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[Tom Hiddleston] The night.

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A shadowy world that hides more than half the animals on our planet.

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Until now, cameras only offered a glimpse into their lives.

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But with next-generation technology,

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we can see the night as clear as day.

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With cameras a hundred times more sensitive than the human eye...

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we can now capture the beauty of night...

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in color.

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Alien landscapes.

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Strange creatures brought to life by the darkness.

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Unseen behaviors.

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Now we can follow the lives of animals

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in Earth's last true wilderness.

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The night.

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Sunset over Namibia's Skeleton Coast.

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Where the African desert meets the Atlantic Ocean.

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It appears lifeless.

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But, for a few months each year,

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the beaches here are taken over by oceanic visitors.

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Cape fur seals.

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Each spring, over half a million come ashore to breed.

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It seems the perfect place to raise newborn pups.

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[barks]

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-Just a few weeks old... -[barks]

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...this youngster is still totally dependent on his mother.

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For the first four months,

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he'll feed only on her high-calorie milk.

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But nursing a hungry pup is exhausting work.

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So the mothers must regularly return to the ocean to feed,

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often for days on end.

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Leaving their pups...

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[barks]

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...home alone.

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But dusk is a dangerous time.

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[barks]

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A pair of black-backed jackals.

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[barking]

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Without their mothers to protect them...

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the pups must fend for themselves.

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Sharp teeth are their only defense.

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[howls]

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In the daylight, the pups can usually see the jackals off.

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But as light starts to fade, the tables turn.

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After dark, the jackals will have the element of surprise.

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For these young pups, it's going to be a long and dangerous night.

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We've never been able to see the dramas

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that take place along this coastline after dark.

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But now new technology...

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allows us to reveal its mysteries...

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like never before.

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[barking]

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For the first few hours after dark, the colony is a noisy place.

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[barking]

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In the hubbub, a lone pup calls for his mother.

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But the adults nearby offer him no comfort.

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Cape fur seals only care for their own pups.

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He must look after himself.

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But luckily the beach is full of youngsters whose mothers are away fishing.

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In the moonlight, they all huddle together in a seal pup nursery.

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It's the youngsters' best chance of staying safe.

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And at night they're right to be wary.

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Along the coast, a shipwreck has been swallowed by the sand.

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It's now a den for the most powerful pack of jackals on this beach.

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Over 95% of their diet

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is made up of one thing: seal pups.

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[howling]

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These haunting howls are a rallying cry to start the hunt.

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Filmed for the first time,

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night cameras follow the jackals on a nocturnal raid.

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Adult seals are too big to take on.

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So the pack sneaks into the heart of the colony, searching for pups.

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To our eyes...

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the pups are hidden in the darkness.

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But jackals have excellent night vision...

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allowing them to seek out any opportunity.

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[pup barking]

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A sleeping pup.

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-[seal bellows] -[pup barks]

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With an adult close by,

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this time, the jackal backs off.

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But another pup has wandered from the safety of the nursery.

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And it's been spotted.

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[pup barking]

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Its only chance is to make it to the sea,

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where the jackal will not follow.

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A lucky escape.

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[animals chattering]

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Away from the waves...

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a strange chorus rises from the desert.

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[chattering continues]

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Having sheltered from the sun's heat all day,

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the cooler nights are when small desert dwellers emerge from their burrows.

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[chattering]

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A male barking gecko, looking for love.

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But in the darkness, it's hard to find a mate.

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[gecko barking]

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So he barks.

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[barking]

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[barking continues]

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This female likes what she hears.

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But to follow her heart...

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she must risk her life.

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A white lady spider.

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A gecko-hunter...

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with a deadly venomous bite.

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In the pitch black, it detects prey through tiny vibrations in the sand.

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She's too quick for the spider, that retreats to its underground lair.

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For the barking gecko, finding love is a risky business.

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[barking]

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But it's worth the gamble.

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[muffled barking]

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At night, this desert coastline hides other surprises.

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The sand has not only swallowed ships...

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but also whole towns.

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An old abandoned mining outpost...

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haunted by strange night spirits.

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A brown hyena, known to the locals as a strand wolf.

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This is the first time we've been able to see

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into the nocturnal lives of these animals.

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The ruins of an abandoned casino provide a den for a small family.

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A mother...

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and her two daughters, hyena teenagers.

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The youngsters haven't eaten all day.

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They're hungry.

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[growls]

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And cranky.

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[shrieking, growling]

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This bizarre nocturnal fight is known as muzzle-wrestling.

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It's how young hyenas test each other's strength.

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[shrieking, growling continues]

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As they battle it out, it's up to their mother to provide food.

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Brown hyenas are considered scavengers.

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But on this one stretch of coastline, they've also learned to hunt...

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seal pups.

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[seals barking]

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Now, for the first time,

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we can reveal how the darkness helps them catch their prey.

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[barks]

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Without our cameras...

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the hyena is almost impossible to make out.

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Hiding in the shadows...

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she doesn't chase the seals...

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she waits for the seals to come to her.

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Just out of reach.

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But conditions are about to change in the hyena's favor.

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In the hours after midnight,

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a fogbank rolls in off the ocean, obscuring the moon.

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Now it's harder than ever for the seals to spot the hyena.

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She repositions amongst the rocks...

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and waits.

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[barks]

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[seals barking]

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Finally, the perfect target.

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[crunch]

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Her powerful jaws finish the job.

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The kill soon attracts unwanted attention.

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-[growls] -[whimpers]

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[snarling]

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The jackals, still desperate for food, surround her 20-to-1.

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But even a whole pack is no match for this powerful night hunter.

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Hunting is over for the night.

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In the first glow of dawn...

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the jackal pack returns to their shipwreck den.

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And the seal colony is starting to stir.

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[seals barking]

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By huddling together, the vast majority have survived the night.

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-And one pup hears a call he recognizes. -[seal barking]

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[barks]

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[pup barks]

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[seal barks]

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Mum is back.

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[barks]

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He finally gets to feed.

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In a few months, the pups will be big enough to leave these beaches...

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and start the next chapter of their lives at sea.

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And Namibia's Skeleton Coast will be peaceful once again.

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[vehicle engine revving]

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The most daunting challenge the Earth at Night team faced

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was filming the elusive brown hyena,

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which meant braving an abandoned ghost town.

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We are the only people around for miles and miles.

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And it is pretty creepy at night.

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[Hiddleston] And the spooky feeling was heightened

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when they came face-to-face with a large hyena.

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[Thomas] So close.

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[Hiddleston] Nobody knew what to expect from these predators at night,

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even hyena scientist, Dr. Ingrid Wiesel.

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I've done years of work observing them during the day.

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But behavior at night might be different.

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I'm very excited to see this footage.

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[whirring]

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A night-vision drone allowed the crew to explore the ruined buildings

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and figure out where best to set up their cameras.

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They discovered a den in the old town casino.

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That's amazing.

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Twenty years that I've been here and studying hyenas,

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it's the first time that I'm working with a film company that can film at night.

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[Hiddleston] Staking it out over several weeks,

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the crew was often surprised by the hyenas' nocturnal behaviors.

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[hyena shrieks]

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Some even Ingrid hadn't seen before.

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Wow, this was absolutely amazing footage for tonight.

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I can't believe it.

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But what interested her the most

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was how the hyenas' neighbors, the jackals, also joined in the action.

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[Wiesel] These jackals are really hassling this hyena.

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I think that happens a lot more at night.

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[Hiddleston] One jackal was even bold enough

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to attempt a sneaky raid on the hyenas' den.

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-[snarl] -[yelp]

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Never a good idea.

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So nice to see what they do at night. It's so special.

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[Hiddleston] Working with scientists and the latest technology,

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the team was able to capture never-before-seen moments

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in the lives of these secretive nocturnal animals.