All language subtitles for Queen of Tigers BBC Natural World 2012 1080p HDTV x265 AAC EN Sub

She is the most famous
tiger in the world.

I named her Machli.

I've spent 13 years following
her incredible life.

TIGERS GROWL

The greatest fighter
I've ever seen...

..and the greatest mother.

She came to rule over
Ranthambhore National Park...

..became its queen...

and founded a dynasty.

Now she's old and frail,
she doesn't have much time left.

TIGER ROARS

I've come to find my old friend
for one last time...

to say goodbye.

Even in my personal life,
I've always tried to go

and see people before they've died
and not go to their funerals.

That's just the way I prefer it.

It seems to me
it makes a lot more sense.

What a character. What a character!

She has given me
a lifetime of memories.

TIGERS GROWL

This is her story.

I've come back to Ranthambhore
National Park in India

to find Machli for the last time.

Little did I know,

when we first met, that she would
change my life for ever.

How's it going, buddy?

'My constant companion
during that time

'was a local guide, called Salim.'

Good to see you, buddy.

'In fact, I met him just
about the same time I met Machli.'

Excellent. Can't wait. Chalo.

'He always keeps
an eye on her during my absence.'

Ah. Good to be back.

'We've done this
so many times together,

'this place feels
like my second home.'

I guess my life changed completely

when I got a phone call
one afternoon,

offering me the chance to go to
this place, Ranthambhore, in India.

I'd never heard of the place.

A few weeks later, I arrived.

I was a relatively inexperienced
wildlife cameraman.

I knew very little about tigers.

Salim, back then, didn't really
have much of an idea, either.

'We had to find a tiger

'that was at an interesting stage
in its life.'

How fresh do you reckon these
footmarks are?

They are from the morning.

But there was one tigress that we
found - she was only 18 months old.

She had just left her mother,
she was striking out on her own.

Her mother had already
kicked her two sisters

out of this territory,

but it didn't look like Machli
was going anywhere.

'My Hindi wasn't great.'

If I'd known she was going to become
the world's most famous tiger,

I probably wouldn't have
called her "Fish",

cos it's not the best
name for a tiger I've ever heard.

There was something about her -
she was just...feisty,

so we decided to follow her.

In many ways, she became my jungle
guru, my jungle teacher.

And through her, I met her mother.

Now, she at the time ruled
this lake area.

Yet this youngster, her daughter,

was walking round
the place like SHE owned it.

I knew there was going to be
a showdown to win this prime

lakeside territory.

As I followed her, it became
obvious that these two

were on a collision course.

TIGER GROWLS

Her mother seemed both surprised
and disgusted to see her there.

TIGER GROWLS

And Machli wasn't giving way.

TIGER ROARS

TIGERS ROAR

Machli got a nasty
nick on her chest.

Her future depended on winning these
battles with her mother...

..and over the next few weeks,

I witnessed several
of these encounters.

The final clash was set to take
place amidst the palace ruins.

Machli's mother was still laying
claim to these ruins.

Machli knew this was serious.

TIGER GROWLS

But Machli wasn't giving up
any ground.

TIGER GROWLS

TIGERS ROAR

BIRDS SQUAWK

Seeing Machli dethrone her mother

made me realise that she was going
to be something special.

Her mother disappeared
soon after that.

Machli, through her skills
as a fighter,

had become the queen of one of the
world's prime tiger territories.

You have that combination of fort,
cliffs, lakes, wildlife every place.

It's beyond our imaginations.

Seeing Machli move
through this landscape

was just a dream for a cameraman.

All the animals constantly
reacting to her.

BIRDS CHIRP

There's nothing,
no place like it in the world.

No place like it in the world.

Now, 13 years on, I can't wait to
catch up with my old friend Machli.

We've travelled this road so many
times and it always looks different.

And right now, there's been a good
monsoon this year,

so the vegetation growth has been
really, really strong.

And although that's really
good for the animals,

it's good for the deer, and for all
the things tigers want to eat,

it's going to make actually
spotting tigers kind of difficult.

They've so many places to hide.

But at least, with Machli,
we know her, we know her so well

that we've a pretty good
chance of tracking her down.

But, of course, she's an old lady
now, her habits are changing,

so actually tracking her down,
having a good look at her,

is not going to be that easy.

Just have a listen for a minute.

There are a lot of animals
in this area

and if she was to start moving,
we'd soon hear about it.

'They'd all start alarm calling.'

It's so quiet around here
these days.

I'm pretty certain Machli
doesn't come here any more.

Very quiet.

So Machli was at a very interesting
stage in her life now.

Inheriting the territory that you
grow up in is a massive advantage.

It means that Machli already knew
every nook and cranny of this place.

CROCODILE HISSES

But she was relatively
inexperienced,

and she still had to learn to deal

with the other creatures
found in her territory.

Sloth bears - one of the most
aggressive creatures

you're ever likely to come across.

BEAR GRUNTS

TIGER ROARS

BEAR GROWLS

She knew when to retreat
and picked her battles well.

She was gaining experience
all the time.

And in a way, we were both
learning our trades together.

Her home range was
absolutely full of prey,

but that can be
a disadvantage, too.

Salim, if you spot her,
just give me a shout.

I think she's coming...

'It only takes one animal
to spot her...

'and the element of surprise
is gone.'

She's going, Colin.

But she's not giving up.

Her favourite food.

WARTHOGS SQUEAL

She's still got a lot to learn.

What is the next thing that's going
to be on a tigress's mind?

That's meeting a male
and having a family.

As luck would have it, there was
this beautiful, perfectly handsome

big male tiger called Bombooram,
who came calling one Christmas Day.

And she got very excited at this,
and she was going round,

she spent days roaring,
roaring, roaring.

She had picked up his scent.

She knew he was in the area.

And then I shall never
forget the day.

TIGER ROARS

I was listening to this roaring.

And she stopped, and in the distance
I heard an answering call.

TIGER ROARING

That was to be my Christmas present.

Unbelievable!

It was the first time I had seen
a male and female together

and I could see
the difference in size.

He totally dominated her in size.
Beautiful, big male.

TIGER GROWLS

MONKEY CHATTERS

TIGERS SNARL

Couldn't believe it. So excited.

And they started mating
right beside our vehicle,

and they did it repeatedly
for days and days.

It's a great sight to see.

By choosing the dominant male,

she'd selected the best
genes around.

Bombooram was well known to be
incredibly powerful,

so hopefully, any offspring they had
together would inherit

those same characteristics.

TIGERS GROWL AND ROAR

There was a very good chance that
the next generation was on its way.

'Another day,
and still no sign of Machli.

'I'm really pretty certain
she doesn't come here any more now.'

She's changed her habits so much.

She's not moving round any
way near as much as she used to.

She used to use these forest
trails all the time,

because they were the easiest
way of moving through the park.

And if she's lying down quietly
under a tree,

there's no evidence as
to where she is.

Have you seen Machli anywhere?

Any of you guys seen Machli?

No?

'The park guards
confirm my suspicions.

'Machli has been evicted
from her territory,

'almost certainly
by one of her daughters

'from her fourth and final litter.

'This means she will be more
reclusive and harder to find.'

Machli was, one day, seen
coming from the bush

and making this little call.

GENTLE GROWLING

And I had never heard it before
because I had never seen

a tiger family before,
where there were small cubs.

It's a very gentle little call that
the tigress makes for her cubs

to say, "Come on, follow."

So Machli stepped out onto the road

and out came these tiny
little cubs with her.

My future was
sort of mapped out for me.

The fact that she had these cubs,
my job was then to follow

those cubs for as long as I possibly
could and watch them grow up.

So Machli had produced two cubs,
she'd gotten them

through the first monsoon,
and they were now about a year old.

As a first time mum,
that's pretty impressive,

cos I'm sure lots of first time
mums lose their first cubs.

So Machli was already proving
herself as something special.

THEY GROWL

She taught me
so much about this place.

And in many ways, we were
at a similar stage in our lives.

When she became a mother, I became
a father, so we had that in common.

I've got two wonderful little male
cubs, two beautiful female cubs,

and through my work here,
by following Machli,

she's put food on the table, given
me shelter, all that sort of thing.

So I'm grateful to her for that.

I look back upon this time as being
my halcyon days in Ranthambhore.

Being able to have that opportunity
to watch a tiger family

growing up around the lakes and to
have had that lucky break, really,

of choosing the right tigress.

I mean, I don't know how many times
I've thought to myself,

I could easily have chosen another
one who'd moved off

and set up a territory
some place else.

I just happened to choose Machli.

Cubs are with their mums for about
at least 18 or 20 months.

It's a long period of time and you
have to feed them during that time,

and as they get bigger,
you have to supply a lot of food.

So she became an expert hunter.

BLEATING AND ROARING

She seemed to hunt extremely
efficiently.

From a cameraman's point of view,

she normally hunted extremely,
behind a bush!

That's the nature of tigers.

Everyone would say to you, "Did
you get a kill, did you get a kill?"

"Ah well, I got the beginning of
it," or, "I got the end of it."

But don't ask me if I got a kill.

It's not the most interesting
thing tigers do, anyway.

It's always fascinated me
how a tigress tells her cubs,

how she tells them, I don't know,

but she tells them to, "Stay there,
I'm going off hunting."

She wouldn't have a chance
if she brought them with her.

And it's very important, too, that
she leaves them in a safe place,

and it's important that the cubs
learn to stay there.

And Machli was incredibly
good at this.

It was just another example, really,
of what a great mother she was.

Close to the water, in the reeds,
they were well hidden,

so no other predators
could find them,

because they were really too young
to defend themselves.

The cubs were able to enjoy
a wonderful time,

because Machli had provided them
with safety and security.

In her absence, they used to get up
to all sorts of mischief.

CROCODILE GROWLS

Sharing this domain with crocodiles,
another apex predator,

meant that they often
came into close contact.

THEY HONK

Other than large male tigers,

crocodiles were the one true
adversary for Machli.

They terrorized the lake
waters from above and below.

And always took
advantage of stragglers.

It was around this time that Machli
took them on at their own game.

This incredible footage shows her
killing a fully-grown crocodile,

and confirmed to me that she
was no ordinary tigress.

She was the true queen of the lakes.

SHE ROARS

Everything had been going really
well for Machli until then.

She'd learned how to deal
with her mother.

She'd learned how to deal
with her sisters.

She'd set up an exclusive territory
right around the lakes,

probably the best territory,
in terms of prey,

in the whole of Ranthambhore.

And the biggest, most powerful
male around had fathered her cubs.

But soon afterwards,
Bomboo disappeared,

and none of us were quite sure why.

There was a worrying threat
that it may have been poaching...

but one thing we knew for sure,

Machli's life was going to
change from this point on.

A new male was going to move in,
and he could be a serious threat

to Machli's cubs.

My worst fears were realised

when I started finding huge
male pugmarks

getting closer and closer
to Machli's territory.

I came to this spot one morning,
like any other morning,

I used to pass through
here every day...

when I suddenly saw the new
male, at last,

had come to the very heart
of Machli's territory.

He was investigating what
was going on here.

The cubs were blissfully
unaware of the danger they were in.

Over the next few weeks, I started
to see this male more and more.

We called him Nick.

And a new challenge for Machli was,

how was she going to deal
with this new male?

He was young and inexperienced,

but he was still huge,
compared to her, and a real danger.

And he tracked her down,
he tracked her down relentlessly.

He just knew where she was.

TIGERS GROWL

And he was clearly
in the mood for mating,

and, even more worryingly,
he knew where those cubs were.

So Machli had an incredibly
difficult challenge on her hands.

She was up and down on the ground,

making sure she wasn't
available to him,

positioning herself very carefully.

He was sniffing in the scent.

He was trying to work out exactly
what was going on with her.

And as he walked towards me...

he seemed very on edge.

TIGER GROWLS

When this had been going on
for some weeks,

I came back to this very place,

and I saw Machli looking
very anxious indeed.

The male was circling her.

Then they came to this,
almost like an arena.

It was made for a fight,
and she just lunged straight at him.

TIGERS GROWL

And she beat him.

It didn't last very long,
but tiger fights cannot last long,

because they would seriously
injure each other.

But what was amazing,
at the end of the fight,

both Machli and the male
bowed to each other.

Now, I'd seen this very same thing
happening at the end of mating,

when there's often aggression.

But this sort of bow seems to mean,

"We've had enough,
let's not continue with this."

That's it, the aggression seems to
just disappear and they part.

What she had done,
she played a magnificent game

of combining seductress
on the one hand,

keeping him interested...

interested enough not to hurt her.

But he walked
away as the injured party.

He was definitely
out of action for a couple of days.

With a pad cut like that,
you can't hunt.

She had won this encounter,

and for the sake of her cubs, it was
such an important encounter to win.

And this distinguishes second-rate
tigers from first-rate tigers,

if you like.

She was the queen
of Ranthambhore now -

she could control
this dominant male.

These days, I've discovered
that Machli rarely uses

these roads like she used to.

Good, fresh tracks.

Nice ones.

'We've been finding sporadic female
pugmarks crossing the road

'in a tiny corner of her
former territory.'

Yeah, these are fresh,
these are fresh.

Go on, go on. Chale, chale.

At last, we've found
some physical indication

that we're actually on her trail,
and that she's still alive.

I knew this wasn't going to be easy,

because her needs,

her requirements are
so different than they used to be.

She's now a tigress just
surviving on her own.

So she's keeping a really
low profile,

and that's completely
opposite of the Machli I knew.

Chalo.

'And although she's in a relatively
small area,

'maybe a couple of square
kilometres,

'if she doesn't move, she's pretty
much impossible to find.

'So I'm starting to get a little
concerned as to whether

'I'm going to see her at all.'

BIRDS CALL

Every track and trail in Machli's
territory seems to hold some

sort of memory for me.

Some of them now look just
sort of empty and desolate,

and you'd think nothing
had ever happened there.

This was the spot.
Just in here.

But on this particular road,

it looks like a very ordinary
piece of road now,

a most extraordinary event
happened one day,

one I shall never forget,
and probably, for me,

the single greatest thing
I ever filmed as a cameraman.

I shall never forget the day.

I'd come in the park that morning
and she had gone hunting,

and left the two
cubs behind, in cover.

And a few hours later,
way in the distance...

I heard a roaring.

TIGER ROARS

And then it got louder and louder,
as she came through the lakes.

TIGER ROARS

TIGER ROARS

She came walking towards me,
towards me, towards me,

roaring all the way,
so I knew she was calling the cubs.

She came right past my vehicle
and then lay down on the road.

And I simply couldn't believe
what happened next.

I heard rustling in the bushes

and first of all,
out stepped the first cub,

and he lay down on the road,
quickly followed by the second one.

But they weren't just
lying beside her and nuzzling her,

they were actually suckling her.

They were using their paws to
sort of stimulate milk production,

like they would have done
when they were youngsters.

I don't think anyone had ever
recorded a tigress suckling

almost two-year-old cubs before.

Machli knew what she was doing,
that's for sure.

It's as if she was saying
goodbye to her two boys.

Because that was the last time
I ever saw them

together as a family unit.

THUNDER RUMBLES

When the two cubs suddenly
disappeared,

I started to get worried.

There'd been rumours when Bombooram
disappeared, too, that poaching

was starting again in Ranthambhore.

It's periodically been a huge
problem in this part of the world.

It turned out that poaching was
to blame for the disappearance

of at least one of Machli's
first set of cubs.

Around this time, poaching
accounted for up to 25 tiger deaths

in Ranthambhore.

And in the neighbouring tiger
reserve of Sariska,

every single tiger was killed
by poaching.

Ranthambhore is a major
religious site

and pilgrims flock
here in huge numbers.

In fact, over Machli's lifetime
perhaps ten million people

have come into the heart
of her territory.

She knew how to disappear
when she needed to disappear,

and perhaps she was able to detect
benign people from dangerous people.

Although I'd like to believe she had
some sort of sixth sense

and knew how to avoid poachers,

the truth is she probably survived
because she lived

in the most heavily protected part
of Ranthambhore.

Cattle grazers would
sometimes come into her territory

during the monsoon,
but she avoided eating cattle

and hence avoided
coming into conflict.

Clever girl.

Perhaps she learned from her mother
who had survived

a similar poaching crisis
during the early '90s.

Our search for Machli is taking us
deeper and deeper into the park.

Fresh pugmarks. Chalo.

The female pugmarks have become
more consistent

around a little gorge
called Lakarda.

I'm pretty sure now this is where
she's got to be.

Very quiet.

Peaceful place, isn't it?

She must be sitting quietly
here somewhere.

'It's one of the most beautiful
little bits of the planet.'

She has always loved this place.

She was born here,
and I'm quite sure

that this is where
she's going to die.

Worse places to die.

It's one of the most beautiful
little bits of the planet,

as far as I'm concerned.

She's brought me to so many
beautiful places

on our journey together.

HE SIGHS

Ranthambhore won't be the same
without her.

SHE PANTS

By the time Machli's first cubs
had left her,

she was about four and a half
years old.

Irony of ironies,
that male that she'd fought

and that male that she could have
been killed by...

..he had now become the dominant
male of this area.

There was this amazing sort of
reversal in his fortunes, I suppose.

She now had to go and befriend him

and he was to become
the father of her second litter.

In the second litter, there was
one male and one female.

But this time that family
was able to be raised

in the security of having
the dominant male around.

That changed everything for her.

It became a much more
straightforward

raising of the family.

She raised four litters, with
two in the first, two in the second,

two in the third,
and three in the fourth.

She's been a wonderful mother

and by far the most successful
tigress in Ranthambhore.

I think one of the keys to Machli's
success was her ability

to manipulate males.

I witnessed an incredible
example of this

when she was rearing her third
family of two cubs.

Came round the corner,
and there in front of me

was the most amazing sight.

Machli, fast asleep on the road,

the most relaxed I'd ever seen her,
as were the cubs.

And then the cubs, as cubs will do,
started to get a little bit bored.

So, one of them got up
and started wandering down the road,

so I thought, "I'll follow."

And then...

I noticed the cub was looking
slightly alert, slightly anxious...

and I looked into the bushes
at the back,

and there was another tiger.

It was a great, big male head.

If there was no relationship between
these animals, the tiger could

get up and kill that cub, easily.

So it was a moment of great tension.

This was the first time I had ever
seen the tiger we called X Male,

because we knew he existed
but we never saw him.

I was absolutely holding my breath.

TIGER GROWLS

As soon as he looked up, the cub's
posture changed, immediately,

and he quickly moved in...

right up beside the tiger

that was obviously his dad,

because they started playing
with each other.

So this was the first time

I had ever really seen a tiger
family together.

And, from a cameraman's point of
view, it was mostly hidden,

slightly behind the bushes, but for
me, it meant absolutely everything.

This was a moment I had always
wanted to witness.

It was happening right
in front of me.

Now, male tigers have big
territories

and they will have several
females within their territory...

possibly several families.

And it seems to me that they patrol

and visit each of those
families on a regular basis.

Now Machli, it seemed,

was allowing this male in
to share her kills with her.

From her point of view, if she gives
almost a reward for him

being in the area,

he's more likely to come to that
area on a regular basis

and hence, her cubs
will be protected

from the intrusions of other males.

I'm sure it's something that happens
with tigresses generally,

but it seemed that Machli was very,
very good at establishing

relationships with males
throughout her life.

She's a smart girl, and that
relationship she's had with males

over the years has really
fascinated me,

because it's something
we really didn't know

an awful lot about in tigers.

Her last litter, three female cubs,
all raised successfully.

This was the perfect situation -
Ranthambhore,

three female cubs on the lakes.

It was almost like a mirror
of what Machli had been through.

That's how she had been brought up.

She had held sway in the lakes
for almost a decade,

and her life as a fighter
was beginning to take its toll

on the aging tigress.

TIGER PANTS

One thing that a tiger needs
to successfully kill

is good, strong canines.

They are known as
the "killing teeth",

and Machli was starting to
lose her canines.

TIGER ROARS

TIGER ROARS

Each time I saw her, I could see her
physical prowess was ebbing away.

This queen was about
to lose her crown

to one of those closest to her.

My feeling was that one of these
daughters had just inherited

a bit more of Machli than
the other ones.

Ironically, Machli's
success at controlling

and reproducing with alpha males
had resulted

in this incredibly
powerful daughter.

A worthy rival, with all her
cunning and aggression.

She was ready to kick Machli out
and take over the lake territory.

First, she had to defeat her
sisters,

starting with the youngest
and weakest.

TIGERS GRUNT AND ROAR

The first encounter was
relatively straightforward.

But her elder sister was bigger
and stronger than her.

TIGERS GRUNT AND ROAR

With her two sisters out of the way,

she then turned her attention
to her mother.

And Machli was waiting, almost as if
she knew what was going to happen.

The tables were turned.

GENTLE GROWLING

BIRDS SQUAWK

Machli's reign was about
to come to an end.

TIGER GROWLS

THEY GRUNT AND ROAR

That short interaction
was all it took.

A queen deposed by her own daughter.

TIGER GROWLS

Machli was intelligent enough
to know when to back down.

This is how she had survived to
become something very rare...

an elderly tigress.

SHE PANTS

It was soon after this that she left
the lakes for good,

and began her life as a recluse,

avoiding all other members
of her kind.

And that's why she's been
so hard to find.

People often refer to
tigers as being solitary animals,

but in fact, Machli has spent
much of her life in the company

of other tigers, with all those
families she's raised.

But now she's a very
different animal.

Now she's got to avoid all contact
with members of her kind.

And that sort of makes me sad,

to think that she's out there now
all by herself, all alone.

It's a sad old way for such
a dominant tigress to sort of...

for things to end. But...

I hope I get to see
her in the next few days,

cos I've a feeling if I don't,
I'll never see her again.

I wonder where she is right now.

SHE PANTS

Once she was kicked
out of the lakes,

Machli had to find a new
way of surviving in her old age.

Making kills was now really
difficult for her.

She'd lost all her canines.

But one thing's for sure,

when she was lucky enough to make
a kill, she wanted to protect it.

But protecting your hard-earned
meal from other tigers

can be fraught with danger.

And there's nothing more dangerous
than a marauding male.

TIGER PANTS

She needs to stay out of his way.

I have never seen a tiger
look more nervous.

It was really hard for me to watch.

But she still wasn't going away.

The sight of him stealing her kill
is just too much for her,

and she lets him
know she's not happy.

That is not a good idea.

SHE GROWLS

THEY GRUNT AND ROAR

She just doesn't give up.

A fighter till the bitter end.

After all these years,
that feistiness

that first attracted me to her has
not diminished in the slightest.

That's what makes Machli
so special to me.

It's my final day here.

Strange feeling.

I've been thinking about
this day for some time.

BIRDS SQUAWK

I'm sure Machli's in here.

If I was to guess, I'd say that
she's been on a carcass,

because I can hear the sounds
of crows and treepies in there.

And she should move.

She should move, because it's
getting warmer and warmer.

And if I know Machli...

by the time it gets to
maybe ten o'clock this morning,

it'll be about 110 degrees,

and she'll move to water,

cos she loves sitting in the water.

But whatever happens, I'm not going
to move from this place all day.

BIRDS CALL

I think there's some movement
going on, peacock alarm calls.

I think she's on the move.

She's coming, she's coming.

She's coming.

She looks beautiful. Just beautiful.

SHE PANTS

'This whole jungle will be empty
without her, that's for sure...

'when she goes, but I'm kind of glad
I came to see her now

'and I'm leaving her looking good.

'I have no desire to see her
when she's dead.

'I don't need that.

'I prefer just to see her...

'looking healthy, well-fed,
well-watered.'

Because this whole...

I guess, you know, we've
been on a long journey together,

Machli and I, 13 years.

You know, I'm so glad
I came to see her for the last time.

It's like, even in my personal life,
I've always tried to go

and see people before they've died
and not go to their funerals.

That's just the way I prefer it.

It seems to me
it makes a lot more sense.

And to have been able
to come back here

and to see Machli still
looking in good health...

still at least in a tiny part of her
former territory, still alive,

looking good,

and leaving her today,
lying in the shade of a jamun tree.

That's the image I'm going to take
away from this place.

I'll never have a relationship with
another wild tiger like that again.

People say there are more
tigers in the forest...

you know, "There's plenty of fish
in the sea."

But not for me.

That's a once-in-a-lifetime.