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Most visitors experience the African savanna from the safety of a 4x4 vehicle. It may be much safer, but I think there's nothing like the adventure of traveling on foot and encountering some of the deadliest animals on Earth, like a black mamba. It's a black mamba. It's a black mamba, yes. Look at this. This is the snake with a bad reputation. It is one of fastest and most aggressive snake species on Earth. And that's not even mentioning here, on the African continent. Look at how she is. She is aggressive. His head is raised. It just can't be. Wow, a black mamba! I'll have to be very careful. This species of snake is very fast and certainly one of the most dangerous. Of all the African animals I will encounter, this
snake is the worst. It's fast. She is aggressive. And when it bites, it bites to inject venom. They have an extremely toxic poison. And when you look at this species, you're looking at a more dangerous animal.What? More dangerous than a lion, an elephant, or a hippopotamus. It's because they are fast, have long fangs, and a super toxic venom. They are found near people because they hunt rats and mice. And they are found in the villages. And this one is right on this path. People walk around here barefoot day and night. These snakes are fast on land and quick to get out of your way. Right here, they are considered rare. But towards the coast, they are much more common. And this one is quite large. She will be about
two and a half meters tall, but look how slender her build is, really thin. They are elegant, fast, and powerful predators. Let me tell you something, this is one of the wildest snakes I will ever encounter. An absolutely beautiful animal, but it needs to be treated with great respect and given plenty of space. If you corner her, she will come towards you. It is one of the few snakes that, if it feels cornered, will attack with its fangs ready to fight. Whoa! It's coming straight towards you. I'm just going to let him go his way. There you go, buddy. There you go. Come on, he's not attacking me.
Even a family group of elephants should be wary of a black mamba. Elephants are so afraid of snakes that they literally crush them to the ground. And right now, Steve needs to be even more careful to respect her space and her power. They passed through here somehow. It is very important to keep an eye on the herd because, although they are large, they are very difficult to see, especially in these thorny bushes. Here we go. Oh, I think I've gotten too close. These girls.oh. They're getting rowdy. They have a two- week-old baby there. Aren't they beautiful? Uh-oh. The matriarch.Here she comes. was probably a simulated load, but by the time you find out if it's for real or not, it's too late. And
elephants are very good mothers. Another giant is the giraffe, the tallest animal in the world, and there's no way to escape its sight. There is constantly some creature watching you from somewhere and they have a large communication network to warn each other of danger. How about this? You can smell this carcass from a couple of hundred meters upwind, maybe even further. A little nervous. Here's a great shaded area for a pride of lions to curl up and digest with a full belly. They have hunted this buffalo. Take a look at this. They gutted him, they even chewed his ribs. Powerful jaw structure. And they probably brought him down when one of them grabbed his snout and suffocated him. They have even eaten
part of the head and the eye socket. Look at these big, powerful horns. Hey, look at that. And they are known to be able to hurt lions. And the pack will stay around here digesting their big meal. I always get nervous being near prey because all the predators are lurking around the perimeter. With lions nearby, every animal that is a potential prey is on high alert. The tall grass of the plains is both an advantage and a danger. It's perfect for stealth movement, allowing us to approach the resting pride of lions. The downside is that we never know what's a few meters ahead of us. We cannot detect danger until we walk right into it. Suddenly, we're almost on top of
them and Steve has to be extremely careful. They seem calm, but until Steve can see what's happening, he doesn't know how they'll react. In a typical family group or pride of lions, the males are never permanent. His place as protector of the family depends entirely on the power of his claws, teeth, and muscles. When a male becomes too old or weak, he will be driven out by a more powerful lion. We have three females and two young males, and they are incredibly fat. Look how distended their stomachs are. They have a big belly full of buffalo and a little bit of hippopotamus. You can see that they have their mouths open, panting under the shade
of this magnificent sausage tree. Trying to stay cool. It's a lazy day. What I like, very interesting, is that you can see the male in the middle of those females; Her mane is as large as it usually is in this part of Africa. This other male here, his mane is a little bigger. Males don't have those huge, magnificent manes that we stereotypically see on television. They're just staring at us. His eyes almost seem to pierce right through you. But I am not under any threat, absolutely no danger at all. They are full and they are huddled together. Wow. You can see another mammal approaching directly. Look at this. They've seen some buffalo coming straight towards us. No. The buffalo smelled them and turned away. I've been dealing with large
predatory cats for quite some time and I know what to expect. I can see their stomachs. I understand their karma and I see the herd of buffalo. I would strongly recommend that no one ever attempt to enter the personal space of these large mammals. Besides fathering pups, the male's role in the pack is protection. The females hunt, the males fight. And this guy is looking right at me. He's nervous. Me too. It's a minor confrontation. He doesn't quite understand it. He is used to seeing humans on two legs and they signify danger. You can see the way he wants to run, he's tensing up. Yes, he's leaving. Two- legged animal, human, means danger, rifles. These animals have been hunted. They feel fear. I could see it, feel it, and smell it. So, I was fine, but
in other parts of Africa, humans have been killed and eaten. What constantly goes through my mind, day and night, is the territory. This whole place is about territory. It is the territory of wild animals and I have to respect it. Africa is home to some of the largest mammalian predators on the face of the earth.
