Big Cats 24/7 Season 1 Episode 6 brings the Okavango Delta expedition to a dramatic conclusion as the team witnesses intense battles for survival among Africa’s most iconic predators.
Brad Bestelink watches closely as Xudum the leopard fiercely defends her newborn cubs from deadly threats. Protecting young cubs in leopard territory is never easy, and danger is always close.
Anna Dimitriadis discovers a bold cheetah thriving deep inside lion territory, an incredible survival story in one of the most dangerous hunting grounds in the delta.
Meanwhile, Vianet Djenguet follows lioness Tsebe, a determined mother risking everything to feed her five hungry cubs. As the lion pride grows into one of the largest in Africa, competition for food increases, leading to tension, conflict, and infighting within the pride.
Could the pride’s extraordinary success ultimately become its greatest weakness?
Experience the final chapter of the Okavango Delta journey in Big Cats 24/7.
#BigCats247 #BigCats #WildlifeDocumentary #AfricanWildlife #OkavangoDelta
Brad Bestelink watches closely as Xudum the leopard fiercely defends her newborn cubs from deadly threats. Protecting young cubs in leopard territory is never easy, and danger is always close.
Anna Dimitriadis discovers a bold cheetah thriving deep inside lion territory, an incredible survival story in one of the most dangerous hunting grounds in the delta.
Meanwhile, Vianet Djenguet follows lioness Tsebe, a determined mother risking everything to feed her five hungry cubs. As the lion pride grows into one of the largest in Africa, competition for food increases, leading to tension, conflict, and infighting within the pride.
Could the pride’s extraordinary success ultimately become its greatest weakness?
Experience the final chapter of the Okavango Delta journey in Big Cats 24/7.
#BigCats247 #BigCats #WildlifeDocumentary #AfricanWildlife #OkavangoDelta
Category
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AnimalsTranscript
00:03hello darling how are you doing oh come on we know each other the kudum pride is now one of
00:14the largest lion prides in the world last year they had one cup this year they've got 15.
00:21but to feed so many mouths oh it's a crocodile we're trying to steal the kid
00:28the desperate mothers are being pushed to extremes the crocodile is pulling back this is a battle this is
00:36crazy the okavango delta in botswana one of africa's last wildernesses okavango delta is it's an oasis in
00:53the desert it's america in itself and it's a stronghold for africa's big cats lion cheetah
01:04and leopard this is nature at its absolute finest now for the very first time a team of local and
01:14international wildlife filmmakers is working together to record the cats lives like never before
01:26using the latest technology we're going to be able to see things in a completely different light
01:31and tell stories in a completely different way they'll follow individual big cats
01:37for six months through the day it's done one of the zebras is done and the night this is a
01:45military
01:46grade thermal imaging camera lines have got amazing night vision but it's not as good as this
01:52capturing their behavior he's got the cub he's got the cub 24 hours a day welcome to the
02:03the cub 24 hours a day welcome to the cub 24 hours a day welcome to the cub 24 hours
02:26a day
02:32there are now nearly 40 lions and cubs in the kudum pride the mothers just don't know how to do
02:39it
02:45looking after this enormous family is hard work
02:51the mothers have joined each other on top of the trees perhaps to avoid
02:57feeding or suckling the cubs because she's knackering
03:05the cops constantly wanting some milk from you constantly nagging you
03:11i couldn't be a mother lion in no way
03:22young mom sibby recently gave birth to five cubs
03:41it's very rare to have five cubs
03:47only two percent of litters are as big as sebish
03:50the lionesses have only two or three having so many cubs indicates a healthy pride
03:59but their survival is not guaranteed
04:02lionesses only have four nipples how do you feed five cubs simultaneously
04:13the odds are stacked against her
04:22sebe she's feeding her own cub and one of the nine ladies cups is just moving in
04:33so
04:39so
04:46you know
04:47poor sebe you know she's having to deal with this the big cub trying to squeeze it and suckle
04:53it just really um doesn't help
04:59poor poor indeed
05:02at this age each cub needs to drink more than half a liter of milk a day
05:09sebe is going to need a lot of milk to go around
05:16i'm really worried about the cubs
05:19but if sebe doesn't provide enough food for them the cubs to suffer
05:28to stay healthy and keep her five cubs alive
05:32if sebe needs to eat more than the other lioness mums
05:44gordon is taking over the evening shift to see if sebe can get a much needed meal
05:53sebe looks particularly hungry i think she's going to try and hunt tonight so i'm going to set up the
05:59thermal imaging
06:14okay climbing down the tree
06:20last little hop
06:32it's the rest of the pride
06:35oh they're talkative tonight
06:40tell you what it does get the heart pumping when you have lions roaring right next to you
06:48we've got a huge team of lions out in the floodplain this evening
07:03some of the other lines have made a kilt and there's a lot of
07:09of the dominant pride males is joining for his share
07:14everyone's just piling in all of the females cubs
07:20it's a meal that sebe needs
07:25we're going to put the drone up see how many are here
07:36but there are too many lions to share it with
07:45absolutely insane situation at the moment it's absolute chaos
07:55there's not much left now it's just the rib cage and the spine
08:00uh-oh somebody's getting clapped
08:07you'd think that this pride increasing in number would make them a stronger pride but actually it
08:14weakens them in many ways because you've got limited resources divided many many times
08:25how you gauge success isn't really just making a kill it's how many lines you're splitting that kill with
08:35there's so much competition amongst the lions a lot of these lionesses put in the hard yards and they've
08:40gotten nothing from it i do feel for these females
08:49with the lions in this huge pride now fighting over food
08:53that was intense
08:58the team is following new mom sibby to see if she can feed herself and her five cubs
09:20just interested for greg
09:22greg go for tristan we've got a bit of action here kudum's moving
09:27head cup okay can copy that rice yeah i'm about two three minutes away
09:34just heard some drawing close to kudum's den we came to investigate thinking it was lines
09:41just seen kudum with her cub in her mouth which is incredible she's moving her cub she's got one in
09:53her jaws
09:54kudum the resident female leopard had two cubs just over a week ago
10:01it had to happen greg calls it in kudum's moving den it's a little bit chaotic in the morning tristan
10:08is joining greg on kudum's trail
10:14it's all very very strange
10:19behavior that i haven't really seen before
10:22i don't know if she's making poor decisions or if she's actually just being very calculated and
10:26moving the dent just to keep them alive
10:34there's such a chance that she'll just bump into something a lot of the animals out here are so
10:37much bigger than her it really would be tragic for anything to happen to this cub such a young stage
10:43in its life
10:46with tristan and greg tracking kudum i've just arrived at the regional densite in the log
10:52brad is with her other cub trying to understand kudum's unusual behavior
10:59greg any chance that the growling was leopard oh yeah every chance eh i just assumed lion because
11:05i would have expected from the lion but it could have easily been a leopard yeah it's probably likely
11:10a leopard there maybe a male she's absolutely the team recently found male leopard tracks near kudum's den
11:24and i think that the male has come into the area and is harassing her she's got to be careful
11:29keep him away
11:31and move the cubs out of the area
11:34to keep her cubs safe she needs to find a new den this could be a very very good choice
11:41on her part but
11:42yeah i guess only time will really tell
11:47she's just climbed into a huge thicket of blue bush which is perfect for a den
11:57there she is she's bloody carrying it tristan she's carrying it again bro carrying carrying carrying
12:03i thought she'd hold this den a beautiful bush here but i don't think she liked exactly what she felt
12:10in
12:10that little bush so she's decided to move to another one she's currently got the leopard the baby in her
12:19mouth it's like a house cat the second you pinch a house cat by the scruff of their neck they
12:25kind
12:25of go limp and it's the same with all these cats out here and she'll just very very delicately very
12:31slowly just walk it to wherever she needs to go these big cats are so so delicate with their cubs
12:37it's actually quite remarkable this is quite interesting hey i think she might cross this
12:42entire grassland uh yeah she's gone on it's quite far she's moved at least 700 meters now
12:51this is by far the longest that i've ever seen a leopard move a cub
12:56normally i've seen leopards it's 50 to 150 meters
13:01so she's really really trying to take these cubs out of that area
13:11we're sitting at the regional den site and she's left one here
13:18you could definitely see a size difference between the two one is a male and one is a female and
13:23she's
13:24left the girl behind her i'm just hoping that she stays put she's come right out to the entrance
13:31almost falling out which would be a disaster there'll be a lot of crying every chance that somebody comes
13:37and snacks on her so she just needs to bed down and stay hidden just stay put just stay put
13:49and stop calling
14:10oh
14:11okay she's looking she's just her eyes are just gone straight up
14:16yep there she goes she's just gone straight up the ebony that's ridiculous
14:22there seems to be a little bit of like a hollow
14:25in the ebony and she seems to have gone straight into that and i'm presuming
14:29that is going to be our new den
14:33brad brad brad for tristan what's happening it's updated
14:36good some interesting news our girl has got a den in a tree okay that's very good news is she
14:46on
14:46her way back yet no negative hey she's just in the den so yeah we'll let you know when she's
14:53out
14:53all right we're just gonna step back and keep an eye on this cub our mom's out and wait for
15:01her
15:01come back copy copy
15:08hey i've just found sebi
15:12loud and clear anna anna and rea are checking in on sebi and her five cubs
15:21just get rid of the cubs
15:27they are so tiny
15:32she is looking so thin and so hungry
15:39really concerned about her
15:45sebi's on the move
15:48this is really unexpected it is 12 o'clock lines quite often are just flat under a tree at this
15:58time
15:59but it seems like she's picking up the scent of something she's lifting up her head
16:20she's just making her way through the bushes here she's definitely walking with purpose
16:33just in front are some lechway i see about three lechway rams one looks a little bit
16:39younger maybe not as fit could be quite the tasty meal for a mom with cubs
16:51hunting alone can easily half a chance of making a successful kill
16:58she's going if sebi can pull this off she can keep the meal all to herself
17:06so sebi's on the run she's actually prancing she's going into the flood plain right now this is crazy
17:26oh
17:27Oh, no, Sebe.
17:29Oh, they just bolted.
17:34Didn't really think she was going to have much luck with that,
17:38but she gave it a go.
17:41At five years old, Sebe is the pride's youngest mother.
17:47Oh, my God, this is weird.
17:49And her inexperience is showing.
17:52The lechwe have almost ganged up
17:55and are making sure that they all have eyes on Sebe
18:00and are just moving her along.
18:03She doesn't stand a chance now.
18:14That attempt from Sebe screams desperation at this point.
18:19I think she's just really, really keen to get that meal.
18:23So, she's not thinking clearly, I don't think.
18:34Brad, Brad, for Tristan.
18:37I've found Musueo with a half-eaten killer.
18:43OK, copy that.
18:44I'm going to come over.
18:50Six-year-old male leopard Musueo is in the heart of Kudum's territory.
18:59He's got some very, very distinctive features.
19:02This guy's ears are tattered and shredded,
19:06which has got a lot to do with his character.
19:08He's a bit of a brawler.
19:11Musueo is a little bit smaller than most of the big dominant males here.
19:14And he makes up for his lack of stature
19:18in just sheer determination and aggression.
19:25We also have Kudum's tracks probably about 100 metres south of us.
19:29She probably made the kill here.
19:32And this big boy has come in and stolen it.
19:36It's not often that male leopards kill a steward buck.
19:40They don't stalk well enough.
19:42They sort of go for slightly bigger prey,
19:44mainly warthogs, actually.
19:46She did make this kill.
19:48Hopefully, she managed to get a little bit of it,
19:50because otherwise she's really had some really, really bad luck.
19:53Lions taking her kill.
19:55Big male leopard taking her kill.
20:00Musueo's presence may explain why Kudum is moving her cubs.
20:06The last time we saw Musueo
20:08was when Kudum was being mated, interestingly.
20:14Three months ago,
20:15the team found Kudum mating with a rival male.
20:24If Musueo tracks down cubs that are not his,
20:28he will kill them.
20:30It's a dominance thing for them,
20:32and they don't want somebody else's kids
20:34coming into this world in their territory.
20:37She's going to be in for a very, very long few months
20:40with this guy hanging around.
20:41It's going to be very, very stressful for her.
20:45Biggest threat to leopards is other leopards.
20:48More leopards die at the hand of their own kind
20:50than anything else.
20:51And just to have him show up again is not good.
21:15I've just found Tebbit,
21:16what seems to be her favourite tree.
21:23She's stretching.
21:25New mum Sebe has been away from the pride
21:28for nearly two days.
21:29She knows she needs to eat,
21:31she needs to feed her cubs.
21:32On a solo hunting mission.
21:34She needs to be in a healthy state.
21:38Her cubs' survival
21:39depends on her eating soon.
21:43It means that she
21:44is very likely to hunt again today.
21:46She's going to be a strange HOWEVER.
21:46??
21:49?
22:01?
22:05?
22:07?
22:07?
22:08?
22:08? ?
22:17You can see her ribs on the side, now she's looking hungry.
22:33I'm thinking she's looking for warthogs, they just sit in the grass, they'd be trying to
22:38dig up for the roots, and they can't see the lions.
22:47Zebra's just entered this big bush here, don't have any visual at all.
22:53I think it might be drain time.
23:08She's super vigilant.
23:11She's scanning about.
23:16We have warthogs straight ahead of her.
23:21It's completely unaware.
23:29Come on, Zebra, you can do this.
23:42She's starting her jog.
23:43She's going, she's going, she's going, she's going.
23:45She's going.
23:51She's going.
23:52Oh, no.
23:55She just missed it.
23:56No.
24:01Oh.
24:02Zip it.
24:07She's failed yet again.
24:11What is she going to do now?
24:28Now she's just staring in front of her.
24:32We're not sure really if there's potentially a warthog or something there.
24:36there must be something that we don't see.
24:50She's got something.
24:52She's got a rabbit.
24:54She's got a rabbit.
24:55Go on, Zebra.
24:58Nice.
25:02Of all things she could have got, she could have got a rabbit.
25:08Oh, my gosh.
25:10That's a fully grown lion who has just hunted a rabbit.
25:15A hare, sorry, I believe it is.
25:18I am really, really glad for her.
25:21She deserved something.
25:25Yeah, I mean, it's better than nothing.
25:27Just showed how desperate she is here.
25:35So they should beat you, team, for six.
25:39She's got five cubs.
25:40Five cubs to feed.
25:42I really don't think a small hare is going to sustain all of those mouths.
25:59Away from Sebe, Rea spots the Okavango's most elusive big cat.
26:07Yeah.
26:09That's a cheetah.
26:14What is the chance of that?
26:18Right in the heart of lion territory.
26:27We've got a male.
26:34We've got Spoko here.
26:40Our Four Palms monument is literally at the bottom of it.
26:45Our pride den here all the time.
26:50He's got an extremely full belly.
26:58Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna, do you copy?
27:01Third one.
27:02Got some pretty good news here, Anna.
27:04We're just close to Four Palms here.
27:06And just found Spoko.
27:08Spoko.
27:10No way.
27:12That is incredible news.
27:13I honestly did not think we were going to see a cheetah again.
27:17Also, I didn't expect it at all.
27:19I mean, what a blessing.
27:21I mean, there's just so many lines about at the moment.
27:24If I was a cheetah, I probably wouldn't be hanging around here.
27:27Spoko is a brave man.
27:36Yeah.
27:37Ah, Raya.
27:37What is the chance?
27:40I just can't believe that he's managed to get himself in the middle of all his lines to be honest.
27:50He is really living up to his name.
27:54Spoko, which means ghost.
27:59Hunting here, right under the noses of so many lions, takes stealth.
28:07A lot of the times their kills are stolen from them.
28:11But it looks like our friend Spoko here managed to have a full meal.
28:16The strides are so long.
28:19He seems to be floating through the grass.
28:23Living up to his ghostly status and just blending in.
28:30He's weaving between these lions and they'd have no idea.
28:41Oh, he's so cool.
28:43He's got a lot of character.
28:46I think he's got a kind of bad boy vibe.
28:51Walks with a lot of purpose, but it's got a bit of swag to it too.
28:53Yeah, Spoko.
28:55He is.
28:56He is.
28:58Pretty badass.
28:59He earns the title.
29:00Yeah, he really does.
29:27Goodham the leopard has moved one of her cubs to a new lion.
29:31new den. Tristan is with her. She's taken the male cub.
29:42Two kilometres away, Brad is with Kudum's female cub at the original den.
29:49She's left a girl behind her and we're sitting waiting for her imminent return.
29:57It makes me anxious when they're separated. The longer this covers alone, the more dangerous
30:05it gets.
30:18Kudum's just got down.
30:24If she's able to really figure out a nice path back, she has a pretty good chance of
30:28getting the cub here safely without getting spotted.
30:51This little girl on her own is starting to wake up.
30:58The temperature has dropped and temperature change generally stimulates them to move around
31:05a bit and I just hope that this little one keeps her head down and stays concealed and doesn't
31:11shout around too much. Tristan, Tristan, Brad?
31:15Have you got an update?
31:17She's heading back to the den. I think Kudum has deliberately taken a long path to get
31:22you. She's had to avoid leaving the same trail. He doesn't want to make a thread between the
31:28old den and the new den.
31:47Kudum's finally made it back to her old den.
32:09It's really nice to see these two back together.
32:20She's going to suckle. The cub is very hungry to keep the cub quiet. I think she needs to feed
32:27it quickly before they begin that journey to read them. It's quite a haul.
32:38Tristan, Tristan has just arrived.
32:41Okay, cool.
32:42Yeah, copy that. We'll make our way to your side.
32:55Kudum's up. She's heard something.
33:17What is that?
33:21Did you see that?
33:23Guys, there's something going on. There's another leopard shirt, Tristan.
33:29This is not cool. This is really not cool.
33:46It's going into the den.
33:49S***, this is a male.
33:53Tristan, we've got a male here at the den.
33:54It's going into the den. I'm sure this is Missouri.
33:58S***.
34:02S***.
34:09Okay, she's coming back in, she's coming back in, okay, she's got the cub, go, go, go,
34:18take it, take it, get out of there.
34:24He's coming out of the den.
34:28She's confronting him.
34:35He's got the cub, he's got the cub.
34:57They've just had a big fight in front of the den here, and the male's taken the cub.
35:02I think it's, I think it's done.
35:05Masuea has just taken the cub.
35:07He's just picked it up in a fight and taken it.
35:19The worst nightmare, the thing that I'm so damn concerned about, has played out and it
35:25just fills me with horror.
35:29It's quite one of the more harrowing things that I've ever seen.
35:34She fought harder.
35:36She confronted that guy head on.
35:39Males are almost double the size of us, you know.
35:45It's that danger of male leopards, you know, male leopards are ruthless.
35:49You know, they're responsible for a lot of these deaths, I mean the majority of the cub deaths.
36:16And Masuea is a real bastard.
36:18He's a scary cat.
36:20I'm not sure that this is over, he's killed one of the cubs already and he's now following
36:25her scent.
36:26I just hope that he isn't able to trace her back towards the new den and take out the other
36:31cub.
36:38He's desperately trying to pick up a trail now, he is smelling every grass blade.
36:52He is wandering across towards you, Harry, I think he's following his scent.
37:00She seems to be trying to lead him on trail, trying to lead him away.
37:06It looks like Kudum's trying to scent mark a little bit as she's going.
37:10She seems to be scent marking and moving and scent marking and moving.
37:19She seems to be trying to lead him in the opposite direction.
37:40He's stopped pursuit seems to be working.
37:51Kudum's completely leaving the scene now, yeah, I think she's just trying to get the
37:56hell out of here.
38:00Right, she's been through quite an ordeal.
38:03Maybe let's just let her go, call her night.
38:07I think she's going to need some time to gather herself up.
38:10Yeah, copy that now.
38:15That's a horrific thing for a mother to go through, especially after giving birth like a week ago.
38:23And yeah, at least we've got one cub, eh? At least we've got one cub.
38:31Thank God she moved him.
38:37I think Kudum knew the dangers that were here and she was really smart to move that cub early in
38:44the morning.
38:46I just hope that Kudum has done enough to disguise her trail back to the new den.
39:06Anna and Raya are still with Spoko the cheetah.
39:15It is six in the morning and we've spent all night staring at sleeping Spoko.
39:25Making sure that we don't lose him because losing a cheetah here would be devastating.
39:41Wow, Spoko's up.
39:49He's so beautiful.
39:53Oh, he's so cool.
39:55He's a cool dude.
40:01This time that we've got with Spoko we're going to make sure we've
40:05stay in touch with him as long as we can.
40:09Looks like he's headed for the floodplain.
40:13This morning he's working up with purpose.
40:21Well, we've got Spoko here just having a little drink of water.
40:29Cheetahs don't actually need to drink water.
40:35They get the majority of their liquid intake from the prey that they kill.
40:41Like vampires, they drink the blood and they also drink in urine left inside their prey.
40:49It's pretty brutal.
40:51It does make you look at cheetahs in a slightly different way.
41:03Spoko is crossing the floodwaters.
41:08Because we're really unable to see.
41:12It's pretty special, hey, our cheetahs.
41:14How in the delta they're forced to adapt.
41:16They do water crossings.
41:21Even with the flood here, it's not blocked them off from going anywhere.
41:24Our cats, they just go where they want to.
41:30I believe he wants to get out of the area and move to a new place.
41:35Don't forget this is line central here.
41:39Stay like a ghost.
41:46Spoko can cross the water.
41:49Doesn't look too promising.
41:52But it's a different story for Rhea and Anna.
41:55I don't think we're going to cross here.
41:59I thought I would walk it, but this looks very creepy.
42:04I'm in two minds about it.
42:06Don't think I'm going to take a walk through here.
42:19I knew it didn't feel very safe to go in the water yet.
42:23Yeah, that's the croc.
42:29And I was going to go in with my...
42:33Trust your instinct.
42:34If your instinct tells you no, don't do it.
42:39I'll get the drone up and then we can try and stay with him.
42:47It's quite funny that this cheetah, who supposedly doesn't like water,
42:54but yet he's straight through there and we're stuck on the other side.
43:10He's so beautiful.
43:14What an amazing animal.
43:21It's a little bit emotional.
43:24I don't know why.
43:27Maybe the fact that they are nearly endangered now.
43:33Cheetah are classified as a vulnerable species that are on the red list.
43:39When we're looking at one of only 7,000 that are left in the wild,
43:44it's really not a lot.
44:01Yeah, well, I think we have officially lost Spoko.
44:07He's gone.
44:08At least we know he's fed.
44:11And he looks very, very chilled, so...
44:15Yeah, for sure. He's a happy cat.
44:17Bye, Spoko.
44:18Hopefully see you soon.
44:27I'm here for you, me.
44:28Heavy.
44:29Sebe the lioness has been struggling for food.
44:34The team hasn't seen her cubs for over 24 hours.
44:38I think I found the cat here.
44:40So difficult to spot, but yeah, she's right in front of me.
44:43All right, keep those posted.
44:48I can't tell you what we've got here.
44:57The magic.
45:00What we got here.
45:02Look at us.
45:04Oh, my goodness.
45:11It's so tiny.
45:17This is looking a bit confusing.
45:19I can only see two cubs here.
45:24It could be possibly Sebe has lost three of her cubs.
45:31We have to be realistic about this.
45:35Without enough food, it's hard for Sebe to make enough milk
45:39to keep all five cubs alive.
45:48Hang on.
45:50A third one.
45:51A third one.
45:54Man.
45:56That's the fourth one.
45:57The fourth one's coming.
46:00This is getting exciting.
46:04Oh, man, I think she's got all the cubs.
46:07What a mom.
46:11Five.
46:15Oh.
46:20This is beautiful.
46:22My heart sinks right now.
46:25She's made it to here with her five cubs.
46:29Oh, man.
46:32Well done, Sebe.
46:37She's always going to be hungry because the amount of milk, rich milk she's producing for those five cubs is
46:43immense.
46:44So she's on constant lookout for a male.
46:52And right on cue, she's off again.
46:56Oh.
46:58Alarm calling.
47:00Lines and move.
47:05That's Sebe and one of the girls.
47:09Oh, they're moving quite fast.
47:13These lionesses, they're tuned into cues that we're not aware of.
47:19This time, she has help from another hungry female from the pride.
47:24Oh, hang on.
47:25I can see there's a ledgeray struggling in the water.
47:33Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, did you see that?
47:35It's a crocodile.
47:43This is crazy.
47:44They're trying to snatch the ledgeray from the crocodile.
47:49Crocodiles pulling back.
47:51They're pulling as well.
47:52This is a battle.
47:57This could be dangerous for them.
47:59That is a Nile crocodile that could pull a lion in that water and kill it.
48:09What a scene.
48:16Oh, jeez.
48:18They've got it.
48:22I mean, this is one of the most craziest things I've ever witnessed.
48:27Seeing Sebe bolting into that water, snatching a male from a crocodile.
48:36This is certainly a very substantial amount of meat.
48:42And a lioness would need around about 35 kilograms per week.
48:47And when they suckling cubs, it's even more.
48:52And now she's able to produce the super high-energy milk to keep her cubs going.
48:58How do they feel so happy about that?
49:09How do they feel so happy?
49:28It is because how dedicated these mothers are.
49:32They have adapted to this scavenger's mode.
49:37And that's the survival scale.
49:42These happy days.
50:07Brad and Tristan don't know if Kudum's male cub is safe.
50:13I'm hoping she starts to make her way back to the den
50:16and we kind of get that clarity that there's still one surviving.
50:25It's been really hard to swallow what we witnessed with Mosweo and the cub.
50:32The aggressive leopard behaviour the team saw last night is very rarely filmed.
50:39These animals are like family to us.
50:43I've spent more time with this cat than I have with my family over the past few years.
50:48I understand why Mosweo get it.
50:51It's ingrained and he's just trying to protect his chances of mating.
50:55But it's still a horrific, horrific experience for Kudum.
51:02When Mosweo grabbed that one cub, he was so intent in following her.
51:07And it was amazing to see how she didn't just bolt back to the den.
51:12She actually deliberately led him on the stray.
51:15It's quite exceptional.
51:27Today, Mosweo is nowhere to be seen.
51:36Kudum is finally heading towards her new den.
51:39The Kudum's inbound.
51:43They come very quietly some way just past us here.
51:51This is too exciting for words.
52:12She's coming up to the tree now.
52:13here to the tree.
52:25Next is the pig.
52:26Hold on.
52:26Hold on, hold on.
52:27Oh!
52:28I can see the cub.
52:30Oh hello little guy. Oh I'm so bad. Hello. Oh you sweet little thing.
52:46This is the moment we've been waiting for. Codrona is now in the den.
52:54The cub is still alive. She's showing us where it is and that it's okay.
53:01Oh you cute thing. That is beautiful.
53:15He's just moved it back down further in the den.
53:24She's positioning herself now. The cub can suckle. What a clever girl.
53:35Oh it looks like everything's fine. She's looking great. The cub looks healthy.
53:41It's really really amazing actually just to have them both in the tree together and having the family back together.
53:49It's a big big relief I have to admit.
53:57I think the fact that Codrona has any cubs alive still is testament to the mother that she's becoming.
54:05I think it was her quick thinking and her decision she made that has kept one alive.
54:16Back to a happy space.
54:18Mom, tiny cub, leopard cub and elephants breezing past.
54:24Just everyone carrying on with their lives. Just the best.
54:50Viennay, Viennay forgotten?
54:53Go ahead. Sub is coming in.
54:55See you shortly.
55:05With a full stomach, Sibi is heading back to the rest of the pride.
55:12Here she is. Here she's rubbing heads. We found one of the females.
55:21It's very affectionate.
55:23I think they're telling Sibi, just chill.
55:28Sibi, you sit down. We've been working hard.
55:31Just relax. Let's gain our energy.
55:37There's a sense of community. There's a togetherness. Just remarkable.
56:07The whole hair. The entire pride.
56:10The whole hair. The entire pride.
56:15The male's looking majestic, what that means.
56:21The big cats team is now near the end of its time here.
56:27We have, every day, got to know all of these cats better and better.
56:37In the last six months, this lion pride has grown to be one of the largest in the world.
56:49The success of the current pride is brought about by the unity that pride has.
56:56In the case of these lions, lions that stand a chance of losing a beautiful piece of the Okavango and
57:04a huge pride.
57:05And they really have each other's backs.
57:12But the pride's fate is uncertain.
57:16All good things come to an end.
57:21As their numbers have grown, they're getting less to eat.
57:26I think something has to give.
57:30Into the next season, when times get tough.
57:35When the water disappears.
57:37When the prey disappears.
57:39What cracks will begin to show.
57:42Could be that these cubs, they're the straw that breaks the camel's back.
57:54I think in the near future, we're going to see a split in this pride.
57:59The carving off of some of these lions.
58:04Trying to make the wrong way.
58:15Change is coming.
58:20To be saved.
58:23For more information is comfortable.
58:24It's.
58:30Care is.
58:47Weather is a production of the world's and its own letzte theory.
58:59Transcription by CastingWords
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