The BBC documentary series Planet Earth II, narrated by demigod Sir David Attenborough, has taken three years of filming, 117 filming trips, and 2,089 days of shooting. Based on the reaction to Sunday's episode, it was time well spent. Those lucky enough to catch it on last night in the UK were particularly blown away by a scene showing a caiman being hunted by a jaguar.
The episode focused on the animals of the jungle, one of the richest and most competitive ecosystems on Earth. As such, its predators often go head-to-head with one another. In the forest of Brazil, they managed to catch the moment a 136-kilogram (300-pound) jaguar was out to hunt a 3-meter-long (10-foot-long) caiman. The big cat was definitely the winner of the challenge, delivering a loud crunching bite to the back of the caiman's skull. Damn, nature.
It also featured some rather gorgeous Wilson’s bird-of-paradise, some super-camouflaged frogs, a draco lizard that can glide between trees, and a sword-billed hummingbird, the only bird with a beak longer than its body.
If you’re in the UK, you can watch the full episode now on BBC iPlayer. Across the pond in the US, the series will be aired starting from January 28, 2017, on BBC America.