Big Cats 24/7 (2024) s02e05 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,
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!
No.
He's on a cub. He's on a cub.
Come on, Pobe.
Pobe's trying to swipe him there.
Pobe's chased off the leopard.
From the looks of things,
it might be Kea.
Yeah. That's Bo.
I think the leopard killed Kea.
Kea, Pobe's female cub, is gone.
The size of Bo and Kea now,
you assume they're safe
but, yeah, you never know what to expect.
That's really unfair.
Kea was the one
that was always the most
wild and boisterous and
incredibly competitive,
and she's gone,
and now Bo isn't gonna have
his sister showing him
what to do all the time.
Cheetah team,
it was a terrible loss,
and I don't think any of us
expected this to happen today,
but, yeah, it is it is tough.
The leopard remains a threat.
Pobe has no choice.
To keep Bo safe, she must leave.
Doesn't feel right to stay here,
I don't think,
so I want to give them some time alone.
The news has reached camp.
Ach, well
I don't know what to say.
It's a horrible day.
The team is working
in 400 square kilometers
of the Okavango Delta.
Summer is approaching,
and the flood is drying up.
Aggressive intruder males
have forced the Xudum mums
to retreat far to the south
but in the north
there they are.
a splinter group of
the pride's youngest lionesses
has remained and must survive on its own.
Hey, girls.
Gordon is following them.
We've got the females without cubs
trying to hunt zebra up here.
This is going to get rather interesting.
That was close.
Lionesses is in front of me,
they are around about 3 or 4 years old,
and they've formed this little subgroup,
or splinter, of the Xudum pride.
They are the daughters
of Big Toe and Madumo.
They're the sort of equivalent
of carefree teenagers.
They are the only ones that haven't moved
out of the historic
sort of heart of the territory,
where all these intruder males
are coming in.
For any female with cubs,
that is a concern.
There's danger.
There is threat to the cubs.
For these cubless females,
there's no threat or concern.
They see them as an opportunity to breed,
to have cubs, to be a mum.
It'll be really interesting
to follow these females.
If there is to be
a split in the Xudum pride,
it could well happen with them.
Close by
with no sign of Pobe and Bo
after the leopard attack,
Anna is joining the lion team.
I'm just gonna check out who is there.
Who's that?
OK. That's a lioness.
Is she alone? What's she doing?
My God.
She's got a cub. I can see a cub.
No. There's two.
There's two cubs.
They are tiny.
They're adorable, they're so small.
They are so unsteady on their feet.
They must be, like, 2 or 3 weeks old.
I have never seen cubs this size.
That is Serami.
I would recognize that tail anywhere.
It's, like, slightly white,
and she's missing the tip.
Well done, Serami.
This is the best news.
Serami is the first
of the splinter group lionesses to breed.
As far as I'm aware,
we don't know who Serami has mated with.
We've got intruder males
running about left, right, and center
so
there's a high chance
that one of those lions
could be the dad of these cubs,
but which one it is is anybody's guess.
I don't know why she's chosen here,
of all places, to den.
It's really exposed.
There's a high amount
of traffic coming through
because we've got water on both sides.
It just doesn't really feel
like the right place
to have cubs that are only
2 or 3 weeks old.
First-time mum Serami has a lot to learn.
I can't imagine
how difficult the next few weeks
and months are gonna be for her,
so I'm gonna stick with her
because I think
it's gonna be a tricky time.
What have we got here? Yeah.
It's a female.
She has a dreadlock on her face,
so I think that this is actually Neelo,
Pobe's daughter.
Neelo is from Pobe's previous litter.
She's been independent
from Pobe for about a year,
and it's amazing
this would have been
the toughest year for her,
but she's looking really well.
Pobe may have lost Kea,
but Neelo is proof
of her previous success.
Greg, Greg, Greg, for Rea.
Ready when you are.
Copy that, Rea.
Look in front. We just found Neelo.
It brings quite the joy to see Neelo.
She's just a bit over 3 years old,
still very playful.
Oop, she's playing with the elephant poo.
It's really cool that Neelo
still hangs around
close to Pobe here.
This is where she grew up.
She's definitely not had a meal.
She'll be hoping to bump
into any food here.
Copy that, Rea.
Neelo has just spotted
a big group of impalas.
Very large herd of impala here
approaching directly to Neelo,
who's at the top of a termite
mound staring at them.
I have a feeling Neelo
is waiting for majority
of the herd to come past her
before she makes her move.
I'm gonna send Mitch up with the drone.
I think this could be the best chance
Neelo will have today.
It's crazy the amount
of impala on the way.
This might be it.
I think they've picked up a scent.
They started to run.
Neelo is going forward.
Full tilt.
She's trying to trip it.
There's plenty of dust just behind her.
She'll just grab it by the neck now.
She's done it.
She needs to relax, breathe,
get the oxygen back in her body.
She didn't just burst out.
She waited,
chose which impala she wanted.
She's clearly a very independent cheetah,
very capable.
Neelo's survival is
not only about catching a meal.
It's about keeping it, too.
Neelo is just dragging this impala kill
into the shade,
which may help reduce vultures.
She's had a great amount of this meal.
She is going to be good
for the next couple of days.
It's amazing to see this young cheetah
surviving and thriving
here in the Okavango.
Only 5% of cheetahs
make it to this stage in life.
Neelo is proof
that Pobe is a fantastic mother,
and there's still a lot of hope for Bo.
Yeah. Copy that.
Brad is searching for Lediba the leopard
and her 5-month-old cub.
Yeah. I've got her here.
We have a beautiful view
of everything around her.
She's looking skinny again.
It's been 10 days now since she's had
a real sort of settled meal
that she can really feed on.
It's a stressful time.
Dominant male leopard
Bongwe remains in the area,
providing stability for Lediba
but her cub now needs
two pounds of meat per day.
Please, Lediba,
it's time to be successful.
It's still too young to hunt,
so Lediba is under pressure
to provide for them both.
This is where she's drinking.
It's a little seep.
The flood is drying up,
but this hole provides
access to groundwater.
She's got a bird.
Obviously, she's surprised.
A bird that was drinking
and a black-collared barbet
came out, and she grabbed it.
That's just remarkable.
I've never seen a leopard
deliberately kill
something so small to eat.
This is rare.
Birds make up just 1% of leopard diets.
Learning a lot about Lediba's character.
Catching birds is probably
enough to sustain her
but for the cub,
she's gonna be under increasing pressure
to actually provide kills,
and pressure is going to mount,
so this is a win for her,
but not for the entire family.
Tristen is with Lediba's cub.
Listen, Brad. Yeah.
I'm losing light this side.
Do you want to come in with
the thermal imaging camera?
She's on her way.
Lediba is returning empty-handed.
Brad's gonna start to
follow these guys into the night
and see what they get up to.
Lediba is just flat on the termite mound
above where the cub is.
She's been really struggling.
She's only been eating small things,
not enough to give to the cub.
Cub has come and joined,
and you can see as she lies,
there's a ring of heat around her paws
and her nose and her face,
and she's just slowly resting.
I would never have guessed that
leopards and cubs at that stage
are that intimate
quite an incredible thing to see.
This is leopards at their best
and, as far as I'm concerned,
at their cutest.
With Pobe and Bo still missing,
Anna is checking on new lion mum Serami.
We are with a group of lionesses
in really close proximity to the den.
I'm on the way, too, now.
I'll be there in about 5 minutes.
Some of the
splinter group has joined her.
How are they so close?
Why are they so close?
The cubs are with them.
This is so bizarre.
Normally, mums don't introduce their cubs
to the rest of the pride
until they're 6 to 8 weeks old.
Those cubs are still tiny.
Serami shouldn't be introducing her cubs
to any other lions
when they're this little.
The only time that I would
really expect there to be
other lionesses around cubs this small
would be if they also had cubs themselves
and they were alloparenting,
but these lionesses
don't have any cubs
so this feels really dangerous.
With so many intruder males in the area
and no indication of who their father is,
these cubs are vulnerable,
Serami is definitely
doing things differently.
My goodness me,
I think the cubs are very hungry.
At 3 weeks old,
lion cubs should suckle
every 4 to 6 hours.
What?
Something happened there
that she didn't like.
They tried to suckle from Mum,
but Mum got uncomfortable
and has left them.
It's now almost 12 hours
since the crew last saw the cubs feed.
Going now to the aunty to try and suckle,
and, obviously,
Aunty can't help them with anything.
Serami is the only mother
in this group of females,
so these cubs only have one
possible suckling opportunity.
Goodness me, what the heck?
This lioness is really
not loving these cubs.
This is another auntie
who's growling at these cubs.
What's wrong?
There's absolutely no way in now.
Serami seems to want
to break from her cubs.
I feel for them.
They just are waiting on the outskirts,
waiting to just have a chance to drink.
One of the cubs has got
the nerve to come in here.
He's trying to get close to Mum
and this lioness is just fully aggro
and that just shouts inexperience.
It shows to me that
this lioness and the others
have not had much time
around cubs at all.
With no other Xudum
pride mums to learn from
Come on. Come on, cubbo.
All I want to see is a cub
latch onto a teat and drink.
Serami is struggling to find her feet.
The cubs seem confused.
I think these two cubs
have been introduced
to other female lions too early,
and they may not be able to recognize
which lioness is Mum
and which of these lionesses is not.
They don't know who Mum is.
Lediba has stashed her cub
and is hunting again.
This elephant is browsing here,
making a hell of a noise,
and she's kind of using that.
Leopards will use
distractions from other animals
to get closer to prey.
I don't know what she's seen,
but there's something of interest.
The only thing I can see is elephants.
She's after monkeys.
That's what she's after, after vervets.
Having still not caught anything
big enough to share with her cub
This is how desperate she's getting.
Lediba is going
for something small again.
She has climbed into
the tree with all these vervets,
and she's jumping from branch
to branch in the treetops
trying to catch a vervet monkey
out of the tree,
showing her unbelievable agility
and frustration, I guess.
Just chaos, absolute chaos.
It's not typical prey for her,
but, you know, she's
she's really, really hungry.
Incredible climbing ability.
You don't see it until these
leopards are in full chase
way up in the trees.
She's just really going to extremes
to have a go at anything she can.
Tristen, Brad. Got a bit of a stalemate.
Brad's camera is struggling
in the fading light
It's a bit too dark,
so we're gonna switch
to thermal imaging camera
and just try to keep up,
so he's calling in Tristen to help.
Going down.
She's on the ground.
OK, cool. Copy that. Yes, on my way.
My God.
Lediba has just managed to kill a monkey.
It happened while we were
rigging the thermal camera.
She's very, very impressive.
I've never actually seen a leopard
catch one on the floor though, before,
so this is quite new to me.
I think we're
starting to really understand
a lot more about this particular cat.
It's just the first leopard
that I've seen in this area
that is so specifically focused
on small-prey species.
We're learning.
We're learning about Lediba.
I'm very, very happy for her,
and it's a decent sized meal,
but I doubt the cubs will be
able to get anything off this,
and they're gonna probably
still be hungry tonight.
At Serami's den
Sets and Gordon
are starting the night shift.
I'll let you know
how it goes in the morning.
Big yawn.
That's so cute.
Lionesses, they are up and looks like
they're gonna look
for some food for the evening.
Serami must leave
the cubs unprotected to go hunt.
She's looking a bit skinny,
and that's not good for her or the cubs,
so getting something to eat tonight
will do her and her cubs some good.
Moving out.
Hey, Gordon, the lionesses are stalking
towards some lechwe in the floodplain.
OK. Yeah. I've got them.
Adapted to water,
even experienced lions
struggle to catch lechwe.
The lionesses have
split into two groups of two.
This is an example
of lions working together
using stealth but also using strategy.
This is amazing.
She's up to her knees at the moment.
To walk through the water
without being detected
is a real challenge.
They're going for it.
Panic,
panic amongst all of these lechwe.
The strategy is to push the lechwe
into the oncoming lionesses.
They really went for it,
chased from way too far,
but it was a good attempt.
But Serami is not giving up.
Look at that.
She's just like a crocodile
lying in wait there.
She is completely submerged in the water.
She's up to her chin.
As long as she can hear
those lechwe moving around her,
there's no reason to move.
I'm impressed.
This is pure maternal determination.
Lion running, running,
running, running, running.
One of them's in the water.
My God, she's got a goose.
She's got a goose.
Crazy, crazy, crazy. My word.
In all the commotion,
Serami has got nothing.
A goose will barely feed one of them.
I've lost everyone.
They've crossed
over the water yet again
but in a place where we can't follow.
Looks like this is it for tonight.
After losing
the lionesses in the night
Gordon and Greg
Where are you? Where are you?
are searching for them.
This is really quite interesting
because we've got
one of Big Toe and Madumo's
daughters with a strange male.
It's one of Serami's splinter group.
He is a big boy.
He's a blondie.
I'm gonna call him Golden Boy
because of his mane.
A male and a female hanging out like this
can only mean one thing
that they're a courting couple,
that they're gonna mate.
Golden Boy is the latest intruder male
making himself at home
in the Xudum pride territory.
As sad as it is to think that Big Toe
and Madumo's time at the top
is coming to an end,
in many ways, it's exciting
because there's now other males
that are gonna step in that will become
the pride males of the Xudum pride,
someone like him.
He might be a rising star.
He certainly looks as if he's
made from the right stuff.
But Golden Boy's presence
Big, strong, handsome
is obviously working on this female.
could be a danger to Serami's cubs
if he's not their father.
Well, Tris, I've got a hit.
Lediba is high up in
an ebony tree that's fruiting.
To feed her cub,
Lediba is changing her tactics.
Fruiting trees play
such a big role in this area.
Ebony fruit is full of sugar,
lots of protein,
and when they're dropping their fruits,
everything is utilizing it.
There's a herd of impala rams
that are just making their way down,
picking up the fallen fruit
between them and Lediba
She's using the fruit as bait.
and that focused activity from ebony tree
to ebony tree is a pattern
that these leopards have figured out.
To conserve energy,
leopards often wait for prey
to come to them.
I haven't seen Lediba jump onto an impala
from a tree yet.
Let's hope she doesn't injure herself,
and let's hope these impala
get to her tree.
Lediba is taking
a risk to catch larger prey.
It's just a waiting game.
It's now 1:15 in the afternoon.
Over 6 hours have passed.
She's been in this tree the whole time
and just patience, patience, patience.
Lediba is still
eyes fixated on the impalas
coming down the tree line towards her.
We've got a single ram.
He's now closest that we've had to her.
This ram is completely unaware
of Lediba in the tree above him.
My heart is pounding out
of my chest right now.
She must be 8 or 9 meters off the ground.
It's about positioning
so she doesn't impale herself
on those horns.
A mistake here could be fatal.
He's directly underneath her.
Come on. Do your little bum wiggle.
Here we go.
No way.
Unlucky. Unlucky. Sorry, my girl.
I feel so sorry for her.
She needed that with them,
spent all that time waiting.
Lediba moves on empty-handed.
You know, it's dangerous doing
something from that height.
If she falls weirdly
or something happens,
it could spell the end for her.
Greg has found Serami,
who's moved her cubs
closer to the flood."
So our new lion mum and her cubs
with a couple of the lionesses
just resting in the shade.
Being nearer the water
is cooler for the lionesses
My goodness gracious me.
but Serami's siblings
are still stopping the cubs
from suckling
My word, no. This is not good.
and resting here
exposes them to a new danger.
A weak elephant
is a potential prey for a lion,
so elephants do not like
to share any space with lions.
Something tells me
that those little lion cubs
do not have the legs on them
to outrun an elephant.
This is a particularly dangerous
situation for the cubs.
This family of elephants
outmatches Serami
and the other lionesses.
OK. Our mums are pulling out.
They're leaving the cubs behind.
There's nothing that Serami can
do here against the elephants.
My goodness, he just threw a branch
very aggressive behavior
from the elephant.
Elephants have been
known to kill lion cubs.
The cubs are super scared.
The lionesses look like
they want to charge in
and push the eles.
OK. One cub has run
into this tall grass
but there's one cub
who's completely isolated.
What?
Get out of there, little cub.
Nerves of steel from the lion cub.
Went straight past the cub.
My jungle hat, that is nuts.
There's the cub. OK. Cubby is up.
These cubs are doing the right thing.
The cubs' instinct to hide is kicking in.
Don't cry now, little lion cub,
because now you're gonna draw attention.
Just one angry elephant with one foot,
and there goes your lion cub.
Cubs are somewhere
in this tall fire grass.
Yes. The eles are moving away.
I think the danger is past.
That was so close.
People think that lions are in
charge on the African savanna,
but that is not the case.
Elephants are in charge.
Unbelievable.
What a roller coaster
of an afternoon for these cubs,
such survivors.
Finally, so good.
Both of the cubs are having a drink.
This is what the cubs need.
Hey, that's fantastic.
It's really surprising and amazing to see
that these cubs have such
strong survival instincts
to move away from the elephants
and knowing what to do
in the time of extreme danger.
At this age, every day is a victory,
so today was a victory, but only just.
You hear that? Yeah.
Brad is looking for Lediba the leopard.
Let's go.
We've got lions, hyenas fighting,
so I would get another camera out here.
Copy that.
Heard all this commotion
on the edge of the floodplain,
and I've got Serami
and her sisters on a kill
and a whole bunch of hyenas
trying to steal it from them.
Leaving her cubs at the den,
Serami and the splinter group
have finally caught a meal.
These lionesses must have killed this
early hours of the morning,
and now they're being mobbed.
There's an interesting equation
to these kind of interactions.
It's based on weight.
3 hyenas weighs the same as one lioness.
We've got 4 lionesses here,
so we'll need 12 hyenas
before a real battle starts.
Despite their immaturity,
these young females
are keeping their food.
Part of the tactic of hyenas
is making a huge racket
and essentially it's calling to arms,
and if there's any hyenas
within earshot of this,
they're gonna come in.
I hope they hold on to it.
Serami has really been struggling,
and she's a new mum,
and if she doesn't get fed,
her milk will start to dry,
and that's not good for her cubs.
They just mustn't fall
for the intimidation.
Don't. Don't do that. Go on.
You'll see, the minute one pulls
away from the rest of the pride,
those hyenas just see the weakness
and just target her.
It's amazing, you know.
They'll walk within a couple of
meters and literally just stand.
I mean, if I was a lioness,
I wouldn't be liking this.
Those hyenas are getting ballsy.
Here we come.
The lions are starting to move away,
led by our new mum.
Finally outnumbered,
the lionesses are leaving
but with full bellies
Serami at least had a decent feed.
and food for Serami
means more milk for her cubs.
It's been two weeks
since the team saw Lediba
catch a large meal.
Looks like this girl's
definitely just going
on a bit of a march today.
OK. Copy that.
Lediba has just seen some impala.
Looks like she's gonna go and try to hide
in the long grass and get into
a position where she can ambush.
This is pretty much do or die now.
Lediba must feed her cub.
Just lost complete visual,
but, I mean, if I can't see her,
I doubt an impala can see her,
so she's planned this so, so well.
She got one! Come on.
You are an absolute beauty.
Lediba did it.
Weighing nearly 150 pounds
Unbelievable.
an impala ram will feed Lediba
and her cub for several days.
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
It is so good for her
the cub, for her
and is the best possible way
to end the day for Lediba
because impalas have such big horns
and it looks like it's managed
to just clip her slightly,
but she looks fine, luckily, but, yeah,
she just used all of her
abilities to the max there
hid, waited for the impala
to come to her,
and now she's got an amazing
meal for her family.
What a superstar.
Very keen on keeping this kill
as hidden as possible.
Lediba is calling properly now,
so this cub has got to be in here.
Hello. Little cubby has arrived.
Going in for a cuddle.
You know, it's always really
nice just seeing the family
reunite and seeing how happy
they are together
and Mum gets to give
this cub a little treat.
Looks like we're all on the move now.
Mum's taking the cub in to the kill.
This cub has got a long way to go
and a lot of things to learn,
and that's what Lediba is gonna
be trying to teach it
but the most important thing
right now is that
he gets a good meal
and continues to grow
and Mum's managed to provide that today.
Greg has picked up Golden Boy,
the latest intruder in the area.
These males are just in the floodplain
south of Kudu Crossing
He's been joined
by his coalition partner.
so pretty close to where the den is.
This is a mature coalition of males.
We don't know them very well,
but they are starting to become
quite a lot more present
in the Xudum pride territory.
They're resting close to Serami's den.
Greg, Greg, I've got them.
Yep. That is Golden Boy.
They are only about 150 meters
from the last known location of Serami.
They had two new cubs,
so this feels really dangerous.
If neither male is the father,
the cubs are in danger.
The cubs are here,
but Serami is not,
and she hasn't been seen
at the den for 24 hours now.
I'm getting fairly stressed
because if Golden Boy
and his coalition partner
catch scent of these two cubs,
there is a very big chance
he's gonna kill them.
I'm having issues getting
this thermal camera going.
Two hours have passed.
Serami is still not back,
and the cubs are still on their own.
I have a feeling there's something wrong
with one of the cables.
I've already called in to camp,
so they're bringing a replacement,
but I'm just stressed that
something's gonna happen.
Anna, come in.
Did you say
that Golden Boy is coming now?
With the thermal camera out of action
Just gonna have to use this
for the moment, I think.
Anna is using her spotting scope instead
to locate the males.
My God,
they're walking straight this way.
No, no, no.
Stay there, cubs. Don't move.
My.
They're only, like,
30 meters from the den at this point.
I can see some lechwe.
Please be distracted.
OK.
They are looking
in the direction of the lechwe
at the moment.
OK.
I've just lost them
behind the termite mound.
Anna, Anna for Mitch.
We approach with the new thermal camera.
Let's try nice. We're in.
We're in. Thank you.
OK. We're back in action.
What's up, then?
Great. OK.
These cubs are bulletproof.
They're moving away.
They are moving away.
I cannot believe that those cubs
have had such a lucky escape.
Serami needs to come back
because that was
way too close for comfort.
Night shift is ending
I've got Golden Boy
and his coalition partner
heading in the direction
of Serami's den?
No, no, no,
but the two male lions have circled back.
That is. That's Golden Boy.
He's going straight towards the den.
I'm gonna have to stick with the thermal.
Anna has no time to
switch to her daylight camera.
My gosh, little guys.
This is gonna be potentially tragic.
We have no idea who Dad is.
If the father is not Golden Boy,
this could be the end
of these little cubs.
If he isn't the dad,
I cannot watch
another cat kill a cub again.
They're just
at the base of that little tree.
OK. Golden Boy is coming
towards the den here.
They're not hidden.
They're completely obvious.
Where the hell is Serami?
The cubs have literally
zero protection right now.
Golden Boy is gonna
see these cubs in a second.
My word.
Golden Boy is hesitating.
Fully grown males
rarely see cubs this small.
The cubs are panicking.
One of the cubs is heading
behind the trunk.
The other cub has shuffled off
up the trunk of this tree.
What's going on?
I don't know if it's curiosity
or he actually does want to cause harm.
One cub is hiding,
but Golden Boy is following the other.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
The fact that that cub is so small
might be the biggest blessing
because it's managed
to get itself all the way up in the tree,
and that's the one place
that Golden Boy can't get
because he's far too big to get up there.
The cubs have escaped danger again.
He's pulled back.
Goodness gracious,
I was not expecting that.
I thought he was gonna munch them.
The fact that he didn't go for them,
I think he could be the dad,
and, if so,
that means that intruder males
really are infiltrating the Xudum pride.
Night team, night team, do you copy?
Gordon is joining Anna and Greg.
My gosh.
It's quite the situation.
What is gonna happen here?
The one at the bottom is calling
for the one who's at the top of the tree,
which is encouraging it to come down.
He looks so vulnerable up there.
I just worry It's just clinging on.
Little guy, that's a long way to fall.
Come on. Come on. You're so close.
It would just be so low on energy,
as well,
because we've not seen their mum
feeding them recently.