Dramatic footage shows how fleet-footed painted wolves stage deadly ambushes to bring down their prey. The remarkable canines have such strong social bonds they use well-tried strategies to tire out their targets before bringing in other team members for the kill. Yet their hunts can sometimes end in feasts for bigger and more powerful rivals such as lions and crocodiles.





One sequence using revolutionary camera technology allowed the BBC One team to track an impala hunt from all directions, with the final aerial shots showing the moment the exhausted antelope is cornered.



This weekend’s fourth episode in the highly-acclaimed primetime series was filmed in Zimbabwe where one of the most successful painted dog dynasties has hunted for years along the banks of the Zambezi River, but tensions between related but rival packs are running high.



For matriarch Tait, mother of eight litters and queen of all she surveys for five years, time is running out. Her blood runs through many of the last 6,600 painted wolves left in the world, but now her daughters want the throne.



Following this Shakespearean drama acted out under the African sun was a daunting challenge for the BBC team. Merely keeping up with the fast-moving, agile packs meant a military-style operation as the unit used 10 specialist camera operators, nine guides and clocked up 50,000 miles across bumpy landscapes. On one shoot, the team had to fix 22 punctures.

Painted Wolf pack resting after dramatic hunt

In for the kill: Painted wolf spooks antelope herd

Over 669 days filming, the team had to review 313 hours’ footage. They also had to learn the flank patterns of 91 different painted wolves. Little wonder they are one of Africa’s least filmed predators.



The crew also needed to remember the species has gone through a significant number of name changes in modern times. Once called the Cape hunting dog, then African wild dog, zoologists recently settled on painted wolf, scientific name Lycaon pictus. It shares a common ancestory with the wolf rather than descending from them like domestic dogs.



Explaining the efforts that went into filming this Sunday night's episode, producer Nick Lyon admitted: "It was a real challenge. They range over such huge areas and a lot of that is hard to cover in a car.

In full flight: Painted wolf sprints alongside impala