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Lions are the very image of majesty.

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And indeed, of Africa itself.

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Their strength lies in the power
of the pride.

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They're a tight-knit family.

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Lions have ruled the Savannas
for millennia.

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And yet, within the last 20 years or so,

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the numbers have fallen by almost half.

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Our team has spent two years

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following perhaps the most
famous lion family of all.

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The Marsh Pride of Kenya's Maasai Mara.

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As we join them, the very survival
of this great dynasty is under threat.

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Their future depends entirely
on the strength and determination

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of one extraordinary leader.

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Perhaps the most powerful
in the history of the Marsh Pride.

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A lioness known as Charm.

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The Maasai Mara.

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The pride have always thrived here,

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through an alliance between powerful
alpha males to protect the family,

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and experienced females
to raise the cubs.

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But for the first time
in the pride's history,

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this alliance has been shattered.

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The family has been abandoned
by all the adult males.

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The survival of the pride
now rests upon the shoulders of Charm

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and her cousin Siena,

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the only remaining adults.

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If their young are to reach adulthood,

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and the dynasty return
to full strength,

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they must now both protect
and feed the whole family.

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August.

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Following the recent rains,
it's a time of plenty.

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The lions are surrounded by Wildebeest
on their annual migration.

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A quarter-tonne bull would make
a good meal for all 10 of the pride.

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But even though Charm
is an experienced hunter,

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most attempts end in failure.

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Charm uses her hind legs
to knock the Wildebeest off balance.

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The smallest cubs
won't be able to catch food

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for themselves for another 12 months.

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Their ever-growing appetites mean that

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Charm and Siena
have to hunt around the clock.

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The females are often
forced to head out alone.

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Tonight, it's Siena's turn.

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Sunrise.

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Siena is seriously injured.

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She's too weak to move.

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A [one [ion is a!ways at risk of attack
17 y buffalo, hyenas,

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even other lion prides.

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It's evening.

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And Siena hasn't returned to her family.

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Now, everything depends on Charm.

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As night falls, Charm has no choice
but to head out to hunt,

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leaving the vulnerable cubs alone.

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She's being trailed.

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Hyenas.

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They'll attack the lions
if they get a chance

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to steal any kill they make.

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Charm must work fast
before they find her.

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They've tracked her down.

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On her own, she couldn't hold them off.

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But another of the pride
has been following Charm.

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Her three-year-old daughter, Yaya.

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The rest of the pride arrive to eat.

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Yaya has stepped up
to help defend the pride

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and feed her family.

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Daughters stay
with their mothers for life,

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and may eventually
have cubs of their own.

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Yaya is not yet an adult,

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but as Charm's eldest daughter,
she's next in line to lead the pride.

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Charm also has
a three-year-old son, Tatu.

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The beginnings of an impressive mane

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are a sign
of his approaching adulthood.

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Like every adolescent,

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Tatu can't resist the chance
to test his growing strength.

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Even against a two-tonne hippo.

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But he's not the only young male
in this pride.

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His cousin, Red.

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Over the last few months,
the two of them

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have begun to forge an alliance.

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But even together, they're not
really going to worry an angry hippo.

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Unlike their sisters,
sons always leave their family

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when they reach adulthood.

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Their growing bond may enable them
to leave as a powerful partnership.

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Eventually, they'll fight other males,

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to try and take over
a pride of their own.

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But for the time being,

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they still need Charm
to look after them.

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It's been four days
since Siena was attacked.

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She's back on her feet,

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but she's in urgent need
of a meal.

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She simply doesn't have the strength.

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As they mature, young males
begin to explore the boundaries

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of the pride's territory.

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Red has ventured out alone.

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And landed straight into the middle
of the hyena clan.

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He's trapped, by over 20 of them.

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The pack tries to wear him down.

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This number of hyenas could kill him.

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It's impossible to fight them
all at once.

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He can't keep them at bay
for much longer.

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He's tiring fast.

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His ally, Tatu,
has heard the commotion.

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Now, the odds have changed.

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Even for 20 hyenas,

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a pair of male lions
is too much to take on.

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Red is lucky.

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Tatu has saved his cousin'5 life.

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After weeks of feeding on scraps,

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Siena has grown strong enough

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to try and rejoin her family.

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She greets Charm first.

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Even after being apart
for so long,

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the bond between them
is still strong.

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Yaya also welcomes Siena
back into the pride.

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At last, Charm's family
are back together.

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Charm not only has
her hunting partner back,

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but another hunter is emerging.

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Yaya is becoming a powerful lioness.

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She's learned how to stalk.

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Stay low.

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Approach silently,

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and from downwind.

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But the key to a successful ambush

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is not being noticed.

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Now it's seen her, the Wildebeest
with its sharp horns

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has the advantage.

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But Yaya is learning.

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Mother and daughter are starting
to develop their partnership.

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It's October.

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The great Wildebeest migration
never stops.

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And now, they're leaving
the Maasai Mara.

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For Charm and her family,

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food is about to become
much more difficult to find.

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The plains are empty,
and in search of food,

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Charm leads the pride
to the edge of their range.

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Here she finds another kind of prey.

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Cattle, illegally brought into
the lions' territory to graze.

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And opportunity to feed
her hungry family.

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But hunting cattle
can lead to disaster.

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To protect their livestock,

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herdsmen sometimes put out
poison bait.

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Lions can't tell when a meal is toxic.

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A week later, Charm's one-year-old son

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is so ill, he can hardly stand.

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The whole pride are showing
the signs of poisoning.

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And Siena is missing once again.

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As the temperature climbs,
the pride heads off to find shade.

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But the struggling cub
is too weak to follow.

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Charm needs to stay
with the rest of the pride.

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Hours later, the cub
still hasn't caught up with his mother.

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And there's no sign
of Siena either.

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The next day, Charm returns
to her son's side.

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He's still very unsteady.

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But his mother can't abandon
the rest of the pride.

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For the sake of the pride,

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Charm abandons her young cub.

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The others are waiting for her.

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They need her now, more than ever.

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She will never see her son,
or Siena, alive again.

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Despite her losses,

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there may still be a future for Charm
and her dynasty.

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Her eldest cubs, Yaya and Tatu,
have survived the poisoning.

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Charm keeps the pride moving
in a constant search for prey.

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Catching enough food is hard,

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even with Yaya's help.

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But Charm is relentless.

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The younger members of the pride
try to follow her example.

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Even with little to hunt,

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and the constant harassment of hyenas,

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Charm's skill and experience
as a leader

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is keeping the pride alive.

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A few weeks later,
her efforts begin to be rewarded.

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Tatu and Red are now
over four years old,

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ready to take the final step
to adulthood.

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It's time for them to leave the pride.

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For Charm, this is success.

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They head out as a partnership

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to battle other males,

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to win a pride of their own,

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and continue
the family's bloodline elsewhere.

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But Charm still needs to get
the remaining four female cubs

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safely to adulthood.

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One early morning in May,

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the roar of adult male lions.

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Two new males, outsiders,

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are searching for a pride
to take over as their own.

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New males could bring the possibility
of a new generation of cubs.

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But they could, just as easily,

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bring disaster.

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Soon, the new males begin to impose
their authority on the Marsh Pride.

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Charm's youngest daughter
is still too young to breed.

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To the males, she's nothing more

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than another mouth to share food with.

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They don't want her in their pride.

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Try as she might,
Charm struggles to defend her daughter.

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Even she is no match for an adult male.

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Charm tries distracting them,

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putting herself
between them and her cub.

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But it's no good.

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If her daughter stays,
the males will eventually kill her.

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The cub has no choice but to leave.

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And the males don't stop there.

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Every young cub is driven out.

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Their future is uncertain.

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There's nothing Charm can do.

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Eight months ago,
Charm's pride numbered ten lions.

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Of them, only she and Yaya now remain.

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The return of the Wildebeest signals
the end, at last, of the hard times.

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Time for a new beginning.

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Charm is starting the process
of rebuilding the Marsh Pride.

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She and one of the males have separated
themselves from the rest of the group.

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Females are only able to conceive
once every few months.

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For those crucial days,
the male won't leave her side.

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Charm stays close to him
to strengthen their band.

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00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,077
If the male isn't certain
any future cubs are his,

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he will probably kill them.

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Four months later.

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Charm is alone, away from the pride.

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00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,036
Over the last 14 months,

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her dynasty has faced ruin.

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But now, there is new hope.

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just two weeks old,

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Charm gave birth away from the others.

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Inquisitive and clumsy lions
could be a threat to the newborns.

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But her two cubs are still
extremely vulnerable.

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Buffalo seek out lion cubs

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and will kill them
if they get the chance.

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She shields them with her body.

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Without her to protect them,
the buffalo will trample them to death.

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Charm has forced the entire herd
to back down.

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Life is always dangerous for lion cubs.

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But these two have an experienced mother
to look after them.

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At last, Charm's pride
is increasing again.

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One male and one female.

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00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:54,795
And these cubs may soon
be joined by more.

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Yaya has paired off
with the other adult male.

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Soon, she too, will have cubs,

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Charm's grandchildren.

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Charm is taking her cubs to meet
the rest of the Marsh Pride

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for the first time.

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Once their father has accepted the cubs,

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he'll defend them
as fiercely as their mother.

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They are the future of his dynasty, too.

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Charm has been away from the pride
since giving birth,

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and hasn't seen Yaya for weeks.

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Their bond has held,
through perhaps the hardest times

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in the pride's history.

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With her daughter pregnant and her son
looking for a pride of his own,

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Charm's dynasty,
and the Marsh Pride, will live on.

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This extraordinary lioness
has succeeded.

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To follow the story
of Charm and her family,

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the Dynasties team travelled
to the Maasai Mara,

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one of these big cats'
last strongholds.

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The crew's aim is to immerse themselves

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00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:44,436
in the lives
of these powerful predators,

254
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following them closely
for over 400 days.

255
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:52,436
But first
they need to master the tricky task

256
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,592
of identifying each individual lion.

257
00:49:57,040 --> 00:49:59,714
Every lion has its own unique set
of whisker spots.

258
00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:02,993
And put that together with coat colour,

259
00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:06,830
ear notches, nose colour,
you can pretty much

260
00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:08,069
identify that lion.

261
00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:11,391
It would be really great
if we could stick moustaches on them

262
00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:13,750
and glasses and hats,

263
00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:16,395
'cause that would make it a lot easier
for everybody to understand

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00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:17,879
who they were.

265
00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:25,039
After weeks of following
the family for 12 hours a day,

266
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they're getting to know the lions.

267
00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:34,710
And the lions, it seems,
are getting to know them too.

268
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:41,192
He's...

269
00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:46,112
It was the closest I've ever been.

270
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:47,833
- She had her chin over the door.
- Hmm.

271
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I mean,
my feet are within two feet of her.

272
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She's big when she's that close.

273
00:50:57,120 --> 00:51:00,158
Before long, it becomes clear that each lion

274
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has its own particular character.

275
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On a long project
like this, there's a real luxury.

276
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:10,439
And the luxury is,
you get to know the individuals.

277
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They are different to each other.

278
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:16,356
Some sit and follow, others watch,
some are into everything.

279
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Some are funny,
some are really stupid in a way.

280
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:22,433
I mean, you can see the rest
of the pride kind of rolling their eyes,

281
00:51:22,600 --> 00:51:25,831
as yet another male
comes in and blows another hunt.

282
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:35,350
You begin to care for them,
you can't help it.

283
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:38,910
Charm, she is what a lion should be.

284
00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:41,431
She's a provider, she's a mother.

285
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:43,750
She look after cubs that aren't her own.

286
00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:47,436
She's the matriarch,
she's the dame.

287
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:55,471
The crew's attachment to the lions

288
00:51:55,560 --> 00:51:59,440
is what makes what happens next
so hard to deal with.

289
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:10,272
Poisoning is one of the biggest threats
lions face across Africa today.

290
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:25,319
It becomes very close to home

291
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:27,477
when it's animals
that you know so well...

292
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:29,392
The individuals,
we know them very well now.

293
00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:32,392
It's much more...

294
00:52:34,520 --> 00:52:35,874
You feel it much more.

295
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:42,752
Soon after the pride leave him,

296
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:47,438
emergency wildlife vets arrive
to try and save Charm's youngest son.

297
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:53,958
But the poison has no simple antidote.

298
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:01,350
The vets try to ease the symptoms.

299
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:05,799
All they and the crew can do now
is wait in the hope he can recover,

300
00:53:06,040 --> 00:53:07,713
and return to the pride.

301
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:12,756
Eventually, it becomes clear

302
00:53:13,200 --> 00:53:15,271
nothing more can be done for him.

303
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:18,874
This animal is in a very bad condition,
critical condition.

304
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:21,751
And we think it's not going to make.

305
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:27,953
Across Africa, the need
for teams like these is on the rise,

306
00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:31,949
treating wildlife after encounters
with man.

307
00:53:33,120 --> 00:53:36,192
It's just entirely wrong, isn't it?
Lions are so endangered.

308
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:38,118
There are hardly any of them, really,

309
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:39,952
this is one of the best places
in the world.

310
00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:43,991
They're disappearing so quickly,
and then, this happens to them.

311
00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:49,233
Because of pressure on the land,
of people.

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00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:53,317
Conflict between humans and lions

313
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:55,311
is increasing throughout the continent.

314
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:59,916
Dr. Shivani Bhalla
is a Kenyan conservationist

315
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:02,674
who has been working with lions
and local communities

316
00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:04,273
for over a decade.

317
00:54:05,040 --> 00:54:09,398
So many people are surprised to hear
that there's only about 20,000 lions

318
00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:12,956
left in Africa, there's less than
2,000 lions left in Kenya.

319
00:54:13,240 --> 00:54:15,277
They're disappearing so quickly.

320
00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:20,714
Lions don't have enough food
and they don't have enough space,

321
00:54:21,160 --> 00:54:24,471
but communities also don't have enough
grazing for their livestock.

322
00:54:24,560 --> 00:54:26,392
They also don't have enough space.

323
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:28,994
We've got to try and understand
both sides of the picture.

324
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:32,672
Coexistence between people and lions
is possible.

325
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:36,430
Our strategy has been working
with warriors, women, children,

326
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:40,480
to really bring them on board,
and engage them in lion conservation,

327
00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:43,439
because they're the ones herding
livestock every day.

328
00:54:43,680 --> 00:54:46,672
They are the one coming into contact
with wildlife every day.

329
00:54:48,720 --> 00:54:54,238
Community programs have shown that [ions
can actually recover in areas where

330
00:54:54,360 --> 00:54:56,795
they used to be once,
but then their numbers declined

331
00:54:56,880 --> 00:54:58,200
because they were being killed.

332
00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:03,674
And Sophie and John

333
00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:08,880
witness that power of recovery
first hand, here with Charm.

334
00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:11,235
Oh, wow.

335
00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:14,509
Well, that's that,
I think, today's the day.

336
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:18,431
She's gone in there now
to have her cubs,

337
00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:20,353
which is quite exciting, really.

338
00:55:22,120 --> 00:55:23,997
We're kind of living it with her,
really, aren't we?

339
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:26,789
It's about sharing that experience,
that's the whole point,

340
00:55:26,920 --> 00:55:28,240
that's why we're making the film.

341
00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:40,954
Over a year ago, the team set out to find a lion

342
00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:42,309
and to tell its story.

343
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:45,355
And here we are, over a year later,

344
00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:47,114
and just there,

345
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:49,229
where the camera's pointing

346
00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:52,799
we've got Charm and two little cubs.

347
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:57,359
She's had such a hard, hard year.

348
00:55:58,520 --> 00:56:00,079
I don't think any of us could have

349
00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:04,276
predicted a happier, better way.
She's the most amazing lion.

350
00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:07,034
She's just incredible, and...

351
00:56:08,880 --> 00:56:10,553
It's the perfect ending, really.

352
00:56:14,480 --> 00:56:16,232
Lions are incredibly resilient.

353
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:19,159
Given space, enough food,

354
00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:21,790
and security, they can bounce back.

355
00:56:23,120 --> 00:56:26,670
The challenges facing
lion conservationists are formidable.

356
00:56:27,400 --> 00:56:29,960
Indeed, unbelievable though
as it may sound,

357
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:33,358
there is a real possibility
that before long,

358
00:56:34,560 --> 00:56:38,599
lions in the wild
could disappear entirely.

359
00:56:39,680 --> 00:56:44,038
But if conservationists and the people
who have to live alongside

360
00:56:44,120 --> 00:56:47,476
these great beasts of prey
can work together,

361
00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:50,196
there is still a chance to save them.

362
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:06,272
Next time, one of the last great families

363
00:57:06,360 --> 00:57:07,839
of painted wolves.

364
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:11,433
An intense rivalry.

365
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:13,953
Mother against daughter.

366
00:57:14,720 --> 00:57:18,350
Each striving to rule.
Who will triumph?

367
00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:21,440
And can they bring peace to these lands?