[3rd POV}
(Documentary Episode 7}
..
[Name : Dr T. Soma Tonson
Role : Lead Researcher of Leo's Team]
"Before we begin this episode, I want to emphasise something important," Dr Tonson said as footage of the night sky rolled over the plains. "What you are about to see is behaviour no field researcher, no ethologist, and no carnivore specialist in the world has ever documented before. Even now, years later, we still cannot fully explain it."
"The insane story that you are about to witness might seem impossible, it might seem unreal or fictional. But it did happen. I saw it with my very own eyes. But any comments we made should be taken as pure speculation, after all, we are not mind readers and could not know what was happening inside the animal's head," he said.
"But at the same time, know that these narrations and speculations took years in the making and should be the closest thing we could get to the truth."
The documentary finally began with showing the sunrise and focusing on Leo who was gazing at the plateau before him. This was the exact scene where the last episode left off.
"At long last, Leo and his pride reached the Pridelands after a gruelling journey that lasted over two weeks."
The footage changed briefly to the pride that were resting under the shade of a tree in the bright morning.
"The journey had taken a toll on everyone. Lions were not animals designed to migrate over long distances, much less cover hundreds of miles in a week. But the stress on their body was much less due to their strategy of travelling during the night to avoid heat stroke," he said.
The scene changed back to Leo.
"And although the king seemed to want to climb up the plateau and challenge the King Scar already, he knew he had to recover from the journey first. And what is the best way for the body to recover?"
Leo finally moved from his spot and headed towards a direction.
"Food."
"Leo and his pride were known for their incredible diet. They eat every two days, feasting on bulky buffalo meat. But that kind of diet had to be stopped after they left the Serengeti. And now, in the deserted land of the Pridelands and its outskirts, prey were scarce," he said.
"But it was in this moment that Leo finally turned his attention on an animal he had never preyed on before."
The footage changed to an aerial shot. It panned towards a lone figure in the dry land, a bull giraffe.
It was massive, with a long, thick neck that looked like it came straight out of a fictional book. The stats of the animal were briefly displayed. Five point five metres tall, that was nearly two basketball rims stacked on top of each other. It also weighed nearly two thousand kilograms.
"Normally, giraffes are among the last animals a lion targets," Dr Tonson explained. "They are not easy prey. They are not convenient prey. But here, at the outskirts of the Pridelands, they were the only prey left."
The footage shifted to the barren terrain around the plateau, cracked soil, dead trees, and distant skeletons half buried in ash coloured dust.
"The ecological collapse caused by Scar had wiped out nearly every water dependent herbivore. Wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and others. They need grasslands with seasonal water, so when the plateau fell apart, those species vanished within a year. But the giraffes survived differently."
The camera showed the bull giraffe plucking leaves from the canopy with casual ease.
"Giraffes occupy a vertical niche. Their height allows them to feed on tree canopies far above ground level. Even during drought, trees can store moisture deep in their trunks, meaning giraffes often remain when all grazers disappear. They can go weeks without drinking if their food is rich in moisture."
"So while every other prey species had either migrated, died, or collapsed under hyena pressure, giraffes endured. Not because they were strong, but because evolution placed their food out of reach of disaster."
The documentary zoomed closer to the giraffe's neck.
"A giraffe's neck can reach almost six feet in length. It is a biological crane, a machine perfectly designed for survival during drought. But at the same time, that same neck is a weapon capable of generating forces comparable to a stallion's kick. One strike from it can kill a lion instantly."
The audience saw Leo, dwarfed by the giant in a CGI scene. Leo was a behemoth of a lion, but he was still just a lion. His four hundred kilogram mass in comparison to the mass of a one thousand eight hundred kilogram giraffe seemed underwhelming and outmatched.
"To a starving pride, a giraffe is an impossible gamble. But to Leo, who had fought lions, buffalo and coalitions without fear, it was simply the biggest meal he could find for his pride."
The scene turned back to Leo, who was making his way towards the giraffe with one lioness. When they reached the animal, the two lions paused.
They observed their prey from a distance for a long time before eventually, Leo stepped up to try and hunt down the beast solo.
"Predators rely on stealth, ambush and deception. We were very excited to see what crazy strategy Leo would use to take down the giraffe, but much to our surprise, Leo seemed to abandon all of these principles. We thought he had given up the hunt before it even began. But then we realised something."
The two great animals met in the open plain. It was impossible to sneak up on a giraffe that was basically a living watchtower, so Leo abandoned trying entirely.
Two giants of different natures assessed each other.
Leo began moving in circles around the giraffe. He was not close enough to provoke a reaction from the giraffe, but enough that he could study his prey for as long as he wanted.
"Leo was observing the mechanics of the animal in front of him. His gaze kept tracing the neck, the angle, the legs, the centre of gravity. Like we said before, he had never hunted a giraffe before and right now, we are watching him teach himself how to do so."
The two animals continued to watch each other. The giraffe was deadpanning while chewing on leaves, as if he could not be bothered by some big cat.
Leo's eyes were locked in, his mouth opening to reveal sharp canines while he breathed from the mouth.
There was tension there. The audience could feel it.
And then, all tension came loose.
Leo lunged out.
Without any pause or comment, the documentary allowed the viewers to watch the two giants clash. Leo ran towards the giraffe but stopped at the last second.
The giraffe slammed down his hooves on the earth, creating craters and a muffled thud that they could hear even through the camera. The giraffe continued to move forward even after the hooves missed and Leo moved back to dodge them.
Dust rose like clouds of smoke. It began swallowing the giraffe and Leo completely. Soon enough, the camera was not able to capture what was going on.
And then.
The giraffe finally swung his head down like a wrecking ball. His long neck swung to generate immense force that was enough to blow clear the smoke in one swing. When the audience saw Leo again, it was of him barely dodging that powerful swing.
Then the video paused in the exact moment that showed Leo's reaction to the swing. It was absolutely hilarious and people immediately took screenshots to make it a meme. It was a true what the fuck face on a lion.
Dr Tonson laughed, "Lets get into a bit of detail why the king had that reaction."
The scene changed to show CGI animation that showed example and visual learning to what the doctor said.
"A fully grown bull giraffe weighs between one thousand two hundred and one thousand nine hundred kilograms with each leg alone weighing over one hundred kilograms. And when that weight is dropped from even a short height, the force becomes catastrophic," he said.
"Giraffes strike downward with a motion similar to a piston. The muscles of the shoulder and forelimb contract in a single explosive burst, accelerating the hoof downward. The impact can easily exceed two thousand to three thousand kilograms of force, comparable to getting hit by a truck. To make matters worse, the strike was unlike anything that could be delivered by other creatures. It came vertically, from above, an angle that most animals were not prepared for."
The animation continued, showing a giraffe stomping on different things like a human skull and an elephant skull. Or a small bike or a vehicle. All caved in and cracked upon impact.
"And there was the neck swing. A giraffe's neck is essentially a six foot lever powered by a mass of dense muscle. At the end of that lever is the skull, a compact thirteen kilogram hammer."
"When a giraffe swings its head, the arc generates astonishing velocity. The momentum behind a fully committed neck swing can exceed three thousand joules of impact energy. When two male giraffes fight each other in what we call necking, the impact alone can be heard a kilometre away," he said.
The animation showed a giraffe swinging at an American house and the whole house was completely torn apart and destroyed.
"That was the kind of power Leo was dealing with, and for the first time. Hence...."
The footage cut back to Leo's what the fuck face before it resumed.
Leo moved back rapidly from the giraffe, his muscles tensed under his loose hide like a body builder that was flexing. But instead of running away from the scare, Leo became even more focused.
"Even after literally dodging death, the king did not give up. And why would he? He had many mouths to feed."
The fight continued.
Contrary to what many people expected, Leo began fighting more aggressively. When the giraffe rained down deadly stomps, he snapped at the legs and tried to damage them with his jaws.
And when the giraffe was ready to deliver another swing, Leo charged forward and slammed into the giraffe's tall chest.
At one point, Leo anchored himself on the giraffe, his feet off the ground and dangling. But after repeated stomps and hops from the giraffe, Leo fell and went under the giraffe.
Leo came out from the back and barely dodged a back kick that came from the giraffe. People winced when they saw how close it was. Everyone was familiar with a horse kick, but imagine the same action being done by something four times the size of a horse.
At the end, the giraffe ran away and Leo did not chase after it. He gazed at his fleeing prey, his body mostly unharmed.
"Unfortunately, this hunt was not a success for Leo. It was an odd start to all the challenges he would face ahead."
"But do not let this fool you into thinking he failed, because he did not. Every failure was just a learning experience to animals. And in this case, Leo's failure would only be the seed that would bloom into the giraffe being on the lion's diet."
The scene briefly cuts to Leo tearing open a dead giraffe and consuming its flesh. He released a victorious roar into the sky.
...
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