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Big Cats 24/7 Season 2 Episode 3 – A Pride Divided reveals growing tension and danger in the Okavango Delta as the powerful Xudum lion pride faces a relentless siege.

With dominant males gone, the Xudum pride is left vulnerable as more intruder lions move into their territory. Lionesses with young cubs must urgently reunite with the rest of the pride for protection, as a divided pride could mean disaster for the youngest members.

Meanwhile, Lediba the leopard faces a serious setback when a lion steals her hard-earned kill. With a hungry cub waiting, she is forced to take a dangerous risk to secure food in a landscape dominated by larger predators.

For Pobe the cheetah, motherhood brings its own challenges. She is teaching her cubs Kea and Bo how to hunt, but when a pack of hyenas suddenly arrives, the young cheetahs must rely on their instincts to survive.

In the wild world of Big Cats 24/7, every mother must fight harder than ever to protect her young.

#BigCats247 #BigCats #WildlifeDocumentary #AfricanWildlife #OkavangoDelta

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
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00:09The Okavango Delta in Botswana.
00:12We are in a pristine environment right now.
00:15One of Africa's last wildernesses.
00:18The magnitude of life here is unparalleled.
00:22And it's a haven for Africa's big cats.
00:28Lion, cheetah and leopard.
00:31Big cat country.
00:34Armed with the latest filming technology,
00:37the Big Cats 2417 is following individual big cats for six months.
00:45This is a unique opportunity to follow these cats round the clock.
00:49Through the day...
00:51I used to think I'd have a fair fight with a lion.
00:55Not so sure now.
00:57And the night.
00:58We've got the most sophisticated thermal imaging technologies.
01:04Capturing their behavior 24 hours a day.
01:08I have never seen anything like this.
01:11Epic!
01:22Oh, they're locking jaws.
01:26She's clawed him in the face.
01:29Oh, the girls are driving Demo away.
01:33These females might have done it.
01:42She's contact calling.
01:46Conflict looks over for now.
01:48That was insane.
01:49That was so insane.
02:02Raya, have you got eyes on these cubs?
02:06No, that's a negative.
02:15Lionesses have no idea where the cubs are.
02:18Lion Mums, Mato, Sebe, and Naledi are searching for their nine young cubs.
02:30Scattered in the chaos of the fight with the Rogue Boys.
02:34I'm just really scared to see beyond the long grass and see a dead cub.
02:40Please tell me that's not happened.
02:48There's a cub.
02:49There's a cub.
02:49There's a cub right here.
02:59Some cubs are over there.
03:12Right, let's count these cubs.
03:15One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
03:18Great.
03:20We're missing one cub.
03:22This is not cool.
03:24Raya, have you got eyes on this ninth cub?
03:27That is a negative.
03:30Naledi is just non-stop contact calling.
03:34I feel for her.
03:36It's Naledi's smallest cub that's missing.
03:47Please, please, please, please, please, please, please.
03:49You okay?
03:50You okay?
03:55Ah, there's the cub.
04:02Not any relief.
04:11The cub is trailing pretty far behind.
04:15It's .
04:17It's not over for these mums and cubs.
04:20The three younger rogue boys have circled back.
04:26This cub is alone.
04:28He's literally within 50 meters to these three rogue boys.
04:34Intruder male lions are responsible for a quarter of cub deaths.
04:39It was very dangerous.
04:42What?
04:45One of the mums has come back.
04:52But Naledi is not leaving her cub behind.
05:06And Mato and Se tossed running.
05:11it's like a gang war here never seen anything like this
05:18they're trying to settle this through growls
05:24lines typically will avoid confrontations if you have an injury it could be fatal
05:32without their leader demo
05:41the battle's over the three youngsters are finally backing down these rope boys seem to be heading
05:49to the direction they came from these are some serious women bosses
06:10oh great news i'm so relieved
06:18mato sebe and the lady have saved their cubs
06:23for now since big toe and madumo have disappeared they're leaving their lionesses to just
06:33do all the work but with the rogue boys still in the area the mums and their cubs remain vulnerable
06:42it just feels like this territory is completely up for grabs
06:48the kudum pride has been apart for weeks
06:52now scattered across its 250 square kilometer territory in the okovango delta
07:00there are lots of players who are just moving in
07:05who knows who this territory is for now it's total chaos the abundance of prey
07:13brought by the annual flood is drawing more predators in
07:19putting all the big cats on edge
07:23especially these young mothers
07:25there's so many couples to protect without big toe and madumo to help them
07:32mums working together is essential
07:36mato naledi and sebe must rejoin the other mums in the pride for protection we just really really
07:44need safety numbers but first they need to find them
07:57to find them
07:57i think i've just seen a glimpse of a leopard
08:00tristan and brad are on the trail of leopard mum lediba
08:13mum looks happy cub looks happy
08:23this little cub is very playful
08:27i think she spotted an impala
08:43yeah the little cub has just tried to run into an impala
08:48it scared everything
08:51oh that was too cute
08:54any opportunity these cats are ready to go
08:58and even from the age of four months they seem to think that they can
09:03take down adult in bars
09:06i was absolutely adorable
09:10look mum look what i tried to do did you see me i nearly caught one
09:18oh yes mummy and cub
09:25after losing one of her cubs
09:29i got a little bit of suckling here
09:32ladiba is now focusing on keeping this one alive
09:36i would really like to see her starting to provide a lot more meat for the cub
09:42and my sense is that she should be getting a lot more than she is at the moment
09:49to feed them both
09:51ladiba needs to catch something every two to three days
09:58the diva's she has gone up so suckling has stopped
10:03diva's on the move
10:05which means she must leave her cub unprotected in its nursery
10:10to search for food
10:14she's covering a lot of ground pushing hard
10:27she's just bumped into the baboon troop
10:35i haven't seen her
10:38and she is sneaking away as quietly as possible
10:46baboons will alert any prey to ladiba's presence
10:51amazing she's virtually going underneath the front of my car
11:02she's just she's now heading back through the forest
11:15the divas have finally found something to hunt
11:19oh that's big male redback
11:29you don't know where the cat is because she's so well camouflaged and hidden
11:33less than one in five leopard hunts are successful
11:37this reebuck has no idea that the leopard's coming up behind him
11:44ladiba's best chance is to stalk within five meters of her prey
12:03she's so close
12:06i'm lucky she just just missed it
12:12what's what is going on you go on her
12:15i'll go
12:21a little bit of a noise and alarm calling going on here there's definitely something else going on
12:32we've got a male lion underneath a tree
12:35this is really really scary she's moving straight towards him right now
12:40she hasn't seen him
12:42a pop-up run in front of him there
13:01he doesn't see him but she's right in front of him
13:13he's very lucky this guy didn't decide to charge her because that could have been
13:16a horrible horrible ending
13:20oh she's being brave coming straight down the tree
13:23ladiba is making a hasty retreat
13:28that was a bit close for comfort this lone male lion is not one of the rogue boys
13:36but yet another newcomer to the area
13:43i'm with the battle the lady and the cubs right next to the front of the flood
13:50greg is with the mums and young cubs
13:53moving south as one of the biggest most dominant prides in the whole lock of anger we've become
14:00quite accustomed to these lines really ruling the roost here
14:05it looks like that's all changing
14:10i've never seen a pride take over
14:28that's a bit of a melting pot
14:37taking the total in the area to at least seven
14:42these lines have probably battled their way around the okavango for the last couple of years
14:47with that singular mission of finding somewhere they can call their own
14:51you know what the hell is happening
14:57we've got two bigger sub-adult males chasing directly after dimul and now just a kilometer
15:04away reya has spotted the rogue boys leader dimul what's going on here i mean he's all alone
15:10without backup they're coming straight to us they're coming straight to us he's being pursued
15:15by even more intruding male lions i can't even record how many groups of males have popped up
15:34this is so close this is directly in front of us they're right here
15:38they're biting him
15:44i've never seen this before
15:47this is a battle of intruders versus other intruders
16:01the people came into this territory and we cast him as a bad guy
16:09can't help but feel a little sorry for him now
16:14badly injured this might be the last time we see demon
16:19demo is leaving it's really hard to keep track of all these lines we're seeing
16:25with no dominant males the kudum pride territory is now a battleground
16:34are you worrying for the pride lionesses are having to protect the cubs on their own
16:41mato naledi sebe and their cubs are all in danger banding together is definitely going to help
16:50yeah okay the line's moving they want to move their cubs to safety
16:57they must find the other mums of the pride as soon as possible
17:13hey bobby how you doing how are your cubs
17:18anna is with pobe the cheetah and her two cubs they're just growing day by day
17:28these two are super lucky because at the moment their mum is doing all of the hard work
17:36oh there they are
17:42these cubs are practicing
17:43and bo have made it to six months old super cute to see the world is just a playground at
17:52the moment
17:53every single tree is like a jungle gym
17:57they're now starting to learn the skills to survive on their own
18:05these cubs are practicing their tree climbing
18:10this is essential learning for them because climbing trees helps them when they need to
18:16get off the ground but it gives a really good viewpoint above all of this long grass
18:24cheetahs can see movement up to two kilometers away
18:28by climbing trees they can scan for prey but they can also scan for predators
18:35being able to spot danger from afar and escape it here at the top of a tree
18:41is crucial with so many lions now in the area
18:51it's looking a little bit uncomfortable up there right now
18:58oh dear she's got herself into a bit of a situation here
19:05she's trying to go down backwards
19:12and she made her down it looked quite stressful
19:15yeah wonderful springy legs coming into their own
19:19i do feel like they're slowly growing into their legs
19:30every day they're getting more used to their bodies and you can see that that is really helping
19:35them in their and their speed and agility their tree climbing all of it
19:41it's what looks like play is just essentially key training for them
19:48because we can't forget the cheetahs are at the bottom of the pecking order
19:54they're always looking over their shoulders
19:59cheetah cubs leave their mothers at 18 months old
20:03it's amazing how much that they have to develop in such a short amount of time to be ready to
20:09go
20:09it alone kia and bo still have a lot to learn that is the life of the cheetah they have
20:17to
20:18develop so much faster than the other cats in the delta
20:39it's begun ladiba is well and truly on her mission tonight
20:43the cub's den is only a couple hundred meters away
20:48with her cub hidden nearby ladiba is hunting again looks like she's managed to
20:55sight out some impala moving through the flood plain
20:59this might be her change in luck
21:03she's certainly very hungry and it looks like she's going to give this as good of a go as possible
21:16she's got herself into a pretty amazing position here
21:22i can hear something barking
21:25what the hell man she was in the perfect position
21:39she doesn't want to even try and compete with the line they're just too big
21:44there's lines literally everywhere
21:54the diva has gone into some thicker cover now
21:58the influx of new lions into the area
22:02i'm losing visual of her
22:04is affecting all of the resident big cats
22:08she's bolted off into the sage ridge and i can't keep up with her through there
22:14it's now been three days since the team last saw ladiba eat
22:19hopefully for ladiba she manages to get herself a meal
22:29it's morning but tristan and rea are being held in camp by a curious visitor
22:46we've got a little bit of a blockage here on our way to the vehicles
22:50mr ellie's enjoying our lawn this is supposed to be our badminton field
22:58there's a lot of elephants around i'm just seeing like elephants over there
23:05we probably get elephants walking through camp four or five times a day
23:09you can see what the elephant does when he takes the grass
23:18he pulls it out with his trunk and then he shakes it side to side removing that sand and the
23:23dust off
23:24not to hurt his teeth and then he eats it
23:30having a elephant right literally in the middle of a camp is always a reminder just how wild this place
23:36is
23:37definitely something special when we've got a bit of a speed bump like this on our way out
23:44best thing to do is appreciate it
23:47we shouldn't forget at the end of the day this is their land we're just visitors
23:56we're just going to get back to work and we're just going to get back to work
23:58when i get out of my room in the morning i've got to make sure i don't bump into him
24:06mr ellie's gone time to get back to work
24:19i do feel like today is a major school day bush school for cheetah cubs kia and beau is continuing
24:26with mum pobe looks uninterested in the actual impala it kind of feels like it's actually just more about
24:45the lesson
24:46that felt like she was teaching the cubs how to run or how to accelerate
25:02the cubs are learning another vital lesson we've got bob as cubs here imitating their mum they think
25:11they're on a serious hunt these are skills which will help them in the long term to survive on their
25:17own kia and beau must learn how to run down prey but wildebeest just over in that direction
25:28and the cubs are over straight ahead of me
25:33they're moving straight towards them definitely got their ears down oh running running running running
25:48it's pretty amazing to see the difference from just a month ago when they were shy
25:53and never take the initiative
25:58fully grown wildebeest are 10 times heavier than kia and beau
26:04that the world of these are thinking what is going on why is this tiny cheetah trying to run at
26:10us
26:15they are staring at the zebra they've got missile locks on their eyes
26:24but kia is not giving up
26:31she's so fast at this age cheetah cubs can run nearly 80 kilometers per hour
26:39oh that is nuts
26:42no decay
26:47every failed attempt is a lesson
26:51it'll be another year before they can hit top speed getting that little practice how to approach
26:58prey gives them a good sense of from what distance will prey see you
27:05they definitely haven't quite learned the element of surprise yet
27:16oh
27:21there's a hyena over here that has picked up the scent of something
27:28this has got the potential to go really really wrong
27:35i don't know how the cubs are going to respond to this
27:43a single spotted hyena is a challenge
27:47i don't know what is kia doing
27:55she's going straight towards the hyena
28:08kia is standing her ground
28:14super brave
28:18take that hyena
28:29there are three hyenas
28:32three it's a scary number for them
28:36but three hyenas together it's going in it's going in it's going in could be deadly for the cubs
28:43they're running from the hyenas
28:46kia's running
28:55both the clubs and pulbay have been chased away
28:59this is not great news because the cubs have been separated
29:10one cub has found pulwick
29:19the other one is taking refuge after the tree
29:22so
29:23so they're tree climbing skills they are coming in more useful than they think they probably thought
29:30don't do that
29:31thank god for that yay
29:36kia and beau are unscathed
29:40these cubs are having lesson after lesson
29:45and i think they've just learned a very important one which is don't mess with hyenas
29:59we've got
30:01mato the lady and sebi here with their cubs
30:06it's gonna get thick up ahead
30:09sets and gordon are on the night shift
30:13they've wandered so far tonight
30:16mato sebi and the lady are still searching for the other pride mums
30:23this is miles away this is right down as far south as i've ever been
30:32the lady and mato have gone up the tree
30:43very quiet we can hear a lot better if they're off the ground lions use sound to find each other
30:50from up to eight kilometers away i think they've heard something
30:58but it locked on to something behind me
31:09but it's not the other pride mums those zebra 100 percent yeah they're interested
31:18this is a chance to feed their cubs
31:23okay it's going to be tricky but they've started to spread out
31:29mato is going straight towards them
31:33sebi has gone wide to the left
31:36the lady has disappeared off to the right
31:44okay the hunt is on
31:51i lost her
32:00they've got something oh they're taking a zebra down
32:04that is a big cat bundle
32:09oh it's down they've taken it down
32:16the cubs are digging in
32:20quite some price
32:26after days on the move
32:28it's going to pop the drawn up
32:30this is a welcome meal
32:37they need to keep quiet keep this a secret and will not alert other cats in the area
32:48hey gordon
32:51did you copy that
32:53yeah i did it's kind of over my right hand shoulder
32:58you know the scent of this carcass is wafting straight towards me
33:02um so it's probably carrying far and wide
33:06yeah we might be in for a surprise
33:11lions have to eat fast because you never know who wants to come along and pinch that meal from you
33:19i can hear them
33:22i saw something moving behind them you know in the tree line
33:28oh yeah
33:30so it's a female
33:32i can't tell who that is
33:38mato is up
33:42she's being extra cautious
34:01they're chasing
34:03it's clearly not one of the other kudum pride lionesses
34:09whoever they are they're not welcome
34:15they're heading back
34:17they're just passing behind the car
34:27oh no
34:29what's going on
34:34more lions coming in
34:45oh that is such a menacing sound
34:48all of these lions
34:50just trying to
34:53intimidate
34:55push the girls off the kill
35:00the mums have traveled so far from their own territory
35:04oh
35:07they've run into another pride
35:10the five in total
35:12they are calling
35:13the other ones calling
35:15these newcomers aren't after the cubs
35:19oh there's more
35:20they want a free meal
35:30there's a big fire erupting
35:32that was a massive
35:40and the numbers are now working in their favor
35:50they're now being chased off
35:53the kill is not worth it
35:58the zebra carcass has been abandoned
36:02it's just not worth defending
36:07they've taken the cubs and then off
36:12that was enough
36:14for them to pull out of here
36:18the mums and cubs have lost their meal
36:22it is quite thick here
36:25just lost visual of the lions
36:26and disappeared into the scrub
36:44next morning
36:55we've got a whole pile of lions
36:59greg has found mato sebe and their lady
37:02on the edge of kudum pride territory
37:06a couple of the lionesses are getting up
37:12oh
37:13i can see some blood
37:18some of them look like they really did take a beating
37:21the lady looks like she got
37:27seriously hurt last night
37:30she got a lot of a lot of open wounds
37:33cuts under her leg
37:35it's on her face
37:41poor thing
38:00it looks like last night
38:06the lionesses met their match
38:08the herr and naledi both have wounds on the back of their rum
38:11which means that they were bitten from behind
38:15one hell of a scrap
38:19not one of them is unscathed
38:23from what i can tell all of the cubs are okay
38:26so the mums must have put up one hell of a fight
38:31but we've got a lot of cubs that haven't eaten
38:34it's not a good place to be
38:38mato sebe and naledi
38:42cannot afford another attack from intruders
38:47it's a pivotal point for the leading lionesses to make a decision on what to do here
38:54safety with the other mums of the pride
38:58has never been more urgent
39:00they've got intruders all over their territory
39:03big time aduma nowhere to be found
39:06so they've been squeezed
39:09it's going to be very interesting to see how they navigate their way out of it
39:35but she's not alone
39:38they're looking at this line
39:40it's with utter disgust
39:42the lone intruder male
39:45has interrupted ladiba's plans to eat again
39:48it's just sad that she's gone through all this effort to make a kill
39:52and get stolen by a lion
39:56she really needed a meal
40:02it must be torturous for her just sit there and watch a male lion eat her carcass and
40:08not be able to do anything about it
40:10i think he's done eating for now
40:16he's daring the entrails trying to conceal the scent
40:25he's moving
40:31and he's down
40:36the diva's started to move around a little bit
40:40she's watching that cards
40:43i think she's thinking about taking a piece back
40:46i think there's a cub that yeah it was her cubs the base of the tree
40:54it looks like ladiba brought her hungry cub to eat
40:57this is crazy
41:00before the lion pushed them off
41:04this is a particularly dangerous situation
41:10that cup just has to stay concealed
41:15and is resting
41:16and is resting
41:17ladiba has spotted an opportunity
41:22she's being very careful
41:29okay she's on the ground
41:33admire her determination to try and get some of this back
41:41i think she's getting desperate
41:42so this is a it's a valuable meal
41:46i think she's going to risk it all
42:09greg is joining brad on the night shift
42:14so i didn't make your way around ten jonas
42:16copy that brad
42:24she's been here eight nine hours
42:27very passionately waiting to steal something back
42:31the cub is desperate
42:33at this age the cub should be eating almost three pounds of meat every day
42:39on top of her mum's milk
42:42it's quite easy to notice with the thermal imaging
42:45just how skinny ladiba and her cub are
42:49so it makes sense that her and the cub waited
42:54but hunger is putting them both at risk
43:03big boy is moving
43:06he is moved off
43:26she's got it
43:30brad i think you can hear me back eh
43:35oh she's seen it
43:37cub's on the move
43:41oh
43:44mad it's just remarkable
43:47the cub is heading into the trees for safety
43:51it's a hell of a clown for a cub
43:54she's seen him
43:55but ladiba is determined to get something to eat
44:08go go
44:08come on
44:13well done ladiba
44:15that has to sneak a little bit of food there
44:37she'll get some decent value out of what she managed to scavenge
44:41she needs it
44:42she needs it
44:47ladiba's persistence has paid off
44:50she can now feed herself
44:53and her cub
44:56never a moment's rest for her
44:58another leopard
45:16hobbit is in hunt mode
45:18hobbit is in hunt mode
45:19she's definitely walking about with purpose
45:21after the cheetah's hunt training was interrupted by hyenas
45:25so cool her body language just completely changes
45:29here's a combat
45:32lessons are back on
45:37oh i think she's gonna die
45:50there's a cutie cough
45:51there's a cutie cough
46:01it's got it
46:05oh kia's in already
46:06she is first on the scene
46:13that came completely out of nowhere
46:18she's a machine as soon as she gets up into hunt mode you're like well she's about to kill something
46:22you just know it
46:28kia's watching pobre
46:31and pobre is clamping her jaws around this cudo's neck
46:37and this is a perfect moment for for kia to learn just what it takes to suffocate her prey
46:47because that's what cheetahs do they just clamp down on the windpipe their prey
46:52by bringing in prey that is alive and then showing them how it's done this is the next stage in
46:59their hunting practice
47:04whoa whoa whoa look at this kia's having a go
47:09she's popping pobre
47:12and you can really see that bobby is trying to teach her a lesson here
47:16she keeps like clumping and then she lets it go and then kia has it go
47:26your parents always tell you don't play all your food but that's exactly what you should do if you're a
47:32cheetah cub
47:32i don't know
47:35kia is learning fast
47:38where is bo
47:41but her brother is skipping class
47:46oh wow kia's calling bo
47:51it's such a sweet sound
48:03they can make these incredible chirping sounds
48:10it's coming
48:13i feel for him because he just seems like he's always a little bit slow off the mark than kia
48:18kian runs into every situation head first whereas i was a little bit more shy and anxious of everything
48:31bobby is succeeding as a cheetah mum
48:37all of this teaching will be completely worth it when these cubs reach about a year old because at that
48:45point they can start participating in the hunts
48:49every day her cubs move another step closer to looking after themselves
48:55bobby is going to start handing the ropes over to them and saying you know you go ahead
49:00amazing
49:05every single day these cops are learning more and more
49:13eventually they're going to be absolutely unstoppable
49:33this is uncharted territory for me
49:36i think that they've pulled away from all those intruders
49:40gordon and greg are searching for lion mums mato naledi sebe and their cubs
49:48makes sense that they kind of just shifted
49:51but they've become increasingly hard to find
49:55this is way off good for them
49:58we have crossed to the west
50:02place where we've never found them before
50:09bingo
50:10look
50:13gee girls what the heck are you doing down here
50:17hallelujah that is great
50:20hey hey fam
50:22been missing you guys
50:24last time we saw them they'd just come out of a big boxing match but thankfully
50:29it looks like everybody's doing okay
50:31where have you been
50:36you can see in many of our lions the healing ability is amazing
50:41their lives are often shown so vividly on their faces
50:46these lines are incredibly resilient they're just super tough
50:55criticize six
50:56okay
51:02can't believe this i have my cross me and my gogo
51:08Ooh, that is good news.
51:13We've been looking for so long.
51:16I can't begin to tell you how I'm feeling.
51:21Sets has finally located the other mums of the pride.
51:27Moving in search of safety from intruders,
51:30they're contact calling.
51:31Both groups of lionesses are now within earshot.
51:39Can you hear that?
51:41Oh my word.
51:45The girls are up.
51:47Three of them, Naledi, Sebi, and Mato.
51:52They've all got up and started to move.
51:56Could get very exciting.
51:59Oh wow.
52:07This is quite incredible to see that they are running across the water.
52:18After two weeks apart.
52:20Oh, happy days.
52:24Mato, Naledi, Sebi, and their cubs are reuniting with the other pride mums.
52:32Tell me that there's a better sighting in life than this.
52:37I don't think I've ever seen them in such a huge number.
52:42The bonds are clearly very strong.
52:44It's as if they haven't seen each other in a lifetime.
52:53Seeing so many lions moving together, you can't help but just feel a sense of strength.
53:01I'm feeling it right now.
53:11This is the security and safety and numbers that this pride needs.
53:18I think we could all breathe a sigh of relief.
53:23They've survived against the odds.
53:31The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
53:57The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
53:58The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
54:03The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
54:05The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
54:07The father of the intruder lion, this is one group I don't want to mess with.
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