Big Cats 24/7 Season 1 Episode 3 brings new danger to the Okavango Delta as the balance of power among Africa’s big cats begins to shift.
After a brutal clash with rival lions, dominant males Big Toe and Madumo suddenly disappear, leaving their pride vulnerable to invading males. With the territory exposed, the team turns their focus to young sub-adult males Colin and Ngkonne. They are coming of age, but they may not yet be strong enough to defend the pride against powerful intruders.
Meanwhile, Greg Hartman tracks Xudum the leopard as she ventures into risky territory in search of a mate. For a female leopard, choosing the wrong male can be deadly—new males often kill cubs that are not their own.
Local cinematographer Rea Schulte travels to Brinke to locate Pobe’s daughter, revealing the next generation of cheetahs trying to survive in the harsh and competitive wilderness of the Okavango.
Discover the drama, danger, and survival strategies of Africa’s most iconic predators in Big Cats 24/7.
#BigCats247 #BigCats #WildlifeDocumentary #AfricanWildlife #OkavangoDelta
After a brutal clash with rival lions, dominant males Big Toe and Madumo suddenly disappear, leaving their pride vulnerable to invading males. With the territory exposed, the team turns their focus to young sub-adult males Colin and Ngkonne. They are coming of age, but they may not yet be strong enough to defend the pride against powerful intruders.
Meanwhile, Greg Hartman tracks Xudum the leopard as she ventures into risky territory in search of a mate. For a female leopard, choosing the wrong male can be deadly—new males often kill cubs that are not their own.
Local cinematographer Rea Schulte travels to Brinke to locate Pobe’s daughter, revealing the next generation of cheetahs trying to survive in the harsh and competitive wilderness of the Okavango.
Discover the drama, danger, and survival strategies of Africa’s most iconic predators in Big Cats 24/7.
#BigCats247 #BigCats #WildlifeDocumentary #AfricanWildlife #OkavangoDelta
Category
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AnimalsTranscript
00:14The male lions from the Kudum Pride are fighting to protect their whole family and are battling
00:23with aggressive intruder males.
00:25Oh, jeez, this could be a fight to the death.
00:28If Madumu and Bikto lose their power, that just changes everything.
00:37The Okavango Delta in Botswana.
00:42One of Africa's last wildernesses.
00:45The Okavango Delta is an oasis in the desert. It's a miracle in itself.
00:49And it's a stronghold for Africa's big cats.
00:56Lion, cheetah and leopard.
01:00This is nature at its absolute finest.
01:04Now, for the very first time, a team of local and international wildlife filmmakers
01:11is working together to record the cats' lives like never before.
01:20Using the latest technology.
01:23We're gonna be able to see things in a completely different light and tell stories in a completely different way.
01:28They'll follow individual big cats for six months.
01:33Through the day.
01:34This is crazy. This is a battle.
01:37And the night.
01:39This is a military-grade thermal imaging camera.
01:42Lions have got amazing night vision, but it's not as good as this.
01:47Capturing their behavior.
01:48He's got the cub. He's got the cub.
01:5124 hours a day.
01:53Welcome to the Okavango Delta.
01:56It gets crazy.
02:10Morning, Craig. You having any luck with Dumo and Victor at all?
02:13No, not at all.
02:15Not at all, sir.
02:16Searching for a couple of hours.
02:17They've gone.
02:18Vanished.
02:20Wildlife cameraman, Gordon, is searching for the Kudum Pride males after losing them during the night.
02:27There's absolutely no sign of Victor and Madumo.
02:29I'm beginning to get a little bit worried.
02:33Hope that we come across them.
02:38There we go.
02:39Big tracks.
02:42Two sets.
02:45Look, look, look, look.
02:46There.
02:51They look absolutely exhausted.
02:55Big Toe hasn't even raised his head.
03:02It almost looks as if he's no longer with us.
03:08Is he okay?
03:14Okay.
03:17These boys are looking very, very tired.
03:22They don't have the swagger that they had before.
03:26Last night, Big Toe and Madumo fought with intruder male lions for over an hour.
03:33Right, Madumo is up.
03:36Whoa, look at this.
03:39Very pronounced limp.
03:43Oh, yeah.
03:44One of our boys is getting properly roughed up and it must have been Madumo.
03:48Look at how he's walking.
03:52He's in real pain.
03:56It just shows you that there are other lions out here that can match them pound for pound.
04:04As dominant Pride males, Madumo and Big Toe's main role is to protect their family.
04:11If Madumo and Big Toe lose their power, that just changes everything for the entire Pride.
04:19For the cubs especially, if new males came in, they would kill them without a shadow of a doubt.
04:34Because the Kudum territory is rich, it's a lion paradise, someone's going to show up and going to knock their
04:43crowns clean off their head.
04:46And those days may be upon us.
04:55With Madumo and Big Toe injured, the threat of intruder male lions hangs over the Pride.
05:10At particular risk are these inexperienced youngsters.
05:22These two are absolute clowns.
05:26Colin and Nkone are two-year-old sub-adult males.
05:31Oh, there's a wobbly tree.
05:35And Connor's joining.
05:37That doesn't look like a good idea.
05:40These teenagers are physically bigger than the cubs, but they're not behaving like adults yet.
05:48Water pose.
05:49His belly is resting on the trunk.
05:52He looks so uncomfortable.
05:55I can hear the entire male population going,
05:59Ooh!
06:01You can definitely see a lot of Colin's character.
06:05He's always a bit more outlandish than his brother in the coin war.
06:12What is your next move?
06:15I think I'm very careful about this one.
06:21Oh!
06:22He's falling, he's falling!
06:30It is utterly hilarious to think that these two are supposed to be nearly independent.
06:36And yet, here they are, running around like two big cubs.
06:47Colin and Nkone are at a critical stage in their lives.
06:52The team is following them to see how things play out.
06:59The big cats film crew is covering 150 square miles of the Okavango Delta.
07:06It's the middle of the dry season.
07:09After the biggest wildfire in five years, the land is bone dry.
07:19Despite this, it's a good time of year for leopards to breed.
07:22And it's time to see how it is.
07:26The eyes are full.
07:38The way they are.
07:52Really filling out like an adult female, which is quite nice.
07:55She's coming on as a cat.
07:57It's a beautiful thing to see.
08:00I just want her to have cubs.
08:03Kudum has recently mastered hunting from trees.
08:07Brad and Tristan are with her in one of her favourite spots.
08:12Like clockwork, she's just got up another ebony tree,
08:15positioning herself for potential ambush.
08:27This whole big herded and bonnet just tussle off.
08:33Wait one second, she's just sat up.
08:40She's twitching.
08:43And there she goes.
08:48And she's jumped.
08:49Okay.
08:52Yeah, Brad, she's just jumped out of the tree.
08:54She's got one.
09:10Last time she made a kill, she settled it for a long time.
09:14Before she started to eat.
09:16This time, it looks like she's not wasting any time to get stuck in.
09:23Mating season is physically demanding on female leopards.
09:28I think it's going to be a stressful time for Kudum.
09:31She's got her work cut up for her.
09:34So Kudum is ensuring she keeps her meal.
09:38The leopards are solitary and quite small,
09:40so they rank quite low when it comes to losing their kills to other predators.
09:47Good girl.
09:49She's done well.
09:50She's pushed it up into the fork of a tree.
09:56The challenge for Kudum now is finding the right mate.
10:14At camp, Gordon is teaming up with lion specialist Dr. Robin Kotzer from Oxford University.
10:23So that point over there, that's got his GPS collar number.
10:27Robin has known the Kudum Pride for more than a decade.
10:30So if we open that, that gives us his latest location.
10:35And has fitted Colin with a satellite collar.
10:39Let's go.
10:43Dominant Pride males, Big Toe and Madumo, haven't been seen for days.
10:48With intruder males still around...
10:51Yeah, they are. Success.
10:53Teenagers Colin and Nkone are particularly vulnerable.
10:58So you collared him how long ago?
11:00For about a year.
11:01We had to fit his collar with space so that he could grow.
11:05Obviously, he's still a growing boy.
11:06But we also don't want to fit it too loosely that he can pull it over his head.
11:10We kind of try and monitor them from about two years old.
11:15Expecting that at any point, if the big males decide they're out, that they're going to leave.
11:20Why would they not want to keep another male in the parade?
11:24At this age, these males will be quite useful in terms of hunting.
11:28But now, the females will start mating again.
11:31And obviously, the next litter of cubs will come in.
11:34And when that happens, they don't really want these boys around because they're a competition for food.
11:39But presumably, if Colin had his own way, he'd just stay exactly where he was.
11:45Male lions, they for sure choose the path of least resistance.
11:49And so it's really easy for him to kind of hang around, let the moms do all the work and
11:53still be able to have good meals.
11:56At two years old, male lions are often pushed out of the family to find a pride of their own.
12:03She's not too happy with him being around.
12:06And this is kind of what happens now when he's this age, is even the adult lionesses will start showing
12:12a little bit of discomfort.
12:15Until they reach their prime, five, six years old, they've basically got to stay out of the way from not
12:20only their dads,
12:21but also big males from other prides, there's a high likelihood that if they clash, they could get killed.
12:32To see how the females behave towards Colin and Kone at night, Gordon is rigging the thermal camera.
12:46Is there somebody out there?
12:50Something here.
12:53Oh, it's a female.
12:55Is that the cubs coming in?
12:56Oh my God, that's great.
12:58Look at them.
12:59How many?
13:00One, two, three, four, five, six.
13:02Oh, I'm the older one.
13:03Yeah.
13:04That's great.
13:04That's beautiful.
13:09The cubs are sticking close to their mums for safety.
13:13But the females are on edge.
13:17Is this an...
13:18Oh, it's not a very warm welcome.
13:20No.
13:20No, these cubs are going to approach.
13:23Yeah, they're actually walking this way.
13:25They are.
13:26Right, what's going to happen here?
13:29Has anyone seen the cubs interacting with Colin and Konya before?
13:33I haven't.
13:34It seems like they're trying to introduce them.
13:46Oh, that's not good.
13:48That is not good.
13:52Maybe they're just kind of saying the babies are here.
13:55You guys better behave.
13:57Be careful.
13:58Be on your best behavior.
14:03Where's he gone?
14:05Or he's sloped off?
14:06Yeah, he's a bit unsure.
14:14Colin's just over here, on my left.
14:19He's keeping a low profile.
14:21He's making, like, small vocalizations.
14:24I've never actually witnessed this interaction, this really awkward stage.
14:29So this is kind of typical now of what will happen as they keep getting pushed to the periphery.
14:35Colin is in a very submissive position.
14:37Can you see him there?
14:38He's, like, head down, non-threatening.
14:40I'm not even aware of you being there.
14:44As the females become more aggressive towards Colin and Nkone, their time within this pride seems to be running out.
14:52Right, I think we can leave them.
14:54Night, boys.
15:09While searching for Kudum, the female leopard...
15:12Hello, boy.
15:14What a nice surprise.
15:15Brad has found a male in her territory.
15:22I suspect that this is Miswayo.
15:27Miswayo means pale-coloured.
15:30And you can see from his pelt, he's much lighter than most of the males that we see around the
15:35area.
15:36No one has seen him for months, so it's like he knows Kudum's in season.
15:40And he's come home to do the deed.
15:49We know he's an aggressive guy.
15:51He's quite aggressive for other females.
15:53He's a fighter.
15:55Miswayo, the brute.
15:59As the dominant male in the area, Miswayo will kill any cubs he finds that are not his own.
16:13I think I'm quite insane, and the leopard is looking straight at you from this angle.
16:19I mean, it looks like he's looking into my soul, almost.
16:25There's not many leopards that we have that are all this relaxed.
16:32So special being able to get that close to any big cat that are known to leopards.
16:36Especially male leopards are normally quite tibid compared to the females.
16:42Hey, big quarry.
16:48That was really, really cool.
16:52Miswayo is an ideal breeding partner for Kudum.
16:56All he has to do now is find her.
17:10We've just got a call on the radio of a dead elephant bull.
17:15So we're just going to go and try and investigate this.
17:19We have a visual.
17:21Wow.
17:22Okay, he's a huge guy.
17:24Huge guy.
17:25Huge tusk.
17:27The bull elephant died at least three days ago.
17:32He's a male in good shape.
17:34It could have been a territorial fight here.
17:37This will provide plenty food for our cats if they do find it.
17:41It could easily feed the entire pride,
17:44which could be good for them in these times of drought.
17:48The carcass might also attract the intruder male lions.
17:57Vianney and Anna are setting up the thermal cameras to see what unfolds.
18:02That's a hyena.
18:09Definitely making its presence known.
18:16This technology reveals some sights
18:22that are better left in the dark.
18:28That is the most disgusting thing I could have seen.
18:38There are now five hyenas,
18:40so I don't think there's any chance
18:41that another predator is going to give it a go.
18:44They're all sort of fanned out around the carcass.
18:48It's like they're all acting security,
18:50making sure no one gets through.
18:53Hyenas calls can travel up to five kilometers,
18:56so they're just going to keep coming.
18:58I think the only thing that's going to change the dynamics here
19:01is if the couldn't bride turn up in force.
19:07I can hear one of the hyenas focalising.
19:12They're facing the opposite direction to the actual carcass.
19:18Something must be going on now.
19:27I think that's Colin and his brother and Conard.
19:33This is so interesting.
19:35This is so exciting.
19:38Hyenas calling.
19:45Oh, powerful.
19:49One hyena is no match for Colin and N'Kone.
19:53But numbers can level the playing field.
19:56Three hyenas, four.
19:57Chasing them away.
19:59I don't know where to focus.
20:01It's coming closer.
20:02God, what are you doing this for?
20:05They stood their ground.
20:10Oh, my God.
20:13The big man chased him.
20:17After claiming the carcass,
20:19Colin and N'Kone are joined by some of the pride females.
20:25It's starting to get quite busy.
20:33N'Kone just went and really sweetly rubbed his forehead on Colin.
20:41Recently, they've had quite a lot of friction with the lionesses in the pride.
20:44It looks like they've done a really good job at shifting these hyenas off the carcass.
20:50So I think they've clearly still got a place in the pride.
20:55And they're both now just having a snooze together.
20:59They really are the best of brothers.
21:08At dawn, Gordon finds Colin and N'Kone still at the carcass and still with the females.
21:17Everyone's in a very playful mood this morning.
21:26See, this is an interesting situation.
21:32Because although Colin and N'Kone have got the clear message that they're not wanted around the rest of the
21:36pride,
21:38with this elephant carcass, it's brought all of these lines together.
21:43It seems that the females have definitely shifted their attitude towards these two boys.
21:49It might be an inconvenience at times, but in this scenario, it's good to have Colin and N'Kone around.
22:01If I was Colin and N'Kone, I'd probably feel a little bit used.
22:05It's like, yeah, we don't want you around.
22:07Actually, hang on.
22:09A couple of big boys like you, that's quite handy.
22:12So, yeah, stick around here.
22:21The dominant pride males, Big Toe and Madumo, haven't been seen for over a week.
22:30Now, Sets has found the intruder male lions on patrol.
22:35Sets, Sets, you guys can move.
22:38Ah, I've got a...
22:39Yeah, they are still slowly moving your way.
22:44Less than 100 metres away are Colin and N'Kone, and one pride female.
22:51Incoming two intruders.
22:53Sets is with them, and there could be an encounter with Colin and N'Kone.
22:58They seem to be up and moving towards where Gordon has Colin and N'Kone and the other female.
23:04We might have a confidence, because the intruder males don't belong here.
23:20The lioness is contact calling, trying to find the rest of the Kudum pride.
23:29She's risking alerting the intruder males to her exact location.
23:35They will hear that call, the call of a female.
23:40And they may well come this way, not knowing that this female is backed up by two males, Colin and
23:48N'Kone.
24:03They seem to be trotting, something seems to be brewing, an interaction is imminent.
24:20So if you can see my vehicle, I'm sitting with the female.
24:24She's up on a termite mound, the males are coming straight towards her.
24:27Colin and N'Kone, they're behind me.
24:30The intruder males are within 50 metres of the female, and probably like 70 metres from Colin and N'Kone.
24:44The intruder's seen the female, but he's ignoring her.
24:47I think he's recognised that there's a bigger lion behind him.
24:51Oh my goodness me, these intruders are walking straight into trouble.
24:59What on earth is going to happen?
25:03Colin and N'Kone are behind me.
25:06Colin and N'Kone might look imposing, but they're only half the weight of an adult male lion.
25:18Colin and N'Kone is moving.
25:20Right, this is going to come to something.
25:24Two of Kudum boys against.
25:26Two intruders.
25:28OK.
25:29Heads are up.
25:40What's happening?
25:45So they're pulling out, man.
25:50The trouble is at your back.
25:52What are you doing?
25:55Colin and N'Kone are ripping out.
25:58They're pulling out.
26:00The intruders are over here, they're moving in.
26:02This is an aggressive approach, and Colin and N'Kone have bottled it.
26:09One of the intruder males is chasing Colin and N'Kone away.
26:14This is the territory that Colin and N'Kone are not prepared to fight for, at least not with these
26:23two guys.
26:25Intruders chasing them out, and they're going.
26:29Off they go, off into the distance.
26:35My word.
26:36Who would have thought it?
26:39Just with the last of the light, I'm seeing that this female is not giving the intruder a warm welcome.
26:47I think Colin and N'Kone, as soon as they got their eyes on these guys and saw how big
26:51they were, they weren't taking any chances.
27:10In the morning, Raya and Vianney are with the Kudum Pride's mums and cubs.
27:15They've been looking behind continuously.
27:19We've had intruder males coming into the territory of our cats, and if these intruders were to find these cubs,
27:26they would kill all of them.
27:29There's still no sign of Big Toe and Madumo.
27:32And now, Colin and N'Kone have gone too.
27:38I can't see one, two, three, four, a cub, six, and five, slightly hidden.
27:47It's really strange.
27:48I can't see six.
27:51But let's see what Raya might say.
27:53I could only count five cubs.
27:57How many did you count today, this morning?
28:00I'm not so sure.
28:01I saw there's one suckling over there.
28:05Yeah, I am seeing five.
28:10It's not a very good sign.
28:12There is a possibility this could be the work of some of the intruder males we've been having.
28:17I mean, the worst case is he could be dead.
28:20We really want it not to be the reality here.
28:24It would be a hard thing for them to lose one cub, to lose one member of pride.
28:31Lion cub mortality is naturally high, with eight out of ten lost in their first two years.
28:38One of the biggest dangers is adult male lions from outside the pride.
28:45I'm Vianney to the team, and this could be the worst news to break to everybody.
28:52There's only five cubs that I can see.
29:00I'm not sure whether we lost one, but it looks like it's over.
29:12Yeah, roger that, Vianney.
29:15Yeah, sorry to hear that.
29:23I mean, it's always wise to kind of just, if you can, take a step back sort of emotionally from
29:29any wild animal,
29:31but particularly when it comes to young cubs, because bad things happen.
29:37And that's why lionesses give birth to so many, because the majority of them actually don't make it.
29:44But it's obviously, you spend days watching these animals and watching them grow.
29:50You can't not have hopes and aspirations for their futures, as you would with any youngster.
29:58So yeah, it is sad.
30:03But it does happen.
30:20Greg has found Kudum the leopard further north than he's ever seen her before.
30:29She's scent marking, letting male leopards know she's ready to mate.
30:35This is an interesting area that Kudum's in, because she's right on the edge of her northern boundary.
30:42Kudum is crossing into disputed territory.
30:45Her main rival is a female called Bunso.
30:53Nearby, Greg finds Bunso.
30:59You can see her, she's resting on a branch of a tree.
31:07She's much bigger than Kudum, which is interesting.
31:10She's an impressive female, very impressive.
31:19Bunso is a powerful cat.
31:21One swipe or one bite in the wrong place, and Kudum could be injured to the point where she wouldn't
31:26be able to sustain herself.
31:33Leaving Bunso, Greg finds Kudum again, she's even further into the disputed territory.
31:40She's on a little bit of a mission, doing a bit of a patrol.
31:43What's really interesting is Bunso's not far from us, just in the tree line above here, so it's a bit
31:50close.
31:53Kudum ding, she's just stopped and she's staring into a bush.
32:02She's running now.
32:05Why are you running?
32:06Why are you running?
32:06Why are you running?
32:07Oh, no.
32:07Oh, my word.
32:08Oh, that looks like Bunso.
32:11Kudum's off.
32:11She's just jumped into a tree.
32:16Bunso's following.
32:25Kudum is so scared.
32:26She's planted herself right up at the top of this tree.
32:31And Bunso's holding the middle.
32:34I don't know.
32:35I hope if Bunso goes further up here, Kudum's going to be in trouble.
32:41She's coming down.
32:42What?
32:42They're close.
32:43They're close.
32:44They're getting close.
32:48Oh, gosh.
32:48They just jumped down.
32:51Both of them.
32:59They're kind of doing a parallel run, which is a classic leopard behavior.
33:04They're arching their shoulders and their neck and trying to look big and intimidating.
33:08And it's a step just before physical contact.
33:13Kudum definitely wants to avoid getting into an altercation with Bunso,
33:16because Bunso's so much bigger.
33:19Bunso is like frothing from the mouth.
33:22She's pushing Kudum a little bit further down south.
33:26Kudum's not hanging about.
33:32Kudum is heading back towards her own territory.
33:34And safety.
33:37What a wild situation.
33:39That was intense.
33:43Kudum is lucky not to have been hurt.
33:46Her search for a mate continues.
33:57After fleeing the intruder male lions.
34:00Hello, boys.
34:02Teenagers Colin and Nkone have been found by lion scientist Robin.
34:06After the altercation, when we had a look at the GPS data,
34:10we actually saw that Colin had beelined straight to an area where they seemed to be hanging out quite a
34:17lot.
34:17He moved about 15 kilometers, and that's usually an indication that, you know, they've had an altercation with bigger males.
34:25Moving away from the main pride suggests Colin and Nkone are finally heading out on their own.
34:34This is a really tricky time period, I think, in Colin and Nkone's life.
34:38They're going to have to dodge the adult males.
34:41That's going to be their biggest threat.
34:43And obviously, they're going to have to continue to hunt on their own and build strength.
34:48Life can be quite tough for a male, especially if they end up on their own.
34:54Their chances of success is much higher when they're together.
35:13The annual flood is on its way at last.
35:19Anna and Greg are driving north to check its progress.
35:24Hey Greg, I'm starting to notice huge numbers of game around.
35:29Is that a sign that we might be close to the flood?
35:33It's quite extraordinary, isn't it? There's so many more animals in this area.
35:37We must be very close to the edge.
35:40I think I can also hear fish eagles.
35:42And fish eagles are a good sign that you're near water, so...
35:47Yeah, don't look close.
35:51Okay, I don't think this is a mirage. This is actually water.
36:05That is beautiful.
36:10I never knew it would feel so good to see water.
36:15At the driest time of year, this landscape is transformed.
36:21Rainwater from mountains hundreds of miles away is flowing down the Okavanga River, surging out across the dry land.
36:29What starts as a trickle, swells to a flood.
36:37Creating one of the largest inland river deltas in the world.
36:45I really, really hope this reaches camp, because I'm elated to see the water, so I can't even imagine how
36:51all the big cats are going to feel when they finally set eyes on that.
37:00We made it!
37:01What a spectacle, eh?
37:03It is absolutely stunning.
37:05It's going to transform the whole place.
37:07It's a river that just empties into the desert at the driest time of the year, so it's like perfect
37:12timing.
37:12I mean, it couldn't be better, really, for the life here.
37:15It takes this water two months to fan out across the delta, and it spreads out through a thousand kilometers
37:22of channels.
37:23Beneath us is literally just ancient Kalahari sand.
37:30The flood brings new challenges for all of the big cats.
37:36Kudum the leopard is going to have a big shift, because the floodplains are now unavailable to leopards, so there
37:41will be a lot more competition for the remaining dry land areas.
37:44Probably the cheetah, how she's going to move, will also change.
37:48The lions, I suspect, won't have to adapt and shift as much.
37:53It's strange how it's beneficial for some cats and complete disadvantage for others.
37:58That's going to be really fascinating to see that play out in front of us.
38:08Rhea is also checking out the progress of the flood, and has found one of the Okavango Delta's most elusive
38:16big cats.
38:18Got a cheetah just over here, not sure yet who though.
38:29It's Nelo, Pobbe's daughter. We've not seen her for over a year.
38:35How cool is that? She's actually back in the area that she grew up in.
38:40Nelo is two years old, the only cub of resident female cheetah Pobbe.
38:46Now mature, Nelo lives separately from her mother.
38:51And it's fantastic, she's still here, she's still alive, she's with us.
38:54And she's come back home.
38:56She's looking super keen, hey, and pretty motivated.
39:01It's non-stop, she's just looking around, scoping out, seeing what's in the area.
39:06A couple of impala in the distance, I actually think she's going to go for it.
39:14She started, she's just going right through the water, there's splashing all around.
39:23Bit of a tussle.
39:35I think she's going to get a dial up. It's, oh man, you can just see how strong she is
39:39to do this.
39:44She's got it down, she's got them piled down. This is her kill.
39:58Loads of vultures just incoming here.
40:02It's crazy how fast that they react, that they've seen it and they're coming up to the kill.
40:08The vultures pose little threat.
40:12The problem is who they alert.
40:15The lion coming in there.
40:18It's Colin, it's Colin, I can see the collar there. It's Colin, he's coming.
40:24There's another one there.
40:26It's Colin and Nkone.
40:28They're headed straight to Nelo, crossing through this channel.
40:32Who cares about crops? There's food the other side.
40:40Without the pride to help them hunt, Colin and Nkone need to take any opportunity to find food.
40:50We're not sure where Nelo's gone. I actually didn't even see her run off.
40:53But I don't think she's going to stay close knowing that these big lions are in the area.
41:04They're having a little bit of a tussle there now.
41:12Swinging the Impala around.
41:19They're social cats until food is involved, then it's every man for himself.
41:28Colin and Nkone's survival outside the pride isn't guaranteed.
41:33But sticking together gives them both a better chance.
41:59Mating leopards overnight is exactly the news Brad has been waiting for.
42:15The trail leads into wild sagebush, a perfect hiding place for mating leopards.
42:22My hope is that it is good.
42:26Neither of us have got a visual yet.
42:28It's a really, really thick area.
42:30We don't want to push them too hard.
42:40That was mating.
42:42They're just moving slowly and slowly away from us.
42:45It's right in the heart of Kudum's territory.
42:50So I'm almost certain it is her.
42:53If Brad is right, it's important that Kudum is mating with Musweyo, the dominant male here.
43:00The mating process has to happen repeatedly before she can conceive.
43:05They all mate hundreds of times.
43:07Normally every 30 minutes, every 45 minutes, for several days at a time.
43:12The leopard is a good one.
43:13It's not a good one.
43:15It's not a good one.
43:19It's not a good one.
43:20Before Brad can identify the leopards,
43:27three lionesses from the pride interrupt the mating pair.
43:32What the hell?
43:35They likely heard the leopards mating
43:41Chaos, chaos, chaos, chaos
43:44All I wanted to find was leopards mating
43:46It just shows you never know what to expect, aren't you?
43:52One of the lions targets a particular patch of wild sage
43:56She's pretty determined
44:00Right where Brad spots Kudum and her mate
44:06Trist, trist
44:07So the leopards are mating right on the edge of the sage
44:10And we've got a lioness going into it
44:13Here, copy coming
44:17Lions can be three times bigger than leopards
44:23Kudum could easily be killed in a fight
44:28This lioness heard these leopards mating
44:31And is now zoning in on them
44:34It rains, of course
44:41Things get even more complicated
44:49I trust we're in three leopards here
44:51So we've got three leopards here
44:53There's another male leopard following these two that are mating
44:56It's Musueo
44:57Male leopard's got his nose to the ground
44:59Trying to pick up the scent of the mating pair
45:02Kudum is with another male
45:04On Musueo's turf
45:07But before he can do anything about it
45:10This lioness is just sneaking in on them
45:15She's going to chase them
45:19Musueo is driven off by the lioness
45:22While Kudum and her mate
45:25Disappear
45:29Got a mating pair
45:30Kudum and a male, finally
45:32We've got another male leopard coming in
45:34Chasing those two
45:37And a lioness comes in and chases the male
45:39That's chasing the mating pair
45:41I mean, it's just unbelievable
45:43Kudum doesn't do anything in half measures
45:45I mean, talk about
45:48Talk about a complicated first romance
45:58Let's keep an eye on trees
46:01Because Kudum, that'll be heard in your fault, I think
46:05Fish is, yes, Kudum
46:07Up a tree, as predicted
46:11Oh, what a morning
46:13With no sign of either male leopard
46:16The pairing is over
46:18This male wasn't that scared
46:20I had a look at him
46:22I got a shot of him
46:23He looked like Musueo
46:24And me too
46:25I also thought that
46:34He's got that
46:35What just happened expression
46:39I think she
46:39Even she can't believe this
46:44Leopard pregnancies
46:45Last just over three months
46:47So the team will have to wait
46:49To find out if Kudum will be a mum
46:53All I want is
46:55Her to mate properly
46:56And have
46:56Cups
46:59But what a morning
47:00One of the most insane mornings
47:02I've had in years
47:14The intruder male lions
47:16Are back
47:16And right in the heart
47:18Of the Kudum Pride territory
47:21They're looking
47:22They're looking
47:25They really look like baddies
47:28With dominant males
47:30Big Toe and Madumo
47:31Still missing
47:33The intruders
47:34Could be moving in
47:35To take over the Pride
47:38I don't know what's caught their attention
47:39But I think they're going to be
47:41Hyper
47:42Alert
47:43Hyper aware
47:43Being inside this territory
47:46Something
47:47They've seen something off
47:48To the north
47:53I can see cubs
47:56So this is their mothers with cubs
47:58Down to the males
47:59Let's watch
48:00The lions with cubs
48:04Guys
48:05Something's going to kick off here
48:07And this is something
48:08I really don't want to witness
48:12We've got all of the Kudum cubs here
48:14This could be a complete disaster
48:19Wow
48:20See really some of the cubs
48:21Seem oblivious to the danger
48:23I can see them playing
48:26Behind the females
48:28The future of this pride
48:30Is in those tiny cubs
48:36In the mind of a male
48:38Is if you kill cubs
48:40It brings the mother into oestrus
48:42And you can mate with her
48:43It's a simple but brutal process
48:46And it's just part of lying behaviour
48:48They don't want to become friends
48:50With these females
48:51They want to get rid of
48:52Any trace of big toe
48:55In the Domo
48:58But the pride females
49:00Are not backing down
49:03You know what
49:04One part of me saying
49:06Those four females
49:08They're not to mess about with
49:10They're not young females
49:12They're very experienced
49:14Very disciplined
49:16And very powerful
49:17One of them's up on his feet
49:19He's got that kind of arrogant posture
49:23They were able to intimidate Colin
49:25And then Connie
49:26But I think it's going to be
49:27A very different story
49:28With these females
49:29They've got so much
49:31Too much to lose
49:41Okay he's moving in
49:44His coalition partner
49:46Is over there
49:48Where the hell
49:49Are we doing more in big toe
49:50She's burying her teeth
49:51Oh I've never seen this before
49:54Burying her teeth
49:55Facing towards those guys
49:57I think they can see each other
49:58This is bloody intense
50:02Hell hath no fury
50:04Like a lioness
50:06Protecting her cubs
50:10In my time
50:11As a wildlife filmmaker
50:13I've never
50:14Witnessed this level of threat
50:16To cubs before
50:19Hours pass
50:20And the standoff continues
50:23I'm going to switch
50:24To the night time camera
50:25Just in case things kick off
50:26After dark
50:30We can see much clearer
50:31With this camera
50:33So we've got the
50:34Two males
50:35In the foreground
50:36And I can see
50:37Females
50:38And cubs
50:40On the termite mound
50:55He's moving out
50:58This is encouraging
51:03The pride's mothers
51:05Have kept the intruders at bay
51:09For now
51:11This could be the best case scenario
51:15Is it these boys
51:16Just move along
51:22I think this guy's about to walk
51:24Close to you
51:29God he's showing me his teeth
51:31Just right behind my car
51:36What do you mean
51:36He's behind the car
51:37He's showing me his teeth
51:38He's showing me his teeth
51:39Oh f***
51:40Stand up, stand up
51:41Guys, he's right by the car
51:42Yeah, stand up, stand up
51:44Stand up
51:45Just drive the car forward
51:46No, he's going
51:47He's going
51:51V&A
51:52Is your heart pumping?
51:54Which was too scary
51:55He was burying his teeth
52:03This is one of the top predators
52:05You know, on the planet
52:08The females are just
52:10Too big a challenge
52:11Too much risk
52:13For them
52:14But I have thought
52:15That maybe Big Tomodumo
52:17Are losing their grip
52:19I think this is a sort of
52:21A clear sign
52:21That if they don't
52:23Get their house in order
52:25They are going to lose
52:26They're going to lose their cubs
52:40The team lost the mothers and cubs
52:43During the night
52:45At first light
52:46They're out in force
52:47Trying to track them down
52:50I'm south of boat station
52:52But can't seem to find anything
52:54At the moment
52:56Raya and Setz
52:57Have found signs
52:58The intruder male lions
52:59Are back yet again
53:01I have lion tracks
53:04With no trace of the females and cubs
53:08Concern is growing
53:10Raya, Raya
53:11Just to double check
53:12Have you found intruder tracks?
53:13That is a confirmed
53:15Gordon
53:15Just west of the bear bab
53:19Gordon, for Tristan
53:22I've got about the big males
53:24And Big Tomodumo
53:26I think we'll start making it
53:27A way of that way
53:28Radio comms are quite broken
53:30But I think
53:31Big Tomodumo and Big Tomodumo
53:32Have been located
53:41After ten days away
53:43The dominant pride males
53:45Big Tomodumo
53:46And Big Tomodumo
53:46Are back
53:51They've shown up
53:52At a really important time
53:53Because the threat
53:54From intruding males
53:55Is something that
53:55Never goes away
54:03Right on cue
54:05Intruders are spotted nearby
54:07One of the intruders
54:08Right here
54:10It's all kicking off
54:14Madumo just spotted
54:15One of the intruders
54:16And we could be in
54:17For a showdown
54:19Have you got visual of him?
54:20Jeez, he's bombing
54:21He is bombing
54:23There are tracks
54:24On both sides of the road
54:25Now in this instance
54:27Madumo is going to chase
54:29The intruder
54:31For quite a number
54:33Of kilometres
54:34You know, this situation
54:36Has been brought about
54:37By the fire
54:38By the flood
54:39By the size of this pride
54:40By the size of the territory
54:42The number of lines
54:44That want to move in here
54:45It's got to that point
54:47That it's absolute chaos
54:50It's a war zone
54:52Madumo is chasing
54:53One intruder north
55:00Big toe is challenging
55:01The other
55:07That's big toe
55:08Rowing like
55:09Like a king
55:15He's calling
55:16A hell of a lot
55:17It seems like
55:18He wants Madumo
55:19To come with him
55:21To teach this young male
55:22A lesson
55:23But Madumo
55:23Has got his own
55:25Things to do
55:25With
55:26That is powerful
55:29That's basically
55:30A message to
55:30The intruder
55:32I will kill you
55:36Madumo is already
55:37Two miles away
55:38And not giving up
55:41You've got this intruder
55:43Just running past
55:45And Madumo behind
55:47Is he going to pick up
55:48The pace?
55:49I think he is
55:50He's starting to run again
55:51Unless this intruder
55:54Is completely insane
55:56You better keep running
56:08Madumo chases the intruder
56:10Almost eight miles
56:12Before finally
56:14Letting him go
56:16The intruder males
56:17They realise that
56:18They are out of their deaths
56:19Here
56:20And they're not ready
56:21To do a pride takeover
56:23Keep going pal
56:30Keep on walking
56:32They realise
56:34That the
56:35Cruddle prize males
56:36Are not to be
56:37Messed with at all
56:40He must be knackered
56:41That right there
56:44Is the look of defeat
56:54Madumo's not managing
56:55To pick up the scent
56:56He's headed back
57:00Dominant pride males
57:01Big Toe and Madumo
57:02Have won this battle
57:04And protected their family
57:09As Gordon and the team
57:10Follow them back
57:14Almost the whole pride
57:16Comes to greet them
57:18Oh wow
57:22How many individuals
57:24Can you see?
57:2615 maybe
57:2815
57:29That's more
57:30Than I have seen
57:31So far
57:31Yeah
57:32What an incredible thing
57:33To see
57:34All of these lines
57:35Together in one spot
57:36It's the first time
57:37In so long
57:41The Madumo's just settled
57:43Down into the grass
57:47I'm so chuffed now
57:49I'm really chuffed
57:50I know for sure
57:53The cops
57:55Are safe
57:56Let's just
57:57Enjoy this
57:59While we can
58:08Next time
58:09As the annual flood
58:11Draws thousands
58:12Of Cape buffalo
58:12Into the area
58:13Uh oh
58:14These buffaloes
58:15Are not happy
58:16The couldn't pride lions
58:17Face their biggest challenge yet
58:19Oh my word
58:21Here comes the bull
58:21Get out of there
58:23They're in the water
58:25The cops are panicking
58:27Oh my gosh
58:29We could lose
58:30One of these lions
58:31We could lose one of these lions
58:57We could lose one of these lions
58:59We could lose one of these lions
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