Some predators are born knowing what to do. They are
pre-programmed for the kill but others take a lifetime to learn.
What does it take to become a predator?We uncover the critical
events that shape the killer. Tropical rainforest, Ivory Coast,
West Africa A hunting party is on patrolChimpanzees, five males in
silence, they move on the forest floor, listening for their prey.
This is what they are after colobus monkeys, feeding in the canopy,
30m up To catch them, these chimps have learned to hunt in the most
extraordinary wayStealthily, the chimps take up position underneath
their quarry. Colobus are light and agile so they can move in the
thinnest of branches. The heavy chimp hasn't a hope alone but this
is a team and each has learned its own specific roleThe driver, the
blockers and the most experienced hunter, the ambusher working
together, they have a chance. The driver makes the first move A
young chimp, quite new to hunting. His objective is simple, to
climb up beneath the monkeys and flush them outThe team watches
from below, poised for action the hunter is on. The chimps in the
ground immediately run ahead of the colobus the blockers are first
in place. They anticipate where the colobus are heading and climb
trees on either side. Older, more experienced than the driver ,
they must make themselves conspicuous ready to funnel the colobus
between themMeanwhile back in the ground, the smartest chimp, the
ambusher is on the move. His objective: to get even further ahead.
He has seen the blockers go upand works out where the colobus will
be funneled. He picks a strategic tree. He hides and waits. The
trap is now set. The driver pushes the colobus onThey begin to
scatter, but three seem to be heading straight into the trap. A gap
in the canopy, the colobus are now getting away. The heavy blockers
can't leap across, they must climb down in the last effort to
reform the trap and back up again. Now the blockers are back on
course another leap right into the ambusher's tree, the trap is
sprungThe ambusher grabs, he misses, the colobus turns straight
into the hands of a blocker. It's over. For the chimps, this is the
triumph of generations of learning but you can't learn to hunt if
it's not in your nature. For all predators, the story starts with
the same basic thing: instinct, killer instinctThis ordinary garden
wall is home to a predator whose life is ruled entirely by instinct
Visitors to this wall must be careful, very careful. This is
Amaurobius thorax, a common garden spider and she lives inside the
wall. A month ago, she lays some eggs. Now they're hatching right
on schedule.100 tiny spiderlings emerge from their egg cases. In a
week, her offspring will become predators. But for now, they are
too small to hunt for themselves. They must rely on mother. She
lays a special sac of food eggs for them to eat - the spider
version of milk., high energy to last them exactly three days.Then
it's time for the next stage in the development. Spiders have
skeletons on the outside. To grow,they must shed their skins, the
spiderling's first moult. The moult signals the last of the
dutiesof the devoted mother. Old skins discarded, her spiderlings
are ready to grow some more, but again they need food, more than
she can supply in eggs.She waits for the tick of her genetic clock,
set for precisely one day after the first moult. Now she circles
round the spiderlings, drumming on the web and spinning thread as
she goes. The spiderlings swarm together, their killing instincts
are aroused.Then a new behavior switches on, she presses herself
down to her babies. They climb onto her, slowly at first, but soon
they swarm. She has flicked their predatory switch and this is how
she will feed them.
9500:08:30,700 --> 00:08:33,950She will be their first
prey.
9600:08:36,400 --> 00:08:41,550With this moment,her
spiderlings become predators
9700:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,950As she succumbs to the
venom,her life energypasses into her offspring.
9800:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,250They suck the fluid from her
body
9900:08:51,700 --> 00:08:55,850and it can even be
seendraining from her limbs
10000:08:57,900 --> 00:09:01,350the ultimate maternal
sacrifice.
10100:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,250The spiderlingshaven't had to
learn a thingto become predators.
10200:09:06,300 --> 00:09:09,750Just like their mother,their
genes write the plot.
10300:09:10,300 --> 00:09:11,750Now they have fed,
10400:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,850they will face the outside
worldwith instinct
10500:09:14,900 --> 00:09:17,550preprogrammed for the
kill.
10600:09:22,600 --> 00:09:27,850For others, becoming a
predatortakes more than just hardwired instinct
10700:09:31,300 --> 00:09:35,450In a summer meadow,an
ordinary farm cat hunts.
10800:09:37,300 --> 00:09:42,550The grass is long,so it
indentifies its preyby sound and smell.
10900:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,650A vole somewhere in the
grass.
11000:09:54,900 --> 00:09:58,550If anything can get it,this
cat can.
11100:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,150Even after thousandsof years
of domestication,
11200:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,750its predatory genes still
talk to it.
11300:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,250Like the spiderthis cat has
the killer instinct.
11400:10:17,100 --> 00:10:22,350Silent, alert, supremely
poised.
11500:10:23,500 --> 00:10:27,150The well-oiled creepof an
ancestry of killers.
11600:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,550She coils the predatory
spring.
11700:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,750The predator strikes.
11800:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,950But she hasn't always been so
good
11900:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,550These kittens are just a day
old.
12000:11:09,900 --> 00:11:12,950Without mother, they are
useless.
12100:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,250They can't walk.
12200:11:15,300 --> 00:11:17,750Their eyes aren't even
open.
12300:11:18,900 --> 00:11:23,350Just like the young
spiderlings,they are too small to be predators
12400:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,350Growth, however, is rapid
12500:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,350from fluff ball to
minipredatorin just three weeks.
12600:11:36,100 --> 00:11:39,050But this is where spidersand
cats differ.
12700:11:39,300 --> 00:11:42,450Though physically the catsare
now quite developed.
12800:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,750Their predatory programmingis
incomplete.
12900:11:47,900 --> 00:11:51,750Now, to start developing, the
mind.
13000:11:53,500 --> 00:11:57,250First their instinctmakes
them curious.
13100:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,550Instinct makes them play,
13200:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,350play links body with
mind.
13300:12:11,500 --> 00:12:17,250They start to look like
predators,focused, fast, alert.
13400:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,050But at this stage,the rules
are simple:
13500:12:21,100 --> 00:12:23,450catch anything that
moves.
13600:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,750After all, they could be
anywhereand anything could be prey.
13700:12:45,900 --> 00:12:49,250But a cat can't live
onfeathers and stones
13800:12:49,300 --> 00:12:52,850this simple instinct needs a
focus,
13900:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,850enter mother.
14000:12:55,900 --> 00:12:59,350She now comes back from
huntswith dead prey.
14100:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,050This is the new focusof the
kitten's play.
14200:13:13,900 --> 00:13:16,250The kittens get what she can
catch,
14300:13:16,300 --> 00:13:19,650a sample of the world of prey
outside.
14400:13:24,100 --> 00:13:29,650She's programming the
predatory machinepreparing it for future hunting.
14500:13:30,700 --> 00:13:36,250Sight, smell, feel,
taste,this is what should be eaten.
14600:13:38,100 --> 00:13:41,650For the next stage, live
prey.
14700:13:44,300 --> 00:13:48,850Now the mind is focusedon
specific preya lesson in handling.
14800:13:50,300 --> 00:13:51,750How fast does it?
14900:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,350How does it move?How do you
catch it?
15000:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,550Without this training,kittens
will never be good hunters
15100:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,850This time the vole
escapes.
15200:14:07,700 --> 00:14:11,750Finally into the fieldto put
trainning into practice.
15300:14:13,900 --> 00:14:19,250They go into the outside
worldwith skills that basic instinctcan't provide alone.
15400:14:20,300 --> 00:14:24,150They have the advantage of
learning.
15500:14:36,900 --> 00:14:39,050The predator hunts,
15600:14:39,100 --> 00:14:42,050fueled by instinct,
15700:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,650fine tuned by learning.
15800:15:11,100 --> 00:15:13,550But the world is full of
surprises.
15900:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,350They can't be prepared for
everything
16000:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,850That is the beauty of
learning.
16100:15:20,900 --> 00:15:24,150It doesn't just stop with
mother.
16200:15:33,500 --> 00:15:36,350Next time, he will be
ready.
16300:15:38,100 --> 00:15:40,650In fact, as an adult,
16400:15:40,700 --> 00:15:44,550learning can seriouslyimprove
a predator's life.
16500:16:00,700 --> 00:16:02,950This is a green heron
16600:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,650and there's only one thingon
its mind
16700:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,450- fish.
16800:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,550It's a small birdand can't
wade very deep.
16900:16:14,500 --> 00:16:17,950But fish are loathto go to
the shallows.
17000:16:18,700 --> 00:16:23,150Just like a fisherman,it has
to be stealthyto get what it wants.
17100:16:23,300 --> 00:16:27,150Patience and speed finely
balanced.
17200:16:33,500 --> 00:16:35,650Fish are quick too.
17300:16:36,300 --> 00:16:39,450If the heron could onlyshift
its advantage
17400:16:39,500 --> 00:16:43,550a fraction of a second
fastercatch the fish off guard.
17500:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,550Luckily this heron is
smart.
17600:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,450He has learned his own
amazing trick
17700:17:05,100 --> 00:17:08,950Children come down to the
pondto feed the ducks.
17800:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,350The heron watches.
17900:17:20,400 --> 00:17:26,150Fish also eat breadand soon
they move inclose to the bank.
18000:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,250He makes the connection in
his head,
18100:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,550bread and fish.
18200:17:47,500 --> 00:17:50,350Get bread catch fish.
18300:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,250The ducks are always a
nuisance
18400:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,250But the heron has done
thismany times before.
18500:18:18,700 --> 00:18:22,650Nobody quite knows howbut
through years of trial and error,
18600:18:22,700 --> 00:18:28,450he's worked it all outand
cracked the sequence in his head.
18700:18:39,600 --> 00:18:44,350Incredibly he has learnedthe
art of angling.
18800:18:44,900 --> 00:18:47,150He casts his bait.
18900:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,650He watches for the rise
19000:18:57,700 --> 00:19:00,950too close, and it won't take
the bait
19100:19:25,300 --> 00:19:29,150Too far, and the fish has the
edge.
19200:19:37,100 --> 00:19:39,450It casts again.
19300:19:55,100 --> 00:19:58,950At last the prize of
learning.
19400:20:01,700 --> 00:20:05,550But sadly herons don't seem
to learnform each other,
19500:20:06,300 --> 00:20:10,550so when this bird dies,his
knowledge dies with him.
19600:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,550To get the best out of
learning,knowledge must be passed on.
19700:20:21,100 --> 00:20:24,850And there's on predatorthat
can do just that
19800:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,350the killer whale.
19900:20:49,100 --> 00:20:53,950Incredibly, killer whales
have learnedto beach themselves for prey,
20000:20:55,100 --> 00:20:58,750a marine predator hunting on
land.
20100:21:08,300 --> 00:21:10,550Sea lions are the prey
20200:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,050in open water where they
feedthey're fast and streamlined
20300:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,650difficult to catch.
20400:21:20,900 --> 00:21:25,950On land, where they breedthey
are out of reach, safe.
20500:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,250But where the land and the
sea meet,the tables are turned.
20600:21:33,300 --> 00:21:38,450And this thin strip of
shorethe whale gains its advantage.
20700:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,350For a sea lion,the surf zone
is the danger zone.
20800:21:45,500 --> 00:21:47,950As they move from sea to
land,
20900:21:48,000 --> 00:21:53,250graceful swim turns to clumsy
walkand they scrabble with the beach.
21000:21:53,300 --> 00:21:56,550They're slowed for just a
second.
21100:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,350This is the whale's
moment.
21200:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,9506.5 tons,25 miles per
hour,
21300:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,150the whale surfs in its own
bow wave.
21400:22:09,400 --> 00:22:13,250Its advantage: momentum.
21500:22:15,900 --> 00:22:20,050Now it turns and flexesedging
itself from the beach.
21600:22:20,100 --> 00:22:23,250It refloats its colossal
fang. The whale returns to its world. But it's not as easy as it
looks. Killer whales aren't born to beach for prey. It can take
over 40 years to learn.This 5-year old killer whale calf is in the
first stages of learning to beach it gently rides a wave into the
surf zone. But unlike the heron, it doesn't have to work it all out
for itself It has an advantage. It has its mother.She is
experienced. She strands herself alongside her calf, showing it
what to do. Beaching is dangerous,she knows there's a fine line
between getting far enough and not getting stuck. The calf is
instinctively scared of the shallows. So next, the mother positions
herself behind it and nudges it up the beach.Incredibly the mother
seems to be actively teaching her calf And to reassure it, she
swims around and helps it back off the beach. The calf is learning
to beach and unbeach. Now it's ready for the next stage- to catch
real prey.In this unique footage, scientists have recorded the
moment of the calf's very first kill.Seen again as the calf goes
for the grab. its mother is right alongside. She then helps push
the calf and its prey back out into deeper water. A mother passes
down knowledge to another generation.The calf has joined the
beaching culture. But there's more to hunt in the surf zone than
just beaching for prey. These sea lions in Argentina are protected
from whale attack by offshore reefs.There is a way in, a
channel.But only deep enough for whales at high tide. Seen from
above, the channel is a clear way through from the sea to the sea
lions. A pot of whales has known about this channel for
generations.They have learned how to exploit it. Exactly two hours
before high tide, the whales take up position outside the reef. For
the sea lions the protection is gone. he whales make their move. A
mother and two teenagers now old enough for the final stage of
training - hunting with the pot.First, they drop down into the
channel. Killer whales have sonar to lock on to prey, but sea lions
have very good hearing. The whales switch to silent mode. Now
they're within striking distance of the beach, 50 meters from the
surf zone.Here, they wait, visibility is poor, so they listen. Sea
lions are moving to the feeding grounds, the whales hear them in
the surf zone. They can tell the difference. between an adult and a
pup at 50 m Pups are careless a group moves down the beach. The
female makes the first move. Her proteges are close by her
side.Hunting master class. A formation attack,the sea lions hurtled
down to the adult. There is no escape. They lock on to the prey in
the surf zone. As the young whales hunt with the female,they learn
perfection.40 years of hunting experience passes on. This is the
killer whale's advantage. Like chimpanzees, they are born with the
ability to learn new skills from each other. When this whale dies,
many lifetimes of knowledge live on and a new generation of natural
born killers.