Safari

By strict definition predators are animals that eat other animals, but the role that they play in nature goes far beyond that. They expertly control the quantity and quality of animal populations below them in the food chain. But life at the top of the food chain is not easy. Predators must rely on their hunting skills for day to day survival.

For every species from the venomous scorpion to the high flying raptor, the reproductive season is the most critical. All animals must bear and successfully raise enough offspring to offset the mortality rate or face extinction. So to optimize chances for survival, each species has evolved unique systems for courting, nesting, and raising young.

The exotic water dragon and the majestic sandbar deer are just two of the thousands of unique species found in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. This nation has a total land area less than the state of Texas, but holds some of the richest reserves of flora and phona in the world today. It is home to the water dragon and tokei gecko.

The lion has been called the perfect ultimate, the perfect combination of power and stealth. But lions are also some of nature's most sociable creatures, living in prides of up to thirty individuals, and each pride has a highly evolved social structure that affects all facets of the animals' lives. The species is designed to depend on the pride for survival.

The African elephant is the largest land animal on Earth, standing up to eleven feet tall, weighing as much as 13,000 pounds, and powerful enough to snap off a tree like this with relative ease. And here in Botswana's Okavango Delta during the dry season, African elephants still roam in enormous numbers.

The cheetah is designed for speed with long legs and a stream lined body that can reach speeds up to seventy miles per hour, making it one of the fastest animals in the world. But the cheetah is a short distance sprinter only, so one must be an excellent stalker to get close enough to the prey for the kill.

The wild dog is the most successful predator in Africa. Equipped with extraordinary endurance, the animals chase antelope for miles, maintaining speeds of up to 35 miles per hour until they exhaust their prey and make the kill. Still, there are less than 2500 wild dogs left in the world and nearly one third of them live in Botswana.

As a predator, the lion is an undisputed king of African animals, armed with enough power and weaponry to kill other carnivores in its territory. But hunting skill alone is not enough to ensure the survival of a species in this harsh African environment and it's only a small part of a lion's success story at the top of the food chain. The pride is what sets the lion apart from all other cats

In the Okavango Delta hippos inhabit the waterways in high densities and the enormous animals are known to ferociously defend their territory. In South Africa, the white rhino is making a comeback after nearly being wiped out across the continent.

For millions of years of all the world's continents, Africa has become the land of the hoofed animal. Each species has developed its own mechanisms for feeding, mating, rearing young, and surviving. I've come to Southern Africa to follow the giraffe and other uniquely evolved hoofed animals in the wild. The zebra, with its sometime verbal social structure and expertise for escaping predators.

The predators that roam Asia's tropical forest (like the Asian tiger and the giant python) are legendary, but here in one of the world's most diverse ecosystems there are hundreds of lesser known species that prey upon others and pound for pound none are more ferocious or efficient hunters than the predatory invertebrates.

The Okavango River (unlike most rivers) never reaches the sea. Instead it spills out over the sands of the Kalahari basin, creating the Okavango Delta in Botswana. This vast southern African oasis is one of the most remote and untouched wilderness areas on the planet, and one of the richest wildlife havens in the world. The sheer number of free ranging animals in the Delta in unmatched.

Even now at the end of the rainy season when water is abundant everywhere, many species base their lives around the waterhole. They rely on this natural reservoir not only for a life giving drink but also as a necessary food source.

The leopard is secretive and illusive by a master of stealth, stalking within five yards of its prey before pouncing and making the kill. And pound for pound, it's probably the strongest cat, able to kill a coodoo three times its size, or carry a one hundred and fifty pound impala up a tree.

From the long, stream lined body and powerful legs to the highly developed senses; nature has equipped the bobcat to be an expert hunter. The cat stalks silently or waits for hours without moving until prey comes along, and then it strikes with precision. And even though it's the most common wildcat in North America, few people ever see this elusive animal.

Pound for pound the American badger may be the world's greatest natural excavator, sometimes to escape a predator it simply digs a fortress on the spot, showering dirt in the face of the enemy to keep it at bay. But the badger is also a formidable adversary, able to fight off animals several times its size. And it's a skilled hunter of rodents and small game.