Lone Survivor (Full Episode) | Animal Fight Night Compilation | Nat Geo Animals

0:01 All over the world, species clash in nature's savage battle of survival.

0:08 (growling) In tropical forests, under blue seas,

0:15 and on the open plains, all are locked in deadly conflict.

0:21 Animals fight tooth and claw to win food, territory and rights to the bloodline.

0:30 From the plains of Australia, to the wilds of Africa, there are no rules.

0:40 This is Animal Fight Night.

0:48 (barks) A female cheetah is on the lookout

0:53 for the next family meal on the Serengeti.

1:01 The plains are packed with all manner of prey, and she has a taste for gazelle.

1:10 But she has to consider her chances.

1:17 In a single chase, mom will burn as many calories as there

1:21 are in a large pepperoni pizza in as little as 20 seconds.

1:27 If she can't catch the gazelle, that's wasted energy.

1:32 If she can catch it, she still has to bring it down and risk serious injury.

1:40 She spots a Thomson's gazelle.

1:44 The chase is on.

1:47 And the cheetah becomes a mammal missile.

1:52 Zero to 60 miles per hour in three seconds.

1:57 Faster acceleration than a Mustang GT.

2:01 At top speed, she's clearing 26 feet per stride and 91 feet a second.

2:12 Suddenly, mom sees a much bigger Grant's gazelle and takes a gamble.

2:23 She just needs to pull it down and nail the killer bite.

2:35 (growling) But this gazelle bucks the rules of cheetah fight club.

2:41 It's not coming quietly.

2:47 The gazelle is more than twice her weight.

2:51 So the cubs try to help.

2:54 They can't let the prize escape.

2:57 (squeal) But it still won't go down.

3:01 (squealing) And in a split second, the gazelle turns the tables.

3:09 He quickly shifts his head, putting the cheetah directly in the firing

3:13 line of his deadly weapons: 30-inch horns.

3:26 (squeal) Mom tries to stay between the deadly spikes...

3:39 ...as the powerful gazelle rams her into the dirt.

3:45 But then, disaster.

3:48 The gazelle's spear-like horn skewers her torso.

3:51 It punctures hide and muscle,

3:54 deep into an area packed with vital organs: stomach, liver and bladder.

4:09 The gazelle's defensive weapons save him.

4:12 (barking) But the big cat is badly gored.

4:19 And a cheetah that can't sprint after prey is as good as dead.

4:27 The brutal battle slaps a death sentence on this feline family.

4:32 (peep) Without their mother to protect them,

4:37 these two cubs will go from running with the hunter to running as the hunted.

4:49 Lose the battle, and you can end up

4:54 on nature's garbage pile in more ways than one.

4:58 A no-holds-barred fight between red kangaroos is never far away.

5:05 Males train as kickboxers from an early age.

5:09 A fearsome claw on their hind legs can disembowel dogs and humans.

5:15 Winners mate.

5:17 Losers are exiled to the outskirts of the mob.

5:24 Their strong legs can cover over 25 feet in a single bound.

5:34 And they use the same muscles to fight.

5:38 Rusty is a 6-year-old battle-hardened bruiser.

5:42 He wants to take over a mob, but first must whack the wise guy.

5:53 In kangaroo wrestling, no moves are out of bounds.

5:58 (bell rings)♪♪♪♪ Short front legs wield sharp claws.

6:11 They can hold an opponent close in a fight.

6:24 (barking)♪♪ The wise guy leans on his tail to unload both barrels.

6:41 The males have skin up to twice as thick

6:45 across their abdomen to protect them from an opponent's feet.

6:51 The wrestlers have retracted their testicles to guard against low blows.

7:02 Now Rusty, younger and fitter, kicks back.

7:09 The females pay no attention to the fight.

7:14 They don't care who wins.

7:17 They just want a strong male.

7:29 Male red kangaroos never stop growing.

7:34 As they get bigger, they become more dominant,

7:38 until they challenge for the top spot.

7:43 The older wise guy's bigger and stronger.

7:47 But Rusty thinks he has what it takes.

8:00 Rusty gets a powerful kick.

8:03 If he loses, his chances of mating look slim.

8:09 His opponent's on the ropes.

8:13 Sometimes it's not the big hits that decide the fight.

8:17 A sly uppercut fells the wise guy.

8:23 Another punch sends him packing.

8:27 This mob has a new alpha male.

8:32 And the wise guy is on the trash pile.

8:35 (bell rings) When running away is not an option,

8:43 it's time to unleash some full-on fury.

8:47 (roar) The dense woodlands of Kruger National Park,

8:53 the perfect habitat for leopards, Africa's most elusive big cat.

8:59 With a lean, well-muscled body,

9:02 they're one of the most agile of all the big cats.

9:08 Needing over 7 pounds of meat a day, leopards are skilled ambush predators.

9:16 They kill with a bite to the neck.

9:20 But in challenging conditions, their kill rate can be as little as 1 in 20.

9:27 They'll often target small game or even scavenge.

9:33 Anything to survive.

9:35 (hyena whoops) This young male hasn't had a meal in a week.

9:44 But this might just be his lucky day.

9:48 He's come across a half-eaten carcass, and the owners are nowhere in sight.

9:56 It's a terrible mistake.

9:59 In the savanna, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

10:03 (growling) And sometimes, it's not even a fair fight.

10:09 (growl) This hungry leopard took a massive risk.

10:19 (growl) Approaching the abandoned carcass.

10:31 He'll now have to battle the furious owner.

10:38 (purring) (roar) The lioness batters him with a powerful right hook.

10:45 (roaring) It looks like a knock-out punch,

10:50 but the leopard dodges and rolls with it.

10:55 At 300 pounds, the lioness is more than double his weight,

11:00 but she needs to land a clean bite,

11:03 and to do that, she's got to get past his lethal claws.

11:10 Like all big cats, leopards have five claws on the front paws,

11:14 and four on the back.

11:16 Their claws are two inches long,

11:19 and are constantly sharpened when climbing trees.

11:23 But then, the cavalry arrives;

11:26 three more lionesses want to show him who's top cat on the savanna.

11:31 A lioness' skull contains deep ridges for the attachment

11:35 of powerful muscles that support her jaw and its 30 teeth.

11:39 These muscles allow her to create bite

11:41 pressures of around 1,000 pounds per square inch.

11:46 (roaring) The lionesses could kill the leopard by severing his spinal cord;

11:52 to survive, he's got to stay on his back.

11:58 (roaring) He spins around and swipes not one,

12:05 not two, but three of the lionesses.

12:10 It's a master class in big cat survival moves.

12:23 But the leopard's chances are slim.

12:25 He's running out of options.

12:29 He can't eat, and he can't risk turning his back on the lionesses to retreat.

12:42 The lionesses launch into round two.

12:44 (growling) He slashes at one with his front claws,

12:49 one with his back; his blows sting, buying him another minute of life.

12:54 Just enough time for an even more ambitious predator to close in.

13:00 The lionesses turn their attention to the hyena.

13:04 It's the moment the leopard has been waiting for.

13:08 A lioness gives chase, but his natural agility pays off,

13:12 and he vanishes into the thick bush.

13:16 He's one lucky leopard.

13:18 Up against four of his deadliest enemies,

13:21 and this guy gets away, hungry, but alive.

13:28 But even luck can only get you so far when you face death by a thousand bites.

13:38 In the jungle underworld, there's a biological weapon so devastating

13:47 that some believe it defies evolution.

13:55 A lumbering giant looks for lunch, but finds other hunters.

14:02 Foraging ants in attack mode.

14:11 The beetle's 60 times their size.

14:17 But they call in backup from a near-indestructible army.

14:25 Ants have survived for about 140 million years.

14:33 They lived through the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.

14:48 The real secret to their success is their organization.

14:54 They live in million-strong colonies, but can behave...

15:01 like a single organism.

15:06 Some even unite and form rafts to survive floods.

15:11 It makes for an army of hyper-efficient killers.

15:17 Foragers divide into specialized units.

15:21 If the first unit finds large prey,

15:25 it releases chemical trails for backup to follow.

15:34 These foragers send their message.

15:37 The beetle is on borrowed time.

15:41 But it has its own message.

15:45 (gunfire) Total annihilation.

16:02 (gunfire) It's a bombardier beetle,

16:08 one of a family of insects with boiling toxic chemicals in their arsenal.

16:16 This is truly a weapon of mass destruction.

16:21 The spray is so hot, it should cook him alive from the inside out.

16:27 (gunfire) But evolution has an answer to everything.

16:32 (gunfire) Inside the beetle, two types of gland produce two different chemicals.

16:43 They're harmless, until released together into a reinforced chamber.

16:50 As the chemicals combine to form a toxic cocktail,

16:54 the reaction heats it to boiling point.

16:58 Pressure, caused by the heat, blasts the spray out in 500 pulses per second.

17:04 And each pulse allows the chamber to cool so the beetle doesn't burn up.

17:10 He can even rotate his cannon 270 degrees, for precision firepower.

17:20 (gunfire) The chemical spray burns an ant's tough chitin exoskeleton.

17:28 (gunfire) Even nature's doomsday survivors...

17:35 (gunfire) ...can't handle a bombardier's biological warfare.

17:42 (gunshot) Bloody battles don't just happen on land.

17:51 Down here, they involve teeth, temper, and one very big mouth.

18:05 Down below the waves of the Pacific Ocean live blenny fish.

18:11 The resident cuties of the ocean floor.

18:14 Dainty, mild-mannered and timid.

18:19 But meet the black sheep of the family: the sarcastic fringehead.

18:27 Cuties, they are not.

18:35 They open their jaws wide to bare an arsenal of thorn-like teeth,

18:40 which aren't for empty threats.

18:48 This old crank may be the size of a human forearm,

18:53 but he knows how to pack a punch.

18:56 He'll take on anything that swims onto his property, whatever shape or size.

19:04 So what happens when an equally grouchy fringehead moves in next door?

19:11 A turf war on the ocean floor.

19:16 The old crank starts his eviction campaign using some brute force.

19:22 But the pesky neighbor won't give up his home that easily.

19:34 So the crank turns to bully tactics.

19:40 The neighbor finally cracks.

19:45 He's not going to stand for such low-life behavior.

19:50 The fringeheads go cheek-to-cheek

19:52 in the world's most ferocious make-out session.

19:56 But there's no kissing here.

19:58 They interlock teeth as they shove each other over and over again.

20:04 It's an ultimate contest of aggression and authority.

20:09 But then, the old crank bites.

20:18 The neighbor returns fire, sinking his teeth into his rival even harder.

20:29 This fringehead's not budging.

20:34 After a dogged 20 minutes, there's still no sign of resolution.

20:40 Being neighbors might be way too close for comfort,

20:44 but it looks like they'll just have to grin and bear it.

20:51 (bellowing) Animals battle hard to protect their turf.

21:00 And when it comes to protecting your family home,

21:04 even a muddy pool is worth dying for.

21:12 In central Africa, only half of newborn hippos survive their first year.

21:20 Females can only have one calf every two years, so each child is precious.

21:30 Heading up this family is the pod-father.

21:35 The leader of the pod has a constant entourage of youthful admirers,

21:40 but this young bull wants his crown.

21:44 The pod-father is going to teach the upstart a lesson,

21:50 right in front of his calves.

21:56 The hippo is one of the most feared animals in Africa.

22:01 These two and a half-ton heavyweights have

22:03 the strength to launch themselves out of the water, run 30 miles per hour,

22:10 and lay waste to those who stand in their way with their bone-crushing jaws.

22:18 The pod-father makes the upstart an offer he shouldn't refuse.

22:23 He flicks dung with his tail: a stinky display of dominance that says,

22:29 "It's not too late to back down." (grunting)

22:35 The upstart says a few choice words in return.

22:43 (grunting) As his calves jockey for position,

22:48 the pod-father launches his attack.

22:52 (bellowing) Hippo fights make for an extreme spectator sport.

23:09 It's first blood to the newcomer.

23:19 (bellowing) A hippo's jawbone hinge is set far back,

23:25 allowing the mouth to open 150 degrees.

23:29 The upstart is stronger, but the pod-father has experience.

23:35 He gores the challenger's upper palate.

23:39 The upstart retaliates, but the old timer is too wily.

23:46 The onlookers scatter as the pod-father launches another attack.

23:52 (bellowing)♪♪ The pod-father is victorious.

24:06 But his triumph is bittersweet.

24:09 A victim of friendly fire, one of his calves strayed too close to the action.

24:19 It pays the ultimate price.

24:27 Being at the wrong place at the wrong time can land any animal in big trouble.

24:35 Hidden in the highest branches the Amazon jungle lurks a mysterious creature.

24:42 Boasting 4-inch, scythe-like claws and a smile

24:47 that could light up the darkest of rooms, this is the three-toed sloth.

24:58 Hooked claws allow sloths to do everything while hanging from treetops.

25:06 Except poop!

25:10 This angel-faced tree hugger drags herself

25:13 to a neighboring tree to perform her weekly motions.

25:18 But sloths are the world's slowest mammal,

25:23 and every second she's on the ground, she's open to attack.

25:31 Her scent is picked up...

25:37 ...by a hungry predator!

25:41 When it comes to small cats, pumas are the biggest,

25:45 with a range that stretches across much of the Western Hemisphere.

25:50 They can leap as high as a two-story building, and run up to 45 miles an hour.

25:57 Powerful legs and sharp claws disable and control their prey,

26:02 while vertebrae-splitting jaws seal the deal!

26:07 The sloth's greatest defense is camouflage.

26:11 They're so slow that algae grows on their fur,

26:15 blending in with the treetops, which is where she needs to be.

26:20 But sloths don't do fast!

26:27 It's natural born killer versus natural born dozer.

26:35 The puma weighs the options...

26:39 ...then decides to go for sloth!

26:44 (growling) Pumas climb trees with ease.

26:52 But this cat will have to aim high to catch the sloth.

26:59 The sloth holds on tight.

27:06 But the predator does something extraordinary.

27:10 A puma's 2-inch claws aren't as long as a sloth's,

27:14 but by making them sharper he'll be able to climb higher.

27:30 Close, but not close enough.

27:35 She's one lucky sloth.

27:38 But this is one clever puma!

27:59 (growling) The 88-pound cat has gravity on his side.

28:09 If the sloth loses her grip, she loses her life.

28:13 (growl) This is a treetop tug-of-war.

28:26 But the puma is tired of hanging around.

28:31 The cat's sharp claws allow him to climb up the sloth.

28:37 And his large canine teeth slot between her vertebrae.

28:46 The puma is ruthlessly efficient.

28:50 The sloth's end is mercifully quick.

28:58 Some chance encounters can end in a meal.

29:03 Others can have a surprise ending.

29:07 Nile crocodiles are apex predators.

29:17 But once a female croc lays her eggs, the hunter becomes the hunted.

29:25 A female crocodile guards her buried eggs.

29:32 Uninvited visitors like monitor lizards and baboons

29:36 wait for her to drop her guard.

29:42 (screech) To them, her precious eggs are a delicious meal-to-go.

29:54 The surviving eggs hatch.

29:57 Now she needs to get her precious infants to the safety of the water.

30:04 Nile crocodiles have one of the highest bite force of any living animal,

30:10 but today she uses her jaws for the most delicate of tasks.

30:19 Along with their 68 flesh-shredding teeth,

30:22 crocodile jaws are packed with delicate sensory organs.

30:28 When hunting prey, they can detect the slightest change in water movement.

30:34 But the most responsive sensors are found near the croc's teeth,

30:39 allowing her to cradle her baby, safe and sound.

30:43 (growling) Mother croc spots another unwanted visitor.

30:50 In a crowded nesting area, baby croc calls sound similar.

30:55 (chirping) The intruder seemingly mistakes the babies' cries for her own brood.

31:04 She thinks mother croc is a kidnapper.

31:08 (hiss)♪♪ Mother croc still cradles the baby in her mouth.

31:25 (hissing) (hiss) Mother croc increases her attack

31:35 with the momentum gained by thrusting her powerful tail muscles.

31:41 The battle moves to the water's edge.

31:48 Mother croc blocks the intruder's path to the nest.

31:53 She still delicately nurses the baby.

32:05 The intruder clamps down with a 3,000-pound bite.

32:10 That's the same weight as a small car.

32:14 Mother croc is forced into submission.

32:17 (hissing) The intruder steals her babies down to the river.

32:29 But there's a twist in this crocodile's tale.

32:34 This bask of baby crocs is now being shared between two caring mothers.

32:46 A happy truce is rare in the wild.

32:50 When mortal enemies collide, it can be a fight to the death.

33:04 (hissing) The black mamba.

33:07 Long, fast and aggressive.

33:11 With their lethal venom, they paralyze their prey, then eat it whole.

33:20 It is one of the world's deadliest snakes.

33:25 The slender mongoose is one creature that's

33:29 famously prepared to take on this slithering assassin.

33:34 Weighing just over one pound, he looks outmatched.

33:38 But don't be fooled.

33:40 With lightning speed and razor-sharp teeth, snake dinners are a rare treat.

33:49 (hiss, squeak) This mongoose has cornered the mamba.

33:55 The mamba's defense is to go high.

33:58 Lifting a third of her body off the ground,

34:01 spreading her neck flap and opening her mouth often scares off attackers.

34:08 Not the mongoose.

34:12 He toys with the snake.

34:15 (squeak) Staying just out of reach.

34:31 She's not falling for it...

34:33 yet.

34:34 (hissing) If she lands a bite,

34:42 she'll inject a lethal shot of venom through her needle-sharp fangs.

34:47 Usually, it's the kiss of death.

34:51 The mongoose has some resistance.

34:54 If bitten, the venom would weaken him, but probably not kill him.

35:00 So, the mongoose avoids the snake by changing direction mid-leap.

35:06 He can spring over 3 feet vertically.

35:11 (hissing) Each lightning strike tires the snake.

35:16 (hissing) The mongoose needs to land one killer shot.

35:24 A bite to the back of the mamba's head.

35:28 (hissing) (squeak) The mamba is exhausted.

35:35 She tries to get away.

35:47 But with one bite, the mongoose wins.

35:55 And now it's time for a well-earned lunch.

36:02 But a predator's lunch can become another's meal,

36:06 for catching and keeping are two different things.

36:12 130 feet above the water, an osprey scans for prey.

36:33 He spots movement.

36:44 He hits the water at 44 miles an hour.

36:47 Armed with perfect feet for fishing: two digits facing forwards,

36:52 one backwards, and one that can change orientation.

37:00 His talons snap shut in two-hundredths of a second,

37:04 roughly 12 times faster than a human blink.

37:23 An impressive catch.

37:24 (squawk) Which hasn't gone unnoticed.

37:30 A great black-backed gull, the largest of all gulls, watches from the shore.

37:37 An opportunistic predator and scavenger, there's little it won't eat.

37:43 (squawking) Its main weapon is its curved bill

37:51 which it uses to stab, smash and tear.

37:56 (squawking) And it's not above a little piracy.

38:04 (squawking) The gull lines up for an interception course, and attacks.

38:15 At the last second, the bird of prey takes evasive action.

38:27 (bird chirping) The gull's persistency is more

38:32 than a match for the osprey's maneuverability.

38:40 And the gull knows it.

38:48 Gulls are excellent fishers...

38:51 (squawking) ...and ruthless pirates.

38:58 (squawk) The osprey's faster than the gull,

39:03 but weighed down by his fishy cargo, he can't escape.

39:09 The pirate changes tactics.

39:12 It goes high, to dive-bomb its target.

39:21 (squawking) The osprey tires.

39:30 The gull moves in for the kill.

39:34 The bird of prey tries to shake him.

39:37 But the pirate is ready for him and grabs his wing.

39:43 (squawking) Outgunned and exhausted, he drops his catch.

39:52 And to the sly victor go the spoils.

39:56 (howling) Cunning can lead you to victory, even when the competition is fierce.

40:08 On the island of Madagascar, the undergrowth rings with eerie calls.

40:13 They come from lemurs, known as the ghosts of the forest.

40:19 (howling) Ring-tailed lemurs are lean and athletic,

40:25 built for leaping over 30 feet from tree to tree.

40:33 They stand around 18 inches high and weigh less than 8 pounds.

40:40 Scaled up to human size, they'd be 6 feet and 32 pounds.

40:46 Tails are up to 2 feet long and are flight stabilizers,

40:50 helping them glide through the trees.

40:53 Ring-tailed lemurs live in troops of up to 25.

40:57 And the females are in charge, headed by a warrior queen.

41:02 Adult lemurs are armed with sharp claws and long, slashing canines.

41:08 The females use them in bitter brawls with rival troops

41:13 and in vicious fights to rise up the pecking order.

41:22 The handful of males in a lemur troop are at the bottom of the heap.

41:27 They're happiest just chillin', taking in the rays.

41:31 But they are vital to the troop for breeding.

41:36 When a female is ready, she may mate with all the troop's males.

41:41 But the question is who's first?

41:47 This lemur is feeling lucky, because he smells.

41:52 And supremacy is decided by a stink-off.

41:57 The male lemurs emit a pungent liquid from a gland

42:01 in their wrist and rub it into their tails.

42:04 Then they waft it towards their love rivals.

42:09 Stinky has the champion stench, so wins the chance to mate first.

42:19 (howls) But a rival interrupts him.

42:23 He overrules the odor's rule and challenges Stinky to a real fight.

42:33 It's kung fu combat, flying kicks as the lemurs jump-fight.

42:43 Stinky's tail helps him twist as he kicks.

42:47 The rule-breaker aims for an appropriate target: the crown jewels.

42:54 But Stinky gets in a head shot.

42:57 The rule-breaker needs to change tactics.

43:01 Soften him up with a body slam, then keep him on the deck.

43:08 He takes Stinky down.

43:11 And brings his teeth into play.

43:14 He strips the flesh clean away.

43:19 Stinky's savaged hand is a technical knockout.

43:24 His rival senses victory and claims his mating rights.

43:29 Stinky is down but not out.

43:33 He can't fight, but he wants justice.

43:38 He swings back into the trees and tempts

43:40 his rival to break off the nuptials and give chase.

43:55 A third male spots his chance, and sneaks in to bag first mating rights.

44:02 Stinky's revenge is complete.

44:05 And he lives to mate another day.

44:08 (howling) Captioned by Side Door Media Services