Documentary - Lion Country: Young and Vulnerable Cubs in Danger | Our World

19 Nov 2023

The curiosity of young cub Pip gets the better of him when he strays from the pride and becomes a target for leopards and hyenas. A lioness tries to re-join a pride, but males in the group resist the idea.Documentary series following two lion families in Zambia. The young cubs find themselves at risk from predators, while there are troubles within the pride too.

Transcript

0:00

[Music] Lions the world's most iconic

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cats but cats that are heading for extinction with Wilderness disappearing

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across Africa lion numbers have almost halfed in the last 20

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years so every Cub counts their struggle to survive and

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thrive is more important than ever as the future of their species depends on

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[Music] it and one of the last refuges for this embattled

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species is the wildlife Haven of the luanga valley in

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Zambia our team follows two lion Prides for 6 months two huge males coming back

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to claim their territory through the hece of the

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day and into the Hidden World of the night seeing them like this is just

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quite ex me it's one cover Behavior never seen [Music]

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before and better understand the challenges confronting [Music]

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Lions we'll be right in the Lion's Den the lions are coming oh oh my goodness

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she's coming following them every step of the

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way the rest of the pride don't find this little Cub then I think he's got very little chance can these Cubs make it through

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their first and most dangerous year and provide hope for the survival of the

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[Music]

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species

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it's May and Zambia's six-month long rainy season is finally

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[Music]

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over young Cub pip named by local researchers is with his mother and the

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rest of the [Music]

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pride this family group has lived in this national park for

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generations and is currently made up of three mothers and seven boisterous

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[Music]

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cups Pip's sticking close to his family because he's only 5 months

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old still entirely dependent on his pride the females will have a tough job

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keeping him safe through the dry season this Pride lives in one of the

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wildest places in Africa South luanga 9,000 square km of

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national park and full of some of the continent's most celebrated

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wildlife with over 500 species from Iconic

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Giants to masterful

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Killers but even among these Superstars there's only one

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King the lion

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top of the food chain with no natural Predators their power isn't just about

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muscle and teeth their real strength comes from the

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family [Music]

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bond they have the strongest social ties of of any big

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cat the adults raise their young together and defend the pride from outside

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threats but their youngsters are incredibly vulnerable in Africa eight out of 10 die

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before the age of two if accidents and injury don't get

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them Bush enemies are lining up to kill them

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so the Cubs need to learn survival skills

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quickly following the next critical 6 months will be specialist lying cameraman

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Nathan he's an expert in luanga and has spent 20 years with these

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Prides but this is the first time he'll be living with them

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24/7 everyone think of lions as the king of the jungle but they are vulnerable when they're younger CU elephants will

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kill them Buffalo will kill them other Lions will kill them even small W Hogs incredibly

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dangerous Nathan will be working with Wildlife filmmaker Katie as they embed

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themselves with the pride lions are the most extraordinary animals they are beautiful creatures

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with an incredibly complex social structure to understand them properly the team will be living right in the the

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Lion's Den we couldn't be in a better place to follow these qu of lions and just hours

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after arriving a visitor reminds the team whose patch this is the lions are

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coming oh oh they're coming they're coming in the tent now

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okay she's coming she's here she's here samam get back

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[Music] that was too close for

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comfort Lion's confidence comes from being superb

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Predators Pip's beginning to develop those hunting skills and he's doing it

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through play [Music]

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this Ruff and Tumble is teaching pep and his siblings skills that will be vital in just a few months

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time they're learning how to stalk and wrestle prey to the

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ground it's fun for now but it's key to their future

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survival and the mothers will be the ones to teach them this vital

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skill 85% of lion hunts within Prides are conducted by

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females working together doubles their chances of

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success

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but the odds are against

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them only two out of 10 hunts are

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successful the young cubs will take several years to develop these skills properly

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for now most of their nutrition comes from

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milk pip and the rest of the brood are all still suckling but not necessarily from their

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own mothers Lions cross suckle meaning any

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of the three mothers here will feed any of the CBS we were watching a little one just now and as as he was kind of going

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up to each of the mothers and you could see the affection between all of them it's not just the mother and the Cub so

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it's a really special situation and no other cat really has this it's just

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Lions Pip's on the Move looking for some

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milk he started eating meat a couple of months ago and is due to stop suckling in the next few

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weeks the mothers have decided it's not a moment too soon

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nobody is giving up their [Music]

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[Music] milk not the PIP is taking the

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[Music] hint

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[Music]

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the mothers take on most of the care of their young but for protection against outside

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aggressors they look to the males of the

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[Music]

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prim they're a coalition of three battle

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hardened brothers and due to their unique hairstyles are known locally as the

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punks they took over this Pride last year and one of these bruisers is Pip's

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father but these males spend time away from the pride

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just at the stage when Pip is becoming more

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adventurous he's one of the older Cubs and the first of his siblings to start taking an interest in other

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animals this Fascination is instinctive and it's enticing him away from the safety of his

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family [Music]

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the mothers want to get moving and summon the Cubs with soft

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calls this gentle command should get the attention of

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pip but he's more interested in

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exploring the pride will often cover several kilometers a day in their search for food and expect the Cubs to keep

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up Pip's not paying

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attention luckily a patient Aunt waits for

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him eventually pip gets the

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message but the pride won't tolerate any more

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holdups and this is not a place to be without protection

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[Music] leopards compete with lions for food and

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take any opportunity to kill a [Music]

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cub and luanga boasts one of the densest lepid populations in

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Africa these silent assassins have a very different social life to lions

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leopards are incredibly solitary very rarely unless mating get together

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but dangerously close to pip Nathan's found an exception to the

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rule two leopards together luckily for pip they're

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distracted by a family dispute so this is chiua and mikica

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mother and daughter leopard mother mikica up in the

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tree she's trying to get rid of the daughter chiua at the bottom here chiua is an

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adult now but there's a bit of conflict she doesn't want to leave so she constantly following around and you know

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wants mom really but it's vital for both of them the chiid zuoa strikes out on her

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own I mean you can only have so many leopards in a territory so mother needs to push her out she must get on her own

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find her own [Music] feet

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unfortunately that's that's the world here you get pushed out and you got to look after yourself the young leopard has to leave

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soon whether she wants to or not and she'll be looking out for

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prey big cats like lions tend to eat every couple couple of days more so when

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they're lactating as they're sharing their calories with their

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cubs today the mothers have gone hunting pep and the other Cubs have been

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left in the charge of a lethargic father he's getting slightly

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irritated the amazing thing about pip and his siblings is that they're in this

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transition stage between being a playful CB and a predator they're now starting

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to be more interested in prey so when you watch them you can see other animals come they're starting to just look and

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see what's

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happening wilderbeast a favorite [Applause]

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prey however the Cubs aren't paying attention to the nervous

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herd because coming straight for them is a serious

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threat a lone male Buffalo half a ton of muscle and

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Horn he's got has he got blood around his mouth and the back oh he's been

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[Music] attacked I can't see but if the Cubs are still behind that tree that Buffalo is

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very close to them Buffalo are massive they are seriously dangerous animals they're so

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strong and they can easily uh kill a lion but rather than staying and

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protecting the Cubs the male has left them to F for

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themselves okay this Buffalo is coming looking at the tree so they need to stay

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hidden the Cubs follow their instincts and don't move a

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muscle oh he's oh my goodness oh

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the Buffalo chooses not to attack but the danger isn't

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over there's a massive herd of buffalo just behind them and they're heading straight towards peper if these Buffalo

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come across lines they will kill them they will trample on

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them okay so there's one CB moving away but there's a massive herd of buffalo just behind them so these Cubbies really

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need to get into safety quickly before the Buffalo come pep still hasn't

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moved there's two moving towards the

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tree head needs to move really

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quickly oh no oh no no no no no no they're starting to run he's starting to run towards the

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Cubs oh my goodness okay he's chase the cops off

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oh [Music]

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God it's a lucky Escape for pip and the Cubs have spurred further

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trials with the return of their [Music]

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mothers growing up in the bush is dangerous for all

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youngsters for many animals it's the green season that provides the safest time to raise

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[Music]

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Offspring The vegetation is Lush and provides cover and the rivers are

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[Music] full everyone has their own way of protecting their

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[Music] young for these yellow baboons safety comes in

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numbers one Lookout stays in the tree whilst the rest of the troops spread out to

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[Music] forage these babies are around 8 weeks

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old and their patient mothers act as [Music] nursemaids groomers

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[Music] Playmates and even

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chauffers It's Not Unusual to have a Godfather a male baboon who looks out for an infant's

19:51

welfare even if they do sometimes play a bit

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rough [Music]

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acting as a Godfather gives males the chance to impress females they'd like to mate with in the

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future the role can also be filled by young males who've recently joined the troop and are looking for

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acceptance like lions female baboons will spend their whole lives in the troops they've been born

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into a strict hierarchy exists with Offspring inheriting the social status

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of their mothers so a baby of a high ranking

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mother holds greater position than older members of lower social

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standing despite the packing order the troop sticks together to protect their little

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ones if these youngsters can stay safe for another 8 months they will be able to fend for

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themselves but all too often the vulnerable don't make

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it a kilometer or so deep into the bush these two young Brothers Prince and

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Ziggy are outcasts they used to be in Pip's Pride

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but unlike their smaller cousin they had a difficult start in

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life last year they faced the biggest threat Cubs can

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[Music] encounter a quarter of all Cubs are

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killed by invading males trying to take over Pride the brutal Purge is to ensure that

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they can mate with the females themselves and start their own

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Dynasty Prince and Ziggy's siblings were killed in this way so their mother with

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some of her sisters ran away from the pry to ensure the Cub safety

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[Music] now they live as outcasts the females had four CBS and two of them were taken

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by a roaming male and killed um so these females are looking after the last two

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Cubs but they protect their cubs really aggressively I mean they'll put up a real fight I've seen some really injured

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females after defending their cubs some really sad moments of females wandering around for days calling for their lost

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Cubs very sad to watch the Cub's mother Rose

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is wearing a tracking collar fitted by a research group working to keep her

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safe her Cubs still need her prince and Ziggy won't be old enough to look after

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themselves for at least another year you can distinctly see the spots on

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the prince in the front there you can see the Flyers are bothering them as well Tails

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flicking like all lions Prince and Ziggy were born with spots which can help

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camouflage them when they're at their most helpless but they'll need more than

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spots to keep them safe as they grow

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up if another male comes into the territory he may try and kill the two young cubs uh he may chase them out and

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then the problem is they're too young to survive on their own so there's very small chance that they'll survive

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actually it's not just Cubs who are under threat here being embedded in the middle of

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Lion Country brings danger we're trying to cook dinner at the moment and uh the Lions have actually come around to the

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Lagoon to drink a few have come up around the back and a few have come through the bushes so we're kind of

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semi- surrounded by them has a bit of excitement so there's a line just sing

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about 15 M over here do you think they're watching us yeah you know it's a bit fun for them bit like TV you know

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get bit bored in the bush in fact luanga is teaming with life

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at night the only way to show this hidden

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world is with a thermal imaging

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camera one of only two on the planet able to capture such detailed

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images

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the camera records the slightest variations in

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temperature trees starting to cool are dark

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gray hot blooded Buffalo glow white with heat

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while the nocturnal civit uses its thick coat to insulate in the colder climbs of

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the night Prince and Ziggy don't need any

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help to see in the dark their eyes have exceptional light

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sensitivity eight times better than humans

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which helps explain why 75% of hunting is done at

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[Music]

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night it's not just lions that have an advantage in the

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dark chipad zuo the leopard that wouldn't leave home has struck out on

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her own she spots a potential

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[Music]

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Target but her inexperience [Music]

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shows the hair has EX excellent night

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[Music] vision and it can run almost as fast as

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chipero the leopard moves on if she's to find food tonight she'll

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need to surprise her

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prey for many of the animals here Knight is the most dangerous

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time this baboon troop is nesting in the safety of the trees for good

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reason their vision is useless in the pitch black they're virtually

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blind being this High means they're Out Of Reach of most

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Predators but not all

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[Music] chiid [Music]

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Zoo she's a Nimble

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climber and light enough to reach most

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branches but she's taking a

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risk her Boons have been known to mob and severely wound attacking [Music]

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leopards but chiid is hungry and the Darkness Works to her Advantage the

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baboons can only sensor she can [Music]

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see [Applause]

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[Music]

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chiua has proved she can be

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independent nearby Prince and Ziggy are sticking close to their mother and Aunt for

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protection but their worst nightmare has just walked into that

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patch two roaming [Music]

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males they're dangerously close to Prince and Ziggy can if they come across the Cubs we'll almost certainly attack

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[Music] them hearing the calls their mother Rosa

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takes no chances and leads her Cubs

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away with danger this close she needs a new strategy to keep them

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[Music] safe it's 5:30

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a.m. Katie confirms the males from last night are definitely strangers to the

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territory and therefore a

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threat Nathan is on his way to Prince and Ziggy's last

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[Music] location but when he finds them the Cubs are not

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alone Prince and Ziggy are sitting just meters from their Old

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Pride absolutely everybody's here uh the females the alost females the Cubs all

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three punks without males to protect them the

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Cubs are vulnerable so their mother Rosa wants to reintroduce them to their former Pride

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Pip's Pride this is the first time that we've seen Prince and Ziggy near those Pride structures possibly coming

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together again but there are three big problems the battle Harden punks did not

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father Prince and zigi so may attack them unless Rosa can win the males

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over the next few moments could be a matter of life or

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death [Music] with ears back in an aggressive stance

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the dominum punk is looking far from [Music]

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[Music] welcoming Rosa puts herself between the

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maale and her

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Cubs

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[Music] she needs to be clever if she's to

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control this big powerful

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Punk scientists have recently discovered that lionesses are wired differently to

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males Rosa's brain has evolved to plan manipulate and

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[Music]

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deceive she needs to divert him so she comes out strong as if she's ready to

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meet it looks like she's actually trying to distract the males from Prince and

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Ziggy

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she presents herself to him and then adopts a submissive

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posture the male's urge to mate is strong Roser is running rings around the

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king of the jungle it's unusual to see such blatant

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deception but the other lionesses don't like

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[Music] it these are their

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males seeing another female getting attention seems to be making them

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jealous and it's the punks they

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punish Prince and Ziggy could be next in the firing

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line while the punks are distracted Rosa leads her Cubs away to safer

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ground roses's plan to rejoin the pride we'll have to

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wait over the following weeks the heat rises with daily temperatures in the

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mid-30s forcing the animals towards the dwindling

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water and each

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[Music]

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other with the heat comes lethargy lions are the least active of

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all cats and when it's this hot they can rest over 20 hours a

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day lons are incredibly lazy I mean they just lie around for hours and just when

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you hope they're going to get up you think okay the sunet it's time to get up and they carry on lying there for another 6

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hours but pip isn't letting a bit of heat stop him exploring

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he's now a healthy 6 and a half months old and no longer depends on his mother for

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milk his inquisitiveness is still

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[Music]

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growing and he's not the only young animal wandering alone we got a young AA really curious

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It's come right up to the cars and sniffing [Music] curiosity is key in young animal

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development especially in carnivores who need to explore every opportunity to

36:37

find food hopefully he's not going to pull little parts of the car cuz they

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actually get quite curious and start biting and I mean they've been known to chew tires and and things like that so

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it can can be a little bit of a hindrance but he's quite very cute and

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curious Hyena's always portrayed us unfortunately the villains of of the

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bush cuz they look quite scary but they're incredibly inquisitive and these huge huge black eyes and and they have

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this thing of trying to look at you out the corner of as if they're trying to see around like what what's around there

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um but the strongest Jaws in Africa and incredibly strong shoulders and neck for carrying huge

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kills spotted hyenas have a reputation for being

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scavengers but the majority of their food actually comes from

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hunting working together they're incredibly efficient and their hunts are

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twice as successful as those of lions they have teeth that can crack

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bones and a digestive system that can dissolve

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them they can live in clans of up to 80

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members but individuals like this 2-year-old male often forage

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alone one Hana calling in the far distance over there and another one answering in the distance over there

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this guy's just sitting here listening [Music]

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quietly it's a bit cooler at night a mere

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20° giving the wildlife a resite from the [Music]

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heat pep and the rest of the pride have finally stirred from their day of

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slumber this water hole is a favorite playground for the

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Cubs but once again pip has wandered off by

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himself The Pride haven't got the big males with them for protection and as the Cubs aren't the only animals here

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they need to be careful

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this elephant would happily stamp on any lion cuup who gets too close to her

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car and hippos are one of the most aggressive of all animals and will

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attack if

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disturbed the mother decides it's time to

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leave but pip doesn't heat the

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call as the family moves away pip heads in the opposite

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[Music] direction

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5 hours later at dawn Nathan sets out to check on pep and his

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siblings it doesn't take him long to discover something worrying just saw one of the Cubs

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running Along by himself go down into a gy um and now we can't see and we can't

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see any of the other if it's pep and he's still

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separated from his family he's in

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trouble there he is that's that's

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pit yeah he's looking a little bit lost and there's no sign of the rest of the

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pride quite often you'll find maybe Cubs or be playing or pass out completely

41:37

asleep and not realize the rest of the pride has moved off usually they they're able to catch up but clearly clearly

41:45

[Music] hasn't a couple of puku and Impala alarm calling at

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[Music] him I mean this guy's only 6 months old

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still very much dependent on his mother he must be pretty distraught

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because he spent every waking minute with the rest of the pride and now to be completely separated on his own and uh I

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mean there's vulnerability of hyenas leopard perhaps other male lions there's a whole possibility of dangers on

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there I think if the rest of the pride don't find this little Cub within the

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next 24 48 hours then I think he's got very little

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chance it's not looking really good it's not it's not looking very good at all actually for the L

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cup hear a hyena calling P's completely in he's

42:48

[Music]

42:55

moving

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the six-month old is surrounded by danger and clearly beginning to feel

43:06

very vulnerable away from his pride you know he's running stopping looking he just starting to panic about

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where they are he's nervous listening intently for any

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familiar calls while trying to pick up his mother's scent Lions have an incredible sense of

43:27

[Music] smell adult Lions leave a scent Trail

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wherever they go from Seven glands spread across their face

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paw and [Music] tail but Pip's tracking skills aren't

43:45

honed yet so he'll struggle to find his family his best hope is hearing his

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mother calling for him l Lions have excellent hearing four

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times better than our own and with ears that can rotate can

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identify prey from more than a kilometer

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away but a lion's roar can carry even further up to 8

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km if pip keeps his ears open he will hear his mother's [Music]

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call but pip can't call back he hasn't developed big enough FAL call a very

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small little guy still leaving pep in his predicament seems

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tough very time to just to grab him by the Scruff of the neck and you know drop him off for the rest of the pride if we

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knew where they were but um obviously we can't National Park authorities forbid

44:47

interference with any animals pip heads into an inaccessible

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area and and Nathan loses sight of

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him the young Cub is now completely on his own in thick bush full of

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[Music] threats 3 km away ktie and guide Paul

45:16

have Tracked Down Pip's siblings the just straight

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ahead oh got the Cubs and the mothers aren't far

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away oh I can see something oh yeah yeah yeah

45:54

yeah the females have brought down a half ton

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[Music] Buffalo the whole family gets to feed

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except for pip who is still

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lost his mother and aunts haven't forgotten him they take it in turns to

46:19

circle the area searching for their vulnerable cup but so far they have him picked up

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his

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scent not far away there's more

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danger leopard chiua is now completely independent and she's looking for

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another [Music]

46:54

kill she's is heading towards the area where pip was last

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seen as evening comes the young Cub is still

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alone just over a kilometer away Pip's mother continues to search for

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[Music] him [Music]

47:32

Nathan's not giving up on pep either and just as the sun is about to

47:40

set he finds him Pip's returned to the last place he

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saw his family he's back where Nathan first spotted him 12 hours ago still on his

47:52

own still quite a long way off um so it's going to be a bit of an uncertain long night for him I

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[Music] think Pip's only hope now is that his mother somehow finds

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him hopefully I mean if we're lucky she might re retrace her steps to where they were yesterday which is very very

48:15

close but as day turns tonight there's no sign of his mother and pip disappears

48:22

back into the bush [Music]

48:31

the other six Cubs are on the kill apparently unaware they've lost one of their

48:45

own but

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then two shapes appear in the distance

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[Music]

49:03

against the odds Pip's mother has tracked down her

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[Music] cup things happen here that you you can never

49:24

believe it's really nice to see a happy ending on this really long and very eventful

49:34

[Music]

49:45

day the next morning the pride is still

49:51

together and The Wanderer has a very fat little belly

49:58

also there are some welcome arrivals the punks have reappear during

50:03

the night much to the Delight of the lionesses although the fresh kill might

50:10

be the main [Music] attraction there's quite a little bit of

50:15

socializing going on you know the males have joined all the Cubs are present so it's really really nice to see sort of

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all s of pleasant happy families pepp to his mother for

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now but this happy status quo could all change in a heartbeat you just don't

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know what's going to happen next anything can happen but fingers crossed for now everything's looking really

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really good today pip is back where he

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belongs and 4 kilm away Prince and Ziggy are safe with their

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mother there's a long dry season ahead for all our CBS with prey streaming into

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their territory will they Thrive and help to secure the future of their

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species next time a menacing Duo threaten our Cubs

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two huge males coming back to claim their territory a young elephant faces a night

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alone this little guy is so vulnerable out

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here and the trio of tiny Cubs emerge from hiding these three CBS look in

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absolutely fantastic condition full of beans bouncing around and

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[Music] playing