All language subtitles for Nature S44E13 Legendary Tigers of India 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-RAWR[EZTVx.to]_track3_[eng]

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First magical moment when
I saw a tiger in Ranthambhore,

it was absolutely mesmerizing.

It's a moment where
you lose yourself

somewhere within yourself.

This is the best place
in the world to see wild tigers.

For centuries, India's rulers
battled over Ranthambhore Fort.

Today, it's home to a family
with an extraordinary story.

It's about what you don't know
is going to happen.

And that's the great joy
of Ranthambhore.

March 1984.

A day that rewrote
tiger history.

I was helping my brother-in-law
Tejbir film a tiger

as it watched sambar deer
feed in the lakes.

What happened next shocked us.

No one had ever filmed a tiger
killing in deep water before.

But then no one had really
filmed wild tigers at all.

And I was there
in the heart of it.

In the jungles
of northwestern India,

there is a magical fort
called Ranthambhore.

It has stood for
more than a thousand years.

There are three lakes a few
hundred feet from each other.

And it's full of wildlife.

Something happening
every minute.

More wild tigers live in India
than anywhere else on Earth

and this is one of their
most important strongholds.

And when a tiger walks
through the lakes.

The sound, the magic,
the explosion of activity.

So, yes.
The lake's a place to die for.

But in 1976,

when I first came
to Ranthambhore

it wasn't known for tigers.

Back then, no one really
knew anything about wild tigers.

Myself included.

I'm Valmik Thapar.

I'd grown up a city-boy.

I was very busy in Delhi
making documentary films.

My first marriage
was collapsing.

And one afternoon
I just walked out of my house,

leaving everything behind

and caught a train
to Ranthambhore.

I went on a whim
to escape the city.

It took me nearly a day
to meet Fateh Singh,

the director of the park,

and he looked me up and down
and said, "What do you want?"

I said,
"I want to go to the forest."

He said,
"But nobody goes to this forest.

It's an unknown area."

When I was passing the old gate,

as you went past the gate and
you crossed the rise of a hill,

there in the distance

was Ranthambore Fort,
looking at you.

And it grabbed me.

And that moment changed my life.

I wasn't a scientist
or a naturalist,

an activist
or a conservationist.

I was simply a filmmaker
who fell in love

with the beauty of this place.

And with its tigers.

For the next half century,

I've had the great privilege
of being amongst them.

All tiger life revolves
around the female.

And across the decades,

five tigresses
became like family.

Now, for the first time,

I'm able to piece together the
story of their matriarchal clan

and tell you
how these five revealed

the secret life of tigers.

None are closer to my heart

than my first
Ranthambhore tiger--

Padmini.

She lived through some
very dark times.

Not that long ago,

people estimated there were
100,000 tigers in India.

When Europeans and their guns
arrived in the 18th century,

a massacre began.

It makes me sick to think
of the maharajas,

the queens and kings
who flushed out tigers

and hammered them
with their guns.

I mean, one of our maharajas,

just one single man,

killed 1,300 tigers
and boasts about it.

The kings, the rulers,
the emperors, the rich--

They all had tiger skins
in the house.

I mean,

even the Duke
of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth

had gone to Ranthambhore
and shot tigers there.

In the early 1970s,

the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
banned tiger hunting.

A census had revealed

that there were just
1,800 wild tigers left in India.

And she set up Project Tiger.

It was a wildlife conservation
program with one aim--

to protect India's
remaining tigers.

In this land
where the tiger roams,

it is not only an animal,
but a symbol.

For thousands of years,
India has had a culture

that goddesses ride a tiger
to defeat evil.

The tiger is sacred.

The guardian of the forest.

In 1973, we set aside nine areas
of the country for tigers.

The old fort of Ranthambore,
with its lakes and forests,

was the smallest
of these special tiger reserves.

And then began a long,
difficult task--

rehoming the many people
and cattle

that lived within
the boundaries.

Such sacrifices were
made for the tiger.

Now, in the heart
of Ranthambhore,

it was thought that just 12,
maybe 13 tigers remained.

And they only ever came out
at night.

I didn't think I had
a hope of seeing one.

But I went out anyway
with some of the park guards

and a searchlight to try.

Anywhere and everywhere.
Just couldn't find tigers.

The director of the park,
Fateh Singh Rathore,

had slowly become my tiger guru.

He knew every inch
of this tiger reserve.

Huge twirling mustache,
very tough,

with a great sense of humor.

And one day we drove
too close to the water.

So, we were floating
in the shallow water of a lake.

A head appeared.

It was my first
Ranthambhore tiger.

We called her Padmini.

I was 23,

and I'd never felt
such a connection

to any living thing before.

How sad that these few
photos are the only record

of my times with her.

But she deserves her place
in this history.

She went on to have five cubs.

Four survived.

And it was the beginning of
Ranthambhore's clan of tigers.

She led that clan.

She was like the godmother
of all the tigers

I've known in Ranthambhore.

And she was the mother
of my next tiger,

the one who brought me
the most joy.

The beginning of Ranthambhore's
golden age.

In the 1980s, Ranthambhore was
a place transformed.

Tigers shed their
nocturnal cloak.

They suddenly had no fear
of man.

And the visibility,
the low savanna grasslands here,

meant you could see the tigers

and watch their behavior
like nowhere else on Earth.

Noon was my favorite.

She was called Noon because
she was really active at noon.

Noon was a delight.

She was absolutely
the opposite of Padmini.

She was the new generation
of tigers

that had grown
without the fear of man.

I watched Noon drive away other
females; fight them over prey.

Force out her sister.

I began to understand

that the few square kilometers
around the lakes

were her territory.

She had claimed
the richest tiger turf,

one teeming with prey.

And now the hunters
and people were gone,

it was a Tiger Paradise.

Pure magic.

It was around this time

that I bought some land
on the edge of Ranthambhore.

More and more,
this is where I wanted to be--

alongside the tigers,
learning more about their lives.

Ah, wow!

This is Noon's mate.
A big male called Genghis.

One day back in 1983, he had
appeared suddenly by the lakes.

From where? We don't know.

No one was monitoring
the tigers in those days.

What we did know
was that males move around

much more than females.

As adults,
they leave their family.

They seek out new,
big territories

that give them access to several
females and lots of prey.

Areas like the lakes.

I remember a day,
a few months after he arrived.

Sambar deer had congregated
in huge numbers

to feast
on succulent water plants.

But deer weren't
the only animals in the water.

There are about 120 crocodiles
in the lakes.

It's one of the only places
in the world

where sambar deer face
both predators.

We thought tigers
only hunted them on land.

But then we saw Genghis make
that extraordinary kill.

I couldn't believe

that I was seeing an enormous
tiger rushing into the water,

killing a sambar.

And we were lucky.

This was the time
to record for the world

what Ranthambhore was giving,

because so far, the world had
no real wild pictures of tigers.

And Ranthambhore's
tiger population was growing.

There were thirteen tigers
when I first arrived.

Now we thought there were 45.

They were the best days
of my life.

Days I thought would never end.

I thought I would have
another season with Genghis.

I didn't know,

but that was the last time
I saw Genghis in my life.

When it happened,
it was like a nightmare.

Sometime in 1991, I was
with Fateh Singh, my tiger guru,

and we were wondering what
happened to a few of the tigers

that we were watching.

We could no longer find them.

And Fateh Singh felt
that they were missing

and maybe they could
have been poached.

And I said no, not possible.

Who would poach these
incredibly beautiful animals?

But then began our year
of horror--

poachers started
to be caught with skins.

It knocked Fateh Singh
and me out.

We just couldn't believe
that this was a possibility.

The price of bones is soaring
as tiger numbers plummet.

India's tigers are being
murdered so the Chinese can turn

their bones into folk cures
for fevers and rheumatism.

I think the population
all over India is going down.

I think the primary reason
for this is poaching

and the bone trade

to meet the Chinese demand
for medicinal derivatives.

I think the tiger faces probable
extinction in the next decade.

Fateh Singh had no time
for poachers.

If he found a poacher,
he would charge after him,

take him to jail.

He believed
that this was the only way

Ranthambhore would survive.

And he was beaten up himself.

He nearly died.

His driver jumped on his body to
save him and took the beating.

This is a letter my Tiger guru
Fateh Singh wrote at that time.

"It is a massacre.

When the police chief showed
me the skin,

I could not control myself.

Tears were rolling
down my cheeks.

It's heartbreaking,

and sometimes I feel guilty

that I taught them
to have faith in human beings.

All the tigers were shot
at point blank range,

just innocently looking at
the man with the gun."

I think both Fateh
and I felt that over the years

we'd worked very hard
with the tigers.

They'd lost their fear of man,

and they treated the poachers
in the friendliest of ways

and they lost their lives.

Because by now we had learned
to identify individuals

by their stripes, we could say
with certainty that 30 tigers,

tigers that we knew, were gone.

Around the lakes just 15
terrified tigers remained,

and I was determined to do all
I could to keep them alive.

I entered the arena
of government.

Sat on endless committees.

I started a charity
with local people.

I wrote books.
I made a TV series.

I'm Valmik Thapar.

It was the most time I'd spent
away from Ranthambhore.

But then my next lake tigress
drew me back in.

Of all the tigers,

she is the one who would teach
me most about the tiger's life.

We called her Machli,
which means fish,

because she had marks
like fish bones on her cheek.

She was born during the crisis.

And for the first two years
of her life

she had stayed with her mother,

as all tiger cubs do.

Now, Machli was nearing
adulthood.

I guess soon she would need
a territory of her own.

But when and how
would she carve one out?

Tigers communicate
with each other silently.

They leave their scent
in their territories.

This can attract conflict
or repel conflict.

And through this process
of territorial marking

they talk to each other.

Fateh and I
watched the pair closely,

certain their time together
was coming to an end.

The lakes were rich with prey,

but there was only enough
for one resident tigress.

Would her mother
force Machli out?

The bond Machli once shared
with her mother was gone.

And replaced with aggression.

This time,
Machli was the one to back down.

At the edge of the lakes
is my favorite place.

Raj Bagh--

the ruined garden of the Kings.

Now tigers hold court here.

I suspected Machli would
soon try to overthrow her mother

so she could rule these ruins.

Her mother too sniffed
out the threat.

To me,
Machli seemed a little afraid.

But she stood her ground.

I wasn't sure who'd won
the confrontation,

but shortly after this,
Machli's mother left.

Maybe it was the threat
of constant conflict.

Maybe she sacrificed
her territory for her daughter.

Either way,
Machli now ruled here.

Later that year,

Fateh and I realized that a new
male had arrived at the lakes.

He soon picked up
Machli's scent.

We called him Bumboo Ram.

And gradually he got
closer to Machli,

leaving markers of his own.

Then, one day,
Machli approached him.

He was aged 6 or 7.

And in his prime.

It wasn't long before Machli
decided she was ready to mate.

The ferocity of tiger mating
always impresses me.

I was excited by the thought
of a new generation.

It was like a new dawn.

The dark days
of hunting and poaching

had long gone, I thought.

This was the chance
for the clan to truly thrive.

It was a very happy time for me.

I'd met my wife, Sanjna,

and had a son, Hamir,

named after one of
Ranthambhore's greatest rulers.

And soon Machli herself
had a litter.

Two cubs.

This is family life
amongst the tiger.

This is the beauty
of Ranthambhore.

They are both male cubs.

She is really looking after them
at the moment.

Oh, wow. Look at them.
Learning the ways of the mother.

It was an absolute delight
watching these boys grow up.

But then one day we heard rumors

that trouble was headed
their way--

Their father had vanished

and a new male was patrolling
the area.

We called him Nick.

Without the protection
of their father,

Machli's family were in danger.

I'm really worried
about these two cubs

because they are
young male cubs.

There could be a new
resident male in the area.

So the tigress has to be
really careful.

She's got to keep them
well-protected.

She has to defend them and
chase away any male intruder.

In fact,
she's bound to fight the male

so that he keeps her distance
from the cubs.

Nick was a huge male
in his prime.

I shuddered to think
what he could do to the cubs.

He could easily kill them in
order to mate with Machli

and father
a litter of his own.

A few days later, I found
Machli being pursued by Nick.

He was definitely interested
in mating.

Would she give in
and let him mate with her,

or would she try
and fight him off?

At first, it looked like
she was keeping away from Nick

so he couldn't get behind her
and mount her.

But Nick was really enticed
by her scent.

It didn't look like
he would give up.

For Machli-- Victory.

For Nick-- An injury
that would make it hard to hunt.

Now he knew
the cubs had a mother

who would risk it all
to protect them.

A few months later, I saw
the most extraordinary moment

between a tigress and her cubs.

Machli suckled them.

Her cubs were
almost two years old.

There would have been
no milk for them at this age.

Perhaps it was Machli's way
of telling them

it was time to say goodbye.

After that, everything changed.

I never saw the family
together again.

And the cubs struck out to find
territories of their own.

In 2004, I was very busy
with a Supreme Court committee,

and we were hearing regularly

that there was something
going wrong in Sariska.

150 kilometers from
the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve,

that poachers were out.

Nobody was sure about it.

The government of the day
refused to admit

that there was a problem,

even though the director of the
park was crying out for help.

Every tiger in Sariska
by September 2004

had been poached and killed.

Sariska had no tigers,
and then in central India,

not so far from Ranthambhore,
the Panna Tiger Reserve,

all the tigers went
extinct there,

so poaching took a massive turn.

When it happened the second time

it was the same
Chinese pressure.

It was the illegal trade.

And a new demand
for ornamental tiger skins.

It was again trying
to keep your tiger safe.

How are you going to do
it the second time around?

"Scattered thoughts. June 2005.

The future of the tiger
is bleak.

God help us."

The monsoon of that year
was a critical moment.

It's a time when the rains
lash the forest

with incredible force.

Ranthambhore completely
shuts down.

The roads are washed away.

The perfect cover
for poachers to strike.

I had no idea where Machli was
or if she was still alive.

I kept busy in Delhi,

working with the
then Prime Minister

to create a moment
of huge change.

In the end
Project Tiger was scrapped and

and the National Tiger
Conservation Authority
was launched.

This time
because of various connections

with the Empowered Committee,

with the Supreme Court
Committee,

we declared a red alert and
an emergency in Ranthambhore.

200 armed men were sent
in to surround the periphery

and to flush out any intruder,
and it created a scare.

We knew that there were
problems in Ranthambhore.

Fateh Singh,
who had by now retired,

said that half the tigers
of Ranthambhore had been poached

and there were barely
21 tigers left, terrified tigers

who'd experienced
a second round of poaching.

I think the lake tigers must
have known what was going on,

because on the edges
of their territory

there were vacant areas.

The tigers on the outer areas
had vanished,

and the silence of death
hung in the air.

Every tiger on the lakes
would have known that.

Luckily the area around
the lakes was the inner sanctum.

It was very difficult
for poachers

to get to the lake area.

So, the lake tigresses
has survived

because the area around
is fortified,

there are gates
and entry points.

There are lots of forest guards.

So the poachers were not going
to take a risk in this area.

So the lake tigers
kept on producing cubs

that would go out
and repopulate areas

where tigers had been poached.

And that's what happened.
That's what saved Ranthambhore.

And that's what saved Machli.

She survived yet another crisis.

And her final litter
would grow up

and spread out all over
Ranthambhore and beyond.

When I first
went to Ranthambhore,

it was a tiny patch
of 300 square kilometers.

Today, adjacent to it
are three tiger reserves,

and we have
5,000 square kilometers

where tiger populations
can go to,

where tigers can migrate to.

That's success.

That required hard work
by a bunch of people.

And one of those people
is my colleague,

Dr. Dharmendra Khandal.

He has data of 20 years
of Ranthambhore's tigers.

And that enables us
to really look back

and work out for the first time

exactly how Ranthambhore's
tigers are related.

Today, we know
that Machli's genes are in 75%

of all Ranthambhore tigers.

Including my next tiger,
Krishna.

One of Machli's daughters.

And a tigress
that shook my being.

She ruled the lakes for a while.

And had four little cubs
of her own.

It's very rare to find
a tigress with four small cubs.

And there was an incredible
afternoon when she took her cubs

and walked to the palace den.

To get to the palace den

you have to cross
a little bit of water.

And that's where
a few big crocodiles lie,

waiting to get their chance
on anything that passes.

She carefully negotiated the
water carrying the weakest cub

in her mouth
while the others followed her.

She lost one of the cubs.

It brought tears to my eyes
that day.

One of the cubs
that survived

still lives
around the lakes today.

She was named Arrowhead because
she has two pointy eyebrows,

like two arrows,
on her forehead.

She's family,

she always surprises me

and I see much of her today.

For a while,
she ruled the lakes.

But today,
this territory is no longer hers

and she should not be here.

Recently she started
behaving in unpredictable ways.

I was startled when I saw
on a camera's viewfinder

Arrowhead arriving at the lakes

and finding a way to attack
an enormous softshell turtle.

And she not only grabs
a turtle in the shallow water,

she picks it up
and rushes back into the grass

and starts to devour it.

Was she, like Genghis
all those years before,

not afraid of crocodiles
in the lakes?

Well, what I saw next
made me think

that she was not fearless,
but desperate.

Arrowhead's back in the lakes.

And this time she chases
after a small crocodile.

She charges into the water,
misses the baby crocodile,

but she doesn't realize
she's in a deep place.

And there are bigger crocodiles.

Big crocodiles pounce on her
under the water.

Then I don't know how,

she manages to free herself.

And then, a short while later,

someone filmed her
eating a crocodile.

Suddenly, memories
of years ago came flooding back.

And I remembered that my nephew
Jaisal had filmed this.

Arrowhead's grandmother
Machli wrestling

and eventually killing
a 4-meter crocodile.

No one had ever recorded
such a thing before or since.

Severe droughts had driven
Machli to behave in this way.

What was driving Arrowhead?

A few days later,
we found out.

She had been pregnant

and in desperate need
of protein for her milk.

Now her cubs have
been filmed just weeks old.

Oh, they are lovely shots.
Absolutely lovely.

It's amazing.

This is really valuable,
precious footage.

They are barely able to crawl.

Wow. It's amazing.

This is the secret life
of tigers.

But how will Arrowhead
keep them alive?

She no longer rules the lakes.

And she's finding
it difficult to survive.

She's desperate because she has
very little prey to hunt.

Trespassing into the lake
territory as she'd done before

is much more risky
with such small cubs.

Today the lakes are ruled
by another tigress-- Riddhi.

She too has three cubs,
three mouths to feed.

She is one of Arrowhead's
older daughters

from a previous litter.

So now we have mother and
daughter with three cubs each,

in bordering territories.

What will happen?
We have no idea.

Which of them will survive?

Will they meet?

Will they fight?

Will they play?

I can't wait to see
this new family drama play out.

Today, 70 tigers live across
this landscape

instead of the 13 we began with
50 years ago.

And I wonder which of them
will become like family.

When I am asked what
I have done with my life,

the only answer I can give
is this--

That I have been
amongst the wild tigers

that roam Ranthambhore's
magnificent lakes

and helped them to thrive.

And my love for five tigresses
in particular has molded me.

Padmini.

Noon.

Machli.

Krishna.

And Arrowhead.

Piecing together the story
of their matriarchal clan

has been the privilege
of my life.

They have been like a family
to me.

And I can only hope that
this story of their secret lives

will help others to love them
as I do.

And endeavor to fight
for their future.