Original subtitles

WILLIAM SHATNER: Man-eating lions that stalk human prey.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Man-eating lions that stalk human prey. (man screaming)

(man screaming)

Killer crocodiles that attack without warning.

And great white sharks that are out for blood.

And great white sharks that are out for blood. (man screaming)

(man screaming)

Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has known

that wild animals are dangerous,

that wild animals are dangerous, and if provoked, they might attack.

and if provoked, they might attack.

But what about when a deadly predator kills people

not just once but time and time again?

Is it possible that some creatures hunt us down

because they actually have a taste

for human flesh?

Well, that is what we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

Thousands of workers have come to this

remote patch of the African savannah

to build a new railroad line for the British Empire.

One night, as the men sleep,

they're awakened by the sound of screaming.

(man screaming)

They quickly realize

that a fearsome lion has crept into the camp

and is attacking a man in his tent.

BRUCE PATTERSON: A big male lion entered the tent of a foreman,

seized him by the head, dragged him out screaming and kicking

into the bush, where, uh, his remains were found the next day.

And there was very little left of him.

But his head was left almost completely intact,

pierced on the sides by the lion's teeth,

his eyes wide open, frozen in a look of horror and fear.

SHATNER: The savage killing of the foreman

marked the beginning of a vicious murder spree

carried out by not one but two vicious lions,

who quickly earned the nickname,

the Tsavo Man-Eaters.

LARISSA DeSANTIS: The two man-eaters were particularly large.

They were upwards of nine feet in length.

We know that these two lions were both males.

And they don't have the large iconic manes

that you would expect of most African lions.

So these lions were smart. They were patient.

They were able to effectively hunt their prey,

and if you have the element of surprise,

humans really can't do anything about that.

There were 3,000 men camped along the rail lines,

and that left the men in tents there

vulnerable to attacks by lions.

The two male lions descended on railway crews,

and began systematically hunting, killing

and consuming railway workers on the edge of this camp.

Of course, the crews became completely dispirited,

Of course, the crews became completely dispirited, and this sparked panic,

and this sparked panic,

this sparked desperation, this sparked mass desertion.

It was headline news back in England at the time,

where in Parliament, delays in the construction

of the railway were discussed as being

attributed to these problematic lions.

SHATNER: News of the savage attacks carried out

by the Tsavo Man-Eaters made headlines around the world.

And many began to wonder why these two lions

were deliberately killing and eating so many people.

Incidents of man eating among lions is very unusual.

Lions typically eat zebra,

wildebeest, buffalo, things that eat grass.

They know their prey very well, but a man-eating lion must study

the habits of humans and learn to...

adjust to them in order to be successful

in their food acquisition.

DeSANTIS: We don't see lions attacking and hunting

and trying to go after people most of the time.

But these two lions in particular

were sort of committed to the practice of man eating.

-(lion growling) -It's possible

that then we became a preferred food.

SHATNER: On December 9, 1898, nine months after their reign

of terror began, the first Tsavo lion was shot and killed.

20 days later, the second lion met the same fate.

But by then, the pair of man-eaters had

already killed and eaten

an astonishing 135 people.

CORBIN MAXEY: There's no evidence

that shows that the Tsavo Man-Eaters were starving.

There was actually plentiful prey in the area--

wildebeests,

zebra, gazelles, hippos.

And yet they chose to eat humans.

It is a very unusual situation.

SHATNER: The Tsavo Man-Eaters are perhaps the most

infamous lions in history.

Their seemingly insatiable desire to kill humans

taps into our most primal fears,

and is a reminder that our ancient ancestors lived

in constant fear of being attacked by dangerous predators.

NATALIA REAGAN: Early on, our ancestors were often

preyed upon because we don't have giant

claws and armor and things of that sort.

We've got this big brain that can help us hopefully

outthink and outcompete these predators,

outthink and outcompete these predators, but given the right circumstances,

but given the right circumstances,

we're very vulnerable.

We humans like to think that we're

We humans like to think that we're at the top of the food chain.

at the top of the food chain.

But thousands and thousands of years ago,

we were eaten alive by almost any and everything.

And what is very interesting about that is

And what is very interesting about that is scientists have actually shown infants

scientists have actually shown infants

images of snakes, images of spiders,

and infants who have never seen these animals before

will freak out, they'll show a fear response.

They'll cry. That's an alarm call.

They'll cry. That's an alarm call. That is innate. It's in our DNA.

That is innate. It's in our DNA.

SHATNER: More than a hundred years after the attacks

by the Tsavo Man-Eaters,

the mystery of what made these two lions target people

lingers in the public consciousness.

So much so that their skulls are

on display at the Field Museum of Natural History

in Chicago, Illinois,

where scientists continue to study them

in search of clues as to why they became man-eaters.

And according to the latest research,

it appears the lions' murderous rampage

it appears the lions' murderous rampage may have ironically had something to do

may have ironically had something to do

with their teeth.

PATTERSON: The teeth of lions, they're used to crack bones

and get the marrow that's inside them,

and it's quite typical in lion dentitions to find

missing or broken teeth associated with this heavy use.

It's not typical, however, to find dental disease.

Yet, in the case of the Tsavo lion,

Yet, in the case of the Tsavo lion, we had a broken lower right canine

we had a broken lower right canine

whose pulp cavity was exposed about a third of an inch across.

That would have been excruciatingly painful.

This is a cast of the skull of the first man-eater,

and this is the broken lower right canine tooth

that ultimately became diseased and impacted.

This lion would have been unable to administer the killing bite

that lions use to take down large, struggling prey.

So we think that the arrival of the railway workers in camp

happened at exactly the right time

for this individual lion, that,

as it had become incapable

of taking down buffalo, it looked on people

of taking down buffalo, it looked on people with a new eye and a new appetite.

with a new eye and a new appetite.

SHATNER: Did a debilitating toothache turn the first

Tsavo lion into a man-eater

because humans are softer prey that were easier to bite?

It's a compelling theory.

But scientists have verified that the other

Tsavo lion's teeth were perfectly healthy.

So why did it join in the killing?

MAXEY: One of the Tsavo lions had extreme dental issues.

The second lion did not have those dental injuries.

So why would this lion go towards humans?

It's because it learned from the other lion

that humans are an easy target.

Constantly, predators are-are learning

from success, from failures.

from success, from failures. They're learning from others.

They're learning from others.

They're learning how to take down prey.

They're learning how to hunt.

They're learning how to hunt. And so it's not surprising to see

And so it's not surprising to see

that the second man-eater started eating people as well.

We probably were, um, an easy meal.

We oftentimes will see an animal that has killed multiple humans

and think, "Oh, wow, they're gunning for us."

But we have to really remember and reframe it

as these are animals that are doing just what they have to do

to make it into the next week, the next year.

Just like we would. It's kind of eat or be eaten.

The story of the Tsavo man-eating lions

is proof positive that some animals enjoy

having humans on the menu, so to speak.

But there's another creature who reportedly killed

over a hundred people that is even more unsettling.

A fearsome predator that roamed the French countryside

A fearsome predator that roamed the French countryside and was known as the Beast of Gévaudan.

and was known as the Beast of Gévaudan.

SHATNER: On a warm summer morning in this farming region

of south central France,

14-year-old Jeanne Boulet leaves home

to tend her flock of sheep.

By sundown, she's dead.

Murdered by a mysterious animal

that reportedly mutilated her body,

severed her head

severed her head and ripped out her heart.

and ripped out her heart.

Jeanne Boulet was the first documented casualty

of a monster that many people believed

was roaming around south central France

beginning in the late spring of 1764.

By the end of September, another ten or so casualties,

however, had appeared.

GERHARD: Le Bête du Gévaudan,

also known as the Beast of Gévaudan,

was a mysterious wolflike creature

which mounted a murderous rampage

over a three-year span within the 18th century.

The beast frequently attacked women and young children

who had been assigned the task of herding sheep and cattle

in remote mountainous meadows.

And in many cases,

they were rather defenseless and vulnerable.

(growling)

SHATNER: Between 1764 and 1767,

the so-called Beast of Gévaudan

terrorized the Margeride mountain region

of southern France.

According to historical records,

more than 100 people were brutally killed.

SMITH: The Beast of the Gévaudan's ravages

SMITH: The Beast of the Gévaudan's ravages did incite panic among the people.

did incite panic among the people.

And we know this largely from evidence from journalists

and others who were commenting about

the activities of the beast.

By early 1765, newspapers all across France

and, indeed, all across Europe and in America

were reporting on the Beast of the Gévaudan--

his exploits, the various hunts for the beast,

the various mysteries surrounding it--

which is why so many people were transfixed by this story.

GERHARD: There were many attempts to hunt down the beast.

People in the Gévaudan region typically did not own guns,

but there were posses formed.

Groups that would go out in the woods and literally

beat the brush with pitchforks, sticks,

knives, whatever types of weapons were available.

However, the hunt for the beast really ramped up

However, the hunt for the beast really ramped up when King Louis XV became involved.

when King Louis XV became involved.

He brought in a professional wolf hunter named d'Enneval,

who allegedly killed over a hundred wolves,

but the killing still did not end.

SHATNER: According to multiple reports, the beast resembled a wolf

but was unlike any canine that was known to man.

GERHARD: Many of the local villagers noted as saying it resembles

a very large wolf, but the Beast of Gévaudan attacked

and killed people in a nature that was very unlike a wolf.

(growling)

(growling) The nature of these attacks,

The nature of these attacks,

-the way that this thing -(wolf howling)

was decapitating people,

disemboweling people,

this was something completely different.

SMITH: One of the reasons this becomes such a magnetic story

is because there were always new strange stories

about the beast's behavior,

its appearance, its strange abilities.

The peasants on the ground were describing it

as having the ability to walk on its hind legs,

glowing eyes, and having five or six talons rather than four.

They didn't use the word "werewolf."

They used descriptions of this creature that made it easy

to believe that this could indeed be a werewolf.

GERHARD: The Beast of Gévaudan is one of France's

most enduring and popular mysteries.

There are museums.

There are statues.

There are songs. There are stories.

This was like a real-life nightmare.

To this day, the Beast of Gévaudan

is celebrated in French culture,

and it really has a profound effect on people.

SHATNER: The descriptions of the beast were so terrifying

that it's not surprising locals thought

it was some kind of supernatural monster.

But there were scientists at the time

who proposed a different theory.

SMITH: Among the many hypotheses that emerged

was that the beast might be an African hyena.

The hyena was this very mysterious creature

that lots of naturalists and others wrote about

in the 1750s and '60s.

GERHARD: The general description of

the Beast of Gévaudan was a wolflike creature

but bigger, the size of a mule or a calf, perhaps.

but bigger, the size of a mule or a calf, perhaps. It had a large head.

It had a large head.

It had a long muzzle, lined with razor-sharp teeth.

Pointy ears.

Pointy ears. A long tail with a tuft of fur on the end.

A long tail with a tuft of fur on the end.

The coat of fur was typically described

as a reddish brown or gray, with a black stripe

running down the back, and a white breast.

These are hyena-like characteristics.

MAXEY: Back in the day, kings and even people of status

had exotic pets, they had exotic zoos.

Who's to say that a hyena didn't escape?

Who's to say that a hyena didn't escape? If you take a look at the victims,

If you take a look at the victims,

their chest cavities torn apart, their limbs missing,

their chest cavities torn apart, their limbs missing, their heads decapitated.

their heads decapitated.

This all resembles attacks of a hyena.

SHATNER: Could the Beast of Gévaudan have been an escaped African hyena?

Perhaps.

Perhaps. But some researchers have suggested

But some researchers have suggested

a less exotic possibility.

GERHARD: There are a number of arguments for

the Beast of Gévaudan actually being a killer wolf.

Wolves typically are very timid animals around humans.

But there have been some 9,000 wolf attacks

in France over the centuries.

And there was also a theory that the beast attacks may have

been perpetrated by a wolf that had come down with rabies.

SHATNER: According to experts, rabid wolves often lose

their innate fear of humans, and walk with a strange gait.

Which are behaviors described in the eyewitness accounts

of the Beast of Gévaudan.

But while the rabid wolf theory may make sense,

the best clue scientists have today

about the beast's identity

was obtained on the day it was reportedly killed.

The beast's reign of terror ended

The beast's reign of terror ended on June 19, 1767,

on June 19, 1767,

when a local hunter named Jean Chastel

felled the monster

felled the monster with one shot of a silver bullet.

with one shot of a silver bullet.

After Chastel shot this strange creature,

the killings actually stopped, so everyone was

in agreement that-that he had actually killed the beast.

A surgeon who conducted an autopsy determined

that while it resembled a wolf, it was not a wolf.

And in fact, it possessed 40 teeth

compared to a wolf's 42 teeth,

which is quite strange.

The beast's remains were paraded around

the Gévaudan region for weeks thereafter.

And by the time the carcass was taken

to the Palace of Versailles and presented

to King Louis XV, it was so smelly

to King Louis XV, it was so smelly that he immediately demanded

that he immediately demanded

that it be removed from the palace.

And to this day, nobody knows what happened

to those remains-- they vanished.

Ultimately, while some people feel

the Beast of Gévaudan may have been a supernatural phenomenon,

the deaths, the occurrences documented, they're real.

And the Beast of Gévaudan remains a great mystery.

Was the Beast of Gévaudan a common wolf

or something even more terrifying?

Either way, this deadly creature drove fear

into the hearts of people all over France.

And that was also the case more than a century later,

in the United States, when a wave of panic was caused

by the attacks of a great white shark.

SHATNER: 25-year-old Charles Vansant is swimming

SHATNER: 25-year-old Charles Vansant is swimming in the brisk Atlantic waters

in the brisk Atlantic waters

off the coast of this resort community...

...when he's suddenly attacked by a massive shark.

(screaming)

Lifeguards pull Vansant from the water

and see that his left thigh has been stripped of its flesh

by a massive set of razor-sharp jaws.

CAPUZZO: The story is that they had to

almost wrestle him away from the shark.

As they pulled him ashore with the shark following him still,

his father, who was a doctor, operated on him

or tried to save his life,

but he died of... of a flesh wound to...

a bite on his... his thigh, actually,

and, uh, loss of blood.

SHATNER: The gory death of Charles Vansant was

the first recorded fatal shark attack in U.S. history.

And then on July 6th,

a mere five days after Vansant was killed,

there was another attack along the Jersey Shore.

Charles Bruder, who was a 27-year-old

Swiss native who was in the army,

went for a swim,

and 1,200 feet out, in the middle of the day,

was attacked and bitten

by what appeared to be about an eight-

by what appeared to be about an eight- or nine-foot great white shark

or nine-foot great white shark

that severed his legs and a part of his torso.

By the time the lifeguards got out there,

there was hardly anything to lift into the boat.

SHATNER: This second deadly attack was widely reported in newspapers

across the country, and set off a nationwide panic.

Many people believed it was no longer safe

to swim in the ocean off the coast of New Jersey.

And several beaches were closed by the authorities.

The public reaction was hysterical.

There were calls all the way up to President Wilson.

Woodrow Wilson had a cabinet meeting

and talked to the early men who founded the Coast Guard

about eradicating all the sharks on the East Coast.

Bounties were given by towns and cities,

and anybody that could kill any shark could get $100.

You had fishermen going out, catching and killing sharks.

And it wasn't just in New Jersey.

It was all up and down the Eastern Seaboard

and even infiltrated into the coastal states,

and even infiltrated into the coastal states, Texas, Louisiana,

Texas, Louisiana,

and as far as the Pacific coast of North America.

SHATNER: Less than one week after Charles Bruder

was killed, on July 12th,

three more people were attacked by what many witnesses claimed

was an eight- or nine-foot shark.

Curiously, all five of these incidents took place

along a 50-mile stretch off the coast of New Jersey.

Because of their proximity and the similarities

between eyewitness accounts,

many began to wonder whether the horrific attacks

could have been the work of a single killer shark.

CAPUZZO: The New Jersey attacks are so strange,

'cause sharks don't kill people with any kind of regularity

'cause sharks don't kill people with any kind of regularity and nobody witnesses it

and nobody witnesses it

with any kind of regularity when it happens.

But the concept of a rogue shark

that kills or injuries one person

and that gets a taste for human flesh

and goes after another like a serial killer,

the Jersey Shore may be the best evidence

we have that that's ever happened.

SHATNER: On July 14, 1916,

two weeks after the first fatal attack,

a taxidermist named Michael Schleisser caught

a seven-and-a-half-foot, 325-pound great white shark

off the northern end of the Jersey Shore.

After cutting open its stomach, authorities found what appeared

to be partially digested human remains.

There are many who believe that this great white shark was

responsible for all five attacks that took place,

four of which were fatal.

Fatal shark attacks on humans are seldom

predatory for feeding.

So what was going on that would cause a series

of five attacks over a 11-day period,

what was behind all of this?

People panicked.

No one wanted to go in the ocean.

So its effect on individuals, citizens, was enormous.

And it was something that, to this day,

And it was something that, to this day, still has an effect on us.

still has an effect on us.

SHATNER: The 1916 Jersey Shore attacks helped to popularize

the notion of sharks as deadly man-eaters.

More than 50 years later, the killings inspired

the 1974 novel Jaws by Peter Benchley,

which became the basis of the blockbuster film

made by Steven Spielberg that terrorized

generations of beachgoers.

But despite their bad reputation,

the truth is that sharks rarely kill humans.

According to statistics gathered

by the International Shark Attack File,

on average, there are only five fatal shark attacks

worldwide per year.

So why does the belief persist that

some sharks are a serious threat to humans?

Over the years, sharks, especially white sharks,

have been portrayed as killers.

Unfortunately, people are killed from time to time.

It has been postulated

that white sharks' hunting has

similarities into the tactics utilized by serial killers.

Serial killers use what is referred to as an anchor point,

Serial killers use what is referred to as an anchor point, which is where they will sit and watch

which is where they will sit and watch

and pick their victim.

White sharks do the same thing.

White sharks like to hunt stealth,

where the intended victim can't see them.

MAXEY: A lot of people often look at sharks and think

that there's nothing going on.

But great whites are intelligent animals.

We've watched great whites attack seals.

And you'll find the older great whites will pick out

specific individuals, usually young ones.

It's very methodical.

So it is 100% possible

that some sharks like the taste of people.

SHATNER: Are there certain sharks that specifically

and methodically hunt people?

Some marine biologists have suggested it's possible.

But if this theory is true, then what's even more disturbing

is that a killer shark may keep stalking people

for a very long, long time.

Great whites can live to be 80-plus years old.

There are some accounts of specimens being over 100.

They study their subjects just like a serial killer.

They learn from their mistakes just like a serial killer.

That's terrifying.

Is it possible that some sharks

methodically stalk human beings?

Perhaps.

But there is one man-eating creature

that we know has definitely

been targeting humans for decades.

A massive crocodile

that doesn't eat its victims

but rather appears to kill people

but rather appears to kill people just for the thrill of it.

just for the thrill of it.

SHATNER: February 19, 1945.

On this 500-square-mile island,

Allied British forces drive 1,000 Japanese soldiers

deep into the murky waters of a ten-mile swamp.

But as night falls, the Japanese soon realize

that they're being hunted by a very different kind of enemy,

that they're being hunted by a very different kind of enemy, as one by one, they're killed

as one by one, they're killed

by a group of massive crocodiles.

These crocodiles were giant-- 15, 16 feet long--

and they went on a killing rampage.

There were accounts of bloodcurdling screams

There were accounts of bloodcurdling screams from men trying to save other men

from men trying to save other men

from the jaws of hungry crocodiles.

During the night, those crocodiles killed

over 500 people.

LESLIE: It's the classic example of a crocodile feeding frenzy.

The men who were forced into the swamp

had wounds, they were bleeding anyway.

had wounds, they were bleeding anyway. That's a sure sign for a crocodile

That's a sure sign for a crocodile

to start attacking, the smell of blood.

It must have been something unbelievable to go through.

REAGAN: I think the situation was

an encroachment of the humans into the crocodiles' territory.

And the crocodiles were just seizing an opportunity.

It's like getting a free meal.

You're not gonna turn it down.

SHATNER: By morning, less than half of the 1,000

Japanese soldiers who entered the swamp came out alive.

Because of the incredible death toll,

Because of the incredible death toll, the incident at Ramree Island

the incident at Ramree Island

is considered by some to be the worst

crocodile attack ever recorded.

It's also a grim reminder that crocodiles

are one of the deadliest and oldest

species on the planet.

Crocodiles have been around for over 240 million years.

Way before birds, mammals and modern-day reptiles.

Crocodiles appeared 25 million years

before the dinosaurs and are their closest living relatives.

They share a lot of the same features as dinosaurs,

including hip-like arrangements that you can see in birds,

and they have teeth in sockets,

unlike teeth that are fused to the jawbone.

Since the very beginning of our evolution,

we have lived alongside crocodiles

and have been eaten by crocodiles throughout.

They're known for their strength or their ferocity.

And we're really a snack to some of the larger crocodiles.

SHATNER: East Africa.

At 410 miles long and nearly 5,000 feet deep,

Lake Tanganyika on the border of Tanzania and the Congo is

the longest and second deepest freshwater lake in the world.

Thousands of people rely on it to survive,

even though they are aware of a terror

even though they are aware of a terror lurking beneath its surface.

lurking beneath its surface.

A massive crocodile that the locals have nicknamed Gustave.

MAXEY: Gustave is an infamous Nile crocodile.

He's supposedly over 18 feet

and weighs over 2,000 pounds.

And experts also believe he's anywhere

from 80 to 90 years old.

He is a prolific man-eater.

These victims were women,

were children, were fishermen.

LESLIE: Gustave is a killing machine.

Accounts of people being taken by Gustave

are pretty rife out there in the villages.

The locals want him dead because they believed he was

the monster crocodile that was habituating

that lower section of river

and was responsible for all those deaths.

He's definitely been shot at a couple of times.

There's a scar on his head, and there's another one

between his shoulders.

But what also made killing him difficult

is that Gustave often disappeared for months on end.

At one point in time, nobody saw him for 18 months.

SHATNER: So far, no one has been able to capture

or kill this deadly crocodile.

It is estimated that Gustave is responsible

for killing at least 300 people between 1987 and 2015.

But, curiously, it seems that Gustave

doesn't always eat his victims.

According to the locals, he may hunt humans

simply because he enjoys it.

Gustave has claimed many, many victims.

More than any other crocodile in history.

If you look at the sheer number of people

that Gustave has killed, and the fact that he doesn't

always eat his victims, it's puzzling.

It's almost as if he's doing it for sport.

LESLIE: Most villagers think that Gustave picks on

LESLIE: Most villagers think that Gustave picks on human beings in particular.

human beings in particular.

There's rumors about how

he follows and he stalks his-his prey.

he follows and he stalks his-his prey. He watches you.

He watches you.

He has a memory-- he knows who's where,

he knows where the boat ramps are.

We don't hear about many serial man-eating crocodiles,

so from a scientific point of view,

it's also a bit of an enigma.

SHATNER: The last known sighting of Gustave was in 2015,

but the fear that he will reemerge from the waters

of Lake Tanganyika has kept authorities on constant alert,

in the hope that they can capture Gustave

in the hope that they can capture Gustave before he kills again.

before he kills again.

LESLIE: None of us know if Gustave is actually still alive.

He's so famous that if he had died or been killed,

somebody would have had that skin or had that skeleton

or taken some photos or something.

So I wouldn't be surprised if he's still out there.

The idea that a 2,000-pound crocodile

enjoys attacking humans

is frightening, to say the least.

But in Russia, many believe it was a darker motivation

that caused a fearsome tiger to take a human life.

Because this predator may have killed its victim

as an act of revenge.

SHATNER: In the cold, unforgiving forests of eastern Siberia,

a local hunter named Vladimir Markov discovers

the bloody carcass of a wild boar

lying half-eaten in the snow.

He instantly realizes he's in great danger,

because he has just stumbled upon a fresh kill

made by one of Russia's most dangerous predators.

The Siberian tiger.

McCANN: At the point where Vladimir Markov realized

that he was coming upon a tiger's kill, he knew that

the tiger will still be there, because it'll still feed

upon that kill until there's nothing left to feed on.

So if he doesn't shoot that tiger first,

the tiger will kill him.

So it was a case for him of "kill or be killed."

SHATNER: As the tiger approached Markov to defend its kill,

-he fired his rifle. -(gunshot)

But only wounded the angry cat.

Injured, the tiger retreated back into the forest.

But that's not the end of the story.

Because two days later, the local authorities were informed

that Markov had been attacked and killed

at his home by a vicious tiger.

When investigators arrived at Markov's log cabin,

they found a disturbing scene.

(man speaking Russian)

It's pretty remarkable seeing the images.

There was obviously quite a lot of blood.

The clothes are tattered everywhere.

Often, when tigers kill people, it's not necessarily for food.

But in Markov's case, the tiger ate everything

it possibly could of him.

It wanted to leave no trace of the man.

The strangest part of the Vladimir Markov story

is the fact that the tiger actively destroyed

everything around that lodge that had Vladimir's scent on it.

Just destroyed it in seemingly a fit of anger.

SHATNER: But even more unsettling than the gruesome killing itself

was the fact that investigators later determined

that Markov was eaten by the same tiger

he had shot with his rifle.

McCANN: The tiger tracked Vladimir back to his hunting lodge,

a distance of 11 kilometers.

a distance of 11 kilometers. And then it waited.

And then it waited.

And then it waited. That is what is remarkable.

That is what is remarkable.

It waited, we think,

around 48 hours for him to return to that lodge.

And then when Vladimir returned,

it killed him.

SHATNER: The story of Vladimir Markov's death at the hands

of a deadly tiger is frightening,

but it's also mysterious.

Because while animals will naturally defend themselves

when attacked, this tiger tracked Markov down

over an unusually long distance.

But why?

Big predators will kill smaller predators

with which they compete, and there's a long history

of human competition with predators.

So it's possible the tiger was viewing this

as competition, and I want to get rid of a competitor

because this is a threat to my livelihood.

because this is a threat to my livelihood. So don't steal food from tigers,

So don't steal food from tigers,

is the lesson that stands out from Markov's story.

SHATNER: Did the tiger kill Markov because it viewed him

as a threat to its survival? Perhaps.

But there are those who believe that it was motivated

But there are those who believe that it was motivated not by self-preservation

not by self-preservation

but rather by a desire to exact revenge.

MAXEY: You can't look at this story of Vladimir

and not think that this is a story of vengeance.

The tiger stalked Vladimir's cabin.

It waited for Vladimir to return home for the attack.

Everything here points to premeditation.

You look at other instances, you see attacks

with tigers who will seek vengeance

with tigers who will seek vengeance on people they don't like.

on people they don't like.

These animals can feel these emotions.

BLUMSTEIN: All animals have neurochemical responses

which are remarkably similar across all sorts of species.

They feel emotions or feelings that influence behavior

They feel emotions or feelings that influence behavior exactly the same as we do.

exactly the same as we do.

McCANN: You do not mess with a tiger.

If you do that, it's gonna come after you.

Markov will have known that when he shot that tiger

and it didn't die, he knew that his time was up.

This tiger had the ability to hold a grudge

This tiger had the ability to hold a grudge with a single individual

with a single individual

for over 48 hours and then take its revenge.

We have taken dominion over nature in many ways

because of our technological developments,

but we are still a part of nature,

and we are still occasionally on the menu

of bigger and stronger animals, such as tigers.

It's chilling to think that a tiger could actually

have a vendetta, a score to settle, with human beings.

But not all animals see humans as adversaries.

But not all animals see humans as adversaries. For example, there's a region in India

For example, there's a region in India

where people and man-eating lions

have joined forces.

SHATNER: These lush woodlands are home to the Asiatic lion,

one of the rarest predators on Earth.

Though less than 700 of these majestic cats

remain in the wild, they often cross paths

with the local residents, whose farms border the forest.

But, curiously, instead of coming into conflict

But, curiously, instead of coming into conflict with these dangerous predators,

with these dangerous predators,

the farmers appear to have formed an alliance with them.

MAXEY: There is an overabundance of deer

in India, and the deer at night will come

and eat the farmers' crops.

So the farmers have teamed up with the local Asiatic lions.

The farmers, trying to scare the deer off, make a noise.

(farmer calling)

And the lions quickly have learned

that that noise means that deer are in the area.

So the lions end up killing the deer.

This is something that has never really been documented

where lions and humans are working together.

SHATNER: Asiatic lions are notorious man-eaters

and have even been known to drag people

from their homes and kill them.

So how is this mutually beneficial arrangement

between man and lion possible?

Well, as it turns out, these lions behave

the same way any household cat would when it's dinnertime.

(farmer calling)

DeSANTIS: Lions are very clever, and in this sort of symbiotic

relationship with them and humans,

they're essentially able to learn that humans

are providing them notification that there are prey available.

It's essentially like ringing a dinner bell,

um, for these lions.

And so they've learned not to attack humans in most cases.

And there's amazing footage of people sitting down,

relaxing just a few feet from lions.

SHATNER: The cooperation between Indian farmers and Asiatic lions

is proof that, in the right circumstances,

humans and deadly predators can be friends instead of foes.

But experts warn that we shouldn't

let down our guard when in the presence of wild animals.

Seeing these farmers walking and living

amongst these lions, it completely blows my mind.

Now, could the tables turn at any moment?

Absolutely.

These are still wild animals with instincts.

I would say these animals still need to be

treated with a lot of respect.

McCANN: Human beings like to think of themselves

McCANN: Human beings like to think of themselves as above the rest of the animal kingdom

as above the rest of the animal kingdom

because we've innovated ourselves

because we've innovated ourselves out of nature in many, many ways.

out of nature in many, many ways.

But when faced with a predator,

without the benefit of technology such as weaponry,

the predator just sees us as food.

Essentially, our pecking order is not

necessarily the top of the food chain.

And, you know,

we are a part of the natural community.

We can be prey. We can be predators.

We can be prey. We can be predators. It depends on the situation.

It depends on the situation.

But ultimately, we can succumb to a crocodile,

to a lion,

to a tiger at any moment.

Is it possible for humans and dangerous animals

Is it possible for humans and dangerous animals to peacefully coexist?

to peacefully coexist?

It's certainly an optimistic thought.

But let's not forget, animals are driven by the same

instincts that we are: hunger, fear, even revenge.

And if a deadly predator decides that it's out for blood,

there's not much that we can do to stop it.

Which is why some creatures will remain

wild, unpredictable and...

unexplained.

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