Top Crocodile Hunting Moments
Transcript
00:00 The riverbeds are battlefields where the vicious thrive.
00:05 The freshwater crocodile.
00:12 This smaller, slender cousin of the salty might not look dangerous,
00:18 but don't be fooled.
00:21 This croc has speed and power.
00:26 [music]
00:29 But patience is its true virtue.
00:40 It favours the sit-and-wait method of hunting.
00:44 It allows its prey to come within range,
00:47 moving with speed only when required.
00:54 The freshwater crocodile will eat just about anything it can find
00:58 in the shallow waters of inland streams.
01:01 With a perfect hydrodynamic design,
01:04 it propels itself through the water with a muscular tail,
01:08 making up half its body length.
01:11 This crocodile knows that in this wetland,
01:16 there will soon be prey arriving from above.
01:22 Fruit bats, otherwise known as flying foxes.
01:27 These shady dealers prefer to do most of their business at night.
01:32 As the sun climbs higher in the sky, they compete for shade.
01:37 They're all at risk from the same danger.
01:43 Dehydration.
01:45 They need water.
01:49 [music]
01:52 They collect water by swooping low onto the surface,
01:55 drenching their fur,
01:58 so they can lick off the moisture when they return to the roost.
02:03 Lurking below, a crocodile waits.
02:14 After a full day in the sun, it's charged up and hungry.
02:20 The crocodilian metabolism may lack stamina,
02:27 but it still powers explosive bursts of speed.
02:32 Just missed.
02:35 [music]
02:38 [music]
02:41 This bat knows the croc is on the hunt,
02:52 but desperate with thirst, it takes the risk.
02:57 It doesn't take long before other freshies join the feast.
03:05 [music]
03:08 As the darkness descends,
03:14 the surviving fruit bats head out across the forests.
03:19 Australia's wetlands are truly deadly.
03:25 Fast swimmers over short distances, salties can reach 18 miles an hour.
03:34 They move upriver, each in search of a different meal.
03:40 Water buffalo wander across the wetlands.
03:46 Introduced from Western Asia, they now run wild.
03:51 They graze on aquatic grasses and other wetland plants.
03:57 The males can weigh up to one tonne,
04:00 eating up to 66 pounds of vegetation every day.
04:05 As the heat slowly rises,
04:09 the buffalo move to the water to drink and cool down.
04:14 The female croc sees them.
04:18 She stays hidden, waiting for her moment.
04:25 Crocodiles haven't changed much since the time of the dinosaurs.
04:30 They're designed to ambush.
04:35 Only her eyes, ears and nostrils are exposed above the waterline.
04:43 But moving in for the kill, she disappears completely.
04:50 Muscles constrict her nostrils and her throat is closed off with a flap of skin,
04:55 preventing water from entering her lungs when she opens her mouth.
05:00 She targets one of the smaller buffalo that has wandered in too deep.
05:16 The notorious death roll finishes the job.
05:21 Meanwhile, the male has come across another thirsty local.
05:37 A wallaby, desperate for a midday drink.
05:45 The reptile's approach is silent.
05:49 The wallaby wanders into the boss croc's kill zone.
05:55 The beast hurtles from the water at 12 miles per hour.
06:04 He can't move his jaw from side to side and chew like a human.
06:12 The only way to break up his kill is to shake the carcass to shreds.
06:19 The crocs each return to their home among the mangroves to digest their meals.
06:35 [Music]