NGC全民英檢掠食動(dòng)物戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)

1、Predator BattlegroundNGC全民英檢：掠食動(dòng)物戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)播出時(shí)間:12月11日 星期六 11:00-12:00The prey is plentiful.The pickings are easy.Welcome to predator paradise.Except for one thing.This banquet is crowded.Theres always another hungry mouth to feed-one for every drop of blood spilled.The competition is fierce.Its about to ge

2、t ferocious.This land will confronta staggering transformation.In Savuti, once the body drops,the real battle begins.There is a place in Africathat punishes the living.Temperatures here can hit over 40 degrees.Theres virtually no rainfor most of the year.Savuti is almost 5,000 square kilometersof sh

3、eer desolationHere, at the heart of southern Africa,is Botswana.The Linyanti River supportsa lush animal reserve-with water enough to flow south-straight toward Savuti.Or at least it used to.25 years ago, the water tablemysteriously sank, and the Savuti Channelstopped flowing.All thats left of it to

4、day is a riverbed,now dry, that stretches a hundred kilometers.There are four scant waterholes along it,strung far apart.These are no oases.Theyre shallow troughsamid the vast wilderness.They offer just enough to attract life,not sustain it.September is the peak of the dry season.Thirst summons anim

5、als- then consumes them.But then thats not their gravest threat.The waterhole is a trap.Where prey gathers, so do predators.The pickings are plentiful.The supply constant.The carnivores here almost never go hungry.This is their paradise.Theyve only got one small problem.Each other.If theres plenty t

6、o be had,there are also plenty of other appetites.Savuti is a battlegroundfor predatorsAnywhere else, the hard partwould be catching prey.Here, the challenge is keeping it.These animals have become expertsat out-competing the competition.Each species has had to adapta different strategy to survive.T

7、hese are the masters of cooperation.Wild dogs will band together,running up to three kilometersto wear their prey down.But then the impala at Savuticant stray so far from their water.So the chase is over- before it began.These predators are fast- at eating.They have to hurry.It wont be long before o

8、ther predatorswill arrive, in this crowded arena.So part of their strategy is to share.They dont bicker over a kill.Todays intruder?The ultimate opportunist.Hyenas have the perfect approachfor this competitive world.Muscle in- head on.Why should they go to the trouble of huntingwhen intimidation wil

9、l do the trick?If that fails, theyll outnumberthe opposition.But then the partys already overOnce the jackal turns up.His strategy, given the glut of predators?An elaborate game-planto turn them against each other.It starts-with a shout outHeard by the top of the food chain.These lions are spoiled.T

10、heyll hunt when they have to.But here, in Savuti,they can kick back and live largebecause scavenged kills come so easily,so often.The Jackal waits for his opening.As for the hyenas, it can take fourto take on one lioness-so they call for backup.The hyena clan may stand a chance.The Savuti cats are s

11、o well fed,this meal might hardly be worththeir lifting a paw.The clan is gathering- a few hyenas short.But they come with fresh appetites.And hunger fuels aggression.In the confusion, the jackalmakes his play- His strategy pays off.One kill, claimed and relinquishedby four different factions.Won an

12、d lost by four different strategies.The balance of poweris revealed in the exchange of a carcass.Savutis predators co-existthrough competition.The result? Predators flourish.Its not always their own belliesthe hunters are looking to fill.This wild dog pack includesseventeen animals.Every dog, anothe

13、r hungry mouth to feed.The smell of blood on the furof the hunters neck is intoxicating.And the yelps that smell elicitscue a ready response from them-to regurgitate their meal.The urge is so intensethat a single clump of meatmay pass from one dog to another,through up to five stomachs.In fact, a hu

14、nting party receives a greetingthats so loud, it calls for vigilance.Other predators may hear,and come calling. So eager welcomersmust be gagged to keep quiet.Today is a monumental event.New pups are emerging from the den.Theyre all of three weeks old-not yet weaned, but curiousabout the temptation

15、of meat.Wild dogs are nomadic-except when caring for pups.They cant leave the denfor at least a couple of months.This year thats going to mean troublefor the dogs.An ill-wind is blowing their way.Savuti is about to be transformed.While the dry season rages on here,parts north face another extreme.In

16、 Angola, these highlandsget plenty of rain.But they havent shared their floodwaterswith Savuti, in the south,for 25 years.Something strange is happening this season.Its actually no surprisewhy the water is spreading now,after a quarter century.The water table undergroundhas been steadily rising over

17、 time.The rainfall in the northoperates like clockwork,surging and ebbing in forty-year cycles.Three out of four waterholesare engulfed within three months.The Savuti Channel is reborn.Its a heady time for grazers.Theyve rarely endured a dry seasonwithout thirst.Now none need want for drink.Theyve h

18、ad to hover close to the waterholesfor generations.Suddenly theyre free to wander.The herds can spread far and wide.For them, Savuti once meant hardship.Now it promises paradise.But not for everyone.Savutis predators are at a loss.Whenever theyve wanted food,theyve never had to look any furtherthan

19、the waterhole.Now their meals are a moving target.Before they can fight for food,first they must find it.Even if they do cross paths with their prey,to catch it, theyll need to copewith a new challenge. getting wet.Most grazers are built for flight,not fight. Kudu are long-legged-giving power to the

20、ir stride-a big plus now.The channel may be new,but its already three meters deep in spots.A dog is small. A kudu is smart.Smart enough to figure out thatdeep water is its ticket to eluding the pack.When the dogs were on dry ground,they had a sure-fire strategyfor clinching a kill- by teaming upto c

21、ut off a kudus escape route.But not anymore.The rising channel has given preythe advantage.The dogs could starve.They should leave, and try finding preythats not so adept at evading them.But they cant.Their pups are just six weeks,and wont be old enough to stray farfrom the den for another month.Nin

22、e more hungry mouths to feed-and, at their tender age,they cant go more than a few dayswithout meat.Theyll need prey- to eat,but also to learn to hunt themselves.They hone those skills as they play.How to give chase-how to attack-how to cooperate.But theres no replacingthe real thing. Soon enough,th

23、eyll have to be trained on the job.The hyena clans got to staywith their young too.Except they nurse their cubs even longer-for a year or more.To generate that much milk,an adult hyena has a special adaptation:Her jaws and stomach are strong enoughto digest bone, rich with calcium.But suddenly, bone

24、s are in short supply.The channel has scattered her preyfar afield.The clan have to follow their food-even if that takes them far from their young.Hyenas usually scavenge in the dead of night.Opportunities are few and far between.Tonight one is in the air.Every meter the scent draws them ontakes the

25、m deeper into another clansterritory.But theyre not about to turn back.This is a windfall.Theres no telling how the elephant died.Perhaps simply from old age.But its meat is just as welcome.The hyenas are oddly quiet.Theyre tense.This is not their territory.Hunger has driven them to risk a raid.Thei

26、r reward is a banquet.Still, if theyre discovered by the clanthat controls this turf, it will be war.Calls in the night threaten just that.The choice is stark-starve, or feast and fight.But these stragglers are sureto be outnumbered against a rival clan.So their chances are slim to none.The decision

27、- even this temptationisnt worth the risk.Live to raid another day.For the predators here,its a time of reckoning.Savutis lions are in for a rude awakening.There are seven sub-adults in this pride.Theyve always had every advantage.Not anymore.There comes a point in every lions lifewhen he has to ste

28、p up to adulthood.Its time to get their feet wet.Some are readier than others.They have to learn how to hunt.How will they pull that offwhen theres no prey to be found?Life lessons come by way of their mother.But she herself is learning the layof this new, altered land.Wafting across the wateris the

29、 scent of lechwe.But a shift in the windwafts the scent of lion just as well.Stalking is a fine art-an acquired skill.One the cubs are ill-equipped at.Hunting lessons are good for the long haul.But you cant eat them.The hunters loss is as well the scavengers.The jackal is too small to cross the chan

30、nel.His world has suddenly collapsed to one bank.That world gets even smalleras the waters continue to swell.Finally the channel threatens,so his mate moves their den-pups and all.A jackal pair may raise up to four pups,for up to eight months.Parents are monogamous,fiercely devoted to sharing the bu

31、rdensof rearing-even now, when food has grown scarce.Savutis predators no longer accommodateeach others appetites.They are suddenly all the more wary.The jackals usual trickis to sow confusion, so he can sweep into snatch a scrap.His call for other predatorscan be heard for eight kilometers around.B

32、ut these days, with animals so scattered,his yelps fall on deaf ears.Desperate times- desperate measures.The response: Intimidation-hyena style.Thieves are unwelcome,when hunters have to work harderfor their meal.Whats a jackal to do?The last resort.Fend for himself.The jackals of Savuti must stoop

33、to hunting-for morsels, at that.An occasional rodent will hardly be enoughto feed his litter.The wild dogs meanwhile are growingmore accustomed to the channel.Theyve cornered impala across the way,along a shallower stretch.But something tells themto approach this crossing with caution.Something fore

34、ign.Savuti has a new threat.Most of the dogs have never seen anythinglike a crocodile.But then there are the veterans.Some may have ventured great distancesin their day.So they might have experienced crocodileselsewhere.Now theyve all seen what they need to know.The whole pack is on edge.Except for

35、one.The alpha male is that hungry.Hes also that lucky.The crocs are full from feasting on impala.From water- now from land-the impala are under siege.For the other dogs, its too much to bear.Hunger for impala trumps fear of crocs.But the crocs arent after them.The dogs are less appetizingwhen there

36、are impala to be had:A dog is a tougher target-and less filling at that.The pecking order still ensures all will eat-even now, in these desperate times.Its the law of the pack.Though the last to arrive gets the least.Theres not enough to go around.But what about this latecomer?The appearance of a hy

37、enamight have sent the dogs scurryingjust a month ago.Now? They send the hyena scurrying.This meal is too hard-won.The floodwaters have changed the rules.Up and down the channel,the herds are now on the move.Grazers retrace ancient migration routeslong forgotten.Great herds of Cape Buffalosweep thro

38、ugh here every year.The herd rarely tarries.But this time, the new channelis an invitation.Its a welcoming extended tothe wild dogs as well.Their pups are four months-old enough at last to travel.The pack is finally free to extend its range.Theyll follow the impala.And following themCrocs.The whole

39、unlikely caravan heads downriver.Savuti has become a moveable feast.Animals who are strangers to one anotherare now crossing paths.Three days, 45 kilometers awayfrom the wild dogs home.The trouble with travelingis you never know when youre trespassing.A rival pack of wild dogsmay range across a terr

40、itoryupwards of 600 square kilometers.Itll be hard for the home teamto avoid crossing someone.What they dont expectis who “that someone” is.Baboons are wired for mischief.If one gets near-another will try to get nearer.Before you know it, youre surrounded.They taunt- they test-But its not hard to te

41、llwhere the fun ends- And a real fight begins.The dominant baboon could kill a dog-if he wanted to.Today his bark is worse than his bite.The pack hang tough.That is, until someone tougher arrives.To pitch a fit.So much for squatting.If the penthouse is taken,so is the ground floor.The biggest bully

42、always gets the last word.The lions search is guidedby the waters edge.The sub-adults are still hunters-in-training-and still hungry.Here comes lunch.Then again buffalo are not easy prey.Theyre among the most aggressiveand feared animals in Africa.A bull can weigh 700 kilograms-heavy enough to crush

43、 a lion like a tank.The cubs need help.Mother is a powerhouse.Her studied eye scans for the weakamong the herd.The others fall in.The trap is set.Then-A surprise attack.It doesnt take much for the wild dogsto whip the buffalo into a stampede.Unwittingly, straight into the lions ambush.Nine lions did

44、 not flush out the victim.Instead they have four dejected dogsto thank.The cubs cant rely on their mothermuch longer- nor on the steady supply of preythey counted on before the channel flooded.Not any more.And theyre not alone.By December, the animals have had three monthsof hard lessons.Life is cha

45、nging, in ways subtle and profound.Any and all have no choicebut to take to the water.But even as Savutis predatorsare transformed, a constant remains.Hunger is their stubborn companion.Sometimes its their only one.If prey is scattered, so is the restof this hyenas clan.A kudu this close should be e

46、asy pickings.But water turns a high-speed chaseinto a slow-motion slog.The hyenas got one thing going for her-endurance.Her strategy: to wear her victim down.Its working.Wild dogs taste blood too.Predation is not a spectator sport.But this time the huntersdo not chase each other off.Incredibly, the

47、hyena and the dogsare both taking part in the kill- together.The two competitors are cooperating.Its staggering behavior,never before glimpsed, let alone documented.Hunger has overcome rivalry.Hyena and wild dog are so hungry;theyre setting differences asideto both partake. At the turnof a channels

48、course, Savuti is undoing agesof evolutionary expectations.But already word that theres food to be hadis spreading to others.The vision of vultures broadcasts a summonsfor kilometers around- to feast.The hyenas back-up is sure to respondto the signal.The wild dogs pack-instinct kicks in.Theyd better hurry and summon the other dogsbefore this meal is gone.For a stolen moment, the hyena has the killall to herself.But not for long.Here comes her worst nightmare.The hyenas clan mate joins her.Theyre used to guarding their killsfrom other predators.Theyre not use