Big Cats 24/7 (2024) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Yesterday I crossed this,
there was no water.
Look at it now.
The pride is here,
the full spectrum!
And of course, the cubs.
The annual flood
has finally arrived.
This is a very risky situation.
But with the water
I've got a big herd of buffalo.
..comes a dangerous prey.
This feels like a battlefield.
If anything kicks off here,
they're going to be in peril.
They're coming, they're coming,
they're coming.
The Okavango Delta in Botswana.
One of Africa's last wildernesses.
The Okavango Delta is an oasis
in the desert,
it's a miracle in itself.
And it's a stronghold
for Africa's big cats.
Lion
..cheetah
..and leopard.
This is nature at its
absolute finest.
Now, for the very first time,
a team of local and international
wildlife film makers
is working together to record
the cats' lives like never before.
Using the latest technology
We're going to be able to see things
in a completely different light
and tell stories in
a completely different way.
..they'll follow individual
big cats for six months.
Through the day
This is crazy. This is a battle.
..and the night.
This is a military-grade
thermal imaging camera.
Lions have got amazing night vision,
but it's not as good as this.
Capturing their behaviour
He's got the cub, he's got the cub.
..24 hours a day.
Welcome to the Okavango Delta.
It gets crazy.
GROWLING
Look at the birds,
look at the stork.
From a completely sober atmosphere,
to bursting to life.
Vianet is following the
Xudum pride's mothers and cubs
There they are.
..as the flood transforms
their home.
That's Mathata right there!
At seven months old,
Mathata is the eldest cub.
Mathata sees me. He knows
..he knows who I am.
HE LAUGHS
Mathata is very curious
about everything.
He's so bold.
Look at the other cubs
following him.
He's always up for it.
Mathata in Congo Brazzaville,
where I come from, means "trouble".
Eight weeks older than
the other cubs
He's so much bigger.
Look at his belly.
..Mathata needs to eat at least
10% of his body weight every day.
He has reached that sort of age
where he's started to be very
inquisitive about anything
that he can eat.
Look the distance
he's left his mother.
The first two years of a
lion's life are its most vulnerable.
Ah, Mathata.
Only one in five cubs survive
to adulthood.
Look, he's going.
ENGINE STARTS
He will drag his siblings
or his mates into danger.
To see how Mathata copes
with his first flood
..Vianet is sticking with him.
The Big Cats team is working in
a 150-square-mile area
of the Okavango Delta.
Trillions of litres of rainwater
are now flowing into the delta
from the north.
The flood relieves
months of drought,
bringing in animals
from miles around.
One arrival
..is drawing Anna's attention.
I can see the big herd of buffalo.
I'm going to get the drone up.
DRONE WHIRS
Wow!
We just have not seen this number
of animals together
since being in the delta,
so it is really something special.
At this time of year,
thousands of Cape buffalo
move through the Okavango Delta.
Ooh, our lions are going to be
licking their lips
when they see this.
Weighing nearly a tonne,
one buffalo could feed the mothers
and cubs for a week.
These are some of the most
dangerous African mammals.
They are formidable.
Even a solitary buffalo could
seriously hurt or even kill a lion.
Not only are they absolutely huge,
they also have safety in numbers.
To hunt this new prey,
the lions must be careful.
Especially with inexperienced
cubs around, like Mathata.
It's going to be a real challenge
for our lions to take down
any of these.
It's almost like unlocking
a new level in your video game.
The buffalo have entered the game.
To the north
All the cubs are walking with
purpose,
with the mothers
towards the buffaloes.
..the lions are approaching
another huge herd.
Could be about 100.
Actually, a few more buffalo
than I thought here.
With this many buffalo,
the cubs are at risk.
Vianet is joined by Rea and Sets.
Buffaloes are a good prize
for lions.
It ranks up there as one
of their favourite meals.
But getting a buffalo
comes at a great cost,
because a buffalo puts up a fight.
They have dangerous horns,
so they need to be cautious
when approaching a buffalo herd.
The lionesses,
they have to play very careful here,
simply because they've got cubs.
All the lions are moving out
from this grass.
The posture they are taking right
now is literally saying
that we're going for it.
These cubs are close.
Mathata is here.
He's trying to get a go at
the buffalo,
which is quite risky.
This is how they learn
to hone their skill,
like, seeing their mums in action.
I can see one, two, three,
four, five cubs. Five cubs.
Having a little stare-down
with the buff.
What they should do
is eventually fall back.
I'm actually pretty surprised
how close they are to the buffalo
right now - it's dangerous.
If the buffalo were to charge,
you wonder if the cubs would get
away in time.
As soon as they break,
one of them from the herd,
that's when they're going to pounce.
Lion incoming.
My heart is beating!
The buffalo are just charging
to the lions here.
Oh.
Very close to the cubs.
The cubs are scattering.
Oh! Here they come!
Got the buffalo again
with another charge.
The prey is chasing the predator.
One, two, three, four cubs.
Super close to Mathata!
Oh, baby.
The buffalo have pushed off
the lions.
The lions have
waved the flag of defeat.
It's tough out here.
It's a lucky escape for Mathata.
Buffaloes are too big for them
to get involved with.
But the pride hasn't eaten in days.
With more buffalo arriving,
the danger to the cubs is building.
So much game now all around us
with the arrival of the flood.
Leaving the lions, Rea is joining
Anna on the search for cheetahs.
This is actually the first time
I've done a water crossing.
It's been days since the team
last had a sighting.
Once we go through the water, like
now, the tracks are completely gone.
It makes it pretty difficult for us
to track these cats of ours.
What?
OK, hang on.
No way.
I've actually found a cheetah.
Rea, Rea, for Anna.
RADIO BEEPS
Go, Anna.
You will not believe this,
but I have finally found a cheetah.
No way.
It's a young male. Really small.
I don't think it's one
that I've seen before.
If it's a young male, it could be
Mushimani or Mushi.
It means "little boy".
Oh, that's really cute.
He's on the move, he's on the move.
He's going south.
ENGINE STARTS
This is definitely Mushi over here.
He's, like, between two to three
years old.
So he could have just recently
departed from his mum.
It's amazing how much energy
he's got.
And he's clearly hungry because
ENGINE STARTS
..he's not resting as much
as I would expect him to.
There's no question about
whether he's hungry or not.
He is definitely hungry.
Young males need to eat
every two to three days.
Ooh.
You can really see how skinny
he is right now.
The flood is drawing
plenty of prey in.
There's a couple of lechwe just
here on the flood plain
where Mushi is heading to.
But it's making it hard
for cheetahs to hunt.
Lechwe on the water.
Lechwe are wetlands specialists.
They're the fastest antelopes
in water.
There's no way he's getting them.
Mushi must be patient
if he's going to catch a meal.
With thousands of dangerous buffalo
in the area
..Gordon and Sets are investigating.
I can see this lion. He's obscured.
So I'm just trying to get
a better view.
Going to put the drone up.
He's looking in a bad way.
A really bad way.
OK. Who are you, boy?
Looks as if he's taken
his last breath.
I can still see him
moving a little bit.
Oh, he's got such a beautiful face.
He just looks like a cub.
One thing for sure is,
he is not of the Xudum pride.
This guy, he's only a youngster
but he's got a story to tell.
Sad to see a youngster like this
..notnot just on his own,
but in a really bad way.
He is as skinny as skinny can be.
Yeah, it looks like he hasn't
eaten in a while.
Yeah. From where I'm sitting,
he just looks like a bag of bones.
In a situation like this,
you can learn about lions.
If they don't make
the right decisions,
this is how they could end up.
Gosh.
It seems like the elephant has
..caught wind of the lion.
But he is oblivious, he doesn't know
that he's being approached
by these three elephants.
He is fast asleep.
Ooh, he's spotted them now.
He has spotted them now.
GROWLING
Oh! Poor guy. Look at him.
Oh, he can't even use his leg.
Oh, my goodness me.
Oh, there's hardly anything of him.
And that's not a cut,
a scratch or a bite.
So stamped by or kicked by
a buffalo?
It's catastrophic for this lion.
That's a leg that's completely
out of action.
If this is the damage a buffalo
can do to a grown male lion
Poor boy.
..it would be fatal for a cub
like Mathata.
It's heartbreaking.
Young male cheetah Mushi
Rea, has he got a good general
direction that he's looking in?
..is still hunting for a meal.
He's looking back where
he came from.
He's definitely looking hungry
and like he's going to go
for something.
It is such a shame that the majority
of the prey around is quite large.
So I think he's going to have to
really focus on the smaller
prey items.
All it takes is for one lechwe
or for one impala
to wander in front of him
and he's got a good chance
of getting it.
This could be his spot right here
on this open flood plain.
Ooh, I can see a young
lechwe in there that's much smaller
than the others.
On dry land, cheetahs are almost
twice as fast as lechwes
I reckon that's going to
be his target.
..but the flood is levelling
the playing field.
I reckon there is about 150 metres
between him and the lechwe,
and there's a really big
body of water behind them as well.
So he's going to have to get to them
before they get to the water,
because once they're in the water,
they definitely have the advantage.
He's gone!
Ooh!
Those lechwe have just
bolted for water.
Ah.
Ah, he's missed.
That was a real close one.
Oh, I honestly thought that
that was going to be
a successful hunt.
We've got to remember that Mushi's
really young.
It's not been long
since he left his mum.
But every one of those failed
attempts is a learning experience,
and cheetahs have a really steep
learning curve.
It was a really good attempt,
but he's going to need to do
a little bit better next time.
HE CHUCKLES
She's so beautiful.
Vianet is with Mathata
and some of the family.
Mathata is on top
of the fallen tree.
He's playing king of the castle
with the other cubs.
Look, he's blocking everybody else.
So cute.
It's just coming up to sunset now.
As night falls, Vianet switches
to the thermal imaging camera.
Something caught their attention.
I'm wondering
whether they want to hunt?
Some mothers go on the hunt,
some stay and look after the cubs.
Gordon, Gordon, do you copy?
Go ahead.
Three lionesses appear to be
actively hunting.
Roger, roger.
Vianet is sticking with
the baby-sitters and cubs.
This is a formidable trio.
Gordon starts tracking
the hunting lionesses.
They're the hunting elite.
At the moment, all of these lions
are kind of holding a constant path,
they're heading straight towards
the flood plain.
Right, I think there might be
a whole load of buffalo.
Oh, my word. Possibly the
biggest herd that I've seen.
Without the cubs
getting in the way
Holy moley!
..the lionesses are hunting
with more focus.
That is a lot of horns.
Man alive!
Things can change very quickly.
But the buffalo
are not backing down.
Ah, man.
Every time a lion runs,
a buffalo chases.
Big bull coming.
Lions are scattering.
Super close.
That's not how it's supposed to be.
It seems that this plan
..it hasn't worked out.
The hunting party is
returning empty-handed.
Lions are tough, and lions can
put up with food scarcity
and they can go hungry for a very,
very long time, but cubs can't.
Mathata and his siblings
haven't had meat for days.
They really want to get some
milk right now.
But with so many aggressive buffalo
close by
It looks like the mothers
are on the move.
..the females are moving the cubs
to a safer location.
Determined to find food
OK.
..the hunting party splits off again
in search of more prey.
The cat is walking
straight towards those lechwe.
This is when things get
potentially very interesting.
My goodness, somebody is going wide.
In position.
Lechwe typically use water
for safety
The lechwe doesn't know
that the lion's there.
..but these lions have a strategy
that Gordon has never seen before.
Ooh, maybe, maybe, maybe.
She is creeping through that water.
They're hunting in water.
She doesn't want to make
a sound, make a mistake.
One is right in the deep water.
My goodness. Look at that.
These lions really are clever.
Hunting lechwe in water,
especially at night-time,
I mean, this is just amazing.
There is real skill and
strategy here.
Whoa!
They're running.
Oh, my goodness. They're running
straight towards her.
Come on, girl.
Is there something you can do?
Oh, right over her head.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Oh, you are so unlucky!
It hasn't worked out.
That was an amazing, amazing dash.
Hard luck, ladies.
This is just truly extraordinary.
Aquatic lions.
And they're not giving up.
These girls are blowing my mind.
If these cats stay this side
of the water, I'll be very happy.
They cross over,
leaving Gordon behind.
Options, options.
The only option I have at the moment
is just to
..go as fast as I can
through that water
in the hope that I'll make it
to the other side.
OK. Let's give that a go.
Deep breath.
Oh, aye.
We're up to the gunnels.
Feet are getting wet.
Oh, BLEEP.
BLEEP, we're right in it.
Ah, flip!
Argh. I'm stuck.
All right. Let me just scan around,
make sure there's no
dangerous beasts.
The cats are
..making their way away from me.
We're good. We're kind of just
on the dry stuff,
trying to get as many sticks
as possible to put under the tyres.
There are some nice ones over there.
Beautiful.
Just want to get as much traction,
as much wood under the wheels as
I can.
Just keep an eye behind you, Mark.
Right. That's enough.
This is going to work.
Guaranteed.
HE LAUGHS
I hope.
Low range.
First.
Slowly. Slowly. Slowly.
Come on, baby-baby.
Oh, my word.
There is a God.
Heidi-ho!
Oh, thank the Lord.
HE CHUCKLES
Back on the hunt.
But Gordon has another problem.
I can't see the lions.
Where are you guys? Come on.
He's lost the lionesses.
Leopard specialists Brad and Tristen
are looking for their favourite cat.
We're heading out nice
and early to go and find Xudum.
She's the prominent female leopard
that lives opposite our camp.
And I haven't seen
her for quite a while,
so quite excited to get
back on her trail.
Is that a leopard?
That is a leopard!
Right, OK. Cool, we're in business.
Brad, Brad, Brad for Tristen.
Yeah, I've got a leopard. Just off
the camp, west of the hippo pool.
OK, copy, yeah.
This is very, very, very promising
stuff for so early in the morning.
Yeah, it's definitely Xudum.
Three months ago,
the team witnessed Xudum mating with
an unknown male leopard.
She got up and turned around,
and you could just see a little bit
of a bulge.
There's something there.
See this?
Interesting.
If she is pregnant from that
mating
..it's like next week.
This is a really good start to
the day.
If she's going to have a cub,
I'd love to get an idea of where
she's hanging out.
I want to see her moving around
a little bit,
and I want to see her start
looking for dens.
I wonder where we're going now.
It looks like she might be on
a territorial mission today. Oh.
She's just really trying to
nail down the heart of her territory
and make sure it's all
safe before she drops.
This behaviour that we're seeing now
really seems to tie in with
all of that.
Leopards regularly scent-mark to
communicate with other cats.
Just hit the road.
She just darted into the long grass.
It just looks like Xudum's really
reacting in a territorial sense
to the presence of other
cats in the area.
Fresh markings help secure
her borders.
Kind of just doing her due diligence
before she goes denning.
She's in one of her favourite
trees
..close to home, close to camp.
I would have put money on the fact
that Xudum would den very,
very close to our camp.
It's where she was born.
You know? This is really
the centre of her world.
It's feeling like she's kind of
coming home and she's becoming more
localised for this process,
if she's about to give birth.
She's smelling, she's advertising.
She's making a statement, really.
"This is my place. This is my deal."
Xudum's not the only animal getting
close to the team's film camp.
Vianet is setting up camera
traps
Such a warm day.
..to find out what's visiting
camp at night.
I've been hearing a lot of rustling
around this section here.
Triggered by movement,
these cameras will capture any
activity after dark.
It should be really interesting.
Let's see what we've got.
Oh.
Oh, that's Anna!
Oh, what have we got here?
Hippopotamus!
The amount of traffic you get every
night is unbelievable.
Oh!
You see that?
Whoa.
They're so close to the mess tent.
Leopard, leopard, leopard!
That's Xudum.
Brad's suspicions that Xudum will
give birth near camp look promising.
I've got Xudum, the leopard,
prowling beneath my cabin.
I'm not sure I'm going to
sleep tonight.
Anna, Anna for Rea, do you copy?
Was that for Anna, Rea?
You will not believe it.
I'm just here close to Cheetah Pan.
And I've got a very full
stomach Mushi.
No way.
Well, I'm glad that he has
had a meal,
but I'm also slightly
gutted that we missed that.
I'm going to come
and have a look at him.
Oh, Mushi!
Mushi's got a massive belly.
Oh, Mushi!
A male cheetah can eat up
to 14 kilos of meat in one sitting.
Hey, Rea, I can't believe it.
What's the chances of that?
I know, though. His belly is very
full. It kind of looks
quite freshly full. He could have
hunted this morning, I guess.
Ooh, he's got blood on
his nose. Huh.
Then, yeah, maybe it is from today.
He's clearly very clever
and he knows what he's doing.
What a little dude.
He just came down from the termite
mound, he's in the shade there.
I think his plan for the rest of
the day is just relax.
I know he's just a young boy, but
I'm thinking we should have given
him a little bit more credit,
clearly.
I mean, the evidence is there
with his massive stomach.
I think he's got a pretty bright
future, our Mushi.
A really bright future
and a really big belly. Yeah!
Greg is with the Xudum pride
and a large herd of buffalo.
If there was ever a place that
I wouldn't want to be as a lion,
it's here.
Stuck between all of those buffaloes
and a big river channel.
Despite the fact that
buffaloes are food for the lions,
they're also very much foe.
They can kill lions
and they often kill lions.
But the stakes are even higher now
with the cubs here.
A lot of the big bulls and more
aggressive buffaloes
are at the front here, which
is not good.
If they can get their hooves on
a cub,
there's going to be problems.
The lions still haven't eaten,
and now they're the ones being
challenged.
It's a wall of horns.
Imagine what Mathata feels like
right now looking at that.
The lionesses have made their way
with the cubs right onto
the water's edge.
They have nowhere to go.
Dominant pride male Big Toe moves
in to slow the buffalo advance.
Big Toe has parked himself
off right in between the buffalo
and the rest of the pride.
He's trying to hold his ground here.
Uh-oh.
But the buffalo have the upper hand.
Here comes a bull.
He almost squashed Mathata.
Everyone's in the water.
Okavango lions are capable
swimmers,
but this is Mathata
and the cubs' first flood.
They're swimming! Oh, my gosh!
They've never had to swim before.
The cubs are panicking.
It can easily attract crocodiles.
We could lose one of these
lions or cubs.
The lionesses are hesitating.
They don't want to
get into deep water.
They're swimming after them.
Two of the mums are with the cubs.
Even a big lion like him
is vulnerable to crocodiles.
They're still in deep water now.
Still deep, deep, deep, deep.
Yo, that was close!
They've made it across to this
side of the channel.
Ah, that was too much.
Aw, that's amazing.
With the lions in retreat,
the buffalo are leaving.
Their point has been proven.
That was insane.
Ah, you can see that everybody is
just so pleased that we're all safe
and sound and across the channel.
Mathata has survived his closest
call yet,
but he's still without a meal.
He doesn't look like a cat that's
just had a run-in with
buffaloes and crocodiles.
It's danger every
day for these cubs.
But look at him now.
All's well that ends well, hey.
Close to camp
..Xudum is still
looking for a den site.
Hey, girl.
How are you doing?
Brad and Tristen are following her
every move.
You come and say hello to us?
She's definitely very relaxed with
us.
It's of her own free will in her
own domain,
and, yeah, it's a very,
very beautiful thing to happen.
Yeah, leopard guys.
Random one, there's a leopard
in the middle of the flood plain
moving through the water.
Just a few hundred
metres from Xudum
That's so weird.
..Greg spots something unusual.
Broad daylight and there's a leopard
just walking through the water!
Greg, are you going to go for it?
Yeah, I'm on it.
If you need any backup with that
leopard, just let me know.
I'm not far from you.
Anna is joining Greg with the drone.
If you ask anyone, "Oh, yeah,
leopards moving
"through water at noon,"
they'd say, "What do you mean?
Leopards are going to be sleeping.
"It's, like, 35 degrees.
"Why would a leopard be
moving around now?"
Not something you see very often.
Hopefully, we can
This is Metsi.
A young male leopard we've seen
around a few times of
late, actually.
I wonder what he's up to.
He's been paying so much attention
to the smell of something
underneath where he's been
walking.
He could be sniffing around
and smelling Xudum, actually,
that's a possibility.
Metsi's nose is leading him
closer to Xudum.
Oh, there he is.
Wow, so camouflaged.
What he might be smelling is her
scent, considering that
she's in a sausage tree only
about 200-300 metres south of us.
Really unlucky for Xudum,
then, at the moment,
because we've got a flood coming in.
It's pushing males onto these
islands in higher densities
..which is a challenge.
Especially, you know,
with potential cubs on the way.
Any male leopard who finds cubs
that are not his is very
likely to kill them.
Yeah, we don't want him
sniffing around after Xudum.
He looks beautiful,
but he is also sinister.
Luckily for Xudum, Metsi is picking
up the scent of something else.
Those lechwe have cottoned on
that something's not quite right.
He's hunting.
He's trying to
pick up on lechwe lambs.
A young lechwe lamb would be
perfect for him.
Typically a leopard wouldn't want
to be so obvious.
And Metsi is
I don't think a leopard could get
more obvious.
Amazing. Amazing. I've never seen
a leopard hunting like this before.
Whoa.
There's a female lechwe that has
just followed this leopard
onto an island.
So I can't think of another
reason why
she would be following him
other than to protect her baby.
Female lechwe
hide their young after birth.
She's not happy with him
going in there.
But just the fact that the lechwe is
reacting like this tells me
that her baby is in there.
The lamb is stashed in deep
vegetation to keep it safe.
Hopefully for the baby
it's by the elephants,
because I don't think Metsi is going
to want to get too close
to the elephants.
It's too well hidden
..and Metsi gives up.
Oh.
Well, that's a surprise.
He's climbed the tree.
Metsi is no threat to
Xudum right now.
But Brad has recently seen
other male leopards
straying into her territory.
There's a lot of male activity.
We're on 11 males in this area,
identified males.
To raise her cubs successfully
It's not a good sign.
..Xudum must find a safe den.
She's going from bush to bush.
Sniffing, looking, being
very delicate.
She needs a spot that will keep her
vulnerable new cubs well hidden.
This is exactly the thick
cover type of area
that she would be looking to den in.
She's definitely looking at
den sites here.
She marched very
deliberately to this one
and disappeared inside,
and she hasn't emerged yet.
Disappeared into a really
thick blue bush forest
and she was very
deliberate about it.
It could be a den site.
There's some nice structure in it
and it's well hidden
and she's got good access in
and out of here.
If this is the den site,
Xudum's cubs will arrive any day.
I mean, it's still too early to
say for definite.
But the threat of male leopards
still looms.
OK.
This is the biggest gathering of
the pride
that I've seen at night-time.
Gordon is back on the night
shift with the lions.
We've got eight lionesses.
We've got Mathata
and the rest of the gang.
So the pride have all
converged on this one spot.
So this is
..a big hunting party.
I've never seen this many
lions on a hunt.
They're definitely very,
very focused.
All of the cats have suddenly got up
and moved.
They've seen or heard something.
Oh, my goodness.
We've got a little herd of buffalo
up ahead.
But there is, what,
five of them,
but there could be more.
Yeah, there's more coming
along behind.
Such a big hunting party could
finally provide a meal for the cubs.
And there is a big, a big risk
that these cubs,
bombing about the place,
making a lot of noise,
could ruin things.
Mathata and his siblings need to
stay out of the way.
Not a single one of these lions
can make a mistake.
This is real
tenacity from these lions.
Somebody's running.
Whoa, they're really close.
Lions coming out of the woodwork.
We've got sub-adult
males in on this hunt.
It's good to have a bit of muscle.
And for every additional lion,
it puts these buffalo at more risk.
Oh, this might be it.
Buffalo's spotted them.
The buffalo's chasing them.
Lions running towards
the buffalo.
OK, they've cornered it.
OK, running.
That's not going to end
well for the buff.
Oh, they've got it. They've got it.
Oh, no, have they?
Spin round.
Oh, ran right past me.
Where is it? Where is it?
Where is it?
Oh, man. That is a pile-on.
It's all over.
So, we've got a whole
herd of buffalo. This one just made
the mistake of splitting away
from the herd.
And with this many lions around,
you know, they really don't
It didn't stand a chance.
It's taken nearly the whole pride,
but the lions finally
have their ultimate prize.
This is quite
something for these cubs.
Mathata is getting
his much-needed meal.
They're just clambering over this
mountain
that is this dead buffalo.
So you're talking about life
experiences for a lion cub
..this is a moment to remember.
I had a funny feeling about tonight.
I had a good feeling.
Vianet is joining Mathata
and the triumphant lions.
I love mornings like this.
I just love mornings like this.
In four hours,
they've smashed through this
buffalo.
Something's moving inside it
..and I'm wondering what that is.
Aw.
This is so good for the cubs.
Buffalo is the best you can get.
All this prey will fuel Mathata's
latest growth spurt.
They've pretty much finished it.
Now look at their bellies.
They look so full now.
He's expected to double in size
in the coming months,
so he needs to make the most of this
food supply while it lasts.
I'd want to see you grow strong.
Strong, strong, strong Mathata.
But the flood will soon dry up
..the buffalo will leave
..and Mathata will face his next
challenge.
When I first met him, he lived up
to his name, Mathata
..which means "trouble".
But now he has developed so much
into this sort of confident
and calm young man.
He's boisterous.
Very protective.
All these beautiful characters
I expect to see from a future
king of the savannah.
Next time
There's a baby boom in the delta
Two little babies, it's too cute.
..but Mathata threatens
the lives of three new lion cubs.
One of the cubs is going to
get hurt.
Or, worse, killed.