- 6 weeks ago
"Birth of a Pride" is a 2018 National Geographic documentary film, directed by Dereck and Beverly Joubert, about the successful return of lions to the Selinda area of Botswana after they were hunted to near extinction. The film follows two male lions who swim across a river to meet two females, resulting in six cubs and the formation of a new lion pride, showcasing themes of conservation, wildlife recovery, and hope for big cats.
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00Africa, Botswana, over a century of hunting, has left some areas silent.
00:22A lone lioness and her grown daughter are the last remnants of a pride that once roamed here.
00:30By the mid-2000s, this paradise could have been lost in the mists of time.
00:37A footnote, in the tales of places where the big cats once ruled.
00:46But then, two things happen.
00:51Hunting in this remote area stopped.
00:54And impossibly, two male lions arrive from nowhere.
01:00These mysterious lions have been waiting years for the gunshots to stop.
01:07At last, they respond to the silence beyond the river and start a series of forays into
01:14the female's land.
01:15Today is their day.
01:23And this is the moment of hope for the lions in this paradise.
01:27Our sophisticated thermal cameras capture their story and their journey in search of the last
01:46females of the pride beyond the swamp.
01:48This is the best way to see into the world of these cats, persecuted by humans, until they
01:55learn a better side of us, and we go into the darkness with them.
02:01A heat signature stays behind like a shadow, just like their scent as they search for signs
02:12of the two lonely females.
02:13We call the two females Bolelo and Laboni, hot and light.
02:24Bolelo's eyes, as you will see in the daylight, are hot dark red.
02:32Her father was shot before she was even born.
02:36She takes her cues from her mother.
02:42And for the first time in years, the night reverberates with lion's song.
02:48This beautiful harmony will signal the end of an era, a new story of hope, and the birth
03:08of a pride.
03:18Over the next few months, the courtship mating and early life of stability keeps the males
03:26around and attentive to the females.
03:30With the silencing of the guns, other survivors start arriving at the waters of the Cylinder Spillway
03:45in northern Botswana.
03:59Months later, the males find themselves the center of attention of six tiny replicas of themselves.
04:08Both Bolelo and her mother, Laboni, have given birth.
04:24Most females have to work hard to convince males that the cubs are theirs.
04:30Not here.
04:32There are no competing males.
04:45For the first time in decades, buffalo have ventured into the area as well.
04:52They attract attention.
04:55It's new, daunting prey for the two females.
05:08And as we follow into their world of darkness, it's into a realm of heat signals and hidden
05:16behavior.
05:21The two females are inseparable.
05:28They're lethal on the hunt.
05:46The two females Wij Türkmen.
05:47It's anya!
05:51� Menes and aahi hey Kair todavía.
05:56It's dark.
05:58We can see right now.
05:59I don't die because you were in a phi.
06:01It's true for you in a highly dangerous situation.
06:04It's the xuysł should justal Rice Easterd whereas it's the inst им군 of elementary
06:06eradicating your szk.
06:08Well, if shaking, the Prague倦 had already understood during the killing Earth's Challenge,
06:11took you away some of the tabaculing and the bandits in a tentakuling.
06:15I don't know.
06:45As bold as this mother-daughter combination is, it usually takes her full pride to bring
06:53down a buffalo.
07:11Those warm eyes hint at her hunger to follow.
07:18But they have a small problem.
07:30One little male cub barely notices, as if he's already made up his mind what to do today.
08:12So close, and yet so far.
08:18Caught between multiple difficult choices, the two females take the leap.
08:23The choice they must make is whether to leave the cubs, hunt and then return, or take them
08:29across first.
08:33The decision is not unanimous.
08:40The cubs' instinct is to follow their mothers.
08:45All it takes is one voice of dissension to unravel a perfectly good plan.
08:52The cubs' instinct is to follow their mothers.
09:04The cubs' instinct is to follow their mothers.
09:11It sometimes takes courage to stand off to one side when your peers want to move forward,
09:32all together.
09:51The mothers are losing control.
09:53With each attempt, fewer cubs are convinced they can make it past the hippos.
09:58The cubs' instinct is to follow their mothers.
10:22He is gaining majority support.
10:27But until they can persuade the last male cub, this party is going nowhere.
10:44It's been two hours.
10:47Four cubs are finally convinced.
10:56But the objector has a cohort, his sister.
11:03The females decide to go all the way.
11:17As they cross the halfway mark, skirting the hippos, everything seems to be going according to plan.
11:24Out here, chaos can quickly turn to death.
11:36Every time a cat is in the water, it's at high risk and extremely anxious.
11:49Finally, one by one, bedraggled and scared cubs emerge, each with this grand adventure behind it.
12:02Most of them, at least.
12:29Two never even tried.
12:36It's a bad time to try now.
12:38The crocodile has moved into position.
12:40Even on the bank, the cubs are a target.
12:44Labornia and Balelo don't hesitate.
12:47They both throw themselves right at the danger.
12:51They both throw themselves right at the distance.
12:54They both throw themselves right at the distance.
12:55They both throw themselves right at the distance.
12:56The incident triggers the
13:21maternal instinct once again.
13:28The cubs have taken this all in attentively.
13:40They both throw themselves right at the distance.
14:01They both throw themselves out.
14:09Neither mother has had much experience at this. They're confused, stressed, and anxious.
14:17With the water churned up, even more crocodiles and hippos have been attracted.
14:31But now, the four cubs are alone, unguarded.
14:39The females are learning that they just can't keep everyone happy.
15:01It's an impossible choice. You can drag a cub to water, but you can't make it swim.
15:09Ultimately, the loudest voices attract their attention, and once again, the females swim the gauntlet.
15:22Every move is watched. Monsters emerge from the deep.
15:28I guess I have a couple examples from the deep.
15:32Where do I go?
15:37How does that happen?
15:38I guess I can't capture a cubby.
15:41I guess the water will go out.
15:42I guess I can't capture a cubby in the deep.
15:45I guess I don't recall that.
15:46I guess the sea is over, but we don't know what the top of the sea is.
15:50The...
15:50No one is comfortable with creepy, slivering reptiles underfoot.
16:04The two females have chosen.
16:30We don't know if lions can do the calculations, but today they know where they must be.
16:54Even a giant threat, one that will change everything here today, once again.
17:06Elephants on the exact path to them.
17:11Olelo reacts with fire in her eyes.
17:30The crossing is busy today. A bad time and a bad place to be having a family crisis.
17:37The inexperienced mother now makes another classic mistake.
17:51To satisfy the cubs, Olelo lets them suckle.
17:57The only thing that follows suckling is play, not swimming.
18:05She and Laboni are now separated.
18:08That's okay for both sets of cubs, but not for the objective.
18:13To reunite the pride and find food.
18:25One more chance.
18:28But they won't follow her.
18:30Each crossing and its troubles reinforces the idea that this side is the safest place to
18:36be.
18:46Despite their last desperate calls, she must finally give up on them.
18:53And commit them to the night.
19:21Our cameras are now used as silent witnesses to their night of terror.
19:29While the four cubs huddle warmly under the protection of their mothers, in the darkness,
19:35the little male and his sister wait, expectantly.
19:41If you are this vulnerable, someone will be hunting you down.
20:03The children and cubs have been living and dying like this for hundreds of thousands of years.
20:10At dawn, the two devoted mothers make one last check before they move on after the herds.
20:25There is a blanket of thick silence over the river today.
20:37And we try to find the ghost!
20:44It is just like a village of terror.
20:51Let . . . .
20:53And at the churps, leave me for Another Star.
20:54That's not a waste of time.
20:57quito Brittany?
21:00Very busy.
21:04We don't know if lions feel emotions or if their sense of loss is the same as ours.
21:12But they do feel something.
21:34Somehow they made it through the night.
21:51The last chance visit has paid off.
21:55Their reunion is complete.
21:59The female's instincts to return were exactly right.
22:06This time Laboni leads the way and doesn't make the mistake of suckling hungry cubs.
22:12If they want milk, they'll have to follow to get it.
22:17And that is going to involve some swimming.
22:23And at last, the two wayward cubs take to the water.
22:28The pride is finally joyfully reunited.
22:57Up ahead, their prey hasn't been claimed yet.
23:13But there are a few problems.
23:16First, they have to cross more water.
23:29This time, the little male leads the way.
23:35Now, the two females seem reluctant to immediately leave the cubs behind again.
23:41The fledgling pride goes on the hunt.
23:44All together.
23:47It's unusual.
23:49And dangerous.
23:54But there is a much larger threat than buffalo today.
23:58Nomads.
23:59Wanderers that follow the herds, preying on anything.
24:03Laboni knows that aggression is the best form of defense.
24:07It is quick and decisive.
24:19This influx of nomads is another disruptive artifact of safari hunting.
24:24A territory without male lions.
24:27The free for all destabilizes pirates and creates a wild west atmosphere of kill or be killed.
24:38So she sets the boundaries clearly with fangs and claws.
24:47Without Laboni's quick attack, the four nomads would simply overwhelm them.
24:52But then, something quite unusual happens.
24:59A temporary truce.
25:00And they all turn their attention to the buffalo.
25:05Now, leaving the cubs is impossible.
25:08With the blood of her rivals on her, Laboni blocks the nomads and leads the hunt.
25:14While Bolello keeps the cubs at her feet.
25:18And they all turn their attention to the buffalo.
25:37Suddenly, the nomads follow her lead.
25:40The hungry, the desperate, the innocent, are all caught up in the moment.
25:46They are united very briefly to kill, to bring down this colossal quarry.
25:51To then feed and move on.
26:16Their first river crossing.
26:25First encounter with wild, unknown lions.
26:28And their first buffalo kill.
26:31In just a few days.
26:35And the males.
26:40The result of decades of hunting has left the new males with a mass of territory to cover.
26:49When they do return periodically, it's an event in the cubs' lives.
26:54A time to be reacquainted.
27:06And for the young male, a chance to go boldly, where others fear to tread.
27:13It has consequences.
27:20The slightest wrong reaction could cause the mass of killer standing over him
27:25to snap out of being a tolerant father in an instant.
27:32It takes a certain strength of character to go up against a male lion over five times your size.
27:40But cubs have the ability to disarm aggression with sheer cuteness.
27:47Like the day of the zebra kill, some months later.
28:11Just after the kill, he spots his usual challenge.
28:16The pride males are visiting again.
28:21Their regal position prevents them from getting down and muddy.
28:27The cub is just the opposite.
28:31He is determined to leave his mark on these males.
28:41Over the months, he breaks down the male's resistance to him,
28:45simply by greeting and playing constantly.
28:48And he develops a stronger bond with one of the males.
28:52Or perhaps it's one male that simply gives in to the cubs' incessant efforts to win him over.
29:00As the prey base steadily increases here and the females go off hunting,
29:16it is the male cub's bond with his brothers that will better serve him.
29:21He needs to develop a relationship like the two pride males to fight off the competition to come.
29:28It is vital to the pride.
29:30At fourteen months, the pride has not lost a single cub.
29:55Now, each day is about learning and bonding.
30:00Lessons that will strengthen them as a function in pride.
30:04And each afternoon, Labornia and Bolelo take them off into the fields of prey to practice.
30:15Every step of their progress is watched by the males.
30:36At nearly two years old, a glimmer of maturity shines in their eyes and shows on the young males' necks.
30:45And he doesn't mean that they'll slip.
30:47Ahh
30:49Once again, when Laborni and Bolelo take the teenagers out to hunt,
31:19our thermal cameras reveal just how different the male cub and his brothers perform.
31:35He's characteristically bold, but he triggers the hunt far too early.
31:44Stealth is less of an issue for him, more an optional extra.
32:00It's a bumbling chaos.
32:04The real question is whether they will ever learn, or if they will learn in time for what has come in their way.
32:15The young pride is in an intensive phase of learning how to hunt, but it just isn't working.
32:28Now their time as cubs, the free ride phase of their lives is running out.
32:43For Linda, the real riches for sub-adult lions lie in the isolated islands, in the dark.
33:01These are one and a half ton beasts of violent aggression.
33:06The light.
33:07The light.
33:10The cold.
33:18Yeah.
33:19Yeah.
33:20Yeah.
33:21Yeah.
33:22Yeah.
33:23Tonight, the mothers hang back and leave it to the teenagers.
33:50The young male and his siblings are better at this kind of hunting.
33:55It's less formal, more a game of make it up as you go along.
34:20I don't know what to do.
34:27I don't know what to do.
34:32I don't know.
34:36And what starts is just a game, quite suddenly, turns.
35:01One hippo makes a giant mistake.
35:10They pull off the impossible, a momentous kill for them.
35:14Tonight they conquered their fears and opened the window of knowledge.
35:19They realize they can kill hippos.
35:31As they develop their skills, the hippo bones start to mount up a cross cylinder and drives
35:37them to the riverbanks each day.
35:52His pride has never quite adapted to these crossings.
35:59So let's go.
36:06So let's go.
36:08So let's go.
36:14Even with their cubs almost the same size as them, Laboni and Bolelo must lead the way.
36:51So let's go.
36:52So let's go.
36:58So let's go.
36:59So let's go.
37:00So let's go.
37:05Like most teenagers, they burn off energy fast.
37:24Playing, pretending to be hunters, refining the kill with sharp claws safely sheathed.
37:43Those will come out tonight.
37:44As it turns cold in the winter evenings, cylinder develops a chill.
38:06Some of the smallest creatures have to find food to convert into energy and are constantly on
38:13the move.
38:15So let's go.
38:22So let's go.
38:27So let's go.
38:28Not the lions.
38:38They huddle up and sleep it off, totally oblivious to the things that go bump in the night.
38:47Nothing wakes them, even the pitter-patter of rodent feet past their noses.
38:56The male lion is often the first to rouse the pride.
39:03He's a teenager, and midnight is his hour to get hungry.
39:09He senses he may just have stepped on something.
39:21Much in three years now, his mane is slightly larger, even than his brother's.
39:27A benefit or a handicap?
39:33Tonight his ambition has got him into a difficult situation.
39:40He's going to need rescuing, again.
39:50As a decoy, he's done his job.
39:53Using hippo-hunting skills, they isolate a large old buffalo.
39:57And within moments, the rest of the pride are on the bull.
40:03The bellows cut through the night and send a signal to the resident males.
40:11It's an instant reaction.
40:12It's an instant reaction.
40:18The one who kind of
40:39It's not the sounds of dying that he's focused on, as the young lions hesitantly go about
40:53the kill, it's who's killing it that the male wants to understand.
41:03He pinpoints the sounds and slowly hones in.
41:33For the first time, the young male and his siblings don't rush to greet their fathers.
41:46Something in their voices warns them off.
42:05Laborni and Bolelo can only listen to the fights in the darkness for days and months, and seem
42:13to know that there's nothing they can do to alter the outcome.
42:18It's the lion's way.
42:20The expulsion of grown cubs is as old as life or death itself on these planes.
42:30The next phase sends them away into a nomadic life.
42:43In Selinda, the sins of the past trophy-hunting era have been turned back.
42:49A recovery from two original females to more than 60 lions now wandering this paradise.
42:57To achieve that, the pride has to endure one last expulsion by their fathers.
43:08The down-thawful
43:20They're also kimmz, which is the limit.
43:23They're the limit.
43:25They're the limit.
43:26They're the limit.
43:27So the pain is definitely more than 2,000.
43:30The last step and turn is here.
43:32Each chapter's delivery and they have to wait for the next generation.
43:36This violent end to youth is actually the real birth of a pride, the natural order restored,
43:50a testament to what can happen when we do silence the guns.
44:06What do you think?
Recommended
44:05
36:56
47:29