Original subtitles

LIONS SNARL

CUBS HOWL

Every year in the Kalahari,

as the dry season tightens its grip,

thousands of hungry animals

make their way to the last remaining patches of grassland.

Savuti Marsh, with its permanent water,

is soon packed with game.

For the lions that live here...

..this is feast-time.

Lion territory doesn't get much better.

But this year...

Savuti has just been through its worst drought in three decades.

When the grass ran out, the grazers moved on...

..and left the cats with a dilemma.

Among the larger animals, only the elephants kept coming...

..prisoners of their need for Savuti's precious water.

If they were going to eat,

the resident lions had to re-write the rules.

And, inspired by a fearless leader...

..that is exactly what they have done.

ELEPHANT CRIES OUT

LION ROARS

By learning how to kill elephants,

this remarkable pride has managed to survive the drought

and hang on to its territory.

Protected by a coalition of five brothers,

these giant killers are now the undisputed masters of the marsh.

But their grip on this precious kingdom

is about to be tested like never before.

With plenty to eat, the pride has been growing.

And in the footsteps of these cubs,

there may soon be more.

A young lioness is ready to mate.

LIONESS SNARLS

Among the coalition of brothers, however, competition is fierce.

LIONS SNARL AND GRUNT

Old rivalries flare up...

..and the lions pick sides.

By the time the dust has settled,

the damage has been done.

In a few reckless minutes,

the band of brothers has torn itself apart...

..Ieaving just two males to defend the pride.

The three banished lions head off to establish dynasties of their own.

If they're successful, they could be back,

Iooking to claim the marsh for themselves.

The split does not bode well for the ageing leader and her pride.

These would-be heirs now face an uncertain future.

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDERCLAP

Distant thunder is a sign that the wet season may at last be coming.

For the trapped and starving elephants,

it is only rain that can free them from these killing fields.

Hit hard by the drought,

the elephants have been too weak to put up much of a fight...

..and the lions have taken full advantage.

This unusual situation may never repeat itself.

The pride's two remaining brothers still stand shoulder to shoulder.

Alert for hostile intruders,

they step up their border patrols.

They have every reason to be more vigilant.

A young lioness has just given birth to her first litter.

CUBS MEWL

Though full of life, the two cubs are vulnerable.

Until they're bigger, they're best kept hidden...

..even from their own the pride.

It's now up to the other lionesses to do all the hunting.

The pride's leader, however, is looking old.

Since the rains, she's become too frail to keep up.

There are just two lionesses to lead the hunt

and today, they've got several cubs in tow.

As the adults look for a target...

..the youngsters watch closely.

This is the first time that the young lions have joined a hunt...

..and they have much to learn.

BUFFALO GRUNTS

LIONESS SNARLS

BUFFALO BAYS

The rookies are itching to have a go.

Alas, they are still too small -

even for an injured calf.

BUFFALO BAYS

What to hunt and how to kill it

are things that all lions must learn...

..and they are things that vary from pride to pride.

The lesson that these lionesses have just given to their cubs...

..is a lesson that they themselves received several years ago...

..from their own mother.

Now too weak to move,

this once-fearless hunter has been a mere spectator

to the day's proceedings.

Hanging over her daughters is an unanswered question -

If it ever came to it,

would they too be able to lead the pride against elephants?

Or is giant-killing itself destined to die

with the old female's last breath?

Within days, her life is slipping away.

She summons the strength for a final, defiant roar.

LIONESS ROARS

Already weakened by the departure of the three males,

the lions have now lost their queen.

The two babies, barely a month old,

ought to give cause for hope.

But the recent death of their leader has unsettled the pride -

especially the new mother, who decides to rejoin the group.

Having retrieved one of her infants,

she returns with the second.

They wouldn't normally be exposed to older cubs

until they're twice as big.

BIRDS CAW

The three older cubs are fascinated by the new arrivals.

Their clumsy attempts at play, however, irritate the mother.

LIONESS GROWLS

Taking the hint, they move on.

One of them has found a new toy.

This looks like a game that could last for a while...

..and with her infants no longer attracting interest,

the mother leaves them to go hunting.

It could be hours before she's back.

CUBS HOWL

CUBS YOWL

The older cubs are playing Mother...

..but they're oblivious to the damage they're inflicting...

..and the longer it drags on,

the rougher it gets.

By the time they finish,

it's already too late.

CUB WHINES

Neither cub survives the night.

It's a cruel blow...

..not just to the mother and her babies,

but to the very future of this crumbling pride.

LION ROARS

Alas, the pride's troubles are not yet over.

At the north end of the marsh,

one of the patrolling males has detected danger.

Trespassers.

If he doesn't confront them,

his own dwindling family will soon be in peril.

Despite their numbers, the intruders fall back.

For the pride's male,

it's an invitation to assert his authority.

Only when they are back across the border

do the retreating lions reveal their ace...

..one of his exiled brothers.

They may once have been allies,

but there is bad blood...

..and if this is lion chess, it looks like checkmate.

Now that they have him surrounded,

the young lions goad him into a fight.

LION SNARLS

The exiled brother, however,

fails to press home his advantage.

Heavily outnumbered,

the pride's male has been lucky to escape with his life.

Perhaps, at last, the pride's fortunes are beginning to lift.

As the days become hotter,

desert winds chase away the last clouds.

The dry season is returning

and the first big herds are starting to stream in from the Kalahari.

BUFFALO GRUNT

Before long, the marsh will provide the only grazing for miles around.

Over the next few months, the pride enjoys a rare period of stability.

Food is plentiful...

..the neighbours stay away...

..and there are even some new arrivals.

This time, the infants have grown large enough to join the group.

CUBS MEWL

The three older cubs have now matured into adolescents

that know how to play more gently.

For the first time in months,

the pride is starting to look like it has a future.

LION ROARS

More mouths means more work.

And now that they're older,

the three adolescents will have to start pulling their weight.

The pride still has no clear leader.

Any one of the three sisters could step forward.

But for now, the priority is to eat.

The entire pride is now together...

..and the three adolescents are eager to get involved.

The lions are looking to flush out an injured animal...

..a target that they can isolate and pull down.

But try as they might,

they can find no weakness.

Faced with an advancing wall of horns,

the lions call off the hunt.

Only one of them is unwilling to back down.

Endowed, it seems,

with the same remarkable courage as her giant-killing mother,

she now faces the buffalo alone.

The hunt may not be bringing the lions the meat they need...

..but it has revealed a new leader.

After their failure with the buffalo,

the lions are forced to look elsewhere for a meal.

WARTHOG SQUEAKS

WARTHOG SQUEALS

Welcome as it is, a warthog is barely big enough to go round...

..and as in all prides,

the lion's share always goes to the strongest.

LION SNARLS

LION ROARS

For those at the bottom of the pecking order,

there is little hope.

The cubs, like the rest of the pride,

are left to go hungry.

CUB SNARLS

Adult lions can normally last a week or two without food.

But with their cubs depending on them for milk,

the mothers need to feed more often.

Their only option is to keep hunting.

By September,

the last of the Kalahari's refugees are arriving at the marsh.

Elephants are gathering in their hundreds...

..and this year, they're fit and strong.

Until the rains return,

the marsh will once again be their home.

Still hungry,

the pride is back on the hunt.

Buffalo are not hard to find.

What they lack in numbers, though,

these bulls make up for in sheer, brute strength.

It'll take several lions to pull one down.

A lioness strikes first...

BUFFALO BAYS

..and hangs on for some support.

But when they arrive,

the younger lions do little to help...

..allowing the buffalo to counter-attack and re-group.

Despite their renewed efforts,

the adolescents seem unable to work together.

Their uncoordinated attacks are proving easy to shrug off...

..and with the ambush collapsing in disarray,

the buffalo are able to escape.

Their struggle to catch anything is making life difficult.

And now, just when they're tired and hungry...

..their enemies are back.

They're the trespassers from the north.

This time, it's the pride's females that must face the danger...

..and they are determined to defend their turf.

LIONS GRUNT AND SNARL

The assault on the intruder continues into the night...

..and before long,

the ruckus draws the attention of the pride's two males.

For the trespassers -

anxious to slip back across the border -

the night is not yet over.

Daylight reveals a casualty...

..a young lion from the invading pride.

His attackers are not without wounds of their own...

..but they at least will survive.

There is no room here for sentiment.

Savuti Marsh, of all places,

is territory worth fighting for.

After a week without food,

the pride has only one thing on its mind.

They will have to work together, though, if they're going to succeed.

BUFFALO MOOS

They've been here before...

..and failed.

LION SNARLS

BUFFALO BAYS

Safety for the injured buffalo lies with the herd.

To finish the job, the pride must move fast to isolate it.

BUFFALO MOOS

Teamwork has finally brought success...

..and this time, there's more than enough for everyone.

With their kingdom secured

and a plentiful supply of food...

..the pride's prospects have never looked better.

But the stakes are about to be raised.

THUNDER CRACKS

The passing storm has brought not rain, but fire.

FLAMES CRACKLE

In a landscape already baked dry by the sun,

the flames spread rapidly...

..burning off the grass that feeds the herds.

With nothing left for them on the scorched plains...

..the grazers that would normally stay here are starting to move out.

Within days, the picture has changed dramatically.

What should be a banquet is now an empty table.

Across the burnt marsh,

the lions see only elephants.

ELEPHANTS GRUNT

Both are trapped in this smouldering wasteland.

The elephants, by their need for water...

..the pride, because it has nowhere else to go.

Perhaps she already knows it.

There is, yet again, only one animal here that can sustain the pride.

The elephants, however,

are far fitter and stronger than they were before.

It's little wonder that the lions seem uncertain.

LIONS GROWL

Even for their leader, so fearless against the buffalo,

this is dangerous new territory.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

The queen is now facing her greatest test.

If she can emulate her giant-killing mother,

the pride will survive and the marsh will truly be theirs.

But fail, and it will all have been for nothing.

Instinctively, the lions wait for an easy opportunity to present itself.

ELEPHANT CUB SHRIEKS

ELEPHANT ROARS

The pride's leader is undeterred.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

To succeed, more hunters are going to have to join the fray.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

But the size of their challenge must seem overwhelming.

With each passing day,

the lions grow hungrier...

..and more desperate.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

ELEPHANT SHRIEKS

ELEPHANTS TRUMPET

Throwing caution to the wind,

they're ready to try anything.

Led by their queen,

the lions refuse to give up.

With each failure,

the pride's grip on the marsh is slipping...

..and time is not on their side.

Over the past year,

the pride has been on an extraordinary journey.

From thriving family to near disaster and back again.

There is just one final, elephant-sized hurdle...

..a hurdle that nature has forced them to confront

for a second time.

If it's going to survive,

the pride will have to go way beyond what it did before.

It is now...

..or never.

BI RDS CAW

ELEPHANT SHRIEKS

LIONS ROAR