Hunting for Their Next Meal (Full Episode) | World's Deadliest Compilation | Nat Geo Animals

0:02 As temperatures rise, so does the danger.

0:10 In the jungles, rain forests and tropics all

0:14 over the world predators turn up the heat.

0:21 (music) (music) (growl) (music) (music) The Amazon of South America,

0:42 the greatest rain forest on Earth.

0:46 A haven for creatures of the trees, and a paradise for terrestrial predators.

0:52 But for half the year, this primeval jungle is invaded by water.

0:57 Aquatic predators invade the canopy, and all the rules change.

1:07 Each year around November, everything changes in the Amazon Rain Forest.

1:12 (thunder) Torrential rains cause a thousand rivers

1:18 to overflow their banks and flood vast areas.

1:26 Over 100,000 square miles of jungle are submerged by up to 40 feet.

1:33 The trees of the jungle become an eerie underwater forest.

1:42 The balance of power between land and water changes.

1:46 The creatures of the trees must retreat...

1:50 or swim.

1:53 And aquatic predators invade the flooded jungle.

1:57 (music) Giant otters, also known as river wolves.

2:05 Up to six feet long, armed with sharp teeth and highly intelligent.

2:13 During these wet months, they're among the top carnivores of the Amazon.

2:20 They may look cute, but if you're a fish, they're your worst nightmare.

2:29 Just like their namesake on the land, river wolves hunt as a pack.

2:34 (music) (music) Giant otters eat 10%

2:45 of their body weight in fresh fish every day, over two pounds' worth.

2:54 Their powerful jaws chomp through scales and bone.

3:01 The otter's leftovers soon attract an animal whose very name creates terror:

3:07 the dreaded piranha.

3:11 It's inspired Hollywood horror movies and a million campfire tales.

3:20 But how much of their horrifying reputation is true?

3:26 As a pack, piranha take on prey 10 times their size.

3:32 As the rivers crest their banks and flood the land, piranha follow.

3:39 (music) The rain brings a bumper crop of prey.

3:47 Great white egrets, nesting in the only dry place left.

3:52 (music) (music) Awkward young egrets aren't ready to fly,

4:04 so if they lose their balance, they're goners.

4:07 (music) Like sharks,

4:12 piranha have sensors that detect other creatures' movements.

4:17 (music) Once blood is shed,

4:25 piranha can detect a drop of blood from two miles away.

4:28 (music) Thrashing only draws more piranha.

4:36 (music) (music) All that's left is pillow stuffing.

4:49 Their name comes from two native words:

4:53 pira, meaning fish; and anha, meaning teeth.

4:57 And no wonder.

5:01 Their teeth are triangular, interlocking and dense.

5:07 And so sharp, they can cut a steel fishing line.

5:11 But the fish with the monstrous reputation is actually small:

5:16 on average, about as long as a pencil.

5:20 So piranha school for the same reasons other fish do: safety in numbers.

5:29 When rivers are high, food is plentiful.

5:32 But beware the dry season.

5:37 As the land dries out, rivers retreat into oxbows and ponds.

5:44 Confined to a natural fishbowl,

5:47 piranha will go after anything they can sink their teeth into.

5:52 (music) Injured piranha are quickly cannibalized.

5:59 (music) (music) As for those legendary attacks on humans...

6:13 rare.

6:14 And no one has ever documented a human being killed by a piranha attack.

6:24 Piranhas may be the most infamous,

6:26 but there are many other kinds of strange and dangerous fish in these waters.

6:35 When the floodwaters come again, land animals climb to safety.

6:42 During the dry season,

6:43 this insect had to evade monkeys and birds trying to eat it.

6:48 But now, there's a whole new league of predators after it,

6:53 attacking from unexpected directions.

6:57 (music) (music) The arowana fish is also known as the water monkey.

7:08 (music) Usually, they eat smaller fish,

7:16 but during the great Amazon flood, their menu options expand.

7:24 A hungry, three-foot-long arowana patrols close

7:28 to the surface, scanning for prey.

7:32 Once locked onto its target, it launches itself like a missile...

7:40 and makes a meal of an unsuspecting land dweller.

7:43 (music) But when it comes to being an elite predator, size is truly everything.

7:55 (music) The biggest predatory fish

8:01 in the flooded Amazon is the legendary pirarucu.

8:09 Fully grown, they can be 10 feet long and weigh 400 pounds,

8:14 one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.

8:22 Pirarucu lurk in the shadows, then snatch their prey with blinding speed.

8:31 Victims on the surface are sucked into their mouths by a whirlpool.

8:39 There is no escape.

8:42 It's survived and stalked these waters since the time of the dinosaurs.

8:49 Its success comes from primitive but lifesaving abilities.

8:56 Pirarucu are one of the very few fish that can directly breathe air.

9:01 They surface like marine mammals and gulp in a big mouthful.

9:07 Even when waters dry up or become dangerously low in oxygen,

9:13 the giant fish can still survive and hunt.

9:16 In fact, they are so dependent on breathing air

9:19 they will drown if they stay underwater too long.

9:25 After six months of aquatic creatures dominating the flooded jungle,

9:30 the tables slowly turn.

9:33 The rain dries up, and so does the forest.

9:37 Water levels drop by 40 feet in some places.

9:41 Monkeys and other terrestrial animals return.

9:47 Predatory fish must retreat to the permanent rivers before it's too late.

9:58 Fearsome hunters flap helplessly and slowly die,

10:02 leaving a feast for black vultures and other scavengers of the land.

10:10 This piranha goes down fighting.

10:15 Predators of the land regain their dominance until next year,

10:19 when the floods return.

10:28 In the southern jungles,

10:30 there's a stealthy predator that turns up the heat in unusual ways.

10:36 The jaguar.

10:39 This tropical cat has one very un-catlike characteristic.

10:44 (music) He likes to swim.

10:52 (purring) (music) The jaguar lives throughout South and Central America.

11:05 But no matter what the region,

11:06 you'll always find this feline down by the waterfront.

11:10 An excellent swimmer,

11:11 he cruises through the water to hunt his surprising food of choice...

11:18 fish.

11:19 (music) (music) Today, however,

11:34 the jaguar is going for a meal with more fat on it.

11:39 With a keen sense of sight, he spots something moving across a small pond.

11:46 The peccary takes notice of the jaguar, but goes back to his own business.

11:52 After all, why would he worry?

11:55 There's a whole body of water between them, and cats don't swim, right?

12:02 Silently, he glides to the other side,

12:06 within striking distance of his unsuspecting meal.

12:09 (snorts) (music) (music) (music) (squealing) His con successful,

12:30 a hearty meal for the aqua cat.

12:34 (purring) But even the best grifters can pick the wrong mark.

12:40 (growling) In the world's largest swamp,

12:51 the tables are often turned on a fearsome aquatic reptile.

12:59 These waterways are the domain of the caiman.

13:01 (music) Caiman are powerful predators,

13:10 but in this steamy blend of land and water,

13:13 they're not the top of the food chain.

13:17 A full-grown jaguar is also a formidable predator.

13:20 (music) (squawking) They've been known to eat over 85 different species of prey,

13:31 on both land and in the water, including the caiman.

13:39 The stealthy cat spots a caiman sunning itself.

13:43 (music) (music) The reptile basks, unaware death is approaching on silent paws.

13:59 (music) (music) The caiman is no match for the immensely powerful jaguar.

14:19 The jaguar sinks its canines into the reptile's skull

14:22 and crushes it with one bite— a trademark move, and unique among the big cats.

14:30 In this swampy battlefield, you never know if you're on the menu.

14:36 (music) There are 10 million caiman in Brazil's Pantanal.

14:45 (music) Mostly, they eat fish.

14:52 But today, he's got his eye on something bigger...

15:00 A capybara, the world's biggest rodent.

15:06 The capybara's only defense is to flee.

15:09 It has no chance against the agile and speedy reptile.

15:14 (music) (music) (music) With a full belly, the caiman rests and digests,

15:32 unaware that it's being watched by another

15:35 cold-blooded killer that lurks in this vast quagmire.

15:43 The yellow anaconda.

15:45 Huge and powerful, up to 15 feet long.

15:52 He's a stealthy, solitary hunter that is fully at home in the water.

16:00 He silently stalks and ambushes the caiman from below.

16:04 (music) (music) The anaconda relentlessly tightens its grip,

16:15 squeezing away the helpless caiman's last few breaths.

16:22 The snake's reward is a belly that won't need filling for months.

16:31 In this deadly swamp, the hunter can easily become the hunted.

16:37 (birds calling) But there is an even bigger danger waiting to surface.

16:51 (music) Hot and steamy summers in South America bring out the big predators.

17:06 But one of the biggest is the green anaconda.

17:10 (music) (music) This is one of the most massive snakes on Earth.

17:24 It weighs over 200 pounds and measures close to 20 feet long.

17:29 (birds chirping) To support this bulk,

17:37 it spends almost all of its time in and around water.

17:41 (music) (music) Here, it can use stealth to its advantage.

17:53 (music) (music) Camouflaged to blend into plant-choked water,

18:05 the anaconda usually waits for prey to come to it.

18:09 (music) But when it's hungry, it searches for a meal.

18:18 (music) (music) On the flooded plain,

18:31 the anaconda is another predator with a taste for capybara.

18:35 (music) (music) The capybaras' diet consists of mostly of aquatic plants,

18:51 so they spend a lot of time near water.

18:55 Prime hunting ground for the anaconda.

18:58 (music) (music) (music) (music) Underwater, it can stalk without being seen,

19:26 poking its head up just long enough to gauge the distance.

19:30 (music) (music) (music) Then it waits...

19:51 lying in ambush.

19:56 The capybara is within range.

19:59 (music) (music) The anaconda strikes, latching on with six rows of teeth,

20:11 coiling itself around the large rodent.

20:15 Every time the capybara exhales, the anaconda tightens its grip.

20:24 It constricts the blood flow to the capybara's heart causing cardiac arrest.

20:29 (music) (music) (music) The anaconda can't tear its prey apart,

20:51 so it has to somehow fit the entire four-foot meal into its stomach at one time.

20:59 Its lower jaw is not fused to its skull.

21:02 The jaw separates in the middle and flexible

21:04 ligaments permit the jaw to open extra wide.

21:10 The remarkably elastic jaw and teeth that bend backward allow

21:14 the anaconda to engulf its prey in one gigantic bite.

21:21 It's a huge meal.

21:27 The anaconda will rest, digesting its catch for more than two weeks.

21:32 A capybara this size will satisfy it for months,

21:35 but eventually it will need to feed again,

21:38 and nothing will be safe from the ultimate death squeeze.

21:46 (birds chirping) The anaconda isn't the only

21:57 big time solitary hunter in the tropics.

22:03 (growling) An impressive symbol of grace, confidence, and power...

22:19 ...this superior hunter rules his sweltering domain.

22:27 (growling) (music) The royal Bengal tiger,

22:37 and no one is going to cramp his style.

22:44 A real loner, he not only lives by himself,

22:48 but aggressively marks wide swaths of territory to keep others away.

22:53 (roar) But whether you want to call him antisocial or just self-reliant,

23:03 there's at least one activity where this cat needs to be around other animals...

23:11 ...when he's killing them.

23:18 He heads out on the hunt,

23:20 and since he only eats about every nine days, it better be something big.

23:28 With 100 unique black stripes, he creeps undetected through the tall grass.

23:37 His razor-sharp sense of hearing picks up movement nearby.

23:42 A chital deer, who today, chose the wrong path.

23:49 He creeps forward until he's about 20 to 30 feet away.

23:52 (music) Then he makes his move.

24:00 (music) (music) (music) (music) This audience can only watch

24:24 as the Bengal clutches the chital with his canine teeth.

24:29 And he takes him off to eat, alone, just how he likes it.

24:39 It's not just the big guns who can turn up the heat in these steamy settings.

24:45 Chameleons use camouflage for both offense and defense in their environments.

24:51 The newborn is vulnerable.

24:53 It could make an easy meal for a snake.

24:57 It seeks protection immediately.

25:02 Strong natural instincts guide this master of disguise.

25:09 With a relatively thin and flat body,

25:11 and skin color that can adjust to its surroundings,

25:14 predators often mistake it for either a leaf or an extension of a tree branch.

25:19 (music) The ruse continues when it travels.

25:28 Jerky, back-and-forth movements once again mimic a fluttering leaf,

25:34 concealing it not only from predators, but also prey.

25:39 (music) Its eyes move nearly 180 degrees independently to target its victims.

25:49 Once in range, it strikes.

25:53 Camouflage is only one part of its arsenal.

25:57 A chameleon's tongue is a concealed weapon.

26:06 Adult chameleons can reach 27 inches in length.

26:10 (music) And their tongues may grow one

26:19 and a half times the length of their bodies.

26:24 The knob-like tip is coated in mucus that sticks to prey.

26:30 It strikes faster than you can see in real time.

26:36 This hit took about 30-thousandths of a second.

26:40 (music) The chameleon isn't the only tropical

26:50 hunter to come in a small, weird package.

26:53 (music) This tree-dweller, called a tarsier,

27:02 may look like the illegitimate lovechild of an owl and an Ewok,

27:07 but don't let his looks deceive you.

27:10 His gravity-defying aerial skills make him one

27:13 of the most successful hunters in the animal world.

27:21 Tarsiers are primates and related to humans.

27:25 The resemblance is best seen in the animals' hands,

27:28 but they have an appetite their cousins can't match.

27:32 They're the only entirely carnivorous primate in the world.

27:37 Which means to survive, a tarsier better be a good hunter,

27:41 and that's where his agility comes in handy.

27:50 The tarsier's legs make up about a quarter of the weight of their entire body.

27:55 And the tarsal heel bone on their feet is so long, it gives the animal its name.

28:04 Add in the long, tapered hands for gripping,

28:07 and you have a predator capable of soaring over 16 feet from branch to branch.

28:16 Hunting mainly at night,

28:18 the tarsier uses mobile ears and extra-large eyes to spot prey.

28:26 Once targeted, he waits for the right moment to make his deadly leap.

28:32 (music) (music) (music) (music) He's not

28:58 quite a Crouching Tiger or Hidden Dragon...

29:04 ...but he gets the job done.

29:10 Deep in the tropical rain forests

29:12 of Asia lives a majestic assortment of orchids.

29:19 They seem to be nothing but harmless blossoms, but look closer.

29:26 This beauty is hiding a deadly, stealthy killer.

29:30 (music) This is the orchid mantis.

29:38 (music) While this praying mantis can blend with green leaves to ambush prey,

29:47 the orchid mantis has taken it up a notch.

29:53 Known as aggressive mimicry,

29:55 it's the only insect known to disguise itself as a flower,

29:59 which actually lures prey.

30:03 And the way it works is pure ninja stealth.

30:07 The mantis imitates the texture and color of the orchid's petals...

30:14 ...which attracts insects who think it's a harmless flower to pollinate.

30:22 To keep up the charade and avoid detection, it remains as still as possible,

30:27 rotating only its head to get a better look at prey.

30:33 While the orchid mantis has a large appetite and eats an array of insects,

30:38 it is a selective hunter.

30:40 So patience is a key part of this mantis's stealthy strategy.

30:45 It's not going to blow its cover for this sapsucker.

30:48 Those sticky threads would be unpleasant to eat,

30:52 but this moth is ripe for the picking.

30:55 (music) (music) It's using its front legs,

31:05 which are covered in dagger-like spines, to snare the moth and stake it down.

31:14 The ninja disguise is so successful,

31:17 scientists believe the orchid mantis is better

31:20 at attracting pollinator insects than actual orchids.

31:25 Who would have thought such a beauty could be so beastly?

31:34 And it's not just the islands of Asia that have deadly insects.

31:38 (Hawaiian music) In Hawaii, the dense foliage hides the surprising

31:45 lethal exploits of a carnivorous caterpillar.

31:48 (music) (music) This inchworm looks harmless.

31:59 He's tiny, inches about slowly, and he's a caterpillar.

32:05 What's to fear?

32:07 After all, they only eat leaves, right?

32:12 Wrong.

32:17 Over the last few millennia,

32:19 of the over 160,000 species of caterpillar in the world,

32:24 less than one percent evolved into carnivores.

32:28 And our guy is one of them.

32:31 But his victims, usually bugs, haven't quite caught on.

32:38 Not that we blame them.

32:41 The Hawaiian caterpillar is running a pretty good con,

32:45 with two tricks up his sleeve.

32:47 (music) First, he has an amazing ability to camouflage himself

32:56 to look like a leaf or part of a tree branch.

33:01 Prey has no idea they're in danger.

33:05 Which is just what the caterpillar is

33:07 betting on when he unleashes his second trick,

33:11 a whip-fast motion, bending his body to snatch its meal in raptor claws.

33:20 Holding it captive while the caterpillar feasts.

33:23 (music) (music) The victim never saw what hit him.

33:35 (music) They're found worldwide, and ounce for ounce,

33:43 are among the most destructive forces in nature.

33:47 They are ants.

33:49 (music) (music) An estimated ten thousand trillion thrive across the planet.

34:01 Army ants in the jungle of the Amazon don't settle down in a nest.

34:06 Instead, they create a living bivouac around a half million strong.

34:11 And every day, that giant horde gets hungry.

34:19 The ants march out in a massive raid.

34:22 But they're not looking for food; they're sensing it.

34:26 Each worker in this unstoppable eating machine is blind.

34:32 But nothing in their path is safe.

34:35 (music) (music) Massive mandibles and piercing stings allow

34:47 the ants to overwhelm and dismember their targets.

34:53 Even large animals.

34:55 In one day, the horde can kill 30,000 prey.

34:59 It's teamwork on a deadly scale.

35:05 On the other side of the planet, in another ocean,

35:08 the island of Madagascar is home to bizarre

35:11 plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, including the tomato frog.

35:19 No prizes for guessing how it got its name!

35:23 That bright color is a warning...

35:27 one that this hognose snake would be wise to heed.

35:31 The frog inflates itself to be as large as possible.

35:35 (music) But the hungry snake attacks anyway.

35:47 When that fails, the frog secretes a sticky ooze

35:50 and gives the hognose a mouthful it won't forget.

35:53 (music) It's not fatal, but this natural glue gums the snake's mouth up

36:02 and makes it tough to eat anything for a while.

36:09 That's one way to get out of a sticky situation.

36:14 (ribbit) The tomato frog isn't the only animal chemist on Madagascar.

36:26 Giant millipedes are harmless, unless you try to mess with them.

36:32 When threatened, they squirt noxious,

36:35 foul-smelling chemicals, like natural pepper spray.

36:40 It's enough to deter most animals.

36:42 But there's one case where this chemical counterstrike backfires.

36:50 Black lemurs seem to have an addiction to giant millipedes.

36:57 The lemurs nibble on them just enough to release the chemical defense...

37:04 ...then rub the noxious fluid through their fur in a frenzy.

37:10 They're not poisoning themselves; they're applying a natural insect repellant.

37:16 For these lemurs, a millipede a day keeps the mosquitoes away.

37:24 But the chemical compound does more than just act as a bug spray.

37:32 It has a narcotic effect that seems to get them high!

37:36 (music) (music) The millipedes are released mostly unharmed,

37:52 leaving the lemurs to come down from their buzz.

37:59 It's not just the jungles of Madagascar that have many-legged monsters.

38:10 You might not think of centipedes as a big deal.

38:14 But there are a few that are truly fearsome.

38:18 A few that get ominously named giant centipedes!

38:26 Of course, at just 6 to 12 inches long, 'giant' may be in the eye of the victim,

38:31 and there's nothing small about their killing prowess.

38:35 (squeaking) This intimidating beast is the Indian giant tiger centipede,

38:48 and it's a lethal predator.

38:52 Giant centipedes compensate for their small size by being highly venomous,

38:58 and use front legs that have evolved into powerful fangs.

39:06 This centipede moves with uncanny speed,

39:09 and when prey is near, it's an aggressive killer.

39:14 Its column of legs wraps around its meal like a straitjacket.

39:21 But the most impressively terrifying of them

39:23 all is the Amazonian giant centipede.

39:31 At night, this leggy monster stalks into a cave and slowly climbs the walls.

39:40 Its target?

39:42 (squeaking) Bats!

39:45 It creeps across the ceiling, finds a low-hanging perch, and then...

39:55 ...it's Bye Bye Batty.

40:03 This venomous predator doesn't just stalk the caves of the American tropics.

40:08 And out of 3,000 species of centipedes, it's the leviathan.

40:14 A truly giant centipede.

40:20 More than 11 inches long.

40:25 Through a pair of sharp pincers,

40:28 it delivers a toxic brew of venom that attacks the nervous system.

40:37 Painful to humans.

40:40 Lethal to prey.

40:47 It's armed for defense as well as offense, with sharp hooks on the rear legs.

40:55 It breathes partly through holes in its body, making it prone to dehydration.

41:04 So it prefers to hunt by night.

41:07 (music) (music) (music) And this centipede

41:25 will eat just about anything— spiders, birds, rodents, frogs, and lizards.

41:33 (music) (music) Despite its name, it has 46 legs at most, not 100.

41:47 But they grip like a mountain climber's pitons.

41:51 (music) (music) Hmm.

42:00 Maybe better prospects can be found on the ground.

42:11 Rodents are a favorite.

42:15 To keep nursing her young,

42:16 this mother will sooner or later have to go find food herself.

42:22 (squeaking) Her babies are blind, weak and defenseless.

42:38 The centipede is nearly blind as well,

42:41 but its antennae can detect the tiniest of movements.

42:49 (squeaking) (squeaking) (squeaking) (squeaking) Sensing the mother's return,

43:10 the centipede beats a hasty retreat.

43:12 (squeaking) But it's too late.

43:16 Her baby's been killed with one heart-stopping injection of venom.

43:21 (squeaking) And the centipede is off again, in search of a meal.

43:32 They may be giants among their kind,

43:34 but this small predator's real size lies in its ability to kill.

43:43 Whether you're on a tropical island, in the swamps of Brazil,

43:49 or in the forests in Asia or Africa,

43:54 these sweltering hot spots are downright deadly.

43:58 (music) (music)