- 2 days ago
From the Okavango swamps in southern Africa there are stories of a piranha-like fish that hunts in marauding packs, tearing into other fish, and even human flesh. Angler Jeremy Wade heads into the watery labyrinth to track down this deadly swarm.
• 在非洲南部的沼泽地带，流传着一种类似食人鱼的生物，它们常成群结队地出没并进行捕猎。杰里米·韦德（Jeremy Wade）深入这片水域迷宫，试图寻觅这一致命的鱼群。
• 传闻：杰里米·韦德针对当地有关一种“食人鱼式”生物的传闻展开调查。据称，这种鱼生性凶猛，常成群结队地出没，且长有如鲨鱼般锋利的牙齿。
• 事件：根据当地人的说法（其中包括一位名叫克利福德的渔民所提供的证词），在一次惨烈的渡轮或船只事故中，遇难者身上出现了严重的咬伤——这表明他们并非仅仅死于溺水。
• 嫌疑对象：当地村民和一位传统的巫医提到了一种令人畏惧的鱼，当地人称之为“安圭什”（enu，音译）；这种鱼长有交错的牙齿，能造成巨大的创伤。杰里米最终锁定了“真凶”——那竟是一种非洲虎鱼。
• 在非洲南部的沼泽地带，流传着一种类似食人鱼的生物，它们常成群结队地出没并进行捕猎。杰里米·韦德（Jeremy Wade）深入这片水域迷宫，试图寻觅这一致命的鱼群。
• 传闻：杰里米·韦德针对当地有关一种“食人鱼式”生物的传闻展开调查。据称，这种鱼生性凶猛，常成群结队地出没，且长有如鲨鱼般锋利的牙齿。
• 事件：根据当地人的说法（其中包括一位名叫克利福德的渔民所提供的证词），在一次惨烈的渡轮或船只事故中，遇难者身上出现了严重的咬伤——这表明他们并非仅仅死于溺水。
• 嫌疑对象：当地村民和一位传统的巫医提到了一种令人畏惧的鱼，当地人称之为“安圭什”（enu，音译）；这种鱼长有交错的牙齿，能造成巨大的创伤。杰里米最终锁定了“真凶”——那竟是一种非洲虎鱼。
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TVTranscript
00:01In Southern Africa, there are rumours of a deadly fish.
00:08It lurks unseen in the eerie waters of the Okobango Delta.
00:12There are large animals under the water making these really shake.
00:15A killer with shark-like teeth.
00:20There are stories of it hunting in packs.
00:23There are killing machines.
00:25Feeding in frenzies on schooling fish.
00:28This is just incredible.
00:29And even on drowning humans.
00:31It's the most brutal thing you'll ever witness.
00:33It sounds like the work of giant South American piranhas.
00:37But there's nothing like that here in Africa.
00:41Or is there?
00:44My name is Jeremy Wade.
00:47And my mission is to enter this mysterious world.
00:50To track down and catch this murderous river monster.
01:21I recently heard a story about a small ferry that overturned on a river in Southern Africa.
01:28The boat was old.
01:31And overloaded with cargo and passengers.
01:36When it started taking in water, the children panicked.
01:41And the boat flipped.
01:44Apparently there were no survivors.
01:47And rumours circulated that the victims didn't just drown.
01:51They were attacked.
01:53When the bodies were recovered, they were found to be partially eaten.
02:01People at the time said that the victims had been eaten by fish.
02:07Official accounts, however, said it couldn't have been fish.
02:11Larger predators must have been responsible.
02:16Crocodiles and other killers live here in abundance.
02:18But the locals are convinced that the size and number of bite marks
02:23couldn't have been the work of these usual suspects.
02:28So could those original accounts have been correct?
02:31Could there be a pack hunting fish similar to a piranha living in Southern Africa?
02:40It sounds hard to believe, but I've heard equally fantastical stories in the past
02:45that have turned out to be true.
02:47Like a man swallowed whole by a giant fish.
02:51A bus crash where passengers were devoured by piranhas.
02:55And fishermen having their genitals mutilated by an underwater hunter.
03:02So even though I've caught my share of monsters in Africa,
03:05I've never come across a piranha-style killer.
03:09But I have learnt that fishermen's tales shouldn't be ignored.
03:15So I'm off to investigate a river system that's said to be the home of this killer.
03:21To see if I can figure out what it is.
03:24And then catch it.
03:27But I've never been in this region before, so I'm not sure what to expect.
03:34I'm in the Okavango Delta in Southern Africa, where I'm hoping to come face to face with the river monster
03:39that mutilated the people on that ferry.
03:49This place is known as the Jewel of the Kalahari.
03:52It's a miraculous oasis of life in the midst of one of the world's harshest deserts.
03:58Each year, the rains in Angola flow down through Namibia, eventually flooding nearly 6,000 square miles of land with
04:06over 380 billion cubic feet of water, creating the Okavango Delta.
04:14Over a period of months, it slowly recedes.
04:18But the water that remains attracts life from miles around.
04:24It's also the focus of human activity.
04:27And where humans and animals are forced together, conflict is inevitable.
04:39Out on the water for the first time, it's unfamiliar territory to me.
04:45A claustrophobic labyrinth of channels.
04:48I could easily lose my way around here.
04:55I begin my investigation by trying to connect with the locals, to find out what they know about the river's
05:01dangerous occupants.
05:04I stop to chat with a group of reed collectors, and they mention a familiar selection of suspects.
05:10So it's the crocodiles and the hippopotamuses in the water?
05:12Yeah, they're dangerous.
05:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:15And this is really, you know, it's the same story you get in lots of other parts of Africa.
05:19The water's dangerous, and the thing you just hear over and over again, it's crocodiles hippopotamuses.
05:29As these two killers are so brutal and visible, people just assume they are the culprits in every unexplained death
05:36on the water.
05:38But I think it's possible there is a pack-hunting killer fish down there,
05:43responsible for some of these brutal deaths, including the ferry victims.
05:49I hook up with some fishermen to see what they're catching.
05:54It's very clear.
05:55This is a very rich water, lots of these things in here, tilapia.
05:58This is the staple food source for sub-Saharan Africa, in terms of fish.
06:03And there are lots of them.
06:05They're nice fish, but nice-looking fish, but also very tasty.
06:08But I think I can bet that it's not any people that are going to be enjoying these.
06:12There's going to be other fish in here as well, with teeth feeding on these.
06:15This water is bound to have predators in.
06:23I ask around if there's anything that fits the description of a toothy pack hunter.
06:29And one of the stories I hear is of a young man who was attacked while wearing a crucifix around
06:35his neck.
06:39A predator in the water spotted the moving, shining object.
06:45And went for it.
06:49Apparently, the man's chest was sliced open.
06:55The locals believe it was the jaws of a predatory fish that inflicted the damage.
07:01I'm told there's an English-speaking fisherman named Clifford who may have more information,
07:06as he too was bitten by a fish in these waters.
07:09The fish wriggled.
07:11I tried to grab the fish, but I hit it in the teeth with my hand, and it closed up.
07:18And is this the mark here?
07:20Yes.
07:21Wow.
07:22I had 14 stitches.
07:24My thumb is no longer functioning.
07:27So what is the name of this fish that bit you?
07:31Nguesh.
07:33Nguesh.
07:35And this is the thing with fish names.
07:37And the reason we have scientific names is that everybody knows what everybody's talking about.
07:40This is not a name I've heard before.
07:43It's clearly a predator.
07:44It's toothy.
07:46I'm actually quite used to seeing piranha bites on fishermen in the Amazon.
07:50And you're normally talking there, something small, something maybe at the most an inch across.
07:56This is, we're talking two and a half, three inches across.
08:00And it's got a sort of, almost a sort of a triangular profile.
08:06But to inflict a wound like that, it's got to have very, very sharp teeth.
08:10And this was a couple of years ago, and it's just left a permanent scar.
08:14Can you describe the fish that did this?
08:16What does it look like?
08:17What's the mouth like?
08:18What is the body like?
08:20It's a long fish with sharp teeth.
08:24And it's got stripes.
08:27The teeth, they are closed.
08:28They interlock.
08:31Oh, there are a lot of them in the water here.
08:33Is it something you see very much?
08:35During the month of January, February, the water is clear.
08:40You see schools of them, lots of them.
08:44So the picture that's emerging is not a solitary hunter.
08:47This is something that lives in packs.
08:50Cliff had described the way the teeth work, they interlock.
08:53That's quite piranha-like.
08:54The fact that they're in packs, that's also quite piranha-like.
08:58But this is the wrong continent.
09:00And to my knowledge, there's nothing piranha-like in Africa.
09:03But this actually sounds something very similar.
09:07But possibly something even more dramatic.
09:09Because the fish are bigger.
09:10The individuals can inflict more vicious wounds.
09:15If this m'gwesh is a toothy piranha-style pack killer,
09:19then it could be the monster at the heart of that very incident.
09:23I need to figure out what it is.
09:26And to do that, I need to catch one.
09:35I'm after a predator, a meat-eater.
09:39So I've got a piece of steak here, quite bloody.
09:42The kind of thing that piranhas would tear to shreds.
09:46So quite a big hook.
09:49And because what I'm after has probably got teeth.
09:52I'm not using just line next to the hook,
09:54because that would just be sliced through.
09:55This is wire.
09:56This is like 80, 90-pound breaking-strewn wire.
10:05Within seconds of my bait hitting the water,
10:07it's getting some interest.
10:09It's getting some interest.
10:11No, it's getting some interest.
10:14No, it's getting some interest then.
10:31It's getting some interest to you.
10:31It's getting some interest.
10:39Dr mármire –
10:39of the Okobango.
10:40Fish on!
10:51I'm deep in the watery maze of Africa's Okobango Delta,
10:55trying to unmask the identity of an aggressive fish
10:57the locals call the Nguesh.
11:00This is a strong fish.
11:01A meat-eater has taken my bait,
11:03and it's putting up a fight.
11:05Glimpse of that, glimpse of that.
11:06I think it's some kind of catfish.
11:08Wow.
11:14It's clamping down, it's clamping down.
11:17It's a sharp-toothed catfish,
11:19and it's got some powerful jaws.
11:21Ah!
11:23That's the hook out, which is nice.
11:29So this is a very voracious meat-eating predator.
11:33There are teeth in there.
11:35They drew blood on my hands,
11:36but they are...
11:38They're small teeth.
11:39These could certainly make short work of a human corpse,
11:43but the look of that corpse,
11:46it would be very different from a body that's been bitten.
11:51So this is actually not what I'm after,
11:52and that's quite a thought.
11:54There's something else down here,
11:55which is even more fearsome than this.
12:01I head back to the village.
12:03I need some more local knowledge
12:05if I'm going to get to the bottom of this mystery.
12:07Can you just tell me how much?
12:08People tell me the ungwesh is difficult and dangerous to catch.
12:13But once again, it's the large, visible predators they talk about most.
12:18And when you see injuries like these, you can understand why.
12:22Can you tell me what it was that happened to you?
12:24I'm going to kill you.
12:28I'm going to kill you.
12:30I'm going to kill you.
12:30I'm going to kill you.
12:31I'm going to kill you.
12:32So these are injuries caused by crocodiles.
12:37Both mother and daughter were in the water,
12:39collecting water lily barbs.
12:43A crocodile under the water, unseen,
12:46grabbed the daughter's left hand.
13:00The daughter obviously cries out.
13:03Mother comes to help and actually attacked the crocodile with the sickle.
13:08The crocodile let go of the daughter
13:12and then went after the mother.
13:21The crocodile actually had the mother's arm.
13:26It was feeding on this.
13:28And then the mother was able to, with her remaining arm,
13:32gather her daughter and take her where they were safe.
13:39I have to say that hearing how dangerous crocodiles are is one thing,
13:43but actually seeing the evidence really underlines for me
13:46just how potentially dangerous these waters are.
13:52But the villagers believe there is a man here who can help protect them.
13:57The witch doctor.
14:00He doesn't look as I expected,
14:02but I'm told he's a very powerful healer
14:04with an extensive knowledge of the fish in these waters,
14:07as some of them have dark powers that affect his medicine.
14:10He's listed four fish.
14:13Something called the Mpakibitu,
14:17Nyeru,
14:19Tuni, which I think is also known as the barbel or the catfish.
14:22And then here again is this fish called the Nguesh.
14:26So do different fish have different powers?
14:36The Nguesh is the most powerful fish.
14:40If he has eaten the Nguesh, he says the illness will multiply,
14:44it will become much stronger than it was in the first place.
14:47And for this reason, he doesn't eat Nguesh, he doesn't even touch it,
14:50he doesn't even allow it inside his compound.
14:55I know you don't touch them, but is there any fishermen in the village,
14:59anybody here who could show me one?
15:05Okay, so he says his daughter,
15:09not in here, but if I go outside,
15:11his daughter has got something that she can show me.
15:17His daughter brings me what she calls the Nguesh,
15:20but it's not quite what I was hoping for.
15:27So these are the teeth of Nguesh.
15:34I'll tell you what struck me first of all,
15:36it wasn't so much this, it was his reaction.
15:38He visibly backed away.
15:39I mean, it's not just talk.
15:43These are definitely, you know, powerful in his belief.
15:47Didn't want to be anywhere near them.
15:50They look almost shark-like, these teeth.
15:52They've sort of crumbled a little bit,
15:54but I can tell that they are very, very sharp.
15:57But I'm still no nearer visualising what the entire creature is like.
16:06It's a tangible clue, though.
16:08And that evening, as I watch the villagers prepare for a blessing ceremony,
16:12I feel I'm getting closer to revealing its identity.
16:18But when the witch doctor reappears,
16:21unrecognisable in his ceremonial attire,
16:23I realise I'm a long way from understanding this place.
16:27He seems to exist on the cusp of another world.
16:31And within minutes, he's worked the women into a frenzy.
16:38Talk about a transformation.
16:40You know, a serious man I was talking to,
16:42and then just suddenly this dancing ball of energy.
16:46Incredible.
16:50The witch doctor's transformation is not the only surprise of the evening.
16:54The ladies bring out their baskets,
16:56which they use for fishing in the shallows.
16:58But they also ask me to bring out my fishing rod.
17:02Do I sit here?
17:03OK.
17:05Suddenly, I'm at the centre of their ritual.
17:13The women are actually getting their fishing baskets blessed.
17:17And I've sort of been snuck into their number,
17:20maybe to give me a little bit of protection,
17:24good fortune,
17:25to be in my quest to find out about this fish, the Welsh.
17:30They seem to feel that if I'm going after the yunguesh,
17:33that I'm going to need all the help I can get.
17:45Then, as quickly as it started, the ceremony ends.
17:55The next morning, I go with the women basket fishing.
18:00I find it's often by integrating yourself within the community
18:03that the best information comes out.
18:07While I'm doing this, looking for fish,
18:09concentrating on what's in the basket,
18:11I'm very aware that around me you've got water lilies,
18:14and this is exactly what the mother and daughter were collecting
18:16when they were attacked by the crocodile.
18:20Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:22Yeah, yeah.
18:24I have two fish, two fish.
18:26Two fish?
18:27Yeah.
18:34That's a river monster.
18:38The ladies scare the fish out of the weeds,
18:41but instead of escaping into open water,
18:44there are baskets waiting for them.
18:46I have to say, it's very nice to get back to the basics of fishing.
18:49You're talking about just simple materials
18:51and a bit of human cooperation and ingenuity.
18:54And there we are, there's the fish.
18:57Where do I...
18:58Oh, it nearly got away, nearly got away.
19:04Where do I put it in the bucket?
19:05In the bucket?
19:06Yes.
19:08There's actually an impressive catch.
19:09They're not big, but there are lots of them, lots of fish.
19:12But the women are saying that sometimes around here
19:14it's possible to find large concentrations of big fish,
19:18very big fish.
19:19They say that doesn't happen very often, it's hard to find,
19:22but the way that I can find that is to look for the birds.
19:25The birds, the water birds, will tell me where they are.
19:29This is what I was hoping for.
19:31A little piece of inside information,
19:33which could lead me to the killer fish that prowl these waters.
19:39So I head out, scanning the horizon for birds.
19:42And after a few hours, I find what I'm looking for.
19:46There seems to be some excitement.
19:50Some of the birds seem to be quite excited behind these reeds here.
19:55So we're just going to see if we can go round into this bit of a backwater
19:58and just see what's causing that.
20:02These must be the water birds that the ladies spoke of,
20:05but I can't quite get to where they are.
20:08Very frustrating.
20:09You can't see what's going on,
20:10but there's every now and again there's a loud sort of slapping,
20:13popping sound.
20:17And I think there's something very dramatic going on under the water,
20:20but I just can't get to it.
20:22I try to force my way into the reeds
20:25to see if I can glimpse what's causing this commotion.
20:29Bubbles in the water.
20:31These reeds are shaking.
20:33Some quite large animals under the water,
20:34making these reeds really shake.
20:38Could this be a pack of river monsters at work?
20:46What have been unearthed in this part of Botswana
20:49that are among the oldest of their kind ever found?
20:52Find out right after this.
20:56Fishing implements have been unearthed in Botswana
20:59that date back over 20,000 years,
21:01some of the oldest ever found.
21:11I fought my way into the reeds
21:13to try and see what's causing an underwater commotion.
21:17Some of these lilies shaking,
21:19and there's a few leftover birds,
21:22but there's a sense that the action has just moved on.
21:24It's very frustrating.
21:25I got to the edge of it.
21:27I saw the shaking reeds.
21:28I couldn't really see what was responsible,
21:29but there's something under the water.
21:32It just appeared like a large collection
21:35of creditory creatures in the water,
21:40but they move.
21:41They're very elusive.
21:43Very mysterious, very frustrating.
21:45I really want to get to the bottom of this.
21:49Unfortunately, the reeds are too dense to follow the action.
21:53Then I realise I'm not alone.
21:57So there's people in here as well.
21:59They obviously know what's going on
22:00or certainly have a better idea than I do.
22:04But she's just disappeared in a very thin channel there
22:07between the weeds.
22:08I don't think there's any way in this I'm going to go after.
22:12But...
22:15Some sort of secret things going on here
22:18that I would really like to know more about.
22:29The next day, I'm privileged to join a 71-year-old village elder named Duba.
22:35He spent his life on these waters.
22:39I'm hoping he can help me unlock the secrets of this reed-filled labyrinth
22:43and find the killer fish at his heart.
22:49Duba is one of the last San River Bushmen,
22:52some of the most ancient people on Earth.
22:57They have fished these eerie backwaters for thousands,
23:00if not tens of thousands of years,
23:02and own the traditional fishing rights.
23:06So it's only with Duba's permission that I'm allowed to be here.
23:10And without his help, I would never find my way out.
23:15Duba, can you tell me what's different about this place?
23:17What happens here?
23:19What happens here?
23:21What happens here?
23:22What happens here?
23:24So the significance of this place is that traditionally
23:27this is where the dead were taken,
23:30and they were buried up to their necks.
23:36The rains would come, the rains would then go away,
23:38and the body would be gone,
23:39and the people would be transformed into papyrus plants.
23:46They believe these floating spirit papyrus protect the lagoons,
23:51moving independently against the current to close the channels
23:54and trap intruders inside the labyrinth.
24:05So if you come here without permission,
24:07what happens is that either you're going to find the way
24:11into the lagoon blocked by papyrus,
24:13you can't get in.
24:14You're physically kept out.
24:16If you insist on pushing your way through,
24:19the papyrus will close behind you,
24:21and you'll never find your way out.
24:23All that will be found eventually is just your empty canoe.
24:28Duba, I've been hearing about a fish called ngwesh.
24:31Is this a particularly dangerous fish?
24:42The ngwesh is a fish that is very toothy.
24:46It's got teeth a bit like a crocodile, very sharp.
24:49From my point of view, fishing for them, I'm trying to find them.
24:52I've established that this place is a sacred place,
24:56a haunted place if you like.
24:57But what that also means is it's got a degree of protection.
25:00People don't normally come here.
25:02So I think while I'm here, and while I'm sort of authorised to be here,
25:06I could do a lot worse than just put a lure through the water
25:09and see if there is anything down there.
25:17In this lagoon, I'm trying a small fishing lure.
25:21If the ngwesh is a pack hunter, like the piranha,
25:25then a disturbance near the surface is what it might go for.
25:29There's a fish, fish, fish, fish, fish.
25:31Whoa!
25:34This fish took almost under the rod tip.
25:39An indication of how voracious the fish are in this water.
25:42I mean, I've got about four feet of line out there.
25:44I was just about to lift it out of the water and it grabbed it.
25:47And I'm just letting it tire out a bit.
25:51I mean, the chances are it's got teeth if it went for that spoon.
25:53So I've got bare feet in here.
25:56I want it a little bit tired before I try and swing it in the boat.
25:59Aye.
26:06Beautiful little fish.
26:07Very toothy.
26:09This is actually an African pike.
26:11Sort of mottled green.
26:13The colour's actually wrong, I think, for what I've been hearing about.
26:16But if I just compare the teeth with what I was given by the witch doctor.
26:21Actually, the teeth are very different, very different.
26:24So, I mean, quite a nice toothy fish to catch this.
26:26But I think we can rule this off the suspects list.
26:33So the hunt for the mutilator of the ferry victims continues.
26:38Nice looking fish, but it's not the one I'm after.
26:47I'm working my way through the food chain,
26:50but nothing yet matches the description of the Ingwesh.
26:54As we near the lagoon's exit, I spot something unusual in the water.
26:59It's an old canoe here, just upturned by the side of the canal.
27:03I've been hearing all these stories about how this is not a good place to come to
27:08if you don't have permission.
27:10And I have to admit, it is quite a spooky place.
27:13It's quite easy to dismiss those stories.
27:15And then you come across a canoe with no occupant.
27:20It just adds to that general air of spookiness.
27:23You wonder what happened to the owner of this canoe.
27:30With my suspect list narrowing, I head out again into the main channel,
27:34keeping my eye out for flocks of birds.
27:37I decide to target a different part of the water column
27:40as I systematically zero in on the mystery fish locals call the Ingwesh.
27:47This is quite a weighted heavy lure, heavy head to it there.
27:51The idea of this is it goes down to the bottom,
27:55which tends to be where the larger fish might be lying.
27:59It's got a very enticing sort of wiggly action.
28:03And it's just the kind of thing that's going to entice a predatory strike.
28:18Let it hit the water, let it sink down, maybe eight to ten feet.
28:23And then just twitch it.
28:25Oh, that was something.
28:26Twitch.
28:27Twitch.
28:29And it's got these trailing sort of tendrils and it's got this rubbery body
28:33and a little rattle as well.
28:36And I think if you're a predator, you see a movement.
28:40You bite first and you ask questions later.
28:47Let it sink, sink, let it sink, let it sink.
28:52Twitch.
28:54Twitch.
28:55Twitch.
28:57Oh, I thought I felt something like that.
29:00Twitch.
29:01And again.
29:05Oh.
29:07Twitch.
29:24Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:30Wow.
29:32I think I've just seen what the anguish is.
29:43Oh, look at that, look at that.
29:45It comes about four feet out of the water.
29:46I'm hooked into a predator in Africa's Okavango Delta.
29:50My mind's sounding like it's in pain, slicing the water.
29:54Could it be the anguish?
29:56Long and silvery, horizontal stripes.
29:58The pack-hunting killer fish I've been searching for.
30:05Ah.
30:12I think this might actually be the anguish.
30:14From everything I've heard, it definitely fits the description.
30:18Streamlined fish.
30:20Silvery colour, horizontal black stripes, and unmistakable large, sharp, interlocking teeth.
30:28And, well, I actually recognise this as a tigerfish.
30:32This definitely looks like it's been doing a bit of hunting that body.
30:35Although, elongated is quite, you know, it's very full.
30:37It's been feeding.
30:40And then those teeth, I mean, that is, yeah, that is the tooth the witch doctor showed me.
30:46I think we've got a positive ID now on this fish, for sure.
30:49So I've matched the teeth from the witch doctor and identified the anguish.
30:54But is it really a fish that attacks in frenzied packs, like the piranha?
31:00I've caught a tigerfish before, the goliath tigerfish of the Congo.
31:05There we go.
31:06That fish has the size to be a killer.
31:09What a fresh water monster this thing is.
31:13But it works alone.
31:15The one I'm after hunts in packs, and can potentially bring down several large targets at once.
31:23The type of tigerfish I just caught is a relative of the piranha.
31:27But it can grow to over three feet long.
31:30And its average weight is more than ten times that of a red-bellied piranha.
31:35So imagine hordes of these tearing at your flesh.
31:40A voracious pack of teeth that, if my hunch is right, could easily have disposed of the ferry victims.
31:50To find out more about this type of tigerfish, I meet up with a man who has years of experience
31:55catching them.
31:57A fishing guide named Uri Jansen.
32:01People talk a lot about tigerfish being very aggressive.
32:04How dangerous do you think they are to people in this river?
32:08The potential is there.
32:10We're dealing with a species that is, without a doubt, the most aggressive freshwater species in Africa, and possibly worldwide.
32:21It's just such an aggressive fish.
32:24Particularly during the feeding frenzies associated with the catfish run.
32:28When tigers get together and shoal and actually feed as a unit, rather than individually.
32:35This sounds like the lead I'm after.
32:37A spectacular phenomenon that occurs at one specific time of the year, here in the Delta,
32:42that Uri believes incites the tigerfish to hunt in packs.
32:47It's called the catfish or barbell run, and it occurs when thousands of catfish prey on millions of baitfish.
32:55This hunt in turn attracts packs of tigerfish to feed in a predatory frenzy.
33:00Maybe this is what was happening in the reeds.
33:03As soon as that noise starts, the tigers are there in seconds.
33:07They go into a feeding frenzy with that mouth open and they just chomp.
33:11You see bits of fish being thrown up in the air.
33:13It's the most brutal thing you'll ever witness from a freshwater species.
33:20Tigers naturally are attracted to any activity, whether it be a struggling animal or a struggling human being.
33:26And do you have any, have you heard any specific stories that illustrate that?
33:30There is one that stands out.
33:33At one particular incident in a river in South Africa.
33:38At the height of summer, an off-duty game ranger decided to take a quick dip in the river to
33:44cool off.
33:48A risky decision, even if he thought the area was croc-free.
34:01But crocodiles are not the only predators in this water.
34:05But crocodiles are not the only predators in this water.
34:23My search for proof of the tigerfish's deadly potential has led me to the story of a horrific attack.
34:30It was brutally multiple around the groin area.
34:37The nature of the wounds suggested it was a large tigerfish.
34:42He almost bled to death.
34:45That just shows the ferocity of the tigerfish.
34:49Attracted to any kind of movement in water.
34:52And attacking things that may not resemble their prey.
34:57So another example of a tigerfish attacking a human in open water.
35:02But it's still hunting alone.
35:07However, these accounts of them feeding in frenzies during the catfish run
35:11could be the proof I need that they do work in packs.
35:18The next morning, I head deeper into the delta.
35:21Scanning the water for the bird activity that could be the sign of tigerfish on the prowl.
35:28But finding a run is not proving to be that easy.
35:32It's a natural phenomenon that can appear and then disappear back into the reeds with no apparent warning.
35:41As I'm not finding anything at water level, I decide to search for the predatory fish from above.
35:57Looking down on the maze of the Okavango, I realize that I'm finally beginning to unlock its secrets.
36:06What I'm looking for is concentrations of birds because people have told me that is where the predators are going
36:11to be.
36:14Flocks of birds typically feed on the bait fish that trigger the run.
36:17I'm counting on them to lead me to the action.
36:28Yes, I can see them. I can see the birds.
36:33That is where I've got to put my line.
36:38My hope is that like the birds, packs of tigerfish will be going after the barbell catfish run.
36:45This will prove my theory that these toothy killers do hunt together and could be capable of mutilating a boatload
36:52of people.
36:54Well, here are the birds, but they're not actually doing anything at the moment.
36:57It's like they're waiting for something. It's like they can sense something that I can't.
37:02It's actually quite spooky. Something's going to happen. It's not happening yet.
37:14Then seemingly out of nowhere, the catfish start arriving.
37:32An army of them schooling together to herd thousands of bait fish out of the reeds into open water, where
37:40the catfish can feed on them.
37:44This is the rare freshwater spectacle I've been hearing about.
37:48What I've spent so long searching for.
37:53But I'm not here as a spectator.
38:04There are hundreds, if not thousands of these.
38:09This is what the barbell run is all about.
38:14Catfish, lots of them.
38:16But the catfish aren't what I'm after.
38:19I've been told that all this commotion will draw in the second wave of predators.
38:23The tigerfish.
38:25And before long, I'm witnessing a real feeding frenzy.
38:33This is just, this is just incredible.
38:35The amount of activity is just incredible.
38:37This is a real phenomenon.
38:45Right, gosh.
38:48Ah!
38:50There are fish there, just holding their open mouths out of the water.
38:53Presumably just treading water with their tails.
38:55And they're just waiting.
38:56And the bait fish are flying in the air.
38:57So presumably they're just waiting for the fish to land in their mouths.
39:00It's absolutely incredible.
39:13The water is just so full of fish.
39:15And just in your ears as well, you hear the sound.
39:17It's like, the water doesn't just look like it's boiling, it sounds like it.
39:22I've just never seen anything like this before.
39:25To see such a sight in fresh water, it's really incredible.
39:30I need to get a bait back in the water, into the middle of this carnage, to finally prove that
39:37tigerfish are here hunting in packs.
39:42Fish on.
39:43Fish on.
39:44This is what I came here to see.
39:58Look at this.
39:59I'm up with tigerfish in the Okavango Delta, trying to prove that these fish are Africa's oversized version of the
40:07pack hunting piranha.
40:09Looks like I'm finally in the eye of the storm.
40:11This is not carnage going on behind the reeds or in some sort of marsh where I can't see it.
40:16This is right at the river's edge.
40:18And the predator's just hammering into the bait fish.
40:20And my lure, when it goes in there as well, is getting the same treatment.
40:26I'm hooking one tigerfish after another.
40:31This is the proof I'm after.
40:34Well, this is the fish.
40:35This is the fish.
40:36And the evidence is right behind me.
40:38It's in my ears.
40:40I mean, just the sound of the feeding frenzy is going on as I hold this fish.
40:43So this is not just a solitary hunter.
40:45There is a pack of them down there, filling the air with the sound of just frenzied predatory activity.
40:59People think piranhas are scary.
41:01Piranhas are just a few inches.
41:02You know, maybe a pound, two pounds.
41:06But fish this size operating in a pack.
41:08A pretty monstrous thought.
41:14The fact is, if you get a bait in the right place, just these things, one after the other, will
41:19just pile into it.
41:21And I think, without doubt, this is a very likely candidate for what put paid to those people in the
41:26ferry.
41:29So we're not just talking a solitary animal down there.
41:31We are talking a pack.
41:32We're almost talking a super organism.
41:34The biomass of these in a small volume of water is quite frightening.
41:38I mean, piranhas, in comparison, look quite puny.
41:41We've got a pack of these things down here.
41:43I've heard first-hand accounts of their raw aggression.
41:47I've seen their brutal hardware.
41:49And by catching so many in quick succession, I've shown they most definitely hunt in packs.
41:54I've left in no doubt that a frenzy of these mouths could easily have disposed of the ferry victims.
42:01So I think by any definition at all, this thing is a real river monster.
42:11You can still make it for them.
42:11We've been treated like a sea of water.
42:11And they can feel like a sea of water.
42:11In the water, they're using water for water, and they're using water for water.
42:11So I wouldn't look at the sea of water.
42:12Then it's a little water.
42:12Now it's a little water.