Claw and Bone (Full Episode) | Animal Fight Night Compilation | Nat Geo Animals

(trumpeting) (growling) All over the world, species clash in nature's savage battle of survival. In open plains, under blue seas, and on the Arctic ice, all are locked in deadly conflict. Animals fight tooth and claw to win food... territory... and rights to the bloodline. From the highlands of America to the wilds of Africa... there are no rules. This is Animal Fight Night. Lions are apex predators. (growl) But even on a good day, only one out of three hunts work. (zebra braying) That means sometimes they have to go after the biggest game of all... the Cape buffalo. And that can mean more prey than they bargained for. (buffalo bellowing) Today, a hungry pride has taken down a juvenile buffalo calf, leading to a tense stand-off. ♪ ♪ The buffalo is six times the weight of any of the lionesses, but for now, all they can do is retreat while the lions gorge on the kill. This young calf won't go far among so many hungry mouths. But it's enough time for the buffalo to get organized. They want revenge... and have fearsome weapons. Horns 4 feet from tip to tip-- longer than a samurai sword. These horns take 4 1/2 years to develop-- plenty of time for stabbing practice. The herd is seeing red. There will be blood. Lions and Cape buffalo have been at each other's throats for thousands of years. And it's often a toss-up... as to who will come out alive. And today, all bets are off. The buffalo mob forms a menacing wall of spikes. Like a slow, unstoppable tsunami, the buffalo wall advances. The hunters are becoming the hunted. in the front line of attack are the best fighters, horns in tip-top fighting condition. With up to 1,000 in the herd, the overwhelming numbers could spell a bloody revenge. A male makes a hasty exit. He may have the experience to know what's coming. Sheer numbers scatter the remaining females... except one. (bellowing) The bold lioness takes refuge. It's a bad call. The buffalo surround the rock. It's a siege. The lone lioness has little chance of escape without help. But her pride has made for the hills. Time is on the side of the herd, but they don't wait. A second wave comes in using a pincer movement. The bold lioness narrowly misses certain disembowelment. She tries again, but runs into thorns. Third time lucky. She loses her lunch, but keeps her life. But not every big game hunter has luck on their side. The polar bear is the largest land predator on the planet. But this big guy is headed on a hunt that is about to land him in hot water. Polar bears can swim up to 400 miles in search of food. And the ice floes provide a well-stocked kitchen. But in the summer, as the ice retreats, so does his prey. Polar bears face the threat of starvation. This hunter may not have eaten for months. He's in a desperate struggle for survival. But his powerful sense of smell can pick up odors from 20 miles away. And a familiar stench is in the air. Walrus. They make a supersize meal. They can grow close to 12 feet in length, and they have a delicious layer of blubber up to 10 inches thick. He smells the arrival of new pups. And our starving bear can't resist a pup-sicle. An excellent swimmer, he takes the direct route to sneak up on the banquet. The hunter keeps a low profile on the surface and is invisible beneath it. A walrus's eyesight is poor. They don't see him... until he's on them... setting off a stampede. He has to attack quickly but choose carefully. With ivory tusks up to 3 feet long, walruses make deadly adversaries. They can kill and eat seals over 400 pounds. Then he finds the perfect target-- a pup, tender and juicy. But its heavyweight mom uses her 1,600-pound body as a barrier. And she takes the full impact of his bite. Unlike most bears, polar bears only eat meat. Their chewing carnassials are smaller than a grizzly's. But their meat-piercing canines are just as large. They easily tear through seal flesh to get to the calorie-rich layer of blubber beneath. But even canines unleashing 370 pounds of force can't prize this mom away, and she fires in an ivory stab. The panic spreads. The colony breaks ranks. This is his last chance to pick off stragglers heading for the water. The desperate hunter has one last shot at survival. The bear's 2-inch canines dig deep. But he can't hold on. They tussle, tooth and tusk. The walrus has weight advantage and breaks free... to safety. The fight for food comes at a heavy price. Stab wounds leave the wanderer lame. But today, this bear won't go hungry. A walrus pup died, crushed in the frenzied stampede for safety. The crippled predator settles for scavenged scraps. And deep tusk wounds mean this could be his last supper. In nature, there is no time out. So you should never let your guard down. A baboon kid leaves his mom to go play... and ends up in a deadly game of tag. (screeching) Throughout the wilds of southern Africa, the chacma baboon is a high-profile primate. He's the largest monkey on the planet and lives on the savanna in troops of up to 200. The males rule the roost. They are nearly 70% larger than the females. And their piercing 2-inch canines are as long as a lion's. Dominant males want to assert their mating rights. But there's a problem. Only childless females are open to advances. And they'll breed just once every two years. So mating opportunities can be in short supply. Like most little monkeys, chacma young are playful and inquisitive. While their moms are busy grooming with friends, their kids may get carried away with their games. A dominant male's high status is precarious. He needs a childless female to mate with before he's toppled. This male has a youngster in his sights. Killing Junior would create a vacancy. And he's waiting for his chance. Chacma require water every day, so they always hole up near a source. And like most youngsters, chacma kids find the local pools irresistible. Their curiosity takes them far into the waters, and Junior tags along. But he's playing right into the hands of the child killer. Aggressive males claim the lives of up to 30% of chacma young. They're a main cause of death and may even eat the victims in front of their mothers. This dominant male is on a mission to murder. He springs the trap. The infants try to return to their moms. But the child killer isn't about to miss his chance. He cuts off Junior's escape route. It's a deadly game of tag. If he grabs Junior, it's over. Out of nowhere, Mom charges in. Chacma can reach speeds of nearly 30 miles per hour. And her momentum sends him flying. But it's a total mismatch, a suicide mission to save her infant. The child killer tries to finish it... with a clean bite to the back of the neck. It could sever her spinal cord. Junior makes a break for it. To win him a clean getaway, Mom launches herself at the attacker. She's belly-up, but she won't give up. This monkey means business. The would-be child killer loses his chance... and his nerve. This mom's not giving way. But the attacker flees... in search of a softer target. Her child lives to play another day. And he won't be so quick to leave his mother's side in the future. Many battle hard to survive. But what if you encountered a prey that refused to die? In the savanna, a high-speed chase is underway. An impala races at 30 miles an hour. He's a sprinter. Hot on his tracks, a pack of African wild dogs, the ultimate endurance athletes. One of the most successful predators on the savanna, the dogs kill in four out of five hunts. (growling and barking) Known as a hypercarnivore, the majority of their diet is meat. Mostly impala. When they're hungry, they'll tail prey for over an hour at speeds of almost 40 miles an hour. What keeps the impala going is fear and adrenaline. Even so, the impala can't outlast the desperate pack. One pack member gets ahead of the rest. (whining) (bleating) Pound for pound, the wild dog has one of the strongest bites of any African carnivore. But he's not about the instant kill. He'll eat first... kill later. The impala's wound is already fatal. But its incredible survival response kicks in. This prey won't go down without a fight. The wild dog may have tried to eat the impala alive, but despite its guts hanging out-- a mortal injury-- the impala fights on... thanks to an amazing physiological response. Inside the impala's brain, the pituitary gland pumps out endorphins. These act as a natural painkiller. At the same time, excess glucose releases into the bloodstream... giving the impala a vital energy boost. Energized and numbed, this impala won't call it quits. Face to face, it's a test of wills. To feed again, the ravenous canine must risk a lethal stab from impala horns. But despite his fighting spirit, the impala can't survive, and the pack arrives to secure its kill. One impala loses the battle. But that same fighting spirit is key to the survival of the species. A brave heart wins big fights. But some battles need brains, too. Cuttlefish win the prize for one of the most alien creatures on Animal Fight Night. Masters of illusion, they have an amazing ability to change color, shape, and texture. Covered with over 20 million pigment cells, they give off a light show in spectacular high definition. They dazzle their prey, then suck them up with lightning speed. And in the breeding season, the Australian giant cuttlefish relies on these skills to find a mate. They only get one shot during their entire lifetime to pass on their genes. Males outnumber females ten to one, so the odds of mating are stacked against them. Adult males can be over 3 feet long. Females around half the size. The males try to outdo each other by sparking up zebra-style body patterns. This large 22-pound male is guarding access to a rock, where a lady cuttlefish is playing hard-to-get. He wants her all for himself. Then, a wannabe love rival gets too close for comfort. In a move called "the shovel," our hero thrusts his eight arms close together, forming a pointed spear shape, and then lunges at his rival. It's a clear message to shove off. But the other guy's also desperate to get the girl. The two love rivals lock on. It's a full-on wrestling match. Both contenders twist in a smuggling grip. The goal-- drag the other guy close enough to deploy their secret lacerating weapon-- a sharp and lethal beak that's just over 2 inches long, hidden at the base of their arms. They use it to attack and dismember prey, or against other suitors. Our hero savages the love rival. Success! The rival ejects an inky smokescreen and makes a speedy exit. But our hero hasn't covered all of his bases. A smaller male pulls of a cunning trick. He might not have the muscle, but he's still a master of disguise. Time to get creative. He shrinks by pulling in his longer arms and adopts a mottled color to look like a female. It works like a charm. Unnoticed, he cruises right past the macho males to the lady hiding underneath the rock. Even though he's smaller than the others, she accepts his advances. Once he's fertilizes her, he drops the disguise and looks like a male again. Our hero may have won the fight, but he never got to meet the girl. But what if our Romeo gets to meet his Juliet? Will it be love at first sight? In Chile, Juliet sits at the top of these trees, waiting for her Romeo. Trekking up...Romeo. He's a Darwin beetle on the brink of extinction as the world heats up. Bigger than a baseball, male Darwins can be 3.5 inches long. Jaws make up almost half their length and are used to attract the ladies and dispatch the competition, King Kong style. Romeo heads to Juliet. But his path is blocked by another Darwin beetle... on the same mission. It's time for a duel. The rules of engagement-- use jaws to reach over a rival's head and hook under his wings. Then lift and throw your enemy off the tree. No problem for an insect who can lift 120 times his own body weight. Romeo tries pulling the suitor off the tree, but the rival holds tight. These fights can end in death, as one beetle rips the head from the other's torso. Romeo pries his opponent from the tree... and throws him 80 feet to the ground. With one of the hardest exoskeletons of all insects, the fall is more annoying than fatal. For Romeo, the path of true love is littered with challengers. Romeo wins again. And again. Finally, he finds his Juliet. After climbing 80 feet and battling many suitors, he's ready for his reward and to do his part in keeping his kind alive. But she's not so keen. He gives chase... finally using his jaws to catch her. He continues his bloodline. His babies will be born and eat wood found on the forest floor. So to save his partner the time of climbing down, he gives her a helping hand. What a guy. Hopefully there'll be many more high-wire Darwin beetles to come. On the open African plain, a vast herd of wildebeest is a mobile pantry for the continent's larger predators. But at up to 600 pounds and equipped with two wickedly curved horns... they're normally off-limits for cheetahs. These lightweight felines lack the power of the bigger cats. They hunt by chasing and tripping their prey... ...and kill their victims with a throttle hold to the neck. Smaller prey provide an easier kill. This family group has other ideas. A single mom with three growing boys to feed, they're after dinner for four. (lowing) Wildebeest operate a safety-in-numbers policy, with the center of the herd being safest. But this careless adolescent wanders onto the fringes and into the cheetahs' sights. A bold brother takes up the challenge. But the wildebeest's too big and sure-footed for a trip attack. This bro needs back-up. Four to one loads the odds in favor of the cats. For their size, cheetahs have a more powerful bite than lions or leopards. Teeth sink into the back of the neck... and the family divides forces. (yipping) Two target the rear legs... and two hang on from the front. He's down. If the family holds firm, he's finished. But a bro backs off to avoid those horns, which changes the odds. Mom tries to take care of business. But exhausted, she loosens her throttle hold. They focus attack on the back legs. It's a tactical error. The freed-up horns thrash, inches from tearing open the mom. The adolescent bucks his way to freedom. These over-ambitious cats are dog tired. Protection from big predators brings prey together. But friends can turn foe... and catastrophe can follow. Herds of antelope and zebra often graze together. It's a marriage of convenience. More eyes mean a better chance to spot predators. And zebra aren't afraid to use their speed to drive them off. (braying) A hartebeest herd rests. But zebra are on alert. Something spooks them. A female attacks. But what they think is a deadly hyena... is just a hartebeest calf less than a month old. He's about the same color and size. Mom checks her baby is alive, then tries to head off the attack. But the zebra won't back down. They intimidate, surrounding the hartebeests and calf. Once zebra identify a threat, there's no recall code for mistaken identity. It's mob mentality. A lucky escape for the calf, but he's not out of danger. Hartebeest calves stay with their mothers for up to three years. So two-year-old big sister's on hand to protect her brother. Mom charges... but misses. Unable to see his protectors, the calf runs on. Bad strategy. He's about to face an onslaught more savage than anything that's come before. The calf tries to escape the hooves of murderous zebra... but fails. It's the same strategy zebra use against packs of hyena. The calf is down but not out. And while the zebra regroup, another hartebeest arrives and escorts the calf to safety, against all the odds. Living in a pack does not guarantee that an animal is safe. But when animals work alone, every single second of the day is fraught with perils. The little egret... a 2-foot tall heron that hunts in shallow waters. Normally, he has nothing to fear. But on this Mediterranean island, the river's edge harbors danger. A blunt-nosed viper-- a 5-foot-long, muscular venomous snake... that strikes faster than the blink of an eye. Here, this viper's bitten off more than she can chew. Her venom kills her usual victims in minutes. But the snake's bite hits nothing but feather and bone... so her poison hasn't entered the egret's bloodstream. The egret's bigger cousins, herons, kill snakes with their sharp bills. The egret's beak is long and sharp but is unable to pierce the snake's scaly armor. So he goes for the eye But it's protected by a hard, clear lens. Moving into deeper water may be the egret's only chance of survival... if she can drown the snake. In a desperate bid to break free of the snake, the egret wades in. Except this blunt-nosed viper is a strong swimmer. The egret's bite isn't strong enough to force the snake to release. And it's the viper's instinct to hold on to birds until they're dead. The egret tries his claws. But he has no strength in his legs. The viper bites again... and hits home. Her fangs, like two hypodermic needles, pump venom into the egret's bloodstream. If she has hit an artery, the egret will die in minutes. If it's a smaller capillary, it will take longer. Either way, the viper's job is done. The egret's too big to eat. The egret dies in vain... as the venom takes its toll. You don't need venom to kill when you're a grizzly. You can rely on brute strength. It's July... grizzly mating season. This female's current mate is Caesar. With his home range covering almost 500 square miles, it took him a long time to track his girl, and he's not going to share her. Brutus isn't looking to share. Brutus is taller-- almost 7 feet-- and bulkier-- around 800 pounds. Caesar may be smaller, but by extending his neck, flattening his ears, and bearing his teeth, he shows dominance. By getting his front legs up high, Caesar stops Brutus using his height. The hump behind Caesar's neck hides a mass of muscle, used to dig his hillside den. It gives him the strength of up to five humans. But Brutus is just as strong, and he's got height as an advantage. Caesar bites the bigger bear's ear with his 2-inch super-sharp canines. It's a bite that can crush a bowling ball... and forces Brutus to lose his foothold. Kicking out with his 16-inch-long feet, Caesar hits Brutus hard in the windpipe. Again, Caesar gets his front legs on top. At 5 inches, a grizzly's claws are the longest of any bear. Caesar uses his to inflict the killer blow to the face. It's enough for Brutus to back down. He's escorted off the premises. Caesar keeps his girl... for now. In the animal kingdom, everyone sees the big guns. But the most effective weapon... can be a concealed carry. (chirping) Red-billed quelea, one of the most destructive birds in the world. 1.5 billion roam sub-Saharan Africa and devour 16,000 tons of vegetation every day. But while Mom and Dad gather food, day-old chicks are defenseless. Far below... a battalion of armored ground crickets. Harmless hoppers, they ain't. They're also hungry. The crickets are heavy-duty assassins. A powerful bite turns prey into mincemeat... while a tough exoskeleton and thorax spikes shield them from predators. And they have an incredible secret weapon. They'll devour almost anything. Even baby birds. Hearing organs in the crickets' knees sense the chicks' movements... ...and lead them to lunch. Not so fast. Mom's beak can pierce insect flesh. But he's armor-plated and deals his secret ace. Chemical warfare. The ground cricket has a gruesome defense strategy. It has no blood vessels. Instead, its heart pumps its blood freely around the body. So when a special seam in its leg joint opens, it shoots a high-pressure jet of acrid blood at any target within 2.5 inches. This deters predators and can even temporarily blind them. Eyes full of blood, Mom can't see. But she's not done. The cricket's tough exoskeleton saves him. But the smell of his blood attracts more hungry mouths. His own army turns on him. These crickets are cannibals. In the wild, it's eat or be eaten. Captioned by Side Door Media Services