1 00:00:05,375 --> 00:00:06,875 (man screaming) 2 00:00:06,958 --> 00:00:11,000 Killer crocodiles that attack without warning. 3 00:00:11,083 --> 00:00:15,333 And great white sharks that are out for blood. 4 00:00:15,375 --> 00:00:17,083 (man screaming) 5 00:00:17,167 --> 00:00:21,000 Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has known 6 00:00:21,042 --> 00:00:23,208 that wild animals are dangerous, 7 00:00:23,292 --> 00:00:26,625 and if provoked, they might attack. 8 00:00:26,708 --> 00:00:29,833 But what about when a deadly predator kills people 9 00:00:29,917 --> 00:00:33,583 not just once but time and time again? 10 00:00:33,667 --> 00:00:36,292 Is it possible that some creatures hunt us down 11 00:00:36,375 --> 00:00:38,583 because they actually have a taste 12 00:00:38,667 --> 00:00:41,167 for human flesh? 13 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:45,167 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 14 00:00:45,250 --> 00:00:47,292 ♪ ♪ 15 00:01:05,208 --> 00:01:07,042 Thousands of workers have come to this 16 00:01:07,125 --> 00:01:09,167 remote patch of the African savannah 17 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:13,250 to build a new railroad line for the British Empire. 18 00:01:15,208 --> 00:01:17,333 One night, as the men sleep, 19 00:01:17,375 --> 00:01:20,042 they're awakened by the sound of screaming. 20 00:01:20,167 --> 00:01:21,500 (man screaming) 21 00:01:21,625 --> 00:01:23,500 They quickly realize 22 00:01:23,542 --> 00:01:25,875 that a fearsome lion has crept into the camp 23 00:01:25,958 --> 00:01:28,542 and is attacking a man in his tent. 24 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,333 BRUCE PATTERSON: A big male lion entered the tent of a foreman, 25 00:01:34,417 --> 00:01:38,417 seized him by the head, dragged him out screaming and kicking 26 00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:42,500 into the bush, where, uh, his remains were found the next day. 27 00:01:42,625 --> 00:01:44,708 And there was very little left of him. 28 00:01:45,792 --> 00:01:50,083 But his head was left almost completely intact, 29 00:01:50,167 --> 00:01:53,333 pierced on the sides by the lion's teeth, 30 00:01:53,375 --> 00:01:58,167 his eyes wide open, frozen in a look of horror and fear. 31 00:02:00,042 --> 00:02:01,458 SHATNER: The savage killing of the foreman 32 00:02:01,542 --> 00:02:04,167 marked the beginning of a vicious murder spree 33 00:02:04,292 --> 00:02:08,667 carried out by not one but two vicious lions, 34 00:02:08,750 --> 00:02:10,917 who quickly earned the nickname, 35 00:02:11,042 --> 00:02:14,000 the Tsavo Man-Eaters. 36 00:02:14,083 --> 00:02:17,667 LARISSA DeSANTIS: The two man-eaters were particularly large. 37 00:02:17,750 --> 00:02:21,333 They were upwards of nine feet in length. 38 00:02:21,417 --> 00:02:24,333 We know that these two lions were both males. 39 00:02:24,417 --> 00:02:26,667 And they don't have the large iconic manes 40 00:02:26,708 --> 00:02:28,792 that you would expect of most African lions. 41 00:02:30,583 --> 00:02:33,167 So these lions were smart. They were patient. 42 00:02:33,250 --> 00:02:37,167 They were able to effectively hunt their prey, 43 00:02:37,208 --> 00:02:39,542 and if you have the element of surprise, 44 00:02:39,625 --> 00:02:41,667 humans really can't do anything about that. 45 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:47,333 There were 3,000 men camped along the rail lines, 46 00:02:47,417 --> 00:02:49,500 and that left the men in tents there 47 00:02:49,583 --> 00:02:51,792 vulnerable to attacks by lions. 48 00:02:53,250 --> 00:02:56,500 The two male lions descended on railway crews, 49 00:02:56,583 --> 00:03:00,333 and began systematically hunting, killing 50 00:03:00,417 --> 00:03:04,792 and consuming railway workers on the edge of this camp. 51 00:03:04,875 --> 00:03:09,292 Of course, the crews became completely dispirited, 52 00:03:09,375 --> 00:03:11,667 and this sparked panic, 53 00:03:11,792 --> 00:03:16,667 this sparked desperation, this sparked mass desertion. 54 00:03:17,667 --> 00:03:21,125 It was headline news back in England at the time, 55 00:03:21,208 --> 00:03:24,042 where in Parliament, delays in the construction 56 00:03:24,125 --> 00:03:27,000 of the railway were discussed as being 57 00:03:27,083 --> 00:03:29,667 attributed to these problematic lions. 58 00:03:30,833 --> 00:03:33,167 SHATNER: News of the savage attacks carried out 59 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:37,250 by the Tsavo Man-Eaters made headlines around the world. 60 00:03:37,375 --> 00:03:40,500 And many began to wonder why these two lions 61 00:03:40,583 --> 00:03:44,667 were deliberately killing and eating so many people. 62 00:03:45,917 --> 00:03:49,958 Incidents of man eating among lions is very unusual. 63 00:03:51,208 --> 00:03:53,708 Lions typically eat zebra, 64 00:03:53,833 --> 00:03:57,833 wildebeest, buffalo, things that eat grass. 65 00:03:57,875 --> 00:04:03,167 They know their prey very well, but a man-eating lion must study 66 00:04:03,250 --> 00:04:06,667 the habits of humans and learn to... 67 00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:09,833 adjust to them in order to be successful 68 00:04:09,875 --> 00:04:11,625 in their food acquisition. 69 00:04:14,375 --> 00:04:18,292 DeSANTIS: We don't see lions attacking and hunting 70 00:04:18,375 --> 00:04:21,958 and trying to go after people most of the time. 71 00:04:22,042 --> 00:04:24,583 But these two lions in particular 72 00:04:24,667 --> 00:04:28,083 were sort of committed to the practice of man eating. 73 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:30,417 -(lion growling) -It's possible 74 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:33,333 that then we became a preferred food. 75 00:04:35,042 --> 00:04:39,333 SHATNER: On December 9, 1898, nine months after their reign 76 00:04:39,458 --> 00:04:43,792 of terror began, the first Tsavo lion was shot and killed. 77 00:04:45,833 --> 00:04:49,250 20 days later, the second lion met the same fate. 78 00:04:50,708 --> 00:04:53,125 But by then, the pair of man-eaters had 79 00:04:53,208 --> 00:04:55,000 already killed and eaten 80 00:04:55,083 --> 00:04:59,667 an astonishing 135 people. 81 00:04:59,708 --> 00:05:01,750 CORBIN MAXEY: There's no evidence 82 00:05:01,833 --> 00:05:04,833 that shows that the Tsavo Man-Eaters were starving. 83 00:05:04,917 --> 00:05:07,917 There was actually plentiful prey in the area-- 84 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,958 wildebeests, 85 00:05:10,042 --> 00:05:13,667 zebra, gazelles, hippos. 86 00:05:13,750 --> 00:05:17,167 And yet they chose to eat humans. 87 00:05:17,250 --> 00:05:19,792 It is a very unusual situation. 88 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,167 SHATNER: The Tsavo Man-Eaters are perhaps the most 89 00:05:24,250 --> 00:05:26,750 infamous lions in history. 90 00:05:26,875 --> 00:05:30,167 Their seemingly insatiable desire to kill humans 91 00:05:30,208 --> 00:05:32,875 taps into our most primal fears, 92 00:05:32,958 --> 00:05:36,083 and is a reminder that our ancient ancestors lived 93 00:05:36,208 --> 00:05:40,500 in constant fear of being attacked by dangerous predators. 94 00:05:41,750 --> 00:05:44,208 NATALIA REAGAN: Early on, our ancestors were often 95 00:05:44,333 --> 00:05:47,708 preyed upon because we don't have giant 96 00:05:47,792 --> 00:05:50,792 claws and armor and things of that sort. 97 00:05:50,875 --> 00:05:53,917 We've got this big brain that can help us hopefully 98 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,458 outthink and outcompete these predators, 99 00:05:56,542 --> 00:06:00,000 but given the right circumstances, 100 00:06:00,125 --> 00:06:02,458 we're very vulnerable. 101 00:06:03,375 --> 00:06:05,500 We humans like to think that we're 102 00:06:05,542 --> 00:06:07,708 at the top of the food chain. 103 00:06:07,833 --> 00:06:09,833 But thousands and thousands of years ago, 104 00:06:09,958 --> 00:06:13,833 we were eaten alive by almost any and everything. 105 00:06:13,917 --> 00:06:16,625 And what is very interesting about that is 106 00:06:16,708 --> 00:06:20,083 scientists have actually shown infants 107 00:06:20,167 --> 00:06:24,000 images of snakes, images of spiders, 108 00:06:24,083 --> 00:06:26,875 and infants who have never seen these animals before 109 00:06:26,958 --> 00:06:29,333 will freak out, they'll show a fear response. 110 00:06:29,417 --> 00:06:31,500 They'll cry. That's an alarm call. 111 00:06:31,542 --> 00:06:33,583 That is innate. It's in our DNA. 112 00:06:35,708 --> 00:06:37,500 SHATNER: More than a hundred years after the attacks 113 00:06:37,583 --> 00:06:39,667 by the Tsavo Man-Eaters, 114 00:06:39,750 --> 00:06:42,667 the mystery of what made these two lions target people 115 00:06:42,708 --> 00:06:45,708 lingers in the public consciousness. 116 00:06:45,792 --> 00:06:48,667 So much so that their skulls are 117 00:06:48,792 --> 00:06:51,833 on display at the Field Museum of Natural History 118 00:06:51,917 --> 00:06:54,375 in Chicago, Illinois, 119 00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:56,833 where scientists continue to study them 120 00:06:56,917 --> 00:07:01,542 in search of clues as to why they became man-eaters. 121 00:07:01,625 --> 00:07:04,292 And according to the latest research, 122 00:07:04,375 --> 00:07:06,667 it appears the lions' murderous rampage 123 00:07:06,708 --> 00:07:10,167 may have ironically had something to do 124 00:07:10,208 --> 00:07:12,000 with their teeth. 125 00:07:13,208 --> 00:07:16,458 PATTERSON: The teeth of lions, they're used to crack bones 126 00:07:16,542 --> 00:07:19,333 and get the marrow that's inside them, 127 00:07:19,458 --> 00:07:23,000 and it's quite typical in lion dentitions to find 128 00:07:23,083 --> 00:07:27,083 missing or broken teeth associated with this heavy use. 129 00:07:28,208 --> 00:07:31,833 It's not typical, however, to find dental disease. 130 00:07:31,875 --> 00:07:34,667 Yet, in the case of the Tsavo lion, 131 00:07:34,750 --> 00:07:37,917 we had a broken lower right canine 132 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:43,000 whose pulp cavity was exposed about a third of an inch across. 133 00:07:43,042 --> 00:07:46,958 That would have been excruciatingly painful. 134 00:07:47,042 --> 00:07:50,667 This is a cast of the skull of the first man-eater, 135 00:07:50,750 --> 00:07:55,333 and this is the broken lower right canine tooth 136 00:07:55,375 --> 00:07:59,042 that ultimately became diseased and impacted. 137 00:08:00,042 --> 00:08:03,000 This lion would have been unable to administer the killing bite 138 00:08:03,042 --> 00:08:07,542 that lions use to take down large, struggling prey. 139 00:08:07,667 --> 00:08:11,167 So we think that the arrival of the railway workers in camp 140 00:08:11,250 --> 00:08:14,208 happened at exactly the right time 141 00:08:14,292 --> 00:08:17,000 for this individual lion, that, 142 00:08:17,042 --> 00:08:20,000 as it had become incapable 143 00:08:20,083 --> 00:08:23,667 of taking down buffalo, it looked on people 144 00:08:23,750 --> 00:08:27,125 with a new eye and a new appetite. 145 00:08:28,875 --> 00:08:30,792 SHATNER: Did a debilitating toothache turn the first 146 00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:33,000 Tsavo lion into a man-eater 147 00:08:33,083 --> 00:08:37,292 because humans are softer prey that were easier to bite? 148 00:08:37,375 --> 00:08:39,875 It's a compelling theory. 149 00:08:39,958 --> 00:08:42,500 But scientists have verified that the other 150 00:08:42,542 --> 00:08:45,500 Tsavo lion's teeth were perfectly healthy. 151 00:08:45,542 --> 00:08:48,792 So why did it join in the killing? 152 00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:52,708 MAXEY: One of the Tsavo lions had extreme dental issues. 153 00:08:52,792 --> 00:08:56,458 The second lion did not have those dental injuries. 154 00:08:56,542 --> 00:08:58,833 So why would this lion go towards humans? 155 00:08:58,958 --> 00:09:00,583 It's because it learned from the other lion 156 00:09:00,667 --> 00:09:04,417 that humans are an easy target. 157 00:09:04,500 --> 00:09:07,167 Constantly, predators are-are learning 158 00:09:07,250 --> 00:09:08,583 from success, from failures. 159 00:09:08,667 --> 00:09:09,958 They're learning from others. 160 00:09:10,042 --> 00:09:11,500 They're learning how to take down prey. 161 00:09:11,583 --> 00:09:13,750 They're learning how to hunt. 162 00:09:13,833 --> 00:09:16,167 And so it's not surprising to see 163 00:09:16,208 --> 00:09:19,833 that the second man-eater started eating people as well. 164 00:09:19,875 --> 00:09:22,917 We probably were, um, an easy meal. 165 00:09:25,292 --> 00:09:28,583 We oftentimes will see an animal that has killed multiple humans 166 00:09:28,667 --> 00:09:31,083 and think, "Oh, wow, they're gunning for us." 167 00:09:31,167 --> 00:09:33,750 But we have to really remember and reframe it 168 00:09:33,833 --> 00:09:37,083 as these are animals that are doing just what they have to do 169 00:09:37,167 --> 00:09:40,750 to make it into the next week, the next year. 170 00:09:40,833 --> 00:09:43,792 Just like we would. It's kind of eat or be eaten. 171 00:09:44,750 --> 00:09:48,917 The story of the Tsavo man-eating lions 172 00:09:49,042 --> 00:09:52,000 is proof positive that some animals enjoy 173 00:09:52,083 --> 00:09:54,917 having humans on the menu, so to speak. 174 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,083 But there's another creature who reportedly killed 175 00:09:58,208 --> 00:10:02,750 over a hundred people that is even more unsettling. 176 00:10:03,958 --> 00:10:06,833 A fearsome predator that roamed the French countryside 177 00:10:06,917 --> 00:10:10,250 and was known as the Beast of Gévaudan. 178 00:10:18,708 --> 00:10:21,542 SHATNER: On a warm summer morning in this farming region 179 00:10:21,667 --> 00:10:24,000 of south central France, 180 00:10:24,125 --> 00:10:26,833 14-year-old Jeanne Boulet leaves home 181 00:10:26,958 --> 00:10:29,000 to tend her flock of sheep. 182 00:10:31,292 --> 00:10:33,875 By sundown, she's dead. 183 00:10:35,750 --> 00:10:38,750 Murdered by a mysterious animal 184 00:10:38,833 --> 00:10:41,458 that reportedly mutilated her body, 185 00:10:41,542 --> 00:10:43,708 severed her head 186 00:10:43,792 --> 00:10:46,042 and ripped out her heart. 187 00:10:47,042 --> 00:10:50,500 Jeanne Boulet was the first documented casualty 188 00:10:50,542 --> 00:10:53,417 of a monster that many people believed 189 00:10:53,542 --> 00:10:55,750 was roaming around south central France 190 00:10:55,833 --> 00:10:59,667 beginning in the late spring of 1764. 191 00:10:59,750 --> 00:11:03,167 By the end of September, another ten or so casualties, 192 00:11:03,292 --> 00:11:05,000 however, had appeared. 193 00:11:05,042 --> 00:11:07,458 GERHARD: Le Bête du Gévaudan, 194 00:11:07,542 --> 00:11:09,542 also known as the Beast of Gévaudan, 195 00:11:09,625 --> 00:11:11,583 was a mysterious wolflike creature 196 00:11:11,708 --> 00:11:14,625 which mounted a murderous rampage 197 00:11:14,708 --> 00:11:18,000 over a three-year span within the 18th century. 198 00:11:19,042 --> 00:11:21,833 The beast frequently attacked women and young children 199 00:11:21,917 --> 00:11:25,333 who had been assigned the task of herding sheep and cattle 200 00:11:25,458 --> 00:11:27,250 in remote mountainous meadows. 201 00:11:27,375 --> 00:11:28,833 And in many cases, 202 00:11:28,875 --> 00:11:30,667 they were rather defenseless and vulnerable. 203 00:11:30,750 --> 00:11:32,458 (growling) 204 00:11:32,542 --> 00:11:36,250 SHATNER: Between 1764 and 1767, 205 00:11:36,375 --> 00:11:38,125 the so-called Beast of Gévaudan 206 00:11:38,208 --> 00:11:40,375 terrorized the Margeride mountain region 207 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:42,333 of southern France. 208 00:11:43,833 --> 00:11:46,083 According to historical records, 209 00:11:46,208 --> 00:11:50,333 more than 100 people were brutally killed. 210 00:11:52,042 --> 00:11:53,833 SMITH: The Beast of the Gévaudan's ravages 211 00:11:53,958 --> 00:11:56,333 did incite panic among the people. 212 00:11:56,458 --> 00:11:59,625 And we know this largely from evidence from journalists 213 00:11:59,708 --> 00:12:01,333 and others who were commenting about 214 00:12:01,417 --> 00:12:03,167 the activities of the beast. 215 00:12:03,250 --> 00:12:07,167 By early 1765, newspapers all across France 216 00:12:07,208 --> 00:12:10,000 and, indeed, all across Europe and in America 217 00:12:10,042 --> 00:12:12,958 were reporting on the Beast of the Gévaudan-- 218 00:12:13,042 --> 00:12:15,833 his exploits, the various hunts for the beast, 219 00:12:15,917 --> 00:12:18,042 the various mysteries surrounding it-- 220 00:12:18,125 --> 00:12:21,708 which is why so many people were transfixed by this story. 221 00:12:23,042 --> 00:12:25,333 GERHARD: There were many attempts to hunt down the beast. 222 00:12:25,417 --> 00:12:28,542 People in the Gévaudan region typically did not own guns, 223 00:12:28,625 --> 00:12:30,458 but there were posses formed. 224 00:12:30,542 --> 00:12:32,667 Groups that would go out in the woods and literally 225 00:12:32,750 --> 00:12:35,333 beat the brush with pitchforks, sticks, 226 00:12:35,417 --> 00:12:38,042 knives, whatever types of weapons were available. 227 00:12:38,167 --> 00:12:40,917 However, the hunt for the beast really ramped up 228 00:12:41,042 --> 00:12:44,083 when King Louis XV became involved. 229 00:12:44,167 --> 00:12:47,750 He brought in a professional wolf hunter named d'Enneval, 230 00:12:47,875 --> 00:12:50,458 who allegedly killed over a hundred wolves, 231 00:12:50,542 --> 00:12:52,458 but the killing still did not end. 232 00:12:53,708 --> 00:12:57,167 SHATNER: According to multiple reports, the beast resembled a wolf 233 00:12:57,208 --> 00:13:00,792 but was unlike any canine that was known to man. 234 00:13:02,250 --> 00:13:05,458 GERHARD: Many of the local villagers noted as saying it resembles 235 00:13:05,542 --> 00:13:09,083 a very large wolf, but the Beast of Gévaudan attacked 236 00:13:09,167 --> 00:13:13,417 and killed people in a nature that was very unlike a wolf. 237 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:14,833 (growling) 238 00:13:14,917 --> 00:13:16,667 The nature of these attacks, 239 00:13:16,708 --> 00:13:17,833 -the way that this thing -(wolf howling) 240 00:13:17,958 --> 00:13:20,583 was decapitating people, 241 00:13:20,708 --> 00:13:22,833 disemboweling people, 242 00:13:22,958 --> 00:13:24,292 this was something completely different. 243 00:13:25,625 --> 00:13:29,208 SMITH: One of the reasons this becomes such a magnetic story 244 00:13:29,292 --> 00:13:32,333 is because there were always new strange stories 245 00:13:32,375 --> 00:13:33,833 about the beast's behavior, 246 00:13:33,917 --> 00:13:36,250 its appearance, its strange abilities. 247 00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:40,958 The peasants on the ground were describing it 248 00:13:41,042 --> 00:13:45,125 as having the ability to walk on its hind legs, 249 00:13:45,208 --> 00:13:50,458 glowing eyes, and having five or six talons rather than four. 250 00:13:51,875 --> 00:13:54,875 They didn't use the word "werewolf." 251 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,250 They used descriptions of this creature that made it easy 252 00:13:58,333 --> 00:14:00,917 to believe that this could indeed be a werewolf. 253 00:14:02,917 --> 00:14:05,292 GERHARD: The Beast of Gévaudan is one of France's 254 00:14:05,375 --> 00:14:08,167 most enduring and popular mysteries. 255 00:14:08,250 --> 00:14:09,792 There are museums. 256 00:14:10,708 --> 00:14:12,667 There are statues. 257 00:14:12,750 --> 00:14:15,000 There are songs. There are stories. 258 00:14:15,125 --> 00:14:18,208 This was like a real-life nightmare. 259 00:14:18,292 --> 00:14:20,167 To this day, the Beast of Gévaudan 260 00:14:20,250 --> 00:14:22,875 is celebrated in French culture, 261 00:14:22,958 --> 00:14:24,958 and it really has a profound effect on people. 262 00:14:26,292 --> 00:14:29,542 SHATNER: The descriptions of the beast were so terrifying 263 00:14:29,625 --> 00:14:31,875 that it's not surprising locals thought 264 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,208 it was some kind of supernatural monster. 265 00:14:36,292 --> 00:14:39,167 But there were scientists at the time 266 00:14:39,250 --> 00:14:42,125 who proposed a different theory. 267 00:14:42,208 --> 00:14:44,833 SMITH: Among the many hypotheses that emerged 268 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:47,167 was that the beast might be an African hyena. 269 00:14:47,250 --> 00:14:51,333 The hyena was this very mysterious creature 270 00:14:51,417 --> 00:14:54,500 that lots of naturalists and others wrote about 271 00:14:54,583 --> 00:14:57,333 in the 1750s and '60s. 272 00:14:57,417 --> 00:14:59,875 GERHARD: The general description of 273 00:14:59,958 --> 00:15:02,583 the Beast of Gévaudan was a wolflike creature 274 00:15:02,708 --> 00:15:06,917 but bigger, the size of a mule or a calf, perhaps. 275 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,250 It had a large head. 276 00:15:09,375 --> 00:15:12,875 It had a long muzzle, lined with razor-sharp teeth. 277 00:15:12,958 --> 00:15:15,167 Pointy ears. 278 00:15:15,292 --> 00:15:18,292 A long tail with a tuft of fur on the end. 279 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:21,500 The coat of fur was typically described 280 00:15:21,583 --> 00:15:25,750 as a reddish brown or gray, with a black stripe 281 00:15:25,833 --> 00:15:28,417 running down the back, and a white breast. 282 00:15:29,500 --> 00:15:31,417 These are hyena-like characteristics. 283 00:15:34,333 --> 00:15:36,917 MAXEY: Back in the day, kings and even people of status 284 00:15:37,042 --> 00:15:39,750 had exotic pets, they had exotic zoos. 285 00:15:39,833 --> 00:15:42,125 Who's to say that a hyena didn't escape? 286 00:15:42,208 --> 00:15:44,917 If you take a look at the victims, 287 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,333 their chest cavities torn apart, their limbs missing, 288 00:15:49,458 --> 00:15:51,750 their heads decapitated. 289 00:15:51,833 --> 00:15:55,167 This all resembles attacks of a hyena. 290 00:15:56,833 --> 00:16:00,250 SHATNER: Could the Beast of Gévaudan have been an escaped African hyena? 291 00:16:00,333 --> 00:16:02,167 Perhaps. 292 00:16:02,250 --> 00:16:04,583 But some researchers have suggested 293 00:16:04,667 --> 00:16:07,292 a less exotic possibility. 294 00:16:07,375 --> 00:16:09,500 GERHARD: There are a number of arguments for 295 00:16:09,542 --> 00:16:12,583 the Beast of Gévaudan actually being a killer wolf. 296 00:16:14,208 --> 00:16:18,000 Wolves typically are very timid animals around humans. 297 00:16:18,042 --> 00:16:20,667 But there have been some 9,000 wolf attacks 298 00:16:20,750 --> 00:16:23,167 in France over the centuries. 299 00:16:23,292 --> 00:16:26,542 And there was also a theory that the beast attacks may have 300 00:16:26,625 --> 00:16:30,292 been perpetrated by a wolf that had come down with rabies. 301 00:16:31,375 --> 00:16:34,042 SHATNER: According to experts, rabid wolves often lose 302 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:38,333 their innate fear of humans, and walk with a strange gait. 303 00:16:39,375 --> 00:16:41,833 Which are behaviors described in the eyewitness accounts 304 00:16:41,958 --> 00:16:44,083 of the Beast of Gévaudan. 305 00:16:46,125 --> 00:16:49,667 But while the rabid wolf theory may make sense, 306 00:16:49,792 --> 00:16:51,917 the best clue scientists have today 307 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,167 about the beast's identity 308 00:16:54,208 --> 00:16:57,500 was obtained on the day it was reportedly killed. 309 00:16:58,917 --> 00:17:00,833 The beast's reign of terror ended 310 00:17:00,917 --> 00:17:04,500 on June 19, 1767, 311 00:17:04,583 --> 00:17:07,042 when a local hunter named Jean Chastel 312 00:17:07,125 --> 00:17:09,208 felled the monster 313 00:17:09,292 --> 00:17:11,375 with one shot of a silver bullet. 314 00:17:15,958 --> 00:17:18,333 After Chastel shot this strange creature, 315 00:17:18,375 --> 00:17:20,500 the killings actually stopped, so everyone was 316 00:17:20,625 --> 00:17:23,250 in agreement that-that he had actually killed the beast. 317 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,083 A surgeon who conducted an autopsy determined 318 00:17:28,208 --> 00:17:31,375 that while it resembled a wolf, it was not a wolf. 319 00:17:31,458 --> 00:17:34,000 And in fact, it possessed 40 teeth 320 00:17:34,125 --> 00:17:36,792 compared to a wolf's 42 teeth, 321 00:17:36,875 --> 00:17:39,208 which is quite strange. 322 00:17:41,208 --> 00:17:43,500 The beast's remains were paraded around 323 00:17:43,583 --> 00:17:46,167 the Gévaudan region for weeks thereafter. 324 00:17:46,292 --> 00:17:48,208 And by the time the carcass was taken 325 00:17:48,333 --> 00:17:51,042 to the Palace of Versailles and presented 326 00:17:51,167 --> 00:17:54,125 to King Louis XV, it was so smelly 327 00:17:54,208 --> 00:17:56,000 that he immediately demanded 328 00:17:56,083 --> 00:17:57,583 that it be removed from the palace. 329 00:17:57,667 --> 00:17:59,750 And to this day, nobody knows what happened 330 00:17:59,833 --> 00:18:01,458 to those remains-- they vanished. 331 00:18:02,917 --> 00:18:04,875 Ultimately, while some people feel 332 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,833 the Beast of Gévaudan may have been a supernatural phenomenon, 333 00:18:08,917 --> 00:18:13,333 the deaths, the occurrences documented, they're real. 334 00:18:13,417 --> 00:18:17,708 And the Beast of Gévaudan remains a great mystery. 335 00:18:19,375 --> 00:18:23,000 Was the Beast of Gévaudan a common wolf 336 00:18:23,083 --> 00:18:25,208 or something even more terrifying? 337 00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:29,208 Either way, this deadly creature drove fear 338 00:18:29,292 --> 00:18:31,542 into the hearts of people all over France. 339 00:18:31,667 --> 00:18:35,333 And that was also the case more than a century later, 340 00:18:35,417 --> 00:18:39,083 in the United States, when a wave of panic was caused 341 00:18:39,208 --> 00:18:43,292 by the attacks of a great white shark. 342 00:18:51,708 --> 00:18:54,167 SHATNER: 25-year-old Charles Vansant is swimming 343 00:18:54,250 --> 00:18:56,250 in the brisk Atlantic waters 344 00:18:56,333 --> 00:18:58,542 off the coast of this resort community... 345 00:18:59,542 --> 00:19:02,583 ...when he's suddenly attacked by a massive shark. 346 00:19:02,667 --> 00:19:05,250 (screaming) 347 00:19:05,333 --> 00:19:07,750 Lifeguards pull Vansant from the water 348 00:19:07,833 --> 00:19:11,167 and see that his left thigh has been stripped of its flesh 349 00:19:11,292 --> 00:19:14,583 by a massive set of razor-sharp jaws. 350 00:19:15,583 --> 00:19:17,167 CAPUZZO: The story is that they had to 351 00:19:17,208 --> 00:19:18,917 almost wrestle him away from the shark. 352 00:19:19,042 --> 00:19:21,708 As they pulled him ashore with the shark following him still, 353 00:19:21,792 --> 00:19:23,667 his father, who was a doctor, operated on him 354 00:19:23,708 --> 00:19:25,208 or tried to save his life, 355 00:19:25,292 --> 00:19:27,333 but he died of... of a flesh wound to... 356 00:19:27,375 --> 00:19:29,833 a bite on his... his thigh, actually, 357 00:19:29,958 --> 00:19:32,250 and, uh, loss of blood. 358 00:19:33,833 --> 00:19:36,167 SHATNER: The gory death of Charles Vansant was 359 00:19:36,250 --> 00:19:40,250 the first recorded fatal shark attack in U.S. history. 360 00:19:41,208 --> 00:19:44,167 And then on July 6th, 361 00:19:44,250 --> 00:19:47,500 a mere five days after Vansant was killed, 362 00:19:47,583 --> 00:19:51,208 there was another attack along the Jersey Shore. 363 00:19:51,292 --> 00:19:55,250 Charles Bruder, who was a 27-year-old 364 00:19:55,333 --> 00:19:57,167 Swiss native who was in the army, 365 00:19:57,208 --> 00:19:59,083 went for a swim, 366 00:19:59,167 --> 00:20:01,625 and 1,200 feet out, in the middle of the day, 367 00:20:01,708 --> 00:20:03,708 was attacked and bitten 368 00:20:03,792 --> 00:20:05,333 by what appeared to be about an eight- 369 00:20:05,417 --> 00:20:07,458 or nine-foot great white shark 370 00:20:07,542 --> 00:20:10,167 that severed his legs and a part of his torso. 371 00:20:10,208 --> 00:20:13,333 By the time the lifeguards got out there, 372 00:20:13,417 --> 00:20:15,375 there was hardly anything to lift into the boat. 373 00:20:16,583 --> 00:20:20,750 SHATNER: This second deadly attack was widely reported in newspapers 374 00:20:20,833 --> 00:20:25,000 across the country, and set off a nationwide panic. 375 00:20:25,083 --> 00:20:28,250 Many people believed it was no longer safe 376 00:20:28,333 --> 00:20:30,833 to swim in the ocean off the coast of New Jersey. 377 00:20:30,917 --> 00:20:34,667 And several beaches were closed by the authorities. 378 00:20:34,750 --> 00:20:37,500 The public reaction was hysterical. 379 00:20:37,542 --> 00:20:40,208 There were calls all the way up to President Wilson. 380 00:20:40,292 --> 00:20:42,833 Woodrow Wilson had a cabinet meeting 381 00:20:42,875 --> 00:20:45,833 and talked to the early men who founded the Coast Guard 382 00:20:45,917 --> 00:20:48,292 about eradicating all the sharks on the East Coast. 383 00:20:48,375 --> 00:20:51,375 Bounties were given by towns and cities, 384 00:20:51,458 --> 00:20:55,833 and anybody that could kill any shark could get $100. 385 00:20:55,917 --> 00:21:00,042 You had fishermen going out, catching and killing sharks. 386 00:21:00,125 --> 00:21:02,500 And it wasn't just in New Jersey. 387 00:21:02,542 --> 00:21:05,167 It was all up and down the Eastern Seaboard 388 00:21:05,292 --> 00:21:09,208 and even infiltrated into the coastal states, 389 00:21:09,333 --> 00:21:11,542 Texas, Louisiana, 390 00:21:11,625 --> 00:21:15,750 and as far as the Pacific coast of North America. 391 00:21:16,917 --> 00:21:19,125 SHATNER: Less than one week after Charles Bruder 392 00:21:19,208 --> 00:21:21,125 was killed, on July 12th, 393 00:21:21,208 --> 00:21:25,667 three more people were attacked by what many witnesses claimed 394 00:21:25,708 --> 00:21:28,458 was an eight- or nine-foot shark. 395 00:21:28,542 --> 00:21:31,750 Curiously, all five of these incidents took place 396 00:21:31,833 --> 00:21:35,417 along a 50-mile stretch off the coast of New Jersey. 397 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,208 Because of their proximity and the similarities 398 00:21:38,292 --> 00:21:40,542 between eyewitness accounts, 399 00:21:40,625 --> 00:21:43,625 many began to wonder whether the horrific attacks 400 00:21:43,708 --> 00:21:48,750 could have been the work of a single killer shark. 401 00:21:48,833 --> 00:21:51,417 CAPUZZO: The New Jersey attacks are so strange, 402 00:21:51,500 --> 00:21:54,417 'cause sharks don't kill people with any kind of regularity 403 00:21:54,542 --> 00:21:56,333 and nobody witnesses it 404 00:21:56,375 --> 00:21:58,250 with any kind of regularity when it happens. 405 00:21:58,333 --> 00:22:00,333 But the concept of a rogue shark 406 00:22:00,417 --> 00:22:02,250 that kills or injuries one person 407 00:22:02,333 --> 00:22:04,542 and that gets a taste for human flesh 408 00:22:04,625 --> 00:22:07,292 and goes after another like a serial killer, 409 00:22:07,375 --> 00:22:09,000 the Jersey Shore may be the best evidence 410 00:22:09,083 --> 00:22:10,833 we have that that's ever happened. 411 00:22:10,875 --> 00:22:13,375 SHATNER: On July 14, 1916, 412 00:22:13,458 --> 00:22:16,375 two weeks after the first fatal attack, 413 00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:19,333 a taxidermist named Michael Schleisser caught 414 00:22:19,375 --> 00:22:23,542 a seven-and-a-half-foot, 325-pound great white shark 415 00:22:23,625 --> 00:22:27,083 off the northern end of the Jersey Shore. 416 00:22:28,125 --> 00:22:31,125 After cutting open its stomach, authorities found what appeared 417 00:22:31,208 --> 00:22:34,500 to be partially digested human remains. 418 00:22:35,833 --> 00:22:39,792 There are many who believe that this great white shark was 419 00:22:39,875 --> 00:22:43,167 responsible for all five attacks that took place, 420 00:22:43,208 --> 00:22:45,667 four of which were fatal. 421 00:22:45,708 --> 00:22:48,875 Fatal shark attacks on humans are seldom 422 00:22:48,958 --> 00:22:50,833 predatory for feeding. 423 00:22:50,917 --> 00:22:53,875 So what was going on that would cause a series 424 00:22:53,958 --> 00:22:58,125 of five attacks over a 11-day period, 425 00:22:58,208 --> 00:22:59,875 what was behind all of this? 426 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,708 People panicked. 427 00:23:02,792 --> 00:23:05,667 No one wanted to go in the ocean. 428 00:23:05,750 --> 00:23:09,875 So its effect on individuals, citizens, was enormous. 429 00:23:10,875 --> 00:23:13,500 And it was something that, to this day, 430 00:23:13,583 --> 00:23:16,000 still has an effect on us. 431 00:23:17,208 --> 00:23:20,292 SHATNER: The 1916 Jersey Shore attacks helped to popularize 432 00:23:20,375 --> 00:23:24,042 the notion of sharks as deadly man-eaters. 433 00:23:25,042 --> 00:23:27,333 More than 50 years later, the killings inspired 434 00:23:27,375 --> 00:23:30,500 the 1974 novel Jaws by Peter Benchley, 435 00:23:30,542 --> 00:23:33,167 which became the basis of the blockbuster film 436 00:23:33,292 --> 00:23:35,667 made by Steven Spielberg that terrorized 437 00:23:35,708 --> 00:23:38,542 generations of beachgoers. 438 00:23:39,875 --> 00:23:42,667 But despite their bad reputation, 439 00:23:42,750 --> 00:23:46,708 the truth is that sharks rarely kill humans. 440 00:23:46,833 --> 00:23:49,167 According to statistics gathered 441 00:23:49,292 --> 00:23:51,083 by the International Shark Attack File, 442 00:23:51,208 --> 00:23:55,167 on average, there are only five fatal shark attacks 443 00:23:55,208 --> 00:23:57,042 worldwide per year. 444 00:23:58,042 --> 00:24:00,500 So why does the belief persist that 445 00:24:00,542 --> 00:24:03,917 some sharks are a serious threat to humans? 446 00:24:06,042 --> 00:24:08,750 Over the years, sharks, especially white sharks, 447 00:24:08,833 --> 00:24:10,833 have been portrayed as killers. 448 00:24:10,875 --> 00:24:14,042 Unfortunately, people are killed from time to time. 449 00:24:14,125 --> 00:24:16,333 It has been postulated 450 00:24:16,375 --> 00:24:18,708 that white sharks' hunting has 451 00:24:18,792 --> 00:24:23,000 similarities into the tactics utilized by serial killers. 452 00:24:24,125 --> 00:24:27,750 Serial killers use what is referred to as an anchor point, 453 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:30,875 which is where they will sit and watch 454 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,292 and pick their victim. 455 00:24:33,375 --> 00:24:35,333 White sharks do the same thing. 456 00:24:35,375 --> 00:24:38,333 White sharks like to hunt stealth, 457 00:24:38,458 --> 00:24:41,458 where the intended victim can't see them. 458 00:24:43,167 --> 00:24:45,500 MAXEY: A lot of people often look at sharks and think 459 00:24:45,542 --> 00:24:47,375 that there's nothing going on. 460 00:24:47,458 --> 00:24:49,958 But great whites are intelligent animals. 461 00:24:50,042 --> 00:24:52,500 We've watched great whites attack seals. 462 00:24:52,583 --> 00:24:56,500 And you'll find the older great whites will pick out 463 00:24:56,542 --> 00:24:59,042 specific individuals, usually young ones. 464 00:25:00,417 --> 00:25:02,333 It's very methodical. 465 00:25:02,417 --> 00:25:05,750 So it is 100% possible 466 00:25:05,833 --> 00:25:08,500 that some sharks like the taste of people. 467 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:12,500 SHATNER: Are there certain sharks that specifically 468 00:25:12,625 --> 00:25:15,792 and methodically hunt people? 469 00:25:15,875 --> 00:25:19,708 Some marine biologists have suggested it's possible. 470 00:25:19,792 --> 00:25:23,500 But if this theory is true, then what's even more disturbing 471 00:25:23,583 --> 00:25:27,208 is that a killer shark may keep stalking people 472 00:25:27,292 --> 00:25:30,292 for a very long, long time. 473 00:25:31,583 --> 00:25:34,625 Great whites can live to be 80-plus years old. 474 00:25:34,708 --> 00:25:37,333 There are some accounts of specimens being over 100. 475 00:25:38,375 --> 00:25:41,333 They study their subjects just like a serial killer. 476 00:25:41,375 --> 00:25:44,500 They learn from their mistakes just like a serial killer. 477 00:25:44,625 --> 00:25:47,083 That's terrifying. 478 00:25:48,750 --> 00:25:51,542 Is it possible that some sharks 479 00:25:51,625 --> 00:25:54,292 methodically stalk human beings? 480 00:25:54,375 --> 00:25:56,042 Perhaps. 481 00:25:56,125 --> 00:25:58,208 But there is one man-eating creature 482 00:25:58,292 --> 00:26:00,292 that we know has definitely 483 00:26:00,375 --> 00:26:03,375 been targeting humans for decades. 484 00:26:03,458 --> 00:26:06,292 A massive crocodile 485 00:26:06,375 --> 00:26:07,917 that doesn't eat its victims 486 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,667 but rather appears to kill people 487 00:26:10,750 --> 00:26:13,167 just for the thrill of it. 488 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,792 SHATNER: February 19, 1945. 489 00:26:23,667 --> 00:26:26,000 On this 500-square-mile island, 490 00:26:26,042 --> 00:26:30,000 Allied British forces drive 1,000 Japanese soldiers 491 00:26:30,083 --> 00:26:34,583 deep into the murky waters of a ten-mile swamp. 492 00:26:36,042 --> 00:26:39,000 But as night falls, the Japanese soon realize 493 00:26:39,125 --> 00:26:42,708 that they're being hunted by a very different kind of enemy, 494 00:26:42,792 --> 00:26:45,917 as one by one, they're killed 495 00:26:46,042 --> 00:26:49,125 by a group of massive crocodiles. 496 00:26:51,417 --> 00:26:55,500 These crocodiles were giant-- 15, 16 feet long-- 497 00:26:55,583 --> 00:26:58,792 and they went on a killing rampage. 498 00:27:00,708 --> 00:27:04,750 There were accounts of bloodcurdling screams 499 00:27:04,833 --> 00:27:07,750 from men trying to save other men 500 00:27:07,833 --> 00:27:11,000 from the jaws of hungry crocodiles. 501 00:27:11,083 --> 00:27:14,167 During the night, those crocodiles killed 502 00:27:14,292 --> 00:27:16,958 over 500 people. 503 00:27:18,583 --> 00:27:22,833 LESLIE: It's the classic example of a crocodile feeding frenzy. 504 00:27:23,833 --> 00:27:25,875 The men who were forced into the swamp 505 00:27:25,958 --> 00:27:28,833 had wounds, they were bleeding anyway. 506 00:27:28,917 --> 00:27:30,667 That's a sure sign for a crocodile 507 00:27:30,708 --> 00:27:32,333 to start attacking, the smell of blood. 508 00:27:33,458 --> 00:27:36,708 It must have been something unbelievable to go through. 509 00:27:36,792 --> 00:27:38,833 REAGAN: I think the situation was 510 00:27:38,917 --> 00:27:42,000 an encroachment of the humans into the crocodiles' territory. 511 00:27:42,083 --> 00:27:45,667 And the crocodiles were just seizing an opportunity. 512 00:27:45,708 --> 00:27:47,667 It's like getting a free meal. 513 00:27:47,708 --> 00:27:50,000 You're not gonna turn it down. 514 00:27:50,083 --> 00:27:52,417 SHATNER: By morning, less than half of the 1,000 515 00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:56,833 Japanese soldiers who entered the swamp came out alive. 516 00:27:56,958 --> 00:27:58,917 Because of the incredible death toll, 517 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,875 the incident at Ramree Island 518 00:28:00,958 --> 00:28:03,083 is considered by some to be the worst 519 00:28:03,167 --> 00:28:06,708 crocodile attack ever recorded. 520 00:28:06,833 --> 00:28:11,083 It's also a grim reminder that crocodiles 521 00:28:11,167 --> 00:28:14,208 are one of the deadliest and oldest 522 00:28:14,292 --> 00:28:16,417 species on the planet. 523 00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:20,958 Crocodiles have been around for over 240 million years. 524 00:28:22,417 --> 00:28:26,167 Way before birds, mammals and modern-day reptiles. 525 00:28:26,208 --> 00:28:29,500 Crocodiles appeared 25 million years 526 00:28:29,542 --> 00:28:32,750 before the dinosaurs and are their closest living relatives. 527 00:28:32,833 --> 00:28:36,500 They share a lot of the same features as dinosaurs, 528 00:28:36,583 --> 00:28:40,750 including hip-like arrangements that you can see in birds, 529 00:28:40,833 --> 00:28:43,000 and they have teeth in sockets, 530 00:28:43,042 --> 00:28:46,333 unlike teeth that are fused to the jawbone. 531 00:28:48,208 --> 00:28:51,458 Since the very beginning of our evolution, 532 00:28:51,542 --> 00:28:53,667 we have lived alongside crocodiles 533 00:28:53,708 --> 00:28:56,042 and have been eaten by crocodiles throughout. 534 00:28:57,125 --> 00:29:00,333 They're known for their strength or their ferocity. 535 00:29:01,958 --> 00:29:05,083 And we're really a snack to some of the larger crocodiles. 536 00:29:06,667 --> 00:29:08,333 SHATNER: East Africa. 537 00:29:08,417 --> 00:29:12,208 At 410 miles long and nearly 5,000 feet deep, 538 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:16,583 Lake Tanganyika on the border of Tanzania and the Congo is 539 00:29:16,667 --> 00:29:20,125 the longest and second deepest freshwater lake in the world. 540 00:29:21,083 --> 00:29:23,500 Thousands of people rely on it to survive, 541 00:29:23,625 --> 00:29:26,833 even though they are aware of a terror 542 00:29:26,917 --> 00:29:29,417 lurking beneath its surface. 543 00:29:30,750 --> 00:29:36,333 A massive crocodile that the locals have nicknamed Gustave. 544 00:29:36,417 --> 00:29:40,500 MAXEY: Gustave is an infamous Nile crocodile. 545 00:29:40,542 --> 00:29:42,667 He's supposedly over 18 feet 546 00:29:42,792 --> 00:29:45,833 and weighs over 2,000 pounds. 547 00:29:45,917 --> 00:29:47,500 And experts also believe he's anywhere 548 00:29:47,583 --> 00:29:50,500 from 80 to 90 years old. 549 00:29:50,542 --> 00:29:53,167 He is a prolific man-eater. 550 00:29:54,500 --> 00:29:56,750 These victims were women, 551 00:29:56,833 --> 00:29:59,042 were children, were fishermen. 552 00:30:00,667 --> 00:30:02,833 LESLIE: Gustave is a killing machine. 553 00:30:02,875 --> 00:30:05,917 Accounts of people being taken by Gustave 554 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,250 are pretty rife out there in the villages. 555 00:30:08,333 --> 00:30:10,958 The locals want him dead because they believed he was 556 00:30:11,042 --> 00:30:13,667 the monster crocodile that was habituating 557 00:30:13,792 --> 00:30:15,417 that lower section of river 558 00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:17,458 and was responsible for all those deaths. 559 00:30:17,542 --> 00:30:20,333 He's definitely been shot at a couple of times. 560 00:30:20,417 --> 00:30:22,417 There's a scar on his head, and there's another one 561 00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:23,875 between his shoulders. 562 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,917 But what also made killing him difficult 563 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,000 is that Gustave often disappeared for months on end. 564 00:30:29,042 --> 00:30:32,083 At one point in time, nobody saw him for 18 months. 565 00:30:32,167 --> 00:30:35,833 SHATNER: So far, no one has been able to capture 566 00:30:35,875 --> 00:30:39,083 or kill this deadly crocodile. 567 00:30:39,167 --> 00:30:41,875 It is estimated that Gustave is responsible 568 00:30:41,958 --> 00:30:47,042 for killing at least 300 people between 1987 and 2015. 569 00:30:47,125 --> 00:30:50,250 But, curiously, it seems that Gustave 570 00:30:50,333 --> 00:30:53,833 doesn't always eat his victims. 571 00:30:53,917 --> 00:30:57,375 According to the locals, he may hunt humans 572 00:30:57,458 --> 00:31:00,417 simply because he enjoys it. 573 00:31:00,500 --> 00:31:03,458 Gustave has claimed many, many victims. 574 00:31:03,542 --> 00:31:06,708 More than any other crocodile in history. 575 00:31:06,833 --> 00:31:09,000 If you look at the sheer number of people 576 00:31:09,083 --> 00:31:11,375 that Gustave has killed, and the fact that he doesn't 577 00:31:11,458 --> 00:31:14,750 always eat his victims, it's puzzling. 578 00:31:14,833 --> 00:31:16,958 It's almost as if he's doing it for sport. 579 00:31:18,125 --> 00:31:20,125 LESLIE: Most villagers think that Gustave picks on 580 00:31:20,208 --> 00:31:21,750 human beings in particular. 581 00:31:21,833 --> 00:31:23,208 There's rumors about how 582 00:31:23,292 --> 00:31:25,917 he follows and he stalks his-his prey. 583 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,667 He watches you. 584 00:31:28,792 --> 00:31:31,708 He has a memory-- he knows who's where, 585 00:31:31,792 --> 00:31:33,333 he knows where the boat ramps are. 586 00:31:33,417 --> 00:31:36,333 We don't hear about many serial man-eating crocodiles, 587 00:31:36,458 --> 00:31:38,250 so from a scientific point of view, 588 00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:40,875 it's also a bit of an enigma. 589 00:31:42,375 --> 00:31:46,083 SHATNER: The last known sighting of Gustave was in 2015, 590 00:31:46,167 --> 00:31:48,750 but the fear that he will reemerge from the waters 591 00:31:48,833 --> 00:31:53,333 of Lake Tanganyika has kept authorities on constant alert, 592 00:31:53,458 --> 00:31:55,958 in the hope that they can capture Gustave 593 00:31:56,042 --> 00:31:59,542 before he kills again. 594 00:32:00,750 --> 00:32:04,000 LESLIE: None of us know if Gustave is actually still alive. 595 00:32:04,042 --> 00:32:07,458 He's so famous that if he had died or been killed, 596 00:32:07,542 --> 00:32:10,792 somebody would have had that skin or had that skeleton 597 00:32:10,875 --> 00:32:13,000 or taken some photos or something. 598 00:32:13,125 --> 00:32:17,000 So I wouldn't be surprised if he's still out there. 599 00:32:17,083 --> 00:32:20,792 The idea that a 2,000-pound crocodile 600 00:32:20,875 --> 00:32:22,917 enjoys attacking humans 601 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,000 is frightening, to say the least. 602 00:32:25,042 --> 00:32:28,542 But in Russia, many believe it was a darker motivation 603 00:32:28,667 --> 00:32:32,167 that caused a fearsome tiger to take a human life. 604 00:32:32,250 --> 00:32:35,417 Because this predator may have killed its victim 605 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:38,208 as an act of revenge. 606 00:32:46,708 --> 00:32:50,000 SHATNER: In the cold, unforgiving forests of eastern Siberia, 607 00:32:50,083 --> 00:32:53,083 a local hunter named Vladimir Markov discovers 608 00:32:53,167 --> 00:32:55,000 the bloody carcass of a wild boar 609 00:32:55,042 --> 00:32:56,958 lying half-eaten in the snow. 610 00:32:58,333 --> 00:33:01,292 He instantly realizes he's in great danger, 611 00:33:01,375 --> 00:33:04,042 because he has just stumbled upon a fresh kill 612 00:33:04,167 --> 00:33:07,375 made by one of Russia's most dangerous predators. 613 00:33:08,625 --> 00:33:11,167 The Siberian tiger. 614 00:33:11,250 --> 00:33:14,000 McCANN: At the point where Vladimir Markov realized 615 00:33:14,083 --> 00:33:17,042 that he was coming upon a tiger's kill, he knew that 616 00:33:17,125 --> 00:33:19,333 the tiger will still be there, because it'll still feed 617 00:33:19,417 --> 00:33:21,417 upon that kill until there's nothing left to feed on. 618 00:33:21,542 --> 00:33:24,083 So if he doesn't shoot that tiger first, 619 00:33:24,208 --> 00:33:26,125 the tiger will kill him. 620 00:33:26,208 --> 00:33:29,167 So it was a case for him of "kill or be killed." 621 00:33:30,250 --> 00:33:32,708 SHATNER: As the tiger approached Markov to defend its kill, 622 00:33:32,833 --> 00:33:35,000 -he fired his rifle. -(gunshot) 623 00:33:35,083 --> 00:33:37,417 But only wounded the angry cat. 624 00:33:37,500 --> 00:33:40,375 Injured, the tiger retreated back into the forest. 625 00:33:40,500 --> 00:33:44,750 But that's not the end of the story. 626 00:33:45,875 --> 00:33:48,250 Because two days later, the local authorities were informed 627 00:33:48,333 --> 00:33:50,958 that Markov had been attacked and killed 628 00:33:51,042 --> 00:33:53,708 at his home by a vicious tiger. 629 00:33:54,792 --> 00:33:57,958 When investigators arrived at Markov's log cabin, 630 00:33:58,042 --> 00:34:01,708 they found a disturbing scene. 631 00:34:02,833 --> 00:34:04,250 (man speaking Russian) 632 00:34:04,333 --> 00:34:06,583 It's pretty remarkable seeing the images. 633 00:34:06,667 --> 00:34:09,958 There was obviously quite a lot of blood. 634 00:34:10,042 --> 00:34:12,167 The clothes are tattered everywhere. 635 00:34:13,333 --> 00:34:17,333 Often, when tigers kill people, it's not necessarily for food. 636 00:34:17,417 --> 00:34:20,500 But in Markov's case, the tiger ate everything 637 00:34:20,625 --> 00:34:21,917 it possibly could of him. 638 00:34:22,042 --> 00:34:24,208 It wanted to leave no trace of the man. 639 00:34:24,333 --> 00:34:27,417 The strangest part of the Vladimir Markov story 640 00:34:27,542 --> 00:34:30,458 is the fact that the tiger actively destroyed 641 00:34:30,542 --> 00:34:34,000 everything around that lodge that had Vladimir's scent on it. 642 00:34:34,083 --> 00:34:37,833 Just destroyed it in seemingly a fit of anger. 643 00:34:39,208 --> 00:34:42,167 SHATNER: But even more unsettling than the gruesome killing itself 644 00:34:42,250 --> 00:34:45,125 was the fact that investigators later determined 645 00:34:45,208 --> 00:34:47,625 that Markov was eaten by the same tiger 646 00:34:47,708 --> 00:34:50,542 he had shot with his rifle. 647 00:34:52,625 --> 00:34:55,000 McCANN: The tiger tracked Vladimir back to his hunting lodge, 648 00:34:55,125 --> 00:34:58,500 a distance of 11 kilometers. 649 00:34:58,583 --> 00:35:00,333 And then it waited. 650 00:35:00,375 --> 00:35:01,833 That is what is remarkable. 651 00:35:01,917 --> 00:35:04,292 It waited, we think, 652 00:35:04,375 --> 00:35:07,167 around 48 hours for him to return to that lodge. 653 00:35:07,250 --> 00:35:10,167 And then when Vladimir returned, 654 00:35:10,208 --> 00:35:12,292 it killed him. 655 00:35:13,625 --> 00:35:16,417 SHATNER: The story of Vladimir Markov's death at the hands 656 00:35:16,542 --> 00:35:18,792 of a deadly tiger is frightening, 657 00:35:18,875 --> 00:35:22,083 but it's also mysterious. 658 00:35:22,208 --> 00:35:24,500 Because while animals will naturally defend themselves 659 00:35:24,583 --> 00:35:28,917 when attacked, this tiger tracked Markov down 660 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,333 over an unusually long distance. 661 00:35:32,375 --> 00:35:34,417 But why? 662 00:35:34,500 --> 00:35:37,208 Big predators will kill smaller predators 663 00:35:37,333 --> 00:35:40,125 with which they compete, and there's a long history 664 00:35:40,208 --> 00:35:42,333 of human competition with predators. 665 00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:45,542 So it's possible the tiger was viewing this 666 00:35:45,667 --> 00:35:47,958 as competition, and I want to get rid of a competitor 667 00:35:48,042 --> 00:35:50,208 because this is a threat to my livelihood. 668 00:35:50,333 --> 00:35:53,333 So don't steal food from tigers, 669 00:35:53,375 --> 00:35:56,292 is the lesson that stands out from Markov's story. 670 00:35:57,542 --> 00:36:00,167 SHATNER: Did the tiger kill Markov because it viewed him 671 00:36:00,250 --> 00:36:03,167 as a threat to its survival? Perhaps. 672 00:36:03,292 --> 00:36:06,250 But there are those who believe that it was motivated 673 00:36:06,375 --> 00:36:09,208 not by self-preservation 674 00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:12,833 but rather by a desire to exact revenge. 675 00:36:13,875 --> 00:36:16,500 MAXEY: You can't look at this story of Vladimir 676 00:36:16,583 --> 00:36:19,167 and not think that this is a story of vengeance. 677 00:36:19,250 --> 00:36:22,375 The tiger stalked Vladimir's cabin. 678 00:36:22,500 --> 00:36:26,667 It waited for Vladimir to return home for the attack. 679 00:36:26,750 --> 00:36:29,250 Everything here points to premeditation. 680 00:36:31,125 --> 00:36:34,208 You look at other instances, you see attacks 681 00:36:34,333 --> 00:36:36,208 with tigers who will seek vengeance 682 00:36:36,333 --> 00:36:38,083 on people they don't like. 683 00:36:38,208 --> 00:36:40,792 These animals can feel these emotions. 684 00:36:41,875 --> 00:36:44,708 BLUMSTEIN: All animals have neurochemical responses 685 00:36:44,833 --> 00:36:48,375 which are remarkably similar across all sorts of species. 686 00:36:48,458 --> 00:36:53,375 They feel emotions or feelings that influence behavior 687 00:36:53,500 --> 00:36:55,333 exactly the same as we do. 688 00:36:56,417 --> 00:36:58,583 McCANN: You do not mess with a tiger. 689 00:36:58,708 --> 00:37:01,750 If you do that, it's gonna come after you. 690 00:37:01,833 --> 00:37:05,292 Markov will have known that when he shot that tiger 691 00:37:05,375 --> 00:37:09,042 and it didn't die, he knew that his time was up. 692 00:37:09,167 --> 00:37:12,333 This tiger had the ability to hold a grudge 693 00:37:12,417 --> 00:37:14,667 with a single individual 694 00:37:14,708 --> 00:37:17,500 for over 48 hours and then take its revenge. 695 00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:21,333 We have taken dominion over nature in many ways 696 00:37:21,417 --> 00:37:24,583 because of our technological developments, 697 00:37:24,667 --> 00:37:26,750 but we are still a part of nature, 698 00:37:26,833 --> 00:37:29,708 and we are still occasionally on the menu 699 00:37:29,833 --> 00:37:32,375 of bigger and stronger animals, such as tigers. 700 00:37:33,875 --> 00:37:36,542 It's chilling to think that a tiger could actually 701 00:37:36,625 --> 00:37:41,250 have a vendetta, a score to settle, with human beings. 702 00:37:41,333 --> 00:37:44,500 But not all animals see humans as adversaries. 703 00:37:44,583 --> 00:37:47,625 For example, there's a region in India 704 00:37:47,708 --> 00:37:50,792 where people and man-eating lions 705 00:37:50,875 --> 00:37:53,542 have joined forces. 706 00:38:01,708 --> 00:38:05,417 SHATNER: These lush woodlands are home to the Asiatic lion, 707 00:38:05,500 --> 00:38:07,542 one of the rarest predators on Earth. 708 00:38:08,583 --> 00:38:11,417 Though less than 700 of these majestic cats 709 00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:13,917 remain in the wild, they often cross paths 710 00:38:14,042 --> 00:38:17,750 with the local residents, whose farms border the forest. 711 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:21,417 But, curiously, instead of coming into conflict 712 00:38:21,500 --> 00:38:23,667 with these dangerous predators, 713 00:38:23,708 --> 00:38:27,750 the farmers appear to have formed an alliance with them. 714 00:38:29,250 --> 00:38:31,167 MAXEY: There is an overabundance of deer 715 00:38:31,333 --> 00:38:33,292 in India, and the deer at night will come 716 00:38:33,375 --> 00:38:35,292 and eat the farmers' crops. 717 00:38:36,917 --> 00:38:41,042 So the farmers have teamed up with the local Asiatic lions. 718 00:38:41,125 --> 00:38:45,917 The farmers, trying to scare the deer off, make a noise. 719 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,042 (farmer calling) 720 00:38:49,625 --> 00:38:51,917 And the lions quickly have learned 721 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,083 that that noise means that deer are in the area. 722 00:38:57,958 --> 00:39:00,458 So the lions end up killing the deer. 723 00:39:03,708 --> 00:39:07,667 This is something that has never really been documented 724 00:39:07,708 --> 00:39:11,667 where lions and humans are working together. 725 00:39:12,875 --> 00:39:15,375 SHATNER: Asiatic lions are notorious man-eaters 726 00:39:15,542 --> 00:39:17,750 and have even been known to drag people 727 00:39:17,833 --> 00:39:20,000 from their homes and kill them. 728 00:39:21,042 --> 00:39:24,625 So how is this mutually beneficial arrangement 729 00:39:24,750 --> 00:39:26,833 between man and lion possible? 730 00:39:27,875 --> 00:39:31,542 Well, as it turns out, these lions behave 731 00:39:31,708 --> 00:39:35,750 the same way any household cat would when it's dinnertime. 732 00:39:35,875 --> 00:39:37,875 (farmer calling) 733 00:39:37,958 --> 00:39:40,125 DeSANTIS: Lions are very clever, and in this sort of symbiotic 734 00:39:40,250 --> 00:39:43,250 relationship with them and humans, 735 00:39:43,375 --> 00:39:45,250 they're essentially able to learn that humans 736 00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:49,292 are providing them notification that there are prey available. 737 00:39:49,375 --> 00:39:51,208 It's essentially like ringing a dinner bell, 738 00:39:51,292 --> 00:39:53,583 um, for these lions. 739 00:39:53,667 --> 00:39:56,958 And so they've learned not to attack humans in most cases. 740 00:39:57,042 --> 00:40:01,667 And there's amazing footage of people sitting down, 741 00:40:01,708 --> 00:40:06,000 relaxing just a few feet from lions. 742 00:40:07,208 --> 00:40:10,500 SHATNER: The cooperation between Indian farmers and Asiatic lions 743 00:40:10,583 --> 00:40:13,750 is proof that, in the right circumstances, 744 00:40:13,833 --> 00:40:18,667 humans and deadly predators can be friends instead of foes. 745 00:40:19,708 --> 00:40:22,750 But experts warn that we shouldn't 746 00:40:22,833 --> 00:40:26,958 let down our guard when in the presence of wild animals. 747 00:40:27,958 --> 00:40:30,708 Seeing these farmers walking and living 748 00:40:30,792 --> 00:40:34,583 amongst these lions, it completely blows my mind. 749 00:40:34,667 --> 00:40:37,042 Now, could the tables turn at any moment? 750 00:40:37,208 --> 00:40:39,042 Absolutely. 751 00:40:39,208 --> 00:40:43,708 These are still wild animals with instincts. 752 00:40:43,792 --> 00:40:45,500 I would say these animals still need to be 753 00:40:45,583 --> 00:40:46,917 treated with a lot of respect. 754 00:40:48,833 --> 00:40:50,750 McCANN: Human beings like to think of themselves 755 00:40:50,833 --> 00:40:53,542 as above the rest of the animal kingdom 756 00:40:53,625 --> 00:40:55,667 because we've innovated ourselves 757 00:40:55,750 --> 00:40:58,208 out of nature in many, many ways. 758 00:40:59,417 --> 00:41:02,000 But when faced with a predator, 759 00:41:02,083 --> 00:41:06,333 without the benefit of technology such as weaponry, 760 00:41:06,375 --> 00:41:09,167 the predator just sees us as food. 761 00:41:09,208 --> 00:41:11,333 Essentially, our pecking order is not 762 00:41:11,417 --> 00:41:13,000 necessarily the top of the food chain. 763 00:41:13,042 --> 00:41:15,000 And, you know, 764 00:41:15,083 --> 00:41:17,458 we are a part of the natural community. 765 00:41:18,542 --> 00:41:20,542 We can be prey. We can be predators. 766 00:41:20,625 --> 00:41:22,833 It depends on the situation. 767 00:41:22,958 --> 00:41:26,292 But ultimately, we can succumb to a crocodile, 768 00:41:26,417 --> 00:41:28,250 to a lion, 769 00:41:28,333 --> 00:41:30,000 to a tiger at any moment. 770 00:41:32,125 --> 00:41:35,708 Is it possible for humans and dangerous animals 771 00:41:35,792 --> 00:41:38,250 to peacefully coexist? 772 00:41:38,375 --> 00:41:40,542 It's certainly an optimistic thought. 773 00:41:41,583 --> 00:41:43,750 But let's not forget, animals are driven by the same 774 00:41:43,833 --> 00:41:47,958 instincts that we are: hunger, fear, even revenge. 775 00:41:48,042 --> 00:41:51,500 And if a deadly predator decides that it's out for blood, 776 00:41:51,542 --> 00:41:53,667 there's not much that we can do to stop it. 777 00:41:53,750 --> 00:41:57,000 Which is why some creatures will remain 778 00:41:57,083 --> 00:41:59,167 wild, unpredictable and... 779 00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:00,958 unexplained. 780 00:42:01,083 --> 00:42:02,625 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS