How Animals Love, Fight & Survive! 🐾 Wild Relations

Wild animals sometimes have surprising social lives. Some species have a very busy social life. Others come together only occasionally, and yet others prefer, if possible, to live alone. But all of them interact in one way or another. This documentary looks at the most intimate life of some animals to see how they relate with their peers, how they're capable of the tenderest and most charming shows of fellow feeling, as well as the fiercest and most ruthless behavior if need be. After all, we're talking about untamed relations. And relations. Meet Britain, Scottish Isles. Here, seabirds come together in dense colonies to breed. They nest on sheer sea cliffs to thwart land predators. The more birds in the colony, the safer they feel, though it can get rather crowded at times. The fetching puffins get down to their wooing early. Gannets also come together on these islands to breed, though they flock together in autumn and winter too. They're not loners by any means. They put up with each other, seek each other out, on condition that each pair's own little private space is respected. Gannets mate for life. This pair has recently got back to its nesting ledge and instantly starts the courting rituals. They start with affectionate pecks and nibbles. They dance. And finally, they mate. Although gannets live communally, however, they still react aggressively to any encroachment on their nesting space. Our pair pokes and needles another male, who has cracked their style. The fight between the males intensifies. Each is aiming for the other's eyes. Things calm down again. Our male goes off fishing, and soon finds what he's looking for. Hundreds of gannets plunge diving into a huge shoal of fish. comes back to the colony, but the troublemaker is still there, now even closer to his nest. They pitch in again. The stakes are up. They're out to kill each other. The female helps her mate. The struggle drags on. The nest-side bird won't loosen his hold on the intruder, but neither will the latter give up. Time seems to pass slowly in the colony, because one hour later, the fight is still raging. Contender is fatally injured. Today, a gannet. Our pair celebrate their victory in their own way. At least no other neighbor will now dare to disturb their breeding activity. Gannets seek each other out, flock together, and are capable of acts of fondness too. But woe betide any chancer that tries to mess with a breeding pair. He could forfeit his life in the process. There is another animal with a busy social life, but in a much shyer way. After the human being, it is deemed to be the world's most abundant mammal, but it's hardly ever seen. In Europe's countryside areas, it is especially numerous. This is the house mouse. It lives in small colonies that are usually ruled by a dominant male. This pale-furred female has mated with the alpha male. Both are looking for the best place to breed. She is already pregnant. Another male with a deformed tail has designs on the same female. The dominant male wants to show who's boss. He gets ready to oust the rival from his nest. He bites him viciously. The female has seen it all before. He snaps and nips at the intruder until driving him off. The female, trusting in her mate, takes hardly any notice. At last the intruder is gone. They fondle. The female has decided to give birth in a hollow trunk. The male bides his time. She suffers birth pangs. The male spruces himself up somewhat nervously, blithely unaware of the danger pending. It's a genet, their worst enemy. The genet has sniffed out the mice. He knows they're close. She has given birth to the first baby. The genet is getting closer. Panic strikes. The male gives out a warning. She continues to give birth but she now knows what's going on. With the genet almost on top of them, she knows her only chance is to flee. she's really worked up. She's got to get away instantly, knowing her young will die from cold or will be eaten by the genet. And she takes a radical decision. She eats her own young. Better to recoup some of the energy used up in the birth than abandon them to a useless death. She first makes sure the coast is clear, then flees. The genet cottons on too late. Hours later, the pair meet up again, and they make for a safer spot to try breeding again. A South American jungle, caiman, a jaguar. This super predator is a loner, with hardly any social life at all. Its bite is the most powerful of all the world's mammals, and its bodily strength is prodigious. It has sunk its fangs into the caiman's neck, a fatal bite that will paralyze it. He'll eat it in a quiet nook. Seen or heard the rumpus. Fear spreads through the jungle. After the copious repast, the male rests, wallowing in his solitude. But some roars catch his attention. They are howls of love. This is the only time when two jaguars want to see each other. The days go by and the male is centering in on the female. He can smell her. She's really close now. The female sees him coming. She plays it casually, showing him she'll be no walkover. Snarls aggressively. A real turnoff. The tension wanes. It's all part of their particular pair bonding process. Even the onlooking courter's sense that calm has come. After mating, they separate, and the male once more becomes the company's shunning loner, sowing fear throughout the jungle. Deep in the sea, some species live in huge shoals, some in smaller groups, others are somewhat sultry. And then there is the great phantom of the deep. No one sees it. It sees everything. It's an angel shark, living close to the Atlantic coasts of North Africa. This male, nearly two meters long, is a fierce hunter. Even other bigger fish give way, a species in critical danger of extinction. It is a strict loner it may well be one of the last ones standing it spends hours lying dead still in cryptic camouflage it doesn't like to mix with anyone and no one likes to mix with him night falls hunters come out to prowl as squid hunts without losing sight of the angel shark not far from the male's lair a female is lurking just like the male it has spent all year alone but now it is ovulating. The male's behavior turns strange. Even with the prey for the taking, he scorns it. Now he has other priorities. Finding a female is becoming an ever tougher task. There's only one time a year when he is looking for company. Mating time. He covers a lot of ground, but doesn't come across a female. It's breaking. He's off again. He gulps down a good dose of gill-swelling water and renews his search and the female sees him coming at last they find each other this is their only mingling time in the whole year to mate and then it's all over from here on for another year it will lead one of the loneliest lives of the animal kingdom sometime later on one of the angel sharks offspring without ever having been taught the trick plays at being invisible it's just as solitary as its parents, just as lethal. In the countries of Southern Europe and some points of North Africa and Southern Asia lives a wonder of weightlessness. This is the griffon vulture, one of the world's master gliders. It's a carrion eater, living an apparently peaceful social life. The gregarious life suits them fine. They love company, even with non-relatives. This adult is collecting nesting material. The female is waiting for him keeping the chick snug and warm. Theirs is a calm, untroubled life. They often join up in perfect harmony with others. Spring advances. The prince is well grown by now. Griffon's even drinking groups. This group includes the chick's father, who drinks serenely while his mate looks after the offspring. Summer arrives. The female is now alone in the nest, trying to guess where on earth her son has got to. He's taken a great hop to a nearby rock, from where he now watches the world from a different viewpoint. His parents are waiting for him. Got to take his first leap into the unknown, maiden flight. His parents are going to show him how to look for food, but they don't give him any tips about how to eat a carcass, or how to behave among his fellow scavengers. He's about to learn both things in a single experience, in one lesson, and he's got no idea that it will be the Toughest lesson of his life. They're on their way. Dead red deer stag. Today's the day. The griffon vultures start to wheel down, including our family. The peaceful and harmonious relations the young bird has known hitherto have not prepared him in any way for this mayhem. Aggressiveness is now the order of the day. He's spooked by this. They also make gestures he doesn't understand. He'll soon learn that when a griffon vulture spreads its wings, it's a show of strength. A hop and long stride is meant to intimidate another vulture. An edgy flash of talons is an even more direct threat. Bird is increasingly shocked by all he sees, and daunted by these blood-curdling cries. Totally freaked out, he even forgets his hunger pangs and deserves the scene altogether. Today, he's learned the lesson of his life. This usually happens the first time around, but he's learned the body language of his peers. Their codes and shows of violence. He knows how to react the next time. Far from there, on the African continent, lives the herbivore that can boast the most singular and surprising social life of all the world's antelopes, the topi. They live in fairly closed herds, dominated by an alpha male. But the females also help to expel any would-be intruders. This behavior is unique to this species. This is dominant male when rutting time comes it gives short shrift to any of the young pretenders swarming around its small territory undaunted one of these youngsters is not ready to run the fight is on the leader male comes out on top it flirts with outsider females however much to the chagrin of the females of its own herd the male glimpses jealousy in one of the females and the jealous female makes her displeasure known to the male she chases him and an onlooker spotted the kerfuffle unaware of the nearby cheetah the male has to defend himself even from the attacks of his own jealousy driven female this tiff gives the cheetah its chance there are some fawns in the herd and the strife between the female and the alpha male has distracted the carers they've seen him too late opi's special sense of social relations has played them false on this occasion but normality returns, the jealous female at last manages to gain the dominant male's attention the African savannah will be witness of a new fecundation and another topi fawn will become part of the striking social relations of this fascinating antelope the Strait of Gibraltar separating Africa from Europe at the start of spring booted eagles come back from Africa to breed in Europe this male already fatigued after its crossing of the Sahara Desert, now has to take on the Strait of Gibraltar. Nearly there, he's made it, and he makes straight for the Spanish wood where he bred last year. He arrives exhausted. The first thing he does is to visit his nest and call for his mate. A nest cam will allow us to spy on the pair's most intimate behavior. An enemy watches on from deep in the wood. It's a goshawk. For him, these booted eagles are hated rivals. The male looks for his mate, on their habitual hunting ground there she is calmly taking on some replenishment after her own migratory journey from Africa the male has found her in all likelihood they won't have seen each other for months, he is famished and doesn't stand on ceremony the female gives over her prey and the pair celebrate their reunion with effusive cries she decides to visit the nest where they bred for the first time last year they will spend the whole breeding season together while the male carries on eating, the female tidies up the nest. Spring waxes in the Mediterranean woodland of the Iberian Peninsula. The days go by, and some species have already brought their young into the world. The female is laying her first egg. She's a veteran, but the male is young, with only one year's breeding experience. The female knows this, and puts up with his nest-building clumsiness. She looks on wryly, while the male gamely tries to add his wretched twigs to the nest. To cap it all, he seeks her approval for the feat. She can hardly believe her eyes. Despite her bewilderment at his ineptness, she doesn't reproach him. He'll learn. Leaving his mate nonplussed, the male flies off, convinced of his fine workmanship. Time passes, and the clutch is now complete. But something's wrong. It's not her mate. It's a single male who wants to mate with her. She rejects him. Booted eagles are totally faithful. Back he comes again. Their social life is limited to the pair and their offspring. They're just not interested in non-marital affairs. Meanwhile, the young male takes a refreshing bath in a far-off puddle. With the female incubating and the male absent, the goshawk prepares his attack. The clash is brutal. The nest cam doesn't capture the struggle beneath the nest, but it must have been ferocious. While the male still suspects nothing, our female has managed to fend off the attack. She bears the wounds, but she'll get over them. At last, the happy day has arrived. The chick will be given all possible maternal care and protection, while the male will see to the hunting and protecting, though he will need to be more watchful in the future. More days go by. Spring is now well advanced. The male booted eagle is coming good as a hunter, and his chick does not go short of food. The other egg, however, has failed to hatch. Night falls, and the male takes a rest. And on this occasion, he's once again a long way from the nest. And the pair of goshawks knows it. The attack will be coordinated this time. The female has spied one of them. She calls anxiously for the male, but he doesn't hear. One of the goshawks tries to draw her off. For the time being, she doesn't succumb to the provocation and stays put, calling to her mate for help. Now she falls into the trap. She chases off one of the goshawks and leaves her nest undefended against the other. She calls for him desperately. She'll never see her chick again. Dawn breaks, and the male comes back to the nest to greet his mate and offspring. The surprise is overwhelming at first. Then the truth dawns. In the following days, the pair of booted eagles remain together. Again, the female, staying faithful, does not reproach the male. He'll learn. Next spring, they'll try their hand at breeding again. That's what booted eagles do. Loyal, selfless, their social life is confined to the pair and its young. There's no one else. Alaska, they're grizzly bears and they come together to hunt the salmon swimming upstream to spawn. Theirs is an uneasy truce. This is a female fishing for her cubs, which are still suckling, but now trying some flesh too. Nearby is a big male, who doesn't take his eyes off them. the salmon makes a last desperate attempt to wriggle back into the water something's wrong the mother senses danger in the air and they leave the scene the big male wants to mate with her but to make her receptive he'll have to kill her cubs mother takes them off to a more mountainous spot in search of shelter for the time being he's lost track of them but he won't give up easily a little later he finds them again mother's seen him too the female attacks and drives him back a bit the cubs flee for the moment she's repelled him she seeks her cubs among the rocks the male does too she's only managed to find one of her cubs plays a coy but his aim is to kill the cubs the mother panics she can't find her other cub tragedy unfolds at her feet she makes a desperate and ultimately successful attempt to get her cub back but it's no longer breathing the male gives up and goes off. This mother is just too strong and brave. Calm ebbs back slowly, but she keeps her other cub safe while the male slopes off. She suckles the cub more to placate it and to nourish it. Grizzlies are at once capable of the most violent and touching relations. They are, after all, grizzlies. Down in the south of Europe, in Spain and Portugal, lives a species whose social relations have always been a bit of a mystery. This is the Iberian lynx, the world's most threatened feline. This is an adult male, always living as a strict loner outside mating time. Just like the grizzly bears, male lynxes will want to kill any kitten that is not its own. Hard by this male's territory lives a female with three kittens. Their mother goes out hunting and leaves them on their own. She spotted the rabbit. The rabbit is food for her kittens. At the same time, the male enters the female's territory. It can smell the kittens. The days pass by and the summer beckons. At this time in the Iberian Peninsula, the heat is sweltering. The kittens are bigger now, but still depend on their mother. The big male has been in the female's territory for some days now. It's stalking them. An unexpected opportunity. The rabbit has taken refuge in the scrub. For the male lynx, this is only a halt along the way. The sun goes down. It seems loathe to witness what is going to happen tonight. The mother senses it is not only a fallen acorn and goes out to investigate. The kittens have been left on their own. Is it our mother or another lynx? Even the moon seems to shun the scene. The mother lynx slinks back and leads the kittens away. Something is approaching. The male drinks from the same puddle where the kittens were drinking not long ago. He knows they're close. He goes after them, straying outside a camera's range. A spy camera captures what has never before been shown on TV. The male shows no sign of violence at all. The two of them welcome the encounter. They are a breeding pair, though they see each other seldom throughout the year. Had they not been his own offspring, he would have slain the kittens. They're really fond of their father, though they see him so infrequently. The social relations of Iberian lynxes are strange to our eyes. They're capable at once of the tenderest gestures and the cruelest feats. Each species has its own particular way of interacting socially. Most go out of their way to show affection and tenderness, but on occasion they can kill each other. They are free, sovereign animals, each one with its own social laws, with nobody sitting in Judgment of them, they are, after all, only untamed relations.