Predators Up Close

In remote eastern Zambia, Joel goes in search of Africa’s largest predators, and must get the field pod close enough to a pride to observe them. The world’s best thermal camera allows him to see the lions at night in spectacular detail, and he uses his military skills to stalk them in daylight. During a thrilling night in the pod, lionesses shred the robust bite-force meter, and a big male tries various ways to get in. When a herd of buffalo appear, Joel witnesses the pride’s hunting prowess

Joel travels to Zambia to investigate Africa’s most successful predator, the spotted hyena. He learns their many unusual traits - highly social, dominated by females, and the only animals on earth capable of biting through bone. It becomes clear there is a hyena clan operating near camp when they are heard in the river and captured on camera traps breaking into the camp’s kitchen. Joel constructs his pod nearby and uses hyena-call recordings and a puzzle box to test a key hyena attribute: intelligence.