La gran sabana del Africa austral, durante ocho meses al año en sus secas praderas nunca llueve. A pesar del calor abrasador hay una charca que se niega a secarse y se convierte en una atracción irresistible para todo tipo de animales, un oasis no solo en el agua sino para los termiteros, los árboles y los matorrales que la rodean. En las últimas semanas de la estación seca, los animales harán todo lo posible por llegar hasta ella y la charca se convierte en el campo de batalla donde grandes rivales lucharán por sobrevivir.
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00:00Mom!
00:03Mom!
00:12Mom!
00:14Mom!
00:30The great savannah of austral Africa.
00:46For eight months a year, it never rains in these dry meadows.
00:53Despite the scorching heat, there is a puddle that refuses to extinguish.
01:01It becomes an irresistible attraction for all kinds of animals.
01:08An oasis, not only in the water, but for the termites, the trees and the bushes that surround it.
01:21In the last weeks of the dry season, the animals will do everything possible to get to it.
01:30It becomes an arena where great rivals will fight.
01:38These gladiator animals use cunning, strength and strategy to compete for their riches.
01:47The primordial prize.
01:49Survival.
01:52Gladiators.
01:57The puddle.
02:00In the puddle, a powerful creature is already claiming its share.
02:30Leona.
02:32Its vast area of residence extends over almost 100 square kilometers.
02:42And the puddle is the crown jewel of its territory.
02:54The water itself is not the main attraction.
03:01It is the animals that come here.
03:10Most of them stay at a distance.
03:16Until the thirst is overwhelming.
03:22But a rival is brave enough to face it.
03:28Cape buffalo.
03:31This is also its share.
03:34It never moves away from the water for more than a day.
03:42And it is not alone.
03:51Buffalo is one of the most aggressive and dangerous animals in Africa.
03:57They have an excellent memory.
04:00And it is known that they hold grudges.
04:03Remembering their adversaries years after an attack.
04:10It is even known that they dress sleeping lions to kill puppies.
04:15Eliminating any future threat.
04:18A specimen has separated from the herd.
04:22And it could be a good meal.
04:32To take it down, Leona must remain hidden for as long as possible.
04:47Her plan is to unbalance it.
04:51And then kill it with an incisive bite in the trachea.
05:09The first blow, a stab, implies a lower risk than jumping on its hooves.
05:15Leona is seven times lighter than buffalo.
05:19But it hits twice as hard as a heavyweight boxer.
05:23A light slap and its own body weight will knock it down.
05:36The surprise factor has been lost.
05:46Plan B.
05:48Waiting for reinforcements.
05:52Her sister joins the retreat.
05:55She can attack from the other side.
06:16A perfectly synchronized jump will make her lose her balance.
06:24But Buffalo is too fast.
06:27Her horn reaches her with a painful blow.
06:38Possessing the best territory is not a guarantee of success.
06:46The winner has earned the right to satisfy his thirst.
06:54The lions suffer defeat in eight out of ten fights with buffalo.
07:02But Leona has been lucky.
07:07Her wounds have healed.
07:09She will live to fight another day and keep her family alive.
07:18Her puppies, a few weeks old, will depend on her for at least the next two years.
07:39But if she does not hunt a prey before the puddle is extinguished,
07:43her milk will dry up.
07:46The next day.
08:07Among the trees and grass in the vicinity of the puddle,
08:11there are other animals looking for an opportunity.
08:15Tijón Melero is an intrepid loner.
08:32He has come here to claim his share of the wealth of the puddle.
08:36He is smart, cunning, resolute, and has a notoriously high pain threshold.
08:57The sharp thorns of the acacia simply brush him.
09:01They are deflected by his loose skin, thicker than that of a buffalo.
09:12His goal is a moisturizing drink of honey.
09:22The bees do not bother him.
09:25He has a very special trick to keep them at bay.
09:28It emits a harmful smell like that of a moth.
09:33The smell paralyzes the bees,
09:36which leave him free to access the treasure of his nest.
09:48Rested and full of energy,
09:51Tijón Melero is ready to face any challenge that comes his way.
09:58As the dry season progresses,
10:01the grasslands closest to the puddle
10:04are hit by high temperatures.
10:08An animal has found a smart solution to cope with the heat.
10:13Air conditioning.
10:17The termite mounds are prohibited,
10:20but they can be used for a long time.
10:28They are engineering gems.
10:31Some exceed two floors in height.
10:36As the sun hits them,
10:39their surface heats up and then cools down.
10:44The cyclic temperature generates a continuous cool breeze
10:48through a sophisticated network of tunnels and galleries.
10:53The interior remains fresh and humid all year round.
10:59Through the control of their environment,
11:02the termites prosper.
11:09Half a million workers never sleep.
11:15They are constantly moving.
11:22They are recyclers of nature,
11:25turning dead wood into food.
11:29Their excavation activity enriches and aerates the soil,
11:33benefiting the entire area.
11:43The termites may be environmental defenders,
11:47but almost everyone wants to eat them.
11:59So, to dissuade the invaders,
12:02one in ten termites is a soldier.
12:13Their only task is to defend.
12:18At all costs.
12:22The soldier is bigger and stronger than his fellow workers.
12:25And he is designed for combat.
12:28He has a large head, similar to a helmet.
12:32And his jaws are so large that he can't eat on his own.
12:36And he has to be fed by workers.
12:42He is an unyielding walking weapon.
12:45So dedicated,
12:48that if a hole is opened in his jaw,
12:51he will even try to cover it with his head.
12:55He is willing to make the last sacrifice
12:58to save his family.
13:09This extreme commitment is about to be put to the test.
13:15The arch-enemy of termites is mobilizing.
13:19Ant Matabele.
13:22This is the name of a fierce warrior tribe.
13:31Matabele is a monster.
13:34Two centimeters long,
13:37from the jaws to the stomach.
13:40He is on a reconnaissance mission to find food.
13:44The diet of his colony is very limited.
13:47They only eat termites.
13:50And in the heat of the dry season,
13:53the juicy termites provide vital moisture.
14:10Matabele is a skilled explorer.
14:18He uses the position of the sun to guide his path.
14:26And he will go through a marathon at 100 meters from home.
14:40He does everything he can
14:43to avoid the attention of the hungry birds.
14:55Matabele's mission is a race against time.
14:59If the sun is too high,
15:02he will not be able to use it to find his way.
15:09He will be trapped.
15:35Tejon Melero cannot orient himself with the sun.
15:40He is guided by the smell.
15:49His sharp sense of smell is better than that of a savoirse.
15:59And he has caught the smell of something tasty.
16:10A scorpion.
16:16The scorpions of his species are older than the dinosaurs.
16:25The female may be much smaller than the male.
16:29But she is well equipped to defend herself.
16:33His prehistoric stinger has adapted almost perfectly
16:37over hundreds of millions of years.
16:40And it causes the greatest pain in an instant.
17:03The scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
17:07It penetrates deeply.
17:10But Tejon can bear the pain.
17:13And he is ready to attack again.
17:18The scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
17:22It penetrates deeply.
17:25But Tejon can bear the pain.
17:28And he is ready to attack again.
17:32But Tejon can bear the pain.
17:43A single bite will suffice.
18:03The scorpion's bite is so powerful
18:06that the deadly toxins quickly reach the nervous system
18:10and the heart of Tejon Melero.
18:13The effect would send a human to the hospital.
18:20Tejon Melero is not from Milan.
18:23But the scorpion's bites keep him alive.
18:32The scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
18:36It penetrates deeply.
18:39But Tejon can bear the pain.
18:42And he is ready to attack again.
18:45But the scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
18:49It penetrates deeply.
18:52But Tejon can bear the pain.
18:55But the scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
18:59It penetrates deeply.
19:02But the scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
19:06It penetrates deeply.
19:09But the scorpion's tail activates the hypodermic stinger.
19:13Even a testarudo like him has his limits.
19:17In the air around the thermite,
19:20Patavele can smell his prey.
19:47The thermite notices that it is approaching.
19:51But it is too small to face it alone.
19:55Without reinforcements, this will be a fight to the death.
19:59Without reinforcements, this will be a fight to the death.
20:03And if Patavele escapes and returns to his colony,
20:07he will bring an army.
20:09And if Patavele escapes and returns to his colony,
20:13he will bring an army.
20:16The only chance of the thermite is to kill it with a single and clean bite.
20:20The only chance of the thermite is to kill it with a single and clean bite.
20:27Its monstrous jaws are impregnated with a poison that will bleed it to death.
20:31Its monstrous jaws are impregnated with a poison that will bleed it to death.
20:39Its monstrous jaws are impregnated with a poison that will bleed it to death.
20:54Patavele attacks first.
20:57But his bites are ineffective.
21:10The thermite's body is armored.
21:13Reinforced with chitin, a version of insect kevlar.
21:17Reinforced with chitin, a version of insect kevlar.
21:27Patavele changes tactics.
21:35A powerful poison shot to the face.
21:39A powerful poison shot to the face.
21:43Ten of these bites would paralyze a human arm.
21:47Ten of these bites would paralyze a human arm.
21:51For the thermite, a single dose will be fatal.
21:55For the thermite, a single dose will be fatal.
22:09For the thermite, a single dose will be fatal.
22:17In his last moments, the thermite has one last task to perform.
22:22With a series of coded vibrations and a smell in the air, he sets the alarm.
22:27With a series of coded vibrations and a smell in the air, he sets the alarm.
22:31An army of ants approaches implacably.
22:39An army of ants approaches implacably.
22:44Patavele is already halfway to his nest.
22:55He leaves behind an invisible trail of pheromones that the other ants in the colony will be able to follow.
23:01He leaves behind an invisible trail of pheromones that the other ants in the colony will be able to follow.
23:05In less than a minute, he transmits the details of his discovery through the delicate dance of his antennas.
23:19And in less than five minutes, an entire army is mobilized.
23:31And in less than five minutes, an entire army is mobilized.
23:37Four hundred ants are heading towards the thermite.
23:45But the defensive force of the thermites awaits their arrival.
23:50Hundreds of soldiers are ready to face them.
24:01But the soldiers are not here to defeat the ants.
24:05But the soldiers are not here to defeat the ants.
24:19They have come to sacrifice themselves.
24:32One by one, the soldiers succumb to the attack of the invaders.
24:42Until there are so many corpses of soldiers that the ants are overwhelmed.
25:01Tocana retirada.
25:30Ya tienen lo que necesitan.
25:48Cada hormiga lleva consigo hasta siete cadáveres de soldados.
26:00Matabele ha hecho su trabajo, proporcionando alimento para asegurar la supervivencia de
26:19su colonia.
26:20Y las termitas soldado han hecho el suyo.
26:30Porque dentro de su hormiguero cientos de miles de obreras están a salvo.
26:35En la charca, Leona y su manada adoptan la estrategia de la espera.
26:52Tarde o temprano los animales sedientos se arriesgarán a beber.
27:15Leona puede mantenerse hidratada.
27:28Pero si quiere seguir generando leche, tendrá que alimentarse.
27:31Y en esta arena, las cosas pueden cambiar en un suspiro.
27:37Se anuncia una nueva llegada.
27:50Se trata del mamífero terrestre más grande del mundo, el elefante africano.
27:59Esta gran manada de más de doscientos elefantes ha llegado hasta aquí siguiendo los pasos
28:04de su líder, la matriarca del clan.
28:12Formado principalmente por hembras, el grupo lo componen sus hermanas, sobrinas, tías
28:17e hijas.
28:18Y un puñado de parientes machos más jóvenes.
28:25La matriarca ha llegado a la charca utilizando un mapa de memoria que se transmite de generación
28:47en generación.
28:48Ha guiado al grupo durante doscientos kilómetros hasta encontrarla, igual que hizo el año pasado.
29:16Tras su largo periplo, la manada está lista para beber a lo grande.
29:42Un solo elefante engulle hasta doscientos litros de agua en menos de cinco minutos.
30:08Hay doscientos individuos en la supermanada, todos bebiendo hasta saciarse.
30:18No son noticias muy halagüeñas para los leones.
30:24Si los paquidermos siguen bebiendo a este ritmo, la charca, que ya se está evaporando,
30:29podría secarse por completo y las presas de los leones se marcharían.
30:39Pero podría haber una oportunidad más inmediata.
30:46Este joven macho solo tiene diez meses.
30:52Es inmaduro, curioso y se ha alejado del grupo.
31:22El tímido ataque de las leonas es poco aconsejable.
31:29No hay forma de atravesar esta barrera de cincuenta toneladas.
31:46Pero si las personas permanezcan juntos, la superioridad numérica de la supermanada
31:51es su defensa más poderosa.
32:17Los elefantes permanecen en la charca durante días.
32:23Pasan el tiempo descansando y consolidando los vínculos entre los miembros del clan.
32:36Para los individuos más jóvenes de la manada es una oportunidad de dar sus primeros pasos
32:43hacia la edad adulta.
32:44Los machos jóvenes prueban su fuerza y reafirman su rango.
33:03Cuando tengan la edad y la confianza suficientes, se irán por su cuenta a llevar una vida solitaria,
33:30pasando la sabana en busca de comida y pareja.
33:40Un macho se muestra inquieto.
33:43A sus trece años aún no está plenamente desarrollado, pero casi es lo bastante mayor
33:49para independizarse.
33:52Se domina a sus compañeros y está ganando confianza.
34:02Está ansioso por demostrar su valía lejos de la manada.
34:19La actitud no pasa desapercibida.
34:28La llegada de los elefantes ha cambiado la dinámica de la charca.
34:36Con los leones distraídos, otros animales tienen la oportunidad de acercarse a hurtadillas para beber.
34:43A lo largo de la línea de árboles, una criatura se mantiene oculta del bullicio.
34:58Es una maestra del disfraz.
35:12La víbora bufadora.
35:21Sus marcas de cheurón se mezclan perfectamente con su entorno.
35:31Bufadora está siempre en guardia.
35:38Escucha las débiles vibraciones del suelo y paladea el aire en busca de pistas químicas.
35:50El olor acre de tejón melero es inconfundible.
36:00Es un enemigo peligroso que bloquea su ruta hacia el agua.
36:07El camuflaje de bufadora funciona mejor cuando permanece inmóvil.
36:15Y tiene la capacidad de ralentizar su metabolismo y entrar en una especie de estasis.
36:32Tejón melero está bien equipado para enfrentarse a ella.
36:37Su elevado umbral del dolor lo convierte en uno de los pocos mamíferos africanos que osaría intentarlo.
36:46Con su excelente sentido del olfato, ya tendría que haber detectado la presencia del reptil.
36:56Pero bufadora está jugando su mejor baza.
37:06También puede enmascarar su olor con un manto químico de invisibilidad.
37:27Está completamente a salvo.
37:33A menos que se mueva.
37:45Pero como todos los animales que vienen aquí, bufadora necesita beber.
38:04La ha visto.
38:17A no ser que bufadora logre ahuyentarlo, tendrá que luchar.
38:24Aspira tanto aire, que su único pulmón izquierdo llena toda la longitud de su cuerpo.
38:32Al exhalar con fuerza, su advertencia es inequívoca.
38:39No es un farol.
38:43Bufadora es diez veces más venenosa que un escorpión.
38:50Bufadora ataca.
38:56Pero no llega a hacer contacto.
39:02Pero no llega a hacer contacto.
39:08Pero no llega a hacer contacto.
39:15Otra embestida.
39:21En un cuarto de segundo.
39:27Tejón no puede reaccionar tan rápido.
39:33Sus largos colmillos se despliegan como la hoja de una navaja.
39:40El veneno es doloroso.
40:02Tejón melero es duro de pelar.
40:06Pero las toxinas lo abruman.
40:20Ahora bufadora puede concluir su viaje hacia una charca situada al borde del prado.
40:37Siente un dulce alivio.
40:42Pero el instinto le dice que no debe permanecer allí.
40:56El cuerpo de Tejón puede hacer milagros.
41:03Unos poderosos anticuerpos en su sangre descomponen el veneno y neutralizan sus efectos tóxicos.
41:19Bufadora se ha ido hace tiempo.
41:22Tejón volverá a intentarlo la próxima vez.
41:33La estación seca vive sus últimos días.
41:39Ahora la charca de agua es solo una extensión de espeso lodo.
41:45Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha por la estación.
41:51La estación se cae.
41:58Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
42:12Son buenas noticias para Leona.
42:20Las probabilidades de supervivencia vuelven a estar a su favor.
42:28El joven macho, en su anhelo de independencia, se aleja cada vez más de la manada.
42:37Y con la mayoría de sus congéneres ahora a cierta distancia, se encuentra aislado.
42:58Los leones son los únicos animales lo suficientemente poderosos para cazar elefantes.
43:04Es un comportamiento poco común, dominado únicamente por algunas manadas selectas.
43:12Un elefante más viejo sería consciente del peligro.
43:16Pero este joven macho es muy inexperto.
43:22Este es el momento que Leona ha estado esperando.
43:28El joven macho se encuentra en la estación.
43:34Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
43:40Los leones se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
43:46Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
43:53Dispuesta a trabajar en equipo en un plan bien ejecutado.
44:12El elefante macho ya pesa varias toneladas, más que todas las leonas juntas.
44:23Los elefantes son sorprendentemente ágiles, pero se cansan con rapidez.
44:45Leona se aferra a su presa con 18 garras ganchudas.
44:51Tan fuertes como la fibra de carbono.
45:01Las demás posicionan sus cuerpos a la perfección.
45:06Y lo desequilibran.
45:22Pero la lucha no ha terminado.
45:27La manada, alertada por la conmoción, ha vuelto.
45:51El elefante macho se ha puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
45:56Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
46:01Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
46:06Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
46:11Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
46:16Y los elefantes se han puesto en marcha para ir en busca de comida.
46:32Leona no tiene más remedio que dejarlo marchar.
46:37El astuto trabajo en equipo de las leonas
46:42no es rival para la fuerza descomunal del clan de los elefantes.
47:07Con la llegada de las lluvias,
47:10los animales vuelven a dispersarse por la sabana.
47:14Ya no se siente el calor del mar.
47:18Los animales se despegan.
47:21Los animales se despegan.
47:24Los animales se despegan.
47:27Los animales se despegan.
47:30Los animales se despegan.
47:34Los animales vuelven a dispersarse por la sabana.
47:38Yo no se sienten atraídos por la charca.
47:42Y el área se queda vacía.
47:48Los elefantes han reanudado su pereme migración en busca de alimento.
47:53Han evitado con éxito sucumbir a los leones.
48:03This is the natural end of the road.
48:08Elephants can live up to 70 years,
48:11but when their teeth wear out,
48:13they can lose their ability to eat
48:15and die gradually due to drowning.
48:19After all their efforts in the hunt,
48:22Leona has been lucky.
48:25The corpse of the elephant will feed the herd for days.
48:48With the immediate future of her family safe,
49:03Leona can continue to impose her authority on her territory
49:08and live to fight another day.