Harpy Eagle vs Monkey: The Most Brutal Canopy Chase

[00:00:18][music] [music] [music] On the high canopy of the Amazon rainforest, a silent intruder appears.

[00:00:46]This is the [music] Emperor Tamarind.

[00:00:49]This small primate lives primarily in trees, [music] often moving in groups and using vocalizations to maintain contact with other individuals in the troop. In the distance, on a large tree fork, a very wide nest appears. This is the nest of the harpy eagle.

[00:01:11]At this moment, the adult bird begins to fly away from the nest to search for food.

[00:01:18]Meanwhile, below the tamarind monkey is still moving. Suddenly, a large shadow glides over the canopy. That is the harpy eagle. For a small monkey, the shadow of a bird of prey overhead is always a signal of danger. But in nature, the places eagles frequently visit are usually where their nests are.

[00:01:39]And for an omnivore like the tamarind, [music] bird eggs are an opportunistic food source. After a while, the young monkey also found the bird's nest high above.

[00:02:00]The tamarind [music] quickly approaches the nest.

[00:02:07]For the tamarind, bird eggs are [music] an energyrich opportunistic food source.

[00:02:12]But at this position, every second it stops [music] makes it more vulnerable to detection.

[00:02:20]From the distance, the owner of the nest has returned.

[00:02:38]The monkey constantly changes direction to avoid open spaces. From behind, the harpy eagle relentlessly closes in from above.

[00:02:53]A near miss pounce sends the monkey falling into the water. It quickly surfaces, trying [music] to swim toward a cluster of tree roots along the bank.

[00:03:02]But beneath the water, a spectacled kimman has detected the movement.

[00:03:12]The young [music] tamarind quickly ducks deep into a root hollow right at the water's edge. Above, the harpy eagle is still perched on a low branch, watching right in front of the hollow's entrance.

[00:03:24][music] Time slowly passes by. The monkey keeps still inside. A moment later, it cautiously pokes its head out.

[00:03:45]From far away, the cayman is silently approaching. It suddenly attacks the eagle.

[00:03:53]The attack fails, as in nature, no meal is easy. Dusk falls.

[00:04:01]The young tamarind cautiously crawls out of the root hollow. When the young monkey [music] climbs up a high tree, it begins to call out loudly.

[00:04:11]Here is the contact call of the tamarind. When separated from [music] the troop, these short calls help it locate other individuals in the area.

[00:04:19]From the other side of the river, [music] the tamarind troop responds.

[00:04:23]This sound is like a signal. I am here.

[00:04:26]Where is everyone? For tamarind monkeys, calls help individuals separated from the troop relocate each other within the dense forest [music] canopy. But between it and the troop is the murky water of the Amazon. Beneath [music] the river's surface, the spectacled cayman could still be hiding near the bank. The tamarind does not [music] have many options left. It plunges into the water, swimming fast toward the other side. The young one quickly climbs up and rejoins the troop.

[00:04:57]This time it is no longer traveling alone.

[00:05:03]After rejoining the troop, the young tamarind moves with the group toward an Amazon wild fig tree. Night is closing in. The entire troop needs to quickly replenish their energy before the light disappears [music] from the forest canopy. The wild fig tree is an important food source in the Amazon [music] as its ripe fruits feed many aroreal species and animals foraging on the forest floor. High up [music] on the branches, they begin to eat the ripe figs.

[00:05:35]While picking figs, a few fruits accidentally fall to the forest floor below.

[00:05:42]Before long, southern Amazon red squirrels move in beneath the tree.

[00:05:49]But in nature, areas where food concentrates often draw in many small prey, and that [music] also attracts predators.

[00:06:01]The ocelot suddenly lunges toward the red squirrel. The first lunge fail. The ocelot [music] stops, then lifts its head to look up. High above, the tamarind's troop is still eating fruit on the fig branches. The ocelot begins climbing the tree trunk, approaching from the lower canopy. But as it gripped the very first [music] branch, an adult tamarind spotted the movement below. The alarm call rang out. The entire troop immediately stopped eating and scattered across the smaller branches. In the wild, tamarind live in troops to increase their ability to detect danger.

[00:06:38]With just one individual spotting a predator, the entire [music] group reacts almost instantly. Behind the peaceful appearance of the Amazon rainforest, [music] every day is a succession of hunts. The first hunt ended in failure and the second hunt also brought no results. [music] In the Amazon rainforest, not every predator emerges victorious. It is precisely these missed hunts that help maintain the balance [music] between predator and prey, allowing this ecosystem to continue surviving for millions of years. If you love wildlife documentaries and want to understand the natural world more deeply, please continue to follow a WTV official.