Original subtitles

To follow the story of Charm and her family,

the Dynasties team travelled to the Masai Mara,

one of these big cats' last strongholds.

The crew's aim is to immerse themselves in the lives

of these powerful predators, following them closely

for over 400 days.

But first, they need to master the tricky task of identifying

each individual lion.

Every lion has its own unique set of whisker spots,

and put that together with coat colour, ear notches, nose colour,

you can pretty much identify that lion.

It would be really great if we could stick moustaches on them and glasses

and hats, because that would make it a lot easier for everybody

to understand who they were!

After weeks of following the family for 12 hours a day,

they're getting to know the lions.

And the lions, it seems, are getting to know them, too.

Well done.

It was the closest I've ever been.

She had her chin over the door. Yeah!

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

She's big when she's that close.

Before long, it becomes clear that each lion

has its own particular character.

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

and the luxury is you get to know the individuals.

They are different to each other.

Some sit and follow, others watch.

Some are into everything, some are funny,

some are really stupid, in a way.

I mean, you can see the rest of the pride kind of rolling

their eyes as yet another male comes in and blows another hunt.

You begin to care for them.

You can't help it.

Charm, she is what a lion should be.

She's a provider, she's a mother, she looks after cubs

that aren't her own, she's the matriarch.

She's the... She's the dame.

The crew's attachment to the lions is what makes

what happens next so hard to deal with.

Poisoning is one of the biggest threats lions face

across Africa today.

It can...

It becomes very close to home when it's animals that you know

so well, individuals.

We know them really well now.

It's, um, much more...

Erm, you feel it much more.

Soon after the pride leave him, emergency wildlife vets arrive

to try and save Charm's youngest son.

But the poison has no simple antidote.

The vets try to ease the symptoms.

All they and the crew can do now is wait in the hope he can recover

and return to the pride.

Eventually, it becomes clear nothing more can be done for him.

This animal is in a very bad condition, a critical condition,

and we think it's not going to make it.

Across Africa, the need for teams like these is on the rise,

treating wildlife after encounters with man.

It's just entirely wrong, isn't it?

Lions are so endangered.

There are hardly any of them, really.

This is one of the best places in the world.

They're disappearing so quickly, and then this happens to them.

Because of pressure on the land, of people.

Conflict between humans and lions is increasing

throughout the continent.

Dr Shivani Bhalla is a Kenyan conservationist who has been working

with lions and local communities for over a decade.

So many people are surprised to hear that there's only about 20,000 lions

left in Africa.

There's less than 2,000 lions left in Kenya.

They are disappearing so quickly.

Lions don't have enough food and they don't have enough space,

but communities also don't have enough grazing

for their livestock.

They also don't have enough space.

We've got to try and understand both sides of the picture.

Coexistence between people and lions is possible.

Our strategy has been working with warriors,

women, children, to really bring them on board and engage them

in lion conservation, because they're the ones herding

livestock every day, they're the ones coming into contact

with wildlife every day.

Community programmes have shown that lions can actually recover

in areas where they used to be once, but then their numbers

declined because they were being killed.

And Sophie and John witness that power of recovery

first-hand, here with Charm.

Oh, wow!

Well, that's that, I think.

Today's the day.

She's gone in there now to have her cubs,

which is quite exciting, really.

We're kind of living it with her, really, aren't we?

It's about sharing that experience.

That's the whole point. That's why we're making the film.

Over a year ago, the team set out to find a lion

and to tell its story.

And here we are, over a year later, and just there,

where the camera's pointing, we've got Charm and two little cubs.

She's had such a hard, hard year.

I don't think any of us could've predicted a happier, better way.

She's the most amazing lion.

She's just incredible.

And... It's the perfect ending, really.

Lions are incredibly resilient.

Given space, enough food and security, they can bounce back.

The challenges facing lion conservationists are formidable.

Indeed, unbelievable though it may sound,

there is a real possibility that, before long, lions in the wild

could disappear entirely.

But if conservationists and the people who have to live

alongside these great beasts of prey can work together,

there is still a chance to save them.

Next time - one of the last great families of painted wolves.

An intense rivalry.

Mother against daughter, each striving to rule.

Who will triumph, and can they bring peace to these lands? ===========

Of all the animals featured in this series,

painted wolves range over the greatest distances.

To document the unfolding story of Tait and Blacktip,

the team first needed to find them - and that required help.

This film is essentially undoable without people

who really know the dogs.

Principally, Nick and Henry.

Nick's been working with the dogs for years.

Not only does he know how to track them incredibly well,

but he also knows their habits and their behaviours.

So, for 20 years I've been watching these dogs,

and when you're sitting on the ground and you've got them

running around you and they're totally unfazed by you,

it's a great experience.

Nick Murray can identify all of the 91 painted wolves

that the team saw on the flood plains.

But there's one individual that he knows better than any.

We've been interacting with Tait for literally 10.5 years of her life.

With each successive letter that she has,

we've got to know all of those dogs when they come out of the den

and spend time with them.

Nick's knowledge of who is related to whom meant the team knew

that it was Tait's own daughter who was challenging her.

What was unfolding in front of camera was a family drama.

The crew not only have a team of trackers -

luckily, the filming coincided with a research project.

The reason for collaring the dogs is to aid our monitoring

of the pack, because we're actually able to physically follow the dogs.

So we can record their movements, their territory size,

where they're going.

And that builds up a picture of their land use.

In open landscapes, these collars can transmit for miles.

But in the mixed habitat of Mana, the signal often struggles

beyond 500 metres.

This is where Nick and Henry's tracking skills really

come into play.

Henry has been incredible on this, his tracking is unbelievable.

Tracks are the key to the whole game, they tell their story.

And it's Henry's highly-tuned tracker senses that allow the team

to capture the pivotal moment in the film.

The team are tracking Tait's pack, when they drive through a pile

of droppings from the painted wolves.

I recognised the smell - which is Blacktip, not Tait.

Blacktip's diet of baboons is enough for Henry to be able to tell

the packs apart simply by smell alone.

The team quickly switch from following Tait's radio

channel to Blacktip's.

Right away, we had the very strong ping, ping,

so we carried on down to the river.

Sure enough, they were right there, which is an area

they'd never been before.

It was incredible.

And then Henry noticed some lions approaching through the grass.

Knowing that there are puppies in their pack,

I just turned my head away from the scene,

you know, I just didn't want to see, you know, the pups getting harmed.

I just stayed with the lion, and suddenly this huge buffalo

came into shot.

I think what was amazing for me was to see the lions interact

with the dogs.

But to then catch a buffalo under the very same tree,

that's just ridiculous.

I tell you, I just, like, stood there dumbfounded,

mesmerised, seeing the whole scene that was going on,

it was like a dream, really.

To try to capture every aspect of the unfolding story,

it was sometimes necessary to have five camera teams

working simultaneously.

We've got 52 cases of kit, Cineflex, a night thermal camera,

and umpteen other things.

It's very ambitious, what we're trying to achieve.

Not wanting to miss a thing, our teams follow both packs,

on the ground...

..and in the air.

One ground team with Tait, the other with Blacktip.

Employing the latest in unmanned aerial camera technology allows

the crew to capture unique views as the pack go

about their business undisturbed.

To cover more ground, the crew bring in a helicopter.

And as the days draw to an end, the latest ultra-high-definition

lowlight cameras capture the action.

Even when it's almost too dark to see.

And, once complete darkness falls, the night team take over.

A thermal camera can penetrate the darkness with no need

for any artificial light.

You know, to get those shots, it takes a lot of skill.

And that is not our skill, that is our guides' skill.

Oh, they're there.

The yield of shots has got better and better on every shoot.

On the last shoot, we were with them every day.

And that's what's brilliant about being able to put true time in.

And it's tough, actually, because you spend day in,

day out with these animals for months and months and months,

and their lives become very important to you and the story

can be incredible, but it's actually quite an emotional

roller-coaster to see what happens to them.

This story of family rivalry only began because Blacktip was unable

to expand her territory away from Tait, and was forced instead

to invade her mother's lands.

You know, the biggest problem facing painted wolves today

is habitat loss.

Basically, they're running out of space.

We have isolated national parks surrounded by human settlements.

In the modern world, that means they're running across roads,

they're hitting snares, getting poisoned.

It's a tough world out there for them.

70% of painted wolves actually live outside of the national park system.

Their future is very bleak, it's not looking good.

So, the wild dogs of the Zambezi valley are lucky, because these dogs

can travel from park to park, through corridors.

But that's not the case in most areas in Africa.

If you came back in ten years' time, I think Tammy's descendants

will still be around, battling it out against

the lions and hyenas.

It's a tough life, never mind the human conflict.

Painted wolves individually may lack the nobility of a lion.

But the subtlety of their communications

and the complicity of their social organisation gives them

a fascination all of their own.

Surely, they deserve to hold their place alongside

the great hunters of the African plain.

Next time...

A tigress struggles to rear her new family.

Rivals are trespassing on her territory.

Can she raise her cubs to adulthood?