Cats Episode 3
Cats Episode 3
Transcript
00:00Lights off.
00:03Hang on.
00:05We've got another lion.
00:08I think this is Madumu and Big Toad have come in.
00:11The male lions from the Kudum pride are fighting to protect their whole family.
00:16They're on him.
00:17They're on him.
00:18And are battling with aggressive intruder males.
00:21Oh, jeez, this could be a fight to the death.
00:25If Madumu and Big Toad lose their power, that just changes everything.
00:32The Okavango Delta in Botswana.
00:38One of Africa's last wildernesses.
00:41The Okavango Delta is an oasis in the desert.
00:44It's a miracle in itself.
00:46And it's a stronghold for Africa's big cats.
00:51Lion.
00:53Cheetah.
00:55And leopard.
00:57This is nature at its absolute finest.
01:01Now, for the very first time, a team of local and international wildlife filmmakers
01:08is working together to record the cats' lives like never before.
01:17Using the latest technology.
01:20We're going to be able to see things in a completely different light
01:22and tell stories in a completely different way.
01:25They'll follow individual big cats for six months.
01:30Through the day.
01:31This is crazy.
01:32This is a battle.
01:34And the night.
01:36This is a military-grade thermal imaging camera.
01:39Lions have got amazing night vision, but it's not as good as the day.
01:43Lions have got amazing night vision, but it's not as good as this.
01:47Capturing their behavior.
01:49He's got the cub. He's got the cub.
01:5224 hours a day.
01:54Welcome to the Okavango Delta.
01:57It gets crazy.
02:00It gets crazy.
02:11Morning, Greg.
02:12Are you having any luck with Dumo and Victor at all?
02:14No, not at the moment.
02:16They were here for a couple of hours.
02:18They've gone. Vanished.
02:20While their cameraman, Gordon, is searching for the Kudum Pride males
02:24after losing them during the night.
02:27There's absolutely no sign of Victor and Madumo.
02:30Yeah, I'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. There.
02:51They look absolutely exhausted.
02:55Victor hasn't even raised his head.
03:02It almost looks as if he's no longer with us.
03:08Is he OK?
03:14OK.
03:17These boys are looking very, very tired.
03:21They don't have the swagger that they had before.
03:25Last night, Big Toe and Madumo fought with intruder male lions
03:30for over an hour.
03:32Right, Madumo is up.
03:35Oh, look at this.
03:38Very pronounced limp.
03:42Oh, yeah. One of our boys is getting properly roughed up
03:46and it must have been Madumo. Look at how he's walking.
03:52He's in real pain.
03:57It just shows you that there are other lions out here
04:01that can match them pound for pound.
04:05As dominant Pride males,
04:07Madumo and Big Toe's main role is to protect their family.
04:12If Madumo and Big Toe lose their power,
04:16that just changes everything for the entire Pride.
04:20For the cubs especially,
04:23if new males came in,
04:25they would kill them without a shadow of a doubt.
04:34Because the Kudum territory is rich, it's a lion paradise,
04:40someone's going to show up
04:42and going to knock their crowns clean off their head.
04:46Those days may be upon us.
04:55With Madumo and Big Toe injured,
05:00the threat of intruder male lions hangs over the Pride.
05:10At particular risk are these inexperienced youngsters.
05:15These two are absolute clowns.
05:20Colin and Nkone are two-year-old sub-adult males.
05:25Oh, there's a wobbly tree.
05:29Nkone's joining.
05:31That doesn't look like a good idea.
05:34These teenagers are physically bigger than the cubs,
05:37but they're not behaving as well.
05:40These teenagers are physically bigger than the cubs,
05:44but they're not behaving like adults yet.
05:48Oh, I suppose his belly is resting on the trunk.
05:53He 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, Nkone.
06:11What is your next move?
06:15Think very carefully about this one.
06:20Oh, he's falling, he's falling.
06:30It is utterly hilarious to think that these two
06:34are supposed to be nearly independent, and yet here they are.
06:38Here they are, playing 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.
07:00The 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.
07:36Kudum is the resident female leopard.
07:40At five years old, she's ready to have cubs.
07:45She's been eating well, but she's becoming quite a stocky leopard,
07:50really filling up like an adult female, which is quite nice.
07:54She's coming on as a cat.
07:56It's a beautiful thing to see.
07:59I 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.
08:11Like clockwork, she's just got up another ebony tree,
08:15positioning herself for a potential ambush.
08:20This whole big herd of leopards is to ourselves.
08:26Wait one second, she's just sat up.
08:34She's twitching.
08:37And there she goes.
08:42And she's just gone.
08:44And there she goes.
08:48And she's jumped.
08:50OK.
08:52Yeah, Brad, she's just jumped out of the tree.
08:54She's got one.
08:56She's got one.
09:11Last time she made a kill, she settled it for a long time
09:15before she started to eat.
09:17This time, it looks like she's not wasting any time to get stuck in.
09:22Mating 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 out for her.
09:33So Kudum is ensuring she keeps her meal.
09:38Leopards are solitary and quite small,
09:40so they rank quite low when it comes to losing their kills to other predators.
09:46Good girl.
09:48She's done well.
09:50She's pushed it up into the fork of a tree.
09:57The challenge for Kudum now is finding the right mate.
10:02At camp, Gordon is teaming up with lion specialist Dr. Robin Kotze
10:07from Oxford University.
10:11So that point over there, that's got his GPS collar number.
10:15Robin has known the Kudum pride for more than a decade.
10:19He's been training the Kudum for over 20 years.
10:23He's been training the Kudum for over 20 years.
10:27Robin has known the Kudum pride for more than a decade.
10:31So 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 Bigtoe and Madumo haven't been seen for days.
10:48With intruder males still around...
10:51Here they are. Success.
10:53Teenagers Colin and Nkone are particularly vulnerable.
10:58So you collared him how long ago?
11:00For about a year. We had to fit his collar with space so that he could grow.
11:05Obviously he's still a growing boy.
11:07But we also don't want to fit it too loosely that he can pull it over his head.
11:11We 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,
11:18that they're going to leave.
11:20Why would they not want to keep another male in the pride?
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
11:37because 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,
11:52let the moms do all the work, and still be able to have good meals.
11:57At two years old, male lions are often pushed out of the family
12:01to find a pride of their own.
12:04She's not too happy with him being around.
12:06And this is kind of what happens now when he's this age.
12:09Even the adult lionesses will start showing a little bit of discomfort.
12:15Until they reach their prime, five, six years old,
12:18they've basically got to stay out of the way from not only their dads,
12:21but also big males from other prides.
12:24There's a high likelihood that if they clash, they could get killed.
12:33To see how the females behave towards Colin and Nkone at night,
12:37Gordon is rigging the thermal camera.
12:41Is there somebody out there?
12:45Something here.
12:48Oh, it's a female.
12:50Is that the cubs coming in?
12:52Oh my God, that's great.
12:54Amazing.
12:55Look at them.
12:56How many? One, two, three, four, five, six.
12:58Oh, and the older one, yeah.
13:00That's great.
13:01That's beautiful.
13:04The cubs are sticking close to their mums for safety.
13:09But the females are on edge.
13:13Oh, it's not very warm, Melvin.
13:15No.
13:16No, these cubs are going to approach.
13:18Yeah, they're actually walking this way.
13:20They are.
13:21Right, what's going to happen here?
13:25Has anyone seen the cubs interacting with Colin and Nkone?
13:28No.
13:30Has anyone seen the cubs interacting with Colin and Nkone before?
13:34I haven't.
13:35It seems like they're trying to introduce them.
13:47Oh, that's not good, that is not good.
13:53Maybe they're just kind of saying,
13:55the babies are here, you guys better behave.
13:58Be careful, be on your best behaviour.
14:04Where's he gone?
14:06Oh, he's sloped off.
14:07Yeah, he's a bit unsure.
14:15Colin's just over here, on my left.
14:20He's keeping a low profile.
14:22He's making, like, small vocalisations.
14:25I've never actually witnessed this interaction,
14:27this really awkward stage.
14:29So this is kind of typical now of what will happen,
14:32as 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.
14:41I'm not even aware of you being there.
14:44As the females become more aggressive towards Colin and Nkone,
14:49their 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.
15:16..Brad has found a male in her territory.
15:20I suspect that this is Misueo.
15:26Misueo means pale-coloured.
15:28And you can see from his pelt,
15:30he's much lighter than most of the males that we see around the area.
15:34No-one has seen him for months,
15:36so it's like he knows Kudum's in season,
15:39and he's come home to do the deed.
15:43We know he's an aggressive guy.
15:45He's quite aggressive around the females.
15:47He's a fighter.
15:49Misueo, the brute.
15:54As the dominant male in the area,
15:56Misueo will kill any cubs he finds that are not his own.
16:01I think I'm quite insane.
16:03A leopard is looking straight at you from this angle.
16:07I mean, it looks like he's looking into my soul, almost.
16:14There's not many leopards that we have that are this relaxed.
16:18It's a bit of a shock.
16:20It's a bit of a shock.
16:22It's a bit of a shock.
16:24It's a bit of a shock.
16:26It's a bit of a shock.
16:28It's a bit of a shock.
16:31It's so special being able to get that close
16:34to any big cat that leopards,
16:36especially male leopards,
16:38are normally quite timid compared to females.
16:42Hey, big boy.
16:49That was really, really cool.
16:51Misueo is an ideal breeding partner for Kudum.
16:55All 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.
17:22Okay, he's a huge guy. Huge guy, huge tusk.
17:28The bull elephant died at least three days ago.
17:33He's a male in good shape. It could have been a territorial fight here.
17:37This will provide plenty of food for our cats if they do find it.
17:42It could easily feed the entire pride, which could be good for them in these times of drought.
17:49The carcass might also attract the intruder male lions.
17:57V&A and Anna are setting up the thermal cameras to see what unfolds.
18:03That's a hyena.
18:09Definitely making his presence known.
18:14This technology reveals some sights that are better left in the dark.
18:26That is the most disgusting thing I could ever see.
18:36There are now five hyenas, so I don't think there's any chance that another predator is going to be here.
18:42Another predator is going to give it a go.
18:45They're all sort of fanned out around the carcass.
18:48It's like they're all acting security, making sure no one gets through.
18:53Hyena schools can travel up to five kilometres, so they're just going to keep coming.
18:59I think the only thing that's going to change the dynamics here is if the Cudan pride turn up in force.
19:07I can hear one of the hyenas vocalising.
19:12They're facing the opposite direction to the actual carcass.
19:18Something must be going on now.
19:22Two male lions.
19:28I think that might be Colin and his brother, Colin.
19:34This is so interesting. This is so exciting.
19:38Hyenas calling.
19:46Powerful.
19:49One hyena is no match for Colin and Ngoni, but numbers can level the playing field.
19:56Three hyenas, four, chasing them away.
20:00I don't know where to focus.
20:02It's coming closer. God, what are you doing this for?
20:06They stood their ground.
20:11Oh, my God.
20:14The big male chased them.
20:17After claiming the carcass, Colin and Ngoni are joined by some of the pride females.
20:25It's started to get quite busy.
20:33Ngoni just went and really sweetly rubbed his forehead on Colin.
20:39Recently, they've had quite a lot of friction with the lionesses and 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.
20:56And they're both now just having a snooze together.
21:00They really are the best of brothers.
21:09At dawn, Gordon finds Colin and Ngoni still at the carcass and still with the females.
21:17Everyone's in a very playful mood this morning.
21:26This is an interesting situation.
21:32Because although Colin and Ngoni have got the clear message that they're not wanted around the rest of the pride,
21:38with this elephant carcass, it's brought all of these lions 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 Ngoni around.
22:01If I was Colin and Ngoni, I'd probably feel a little bit used.
22:05It's like, yeah, we don't want you around. Actually, hang on.
22:09A couple of big boys like you, that's quite handy. So yeah, stick around here.
22:22The dominant pride males, Big Toe and Madumo, haven't been seen for over a week.
22:30Now Seth has found the intruder male lions on patrol.
22:40Yeah, they are still slowly moving away.
22:45Less than 100 metres away are Colin and Ngoni and one pride female.
22:51Incoming two intruders. Seth is with them and there could be an encounter with Colin and Ngoni.
22:59They seem to be up and moving towards where Gordon has Colin and Ngoni and the other female.
23:05We might have a confidence because the intruder males don't belong here.
23:16So the female has started calling.
23:21The lioness is contact calling, trying to find the rest of the kudum pride.
23:30She's risking alerting the intruder males to her exact location.
23:36They will hear that call, the call of a female.
23:41And they may well come this way, not knowing that this female is backed up by two males, Colin and Ngoni.
23:52She's picked up the volume of that call.
23:56They seem to be trotting, something seems to be brewing.
24:00An interaction is imminent.
24:12So if you can see my vehicle, I'm sitting with the female.
24:16She's up on a terrace.
24:19So if you can see my vehicle, I'm sitting with the female.
24:23She's up on a termite mound. The males are coming straight towards her.
24:26Colin and Ngoni, they're behind me.
24:29The intruder males are within 50 metres of the female and probably like 70 metres from Colin and Ngoni.
24:43The intruder has seen the female but he's ignoring her.
24:46I think he's recognised that there's a bigger lion behind him.
24:50Oh my goodness me, these intruders are walking straight into trouble.
24:58What on earth is going to happen?
25:02Colin and Ngoni are behind me.
25:05Colin and Ngoni might look imposing, but they're only half the weight of an adult male lion.
25:17Ngoni's moving.
25:21Right, this is going to come to something.
25:24Two of Cudam boys against two intruders.
25:28Okay, heads are up.
25:40What's happening?
25:46So they're pulling out, man.
25:50The trouble is at your back.
25:52What are you doing?
25:56Colin and Ngoni are breathing out.
25:58They're pulling out.
26:00Intruders are over here, they're moving in.
26:02This is an aggressive approach and Colin and Ngoni have bottled it.
26:10One of the intruder males is chasing Colin and Ngoni away.
26:15This is the territory that Colin and Ngoni are not prepared to fight for.
26:22At least not with these two guys.
26:25Intruders chasing them out and they're going.
26:29Off they go, off into the distance.
26:35My word, who 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 Ngoni, as soon as they got their eyes on these guys and saw how big they were, they weren't taking any chances.
27:09In the morning, Rea and Vianney are with the Kudum Pride's mums and cubs.
27:15They've been looking behind continuously.
27:17We've had intruder males coming into the territory of our cats.
27:22And if these intruders were to find these cubs, they would kill all of them.
27:27There's still no sign of Big Toe and Madumo.
27:31And now, Colin and Ngoni have gone too.
27:39I can only see one, two, three, four cubs and five slightly hidden.
27:48It's really strange, I can't see six.
27:51But let's see what Rea might say.
27:54I could only count five cubs.
27:58How many did you count today, this morning?
28:00I'm not so sure. I saw there's one suckling over there.
28:05Yeah, I am seeing five.
28:09It's not a very good sign.
28:11There 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.
28:19We really want it not to be the reality here.
28:23It would be a hard thing for them to lose one cub, to lose one member of Pride.
28:30Lion cub mortality is naturally high, with eight out of ten lost in their first two years.
28:36One of the biggest dangers is adult male lions from outside the Pride.
28:42I've emailed to the team. This could be the worst news to break to everybody.
28:50There's only five cubs that I can see.
28:57I'm not sure whether we lost one.
29:04But it looks like it. Over.
29:10Yeah, Roger that, Vini. Yeah, sorry to hear that.
29:20I think it's always wise to kind of just, if you can, take a step back sort of emotionally from any wild animal.
29:29But particularly when it comes to young cubs, because bad things happen.
29:35That's why lionesses give birth to so many, because the majority of them actually don't make it.
29:41But it's obviously, you spend days watching these animals and watching them grow.
29:47You can't not have hopes and aspirations for their futures, as you would with any youngster.
29:54So yeah, it is sad.
29:59But it does happen.
30:16Greg has found Kudum the leopard further north than he's ever seen before.
30:22She's scent marking, letting male leopards know she's ready to mate.
30:28This is an interesting area that Kudum's in, because she's right on the edge of her northern boundary.
30:34Kudum is crossing into disputed territory.
30:38Her main rival is a female called Bonsu.
30:42Nearby, Greg finds Bonsu.
30:48You can see her, she's resting on a branch of a tree.
30:57She's much bigger than Kudum, which is interesting.
31:00She's an impressive female.
31:02She's a little bit bigger than Bonsu.
31:05She's a little bit bigger than Kudum.
31:08She's much bigger than Kudum, which is interesting.
31:11She's an impressive female, very impressive.
31:19Bonsu's 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 be able to sustain herself.
31:33Leaving Bonsu, Greg finds Kudum again.
31:37She's even further into the disputed territory.
31:41She's on a little bit of a mission, doing a bit of a patrol.
31:44What's really interesting is Bonsu's not far from us, just in the tree line above here, so she's a bit close.
31:54Kudum's just stopped and she's staring into a bush.
32:03She's running now.
32:05Why are you running? Why are you running?
32:07Oh no, oh my word.
32:09It looks like Bonsu.
32:11Kudum's off, she's just jumped into a tree.
32:16Bonsu's following.
32:25Kudum is so scared.
32:27She's planted herself right up at the top of this tree.
32:30And Bonsu's holding the middle.
32:35I don't know, if Bonsu goes further up here, Kudum's going to be in trouble.
32:41She's coming down.
32:43What? They're close, they're getting close.
32:48They just jumped down.
32:51Both of them.
32:59They're kind of doing a parallel run, which is a classic leopard behaviour.
33:04They're arching their shoulders and their neck and trying to look big and intimidating.
33:09It's a step just before physical contact.
33:13Kudum definitely wants to avoid getting into an altercation with Bonsu because Bonsu's so much bigger.
33:20Bonsu's like frothing from the mouth.
33:23She's pushing Kudum a little bit further down south.
33:27Kudum's not hanging about.
33:30Kudum is heading back towards her own territory and safety.
33:37What a wild situation, that was intense.
33:43Kudum is lucky not to have been hurt.
33:47Her search for a mate continues.
33:50After fleeing the intruder male lions,
33:54Hello boys.
33:56teenagers Colin and Nkone have been found by lion scientist Robin.
34:01After the altercation, when we had a look at the GPS data,
34:05we actually saw that Colin had beelined straight to an area where they seemed to be hanging out quite a lot.
34:12He moved about 50 centimetres to the right.
34:15Straight to an area where they seemed to be hanging out quite a lot.
34:18He moved about 15 kilometres and that's usually an indication that they've had an altercation with bigger males.
34:26Moving 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.
34:39They're going to have to dodge the adult males, that'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.
34:55Their chances of success is much higher when they're together.
35:14The annual flood is on its way at last.
35:20Anna and Greg are driving north to check its progress.
35:25Hey Greg, I'm starting to notice huge numbers of game around.
35:29Is that a sign that we might be close to the flood?
35:33100%. It'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. And fish eagles are a good sign that you're near water.
35:47Yeah, then we're close.
35:52I 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 Okavango River, surging out across the dry land.
36:30What starts as a trickle, swells to a flood.
36:35Creating one of the largest inland river deltas in the world.
36:43I really, really hope this reaches camp because I'm elated to see the water,
36:48so I can't even imagine how all the big cats are going to feel when they finally set eyes on that.
36:59We made it.
37:01What a spectacle, eh?
37:02It 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 timing.
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 kilometres of channels.
37:22Beneath us is literally just ancient Kalahari sand.
37:26The flood brings new challenges for all of the big cats.
37:32Kutum the leopard is going to have a big shift because the floodplains are now unavailable to leopards,
37:37so there will be a lot more competition for the remaining dry land areas.
37:41Hove the cheetah, how she's going to move, will also change.
37:45The lions, I suspect, won't have to adapt and shift as much.
37:50It's strange how it's beneficial for some animals to be able to move around.
37:53And complete disadvantage for others.
37:55That's going to be really fascinating to see that play out in front of us.
38:05Raya is also checking out the progress of the flood.
38:10And has found one of the Okavango Delta's most elusive big cats.
38:15We've got a cheetah just over here. Not sure yet who, though.
38:19It's Nelo, Pobe's daughter. We've not seen her for over a year.
38:25How cool is that? She's actually back in the area that she grew up in.
38:30Nelo is two years old. The only cub of resident female cheetah, Pobe.
38:36Now mature, she's going to have to adapt.
38:40She's going to have to adapt.
38:42The only cub of resident female cheetah, Pobe.
38:47Now mature, Nelo lives separately from her mother.
38:51That's fantastic. She's still here. She's still alive. She's with us.
38:55And she's come back home.
38:57She'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 them are in the distance. I actually think she's going to go for it.
39:13She started. She's going right through the water. They're splashing all around.
39:23Bit of a tussle.
39:35I think she's going to get it down. Oh, man, you can just see how strong she is to do this.
39:43She's got it down. She's got them piled down. This is her kill.
39:57Loads 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.
40:09The vultures pose little threat.
40:12The problem is who they alert.
40:15A lion coming in. It's Colin. It's Colin. I can see the Colin there. It's Colin. He's coming.
40:24There's another one there. It's Colin and Ancone.
40:29They're headed straight to Nelo, crossing through this channel.
40:33Who cares about the crops? There's food the other side.
40:36Without the pride to help them hunt, Colin and Ancone need to take any opportunity to find food.
40:47We're not sure where Nelo's gone. I actually didn't even see her run off.
40:51But I don't think she's going to stay close knowing that these big lions are in the area.
41:00What? They're having a fight?
41:03What? They're having a little bit of a tussle there now.
41:11Swinging their impala around.
41:19They're social cats until food is involved. Then it's every man for himself.
41:24Colin and Ancone's survival outside the pride isn't guaranteed.
41:30But sticking together gives them both a better chance.
41:53They're mating. It's great news.
42:00Mating leopards overnight is exactly the news Brad has been waiting for.
42:08Trust Brad?
42:10Trust Brad.
42:12I've got male and female tracks.
42:16The trail leads into Wild Sagebush, a perfect hiding place for mating leopards.
42:22My hope is that it is good.
42:27Neither of us have got a visual yet. It's a really, really thick area.
42:31We don't want to push them too hard.
42:40That was a mating.
42:42They're just moving slowly and slowly away from us.
42:46It's right in the heart of Goodwin's territory.
42:51So I'm almost certain it is her.
42:54If Brad is right, it's important that Kudum is mating with Musueo, the dominant male here.
43:01The mating process has to happen repeatedly before she can conceive.
43:05They'll mate hundreds of times, normally every 30 minutes, every 45 minutes, for several days at a time.
43:13Before Brad can identify the leopards,
43:20three lionesses from the pride interrupt the mating pair.
43:25What the hell?
43:29They likely heard the leopards mating.
43:34Chaos.
43:35All I wanted to find was leopards mating.
43:38It just shows you never know what to expect, don't you?
43:42One of the lions targets a particular patch of wild sage.
43:47She's pretty determined.
43:51Right where Brad spots Kudum and her mate.
43:55I don't know.
43:57I don't know.
43:59I don't know.
44:01I don't know.
44:02Brad spots Kudum and her mate.
44:06Trist, Trist.
44:08The leopards are mating right on the edge of the sage.
44:11And we've got a lioness going into it.
44:14Yeah, copy. Coming.
44:17Lions can be three times bigger than leopards.
44:23Kudum could easily be killed in a fight.
44:25This lioness heard these leopards mating and is now zoning in on them.
44:35It rains with paws.
44:39Things get even more complicated.
44:47Trist, we're in three leopards here.
44:50So we've got three leopards here.
44:52There's another male leopard following these two.
44:53They're mating.
44:55It's Musueo.
44:57Male leopard's got his nose to the ground trying to pick up the scent of the mating pair.
45:02Kudum is with another male on Musueo's turf.
45:07But before he can do anything about it...
45:10This lioness is just sneaking in on them.
45:14She's going to chase him.
45:18Musueo is driven off by the lioness.
45:20While Kudum and her mate disappear.
45:27We've got a mating pair, Kudum and a male, finally.
45:30We've got another male leopard coming in chasing those two.
45:35And a lioness comes in and chases the male that's chasing the mating pair.
45:40I mean, it's just unbelievable.
45:42Kudum doesn't do anything in half measures.
45:44I mean, talk about...
45:47Talk about a complicated family.
45:49Talk about a complicated first romance.
45:58Let's keep an eye on the trees.
46:01Because Kudum, that'll be her default, I think.
46:06There she is. There's Kudum. Up 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, eh?
46:20I had a look at him through... I got a shot of him.
46:23He looked like Musueo.
46:25And me too. I also thought that.
46:33He's got that...
46:35What just happened expression.
46:38I mean, she can't believe this.
46:40Leopard pregnancies last just over three months.
46:43So the team will have to wait to find out if Kudum will be a mum.
46:49All I want is her to mate properly and have cubs.
46:55But what a morning.
46:57One of the most insane mornings I've had in years.
47:10Gordon, Gordon, come back. I think there could be one of the intruders here.
47:15The intruder male lions are back.
47:18And right in the heart of the Kudum pride territory.
47:22They're looking. They're looking.
47:26They really look like baddies.
47:29With dominant males Bigto and Madumo still missing...
47:34The intruders could be moving in to take over the pride.
47:38I don't know what's caught their attention.
47:41But I think they're going to be hyper-alert, hyper-aware of being inside this territory.
47:47Something, they've seen something off to the north.
47:54I can see cubs.
47:55Guys, something's going to kick off here.
47:58And this is something I really don't want to witness.
48:03We've got all of the Kudum cubs here.
48:06This could be a complete disaster.
48:11Some of the cubs seem oblivious to the danger.
48:14I can see them playing.
48:16I can see them playing.
48:18I can see them playing.
48:20I can see them playing.
48:22I can see them playing.
48:23I can see them playing.
48:25I can see them playing.
48:27Behind the females.
48:29The future of this pride is in those tiny cubs.
48:37In the mind of a male is if you kill cubs, it brings the mother into oestrus and you can mate with her.
48:44It's a simple but brutal process and it's just part of lion behaviour.
48:49They don't want to become friends with these females.
48:51They want to get rid of any trace of Big Toe and Madumo.
48:59But the pride females are not backing down.
49:04You know what?
49:06One part of me is saying those four females, they're not to mess about with.
49:11They're not young females.
49:13They're very experienced, very disciplined and very powerful.
49:18One of them is up on his feet.
49:19He's got that kind of arrogant posture.
49:23They were able to intimidate Colin and then Connie.
49:27But I think it's going to be a very different story with these females.
49:30They've got so much, too much to lose.
49:42Okay, he's moving in.
49:44His coalition partner is over there.
49:47Where the hell are Madumo and Big Toe?
49:50She's baring her teeth.
49:52Oh, I've never seen this before.
49:54Baring her teeth, facing towards those guys.
49:57I think they can see each other.
49:59This is bloody intense.
50:02Hell hath no fury like a lioness protecting her cubs.
50:10In my time as a wildlife filmmaker, I've never witnessed this level of threat, too.
50:17To cubs before.
50:19Hours pass and the standoff continues.
50:24I'm going to switch to the night time camera just in case things kick off after dark.
50:31We can see much clearer with this camera.
50:34So we've got the two males in the foreground and I can see females and cubs on the termite mound.
50:48He's moving out.
50:52This is encouraging.
50:57The pride's mothers have kept the intruders at bay.
51:02For now.
51:04This could be the best case scenario.
51:08As if these boys don't know what to do.
51:11This could be the best case scenario.
51:15As if these boys just move along.
51:22A&E, I think this guy's about to walk close to you.
51:29God, he's showing me his teeth.
51:31Just right behind my car.
51:36What do you mean, he's behind the car?
51:38He's showing me his teeth.
51:39Oh, f**k.
51:41Stand up, stand up.
51:42Guys, he's right by the car.
51:43Yeah, stand up, stand up, stand up.
51:46Just drive the car forward?
51:47No, he's going, he's going.
51:52V&A, is your heart pumping?
51:55Oh, it's too scary. He was baring his teeth.
51:58It's just a big, breathing cat. No problem.
52:03This is one of the top predators, you know, on the planet.
52:08The females were just too big a challenge.
52:12Too much risk for them.
52:15But I have thought that maybe Big Toe and Madumo are losing their grip.
52:20I think this is a clear sign that if they don't get their house in order,
52:25they are going to lose, they're going to lose their cubs.
52:38The team lost the mothers and cubs during the night.
52:43At first light, they're out in force, trying to track them down.
52:48I'm south of port station.
52:51But I can't seem to find anything at the moment.
52:54Raya and Sets have found signs the intruder male lions are back yet again.
53:00I have lion tracks.
53:03With no trace of the females and cubs,
53:05concern is growing.
53:08Raya, Raya, just to double check, have you found intruder tracks?
53:12That is a confirm, Gordon.
53:14Just west of the Baobab.
53:17Gordon.
53:20I've got both big males here.
53:23That's Big Toe and Madumo, I think. We'll start making our way that way.
53:27Radio comms are quite broken, but I think Madumo and Big Toe have been located.
53:32Madumo and Big Toe have been located.
53:42After ten days away, the dominant pride males Big Toe and Madumo are back.
53:51They've shown up at a really important time,
53:53because the threat from intruding males is something that never goes away.
54:03Right on cue, intruders are spotted nearby.
54:10It's all kicking off.
54:13Madumo just spotted one of the intruders and we could be in for a showdown.
54:19Have you got visual of him?
54:21He's bombing. He is bombing.
54:24There are tracks on both sides of the road.
54:26Now, in this instance, Madumo is going to chase the intruder for quite a number of kilometres.
54:35This situation has been brought about by the fire, by the flood, by the size of this pride,
54:41by the size of the territory, the number of lions that want to move in here.
54:46It's got to that point that it's absolute chaos. It's a war zone.
54:52Madumo is chasing one intruder north.
54:57Big Toe is challenging the other.
55:05That's Big Toe roaring like a king.
55:13He's calling a hell of a lot. It seems like he wants Madumo to come with him
55:18to teach this young male a lesson, but Madumo has got his own things to deal with.
55:23That is powerful. It's basically a message to the intruder, I will kill you.
55:32Madumo is already two miles away and not giving up.
55:38He's got this intruder just running past and Madumo behind.
55:44Is he going to pick up the pace? I think he is. He's starting to run again.
55:48Unless this intruder is completely insane, he better keep running.
56:04Madumo chases the intruder almost eight miles before finally letting him go.
56:11The intruder meals at him.
56:14Keep going, pal.
56:20Keep on walking.
56:24He must be knackered.
56:27That right there, that's Madumo.
56:31He's got a lot of nerve.
56:34He's got a lot of nerve.
56:37He's got a lot of nerve.
56:40He's got a lot of nerve.
56:44It's the look of defeat.
56:47Gordon said we have a de-escalation on this fight. Looks like Big Toe has pulled out.
56:54Madumo is not managing to pick up the scent. He's headed back.
57:00Dominant pride males Big Toe and Madumo have won this battle and protected their family.
57:08As Gordon and the team follow them back,
57:14almost the whole pride comes to greet them.
57:18Oh, wow.
57:22How many individuals can you see?
57:26Fifteen, maybe.
57:29Fifteen, that's more than I have seen so far.
57:31Yeah, what an incredible thing to see, eh?
57:34All of these lions together in one spot. It's the first time in so long.
57:41Madumo's just settled down in the grass.
57:47I'm so chuffed now. I'm really chuffed.
57:51I know for sure that...
57:54The cubs are safe.
57:57Let's just enjoy this while we can.
58:01Yeah.
58:08Next time, as the annual flood draws thousands of Cape buffalo into the area,
58:14Uh-oh, these buffaloes are not happy.
58:17the Kudum pride lions face their biggest challenge yet.
58:21Oh, my word, here comes a bull. Get out of there.
58:24They're in the water. The cubs are panicking.
58:27Oh, my gosh.
58:29We could lose one of these lions.
58:57You