Big Cats The Wonder of Animals

Planet Earth.

Millions of different species.

But a few are special.

Born to thrive.

These are the opportunists.

The collaborators.

The survivors.

So what is it that makes these animals so successful?

By exploring the details deep beneath the skin,

we'll discover the unique features

that set some species apart.

In this series,

new behaviour and the very latest scientific discoveries

will throw fresh insight into

The Wonder of Animals.

The scorching African savanna,

the bitter cold of the Himalayas,

and the tropical jungles of Asia -

all wildly different landscapes -

but in each one, the same group of predators

are at the very top of the food chain.

The big cats.

Lions...

tigers...

leopards...

jaguars...

snow leopards.

Powerful, well-armed predators,

poised at the pinnacle of the ecological pyramid

in whatever habitat they occupy.

ZEBRA WHINNIES

So what is it that allows big cats to reign supreme?

Brute force is important,

but what really allows big cats to overcome their prey

are some surprisingly delicate adaptations.

In this episode, we're going to reveal these sophisticated tools

by following the three stages that make up every big cat hunt.

The stalk...

the capture...

and the kill.

When it comes to stalking,

there is no cat more persistent than the leopard.

It's been known to stalk its prey for over three kilometres.

It's an essential method

because big cats have less stamina than their prey.

Wildebeest can run for hours on end.

Whereas, a big cat can only maintain its top speed for short bursts.

To gain the advantage,

the leopard must get close to its prey -

ideally, within just four metres.

And the easiest way to do that...

is at night.

Now their stealth comes into its own.

In the black of night,

here on the African savanna,

sight can no longer be relied upon by this leopard,

or by its prey.

Neither can see the scene

that our cameras can.

So it becomes a battle of the remaining senses.

These impala can rotate their large, cupped ears 180 degrees...

..picking up the slightest sound.

Just one snapped twig would give the leopard away.

But it has ways to keep quiet.

When stalking, toe ligaments keep their claws off the ground,

hidden in sheaths...

..silencing each step.

Its paw pads are packed with highly sensitive nerves...

..one tap tells it the shape, texture and temperature

of an object.

And big cats have another weapon

in their stalking armoury -

whiskers...

on their legs.

Stiff hairs, known as carpal hairs,

on their front legs,

can detect vibrations in the ground

and changes in air currents.

Even domestic cats have them.

These hairs send signals to nerve endings,

telling the cat exactly how close its leg is to an object.

It's an exquisite adaptation,

crucial for stalking in the dark.

Once its prey is within striking distance,

the next step is the capture.

Capturing a large mammal takes explosive power and agility.

Nowhere more so than in the steepest terrain on Earth.

The snow leopard lives at 4,000 metres,

high up in the Himalayan mountains of Pakistan.

Its prey is the nimble-footed markhor.

Flexible hooves with traction pads give it a powerful grip

and death-defying balance.

But the snow leopard is just as at home on these perilous slopes.

Short stocky forelimbs and strong chest muscles

power it up near vertical cliffs in pursuit of its prey.

But these are no ordinary muscles.

All mammal muscles are made up of individual fibres,

but scientists at the University of Cape Town

have discovered that in the big cats, they're different.

Although smaller than those found in humans,

each big cat muscle fibre generates three times more power.

And they have more of them, too.

Just like pistons in a car,

the more there are, the more powerful the engine.

These fibres enable the snow leopard to leap up to 15 metres

in a single bound when it's pursuing its prey.

Delicate muscle structure delivers extraordinary power

and supreme agility,

culminating in the capture.

Now for the kill.

When it comes to the killer bite,

the snow leopard is outdone by its distant South American cousin,

the jaguar.

It's able to exert over 700kg of force through its jaw.

It can bite straight through the skull of its prey.

Recent research from the University of South Carolina has revealed

why the jaguar has a more powerful bite.

Looking at this lion's skull,

you might imagine that this larger animal would be stronger,

but, in fact, the jaguar has proportionally more muscle mass

attached to its jaws

and those jaws are shorter

which means they can exact more leverage.

As a result, relative to their size,

the jaguar has the strongest bite of all.

Killing a wild pig is relatively easy.

But the jaguar has evolved a powerful bite

to enable it to take on much tougher prey -

prey with thick skulls and thick skin.

This amateur footage captures rarely seen behaviour.

The jaguar enters the water with one thing on its mind - caiman.

Unless the caiman is dispatched immediately,

it could turn on its attacker.

The jaguar needs to kill it with a single bite to the skull.

The jaguar's success is not just down to strength.

With perfect precision,

it drives its canines through the ears

and directly into the caiman's brain.

But how can the jaguar deliver this surgeon-like precision

whilst it's wrestling 50kg of thrashing caiman?

Whiskers...

this time, on its face.

They help the jaguar align its powerful bite.

A cat can control the direction of its whiskers.

During a strike, they are pointed forward

enabling receptors at their base,

to provide precise information

on the position of the prey.

Like most mammals, its canines contain pressure-sensitive receptors

so they don't break a tooth.

But in the big cats, these receptors serve an extra purpose.

They send signals to nerve-endings in the gum,

telling the jaguar how to adjust the exact position of its jaw

for the killer bite.

So the hunting abilities of big cats are not just based on brawn.

The key to the kill is a sophisticated set of senses.

Now all that's left...is to eat.

And some big cats can devour up to 42kg of meat...

..in just one sitting.

FLIES BUZZ

It's not because they're greedy...

..or even because they need more protein than other animals.

It's because they have to extract all their necessary nutrients

from eating meat alone.

They simply can't survive on anything else.

On the face of it,

the feast is as brutal as the kill.

But what's going on inside is highly sophisticated.

Scientists recently discovered that big cats have genetic modifications

which make them supremely efficient at digesting amino acids,

fatty acids and fat...

..and therefore better able to break down a carcass

and extract the nutrients within.

AGGRESSIVE GROWLING

Even with this complex digestion,

big cats need to eat up to 6kg of meat a day.

Of all the cats, you might expect the largest - the tiger -

to bring down the biggest prey,

but, in fact, they don't.

Tigers very often feed on things

that are much smaller than themselves.

But there is one big cat for whom size is no object.

One cat that stalks, chases, kills and feasts

like no other.

The lion.

And, once again, it's not all about brawn.

This time it's about tactics.

Despite being smaller than the tiger,

the lion is the cat that takes down by far the biggest prey.

Like Cape buffalo -

..known as the black death in their native Africa,

because of their ferocious reputation.

Here on the plains, Cape buffalo make up over half of a lion's diet.

But it's no easy catch -

..900kg of pure fury...

..three and a half metres long...

..one and a half metres tall...

..with a top speed that outstrips the lion.

The lioness, by contrast,

is just a seventh of the weight of the buffalo...

..and her seven centimetre canines are no match for its horns.

But what this lioness does have on her side...

..is her pride.

All other big cats are solitary hunters,

but the lionesses rely on teamwork.

They do the lion's share of the hunting

here on the African grasslands.

But good teamwork requires good tactics.

Lions have been observed using strategies to hunt.

They are ambush predators.

They lie in wait where Cape buffalo are most likely to pass.

Once the buffalo are in range,

the lionesses take up their positions.

Much like any sports team,

lionesses have specific roles.

The position an individual plays will vary from hunt to hunt.

They adapt according to who else is on the team.

These are the wings.

Four lionesses who fan out surrounding the unsuspecting herd.

The second role is the centre...

..a fifth lioness who will place herself

between the two flanks.

She will likely make the kill.

Centres are often the bigger, stronger members of the pride.

Whereas the wings are usually more experienced lionesses,

aided by sub-adults keen to learn.

These experienced hunters in the wings

initiate the attack,

separating individuals from the herd

and forcing them to flee

in the direction of the centre lion,

who will move in...

and make the kill.

Our lionesses are in position,

and so is their prey.

The danger seems all too obvious to the human eye...

..but the buffalo see almost no colour...

..just shades of yellow, blue and grey.

Each lioness is waiting...

..and watching for one of the wings to make her move.

The wings' ruse works perfectly,

driving the buffalo straight towards the centre.

The centre lets the buffalo pass,

then launches a chase.

Lions never attack a buffalo head on -

those horns are simply too lethal.

Now her claws come into their own.

The lioness contracts muscles in her lower leg,

releasing the claws from their protective sheaths.

They pierce the skin and muscle...

..and a fifth claw - the dew claw, positioned like a thumb -

gives an extra angle to the grip.

Even so, her strength alone can't bring the buffalo to the ground.

But help has arrived from the wings.

Together, the struggle turns in their favour.

But even at the point of death,

brute force once again gives way to a more refined adaptation.

It's not the lion's bite that makes the buffalo draw its final breath.

For their size,

lions have one of the weakest bites of all the big cats.

And that's because they have the widest jaw -

a 30cm gape.

But what they lose in strength...

they gain in their ability to clamp their entire jaw

over the prey's muzzle.

They suffocate it with a kiss of death.

Teamwork like this enables lions to take even bigger prey.

The largest of all land animals -

the elephant.

All of the big cats could feast on prey like this

if they combined forces when hunting...

..yet lions are the only ones to hunt as a team...

THUNDERCLAPS

..because they have an adaptation that the other big cats don't.

Recent research at Michigan State University has found that,

of all the big cats,

lions have the most highly developed frontal cortex.

That's the part of the brain that deals with decision making,

problem solving and social behaviour.

THUNDERCLAPS

This enlarged frontal cortex

is more evident in lionesses than in male lions.

And it's the female lions who spend more time in groups.

And because they do the majority of the hunting,

this adaptation enables them not only to live as a pride,

but also to strategise during a hunt.

So the lionesses' hunting prowess

stems not only from brawn but also from the brain.

Strong jaws, powerful claws

and razor-sharp teeth

are not enough explain the success of the big cats.

They all rely on a range of more delicate adaptations -

from carpal hairs and whiskers...

to intricate muscle fibres...

and brain parts capable of clever strategies.

It's these that enable the big cats to overpower prey,

that might be bigger,

stronger,

or faster than they are -

keeping them right at the top of the food chain

wherever they live.

And that's the wonder of big cats.