NARRATOR: A swelling behind the eye that's discharging liquid.
This is called the temporal gland.
It swells when his testosterone levels rocket by 50 times,
a condition called musth.
The gland creates pressure behind the elephants eyes,
potentially causing intense headaches.
Bulls in musth can push trees over and attack other animals.
Tempers rest on a hair trigger.
This raging bull in musth is gigantic, eleven feet
tall at the shoulder and weighing in at over 12,000
pounds, the weight of an RV.
His urge to mate is in overdrive.
And he'll crush anything that gets in his way, especially
other males.
But one of them won't budge, because he's also in musth.
This is nature's ultimate test of strength.
They try to fend each other off with their trunks,
which can lift 600 pounds, the weight of a ride-on lawnmower.
Suddenly, the raging bull finds himself on the back foot.
He's being out-muscled.
If he loses, his dreams of mating are at risk.
It's a cruel dilemma.
His rampaging hormones scream at him to fight on,
but the other male is stronger.
A final threat makes the raging bull think again.
He's lost this battle.
But he's not been seriously injured,
and his fighting days aren't over.
