Hippos After Dark (2015) - full transcript

attack...

intimidate...

breed...

feed...

rest...

defend...

for a dominant hippo bull, this is routine.

by day, his rule is indisputable,

but when the sun sets, predators take control.

at night, his order turns to chaos.

the river bull must leave his watery stronghold



and enter the danger zone.

on this turf, the tables are turned,

and he must pit his brawn against the dangers after dark.

it's as surefire as the sunrise,

the age-old power struggle between hunter and hunted,

and today the sun rises on a grisly scene.

there's been a killing.

the balance has swung in favor of the hunters,

and the hippos have lost a valuable calf.

for this hippo mother,

self-preservation is the only option.

the best course of action
is to follow the path

that will lead her back
to the safety of the river.

but hippos don't usually
run from a fight,



so how did it come to this?

this is the river bull.

he presides over
this prized stretch of water.

it's his battleground for mating rights.

females
are precious commodities,

and protecting his harem
requires guts and power.

the river bull is always on guard.

other bachelors
enter at their own risk.

they must submit or pay the price.

weighing in at two tons,

he's a formidable ruler
that not many would challenge,

but controlling the river
is only half the story.

access to land is critical,

and right now, the river bull
is losing his foothold

on the vital feeding grounds
that border his watery empire.

hippos get most of
their nutrition on terra firma,

and to get from the river
to their nighttime buffet,

they need to cross the predator zone,

a dangerous gully and an ideal
ambush site for night stalkers.

the river bull and his family
travel a mile on land

in search of good grazing.

it's a long haul, but that's
not their only challenge.

a new threat has arrived
on the riverbank.

they're a roving pride of lions,

undernourished
and looking for territory.

it's the dry season...
a daily battle for survival,

and like the hippos,

they rely
on both land and water.

12 lions of various ages...

it's a lot of mouths to feed.

to satisfy
12 bellies efficiently,

they need to set their sights
on big prey.

they're hungry and thirsty.

temperatures are soaring
over 100 degrees,

and they can smell water.

to get a drink, they need
to breach the riverbank.

but this is hippo country,

and they must respect the bull's territory.

hippos are fiercely territorial
and notoriously aggressive

when defending their patch.

even lions
give them a wide berth.

but the pride male bows to no one.

a single lion is no match

for an enraged hippo ten times his weight.

the waterline marks the boundary,

and to cross it, he'd better
be primed for battle.

when it comes to armor,
the river bull reigns supreme.

his two-inch-thick hide
weighs hundreds of pounds.

hippos have no true sweat glands,

so the only way
to keep all that skin cool

is to spend the day submerged in water.

it's no big surprise

when you consider their
closest relatives are whales.

their huge lungs allow them

to take in several liters of air
in one breath.

this affords them at least
five minutes underwater.

but huge air-filled lungs
are like floatation tanks,

so they need a counterweight.

to compensate for their buoyancy,

a hippo's legs consist
of 100 percent solid bone.

like a diver's weight belt,

their short, heavy legs
anchor them to the riverbed.

topside, they can get away

with just their eyes, ears, and
nostrils breaking the surface...

minimum exposure and maximum vigilance.

the river bull's lineage
goes back 35 million years

to a common ancestor with whales.

his semiaquatic existence

depends on water, mud, and grass.

as long as he can wallow
in the day and feed at night,

life is good.

his enormous bulk also means
that he has very few enemies.

in fact,
the river bull has allies.

a small army of oxpeckers

escorts the family wherever they go.

these plucky little birds
feed off parasites on the skin

and attend to any open wounds.

they're even known to have
a healthy appetite for earwax.

the oxpecker's feet are specially adapted

to cling to the sides of their hosts.

sharp, curved claws for optimum grip

and short legs
keep them close to the skin.

their stiffened tail feathers
act as support

to prop them up on the sides
of their moving meal cart.

but even the best dinner guest
can outstay his welcome.

there's good reason

that the collective name
for oxpeckers is a fling.

it's mating season,

and the river bull has breeding rights

to all 10 females in his pod.

he can afford
to sit back and choose.

it's one of the most bizarre
courtship displays

in the animal kingdom.

he woos his potential mate

by flinging
testosterone-laced feces

to advertise his dominance
and lure her into submission.

the bull's s-shaped penis
is fibroelastic,

which means it can bend and flex,

thanks to a pair
of retractor ligaments.

these help him
to wield a reproductive organ

almost 4 feet long,
and weighing 3 1/2 pounds,

longer and heavier
than babe ruth's baseball bat.

the river bull's feces-flinging
paid off,

and it's time for hippo foreplay.

this is not a gentle affair.

he's forcing her head underwater
so he can mount her.

hippos do just about everything
in water, even mate.

his genes secured
for the next generation,

the bull prepares
for the long night ahead.

as the moon rises,

the river bull's daytime rule
slowly sinks into uncertainty.

shrouded
in the cool evening air,

the hippos emerge like zombies
from a watery grave.

they boast the largest canines
in the animal kingdom,

but they're grazers,

consuming as much as 150 pounds
of grass in a night.

under the surveillance
of invisible light,

the secret transformation

of this cantankerous killer unravels.

the river bull is no longer
a fierce, territorial warrior,

but a skittish, lumbering
herbivore in search of food.

the river bull takes the lead.

every night,
it's the same blue funk.

he may be walking into a trap.

nighttime belongs to the
flesh-eaters and ambush hunters.

the rest follow, but then disperse.

it's each to their own
against the dark night ahead.

they eat on the march.

their multichambered stomachs
provide slow-release energy

to fuel
their laid-back lifestyle.

the river bull is on course
for a special treat.

the oddly shaped fruits
from the sausage tree

have medicinal properties

used for protection from sun exposure.

but it won't save his hide
from a hungry pride of lions.

both hippo and lion rest by day
and feed by night.

their worlds are about to collide.

the pride has him on their radar.

they have six times stronger
night vision than humans,

and they're specialist
after-dark assassins.

hippo isn't often on the menu for lions,

but they're lean and aching for a meal.

if the pride
works together as a team,

they may stand a chance against
the distracted river bull.

it's worth the wager.

big hunger needs a big hit,

and 2 tons of flesh
could sustain the 12 lions

for a couple of weeks.

less hunting
means less risk of injury,

but large prey is more dangerous.

it's a catch-22.

the river bull might not be on a par

when it comes to his night vision,

but he is highly attuned to
the smell of danger in the air.

he could pit his strength
against one lion,

but he won't take his chances
against the whole pride.

he knows
when he is out of his depth.

on land, he is vulnerable.

as dawn cracks the horizon,

the hippos return to their fortress.

like zombies racing the rising sun,

they must return to
their protective tomb of water.

soon the golden glow
will turn to white heat

that could parch their thirsty skins.

their thunderous bellows
alert the family to danger

and can be heard almost a mile away.

one by one,
they return to their wallow...

negotiating the steep runways

created by generations of hippos
before them.

the river bull is last on the scene.

he deviated from his path
to avoid the lions,

and now he's facing a steep challenge.

negotiating a 15-foot-long body

down a sheer cliff is no easy feat.

he could take another route,

but he's the river bull,
and nothing stands in his way.

like a hulk of ice calving off a glacier,

he's back in his watery domain.

the heat is already taking its toll.

beads of red liquid
ooze from the river bull's skin.

it's known as blood sweat,
but it's neither.

special glands under his skin

secrete a unique form of hippo sunscreen.

the same liquid contains

powerful
antibacterial properties.

it's an evolutionary solution

to both sunburn and festering wounds,

and it's about to be put to good use.

a hippo's yawn
is not a sign of fatigue

from a long night out grazing.

the river bull is advertising
his razor-sharp fighting tusks.

aggression spikes
when rival bulls battle

for territory and breeding rights.

this is the season

when the river bull's temper
is at full throttle.

once again,
his paddle-shaped tail

flings territory-marking dung.

it's literally
the poop hitting the fan.

because his dung carries testosterone,

it's a clear-cut warning
to other males,

"i'm not only bigger,

i'm dominant,

and i'm angry."

his massive tusks sharpen
every time he closes his mouth.

they're almost two feet long
and designed to gore and stab.

his skin is
a two-inch-thick suit of armor.

he's built to attack and defend.

they square up...

the river bull from the left,
the challenger from the right.

the river bull could lose
his females and his territory

if his opponent beats him down.

he has everything to fight for.

the river bull has met his match.

their massive heads alone
weigh half a ton.

it's a heavy weapon to sustain.

the opponent stands down,

and the river bull keeps his title.

their built-in antiseptic
will quickly heal their wounds,

and the bachelor will return
for a rematch.

it's time-out after
a round of full-body combat.

some of the family shed new light

on the term "beached whales."

others wallow
while their allies get busy

cleaning up the wounds.

their little feathered nurses
are not altogether innocent.

they have another motive.

blood is the oxpecker's
favored diet.

these little
vampires-in-disguise

may even prolong the healing process

with their constant picking.

they're not the only ones
getting a free meal.

in this territory,

life is a constant cycle
of defending your patch

and finding food,

and sometimes there's a windfall.

the drought has claimed a victim
but provided relief.

a fallen elephant is food
for a diversity of diners.

crocodiles drift in on the feast.

they can survive a year without
food, but given the opportunity,

they can consume
23 percent of their body weight

in one sitting.

it's a free-for-all,
but to get there,

the lions will have to
enter river territory

and get past the crocs.

one young male is hungry enough
for the challenge.

it's a super-predator face-off.

he may have bitten off
more than he can chew.

backup's on its way, but they're
still high up on the riverbank.

the river bull wades in.

his territory is being breached,

and he doesn't tolerate
trespassers.

for the croc,
it's a perfect diversion.

he retreats to deeper waters.

the lions take to higher ground.

it's a stalemate.

keeping your head above water
in this battleground

is not always easy.

the smallest member of the hippo family

is starting to find his feet.

baby hippos are born underwater,

and they stick close to their
mothers to stay out of danger.

they can only hold their breath
for 30 seconds,

and like their mothers,
they can't swim.

they tiptoe along the riverbed
with long, graceful strides.

his father may be the river bull,

but in this neighborhood,

there's no time for child's play.

it's dinnertime,

and the river is rumbling
with hungry bellies.

the day winds to a close,
and another pilgrimage begins.

the sun sets,
but the warmth is still evident

in the heat signature coming off the hippos.

their hot bodies
emit infrared radiation,

which shows up in bright
splashes where they are warmest.

even the ground is holding on
to the heat of the day

and resembles molten lava.

spreading feces
not only marks territory,

but also creates a trail

which will guide them
back to the river later.

and so the long march begins.

once again the hippos
are under surveillance,

and this time, there's a soft target.

a baby hippo with tender skin
would be a mouth-watering snack

for a pride of hungry lions.

but tonight the predators

have their sights set on a bigger meal.

there's an unfinished feast
at the water's edge,

and now the lions can approach
under the cover of darkness.

the crocodiles are doing a good
job on the cleanup operation.

disposing of the dead is a valuable role.

the lioness' hunger consumes her.

nothing will deter her
from the feast.

the croc backs down.

he's learned his lesson,

but there's still
unfinished business here.

in these times of feast and famine,

owning this carcass could mean survival.

outnumbered,

the pride will stay hungry,

while the crocodiles make off
with the lions' share.

the harsh season
is tightening its grip.

the river bull is sinking
deeper into troubled waters.

rival males are challenging him
at every turn.

his days are a series of violent clashes,

and he's fighting hard
to hold on to his harem.

nearby,
the crocodiles are feasting

on the weak and the dead

and growing fat on the demise of
the drought-stricken territory.

the lions have annexed
the riverbank.

there's nowhere to hide from
their constant demand for flesh.

something's got to give.

as the river territory shrinks,

the land predators are gaining ground.

youngsters are no longer safe,
and their mothers have no way

of protecting them from
the hidden dangers after dark.

the river is drying up,
and the boundaries are shifting.

even the age-old hippo runways
are crumbling around them.

the lions keep
their nightly surveillance,

always ready for the right moment

and the perfect opportunity.

good grazing
is edging further away,

and the hippos now need
to travel three miles to feed,

deep into lion territory.

the river bull sticks to his path.

he's naturally wary.

but it's not easy
to shake off a night stalker.

the predators are patient

and sometimes
a little too confident.

the bull still has the advantage
of his two-ton brawn.

it's time to change their game plan

and pursue
a less daunting target.

a young calf is grazing
with his mother.

a surprise attack
could be their meal ticket.

the baby hippo has no defense
against a hungry pride of lions.

his legs are too heavy
to outrun them,

and his tusks are barely grown.

his only choice
is to submit to his fate.

lions usually suffocate their prey

by smothering their noses
or crushing their windpipes,

but the hippo's unusual design
has them baffled.

the death cry travels far
and wide through the territory.

while the lions feast,

the hippos seek safety
back in the river.

only the desperate mother stays,
helpless to save her calf,

but determined
not to leave him behind.

the standoff won't save her baby,

but her maternal instincts

are hardwired to stand up and fight.

the lions have stained
their territory

with the blood
of their hippo neighbors,

but the river bull will live
to fight another day.

it's as surefire as the sunrise,

the age-old battle
between hunter and hunted,

and as each day
brings order to the hippos,

so each night will plunge them
back into chaos.