Teenage Lions Hippo Hunt Gone Wrong Love Nature
Transcript
00:00 The most important survival skill the youngsters can learn is to hunt, and it's time for class.
00:08 The pride's favorite food is buffalo. The thousand-strong herd comes to the river most days to drink.
00:17 But each is half a ton of power, with lion-killing horns and hooves.
00:25 The elder sister, their teacher, selects a safer target for demonstration.
00:32 Hunting needs more work.
00:51 The three brothers are 18 months old and will be allowed to stay with the pride for maybe two years more, but then they'll be on their own.
01:01 Hippos retreat to the river by day, but come on land at night to graze.
01:11 Baby hippos are a regular meal, but adults are huge, much bigger than buffalo, with 12-inch long teeth and bad tempers.
01:22 This morning, the teenage gang has one trapped and is blocking its route back to the river.
01:31 Potential predator and potential prey fight a battle of wills.
01:35 The young lions try intimidation.
01:38 One of the young lions is trying to get the other one to come.
01:43 The young lion is trying to get the other one to come.
01:47 The young lion is trying to get the other one to come.
01:51 The young lion is trying to get the other one to come.
01:55 The young lion is trying to get the other one to come.
02:00 The young lions try intimidation, while the hippo slinks off round the back.
02:08 The chatter of brightly colored birds distracts the hungry teens.
02:12 A colony of car-mined hippos is on the move.
02:17 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:21 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:25 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:29 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:34 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:38 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:42 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:46 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:50 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:54 The young lions are on the hunt.
02:58 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:03 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:06 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:10 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:14 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:18 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:22 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:26 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:31 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:34 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:38 The young lions are on the hunt.
03:42 Lions are meant to be nocturnal, active at night.
03:48 But they're teenagers.
03:52 Lions are meant to be nocturnal, active at night.
03:56 But they're teenagers.
04:01 The hippos are braving the land to feed.
04:05 They graze and eat fallen fruit through the night.
04:14 For hungry lions, three tons of slow-moving meat is just asking for trouble.
04:23 This time, if they work together, so many lions should be able to take on one hippo.
04:31 Yet the hippo is more intimidating than they are.
04:37 The hippo's sheer bulk is their protection,
04:46 as are their massive teeth, trampling feet, and belligerent courage.
04:53 Teenage lions have attitude too, and they spar with the hippos, like matadors with bulls.
05:01 For the lions, it's part game and part lesson.
05:07 Experienced lions rarely hunt adult hippos.
05:13 They're too dangerous, but the teenagers keep trying.
05:19 They'll eventually learn to look for calves or injured adults, which are easier prey.
05:25 After taunting the hippos, the big sister leads the class inland.
05:32 Hunting antelope requires specialist teamwork, and they practice most nights.
05:42 They spread out.
05:44 The idea is to drive an impala or a puku into an ambush.
05:50 Antelope are faster than lions, and they work together too, alarm calling.
05:58 It's time for the teens to test their strategy.
06:05 Lions assign themselves different jobs in the hunt. Some become wingers, left or right. Others, part of the charge or the ambush.
06:15 Once a lion learns its job, it'll eventually fulfill that role in each hunt for the rest of its life.
06:25 These teenagers are working out what their jobs are.
06:29 The three brothers coordinate well, but they've not caught anything yet.
06:36 The lion is a little bit more aggressive.
06:43 He's a little bit more aggressive, but he's not afraid of the lion.
06:50 He's not afraid of the lion, but he's not afraid of anything yet.
06:55 The elder sister drives a puku straight towards them.
07:17 Behind the younger brother, there's one of the cubs, lost and alone.
07:24 The younger brother is a little bit more aggressive.
07:28 He's a little bit more aggressive, but he's not afraid of the lion.
07:34 He's a little bit more aggressive, but he's not afraid of anything yet.
07:40 The younger brother is a little bit more aggressive, but he's not afraid of anything yet.
07:48 The cubs are terrified. There are leopards and hyenas around, and he lutches onto the teenagers.
07:54 They stop hunting. The rest of the pride can't be far away.
08:14 But the cubs' older siblings may not give him the safety he seeks.
08:20 Teenagers play rough. There's still resentment towards the cubs.
08:27 Jealousies within a family are normal.
08:32 Before the cubs came along, life was better.
08:37 And now they wait at the door to see if the lion will come.
08:43 Now they wait at the back of the queue.
08:46 Adolescents have many conflicting instincts.
08:52 They recognize their little brother. He's one of the family.
08:56 But lion males are cub killers, an instinct needed for when they take over a pride.
09:03 [music]
09:06 Just as the game looks like being the cubs' last, his mother appears.
09:26 [music]
09:53 The teenagers want their plaything back.
09:58 [music]
10:23 The cub is battered, confused, and lucky to be alive.
10:48 Reprimanded, the adolescent gang heads back to the pride.
10:54 [music]
10:57 [music]
11:00 (upbeat music)
11:02 you