Original subtitles

FEMALE NARRATOR: Meet the Nsefu pride,

and their newest members.

Six cubs who feed together

and play together.

(GROWLING)

All except one.

He holds back.

A misfit.

This is his story.

He's the smallest, the most vulnerable.

(SNARLING)

Surrounded by killers, even other lions.

His family is all that stands between him

and a violent world.

(ROARING)

(GROWLING)

(MEOWING)

Lost and afraid.

The smallest cub faces rejection and hardship.

(GROWLING)

(MEOWING)

His only hope is in his determination to survive.

(OPENING THEME PLAYING)

The Luangwa River

is the heart of Zambia's South Luangwa National Park.

It's drying up.

It hasn't rained for six months.

Along the bank lives the Nsefu Pride,

a family of twenty lions, including six cubs, born to two sisters.

The cubs have different characters, some playful, some aggressive.

These two are the twins, a male and a female.

A couple of weeks younger are four males.

One is smaller, holds back,

perhaps a runt.

Even in the womb some cubs get more nutrition than others.

This little misfit risks being pushed out of meals

by his stronger brothers, and falling further behind.

Male cubs need friendships

that will evolve into coalitions as adults, to start new prides.

Playing together is vital to their future.

(GROWLING)

The older twins set the pace.

Chasing and fighting are their favorite games.

They're getting stronger all the time.

The misfit is missing out.

(GROWLING)

Cubs want to form bonds.

One of the twins approaches the timid cub.

At first the misfit is just scared.

(GROWLING)

He tried, but he finds being part of the gang hard.

(BUFFALO SNORTING)

As the dry season progresses,

buffalo are drawn to the few streams and lagoons around the river.

(MOOING)

(MOOING)

(HYENA BARKS)

Hyenas follow.

If hyenas or leopards find the cubs, they'll kill them.

Keeping them alive is a difficult job for the mothers.

Nine out of ten cubs die in their first few years,

before they're big enough to defend themselves.

(HYENA BARKS)

(INSECTS CHITTERING)

(HOWLING)

Night is the most dangerous time,

and the mothers need to persuade the reluctant cubs to hide, and remain hidden.

The mothers can't stay with the cubs.

As the pride's best hunters, they're needed elsewhere.

Lions hunt cooperatively.

(GROWLING)

They run at the herds of impala and puku, hoping to find a weaker individual.

Sickness or injury is quickly punished in the African wilderness.

The antelope are fast, built to avoid cheetahs.

Buffalo are like tanks,

slower, but it takes the whole hunting team to bring one down.

(SNORTING) (GROWLING)

Few hunts succeed.

The buffalos just canter away.

(ROARING)

While the females hunt,

the two brothers roar out their ownership

of their 25 square mile territory,

broadcasting their strength to rival lions.

(ROARING)

(HYENAS LAUGHING)

Roars also intimidate others predators, particularly hyenas.

(HYENAS YELPING)

The clan lives in a lion-proof den.

(YELPING)

A babysitter stays behind while the clan goes hunting.

(YELPING)

The lion cubs have nobody to guard them.

(LIONS ROARING)

(HYENAS LAUGHING)

With so much chaos, they may panic, and scatter.

That's very risky with the resident leopard out hunting.

She's able to move so quietly that even impala and puku can't detect her.

Leopards and lions are rivals, attacking each other's cubs whenever they can.

In the cool of the night

hippos come out of the river to graze.

Stirring up a cloud of insects for the bats.

The hyenas have found some of the lion pride enjoying the remains of a warthog.

The lionesses are away hunting,

the dominant males roaring and the cubs hiding.

What remains are the teenagers,

yearlings to four-year-olds.

Pride and clan skirmish over scraps.

(ROARING)

(HOWLING)

(HOWLING)

The hyenas back down.

(HIPPOS GRUNTING)

At dawn, the hippos leave the busy plains for the cool safety of the river.

(SNORTING AND GRUNTING)

The little misfit is in the hiding place, alone.

It's been a night of drama.

The five other cubs are scattered.

Halfway across the river are two of the missing cubs.

This is no-man's land, and very dangerous.

(MEOWING)

(GROWLING)

The two mothers are out searching

and have found the male twin.

Leaving him alone on the bank,

his mother sets out to rescue his sister

and a younger cousin.

(MEOWING)

They are half way into another pride's territory.

(MEOWING)

Fortunately, there's no sign of the neighbors.

(MEOWING)

She leads them back to safety.

It's so easy for cubs to wander off and run into trouble in the dark.

Curiosity and courage may have led them astray.

(MEOWING)

All the cubs are found,

they've had their big adventure,

learnt their lesson.

Except for one, the little loner,

who just stayed where he was put.

(MEOWING) (GROWLING)

The bigger cubs have a new game,

testing the tolerance of the two adult males.

(MEOWING) (GROWLING)

The little misfit wants to make friends

and approaches the big males, too.

The males are his best line of defense and worth befriending.

He's ignored as usual,

so he returns to his mother for milk.

Late for breakfast,

the teenagers finally saunter in.

They've been out causing mayhem all night.

The little cub approaches the adolescents.

He clearly wants to make friends.

But the gang on the edge of adulthood are dangerous,

their instincts are muddled,

unpredictable, sometimes playful cub, sometimes lethal hunter.

(GROWLING)

Still, perhaps it's something to hang out with the big boys.

(LIONESS MOTHER CALLS)

When his mother calls, he wanders back.

Over time, the pride move around their 25 square mile territory,

following their prey, and checking for intruders.

They stop regularly, and snooze for much of each day.

(GROWLING)

Her growl could be a reprimand for wandering off,

or a warning.

(MEOWING)

At one resting place are the remains of a puku antelope.

The older cubs are beginning to eat meat,

in this case, the stolen scraps of a leopard kill.

They're about three months old now,

and this is mostly about training,

developing hunting instincts, and slowly moving their digestion from milk to meat.

The loner just needs some confidence to join in and catch up.

(SNARLING)

The meat's only a first taster,

and they're suckling more than ever.

(GROWLING)

The mothers share the nursing of all the cubs.

It's called allo-suckling.

But six cubs are hard work.

Each lioness only has four nipples,

and the cubs always want to feed together.

(SNARLING)

(GROWLING)

(GROWLING)

The mothers are getting tetchy.

(GROWLING)

Feeding together is important.

As they grow up, the male cubs need to be able to form a coalition and win a territory.

So the friendships formed in shared litters are key.

(SNARLING)

After fighting for food, they fight some more, just for the fun of it.

(SNARLING)

The little oddball is excluded.

(GROWLING)

The teenagers play too, but their games are really rough.

(GROWLING)

The misfit cub is used to being on his own.

(SNARLING)

The pride wanders off.

He's forgotten by his mother, brothers and cousins,

even by the teenagers.

Once the adult lions are gone,

the other animals relax a bit, and are curious about this little lone lion.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

(MEOWING)

Too late, he realizes he needs his pride, and misses his mother.

(MEOWING)

(MEOWING)

(HIPPOS SNORTING)

(INSECTS CHITTERING)

(OWL HOOTS)

Alone and lost,

calling for his family is not a good idea.

(CUB SQUEALING)

Others may hear.

(SQUEALING)

Even hippos kill cubs occasionally.

They may be vegetarians,

but they're by no means harmless.

The little misfit doesn't panic.

He's naturally a loner.

(CRICKETS CHIRPING)

The cub comes near impala and puku.

Best to stay still and just listen with the listeners.

In the quiet, a nocturnal cast emerges.

A timid savanna hare.

And a musky genet, a cousin of the mongoose.

Much more dangerous, the local leopard.

Lions and leopards are locked in an ancient rivalry.

Both kill each other's cubs if they find them.

One instinctive response to extreme fear in animals

is to shut down the body, even lose consciousness.

It's called a syncope response.

Twenty yards away from the cub, the leopard pauses.

The genet approaches.

The leopard isn't distracted, locked onto the cub.

(SOFT GROWLING)

A hippo breaks the spell.

(SNORTING)

Hippos may hate leopards,

but are unlikely lifesavers for lion cubs.

(MEOWING)

(CUB MEOWING)

The teenagers have had their meal,

and lost a skirmish with hyenas.

They're in the mood for more mayhem.

There's not much hunting strategy yet,

just run at them.

Missed again.

But, just behind the teenager,

(CUB MEOWING)

the cub.

(MEOWING)

He's found his pride.

(SOFT GROWLS)

It's a rough reunion.

(MEOWING)

The adolescents are away from the main pride.

He's in as much danger with them as he was alone.

Mouths watering,

their tentative nips cover him with saliva.

It's not in his character to fight back.

Their hunting instincts, Their frustrations... (SQUEALING)

...could claim a first kill.

One of their own.

The cub, equally confused, tries to suckle.

(SOFT GROWLING)

(MEOWING)

The young males grow increasingly hostile.

The misfit's desperate to get away.

It's only going to get worse.

(SOFT GROWLING)

(GROWLING)

His mother is out looking for him.

(GROWLING)

(MEOWING)

(MEOWING) (GROWLING)

(GROWLING)

The teenagers want their plaything back.

(GROWLING)

Few cubs would have survived this night.

But there's something about this little loner that defies the odds.

(BIRD CAWING)

Looking after their vulnerable young

is the hardest challenge many animals face.

Parents dedicate their lives to the next generation.

It's in everything they do.

The little loner is back safe with the pride,

and has had his adventure.

The other five cubs' games are rough.

They are gaining in confidence and strength.

(SNARLING)

The instinct is to develop adult skills

through tag and wrestling,

as well as establishing bonds and hierarchies within the friendships.

It takes a few years of playing to learn how to be a lion.

The little misfit's development is falling behind,

but this morning, after his escapade,

he has a more immediate problem.

He can hardly walk.

The other cubs behave as if he wasn't there,

as if he was already dead.

He may have fractured his hip or spine,

injured perhaps, by the teenagers.

Or maybe, he's just bruised and weak.

He returns to his mother for breakfast.

(SOFT GROWLING)

She growls a warning.

Something has changed.

He needs milk if he is to heal.

(GROWLS)

He tries his aunt.

(CUBS WHIMPERING)

But she also abruptly ends the meal.

The biology of maternal love has an extraordinary exception.

Occasionally, mothers turn against their young,

neglect or even kill them.

Scientists are only beginning to investigate how a bond

that is so strong can get broken.

And if there's anything a rejected cub can do to win a parent back.

He can't keep up.

They've disappeared.

Alone again.

He keeps following the family.

He has courage, determination.

He finally tracks down his family.

But he's not welcome.

The injured misfit is weakening,

and his limp is worse.

He's now suffering as much from dehydration as injury.

He can't walk in a straight line.

(WHIMPERING)

He has to keep up.

His willpower and courage are extraordinary.

He arrives late,

but the problem is more than just his timing.

Each time he tries to suckle,

his mother and his aunt both continue to refuse him.

They are making a choice.

If a lioness can work out which of her cubs is most likely to die,

it makes sense to concentrate on the others,

those that have the best chance of surviving.

It's grim, but it's not that unusual

for mothers to abandon ailing young.

(PURRING)

He sits apart and lets the others feed.

He tries again.

(SQUEALS)

(GROWLS)

(SQUEALS)

The adults know a way round and down into a gully where there's water.

(PANTING)

The little misfit is so dehydrated now, he's walking in circles.

He's lost the others.

He sees them in the gully below.

A crocodile is waiting for any unwary drinker.

(MEOWING)

The mothers know the danger from the croc... (GROWLS)

...and bark out warnings and threats.

Weak and confused,

the cub doesn't realize there's a safe way round.

(MEOWING)

If a cub, her cub,

is in direct danger from outside,

it must appeal to her in a different way.

(MEOWING)

At last, a drink of water.

Hesitantly, he approaches his mother.

For the first time since his terrifying night alone,

she lets him get close, and allows him to suckle.

It's much-needed sustenance.

But he's still the runt,

still injured and still unable to keep up.

(MEOWING)

As the pride walks away, something happens.

One of the cubs turns, and waits for him.

Then, one by one, the whole family turns, and waits.

They give him a second chance.

With luck, this is just the beginning of his story.

♪♪

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