Original subtitles

NARRATOR: The Nsefu Pride.

A lion family, blessed with young.

For two little males, friendship is everything.

Two brothers, a misfit and a dreamer,

form an unlikely alliance.

Looking out for each other by day, and night.

But the pride is under attack, from enemies, large...

(TRUMPETS)

(GROWLS)

And small.

(HYENA CACKLES)

Together, the two young lions face danger...

And tragedy.

If they are to secure their future,

they must first overcome their past.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

It's a big day for the Nsefu Pride

in Zambia's Luangwa Valley.

The family has seven new cubs,

the offspring of two lionesses.

It's May, and they've been born into the wet season.

It's not the best timing.

The valley is flush with green growth

so the antelope have moved away from the river,

and are harder to find.

There are a lot of new mouths to feed.

These cubs have only just joined the main pride.

They've been hiding in a den for a month.

(GROWLS WEAKLY)

Each cub has a different character, right from the start.

Among these litter mates,

one is confident and dominant,

another more easy-going.

A third is timid.

All have personalities of their own.

(CUB MEWLING)

(WHIMPERS)

This little cub always seems to get left behind.

He's perhaps a dreamer,

more interested in other wildlife.

But it's not all butterflies here.

(MEWLS)

His mother's noticed he's lagging behind and waits for him.

The lionesses have a tough job

protecting their cubs from other predators.

This mother's had several litters,

though in the last couple of years,

none of her cubs has survived.

But this isn't unusual. (GROWLS)

Eight out of 10 cubs die during their first few years,

from predation, starvation,

or even at the hands of rival lions.

But maybe the little dreamer

has something that will make him a survivor.

Nights are the most dangerous.

(CUB MEWLS)

Hyenas shadow the lions to steal their kills

and would make a meal of any stray cub.

Leopards, too, would seize any opportunity

to kill the new generation of their age-old enemies.

As the months pass, the wet season gives way to the dry.

The waterholes and gullies around the Luangwa River dry up.

It's now September,

nearly five months since the cubs were born,

but they're nowhere in sight.

The Nsefu lions are together,

but only one of the seven cubs remains.

It's the dreamer.

The trials of the wet season proved too much for the others

but, somehow, this little one survived.

He's a lonely 4-month old

with no one his own age to play with.

He does have older half-brothers.

They're yearlings, effectively teenagers in lion years.

They tend to ignore the dreamer.

All except for one.

This teenager had a traumatic time as a cub.

A year ago, he was the nervous runt of the litter.

A timid little loner.

He was bullied by his older brothers.

(LOW GROWLS)

(CUB WHIMPERING)

Weak and injured,

he was rejected by his mother, who refused him milk.

She seemed to accept this little runt wouldn't pull through.

(GROWLING)

His chance of survival was next to none.

(GROWLS WEAKLY)

But his mother's maternal instinct was unexpectedly reignited.

A year later, he's still alive,

still timid,

still on the outskirts of the family.

He's still the misfit.

And he's starting to forge a new bond

with the surviving little cub...

The dreamer.

He often goes over to check the little cub's OK.

In fact, the little dreamer's got the whole pride looking after him.

(BOTH ROARING)

Two huge brothers rule.

They come and go, occasionally checking in with the family.

This season, the Nsefu Pride is made up of 16 lions,

six lionesses and their offspring,

ranging from the dreamer to 3-year-olds just entering adulthood.

The little dreamer is outgoing, and, unlike the misfit,

plays happily with his older cousins.

But he has a special bond with the misfit.

(YOWLING)

(YOWLING)

The pride females call to keep in touch with the two big males,

who have left on patrol.

The Nsefu Pride is the local royalty,

with the best territory along the Luangwa River in Zambia.

The land is drying and the river will soon be

the only reliable source of water for many animals here.

Wildlife gathers around the Luangwa,

eating the last of the grass.

All the lions need to do is wait.

Antelope have to run the daily gauntlet of predators to reach water.

They're nervous.

This is their toughest time of year.

Lions are not predominantly daytime hunters,

but so many targets close to the river are irresistible.

The Nsefu pride rarely catches the swift antelope.

But no matter.

At this time of year

they know there's bigger prey on its way.

Slower, easier to run down,

but much more dangerous.

Buffalo.

Huge herds gather together in the dry season,

traveling long distances between foraging grounds and the river.

A shriveling lagoon offers little relief for the thirsty herd,

and its mud can be a death trap for the unwary.

They must push on to the river.

While the pride stays close to the Luangwa,

the males patrol their territory.

(ROARING)

Their roars travel further after dark when the air is cooler.

(ROARING)

This wall of sound protects the pride from rival lions,

but there are other dangers at the river's edge.

Thirteen foot crocodiles come ashore to scavenge.

Even the young lions know to leave these beasts well alone.

The misfit and the dreamer

drink together.

The pride's young bachelors want to play,

but they can be rough.

The misfit sits protectively at the little cub's side.

It was this gang of bullies

that beat him up when he was tiny.

But they're soon distracted.

(ANIMAL GRUNTING)

It's time for the hippos to emerge from the river to graze.

The lions are waiting for the buffalo herd,

but they're nothing if not opportunists.

The Nsefu pride has killed hippos before.

But even a young hippo like this is a huge target.

Prey this size needs a well-coordinated attack.

There'll be plenty more opportunities before dawn.

Up above the beach,

one lioness tries to drive puku towards her sisters for an ambush.

But the others don't want to waste their energy on such small prey.

(BUFFALO GRUNTING)

At last, an advance party of buffalo makes a run for the river.

The lionesses see their chance to separate one from the herd.

(ROARS)

(LOWING)

Buffalo defend each other, and are willing and able to kill a careless lioness.

Even alone, this is a formidable opponent.

All the hunters move in to battle

over a ton of muscle, hide and dangerous horns.

The trick is to bring down the back end,

while staying clear of the front.

(BUFFALO LOWING)

The females are a crack team.

They've been hunting cooperatively for several years.

The buffalo stumbles, and it's soon over.

This kill will feed the whole pride,

and it could be days before they need to hunt again.

The little dreamer only started eating meat in the last week or two.

He's amazingly confident.

He's the baby of the family, but precocious.

The misfit will eat his fill eventually

but must wait his turn,

which is always last.

His little brother, belly full, consoles him.

By morning, the pride and the buffalo carcass

are surrounded by scavengers ready to clean up the scraps.

The dreamer is having to clean himself this morning.

His mother is severely injured.

(FLIES BUZZING)

There's a puncture wound in her neck.

She was caught by a buffalo horn.

The little cub needs his mother fit and well.

He's only just begun to be weaned

and still needs to suckle.

The misfit seems to offer what comfort he can.

Last year, an Nsefu lion was killed in a buffalo hunt.

If this mother doesn't recover over the next few days,

the cub will be in real trouble.

The gang of yearlings and sub-adults

are play-hunting with the carcass and each other.

The little cub is ready for another helping.

He's brave.

The sub-adults can be dangerous.

Even now, the misfit is never this brave.

One by one, the sated lions move away to sleep off their meal,

a chance for others to move in.

The little dreamer is in his own world again,

and doesn't notice.

(YIPPING)

But his aunts have got his back.

(YELPING)

Eventually the cub twigs that he's the last lion standing.

He's never been so full of meat.

He's too full to run and catch up.

But his faithful brother, the misfit, waits for him.

A dry river bed is a comfortable place

to sleep off their huge meal.

His injured mother needs to rest.

Injuries that would kill a human

are surprisingly common among wild animals.

Africa is a harsh place.

The animals that live here are tough and resilient.

There's a young elephant with half a trunk.

She got it caught in a snare.

She's coping, and, like the lioness and her pride,

the rest of the herd look out for her.

It's one of the great benefits of being a social animal.

A few days later, the buffalo kill is a distant memory

and the lions are hungry again.

The dreamer does what he always does,

goes to his mum for milk.

Her injury hasn't yet healed.

(MEWLS)

Slowly, painfully, she pushes him away.

He's confused.

His attempts at affection clearly hurt her.

Her windpipe is damaged, and the gash wheezes as air escapes.

The cub keeps trying.

He has to.

She's fighting for her life,

and if she doesn't get through this,

he'll be fighting for his.

(SNARLS)

Lionesses with many cubs nurse each other's offspring

but with the early death of the other six cubs,

the rest of the mothers in this pride

have long since stopped producing milk.

His mother is his only hope.

He won't be fully weaned for another three or four months,

and still needs milk in his diet.

The misfit can't feed him,

but he can wash him,

and that's some comfort.

The two friends, half-brothers, are a good team.

The misfit's experience of rejection last year

may explain his unusual affection for the little cub.

He's knows what it is to be alone.

The two young lions need each other.

The misfit's bond with the dreamer

is his best shot at forming a coalition later in life.

Males form teams of brothers, or cousins,

to rule a pride and a territory.

It's nearly impossible to achieve alone.

The Nsefu pride is run by two such brothers.

Eight-year-old twins who, between them,

have fathered all the youngsters in the pride.

Their bond is unbreakable.

They've been working on this coalition

since the day they were born.

They're brothers in arms,

a powerful force in the valley.

Ranging throughout their Nsefu territory,

they scent mark with urine,

and with secretions from a gland between their toes.

A pungent warning to rival males to stay out.

The big males come and go from the pride,

and the dreamer is always pleased to see them.

There's something about this little cub.

His confidence belies his youth.

The bonds between males can last their whole lives,

between fathers and sons, brothers, half-brothers and cousins.

It's a little observed side of lion family life.

Through the valley as the dry season intensifies,

every remaining stream and pool

is like a thread of precious life.

The lions tend to clear the waterhole of drinking antelope.

But not everything gives way to lions.

There's a feud here with an even bigger family...

Of elephants.

The animosity is fueled by fear and family loyalty.

Adult and even sub-adult elephants

are too large for the pride to tackle,

but this herd has lost calves to lions before.

They take every opportunity to show the big cats

how powerful and dangerous they can be.

The lion family backs down, cowed.

They understand the perils.

Elephants have killed lion cubs, too,

trampling them to death.

The pride is surrounded by enemies,

one far more secretive than elephants.

Leopards outnumber lions here

and, along with hyenas,

are the biggest killers of cubs.

This age-old rancor goes both ways.

The pride kills her cubs, too.

This leopard's no match for the whole pride.

She can't outrun them.

But she's a much better climber.

She's half their size and twice as agile.

Lions rarely climb trees.

So her best bet is to wait it out.

Stalemate.

Below, the lone cub's injured mother

is managing to keep up with the pride,

but she's still in pain.

She won't let him nurse.

The standoff continues.

The family keeps a close eye on their prisoner.

But leopards are masters of stealth.

The lions lose concentration for a minute...

And the leopard seizes her chance.

It's a risky move.

But the lions are too hot to care.

In the heat of the day, they sleep.

In fact, they typically sleep 21 out of 24 hours,

conserving energy for the cool of the night when they usually hunt.

Sleeping in a heap looks hot,

but lions like to be in touching distance of one another.

They're the only truly social cats

and even the way they sleep helps reinforce their bonds.

The misfit and the dreamer are together as usual.

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

But they're destined for disturbance today.

The herd is not happy to have bumped into the lions again.

(TRUMPETING)

They move with the calves inside a protective wall of mothers.

Tensions are running high.

This is very dangerous for the pride.

The elephants get more and more agitated.

And push the lions straight into a small herd of buffalo.

They're equally belligerent.

Caught in the middle, the little cub could easily be trampled under so many feet.

No one backs down.

Eventually the buffalo retreat from the confusion and head for the river.

The lions instinctively follow.

The sticky mud does the hunters' job for them.

(LIONS GROWLING)

It's an easy meal.

It's opportunities like this

that make the river front the Nsefu pride's greatest asset.

The dreamer is in sore need of sustenance.

This unexpected meal isn't a moment too soon.

Now the lions have a kill, the elephant calves are in less danger...

But the herd is still unusually distressed.

The matriarch can't contain herself.

It's extraordinary behavior.

Perhaps it's the smell of blood that's upsetting them

or just displaced anger and fear.

Eventually they back off, but the message is clear.

Elephants are not to be messed with.

It's not a lesson the lions will forget in a hurry.

The burst of energy has taken its toll

on the injured mother of the little dreamer.

She's having breathing problems.

The wound looks a little better,

but she still moves gingerly,

as if every footstep causes her discomfort.

The dreamer has given up trying to elicit any affection from her.

After his big meal of meat,

he's thirsty,

but has an instinctive fear of water.

The river is a lifeline, but it's full of dangers too.

For comfort he goes, not to his mum, but to the misfit.

Their bond is getting stronger all the time.

The rest of the day is spent sleeping off the meal.

The dreamer finds a quiet moment for a nervous drink.

This may be the turning point.

His mother's wound is finally starting to heal over.

And above all, he has the misfit, a solid friend.

That evening, the little cub's mother seems stronger,

and wanders off.

A lion's ability to heal is remarkable.

Her body is working overtime

to get her back to full hunting fitness.

At dusk, the elephants return,

the cue for the rest of the pride to move further along the beach.

Every night, the Nsefu brothers declare their pride's ownership

of this territory.

The misfit sits apart from the other yearlings.

It's only when the dreamer joins him that he plays.

The cub's mother is off consorting with one of the big males.

She's definitely feeling better.

Together they set off for the night's hunt.

The pride is on good form,

strong and taking buffalo regularly.

The evening patrol is a training session for all the youngsters.

The yearlings are learning how to hunt cooperatively.

They've found something.

A pair of warthogs hiding in a bush.

(WARTHOG SQUEALING)

That's how it's done.

The misfit and the dreamer aren't usually this close to the action.

It's an exciting night for them.

A warthog isn't much of a meal.

There's hardly enough to feed all 16 lions.

And new mouths are coming to the table.

Hyenas.

Lots of them.

The dreamer is in the thick of the melee.

The hyenas are getting cheeky.

The misfit has had enough of the scrum.

Grabbing a scrap, he moves away.

He's an easy target.

Five burly hyenas against one yearling lion.

Just in time, the lionesses come to the rescue.

Meal over, the pride moves on.

But in the drama over the misfit,

the dreamer has been left behind.

(HYENAS CACKLE)

By morning, the pride is miles away.

The misfit is battered and sore.

But it's nothing that won't mend.

The little cub, however, is nowhere to be seen.

The cub's mother retraces her steps, searching for him.

Her calls echo across the plains.

Just as she's recovered enough to nurse him again, the cub,

the little dreamer, has gone.

For several days, she scours the bush looking for her cub.

But all in vain.

The dreamer is dead.

The misfit is on his own.

He needs to make a friend in the pride, all over again.

As the season begins to change,

the lost cub's mother seems to find it hard to let go.

She becomes a lonely figure at the edge of the pride.

A storm would be a welcome relief.

The days are hot and full of biting insects.

The misfit is bothered by a tsetse fly.

(FLY BUZZING)

There's only one thing to do.

He goes over and sits with one of the other yearlings.

His brother gets his tsetse fly.

(FLY BUZZING)

Perhaps not the best way to make friends, but it's a start.

Two weeks go by and the injured lioness has made a full recovery.

The scar is barely visible.

She's still roaming away from the pride.

But she's no longer searching for her lost cub.

She's searching for the males.

She's coming into estrus

and wants another litter of cubs.

She's found one of the brothers.

He inhales the scent of her urine,

testing her readiness to mate.

The signs are good.

There's a new future here.

Hope is on the horizon for the parched landscape too.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

The misfit moves to join his brother.

Since the cub died, the misfit's becoming more sociable.

He's lost his youngest half-brother,

but he instinctively knows he needs a teammate.

Strong families are vital to lions.

He's slowly maturing.

His brother is responding, and invites the misfit to wrestle.

(SOFTLY GROWLING)

For the first time, he's playing with his peers.

It'll take a while, but the misfit's beginning to fit in.

Over the coming weeks, he and his brother make up for lost time.

His first two years have been hard,

but they seem to have made him stronger.

It's early days yet, but his prospects are rising.

He has a new allegiance to build on.

Perhaps one day the misfit and his brother

will have a pride of their own,

and raise a new generation of lions

to rule the Luangwa Valley.

(MUSIC PLAYING)