Big Cats 24/7 (2024) s02e04 Episode Script

1
The Okavango Delta in Botswana
We are in a pristine
environment right now.
one of Africa's last wildernesses.
The magnitude of life
here is unparalleled.
And it's a haven for Africa's big cats
lion,
cheetah,
and leopard.
Big cat country.
Armed with the latest filming technology,
the "Big Cats 24/7" team is following
individual big cats for 6 months.
This is a unique opportunity
to follow these cats round the clock.
through the day
I used to think
I'd have a fair fight with a lion.
I'm not so sure now !
and the night
We've got the most sophisticated
thermal imaging technology.
capturing their behavior
24 hours a day.
I have never seen anything like this.
Epic!
The lions are running.
He's got No. So close. So close.
Those zebras.
I don't think any of them got anything?
Nah. There was a dust bowl
they got lost in.
Gordon and Sets
are with the Xudum pride mums
and their 14 cubs.
This is now a huge pride
with over 20 lions here.
And there's Naledi,
Nosi, Mmakgosi, Magogo, Matho,
and Tsebe.
It's a big pride,
and it's also a force
to be reckoned with.
The problem is with so many lions
hanging out together,
that is a lot of mouths to feed.
The mums have banded together for safety
but now have a new challenge.
I feel sorry for these girls.
They haven't seen these
lions get a significant meal
in a few days.
Lioness Tsebe has more cubs to feed
than any other mum in the pride.
Tsebe is an incredible mum.
To raise 4 cubs to this
stage is no mean feat,
but that little one is
looking very skinny.
He's definitely not
getting enough to eat.
Tsebe's smallest cub is struggling.
Every day that passes,
that little cub's gonna
be getting weaker and weaker.
Tsebe's spotted something.
The lions pair up.
I hope this time, it's a success.
She's running, running, running.
Go, go, go, go.
Tsebe's running on empty.
Tsebe must catch a meal soon
Hard luck, boys and girls.
That was a shame.
if she's to keep
herself and her cub alive.
Tsebe can't catch a meal quick enough.
Brad and Tristen
are with Lediba the leopard
and her 5-month-old cub.
This cub looks like it's in good nick.
It's happy. Definitely
looks in good shape.
How beautiful is that.
Brad, Brad, Gordon.
We've got a male leopard in a tree
just at the edge of Lediba's territory.
This makes me anxious.
To have such a high density
of leopards on this earth,
if there's a male and he
thinks the cub is not his,
there's a good chance that
he'll kill him.
Male leopards
kill cubs that are not their own
so they can mate with the females.
So keeping them on the move here
it'll be 4 or 5 days to a new location
is smart.
I think this might be their
new little kindergarten
for a while.
Lediba must keep her cub well-hidden.
Nice thick forest with a lot of cover.
At this time of year,
the floodplains of the Okavango Delta
are at their fullest
pushing all the big cats
in the area closer together.
I've managed to find
another big male leopard.
Starting to get seriously concerned.
We just keep on finding
male after male after male,
and it's a big problem.
It's now more challenging than ever
for Lediba to keep her cubs safe.
Looks like mum is
starting to snarl at the cub.
That's their way of saying,
"OK, now you stay."
"Get used to your new room."
The cub knows exactly what it means.
Lediba is heading off to hunt
It's amazing that they
can communicate like that.
leaving her cub alone.
Mum has to just trust
that she's gonna stay concealed.
OK, big girl.
Gordon is with Tsebe
and the pride mums and cubs.
They're looking hungry.
Looks like it's gonna be
a busy night for them.
They've got lots of
little bellies to fill.
Ready? Watch your feet.
To see if they can catch a meal,
the team is deploying
some brand-new night-vision equipment.
This is a beast of a camera.
The sun has set,
and the night is full of opportunities.
I have never, in my whole life, seen
this number of lions moving together,
particularly at night.
It's unreal, scary as hell, though.
It looks like the lionesses
can hear something in this tree line.
This looks like Tsebe.
With four hungry cubs to feed,
Tsebe is taking the lead again.
Gordon, we've got Tsebe on our side,
moving through the tree line.
This time,
more of the mums are joining her.
I've got the drone up quite high,
and there's lots of impala in there.
Copy that.
If the lions can get close enough
and outsmart them with teamwork,
hopefully, they're going to win.
Hunting in a group
doubles a lion's chance of success.
Tsebe's done a big loop round,
and if she can just sneak in,
they're going to scatter.
And they could very well head
in the direction of the other lions.
They're running.
Yo, look at that.
The lions' superior
night vision and acceleration
They've got it.
gives them the edge.
My goodness.
Mums, cubs all spring in.
Given that it's such a small meal
split between this many lions,
a little impala like that,
it is less than the crust of a sandwich
for each of them.
It's really not going to go far.
Tsebe is only getting a few bites
When it gets to this point,
when they're super hungry,
it is every lion for themselves.
and her cubs are getting nothing at all.
My gosh.
One of these cubs is trying
to pull a piece of meat
through the subadult male's legs.
The mums must take priority.
If they're not strong enough to hunt,
no one gets fed.
Tsebe's little cub,
he's in the toughest position.
He's the smallest of
this part of the pride,
and he's less able to actually fight
and get access to the food
that he desperately needs.
The adult lions have devoured the impala
in minutes
The best chance they've got
of everyone getting
the food that they need
is if they catch something big.
To feed herself and her cub,
Tsebe must target larger prey.
Zebra will go farther,
buffalo even farther than that.
But, yeah,
Tsebe's cub still needs to feed.
Trist, I got her here.
She's just crossed over.
Brad is on the trail of Lediba.
Tristen is just
a few hundred meters away.
It's all good.
Let's hope Lediba doesn't
push too far across.
This boy seems to be quite active,
rubbing himself up against
trees and scent marking.
This unknown male is on the border
of Lediba's territory.
This is a very high-stakes situation
for Lediba.
This is where she lives, where she hunts,
and where her cub's growing up.
Male leopards are extremely aggressive
to females and their cubs,
and if they aren't certain
that they're the father,
they will kill them.
He's approaching a tree.
I see another leopard up there.
It looks like a female?
I don't recognize this girl.
It's not Lediba.
Pushed together by the flood,
competition amongst leopards is
now fiercer than ever.
This guy looks angry.
Yo!.
To assert their dominance
He's just mumbling and grumbling
and just giving these
deep guttural noises
that are, to be honest, quite terrifying.
males will sometimes attack females.
She can, hopefully,
just get out of it
by hiding on the lighter branches.
. He's just gone straight up to the top.
That was insane.
They must have fallen
over ten meters out of that tree,
and he just seems
completely unfazed by it.
With yet another male
establishing himself
in the area
Brad, Brad. This is an aggressive male
who's very keen to show
everyone who's boss.
Copy that.
That's, that's not a good sign.
Lediba will have to work even harder
to keep herself and her cub safe.
This is really, really scary for Lediba.
So slightly to the left.
To check on Lediba's cub,
Tristen is rolling into a night shift.
I can't see anything in the trees.
It makes me really quite worried,
actually.
But the cub is not where he left her.
Wait.
Well, that's a relief.
Leopard cubs are very,
very strong climbers.
This is one of their biggest adaptations
and reasons for survival.
Mum can leave them by themselves.
They can climb up to the top of
a tree very easily
and get away from predators.
These cats are very,
very inquisitive at this age.
After 24 hours alone,
the cub is getting restless.
It's like watching a toddler, basically.
The world is their oyster,
and they, you know,
are just ready to explore,
ready to learn.
He's come down the backhand side
of the tree.
Out in the open,
there's no hiding from predators.
There's any number of dangers out here
for a young leopard cub.
Wait. Another leopard.
Thank God for that.
It's Lediba.
This cub obviously heard mum calling,
ran off into the floodplain after her,
very, very eager to meet mum.
But it's going to be quite difficult
to figure out where
they're going to be going.
My feeling is that it's
probably going to go
and find a new place to live.
With so many male leopards in the area
She's gonna move this cub
through very, very thick terrain
in an attempt to keep it safe
and out of harm's way.
Lediba is now
moving her cub almost every day.
And stop.
All right. So let's try and find them,
shall we?
Why does it have to be so difficult?
Why can't filming leopards just be easy?
Lediba and her cub have vanished.
Good luck, girl.
I'm done.
I absolutely love this time of day
Anna is following cheetah mom Pobe.
is when Pobe is still tucked up in bed
and the cubs are just playing around her.
Now six months old,
her two cubs
Good morning, Kea and Bo.
are maturing fast.
You can really see
their little sibling bond.
They don't have the support of a pride,
but they've got each other.
They love each other so much,
and that is really,
really beautiful to see.
Bo is just being
a classic little brother,
winding his little sister up.
Kea is not having any of it.
She's like,
"No, don't slap me in the face,
thank you very much."
Cheetah cubs learn vital skills
they need through play.
You can see the way
that they stalk each other
practicing their hunting.
Over the next six months,
Kea and Bo will need to put
these skills into action
They've definitely been watching Pobe.
and start to hunt alongside their mum.
Things are going to
start moving pretty quickly
from here on out.
They're not babies anymore.
With the flood reaching its peak,
the density of buffalo skyrockets.
So this is one hell of an opportunity.
Tsebe and the mums are
hunting for something big enough
to feed themselves and all of their cubs.
The desperation of the cats is very high.
They are all very hungry.
The cubs have been nagging their mums,
and these lionesses
are feeling the pressure
to provide for such a huge pride.
Buffalo are powerful and aggressive prey.
They're closing in
on one of the most dangerous
animals in the delta.
But a one-ton bull
will easily feed the whole pride,
making it worth the risk.
Chase is on.
My goodness me.
Lioness is right up the rump.
Someone's clinging on
like a bucking bronco.
Jeepers creepers.
Dealing with buffalo,
you can't afford to make any mistakes.
There's a little calf in there.
It's just OK.
We've got buffalo moving in,
defending the calf.
Look out.
Tsebe got walloped by the bull.
Back on the calf.
That's game over.
It's something,
but a calf is far from enough
to feed them all.
Someone's getting beaten up.
Hunger is turning
the lions on each other.
It's a dangerous place to be a lion cub
around a small kill.
I really feel for Tsebe's cub
because he's really being pushed around
and he's struggling to get
his head in there.
Tsebe's cub has a wound.
Hey, Gordon. I can see Tsebe's cub,
the one that's been looking very skinny.
Looks like he has a wound
on the left side of his ribcage.
It looks pretty bad.
My gosh. That's no good.
That injury on his side,
he's picked that up
either during the buffalo
hunt or in the aftermath.
The cub is malnourished and now injured.
If he doesn't get
the food to help him recover
and heal his wound,
things could turn
for the worse quite quickly.
Seeing this cub in this condition is
is very hard to watch.
With Pobe as their teacher,
cheetah cubs Kea and Bo
are learning fast.
Yeah, she's going to them.
Go, go, go, go.
And she's got one.
The cubs are going straight in.
Pobe didn't even need to call them.
The cubs already understand
This is about fast food.
You need to just eat and leave.
that at mealtimes,
time is of the essence.
Meanwhile, Pobe is just sat, guarding.
Now they're at risk
of predators coming in
to steal this kill.
Of all the big cats,
cheetahs are the most likely
to have their meals stolen.
What's really cute is that
it looks like Bo is copying mum
and is also standing guard.
He's basically adopted
the exact same stance
as Pobe,
and is looking out.
Male cub Bo is finally
taking lessons seriously.
One of them is eating,
and one of them is standing guard.
They're clearly learning really,
really fast.
These little cubs are
getting ready for the future.
Pobe's looking at something.
Pobe's crouching down a little bit.
What is going on?
There's a leopard. There's a leopard.
Pobe is going straight towards it.
Really, really don't want
her to get into a fight.
This would not be good.
This leopard could seriously injure
an adult cheetah and kill a cub.
Pobe is just staring at this leopard.
She's not going to let that leopard
come anywhere near Kea and Bo
and also that meal.
But Pobe is not backing down.
The leopards ran away.
My heart.
That was a seriously lucky escape.
Typically, the cheetah
would run away from a leopard.
I've got a feeling due
to Kea and Bo being here,
Pobe knew she's got to stand ground.
she's got to take care of her cubs.
Thanks to mum,
the cubs have learned a vital lesson
how to defend a meal.
Cheetah cubs generally have
such a tough start to life,
but these two have
the most incredible mum,
who is just showing them
the ropes every single day.
With so many leopards in the area,
Pobe is going to have to be
more vigilant than ever before.
We have run into Lediba.
After vanishing with her cub
So good to see you.
Greg has found leopard mum Lediba.
Man.
The last few weeks have
been very stressful
because there's been so many males
really threatening the area.
Gosh. Another one.
My word. Big male leopard.
This is Bongwe,
and he's the dominant male
in this area.
He's fully mature, about seven years old.
Lediba.
If the cub is nearby,
this is a super dangerous situation.
Bongwe and Lediba's territories overlap,
but male territories are four
times larger than females'
What?
so interactions like this are rare.
He's about double her size,
and she's trying to push him off.
It's working. Eee-you!
This is insane.
Lediba. Ballsy?
Lediba really can't afford
to get injured here
with a cub to protect.
Absolutely unreal situation.
What is going to happen here?
Holy smokes. Here comes the cub.
Gosh.
If Bongwe sees her,
this could be the end.
I cannot believe my eyes.
My gosh. She's seen her.
My word. He's not reacting at all.
There's only one reason why a male
wouldn't kill a cub.
Bongwe must be her father.
That's amazing.
Bongwe is her dad for sure.!
That's cool. I'm stoked.
Gosh. That is heart-wrenching.
I thought that it could have been trouble
for that little cub,
but now it looks like he's
actually the defender.
Fantastic.
Go, Bongwe.
Although he'll play no
active role in rearing his cub,
Bongwe will challenge
any intruder male leopards
in the area.
He is a formidable, big male.
So, I mean, if there's any leopard
that we want to be dad
and to give us a sense
of security for the cub,
it's Bongwe.
Happy days for everybody involved.
What a magical little moment.
Here we are.
Gordon has caught up
with the Xudum pride.
I can see a cluster of lions over here
Tsebe and Naledi, Matho, and their cubs.
But half of the mums are missing.
They've split off
from the rest of the pride.
These cubs haven't eaten anything really
in the last week,
and these lions are
beginning to feel the pressure.
They were moving around
with around 20-plus lions,
and if you don't catch
something big like a buffalo,
next best thing is
to split up in smaller groups.
Mum and cubs are up,
and they're moving off.
Tsebe's group is now so hungry,
they're sacrificing safety in numbers
to hunt on their own.
And that one little cub,
the skinny one, is fast asleep.
He's been left behind.
Hey, little guy, wake up.
Desperate to find food for her cubs,
Tsebe is leading the hunt.
She may even have called,
and all the cubs have just followed on,
but this one,
probably just because he's so tired,
he didn't get the memo.
The saddest sight ever.
See how his hipbones are sticking out?
And he's starting to call.
In this state, his call won't go far.
There's a bit of a breeze,
so no one's going to hear him.
They've gone too far away.
Not only is he tired,
weak, underfed, injured,
now he's alone.
OK, he's moving,
but he's going the wrong way.
The further away he walks
from where his mum left him,
the less chance he has of her finding him
when she comes back.
With the flood
concentrating predators in the area
There's leopards, hyena, other lions.
And he needs his mum for protection.
this wounded cub
faces a race against time
to reunite before nightfall.
He's just completely defenseless.
Really nice to see her with the cub.
Lediba and her cub are
still in dad Bongwe's territory.
Lots of playing, jumping on each other,
and it's just a fantastic
scene to witness it.
Too cute!
I've got a male leopard here
walking straight towards
Lediba and the cub.
It's the aggressive
young male that Tristen
previously found in the area.
With younger males like this
that aren't fully established,
they've got a lot to prove.
This guy's main role is going to be
finding a territory,
finding females to breed with.
He's going to really be pushing
in a very aggressive way.
If this male ventures
into Lediba's territory,
he's just going to try
and wipe out anything
that isn't within his gene pool.
What's that?
Hey! Come on. This is Bongwe.
He really needs to make a big effort
to push this male out of the area
and keep Lediba and his offspring safe.
They're both big. They're both powerful.
And if these two males come into contact,
it'd just be an all-out war.
Bongwe's thrown down
the gauntlet. The chase is on.
Running side by side allows leopards
to size each other up.
I have to admit,
it looks very, very even.
It's the last step before a fight.
Bongwe has chased him
over a ridiculous distance now
and doesn't seem to be letting up.
He is just pushing, pushing, pushing.
Looks like our boy has won this battle.
The other male is slowly moving away,
and Bongwe is watching him move off
and out of his territory.
Bongwe has resolved the dispute
without coming to blows.
This is absolutely amazing for Lediba.
I mean, she's got a male that she
can completely rely on
to protect her territory
and to protect her cub.
Lediba seems to know the right boys.
I've been called in
to take over the cheetah
Pobe and her two cubs.
This will be quite exciting
because I haven't really had
much time with the cheetahs.
Cheetah cubs Kea and Bo are learning
from their mum every day.
Pobe spotted some impala.
She is stalking,
using the grass as cover.
That's incredible.
I don't see her anymore,
but I know she's in position.
She's hiding behind her
a termite mound.
She's going.
She is super-fast.
Yo, it's insane.
She got it!
My goodness.
Wait. She's letting it go. What?
This is a big moment for these cubs.
Kea has taken the lead.
Both are going on it.
They are chasing it around.
Because this is their first time,
they don't really know
what they are doing.
Cheetah mums bring their cubs live prey
to hone their hunting skills.
Look at Kea.
She's really, really into it.
She's hanging onto it.
She's learned so much from her mom.
She's just mimicking her.
She's taking it down.
Kea is holding on to its throat
and suffocating it.
She is going to be an exceptional teacher
when she grows up.
It's like I'm actually
watching these cubs
grow in real time.
Pobe has helped her cubs
reach an essential milestone.
Pobe,
I bet you are a proud mom today.
You have ushered your cubs
into the new age of maturity.
Yo!
There he is.
Gordon has been
following Tsebe's lost cub
for more than six hours.
It's going to be dark soon,
and the night holds
a whole set of other dangers,
especially for a cub on its own.
You're doing the right thing.
Calling is the best policy.
OK. You've got a warthog.
So he's probably seeing this warthog,
thinking,
"Maybe this is my next meal."
But not on his own, that's for sure.
This little lion's completely
dependent on his mum.
There is nothing that
he can take down on his own,
technically not in the condition
that he's in at the moment.
He's just disappearing
off into the grass.
OK, let's catch up.
My goodness me.
Hey, look. There they are.
Tsebe up ahead.
OK, if he calls now,
maybe she'll hear him.
Come on. Big roar. "Mummy!"
Happy days.
There you go, little guy.
There they are.
In the nick of time as well,
just 20 minutes before sunset.
You can tell. He's not leaving
his mum's side. Look at that.
It's perfect.
Greg and Gordon are
sleeping out next to the lions.
The lions are over there,
maybe kind of over 100 meters away.
I'm out in the middle of the plains,
and just going to bed down for the night.
This is the best place to be.
I mean, right in the thick of it.
OK, good night, lions.
It might be nighttime,
but not everyone's asleep.
The lion cubs haven't had a proper meal
in over a week.
And they're all getting desperate,
but Tsebe's little cub,
it's life or death.
And not just getting lost from Tsebe,
from his mum,
but his body condition,
he's weak, he's picked up an injury.
And when there's food available,
it can't even fight its way
to get access to the meat.
It's like a downward spiral.
Tsebe is an amazing hunter,
but she's on a losing streak
the last week.
It's been tough for all of them.
Gordon, Tsebe is crossing the floodplain
towards the tree line.
I'm pretty confident
she's seen something.
Roger that, Greg. I'll put the drone up.
In a bid to feed her cub,
Tsebe is going it alone.
There's a zebra right there.
Right there.
She's sneaking into that bush.
This is close. This is intense.
OK, there she goes.
She's got it.
My goodness.
It's pretty astonishing.
She did all of this on her own.
the neck. That was mad.
Tsebe led the hunt. Amazing.
One lioness on her own
managed to take down the zebra.
To this number of lions,
that is a sizable meal.
She is the hero of the day.
Tsebe has provided for the whole group
Every single one of
these lions has been hungry.
This is the best meal that
they've had in a week.
and finally delivered the food
her smallest cub needs.
For Tsebe's cub, that little one,
he has literally been starving.
This could save its life.
You just see him sneaking in
and almost read his mind.
He's like, "Thank God."
Finally getting a good meal.
And that is just
so good to see.
We were really worried about the cubs.
Everyone has finished eating
but Tsebe's little male cub.
He is tucking in.
He's just refusing to leave the table.
He is going to eat until he pops.
Happy days for this cub.
How was that? Amazing.
Talk about unexpected.
I know.
Couldn't come a moment too soon.
Through skill and determination,
Tsebe has done the seemingly impossible.
Most cubs don't make it
to their first year,
and she raised four of them.
And that has not been about luck.
That's been about hard work,
commitment to them,
and just being an all-around pro.
Yeah. They survived against the odds.
What the hell?
There is another cat.
And Pobe and the cubs
have absolutely no idea.
That is a leopard.
That is a big male leopard.
They're so close now.
The leopard is literally here.
And Pobe and the cubs are there.
This is really not good.
One moment they're just playing around,
and in the next breath,
they're basically at risk of death.
You've already seen Pobe
put her life on the line for these cubs
when it came to the leopard.
So if this does escalate,
I have a strong suspicion
she's going to be doing
the exact same thing.
The leopard is basically staring
at Pobe and the cubs.
He's coming down the hill.
He's creeping, he's creeping.
He's heading straight
towards Pobe and her cubs.
This is such a bad situation.
It's really close.
My. .
He's right next to the cub.
You're right next to the cub.
You have no idea.
Move, Pobe. Move.
You need to move your cubs.
He's right behind you. Move.
No, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no