All language subtitles for A7C52801B9BD2B43CD64C048DEA85F8F_eng

On the vast plains of Zambia, this
isolated thicket is a rare patch of cover.

It's home to a pack of hunting dogs.

The arrival of a dozen
tiny pups means the pack

have, for now, given
up their nomadic lifestyle.

Here, they can hide the youngsters out of
sight of their many enemies.

It's the dry season, and food is scarce.

Whenever the pack leaves on a hunting
trip, one dog stays behind as babysitter.

If danger threatens, the pack's future
will depend on this dog.

An eight-foot-long rock python is hunting.

It can easily grab a pup if it can launch
a surprise attack.

The adult has spotted it.

His attempts to drive it away have the
worst possible outcome.

It retreats down the pup's burrow.

Now, the adult faces a critical choice,
stay put and risk living with a predator,

or try to find a new shelter in the few
hours before nightfall.

That would mean leading the pups into the
open.

The babysitter makes his choice.

Unfortunately, these plains are home to
hyena.

They are the hunting dogs' greatest enemy.

The hyena will take a straggling pup if it
gets the chance.

It might win a battle over a pup with a
lone babysitter.

But the rest of the dog pack returning
from the hunt is a different matter.

The hyena will avoid this confrontation.

Back at full strength,
the dog pack can now

lead the pups to the
safety of a new refuge.

Secure again, the pups squabble over the
meat carried back by the hunting party.

Its duty is over, the babysitter can take
a well-earned rest.

And in a few weeks, the
pups will be old enough to

leave the den and join
the pack on the open plains.

In nature, good homes are all too rare.

Here, on a tiny Caribbean
island off the coast

of Belize, there is a
severe housing shortage.

Hermit crabs use abandoned seashells as
mobile homes.

As a crab grows, its shell becomes an
ever-tighter fit.

So eventually, a crab needs
to move in... to a bigger one.

Suitable empty shells are few and far
between.

And this one is far too spacious for this
crab.

But instead of continuing its search,
this small crab settles down to wait.

Other crabs, also looking
to upgrade to a bigger

home, soon gather whenever
a shell washes ashore.

Unfortunately, the new shell is too big
for them, too.

Despite that, the gathering crabs begin to
measure each other up.

And then they do something really rather
extraordinary.

They arrange themselves into an orderly
queue.

The biggest at the front, smallest at the
back.

They're lining up with one aim,
to exchange properties.

But none of the crabs can make a move,
because the chain is not yet complete.

They're all waiting for the right-sized
crab to come along.

And this is it.

The latest arrival pushes to the head of
the queue.

At first, the chain falls apart.

As it reforms, the small crab finally
makes its move.

And takes its place at the end of the
line.

After a close inspection, the big crab
moves in.

This triggers a chain reaction.

Each crab hurriedly moves into the shell
vacated by the crab ahead of it in the line.

Just as the small crab
attempts to move into

its new home, a fresh
arrival muscles in.

To be left without a shell is a death
sentence.

A naked crab will quickly cook under the
intense tropical sun.

But after all the swapping, there is still
one shell left.

Sadly, it's no bigger than this small
crab's original shell.

And worse, it's got a hole in it.

But even a bad shell is better than being
homeless.

The small crab's need to
upgrade will be even more

urgent by the time the
next shell rolls ashore.

This old wreck off the coast of Fiji is a
gathering place for some very unusual fish.

They're called remoras.

But this isn't their home.

It's more of a waiting room.

Like hermit crabs, each remora is waiting
for the perfect residence to appear.

The unique suckers on
the back of their heads

hint at a very different
and unusual lifestyle.

Up above is a coral reef.

The remoras watch and wait for a
particular visitor.

Sharks.

Most fish make themselves scarce when they
appear.

For a remora, home is a bigger fish.

And this is an opportunity not to be
missed.

A passing school of eight-foot bull
sharks.

One of the most aggressive marine
predators.

Remoras stick very close, or even clamp
onto their host with their suckers.

And what fish could offer better
protection than a shark?

What's more, when the shark makes a kill,
the remora can scavenge the leftovers.

In return, it helps the shark by eating
parasites from its body.

But too many remoras are not the only ones
to be killed.

Remora could slow a shark down.

So they try to avoid becoming overloaded.

That means intense competition among
remora for the available spaces.

This one has missed out.

Fortunately, sharks aren't the only
suitable visitors to this reef.

Ray

offers a remora and...

It's already sheltering several large
remoras.

But there's room for one more on this huge
fish.

At last, the remora has a safe home.

But having made its choice, the remora
must now go wherever the manta takes it.

For better or worse.

Some animals build their own homes.

And if their lives are filled with danger,
then that home needs to be a fortress.

An Australian weaver ant carries part of
her colony's future, a grub in her jaws.

She's on her way to help in the
construction of her new home.

Hundreds of her fellow
workers are labouring

together to build a
stronghold out of leaves.

Chains of workers pull leaves together.

They hold them tight, but they need a more
permanent fix than this.

The grub carrier will play a crucial role.

But first, she needs to get across the
construction site.

Workers use their own bodies to make
living bridges between branches,

allowing others to move quickly around the
site.

This worker, with her grub, crosses over.

When this worker reaches a leaf that needs
securing, she taps the grub on its head.

This stimulates it to produce silk.

The worker uses the grub
like a glue gun, passing

it backwards and
forwards across the join.

Silk is one of the strongest fibres in
nature, yet it's also flexible,

making it the perfect glue for a construction
that must bend and flex in the wind.

After just a few hours of intense effort,
the ant's home is complete.

Totally weatherproof, this
new nest makes the ideal

nursery in which to start
rearing a precious brood.

But it also needs to be a fortress,
because neighbouring ant colonies,

looking to expand their own empires,
are always on the attack.

It's rare that a home provides an animal
with everything it needs to survive.

Some are a dangerous compromise.

A sheer rock face in the
American Rockies provides a

sure-footed mountain goat
with security from attack.

The goats spend the entire winter up here,
but although safe from predators,

there's little food.

By the time the spring molt arrives,
their poor diet has left them suffering

from a serious deficiency of vital
minerals.

So every spring, the goats must leave the
safety of the cliffs and make a dangerous

three-day-long descent on a quest for
these precious salts.

While mothers guide the newborn kids down
to the valley, this newly independent

young goat is making the perilous journey
alone for the first time.

The sun's warmth has brought predators out
of hibernation.

A grizzly bear.

It's a deadly threat to a young goat.

Luckily, the remains of an earlier
casualty catch its attention.

The yearling has to make his way without
guidance.

High up, avalanches and rockfalls are a
hazard.

Lower down, rivers swollen with meltwater
pose the greatest danger.

From experience, mother goats know the
safer places to cross.

For her new kid, it is a daunting
prospect.

It could easily be swept to its death.

After several days, the lone yearling
approaches the crossing.

On the other bank is
the only place for miles

around where rocks
rich in salt are exposed.

All that stands between
the young goat and the

outcrop is a last cascade
of bitterly cold water.

It's hard to know where to cross without
help.

He's made it.

He'll stay a few days, stocking up on the
salts and this rich dust, before facing

the dangerous return journey back to the
safety of the peaks.

In Zambia, the hunting dog
pups are now four months

old and have left the
security of their den far behind.

Once the pups are big
enough to keep up, the dog pack

resumes roaming the plains
that make up their territory.

In the dry season, being
mobile is the only way

to find enough food for
12 hungry youngsters.

Day and night, the dogs rely on each other
for protection from enemies.

Hyenas.

The dog's ancient enemy.

Hyenas are scavengers.

They want to steal the dog's kill.

One dog cannot take on a hyena.

But what the dogs lack in strength,
they make up for with teamwork.

This isn't just a fight.

It's part of an age-old battle for control
of these plains.

The youngsters join the adults.

With their new strength
in numbers, the battle

between dog and hyena
is firmly in the dog's favor.

The hyenas are ready to fight.

Go!

By sticking together, the pack can see off
the challenge of their arch enemy.

For the pups, this
fight has demonstrated

the most important
rule of hunting-dog life.

Taking control of their
home territory and,

indeed, their very survival
depends on teamwork.

Now, their home and their lives are about
to change.

The rainy season is arriving, bringing
with it an abundance of prey.

The coming of seasonal riches might seem
to promise an easy life.

But not necessarily if you're a piker.

They make their homes at high altitude on
these steep, boulder fields.

These slopes in the North
American Rockies are

only free from snow
for a few months a year.

Piker don't hibernate.

Instead, they cash in on the
sudden burst of summer flowers

to stockpile enough food to
get them through the winter.

That means cramming thousands
of return journeys between

flower meadow and burrow
into just a few hectic weeks.

So, for a piker, a good home is all about
location.

Having a burrow near the meadow is a huge
advantage.

But not everyone can have a prime spot.

This young female lives high up on the
boulder slope.

Every day is a relentless commute.

She could cover hundreds of miles over a
single summer.

It's not just exhausting, it's dangerous
too.

A weasel.

Its long, thin body makes it the perfect
hunter in this jumble of boulders.

But the pikers have some countermeasures.

They call to prevent a surprise attack.

Faced with such dangers, pikers are always
on the lookout for safer ways.

Ways to fill their larders.

And they're not above a little petty
theft.

The hay piles of the
pikers living closer

to the meadow are
already bulging with food.

Too tempting to ignore.

She waits until the owner is well away.

And then...

helps herself.

This life of crime will save her time,
energy and reduce the risk from predators.

She stashes the stolen goods, then heads
back for more.

Of course, the key to being a successful
thief is not to be seen.

But unfortunately, the owner in the meadow
spots the intruder red-handed.

She has the best plan for the next step.

She carries on while the owner rushes back
to confront her.

She may have made a clean getaway.

But pikers are not the only thieves
operating here.

Big Horn sheep.

Now she is the best.

A little pause for the victim.

She can call all she likes, but the sheep
just keep on eating.

For the piker, it's a disaster.

Unless she can quickly replenish a stockpile
in what's left of the short summer.

Back in the Australian
rain forest, In the forest, this

weaver ant fortress sits at
the heart of a rich territory.

Hunting parties go out to gather food to
fuel their growing numbers.

Some canopy caterpillars are not killed,
but farmed by the ants.

They exude a sugary secretion that the
ants collect.

In return, the ants mount a guard to
protect the caterpillar wherever it goes.

But a successful colony inevitably
attracts enemies.

This jumping spider's body shape resembles
that of an ant.

A disguise good enough to fool these
nursery guards.

It's after one of the colony's most
valuable assets, the grubs.

In a colony numbering tens of thousands,
a single grub is an insignificant loss.

But the rich territory of a successful
colony draws more destructive enemies.

Raiders from the wild.

From a neighbouring weaver ant colony,
looking to expand their own empire.

Invaders are quickly spotted.

The guard releases pheromones to alert the
rest of the colony.

They stream out of the nest to defend
their home.

If the home defences fail, the colony will
be wiped out.

Some of the defenders deploy their most
potent weapon.

They squirt formic acid.

The stinging liquid halts the invaders in
their tracks.

And now the home guard can go on the
offensive.

Home and territory are secure once again.

A colony may lose many workers in defence
of its home.

But their sacrifice helps safeguard the
next generation.

A colony that can defend a
rich territory has the potential

to dominate their part of the
rainforest for years to come.

Such long-term occupation
allows residents to

become intimately
familiar with their home.

Knowledge that is critical when times are
tough.

These chimps live on the edge of the
Sahara in Senegal.

The dry season has been at its most brutal
for four months.

There is almost nothing left to eat.

This young male spends hours teasing apart
seed pods.

The fibres surrounding each tiny black
seed are inedible.

So he must delicately separate the one
from the other.

Others take the edge off their hunger by
chewing tough bean pods.

It's not much to keep the troop going.

And there are many hungry mouths to feed.

Even scarcer than food is water.

If they can't find a supply, these chimps
will die.

The troop depends on
the older chimps and their

detailed knowledge
of their home territory.

They've lived through droughts like this
before.

They lead the others on a trek towards a
distant river.

It's a hellish 10-mile journey in
suffocating 50 degrees heat.

Their march ends on a riverbank.

But the channel is bone dry.

Undeterred, this big male picks his spot.

And starts to dig.

The youngster watching him at
work is absorbing knowledge that

could be critical to the troop's
survival in years to come.

Water slowly collects in the hole,
filtered as it seeps through the gravel.

It's a moment to savour.

All along the riverbed, others are
following the leader's example.

And digging their own drinking wells.

By pooling their knowledge
and experience, the

chimps have made this
hostile place into a home.

Zambia.

The hunting dog pack has survived the hard
times of the dry season.

They've exploited
different parts of their home

territory to successfully
raise and protect their pups.

And they've fought off their greatest
rivals.

Now, their home is about to be
transformed.

Great herds of wildebeest
are arriving, having followed

the rains here to graze on
the new grass and to carve.

And the pack is ready for them.

Still too young to join a hunt,
the pups have been left at a waterhole.

The pups have been left at a waterhole.

While the adults head off over the plains.

The youngsters are already practising
their hunting skills.

But they have some way to go.

Not so the adults.

They form a tight pack, stalking to get
close to the wildebeest.

But the pups are not alone.

With the herd on the run, the pack manages
to isolate a small group.

they're looking for any weakness.

But the wildebeest are no pushover….

.

.

The dogs work in relay.

As one tires, another moves through to
take up the running.

Fleeing for its life, the wildebeest has a
few tricks of its own.

First, it tries to create confusion by
running into a group of zebra.

Then, it joins forces with other wildebeest
to make a break for the main herd.

Most of the dogs break off to find an
easier victim.

But one dog appears to have forgotten the
basic pack rule.

Stick together.

Suddenly, he hears the pack and switches
direction to rejoin them.

And

now, there is no escape from the power of
the pack.

It's time to retrieve the pups.

And escort them back to the kill.

The growing pack has less to fear from
hyenas than before.

But they will always be a threat.

Some of the older members form a protective
cordon while the rest of the pack feed.

By working together, the pack have
overcome the challenges of this land.

And succeeded in making it their home.

Their hard-won territory will be a legacy
to their pups.

And with luck, for the generations to
come.

Finding the perfect
location to film hunting dogs

took the Life Story team
years of patient research.

And finally, it led them to a remote
corner of Zambia.

For director Emma Knapper and
cameraman Jamie McPherson, it's

a chance to film something
few people have ever witnessed.

A complete wild dog hunt.

The dogs usually live in thick bush,
so this open country should help the crew.

And scientists have
radio collared one of the

pack, which makes
finding them relatively easy.

I have absolutely no idea.

Can you see the dogs then?

It's not quite the start the crew was
hoping for.

God, that was quick.

The dogs disappear into the grass.

Once they've started running, they go as
fast as we keep going.

And when we go at that
speed, we risk damaging

the car and ourselves
quite badly, so...

Well, we just need more of a head start
than we had this morning.

And more jetpacks.

Over the following days,
it becomes clear that

chasing after the dogs
isn't the way forward.

Perhaps trying to get ahead of them during
a hunt is a better option.

But that brings its own problems.

It's quite tricky in that
trying to be there when

they actually catch it
is incredibly difficult.

Even when it's completely
flat and open like this,

you still don't know which
way they're going to go.

Whenever a chase takes the
dogs out of transmitter range,

the crew must spend hours
tracking them down again.

Today, they finally catch
up with them at a waterhole,

and Jamie gets to see
a softer side to the pack.

With full stomachs, it's unlikely they
will hunt again today.

But there are other animals here that
haven't fed... yet.

And hyenas are always hungry.

Jamie's on the lookout for an easy meal.

Hopefully, it's just inquisitive.

It could make short work of Jamie if it
really wanted to.

Just let me know if it comes out of the
way.

Do you think he will eat Jamie?

Yeah.

He'll eat Jamie?

Yeah, he will.

Then,

as evening approaches, the mood changes.

Bitter rivals, the dogs don't like the
hyenas hanging around.

And this one has outstayed its welcome.

Jamie has a ringside seat.

The crew leaves the dogs to settle down
for the night.

And hope for a change of luck in the
morning.

But when they return, the pack is nowhere
to be found.

Perhaps the hyena came back during the
night and they have moved off.

You can only pick them up if you're within
two kilometres of them...

and they tend to move.

You know, they can.

They have moved 10 kilometres in a night,
so...

hopefully, they're moving the same way
we're searching.

If they've gone the opposite direction,
then, yeah, we could be...

miles from them.

Do you think maybe they went south?

Maybe.

And in the park's 1,300 square miles, it's
like looking for a needle in the haystack.

We have been looking for them since about
four o'clock this morning, probably.

It's now half past five in the afternoon.

Sunset's in about an hour.

So we've got about an hour
to find them, really, because

they're likely to get up at
sunset and move again.

We don't know where they are now, so
it's just going to get harder, basically.

So the sooner we find them, the better.

You say you have located the dogs.

Confirm, over.

What is that?

Worst of all, look at all the scent.

Doggies.

The crew can't afford to lose them again.

The only option is to stay as close as
possible all through the night.

How close are they, Dennis?

At least less than a kilometre.

In the dark, the radio transmitter helps
the team keep tabs on the dogs.

It's carrying food in its mouth.

I can't see a carcass.

And their luck holds.

Dawn breaks and the crew is close by as
the dogs begin to hunt.

The crew is finally on the spot as the
dogs move in for the kill.

But to complete the story, the crew needs
to cover an actual chase.

And to do that, they will have to take to
the air.

This aerial view reveals the
strategy the dogs use during

the pursuit and their
incredible endurance and skill.

From the ground, you
never see that point when

the dogs swap over and
another one takes over.

And four or five kilometres of different
elements of it.

Just to be able to see it
and keep up with it, there's

absolutely no way you could
keep up with that on the ground.

It was over termite mounds and really
rough stuff.

So, yeah, it was a good morning.

These remote plains and
this remarkable pack of

hunting dogs have more
than lived up to their promise.

A pack of 20 wild dogs hunting flat hours.

There's nothing like it.

It's incredibly exciting.

It's an amazing thing to see.

Following this very special pack of dogs
has become addictive.

I don't want to go home.

We can wait another hour.

I think the plane will wait for us.

Next week, Life Story
follows young animals as they

struggle to stay one
step ahead of their rivals.

They must develop new talents.

And use whatever means, both fair and
foul, to rise through the ranks.

The battle for dominance can be brutal.

With power, the ultimate prize.