All language subtitles for Big Beasts Last of the Giants S01 E03_track3_[eng]

(ELEPHANT SNARLS)

Across the planet...

(SNARLS)

..there are giants...

..creatures that have pushed
their bodies...

(GROWLS)

..to the limits.

In this series, I'm on a mission to
find some of the biggest animals
on the planet

and discover why,
in the natural world,

size really matters.

Travelling to Asia...

Just look at the size of that thing!

..the Americas...

..and Africa...

Whoa! Look at that power!
I didn't even spot him.

..I'll show the surprising ways

animals use bulk...

to survive.

And stepping back in time...

..I'll also meet the prehistoric
monsters...

..that once roamed the earth.
(SNARLS)

Today many of our big animals
are in trouble.

From plastics in our oceans...

..to climate change.

It's often the biggest creatures...

..that are hardest hit.

In this episode, I'm in Africa...

..to explore the challenges...

..faced by our megafauna.

I'll reveal why the biggest
animals...

..are also the most fragile.

Prepare to meet the big beasts -
the Last of the Giants.

My journey begins off the southern
tip of Africa...

..where I'm searching for a giant of
legendary proportions.

This is the meeting point of two
great oceans.

On one side is the Atlantic,

and on the other is the Indian Ocean.

Now these cold, nutrient-filled
waters

are home to an extraordinary
diversity of marine life,

including the biggest predatory shark
on the planet.

The great white shark.

Six metres long,
they launch from the water

like a jagged tooth missile.

Their jaws pack
the most powerful bite

in the animal kingdom.

And their gigantic bodies can weigh
more than a tonne.

I'm joining a team of shark experts
and dive specialists

to see these apex predators
in action.

We're heading six kilometres off
the coast towards a rocky outcrop...

..Seal Island.

Covering five acres, it's packed with
over 60,000 Cape fur seals.

Every autumn, females give birth to
their pups.

This seasonal abundance of young
seals attracts huge sharks

from thousands of kilometres away.

(HOOTS)

Seals are agile swimmers.

To catch them, great whites
have become ambush hunters.

Blood-red water is the tell-tale sign
of a kill.

With the sharks hunting nearby,

this is my chance to enter
their world.

Right, let's do this.

Time to get into the water.

The first thing I notice...

..is how poor the visibility is -

ideal conditions for ambushing prey.

This is absolutely incredible.

I'm finally in the world of
the great white shark.

And everywhere I look around me,

all I can see...is murky water.

It is quite scary

because you have no idea where
the predator's coming from.

Whoa! Look at that power!
I didn't even spot him.

That's exactly what I'm talking
about.

I was completely unprepared.

Here it comes again.
Whoa! Whoa! Look at him!

Right next to me.

Oh, my God!

It's like the size of a car.

This shark is around three metres
long.

And it's this size that helps him
to hunt

in these surprisingly cold waters.

The great white shark can survive
in waters

as cold as 3.5 Celsius.

That's pretty much
near freezing point.

And he can do that through something
called thermal inertia.

The actual size of the bulk,
the mass of the shark,

means that it can conserve
lots of heat energy,

whereas smaller animals find it
difficult to maintain their
temperature.

As well as thermal inertia,

white sharks are also able to
generate their own body heat.

It's this winning combination of size
and body temperature

that allows them to keep their
muscles warm

and explode into action.

There are nearly 500 different
species of shark.

Great whites are the biggest
to actively hunt down their prey.

But compared to their prehistoric
cousins,

they are small fry.

Three times the size of the great
white shark,

the megalodon weighed
over 100 tonnes.

They ruled the oceans
for nearly 20 million years,

hunting prehistoric whales.

Their immense jaws opened over four
metres wide,

big enough to swallow
an elephant whole.

But when the whales they hunted
became scarce,

the megalodon was unable to find
enough food to sustain its huge
appetite...

..and this colossal predator
disappeared from our oceans.

Today, it's the great white
that faces an uncertain future.

Their size has made them a target
for trophy fishing,

which has left them vulnerable
to extinction.

We think of giant animals
as being invincible.

But as the megalodon
and the great white both show,

the biggest beasts can also be
the most fragile.

.

.

I'm on a journey across Africa

to search for the biggest beasts...

..and reveal the challenges faced by
our megafauna today.

From the coast I'm heading north

into one of the continent's
vast deserts.

A remote Martian landscape
called the Namib Desert.

This is one of the driest locations
in Africa.

Some years, not a single drop of rain
will fall,

so understandably there's barely
any vegetation.

This is not the type of place you'd
expect to find a huge herbivore,

and yet it's home to a very special
desert-dwelling giant.

Standing six metres
from hoof to head,

and weighing over a tonne...

..this is the Angolan giraffe.

These are the only giraffe
that live in the desert.

To survive, they need to eat
several hundred kilos of leaves

every week.

So what's a megaherbivore doing
in such a lifeless landscape?

I'm heading deep into the interior

to meet up with a team of
conservationists

studying these giraffes.

That is a sight to behold.

Seeing such a massive animal
in such a sparse landscape

is really quite mind-blowing.

I really do think that giraffes are
one of the marvels

of the natural world.

But the thing that giraffes
are renowned for

are their long necks.

On a fully grown adult,

it can reach up to three metres long.

That heavy neck weighs over 100kg.

But it's also the key to their
survival.

Dried-up riverbeds are scattered
with trees...

..fed by water deep underground.

Browsing at the top of the canopy

allows giraffes to reach the freshest
leaves and shoots.

Incredibly, they get all the moisture
they need from the leaves they eat.

So they can survive months without
drinking a single drop of water.

(CRUNCHING)

But males have another use
for those necks.

Females live in small nomadic groups.

And males must compete
for their attention.

Rivals go head to head...

..in a duel known as necking.

It's a raw test of strength.

If neither backs down, they use
their short antlers, or ossicones,

to deliver a decisive blow.

Only the winner earns
the right to breed.

Surprisingly, despite these arid,
conditions,

this population of desert-dwelling
giraffes

is increasing in number.

To understand why they're doing
so well,

scientist Emma Hart,
from the University of Dublin,

is studying the genetics
of this population.

Hi, Emma. How's it going?

Good, thanks. Nice to meet you.
You too.

What are we doing out here?
You've got a gun.

We're not going to be using them on
the giraffes?We are,
but it doesn't shoot bullets.

It just shoots the specially
designed biopsy darts.

That dart is used to collect
a tiny sample of genetic material

from the giraffe, without hurting
the giraffe. It's non-invasive.

Great. Let's go and dart
some giraffes!Let's go!

First, we need to creep close enough
to get a clear shot.

We're doing our best to sneak up
on one of these giraffes.

It's kind of futile, because they're
the tallest animals in the world

and they can see us coming
from a mile away.

It takes several hours.

But finally we get close enough.

Yep, you can stop there.

Taking photographs allows Emma to
record which giraffe she's darted.

Like a human fingerprint, each has
its own unique spot pattern.

OK, ready?

(FIRES DART)

You can see where his hooves were.

And here is our dart.

This contains DNA that is specific
to that giraffe?

Exactly. So we already know
who the individual is.

With this genetic information and
that from all the rest of
the giraffe in this area,

we'll be able to tell who he's bred
with, who his offspring are

and how related he is to the various
other groups of giraffe in the area.

Through her research, Emma is making
some startling discoveries.

Males are travelling huge distances,

up to 1,000 kilometres a year

in search of food and females.

Giraffe need vast spaces
to survive.

It's something they share with
all our megafauna.

In other parts of Africa,

human activity continually chips away
at their remaining habitat,

dividing it into smaller and smaller
sections.

But this place is so remote,

these Angolan giraffes have
all the space they need.

And that's why this desert

has become an unlikely stronghold for
the tallest animal on the planet.

.

.

I'm on a journey across Africa

to encounter the biggest beasts

and discover the challenges
they face.

From the desert, I'm heading to
the continent's great grasslands,

home to more large grazing animals

than anywhere on earth.

And where there are big grazers,

there are also giant predators.

When it comes to big predators
on the African plains,

the lion is often called
the King of the Savannah.

And rightly so.

They are the largest hunter

and can tackle prey
as big as a buffalo,

and when they work as a team,
even elephants.

But their reign hasn't gone
unchallenged.

There's another huge carnivore
out here

with bone-crushing jaws
twice as powerful as a lion.

Over thousands of years, these two
giants have been locked in a battle
for supremacy.

(WHINES)

The spotted hyena.

The lion's ultimate nemesis.

(GROWLS)

They live in huge clans
ruled by a dominant female.

They're renowned scavengers...

..but also skilful hunters.

They can clock speeds of 60kph.

As social animals,
hyenas share their spoils.

(LOW HOOTING)

Making a kill is one thing.

(WHINING)

But holding on to it...

is a far bigger challenge.

Lions are twice the size of hyenas.

They will kill any
that get in their way.

(THE PACK HOOTS AND HOWLS)

(SQUEALING)

Lions steal 70% of all hyena kills.

So hyenas have evolved a simple
strategy.

At night they come out in force.

(THUNDER CRASHES)

This time it's the lions
that have made a kill.

There's no way a hyena
can take them on alone.

(HOOTS)

Hyena calls can travel five
kilometres across the open savannah.

(HOOTS)

Backup arrives.

(GROWLING)

(HOOTING AND SNARLING)

(SQUEALING)

One lion retreats.

(WHINING AND HOOTING)

(BARKING AND SNARLING)

Hyenas use a tactic called
cooperative mobbing

to intimidate their rivals.

(GROWLS)

(HOOTING)

One by one, the lions back down.

(SCREECHING AND WHINING)

The last male stands his ground.

(COLLECTIVE SCREECHING)

But outnumbered 30 to one...

..even Africa's biggest
predator...must concede defeat.

This battle rages day and night
across the African savannah.

But the clash between giant predators

is nothing new.

(SNARLING)

Dinocrocuta, or the Terrible hyena,

was four times heavier than
the hyenas of today.

Huge rounded skulls

gave an immense bite force.

Fossil evidence suggests they could
take down ancient rhinoceros.

(SNARLS)

Its rival...
A giant sabre-toothed cat.

Although lacking in jaw strength,

they had blade-like weapons.

(SNAPPING AND CRUNCHING)

For three million years,

these two goliaths went head to head.

But when a change in climate
killed off their prey...

..both these megacarnivores
disappeared.

(SNARLING)

Throughout evolutionary history,

big animals have always been prone
to extinction.

(RUMBLE OF DISTANT THUNDER)

And today, in the jungles of Uganda,

one African giant illustrates just
how vulnerable they can be.

The mountain gorilla.

Gorillas are the largest of
the great apes.

Silverbacks weigh up to 200kg.

Their colossal size allows them to
defend their family.

To sustain these huge bodies,

males must eat 18 kilos of vegetation
every day.

But over the last few decades,

a pristine forest they rely on

has been relentlessly exploited.

30 years ago, there were just 600
left.

Now, thanks to huge environmental
efforts,

that number is 900 and rising.

There's still a long way to go.

But the mountain gorilla has become
a remarkable conservation success
story.

.

.

On my journey across Africa,

I've seen the unique challenges
facing big animals today.

But throughout evolutionary history,

this continent has been home to
giants

whose size ultimately proved
to be their downfall.

(BELLOWS)

Deinotherium was as tall
as a double-decker bus.

A distant relative of today's
elephants...

..it had a stubby trunk

and backward-pointing dusks.

It's thought these were used for
stripping bark from trees.

But one million years ago,

when the climate changed...

..deinotheria couldn't adapt
quickly enough...

..and became relics of a lost age.

(TRUMPETS)

Today, deinotherion's modern-day
relative

has taken the title of the world's
biggest, heaviest land mammal...

(TRUMPETS)

The African elephant.

The biggest males stand
three metres tall...

..and weigh up to six tons.

But the most majestic adults...

..have one defining feature...

..immense tusks...

..that reach all the way
to the ground.

The biggest perfect of the big,

these elephants are known as tuskers.

(BELLOWS)

These giants once roamed across
Africa.

But today, due to poaching,

it's thought as few as 30 are left
in the world.

To find out what can be done to save
these few precious giants,

I'm heading to their last stronghold

in Kenya's Tsavo National Park.

It's only when you experience Africa
from the air

that you can understand why this
continent is home to giant animals
like elephants.

This National Park alone covers
22,000 square kilometres.

There are no fences, no borders.

and animals are free to roam
naturally

in search of food and mates

over vast distances.

I'm flying in to meet a conservation
team

working to protect
the last of the tuskers.

Joseph, how you doing?
I'm good.Good to meet you.You too.
I'm glad to be here.

The team is tracking these few
individuals

to understand their annual movements

as they roam over an area
the size of Wales.

Of all the giants I've searched for,

tuskers are undoubtedly the rarest.

It's not long before we locate
a huge gathering of elephants.

This is brilliant. There's a line of
elephants as far as the eye can see

and they're congregating here...
About a hundred individuals.

This is really, really rare.

The reason they can do this is
because it's rained here recently,

so there's lots of vegetation.

It's exceptionally green.

That means there's little competition
for food.

(LOW GROWL)

Many of the adults have impressive
tusks.

But there's no sign of a tusker.

For one simple, but tragic reason.

In the last ten years alone,

at least half the elephant population
in East Africa

has been killed.

On the black market, the ivory from
a tusker

could sell for half a million pounds.

So they have been systematically
targeted...

..and almost wiped out.

For three days we scoured
the landscape

without a single sighting.

But in our last few hours of
filming...

..we finally catch sight of a giant.

(BELLOWS)

That is what
I've been searching for.

That elephant is
the biggest of the big.

That is definitely a tusker, and
I can tell because those long tusks

reach all the way to the ground,
even when it stood up.

That is so impressive!

(GRUNTS)

Together, those two tusks
weigh more than me.

(GROWLS)

With this latest sighting,

ranger Joseph

takes photographic records

to identify this individual.

By recording the GPS coordinates
of this secret location,

the team can build up a pattern
of this elephant's movements.

What's the importance of gathering
all of this data?

So you're taking all of this
monitoring information,

then you pass it on the to the
anti-poaching team,

and then they know exactly
where to go.That's right.

Protecting tuskers like this one

has never been more important.

(GRUNTS)

Becoming a tusker is partly down to
genetics...

..an inherited trait of growing
longer and thicker tusks.

At 30 years of age, this male will
now be starting to breed...

..and has the potential to pass on
that big-tusk gene...

..to future generations.

But as elephants with the biggest
tusks are poached,

that trait is rapidly being removed
from the gene pool.

That ivory is so prized on the black
market

that it's resulting in normal
elephants having shorter tusks

or no tusks at all.

So that big-tusk gene is sadly
being wiped out.

It's shocking to think that this is
one of the last tuskers
walking the planet today.

Elephants are just one of our giants
fighting for survival.

Today, more than half of our planet's
megafauna...

..is under threat.

(WISTFUL MUSIC)

My journey has shown
there's one key thing

that all large animals need...

Space.

Today, those areas away from
human habitation

are becoming increasingly hard
to find.

Ultimately it's only by protecting
the last of our planet's wild places

that we can protect the last of
the giants.

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