All language subtitles for The.Ballad.of.Big.Al.

All that we have left today

of the mighty dinosaurs are their fossils.

Stone copies of long-dead bones.

It is easy to forget that these
were once living animals,

surviving in a world of unimaginable violence.

But if you know what you're looking for,

the signs and scars of life are clear,

as in this remarkable Allosaurus skeleton

in Wyoming, nicknamed Big Al.

By studying his bones, comparing him

with other fossils and modern animals,

there is just enough evidence
to raise the ghost of Big Al

from its 145 million-year-old grave.

Bit by bit, a story of how he might

have lived can be pieced together.

It's a story that started, like all dinosaurs,

with an egg.

Buried in a pile of Jurassic sand

is a clutch of eggs.

It is the end of the dry season,

and there are signs of life.

This tiny little dinosaur is facing the first

of life's challenges, escaping his egg chamber.

He calls out for help.

A huge carnivorous Allosaurus hears the squeak

of the hatchlings and approaches the nest.

They are at her mercy.

Fortunately, this is their mother.

Smell is important to
Allosaurus and from the moment

mother and hatchling smell each-other,

they form a bond that is crucial

for the hatchling's early survival.

Gently, she uses her huge claws to free them.

This is Big Al's first day.

For now, he can rely on his mother's

protection, but, within weeks, he will have

to learn to stand on his own two feet.

In seven short years, he could become

a gigantic predator like his mother,

but the odds on him surviving that long are low.

Al has been born into a world dominated by giants.

For a carnivore, no meal comes easy here.

Some prey, like the 30 ton Apatosaurus,

are giant fortresses of flesh, too large

to attack, even by fully-grown Allosaurus.

Many smaller species rely on lightning-fast

speed, while others, like Stegosaurus,

stand and fight with lethal spines.

It is a daunting prospect for
this brood of tiny killers.

They will have to learn very fast,

and fighting among themselves
is a good way to start.

However, at this size, they are just as likely

to be the hunted as the hunters.

A pair of predatory Ornitholestes

watch the brood, waiting for their chance.

The mother Allosaurus is 50 times their weight,

so they will not venture too
close while she is present.

However, the smell of all these new hatchlings

will soon attract other larger predators.

So, eventually, the mother decides it is time

to lead her unruly brood away.

Al's new home is a vast floodplain, which

will one day become the badlands of Wyoming,

but, for now, it is covered in lush conifer forest.

Dinosaurs share this world with a host of other

animals, including amphibians and insects.

It is the insects that the
infant Allosaurus are after.

Born with sharp little teeth,

Al is ready for his first meal.

But even small prey requires skill to catch.

They are either liable to fly away,

or worse still, stand and fight.

The hatchlings all have a lot to learn.

That evening, the mother abandons her brood,

while she hunts for food for herself.

She is not the only one on the prowl tonight.

The hatchlings are being
watched by another predator.

Mother returns to her station
having lost one hatchling.

The victim was not Al, but, ironically,

the attacker is a year-old Allosaurus.

These youngsters only have
a few weeks of protection

before the mother's maternal instincts wear off,

and she too will view them as fast food.

Al now hunts alone.

Measuring almost three meters,

insects are no longer on the menu.

He is looking for dinosaur flesh.

There is a wide choice in this
conifer and cycad forest.

A flock of small Othnielia look ideal,

but there is a big problem.

A heavily armored Stegosaurus

is working his way through a cycad stand nearby.

The Othnielia feed off the smashed cycades

he leaves behind.

This means they are sticking very close to him.

Too close for a small predator

to get in between and attack.

A mother Ornitholestes attending

her nest may prove more promising,

but the small Allosaurus is about to find out

he is no match for an overprotective mother.

Nearby, a group of Dryosaurus
offers Al one more chance.

Al cannot possibly run down such swift prey.

He needs to learn to ambush.

He has also ended up too
near the edge of the forest.

A herd of Apatosaurus crashing through

the outer forest looking for new plant.

Not exactly suitable prey for Al.

Back among the trees, Al finally finds

something to take the edge off his hunger.

A nearby stagnant pool offers plenty

of opportunity to scavenge meet, as many

dinosaurs have come here to drink,

and become stuck in its thick mud.

A recent victim is this Stegosaurus,

that lies where it died of exhaustion,

trying to drag itself free.

But dead bodies also attract adult Allosaurus.

This one is large enough to kill Al,

but she would prefer a free meal.

Unfortunately, the churned up swamp

left by the Stegosaurus is dangerous,

and one of her kind has already become

trapped next to the carcass.

Ignoring the danger signals, the new Allosaurus

approaches the carcass to feed.

By the time she realizes she
is trapped, it is too late.

Al watches from nearby, only escaping

the same fate because he has
learned to avoid carrion

and the large carnivores that it usually attracts.

By evening, two more carcasses lie beside the pond.

This swamp is a natural predator trap,

and, before the Stegosaurus finally rots away,

numerous more carnivores could fall

for its attractions, but bodies are left

to those that can feast here in safety,

the flying Pterosaurs.

In the middle of Al's Jurassic world

is a vast salt lake, its crystalline white crust

formed by the retreat of an ancient sea.

Occasionally, its shores see the movement

of herds of dinosaurs.

These are Diplodocus heading

for a nesting site to the south.

It is a grim journey for these mighty creatures,

and the heat and lack of drinking water

weeds out the weaker animals.

Predators know this.

Predators like Al.

He is now five years old, and, although

he is nine meters long, he is not yet fully grown.

Al is an experienced hunter, but the herd itself

presents a formidable barrier to predators.

Still, Al is not the only
predator stalking the herd.

They can all smell that one of the Diplodocus

is in a very bad way.

The predators are getting impatient.

They need to break up the herd

and isolate the weak link.

The panicked herd has left the
sick Diplodocus far behind.

The Allosaurus gather for the feast.

However, even a sick and exhausted

Diplodocus is a fearsome adversary.

Build for speed, Al is frequently wounded

in such situations, but he cannot afford

to let this slow him down.

The competition is too intense.

The other carnivores hold back,

and wait for time and the heat

to finish the giant herbivore.

After several hours, heat exhaustion

and his illness bring the Diplodocus to his knees.

The predators finally get their reward.

Although there is enough meat here for weeks,

there is an urgency in their feeding.

The smell of blood will soon bring others,

and every Allosaurus wants to eat its fill.

Within the hour, a gigantic female Allosaurus

appears out of the haze.

She is about twice the weight of the other

Allosaurus, and four meters longer.

Quickly, she establishes her dominance.

When predators get to her size,

they rarely have to bring down their own food.

They just scavenge other kills.

Al tries to find a safer place to eat.

The floodplains where Al lives
are ruled by the seasons.

Short periods of heavy rain give way

to long months of drought.

It is now the end of the wet season,

and with the flood water still receding,

it is a time of plenty for the local dinosaurs.

For many, it is also a time for mating.

This pair of Stegosaurus are about to try

what is for them a very complex process.

Al is now six years old, and, as a sign of age,

the crests over his eyes are now reddening.

Sexual maturity is dependent on his size,

and, at 10 meters long, Al is well

on the way to being big enough.

He is, however, making the locals at the waterhole

nervous, and the smell of blood he brings with him

is enough to interrupt the amorous Stegosaurus.

Away from the lake, Al picks up a new scent.

Dung left by a female Allosaurus

has an immediate effect on
Al, and, for the first time

in his life, he issues a mating call.

The female is not far and picks up

the Low sounds in his call.

She is much larger than Al,
he will have to be careful.

She is not interested, but Al's inexperience

shows, and he gets too close.

Al is lucky.

Although he had a torn arm, ripped claw,

and smashed ribs, he has escaped

having his throat torn out.

After five months, the dry season begins to bite.

The sick and the old are being weeded out.

This is good news for scavengers.

This carcass is dried hard and the Pterosaur

burrows deeper to find softer meat,

but it is never safe to become too preoccupied.

Al has managed to recover from his fight,

although one arm is still not functioning properly.

The Pterosaur was not much of a meal,

and there is little left on the carcass.

He needs fresh meat.

In the blistering heat, he starts to stalk

a flock of swift Dryosaurus.

It will take skill, but he has done this

hundreds of times before.

The attack is a disaster.

Al has fallen badly.

As he tries to get up, it's clear

he has broken something in his right foot.

With prey getting scarcer and scarcer,

his chances of survival now look remote.

Two months later, and the drought

has continued longer than usual.

It has cost Al dear.

If anything, his limp has got worse.

Because of his poor condition,

his body is not healing well.

It appears he broke his middle toe

in the fall, and it is now badly infected.

Too weak to hunt, he'll be
lucky to survive much longer.

The drought drags on.

A pair of young Allosaurus are out hunting

for insects amongst the sand dunes.

Instead, they find something much larger.

The emaciated body of Big Al.

Al never reached his full size.

Instead, he died as a mature adolescent,

in a dried up riverbed.

Eventually, the rains would arrive

and gently bury his body in silt

for 145 million years.

The process preserved his skeleton perfectly,

including the lumps where his
ribs healed after their break.

The raging infection on his
middle toe, and at least

seventeen other injuries and diseases.

In death, Big Al represents a frozen moment

in the fast and furious life
of a carnivorous dinosaur.