a moving gazelle from over a mile away. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:24 | |
Approaching downwind, she creeps towards | 0:20:45 | 0:20:47 | |
her 30-metre striking distance... | 0:20:47 | 0:20:50 | |
..making the most of her camouflage. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:01 | |
Once again, there's a chain reaction... | 0:21:34 | 0:21:38 | |
as she prepares for the fastest chase on land. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
The hunt is on. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
All four predators are poised for the attack. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
Their insides a powder keg... | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
just waiting to explode. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
But who will make the kill, and who will go hungry? | 0:22:10 | 0:22:15 | |
Nature's top gun, the peregrine falcon. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:36 | |
Desperate to feed her chicks... | 0:22:40 | 0:22:42 | |
..she locks onto her target, a fast and agile pigeon. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:49 | |
Time to turn on the speed. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
Tucking in her wings, she shoots towards Earth. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
Her teardrop-shaped body, the height of aerodynamic design. | 0:23:07 | 0:23:13 | |
Within seconds, she has reached | 0:23:16 | 0:23:18 | |
her terminal velocity of 200 miles per hour. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:21 | |
The force of air would explode her lungs, | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
if not for the baffles in her nostrils, | 0:23:34 | 0:23:38 | |
a design so effective it is now used in jet engines. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:42 | |
Nictating membranes wipe her eyes | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
to clear them of debris and stop them drying out. | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
She prepares for impact, a manoeuvre requiring split-second timing. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:10 | |
But the pigeon spotted her... | 0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | |
and she can't compete on the flat. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
Despite their speed, peregrine falcons have a poor strike rate, | 0:24:49 | 0:24:54 | |
with only 20% of attacks ending in a kill. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:59 | |
But her chicks must feed before the day is out. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:06 | |
Back in Africa, hunger is also preying on the mind | 0:25:20 | 0:25:24 | |
of the freshwater predator. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:26 | |
So far, this Nile crocodile has survived on meagre pickings. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:44 | |
Now is his chance for a proper meal. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:51 | |
The crocodile is an ambush predator. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:07 | |
But to succeed, he must get close. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
No more than three metres away. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:14 | |
The wildebeest are wary of any movement. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
For his final approach, he must vanish completely. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
Although he can barely see, he uses his claws to feel his way forward. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:13 | |
Pressure receptors studded along his jaws pick up vibrations | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
in the water... | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
..guiding him to his prey. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:37 | |
A large crocodile can hide itself in 30 centimetres of water. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
Now, he must wait for them to come to him. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
By lowering his heart rate... | 0:28:17 | 0:28:20 | |
..and slowing down his metabolism... | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
..he can stay submerged for up to two hours. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
Finally, the temptation to drink is too much for the wildebeest. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:44 | |
He swipes his muscular tail, half his body length. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:16 | |
It launches him three metres out of the water. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
He shuts his eyes to protect them... | 0:29:26 | 0:29:28 | |
..and snaps blindly, his jaws studded with five-centimetre fangs. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:41 | |
He's missed. | 0:29:57 | 0:29:58 | |
The Nile crocodile's hit rate of 30% | 0:30:10 | 0:30:12 | |
may beat that of the peregrine falcon... | 0:30:12 | 0:30:15 | |
..but the wildebeest are only fleeting visitors to his river. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
He must make a kill soon if he is to survive the lean times ahead. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:36 | |
Drained after an epic voyage, | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
the ultimate ocean predator is also ravenous. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:54 | |
She's come all this way to feast on the thousands of young seals | 0:31:06 | 0:31:10 | |
braving open water for the first time. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:12 | |
25 metres down, she launches her lightning strike. | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
Three-quarters of her bodyweight | 0:31:37 | 0:31:39 | |
is muscle that powers her enormous tail. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
Thanks to her fortified scales, her streamlined body | 0:31:56 | 0:32:00 | |
glides through the water with minimal friction. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:03 | |
At 31 miles an hour, she's like a living torpedo. | 0:32:10 | 0:32:14 | |
Moments before the strike, she rolls her eyes back to protect them. | 0:32:19 | 0:32:23 | |
Steering blind, she now depends on her sixth sense. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:37 | |
The electro-sensors on her snout detect the seal's electric field. | 0:32:40 | 0:32:45 | |
Her jaws open almost a metre wide... | 0:33:01 | 0:33:04 | |
..revealing row upon row of serrated daggers. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
With a 50% hit rate, she is the most efficient hunter so far. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:37 | |
But she must consume more blubber | 0:34:39 | 0:34:41 | |
if she's to make it back to peak condition. | 0:34:41 | 0:34:44 | |
Back on the African plains, | 0:35:00 | 0:35:02 | |
the fastest land animal is moving in for the kill. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:06 | |
The survival of her cubs is at stake. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:19 | |
From 0 to 60 in under three seconds, she outperforms a Porsche. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:43 | |
Extra-wide airways and outsized lungs | 0:35:45 | 0:35:48 | |
allow her to take in more oxygen. | 0:35:48 | 0:35:50 | |
Loose hip and shoulder joints give her extended reach. | 0:36:03 | 0:36:08 | |
Combined with an elastic spine... | 0:36:12 | 0:36:15 | |
..that both arches up and curves down. | 0:36:17 | 0:36:19 | |
This gives her a seven-metre stride. | 0:36:23 | 0:36:26 | |
For more than half the time, she is airborne. | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
Thrusting her forward are her huge leg muscles... | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
..composed mainly of fast-twitch fibres | 0:36:47 | 0:36:51 | |
that contract far quicker than normal muscles... | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
..and that run on glycogen, nature's own rocket fuel. | 0:36:56 | 0:37:00 | |
But there's a catch. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
Glycogen breaks down into lactic acid, | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
the poison that causes muscle cramp. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:14 | |
She has just 20 seconds to make her kill before her muscles burn out. | 0:37:17 | 0:37:21 | |
Hurtling at 70 miles an hour, she risks everything on a trip. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:28 | |
With a 50% strike rate, | 0:37:55 | 0:37:57 | |
the cheetah matches the efficiency of the great white, | 0:37:57 | 0:38:01 | |
but holding onto her kill will be another matter. | 0:38:01 | 0:38:05 | |
By strike rate alone, the cheetah... | 0:38:12 | 0:38:15 | |
..and great white are the top predators. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:21 | |
Snapping at their heels is the Nile crocodile... | 0:38:23 | 0:38:27 | |
with the peregrine falcon swooping into fourth. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
But there is more to survival than just hunting. | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
The great white has made her first kill | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
but she must make up for lost time. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
Kill number two. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:52 | |
Her liver starts to store its fatty oils, but she still needs more. | 0:39:55 | 0:40:02 | |
Over the short winter season, | 0:40:46 | 0:40:48 | |
an experienced shark may catch up to three seals a day. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:52 | |
Months later, however, the tide has turned. | 0:41:01 | 0:41:05 | |
The seals are both stronger and cannier. | 0:41:05 | 0:41:09 | |
While some are still being eaten... | 0:41:14 | 0:41:16 | |
..most can now run rings around their enemy. | 0:41:19 | 0:41:23 | |
The shark's incredible metabolism is both a strength and a weakness. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:29 | |
Like the cheetah, her fast-twitch muscles | 0:41:41 | 0:41:43 | |
are perfect for short bursts of speed but quickly burn out. | 0:41:43 | 0:41:48 | |
The exhausted shark gives up. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:08 | |
But she's done well. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:13 | |
Her fatty liver has now doubled in size. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:16 | |
With energy in reserve, she moves on to her next feeding ground... | 0:42:35 | 0:42:39 | |
..one that may be hundreds of miles away. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:46 | |
But avoiding the fishing fleets is becoming more difficult. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:04 | |
Her luck has run out. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:15 | |
This ruthlessly efficient predator | 0:43:22 | 0:43:25 | |
has ruled the waves for millions of years, | 0:43:25 | 0:43:29 | |
but now these waves are ruled by humans. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:32 | |
So what does the future hold for the other top predators? | 0:43:51 | 0:43:55 | |
On the African plains, the cheetah has made her kill. | 0:44:03 | 0:44:07 | |
But the chase has attracted attention... | 0:44:15 | 0:44:18 | |
..and taken its toll on her body. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:30 | |
Struggling to recover, her lungs heave at 200 breaths per minute. | 0:44:33 | 0:44:38 | |
Oxygen races to her aching muscles... | 0:44:42 | 0:44:45 | |
..breaking down the cramping lactic acid. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
But time is running out. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
This time, the hyenas went for the easy meat. | 0:46:01 | 0:46:04 | |
But it was meat that the cubs desperately needed. | 0:46:06 | 0:46:10 | |
In the past, cheetahs could avoid their enemies. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
But now, their grasslands are shrinking | 0:46:20 | 0:46:22 | |
and being replaced by farmland... | 0:46:22 | 0:46:27 | |
..where the cheetahs are considered a threat to livestock... | 0:46:33 | 0:46:37 | |
..and shot. | 0:46:39 | 0:46:41 | |
She may have had the run of the plains for millennia, | 0:46:45 | 0:46:49 | |
but in the next 30 years the cheetah may become extinct in the wild. | 0:46:49 | 0:46:54 | |
Rapid change is sweeping across the African landscape. | 0:47:30 | 0:47:35 | |
The crocodile's first ambush was a spectacular failure. | 0:48:01 | 0:48:06 | |
To survive the dry season, he must catch a wildebeest | 0:48:07 | 0:48:10 | |
in the few weeks they are passing through. | 0:48:10 | 0:48:13 | |
This time, his jaws find their mark... | 0:48:52 | 0:48:55 | |
..bringing two tons of pressure to bear on each square inch of flesh. | 0:48:58 | 0:49:03 | |
At last, he has his prize. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:14 | |
Rather than fend off the other crocodiles, | 0:49:27 | 0:49:30 | |
he welcomes them to the feast, unable to dine alone. | 0:49:30 | 0:49:34 | |
His teeth may be formidable but they are grippers, not carvers. | 0:49:37 | 0:49:43 | |
Together they perform twisting death rolls | 0:49:43 | 0:49:46 | |
to rip the flesh into bite-size chunks. | 0:49:46 | 0:49:49 | |
A croc's stomach can hold over 25 kilos of meat. | 0:50:09 | 0:50:13 | |
To help him digest the cache before it begins to rot, | 0:50:16 | 0:50:20 | |
the crocodile has a unique adaptation. | 0:50:20 | 0:50:23 | |
His heart. | 0:50:25 | 0:50:27 | |
No other animal has two aortas. | 0:50:31 | 0:50:34 | |
By closing his right aorta, the main blood supply to his body, | 0:50:36 | 0:50:41 | |
and opening up his left aorta, | 0:50:41 | 0:50:43 | |
he can divert the carbon dioxide-rich blood | 0:50:45 | 0:50:48 | |
that he accumulated during his underwater stake-out | 0:50:48 | 0:50:53 | |
straight to his stomach. | 0:50:53 | 0:50:55 | |
The acidic blood produces ten times more stomach acid... | 0:50:57 | 0:51:02 | |
..to help dissolve the huge chunks of meat. | 0:51:04 | 0:51:07 | |
The potent solution is then converted to fat | 0:51:19 | 0:51:22 | |
and stored for the lean times ahead. | 0:51:22 | 0:51:25 | |
He's made his big kill just in time. | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
His world is slowly turning to dust. | 0:51:59 | 0:52:03 | |
The wildebeest are moving on. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:16 | |
It's time to escape the furnace. | 0:52:20 | 0:52:23 | |
He shuts down once more. | 0:52:53 | 0:52:57 | |
He has only his new fat reserves to see him through to the next rains. | 0:52:59 | 0:53:04 | |
Thanks to the crocodile's remarkable physiology, | 0:53:09 | 0:53:12 | |
it has outlived the dinosaurs and survived the ice ages. | 0:53:12 | 0:53:18 | |
Now, there is every chance it will weather the worsening droughts | 0:53:29 | 0:53:34 | |
brought on by climate change, too. | 0:53:34 | 0:53:37 | |
All the predators have challenges ahead. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:04 | |
But some may fare better than others. | 0:54:06 | 0:54:09 | |
Like the crocodile, the peregrine's first strike was a miss. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:15 | |
As her chicks depend on a daily kill... | 0:54:18 | 0:54:21 | |
..the stakes could not be higher. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:26 | |
Moments before impact... | 0:54:57 | 0:54:58 | |
..she unleashes her five-centimetre talons. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:06 | |
The force of the blow snaps the pigeon's backbone. | 0:55:21 | 0:55:25 | |
CHICKS CRY | 0:55:52 | 0:55:56 | |
Today, the hungry chicks get to eat. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:11 | |
But their parents will have to do this | 0:56:20 | 0:56:22 | |
every day, twice a day, for a month, if all three chicks are to survive. | 0:56:22 | 0:56:28 | |
Weeks later, these three rookie predators | 0:56:54 | 0:56:58 | |
are testament to their parents' perseverance. | 0:56:58 | 0:57:00 | |
Despite their challenges, and their low strike rate, | 0:57:25 | 0:57:30 | |
urban peregrines are on the rise. | 0:57:30 | 0:57:34 | |
Around 30 of the world's fastest animal now soar over London. | 0:57:38 | 0:57:42 | |
All four predators have incredible inside stories. | 0:57:51 | 0:57:56 | |
But the real perfect predator | 0:57:58 | 0:58:01 | |
is the one that can best adapt to a rapidly changing world... | 0:58:01 | 0:58:06 | |
..and learn to live alongside humankind. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:14 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:38 | 0:58:41 | |
Email [email protected] | 0:58:41 | 0:58:44 |