Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Botswana, a jewel in Africa's crown.

But its beauty is deceptive.

Out here, life is cut-throat.

There is safety in numbers.

Being in a gang can improve your chances of survival.

But gang life does have its dangers.

Joining a posse and keeping your place in it,

is a matter of life...

or death.

In the grasslands of Botswana, mobs rule.

And of all the gangs here,

it's the lions who reign supreme.

A single lioness is a skillful hunter.

More than 200 pounds of muscle.

(birds chirping)

She's capable of tackling prey twice her size,

(grunts)

But while a lioness on her own may face resistance...

when a pride works together,

they can be unstoppable.

(grunting)

For lions,

gang life makes you stronger, braver,

safer.

Africa's deadliest.

(lion growls)

Every gang that roams these badlands has its own rules,

its own strengths and weaknesses.

But one thing holds true,

in the fight for survival,

gangs always come out on top.

If you're part of a gang,

you don't have to be big or strong to win.

Small and wiry,

wild dogs operate in tight-knit family groups of 20 or more.

With canine comrades always at their side,

the dogs are fearless.

They do everything together, playing,

sleeping, raising young

and hunting.

This bond makes them the ultimate gang.

Their combined speed, endurance and agility

make them a match for almost any animal,

prey...

or predator.

One on one, a leopard could easily kill a dog.

But the dogs are bold and courageous when they're with their pack.

Sticking together gives them the upper hand.

This leopard knows he's outgunned.

His only choice is to stay out of harm's way.

Eventually the pack's hunger gets the better of them

and the gang heads out

in search of easier pickings.

Warthogs!

A big male warthog is six times heavier than a wild dog

and it's armed with razor sharp tusks

but the pack shows no fear.

The alpha male and female lead the chase,

singling out a young victim.

The dog's teamwork gives them the advantage.

They are endurance runners.

The gang will chase the prey until it's exhausted.

Taking turns to lead the pursuit,

the dogs can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.

This young warthog's only hope is to head for cover.

Gone!

The gang may not be able to see him,

but they can smell him.

Tracking the warthog's scent trail,

it doesn't take the team long to find his hideout.

They take turns digging...

(warthog squeals)

(squealing)

...until he's driven out into the open.

(squealing continues)

And the pack, still working as a team,

eats him alive.

For some predators,

being in a gang means you can bypass the time and effort of hunting altogether.

Hyenas are one of Africa's most notorious criminal mobs.

A noisy clan always has an eye out for opportunity.

And this female-dominated posse roams the grasslands.

The smell of fresh blood has them on alert.

Three young lions have made a kill.

The hyenas outnumber the hunters two to one.

The odds are stacked in their favor.

Attacking from all sides,

they drive the lions off the carcass by sheer weight of numbers.

And the king of beasts

is reduced to nothing more than a frightened cat up a tree.

(hyenas laughing)

The gang of thugs

steals the young lion's hard-earned feast from under his nose.

For hyenas being part of a gang is a ticket to an easy meal.

Victorious they take the prize.

Hyenas aren't the only girl gangs on the savanna.

Elephant herds are strictly females and their calves only.

Males leave the herd when they reach adolescence

and learn to fend for themselves.

Mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts

endlessly roam the savanna for food and water.

The leader of the herd is the matriarch...

the oldest and wisest female

with more than 40 years of life experience.

The herd follows wherever she leads

and she will lead for as long as she can.

There is no fighting here, no struggle for dominance.

The perfect place to grow and learn the secrets of life

in a complex and ever-changing world.

With the protection of the herd,

this calf gains the skills it needs to survive here.

But it still has much to learn.

And there are hungry eyes of other gangs everywhere.

It's never safe for a baby to be alone in the ganglands of Botswana.

The hunters of the savanna

are always on the lookout for their next victim.

And the weak and defenseless

are top of their hit list.

Luckily, when you're part of this gang,

someone always has your back.

Generations of experience have taught these elephants

how to deal with troublesome cats.

(elephant trumpeting)

This lioness will have to try her luck elsewhere.

The baby elephant is safe,

thanks to the love and protection of her herd.

Rearing young is a vital part of gang life for wild dogs too.

(wild dogs squealing)

The whole pack shares the burden

of feeding and defending the alpha pair's pups.

Daily meals of regurgitated meat help them grow fast.

(squealing continues)

By the time they're just three months old,

they're ready to leave the den

and learn to hunt.

Now the benefits of this shared parenting are clear...

in a single stroke,

they've doubled the size of their gang, boosting the pack's power.

(squealing)

They may still be novices

but with experience,

they'll become valuable members of this elite group.

Ensuring the pack's survival in this cut-throat gangland.

(lion roaring)

Wild dog gangs may thrive on co-operation and sharing,

but life in other animal gangs is not so free and easy.

In a lion pride,

each individual must know their place

or face the consequences.

A strong male lion may rule the roost...

but it's the lionesses who do the hard work.

They lead the hunts...

and their skills are legendary.

(squealing)

But once the pride has brought a victim down,

it belongs to the king.

He is responsible for defending the pride,

for keeping his family safe.

And eating first is his right.

It's also his reward to mate with all the females

and expand his personal army.

Under the control of their commander,

the females help look after each other's cubs.

Giving them the best chance of survival.

The pride male is the protector of every cub here.

His cubs are his legacy...

and he will do whatever it takes to keep them from danger.

Even if they do get on his nerves sometimes.

If another male overthrows the gang leader,

he could kill all the cubs

and mate with the lionesses,

obliterating the king's blood line.

So when this lioness brings a handsome stranger home,

the king knows there's trouble brewing.

And he's out for the trouble-maker's blood.

The pride's lionesses are the king's property.

The interloper's flirtatious behavior

is a direct challenge to him

and the future of his pride.

There's only one way to settle this.

(growling)

He will fight to the death...

(growling continues)

...and remind his female of the rules.

The king's legacy is safe,

for now!

It's not just predators who find strength in numbers.

Guinea fowl form posses of up to 55,

scouring the ground for insects and seeds.

This puts them at risk of ambush.

But when you live in a gang,

there's always someone on look out.

Constant 360-degree surveillance.

Even the best-camouflaged hunter struggles to go unnoticed.

(shrieking)

A deafening alarm call

and the whole flock is alerted to the danger,

just in time.

The guinea fowl wont stop calling until the leopard is gone.

Safety in numbers.

Zebra and wildebeest also use

sheer numbers for protection against predators.

By joining forces, they create a super-gang of the grasslands.

But with so many members,

disharmony can breed amongst its ranks.

When wildebeest calves are born,

there's a shift in the mega gang's peaceful relationship.

The babies attract predators

and put the zebras own survival at risk.

(braying)

This is not something the zebra will tolerate.

In a vicious turn,

the gang up on the wildebeest calf.

The alliance that once offered protection has turned on them

and is now...

their greatest threat.

In the heart of lion country,

the zebra know babies are an easy meal for the big cats.

So high-risk members must be kicked out

for the greater good.

The zebra and wildebeest super gang is shattered.

Wildebeest babies must keep a low profile.

This calf has learned the gang rules the hard way.

(braying)

Babies are not all born equal in animal gangs.

Female hyenas breed in shared dens

and raise a mob of cubs together,

a new generation of clan members.

But this is no democracy.

It's a dictatorship.

The clan is ruled by a single dominant female.

She demands respect

and an established hierarchy

means her followers know their place.

She reigns over a tyrannical pecking order.

Her female cubs inherit her rank.

It guarantees them the best food,

the best mates

and the best chance of success.

Everyone else must fight for their status in the clan,

a struggle that starts as soon as they're born.

Males are destined to be bottom of the heap,

lower than the lowest ranking female.

To be born female in a hyena clan,

is to be born with the upper hand.

When superiority isn't your birthright,

you have to fight for dominance.

In a wildebeest gang,

once you've won the battle for alpha male status,

it's your prerogative to mate with whoever you want.

The dominant male rules over a group of females.

Any claim on them will be seen as a challenge.

Male wildebeest compete to bolster their harem of females...

and this rival male is intent on seduction.

His advances kick-off a breeding territory war.

The dominant male must fight for his girl crew.

His skull can absorb the forceful blows,

but he risks breaking his horns.

(braying)

After this brief but vicious clash,

the intruder is chased out of the winner's herd.

In the blistering heat of the afternoon,

gangs big and small take a rest.

For banded mongoose,

ganging up together at nap time is key to survival.

Because not everyone takes time out from the midday sun.

With one strike of its claws,

a martial eagle could easily snatch a sleeping mongoose.

But in their mongoose mob,

they're not to be messed with.

Their bravado seems to work.

They don't run scared

but instead bunch together to pester Africa's largest eagle.

(squeaking)

This apex predator's plan of attack is thwarted.

However, small and squeaky you are,

there's always victory in a union.

When two powerful gangs collide,

the outcome is impossible to predict.

This is one of Africa's mightiest animal armies.

A herd of buffalo, thousands strong.

This huge assembly of lethal muscle

is enough to put off most predators.

But not lions,

one of Africa's deadliest gang of killers.

They know this fearsome army has a weakness.

Amongst the seasoned warriors are new calves,

inexperienced and vulnerable.

(bellowing)

Working together,

this is the weakness the lions will exploit.

The pride shadows the herd,

watching, waiting for the perfect moment.

As dusk falls, the lion gangs attacks from all sides.

In the panic and confusion,

a calf is isolated and the pride is right there.

But this ambush is far from over.

Never underestimate the power of a protective mother.

(bellowing)

Confronted by a tone of furious muscle,

the lion gang retreats.

She will kill them if she can.

The rest of the herd returns to back her up.

What may have been an easy hunt for the lions

has turned into a battle between two Goliath gangs.

The buffalo are bigger and their horns could fatally injure a lion.

Outnumbered and outweighed,

the pride realizes it's time to go.

The buffalo have won,

proving the power behind gang loyalty.

As the dry season takes hold,

red-billed quelea arrive in their hundreds of thousands to breed.

Immense flocks weave nests of dry grass in the acacia trees.

(chirping)

High above the ground and surrounded by thorns,

the nests are safe from predators.

But to find food for their ravenous chicks,

the quelea must leave the cover of the the trees

and head into the open...

(chirping continues)

...where danger is waiting.

Any quelea leaving the safety of the trees alone

would be spotted and taken instantly.

So the quelea work together to cheat death.

Hundreds of thousands of them take flight simultaneously.

The visual chaos of almost a million wings beating

can dazzle even the most eagle-eyed.

This is a numbers game.

The more quelea there are in the gang,

the smaller the chance of any individual being caught.

For every quelea taken,

countless thousands more live to fly another day.

If your gang is big enough,

you don't always need violence to get what you want.

As a pack of wild dogs devours a kudu carcass,

vultures are drawn in from all sides.

Riding the thermals,

they can spot a kill from over a mile up in the air.

For them, it's just a waiting game.

The dogs charge, trying to drive them off.

(vultures screaming)

But this feathered flock is huge

and more members are cruising in from far and wide.

The dogs are bullied into leaving.

The vultures feast unchallenged.

All the rewards for so little effort.

If gang life makes for an easy living,

being an outcast can be a death sentence.

Bull elephants are shunned from the maternal herd

once they become adolescents.

They often lead a solitary life.

Even though they might be big,

they're still vulnerable.

And lessons for life as a loner come thick and fast.

On their own they're still targets for attack.

So they sometimes buddy up

with other bachelor bulls to build small gangs.

Banding together to find food and drink.

These mini gangs are ideal training grounds

where elephants gain the skills they need.

Sparring to build up their strength

and learning the rules of adulthood.

Everything they need to become a successful male.

Not every gang outcast manages to gain acceptance.

Hyena gangs are dominated by females.

So like bull elephants,

male hyenas often have to make their own way in the world.

Without a gang for backup,

a male hyena has to be constantly on the alert.

(trumpeting)

Exposed and isolated,

he's at the bottom of the grassland pecking order.

Being alone makes everything harder.

He's looking to join a new clan.

But when you've been kicked out of one,

it's not easy to join another.

Clans won't just let anyone in.

Especially not low-life males with nothing to offer.

He's not up to snuff,

so it's run or die.

A hyena without a gang can’t afford to be a fussy eater.

Despite hiding his hurried meal in the undergrowth...

he can’t escape a rival mob,

a pack of wild dogs.

The smell of carrion has drawn them in.

A whole clan of hyenas would be dangerous,

so an advanced party susses out the situation.

The hyena is on his own,

making him an easy target.

One on one, the hyena would win,

but he doesn't stand a chance against a pack this size.

The dogs harass him until he's forced into the open.

And the gang doesn't stop there!

Wild dogs are nothing if not persistent.

As these top dogs attack the hyena from all sides...

he has not choice but to run for his life.

Working together,

this brave band of dogs is the ultimate proof

that for all Africa's deadliest,

joining forces is the way to survive.

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