Predator Bloodlines

In the animal kingdom, bloodlines are incredibly important. An animal’s “bloodline” refers to its ancestry: all the mothers and fathers that have come before and passed down their genetic code through the generations. An animal’s genetic code has a direct influence on how likely they are to survive and thrive, and because genetic code mutates with each generation, every child birthed has different capabilities.

Therefore, whichever child takes over the roles of father and mother directly influence the survival rate of all future generations. In other words, you want the strongest children to become the next parents, and their strongest children to become the next parents and so forth so that the species becomes ever stronger with each generation. If the weaker spawn is allowed to propagate then the species will become weaker with each generation, eventually ending in extinction due to the merciless world they inhabit.

All that being said, animals aren’t always aware of their own capacities and every living thing has a natural urge to survive and propagate. The weaker kin has just as much a will to live and propagate as the stronger kin. No wild animal has it easy: their daily lives are a struggle for survival and once they survive long enough to have babies, it becomes a struggle for the survival of their kin and their bloodline.

In this series, the researchers have captured the lives of six predators in the animal kingdom through three years of their natural lives. We witness their trials and tribulations. The challenges they face and how they deal with them. And ultimately whether their bloodlines will continue or fall away as stronger bloodlines take their place.

Mondays at 6 PM on National Geographic Wild (ch 221 (all packages)) from 3 August