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Series 4: 10. Gabon Coast

Steve and the crew travel 4,000 miles to the Loango National Park in Gabon. It’s a little-known corner of Africa that deserves a place in Deadly history.\n\nSteve heads out from base camp into Loango’s maze of rivers on a mission to try and find an animal that is critically endangered but packs a mighty punch – the western lowland gorilla. Gorillas are one of the most powerful animals on earth, capable of explosive aggression. For the most part, they are gentle giants but don’t be fooled - they can be deadly if they need to be!\n\nAfter a surprisingly short trek Steve and the team find a group of gorillas resting and feeding among the trees. Steve watches a blackback gorilla, a young male not yet in charge of his own troop and which can sometimes be trouble. The group move on and Steve and team track them through dense forest and stinking swamp. Catching up with the family, Steve reveals the threats facing gorillas, from taking the babies for the pet trade to deforestation and the deadly ebola virus. Heroes such as the guides at Loanga are doing all they can to save the gorilla. Summoning up their Deadly attributes, Steve adds the gorilla to his list as a Deadly Defender.\n\nMeanwhile, back on the coast, Steve is on a Nile crocodile nest stakeout. Many crocodiles, alligators and caiman are surprisingly good parents, building nests, laying eggs and taking great care of their young, even delicately carrying them in their huge jaws. But they will also ferociously defend their babies, so this is one mother you don’t want to mess with. Approaching the nest is a tense moment, but the mother isn’t at home so Steve is clear to set up camera traps to see whether she comes back.\n\nWhile the stakeout is in place, Steve and the crew go exploring, with the lush jungle round the camp being the perfect place to go on a night trek. He finds a huge spider and a puzzling congregation of the usually solitary tiger beetle. Then a real treat – an African rock python, the largest snake in Africa. The python is feeling a bit feisty and attacks the sound recordist's microphone – it’s most definitely Deadly!\n\nThe next day sees Steve back at the crocodile nest to see what the camera traps have picked up. He notices straight away that something has been digging at the nest, and the cameras reveal the culprit – an ornate monitor lizard! These are the rogues of the reptile world and their abilities as thieves are infamous. Up to two metres long, these creatures have a monster appetite to feed and are always on the lookout to bag a meal. The lizard samples the area with its huge forked tongue and digs in the sand with immense claws, but eventually moves on without a meal. Perhaps it wasn’t hungry! \n\nHeading back to their boat, Steve spots a monitor eating a huge mud crab, crunching loudly through the shell with its powerful bite. Steve puts these nest raiding, crab-chomping opportunists on his list.

Source: CBBC