Faces from the Shadows - Full Documentary - video Dailymotion

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BIG CAT TALES  S1.E4 ∙ Faces from the Shadows  After months away, the team returns to the Mara during the wildebeest migration. The Marsh Pride are missing and must be found. A rare coalition of 5 male cheetahs has arrived. Bahati attempts to hunt Topi before a crocodile intervenes

Transcript

00:00People often describe the Maasai Mara as a garden of Eden or God's own country.

00:06I certainly would call it a kingdom of predators if not a kingdom of lions.

00:11Now this particular spot is very special to Angie and myself because nearly 30 years ago

00:16we were married right here, a thousand feet above the plains.

00:20Now behind me you can actually see Marsh Pride territory, those same lions that we've watched

00:25for the last 40 years, and the mighty Mara River.

00:29And any day now we're expecting thousands, tens of thousands of wildebeests and zebras

00:35to storm into this area to deliver the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth.

00:42There's something truly extraordinary about living a life alongside the big cats.

00:48We're Jonathan and Angela Scott and we've been following the lions, leopards and cheetahs

00:52of the Maasai Mara for over 40 years.

00:56They're not just big cats to us, we know them as individuals.

01:01We've been away for a few months and have returned during migration time.

01:06The landscape has been completely transformed.

01:10We're excited to catch up with all our favourite big cats to see how much life has changed

01:15for them.

01:24How quickly things can change, because when we were here just a few months ago, every

01:28morning, every evening, without fail, we could come out here and find the Marsh Pride with

01:33their cubs.

01:34And right now, they just seem to have disappeared.

01:37I know, and I mean, this is migration time.

01:40I mean, the lions should be loving this abundance of animals.

01:45Yeah, because this, in the dry season, is the heart of their territory.

01:50They should be here.

01:52One thing we do know is that the six warriors, those six young males that we thought could

01:56be a danger, they are now sitting right in the middle of Marsh Pride territory.

02:02Fortunately, we've heard from people that actually the Marsh Pride, all five females

02:07and their cubs, moved north of here.

02:10The males went with them and they're now at a place called Leopard Gorge.

02:13So that's where we're headed next.

02:21It's just not the same in the marsh when you get up in the morning and there's no Marsh

02:42Pride.

02:43I've really, really missed them.

02:47We weren't here when they actually left the marsh.

02:50We weren't in the mara.

02:52So finding that they'd moved up into this area, which is not a great area.

02:57I'm sure that when the warriors came through the marsh, they must have started to kill

03:02some of the cubs.

03:03I mean, there were nine cubs when we left.

03:08When new males come through and they start to find the cubs, kill the cubs, it's an incredibly

03:15stressful time for the females.

03:18And I can only imagine that probably is what sparked them to move out.

03:23They were running from those young males.

03:27Sadly, now we only have four, it seems.

03:35The facts are 50% of lion cubs don't make it.

03:39But when you're as involved as we are, that's tough because in my heart, I suppose, I was

03:46hoping we'd come up here and maybe find most of the cubs that survived.

03:50But they've lost more than half of those cubs, and I'm not sure exactly which ones they are.

03:55You know, we have one of the older ones, which could be Moja, could be Solo.

04:03And as for the other three, it would have been lovely to think that maybe two of Chan's

04:10cubs survived.

04:11I mean, that will have been her last litter.

04:15She's getting such an old mama now.

04:17But we'll see.

04:18We'll see when we get home.

04:26It's very easy, actually, to identify lions if you have a camera, because you just take

04:32a picture of a lion's face, and then you look at the whisker spot patterns, and they never

04:38change from when they're tiny, tiny cubs to when they're old, like this one.

04:44I was just taking this now.

04:46And then when we go home, we will compare that little face to all of the other ones

04:57that we had earlier when they were little and see if we can match them up.

05:02And then we'll be able to see which of the four are left out of the nine and who's who.

05:15We've been watching lions for 40 years, and you'd think it would be pretty easy for us

05:21to identify individuals.

05:24But actually, if you want to be certain which lion you're looking at, you look for their

05:28fingerprint.

05:29And that, in a lion, are these whisker spot markings.

05:33So half-tails, missing eyes, broken teeth, a torn ear, that's not enough, because I've

05:39been fooled.

05:40I've seen a one-eyed lion, seen another one-eyed lion five years later, thought it was the

05:44same lion, checked the whisker spot markings, and it wasn't at all.

05:48So that's what we're going to do now.

05:50We're going to check the whisker spot markings of the original nine Marsh Pride cubs against

05:56the four that have survived and try and work out exactly who's actually made it.

06:00And we're going to start with the biggest one of all, Moja.

06:04So we'll just blow this up.

06:07And now you can see so easily, on the right side of his face, he has the two little dots,

06:15and then one slightly down, and then one up, making a very distinct triangle.

06:20So he's going to be very easy to ID just straight away.

06:25You can see the three little spots, the triangle begins here, and then the dark spots.

06:29So we've got those two triangles, four spots there.

06:32It's Moja.

06:33Wow.

06:34I mean, you know, in some ways it's terribly sad because we now know that Solo didn't make

06:41it.

06:42He was the other little boy, and he was a great character as well.

06:45And what about his little sister?

06:47Let's check.

06:48So this is Mbili.

06:51On further analysis, Angie and I discovered that both Solo and Mbili sadly had been lost.

06:59And tragically, both of Charm's little cubs, the ones who were doing so well, integrating

07:05into the pride, they didn't make it either.

07:08See, that marking is so, so clear here.

07:12Remarkably, against all the odds, three of Carly's four cubs, those tiny little newborns

07:19that were struggling when we last saw them, they're alive and doing well.

07:24For Angie and me, the realisation that over half the cubs are no longer with us is just

07:30so hard to swallow.

07:32We're so close to the Marsh Pride.

07:35Their loss is our loss.

07:37But we need to remember that these lions are incredibly resilient.

07:42They've faced enormous pressures in the past, but there's always been a Marsh Pride.

07:48They've always prevailed.

07:54We got up very early in the morning in search of our favourite cub.

08:14We found Malaika right here.

08:16We came through rivers, savannah, into open grassland.

08:23Meeting Malaika is like I'm meeting a friend.

08:27Every time I look with my binoculars and see her eyes, see her face, something electric

08:33go through my body because she's a very special cat.

08:39When you think the last time I saw, on a big hunt, bringing down a male impala, I was worried,

08:49seeing the horns going through, beside her ribs, beside her body, and yet she was not

08:57injured.

08:58That, I take my heart for Malaika.

09:02She is very clever.

09:07Malaika is a very wise cheetah.

09:10She's really brought up these cubs really well.

09:15The last time we saw Malaika, the cubs were so small, just running around, jumping around

09:20like little kittens.

09:22Now look how grown they are.

09:24They are what we call subs.

09:27The cheetah sub adults are big.

09:29It's just a matter of time before they're the same size of their mother, and then Malaika

09:36will start thinking about pushing them off, leaving them, and starting again.

09:45These two young cheetah males, Malaika sons, they will have a challenge ahead of them.

09:53They are within the territory of the five cheetah boys.

10:07These are new male cheetahs in the area.

10:14They've just arrived into the reserve, and incredible to see five male cheetahs together.

10:25Coalition of cheetahs has been known for years, but five is very unusual.

10:31I've never seen one.

10:33This is just the most unique situation we've got right here, and I've worked in the mara

10:40here for probably about 30 years on the field.

10:43Five is a really powerful force.

10:49They kill bigger animals, prey the size of wildebeest, prey the size of a topi.

10:56Cheetahs are big animals.

10:58Honestly, they will kill quite a lot.

11:04Now we've got our cheetah brothers, and we've got food delivery on four legs.

11:13Wildebeest are coming over this way.

11:17So we just want a perfect location, perfect position where we can just stop there and

11:24wait for them to start moving in.

11:31Okay the wildebeest are down there.

11:32I can see our other teams up on the rise.

11:34We've got wildebeest over here.

11:37Okay there they go, there they go.

11:42Flat out.

11:55Oh, here comes another one.

12:02I have never seen anything like this in my life.

12:24Forty years in the field, five cheetahs all hunting together, this is unbelievable.

12:55I mean, when it comes to the mara, it always delivers.

13:11I mean, it sounds crazy, but it is such an amazing place.

13:13But this, that was unreal.

13:17I mean, just the thrill of seeing five adult cheetahs on the move like that.

13:21I know, we've never seen.

13:22No.

13:23We've never ever seen five male cheetahs together.

13:27And do you know how people say to us sometimes, you know, don't you get bored, don't you get

13:30tired of it, same old thing.

13:32It's worth waiting 40 years just to see five cheetahs together.

13:38And because cheetahs are so active in the daytime, this is going to pay dividends.

13:43This is a story we have to follow.

13:45Okay, should we go off and have a coffee?

13:47Absolutely.

13:48Back to your car, me back to mine.

13:50I'll follow you.

13:51Isn't that the normal way?

14:22We have found Bahati.

14:24This is my favourite leopard.

14:27It's a huge bonus because we know leopards are hard to find.

14:31These animals hide, they go into bushes, they are very camouflaged in the forest.

14:38This little cub is barely eight months old.

14:44And it's already tempted to hunt.

14:45It's already really thinking, how could I get this?

14:53For a young baby warthog, it's not very easy.

14:57The mother, which is right here, is an amazing, amazing fighter.

15:03To get that baby would be very tough.

15:06That's what happens when you're so young and inexperienced.

15:11But she's got to try.

15:14So Bahati is sitting, not even interested.

15:17She wants to see how the little cub is going to try.

15:24May come with a few bruises, may come with a few injuries, but that's part of growing.

15:31You know, if you have not been bruised and you haven't got enough cuts,

15:35you haven't grown yet in the leopard world.

15:44Bahati is on the move.

15:46And she left her cub right there in the bushes.

15:49And look how leopards behave.

15:52Totally different to cheetahs.

15:54If that was a cheetah, she would be very stressed

15:57because the cub has to come really close.

16:02But leopards are different.

16:04The cub is starting even to hunt on her own.

16:08It's really exciting to come back and see the little cub.

16:12It's grown. It's made it.

16:15We know Bahati had three cubs at the beginning.

16:18It's very, very hard for three leopard cubs to survive,

16:22particularly here in the Mara.

16:23The competition is high.

16:26We know two cubs have survived and the third cub is missing.

16:30It's very sad to see the little cub go,

16:33but it's better off for the survival of the two remaining cubs.

16:39Bahati will eventually leave this territory for her cubs.

16:43And it could be one of these little ones that we're seeing today.

16:47It's going to be the next queen of the Talik River.

16:59We're out this morning looking for the Topi Plains pride.

17:02Now, they're the neighbours of the Marsh pride to the east.

17:05And in fact, actually, it was formed by a breakaway group

17:08of young females who were forced out of the pride.

17:11Angie went out earlier this morning to try and get a fix on them.

17:14I can see her down there.

17:16She's got a camera out. That's a good sign.

17:23Amazing, I can see tiny cubs with the mum.

17:31Oh, that is so sweet.

17:33I mean, these are so small.

17:35They're about the size that Charms cubs, our marsh lion female,

17:40had when we were filming earlier.

17:45And I would say maybe six weeks old.

17:50You can see the way the lioness is licking the bottom of that little cub.

17:54She's keeping it clean.

17:55And that's very important because when she's anchored at a den,

17:59because these cubs are sort of too small to be taken on long moves,

18:03then she needs to keep the environment from being smelly,

18:06from building up scent,

18:08because, believe me, with hyenas, with that nose of theirs,

18:11they would track down little cubs in a place like this and kill them.

18:19And if you think as to what the future holds for these two little cubs,

18:23the fact that they're both boys is good,

18:26because they'll have backup, they'll have a buddy.

18:28When they're pushed out of the pride, there'll be two to start off with.

18:32And you need a minimum of two males to be able to take on a territory.

18:39We call this female Notch because on her right ear,

18:42there's like a V-shaped notch.

18:44It's torn up.

18:47And she's a big female, too.

18:53During the migration, there's a meat train,

18:56literally walking right across the road,

18:59ideal for a mother with small cubs like this.

19:04Because the better fed the female is, the more milk she can produce.

19:11Milk will be their primary source of food for the first two to three months.

19:19It's sort of comical because Notch keeps rolling on her side,

19:22inviting the cubs to come and suckle, and they are having none of it.

19:26They're having way too good a time in and out of the tunnel,

19:29chasing each other, biting each other.

19:32It's like, you've got to be joking.

19:34Food, that is not the priority.

19:42It just makes your heart sing,

19:43because having been following the marsh pride

19:46and seeing them struggling with those cubs,

19:48losing half their cubs,

19:50moving away to protect them from new males.

19:53And then you see this, the beginning of a whole new cycle

19:57in this pride and knowing that this female has got marsh pride genes.

20:03So this is a very happy moment.

20:06And I can hear Angie clicking away

20:08because she got here before us this morning

20:10and she must have just have been in heaven.

20:15With the marsh pride having moved up to Leopard Gorge,

20:20I felt a little lost.

20:22And then I was told about this glorious mother,

20:27there's an energy about Llanos,

20:30there's something to do with the maternal instinct,

20:34maybe because I'm a mother myself.

20:37It's just divine.

20:41And I'm constantly fascinated about the interactions

20:45of the mothers and the cubs,

20:47starting at this age, this tiny, tiny age.

20:56You realise with lions that their legacy will carry on.

21:02They will always find a way to survive.

21:23It is a really chilly morning,

21:25but the thing that's brightening it up,

21:27we have just found a mother cheetah with three tiny cubs.

21:32I think they're no more than about eight weeks old.

21:36And any time you see cheetahs with little cubs,

21:39it is a very, very special time.

21:43They look so small and vulnerable.

21:46I mean, you wonder how does a mother cheetah ever raise any cubs at all?

21:51Because so often cheetahs have cubs,

21:54you never even see them before they've left the den

21:57because they tend to lose so many.

22:01In some places, the Serengeti to the south of here,

22:03for instance, the Mara's big brother,

22:05on the open plains environment,

22:08mother cheetahs only raise 5% of their cubs to maturity.

22:13Where there's better cover, then they do better than that.

22:17Maybe 30, 40% of cubs survive.

22:22And to put it into perspective,

22:24these cubs are probably about eight weeks old.

22:27She's got three cubs,

22:28and she could easily have had four to six cubs to begin with.

22:31They have bigger litters than leopards or lions

22:34because they lose so many.

22:40Sadly, one of those three little cubs has been injured.

22:45Apparently, a couple of days ago,

22:46a tawny eagle launched an attack,

22:49grabbed it with those long talons,

22:52and somehow it got away,

22:53or the mother defended it.

22:54But you can just see, it's really struggling,

22:58really suffering.

23:03It's trying so hard to move around.

23:06You can see how much it wants to play

23:08because the other two, just bouncing off the wall,

23:10they're having the time of their life.

23:15Just breaks your heart to see that little tiny cub.

23:19I mean, it's struggling so much,

23:21wants to just join in, wants to follow,

23:23but it can't do it.

23:27Every time the mom tries to move away with the cubs

23:29from this rocky outcrop,

23:31two of them scamper after her,

23:33and the other one can't.

23:37It is so slow.

23:38It's so incapacitated.

23:40And so it just calls this bird-like chirping sound,

23:44a contact call, a call for help.

23:47And it's just agony to watch because, I mean,

23:51is there anything sweeter-looking than a little cheetah cub?

23:56They are so endearing.

23:59And it's so difficult to control your emotions

24:02in these circumstances,

24:03because you just want to reach out and help.

24:06Now you're not allowed to.

24:08In these protected areas,

24:09you have to let nature take its course.

24:13But it doesn't make it any easier.

24:15And to see a mom with little cubs,

24:17it's such a joyful experience.

24:23And then you've just got this one tiny cub

24:25in its own very personal battle for survival.

24:29Leopard sight, they are just fantastic in hiding,

24:32and they can blend in, disappear.

24:36They hunt with stealth and walk like shadows.

24:41If there is an animal that you can't see,

24:44you can't find it.

24:45You can't see it.

24:46You can't see it.

24:46And it's just a very, very difficult thing to do.

24:50And you can't get it.

24:51You can't get it.

24:52You can't get it.

24:53And you can't get it.

24:54You can't get it.

24:55You can't get it.

24:56You can't get it.

24:57You can't get it.

24:59It's not an animal that is feared in our culture.

25:01It's a leopard.

25:08Bahati is hunting,

25:10and it's just the most fantastic moment we're waiting.

25:14And she's just about to get into the grass.

25:16She's right there.

25:17She got into the grass.

25:18That's what she needs,

25:20so she can stealth and go so slowly.

25:23And you see the impala right here.

25:25An impala has absolutely no idea.

25:31Now the impala is moving towards her.

25:33Wow, that's really cool.

25:35It's fantastic to see this.

25:37Look at the way she's moving.

25:39So slow.

25:41Look at the way she's stealth,

25:43almost touching the ground on her belly.

25:46That's how stealthy leopards are when they're hunting.

25:50I mean, a cheetah will just go straight from there.

25:53But leopards need to be as close as possible.

25:57She's gonna go, ah, she's been spotted.

26:01Now she has to pretend nothing ever happens,

26:05and she will walk slowly.

26:06That is one lucky impala.

26:15Bahati is on the move.

26:18She's gone hungry again.

26:19She has not caught anything.

26:22And when leopards are feeding more than one mouth,

26:27they don't stop.

26:32She will look for something a lot more smaller than this.

26:35This topi, and they're massive, they're bigger.

26:38If they can catch a small baby, it would be great.

26:41But you know, she's not giving up.

26:43Today, we've been on the run with her the whole entire time.

26:51I don't know whether she will try this.

26:53Yes, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming.

26:56Yes, she's coming, she's running.

26:57See, she's coming.

26:59She's running now, look, look, look.

27:03Now she's aiming for the youngsters now.

27:05Now they're close.

27:08Oh, oh, good, a crocodile here.

27:09Look, a crocodile caught a baby.

27:12Oh my God.

27:16Look at that.

27:17She's waiting, oh, missed it.

27:19Oh, good, look at that.

27:21Wow, is she going to attack such a big animal?

27:26Look at this, what is happening here?

27:28That is incredible.

27:30As they go closer to the other side, a crocodile attack.

27:37I think she's going to come over here

27:39to try and tackle this keel here.

27:42But what is she going to do?

27:44A crocodile, look, she's coming.

27:50She's very curious, she knows something is there.

27:55She can see there's the horns of a topi.

28:03I don't think she can dare go and try and steal

28:07a keel from a crocodile.

28:08This is a massive crocodile.

28:13Oh, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming.

28:16Oh, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming, she's coming.

28:20Bahati is determined.

28:21She needs food for her and her little cubs.

28:40There's probably about 4,000 hippos

28:43throughout the entire length of the Maya River.

28:45And they spend most of the time

28:47either submerged in the shallows or out on those sandy banks.

28:51They love those big, meandering, sandy beaches

28:54where they can just lie out.

28:57And then at night, they leave the safety of the river

29:00and they head out into the open grasslands.

29:02They feed on grass, they feed most of the night.

29:05And then like Cinderella, they need to be back home,

29:07back in the water by dawn.

29:13And they have this incredible tale.

29:16And they scatter their dung like that.

29:18That helps them to mark their territory.

29:21And they are huge creatures.

29:24I mean, a big bull hippo can weigh over two tons.

29:28And they've got these massive, permanently growing canine tusks.

29:33They fight with them.

29:34Two bulls, face to face, jaws 180 degrees spread.

29:41If you look at the feet of a hippo, they've got four webbed toes.

29:44And that allows them to actually move across muddy ground

29:47and move along the bottom of the water.

29:49And they're not great swimmers.

29:51They don't like fast-flowing water.

29:52If you get this river in torrent,

29:55the hippos try and keep to the side.

29:56They try and keep to the quieter places.

29:59And what they're doing a lot of the time is,

30:01they're not swimming, they're walking along the bottom.

30:03They're sort of moonwalking.

30:06And they've got those nostrils,

30:07which they can close off and submerge.

30:10And their eyes are adapted to seeing above and below water.

30:13So they can keep their nose up

30:16and have their eyes looking out and their ears up

30:19and be alert to what's going on around them.

30:25Hippos are like massive excavating machines.

30:28They create these pathways.

30:30We call them hippo trails, leading from the river

30:33up onto where they're going to feed at night on the grass.

30:36And you can see, they've just worn these channels.

30:40And when the wildebeest and zebra are looking for exit points

30:43from the river during the crossings in the dry season,

30:46these are perfect for them.

30:48And you can see here, look,

30:49the hippos have rubbed the side smooth

30:51with that belly of theirs.

30:53And that, dung, is that tail scattering.

30:57This is how they mark their territory,

30:59saying, this is my place.

31:00This is me coming out of the water.

31:02I'm off to feed.

31:14We are on top of Rhino Ridge,

31:16and we found our five cheetah boys.

31:20They are here to continuously mark their territory

31:25and claim bigger territories.

31:28And this is all purely for siring more cubs.

31:31So they're in search of females.

31:33They are patrolling the area.

31:36They are covering much, much wider range

31:40to make sure that they eradicate competition.

31:47All the other cheetahs, I mean,

31:49just imagine how intimidating it would be,

31:52such a big coalition of five young males.

31:57Even though we call them cheetah brothers,

32:00actually, they're a coalition from three different mothers.

32:06I mean, that cheetah has gone really to the top

32:09because that area, it's got a good view

32:12of the rest of the plains.

32:15The cheetahs go up trees

32:17because that's a perfect place to mark.

32:21And they're not good climbers.

32:23You can see the way he's trying to go back,

32:25say, should I jump or should I go backwards?

32:28He's kind of struggling.

32:31The cheetahs' claws are designed for running,

32:33not for climbing.

32:35While the leopard, which is a tree-climbing animal,

32:39have her claws like a can, it goes right in,

32:42and they can be at home up a tree.

32:46But the cheetah is not at home up there.

32:49He's really struggling to come down.

32:52Whoa!

32:53That's what she means.

32:56She don't climb trees like a leopard.

32:59You can see one of the cheetahs has got a set-like collar

33:02because the Mara Cheetah Project are tracking it.

33:09And this tree is claimed a lot by many species.

33:13And now it's claimed by the Mara Cheetah Project.

33:18The cheetahs are not afraid of humans.

33:20They're afraid of the cheetahs.

33:22They're afraid of the cheetahs.

33:24They're afraid of the cheetahs.

33:26Many species.

33:28And now it's claimed by the cheetahs.

33:31Marking the top is key

33:33because that foiling branch

33:37is where a lot of cheetahs would mark.

33:42Because that is a really prized position to mark

33:45at the very top, a tree that is hatched like that.

33:50Animals know how to share.

33:52I wish we can learn from them

33:56because it just sounds like we don't know how to share

33:59our planet with us.

34:04This tree now, which has been claimed

34:08by this cheetahs coalition,

34:11they will continuously now be coming here.

34:14This is it.

34:15This is one of our boundaries.

34:16This is one of our home range.

34:25The Mara Cheetah Project

34:38We've got the Taupi Plains pride.

34:40This is basically the largest pride we've got here.

34:49The four lionesses that we've got here,

34:51the main powerful dominant females,

34:55originally came from the March pride.

34:57We called them the Breakaway.

35:00They became independent.

35:01They started their own little pride.

35:04I mean, four lionesses is plenty to start a pride.

35:13Two people in pride have got two

35:16of the most beautiful male lions in the Mara.

35:19These males came from the Serengeti.

35:22If you think of the most beautiful males,

35:24the most impressive,

35:26there is none other than Blackie and Lipstick.

35:33And then they've got a fantastic territory

35:35where so many migratory wildebeest

35:38and zebras go through.

35:39So that's really fantastic.

35:41The best thing with a big pride like Topi Plains

35:56is there's so much fun.

35:58There's so much activities going on.

36:00Lots of playing, lots of jumping,

36:02lots of fighting among the cubs.

36:06And, you know, that's all very important for growing up.

36:11They're training themselves how to tackle,

36:13how to hold the throats,

36:15how even to fight themselves.

36:18When the migration of wildebeest is over,

36:21they'll be tackling buffalos for food.

36:24They need those strengths, those skills.

36:27So the training of the cubs is key.

36:41We're on the hunt for our cheetah mum and those three little cubs.

36:57I cannot wait to see how that little one is doing.

36:59The one with the injured back leg,

37:01I would be amazed if it survives.

37:05Let's see what's happening.

37:06I can see we've got cars up ahead.

37:08It isn't a cheetah mum.

37:09It's a pride of lions.

37:12And, of course, everywhere in the Mara

37:15is an overlay of territories of our different three big cats.

37:19So leopards, lions, cheetahs,

37:21they're all actually moving in similar areas,

37:24trying to keep out of each other's way,

37:26trying to avoid trouble.

37:28And, of course, where you've got lions,

37:30well, you do have trouble,

37:32certainly for our other cats.

37:33What a beautiful morning.

37:39I mean, to be honest, lions, leopards, cheetahs,

37:42they're just all a thrill to be able to watch.

37:46And at this time of the year with so much food,

37:48lots of play from cubs,

37:51because sometime in the rainy season

37:53when the wildebeest migration isn't here,

37:55you see the cubs, any kind of cubs,

37:57looking listless, not necessarily that full.

38:01But now they can just play and enjoy themselves.

38:06And when I look at this pride,

38:07immediately I'm thinking to myself,

38:09they're doing well.

38:10Because you can see, you've got the proceeds here

38:12of a crash of a number of different litters.

38:17But my mind's on our cheetah mum and her three little cubs

38:20because this is what she's up against.

38:22I mean, the lions are literally covering the landscape.

38:25And they will bully our other big cats.

38:28And they are the biggest threat, along with hyenas,

38:31to young cheetah cubs.

38:33And you can imagine, if our cheetah mum makes a wrong move,

38:36comes over the horizon and bumps into this lot,

38:38those little cubs, as nippy as they might seem,

38:41couldn't possibly survive.

38:43And the little injured one, definitely,

38:45would be out of the picture.

38:53Our lions are headed off and we've just heard

38:55they found the cheetah with the three little cubs.

38:57Let's go and take a look.

39:02Oh, I don't believe it.

39:05We've got our cheetah up here on this hill

39:08and our lions right over here.

39:13And that's just the kind of place that the lions would hang out

39:16in the daytime, just to try and find some shade.

39:21You see, the problem, in these open environments,

39:24it's hard to see what's going on.

39:28You see, the problem, in these open environments,

39:31shade, cover, rocky outcrops, places where you can hide cubs,

39:35places where you can lie out,

39:37whether you are a lion, leopard or a cheetah,

39:39are in short supply.

39:41And right now, the cheetah has got her cubs up on this hill

39:45and our lions are headed straight towards it.

39:58Look at this cub. What in hell is happening here?

40:01They're coming right up here.

40:09I'm just hoping and praying

40:11that the lions haven't seen the cheetah cubs.

40:13I don't think they have.

40:15And they're just filing up through the rocks,

40:17up into the thickets.

40:19They just want to get out of here.

40:21I'm just hoping and praying

40:23that the lions haven't seen the cheetah cubs.

40:25They're just filing up through the rocks, up into the thickets.

40:28They just want shade.

40:30But due to competition amongst our different cats,

40:33and because these are the heavyweights,

40:35they will kill cheetah cubs.

40:37They'll kill adult cheetahs.

40:39Not only does it show you how tough it is

40:41for cheetahs to raise their cubs,

40:43but also that within eons of competition

40:45between these different cats,

40:47they've developed strategies to avoid each other.

40:51Obviously, if those lions had seen the cheetah,

40:54they would have harassed her, chased her,

40:56killed those cubs if they could have.

40:59But how smart was I, Cheetah Mum, to stay put?

41:02Don't panic. Don't reveal yourself.

41:05If the lions haven't seen you,

41:07don't just lose your nerve and run for it,

41:09especially if the cubs try to follow in panic.

41:12That would be the end of the story for them.

41:14But she didn't. She held her ground.

41:17It's at least three days now

41:19since that little cheetah cub was attacked by the eagle.

41:22So each time I see them again, it's a great relief

41:25just to see that we do still have three cubs.

41:30But it's very difficult to see how mobile it is,

41:34whether there's any chance that it might recover.

41:36Who knows?

41:39But the little cubs are staying very close to where Mum is.

41:46And gradually, she's gone from being incredibly nervous,

41:50incredibly vigilant, incredibly focused on the lions,

41:55to going back to just being Mum.

42:01Next time on Big Cat Tales...

42:03This is the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth.

42:07It's a dangerous move right out in the open.

42:10Any moment now.

Faces from the Shadows - Full Documentary

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