uh, can we see the lion's teeth?

Yeah, we can see the lion's teeth.

You guys ready?

(growling)

(intense music)

Since sunrise, the crew and I have been on the search

for Kariega Game Reserve's pride of lions.

Working in tandem with the reserve protection agency,

and a team of field veterinarians,

today's goal is to safely tranquilize

and collect biometric data from these predatory cats.

- Coyote, the other teams got the lions over the hill.

- A radio call from the opposite side of the reserve

delivered confirmation that the lions had been located

on a fresh kill.

For the safety of the lions

and the veterinarians collecting data,

the field team decided that

all four of the cats would be darted.

So with everyone in position, the final moment was upon us.

And the only thing left for Doctor Waldo Dreyer to do

was hit his targets.

Wow, those are some big cats.

Let's get ready to dart.

Here we go.

Target right on that female's rump.

Ooh!

Got one, got one.

Nice shot.

Wow, did you see them spring into action like that?

Okay, we thought that maybe the lions would

move off when we darted one but you've got four lions.

Three females and a young male?

A young male, right?

Wow, still an enormous cat.

Alright, getting ready for the second dart.

Here we go, we've got the male

coming up around the backside here.

(gun fires) (growling)

The upper forefront of her chest.

Go, go, go, go!

No, not yet, not yet.

Can't miss the females, I must have a clear shot.

It's super windy, though. Could throw off the dart.

Do not want to hit the animal in the face.

Here comes the shot.

(growling) Got 'em.

Alright, the male as been darted.

One lion left.

Wow, okay, we have three of the lions darted at this point.

Male and two females.

One female still does not have a dart in her, though.

So we're trying to move the vehicle

to get in a better position.

This is intense.

Hold on guys.

Be aware you've got a lion.

Here we go, look at this good shot, zoom in, zoom in.

Got it!

All lions have been darted.

And they are all staring at us now saying,

"Okay, uh, what are you guys doing out here?"

Wow, that's intimidating.

With all four cats successfully darted,

we watched from a safe distance.

As one by one, they succumb to the effects

of the tranquilizer serum.

Alright, now it's just going to take a few minutes

for the tranquilizer to set in.

They'll tell us to get out of the vehicles,

we'll move in, get that biometric data.

Wow, my heart's racing right now.

How 'bout you?

This is crazy.

Time was of the essence,

so the vet team needed to move quickly.

This meant that as a camera team,

we would have a very limited window of time

to capture an up-close presentation

with these sleeping carnivores.

Given his iconic stature,

I was beyond excited to showcase the male.

While in the background, the veterinarians would be

collecting the sought-after biometric data from the females.

In human terms,

this procedure is comparable to a check-up a the doctor.

When it comes to lions,

this includes pulling a small hair sample from the tail,

checking body length, paw length, overall health,

and lastly, microchip identification.

That is a big cat right there, look at that.

This other female down right here.

- [Cameraman] Hey, just lions laying around everywhere.

- Yeah, lions everywhere.

Come on guys, these lions are just asleep.

None of these animals are actually hurt.

Here it is, here's the male.

(powerful music)

That is unbelievable right there.

This is the closest I have ever been to a wild apex predator

of this size.

Oh, You can feel him breathing.

Ah, beautiful animal.

Now this creature is enormous

and it is still a sub-adult male lion.

I wanna come on this side just to show you this paw.

You've got the mane.

You can see his face is covered up there, it is asleep.

Look at the size of this animal's paws.

It's bigger than my hand, that is crazy.

And so heavy, so much weight and so much muscle

in the front section of this cat.

You guys wanna see those claws, don't you?

- [Cameraman] Oh yeah.

- Ready for this?

Hold on, let me kinda sit down here.

Get ready.

That is impressive, right there.

And these claws are constantly growing

throughout the course of the animal's life.

Now like all cats, they have four toes up front.

But also, a dew claw on the side.

You see that?

- [Cameraman] Wow.

- That is the key piece of power right there.

Because when they lunge toward a water buffalo

or a wildebeest and they latch on,

it's this claw that hooks in place

and makes sure that that prey does not get away.

And that's what they do, latch on, and they go for the neck.

Now the lion, believe it or not,

does not have that powerful of a bite force

as compared to other big cats.

Only somewhere between 600 and 900 pounds per square inch.

But what they wanna do is go for the trachea.

You get the trachea, you're cuttin' off the windpipe

and that animal's gonna suffocate.

Now the males, while they can hunt,

aren't the ones that are actually hunting.

So while when we came up on this pride,

you see that they'd taken down an impala.

It's likely the females that killed the impala

but then the males will come in and they will feast first.

Wow, this cat is just the coolest creature

I have ever been around.

Let's take a look at its' head real quick.

Look at the size of the ears, massive ears.

They're capable of moving these individually.

They have incredible sense of hearing.

Look at the mane of this animal, it's so dense.

And, oh, it smells like South Africa.

It smells like the Savannah.

A little bit of grass, and a little bit of sand.

Now you look at this mane and you think,

well what is the purpose of a mane on a lion,

other than to have an epic hairdo?

And the purpose is actually to protect them

when they're fighting to protect territory.

All this dense fur, when another male's rearing up,

using its' claws and its' teeth,

protects this lion's throat and his face.

Alright, you guys ready for the reveal?

- [Cameraman] Let's see it.

- Okay, I'm gonna pull this back very slowly.

Let's see the lion's face.

(gasps) There you are buddy.

Oh my gosh, that is incredible.

What a handsome animal right there.

Look at its' whiskers, incredibly dense.

I know you guys are thinking right now,

"Uh, can we see the lion's teeth?"

Yeah, we can see the lion's teeth.

You guys ready?

- [Cameraman] Yeah.

- [Coyote] I'm slowly just gonna pull