Predator - Inside The Host Tree Of A Strangler Fig

The seeds of the strangler fig are sown through animal (usually bird) droppings in the rainforest canopy. Once they find a host tree, they germinate and slowly begin to grow tentacles that go down the tree and around the trunk. They also grow a canopy of thick leaves. The leaves block the sunlight and serve to rob the host tree of necessary nutrients while the tentacles strangle the tree itself over decades or a couple of hundred years. Finally the host tree is dead and the strangler fig is all that remains in its place. This shot is inside what was once the host tree over 200 years ago.