Original subtitles

(bugs chirping)

- [Narrator] 50 years ago, there were more than

half a million lions in Africa.

Today there are fewer than 20 thousand.

Once they lived in freedom, now they must

adapt to life in reserves.

The king of the jungle, the great predator

is a star on the wane, hemmed in

by urban development and besieged by tourists.

It is not surprising that he's in a bad mood.

(lion growling)

His charge is futile.

He has been cornered by an extremely dangerous rival.

(drum music)

Africa is still the world's greatest reserve

of biodiversity, with many of the planet's

most awe-inspiring natural habitats.

The tropical forests, the great lakes,

the basins of the great rivers, the immense valleys,

the savannas, the deserts.

(dramatic music)

Extraordinary ecosystems that are home

to some of the most emblematic species on planet Earth

and a quarter of the world's species of mammal.

(dramatic music)

The climate, more temperate than that of other continents,

meant that for millions of years

hundreds of species from Europe and Asia

migrated to Africa, creating a fabulous

natural reserve that remained almost untouched

until the Colonial period.

During the 20th century, the spectacle

of Africa's natural riches enthralled the world

as the continent became the location

for countless film and television documentaries

that explored the secret lives of wild animals

in incredible detail.

(birds chirping)

But today, not a single corner has been left undiscovered

or unaffected by civilization.

The population of almost a million inhabitants

doubles every 20 years, creating enormous

pressure on wildlife as competition for land,

fresh water, and food increases.

Africa has 1,200 protected areas,

covering two million square kilometers.

Just nine percent of the continent's surface area.

These tiny islands of wilderness

are under ever-greater pressure from development,

which threatens to reduce them even further.

At the beginning of the 20th century, few of the peoples

of Sub-Saharan Africa were agriculturists.

They lived by hunting, and the forests and the savannas

were an endlessly replenished food store.

Killing an elephant, as cruel and unnecessary

as it seems today, would feed a whole village

for many weeks.

(slow music)

In the 20th century, hunting as a sport,

a leisure activity, and a business

changed the balance between humans and animals.

Killing was no longer a question

of self defense or finding food,

but of flattering the hunter's ego.

The big cats, especially lions and leopards,

the most feared of Africa's predators,

were the preferred targets.

They were slaughtered in every corner of the continent.

(slow music)

Africa quickly became a killing ground for many species,

the result of uncontrolled hunting by locals

and foreign visitors.

Nothing was done to check the race

to gun down any animal and take home

its horn, its teeth, skin, or head as a trophy.

(slow orchestral music)

Today, big game hunting is a strictly controlled,

exclusive activity, regulated by national governments

which allow only a limited number of animals to be killed

to maintain the right balance between

different species on reserves.

But these controls have been imposed too late,

after years of devastation.

(gun shooting)

Mankind is the principle rival,

enemy, and threat to all other species.

The apex predator of Africa, threatening

the very existence of the great carnivores

of the animal kingdom, the lion, the leopard,

and the cheetah, in a desperate fight for survival.

(birds chirping)

The populations of large carnivores in Africa

have declined alarmingly over recent decades.

The relentless destruction of wilderness areas,

the effects of poaching, and the hunting practices

of farmers and herdsmen make it likely

that big cats will soon disappear

from most of their natural habitats,

to survive only within the confines

of public and private reserves as part

of controlled breeding programs

that supply the tourist industry.

(lion growling)

This has set alarm bells ringing

for naturalists across the world,

who have set up urgent campaigns

to raise international awareness of the problem.

- You need the governments of all the other countries

to wake up quickly, preserve some land,

so that the wildcats can still flourish.

And then start settling down.

But you will have to do that, otherwise,

just open free roam, maybe 10 years

and it will be nothing left.

- As population growth continues in the world

over the long run, there won't be space left

for large predators I think.

If we as a human species continue to reproduce

at the rate we are doing, we will not be able

to save enough areas for wildlife.

That is the sad reality.

- The reality of it is, if we don't do something now,

we are going to lose them.

- [Narrator] We are on the trail of a leopard and her cub

in the Erendi Reserve in Namibia.

She has been fitted with a tracking collar

that will enable us to find her among the dense vegetation.

The leopard is highly prized by poachers for its skin.

It's also the big cat with the worst reputation

among farmers because of its predatory instincts

and its elusive nature.

(birds cawing)

Our visit does not irritate her,

but she pays close attention.

(leopard yowling)

She calls out to her cub, warning her of our presence.

(leopard yowling)

The team at Erindi has named the mother leopard Honey.

She is not afraid of us, but just to be sure,

she never lets us out of her sight,

calling to her cub all the while.

(leopard yowling)

The cub is hiding close by, it can hear its mother,

but for a long time will not come any closer,

staying well out of sight of our cameras.

(birds cawing)

Mother and daughter finally meet up behind

a thick wall of undergrowth.

Female leopards that have given birth

deliberately avoid males and other feline competitors,

seeking out a safe territory

where they can raise their young.

Each leopard lifts and hunts on its own home range,

an area it knows intimately

and which it will defend with its life.

- She had a territory right next door to where we are.

She gave birth to the cubs, and what she did.

She gave her daughter a piece of the territory

where she grew up, so from where she was born.

That's the piece of territory she gave this daughter.

Wondering how she knows the territory so well,

she was born here, she's been here since the very beginning.

She knows exactly where to go to hide,

she knows where to go where the spring buck

are hanging around or the warthogs for food.

She knows every little tree, crack.

If she needs water, she knows where to go.

And the reason she knows it so well

is she's been here since the day she was born.

- [Narrator] A leopard's territory can cover

as much as 20 square kilometers, a large area.

Usually coveted not only by rival felines,

but also farmers in search of a plot of land to live on.

(leopard growling)

Honey sets out to hunt.

She allows us to follow her, but first she makes it clear

that we should keep our distance.

The leopard is the stealthiest, most daring,

and independent of all the big cats.

Its self-sufficiency and adaptability

enable it to live in places where other predators

could never survive.

Wherever it goes, all its senses are alert

to any smell, sound, or movement that catches its attention.

(instrumental music)

Adult males can weigh up to 70 kilos

while females around 60.

Females have a gestation period of 90 to 105 days

and normally give birth to a litter

of two or three cubs which they will care for

until they can fend for themselves.

(instrumental music)

Leopard numbers are falling fast,

but despite predictions of its imminent extinction,

it is fairing better than lions and cheetahs

thanks to its finely honed survival instinct,

which drives it to find habitats that

are as far from civilization as possible.

On the Erindi Reserve, the big cats

have thousands of hectares in which to roam

and abundant fresh water and prey.

But this is a controlled freedom.

The rangers monitor them to track their movements

or to locate them for visitors on safari.

(birds chirping)

Lions are the most social of felines.

Normally they live in large prides

formed of related adult females, with several cubs

of up to three years of age.

One, two, or often three adult males,

one of them the dominant leader.

While the males are mainly concerned

with protecting their territory from possible intruders,

the females take care of the cubs and also hunt.

A task to which the smaller, more agile females

are better suited than the males.

Whether hunting or caring for their cubs,

the lionesses display a marked spirit of cooperation.

Watching the tenderness they show their cubs,

you'd never suspect the aggression

with which lionesses will fight to claim

their share of a kill or to defend their pride.

(lion growling)

Not far from mother and cub as they play,

a male prepares to finish the remains

of an oryx, caught some hours earlier.

He allows us to approach and watch him eat from a distance.

He settles down to enjoy his feast as if we were not there.

Lions will avoid conflict with humans

as long as they have a habitat large enough

to meet their needs for water, prey,

and contact with others of their species.

(bugs buzzing)

Visitors to game reserves tend to see lions

either as ruthless killing machines

that must be kept at a safe distance

or as high maintenance pets that exist

as attractions for our own amusement.

Neither is an accurate picture of an animal

that is well able to decide what it dislikes

and what will make it happy.

Especially, what will make it happy.

(birds chirping)

They want to live in freedom

in a pristine environment with abundant hunting.

A habitat in which they can survive without pressure.

Unfortunately for the lion, sprawling cities

and the loss of wilderness areas

mean pressure is inevitable.

In the future, lion numbers may be reduced

to 10 thousand and confined to wildlife reserves.

(birds chirping)

He is blissfully unaware of it, but his reign is over.

(drum music)

Africa still has wildlife havens that up until 50 years ago,

were home to vast numbers of animals.

Habitat destruction, the effects of pollution

and hunting, have devastated the populations of these areas.

And what were once whole colonies

may have been reduced to a few breeding pairs.

An extended drought, an epidemic,

or unexpected migration can wreak havoc

on the delicate balance between species.

When this happens, competition for prey can become intense.

The advantage of life on a reserve

is that a balance can be maintained

between many different species, ensuring their survival.

This is especially true for lions, leopards, and cheetahs,

which face such an uncertain future.

(instrumental music)

Wildlife also has incredible potential

to attract visitors and generate income.

It is not surprising that many farms

that once struggled to make a living raising

livestock now operate as guest ranches,

with wild animals as their main attraction.

The Na'ankuse Foundation has established

agreements with farmers to create sanctuaries

open to tourists, where rescued big cats are rehabilitated.

A positive initiative that brings benefits to all concerned.

One of these sanctuaries is home to a cheetah

famous for having killed 30 head of livestock

in only three years.

He is a large male that was the terror

of local farms before he was taken alive.

Named Spartacus after the legendary gladiator,

he is the main attraction at the Solitaire Sanctuary

in central Namibia.

- When we get a cat that we want to release

into the wild, we introduce it here first.

It's called a soft release, and what that does

is it allows the animal a chance

to adapt to this environment

before we release it into the wild.

It's just like when you buy a little fish.

You don't put it in the tank,

you put it in a little bag and you allow it to adapt

before you release it into the tank.

We're doing the same thing here.

With other species like leopard,

they're very hardy animals, you don't need to do this.

With cheetahs we found there was more successful

releases when we introduced them

into this boma before releasing them.

It's an amazing job, I love this.

This is called radio telemetry.

With my antenna and my receiver,

I'm gonna see where Spartacus is.

He's one of our more aggressive cats.

(beeping) You hear that beep?

So Spartacus is quite close.

He's very close.

(beeping)

Spartacus.

So you can see, he's a very slim animal.

That's how these guys are built.

Spartacus is especially big.

You'll notice he has a very large head.

- [Narrator] Today, Spartacus is a star.

But he was a nightmare for ranchers,

who hunted him night and day

and would have shot him on sight

like so many other predators that threaten livestock,

or simply get too close to inhabited areas.

- Here we have some terrible traps.

This is the classic gym trap.

Whether it's a small one for a jackal,

or a big one for maybe a leopard

and the lion's are even bigger.

You basically tie it to a big tree,

or wherever you can anchor it.

You set it like this close to the meat.

So there it's closed, so you open it up next to the meat.

When the animal comes to eat this meat,

they trip in it and they get caught.

The biggest problem, like for instance this cheetah,

the toe was cut off.

So the toe came off and it survived,

but it actually died of hunger long term.

It even healed, because he couldn't catch food so well.

This is a very typical one, the hand maid.

You connect with with a bar strip

to the spring, the meat.

You put a shotgun bullet in there.

The animal pulls the meat and it sets off

and the shotgun bullet goes off

and blows the animal, and sometimes misses him

and also wounds him.

- [Narrator] In its 20 years of existence,

the Africat Foundation has rescued

and rehabilitated a thousand felines.

- Where the teeth and general health

of the animals in captivity are done here.

This belongs to one of the vets that help Africat.

This is where they will basically come

and try and deal with an emergency

like a broken leg or a general

health check is done in this clinic.

So it's a very small clinic, it's a very basic clinic.

It's got the basic stuff, it's a clean place.

It's where vets can really work.

Most of this radio collaring is done in the bush

so that you can get these collars on.

- [Narrator] After their rescue, most of the felines

released into the park are monitored

with radio transmitters.

Biologists can follow their movements,

and give advanced warning if they come too close

to a farm, a village, or a town.

The sight of felines and other wild animals

wearing radio collars is becoming more and more common.

They're monitoring tools, but they also

serve as protection against attacks by humans.

Until recently, the collars were fitted

with a simple VHS transmitter,

but now they incorporate satellite GPS

so the animals whereabouts can be tracked by computer.

- That's the type of collar we're looking at

with our program.

They have what is called a VHF unit,

which you use to localize the animal in the field.

Where you take out an antenna and receiver

to be able to find that animal on the ground.

On the backside, you have the GPS unit.

Every collar has this GPS unit, which

at a preset schedule communicates with the satellites.

For us, we do that on a daily basis

so that we can locate pretty much

every released animal on any given day.

That we can follow them closely

to see do they go into hostile farmland,

do they stay on nature reserves,

what precisely do they do?

As you said, monitoring their activity

as good as we can.

Most of the downloads are here in Namibia,

where the animal is.

And then you'll see the whole path that the animal covered

since we've released it.

That's one of the fantastic things about the collars.

You would find it very hard to follow that animal

on the ground, to document that type of behavior.

Whereas the collar gives you those data

pretty much automatically.

That's the area just north of Sossusvlei,

the Namib Desert, red sand dunes,

and here would be the Naukluft Mountains.

(instrumental music)

- [Narrator] GPS technology has enabled

amazing discoveries, such as the cheetah

that entered the Namib Desert,

an area considered too arid for large predators,

but which survived due to a lack of competition.

Not far away, the biologists from the Na'ankuse Foundation

want to replace another cheetah's old radio collar

with a new GPS system.

They want to know whether this individual

also goes into the desert and for how long.

To change collars they need to immobilize her

with a tranquilizer.

The dart must deliver the correct dose

to avoid unwanted side effects.

- We know we're going to immobilize her.

The previous time that I immobilized this cheetah,

the dose wasn't high enough.

I underestimated her weight.

So now I'm going to give her a little bit higher dose

'cause we have only one shot.

If we miss, we are in trouble.

So we can't miss today.

Perfect, absolutely perfect.

- [Narrator] After being hit by the dart,

the cheetah begins to feel the effects.

(people murmuring)

The biologists wait for a few minutes

to ensure the animal is completely immobilized

so they can safely approach and replace the old collar.

(people murmuring)

From now on, her every movement will be tracked

by satellite and logged on to the computer.

(people murmuring)

Once the GPS collar is fitted,

it's time to wake her up.

Dr. Rudie Van Vuuren administers another injection,

but this time to bring her out.

Although the effects of the drugs

will gradually wear off, a stunned cheetah,

her eyes glazed, is a pitiful sight.

The biologists stay close by to check all is well.

They're worried that the tranquilizer

could have adverse effects, as has happened

previously when animals have

had unexpected negative reactions.

Seeing a cheetah in this state

is a stark reminder of their vulnerability.

They are animals with extraordinary physical capacities,

powerful teeth and claws, but all of this

is no defense against the threat we pose to them.

Farmers on land neighboring the Etosha National Park

have notified the authorities and the Africat Foundation

that three male lions have escaped the park

and entered their land and killed one of their cows.

Dr. Ortwin Aschenborn, veterinarian at Etosha,

and Tammy Hoth of Africat have agreed to work together.

They need to find the lions, immobilize them,

and return them to the park immediately.

Dr. Aschenborn prepares the dart rifle.

The three lions are a real danger.

Once they've got a taste for cow meat,

it's unlikely they'll leave

the restaurant of their own volition.

It's going to be a long night.

- Don't know, let's have a look.

- [Narrator] The farmers have given the conservation

groups 24 hours to remove the escapees.

When this time is up, they will shoot the lions.

They cannot risk having the lions kill more livestock

or attack the farm workers.

- If there's any movement, shoot the target.

- Dr. Aschenborn goes ahead of the other vehicles

to locate the lions and attempt to hit them

with the darts on his own, without distractions

that might jeopardize the operation.

Once he has successfully immobilized

all three lions, he lets the other vehicles

know they can approach safely.

The tranquilizer darts have put the lions into a deep sleep.

All three were gathered around the carcass

and entrails of the victim, a cow weighing

over 600 kilograms, which gives off

an intense smell of decay.

(people murmuring)

The lions are completely unconscious,

oblivious of the activity that surrounds them.

Their stomachs are swollen with the meat they have eaten.

Aschenborn makes the most of the lion's immobility

to examine them and take blood samples.

He will return them to the park,

but thinks that if they've escaped once,

they will try it again.

He fits them with radio collars

so that they can be easily located.

- [Ortwin] Yeah, we're gonna put the collar on.

- [Man] I think so.

- [Ortwin] Where are we gonna drop them?

- [Man] I think the Namib.

- [Narrator] The process is repeated

with the other two lions.

(people murmuring)

They must work fast.

The dose of tranquilizer will keep

the lions under for around two hours.

But this is too short a time for everything

that must be done tonight.

(people murmuring)

Lions have a highly developed sense of direction

and ability to recognize landmarks.

They roam great distances without getting lost.

When they're on the move, they take in

visual and sensory data and store it

in their memory forever.

To stop them finding their way back to the farm,

they will be dropped in the park

but as far from here as possible

to make it harder for them to find their way back.

- [Man] One, two, three.

(men groaning)

- [Man] Three, two, one.

Three, two, one.

- [Narrator] These three adult lions

from the Etosha National Park are lucky enough

to be located in time by the conservationists.

A few hours later, the farmers' deadline

would have elapsed, and they would have all been shot.

(men murmuring)

- [Ortwin] Sleeping.

- Can we reach the limit then? - We can reach the limit.

- [Man] Okay, let's see the one behind you.

- [Narrator] When you reach the double line of fences

that separates the farm from the park,

the lions must have broken out through a hole or a tunnel.

All wild animals try to break through barriers

that limit their freedom.

Elephants usually knock them over

by charging at them, and many other species

dig tunnels to get underneath them.

The convoy stops from time to time

to ensure the lions are still unconscious

and administer more tranquilizer if necessary.

Four hours later, we reach our destination.

Loading the lions and unloading them again

are a labor intensive operations.

- [Woman] Got him, have you got him?

- [Man] Here we go, here we go, very nice.

Is this your car?

- Yeah. - Just turn it around.

- [Narrator] We are more than 250 kilometers from the farm,

deep inside the park.

Dr. Aschenborn prepares the reversal dose

to bring them around.

10 minutes later, they will open their eyes

to find themselves in a place they have never seen before.

Their adventure began four days ago,

when they crossed the park boundary

to find a taste of freedom and a succulent banquet.

We do not know how they'll react when they come around.

The scene that unfolds is fascinating.

We see proof of these animals' high levels of intelligence

and awareness.

They seem fully conscious of their condition,

the new place they find themselves in,

and of what has happened to them.

As soon as they find their feet, each lion

looks for its companions, communicating with them

and checking up on them.

They behave just as humans would in a similar situation.

They ask the others how they feel,

then encourage them to get up again.

Who knows whether they'll try to return to the farm.

The scene of such an incredible adventure.

For them, it must seem like a beautiful dream.

For the farmers, it was a nightmare.

The fact remains that wherever a lion goes,

it is a dangerous predator.

- The other big misconception I think,

is people always think lions are pretty cute animals.

They look at things like The Lion King movie

and think they are cute.

I mean, they are killing machines

if they go out and kill livestock or even humans.

They are really dangerous animals,

and that's what makes it really difficult to live with them.

In the Western world, you've got this conception

of pretty animals, and a lot of these

captive facilities where you can go

and pet one and cuddle one.

But the truth is, they are really dangerous animals

that are made to eat meat,

and they can't do other than that.

- [Narrator] For farmers, the presence of big cats

on their property is a problem with no obvious solution.

Loss of livestock translates into financial losses

for which governments and insurers

refuse to compensate them.

- We as commercial farmers, we see our animals

domesticated animals, cattle and dogs and sheep,

as a moneymaking business.

We have to make money out of them,

put it onto the bank, and do the business out of it.

They is that (mumbles).

If a lion or any other predator

comes into the community, it's like they're

robbing their bank account.

For us, it's a loss of business or loss of income,

as a commercial farmer, that's a problem.

On communal farms shared by several farmers,

the situation is even more difficult.

These are farmers with small herds

and the loss of half a dozen head of stock

to a big cat can spell ruin.

This is the home of a family that was unlucky enough

to lose their entire herd overnight.

(speaking a foreign language)

One day, lions broke into the sheep pen.

The Africat Foundation raised money

for the family to buy six lambs

and so restart their business.

This has helped them to get back on their feet,

but in this area, there seems to be no long term

solution to big cat attacks.

It's not surprising that these farmers

do not share the views of many conservationists

and fanatical defenders of animal rights.

This man knows what he'll do next time

he sees a lion near his property.

He will shoot to kill.

- In most cases, lions are found in groups,

and of course that's the fear factor.

Because they're much bigger.

On a one on one basis if you were to try

and defend yourself or protect yourself from a lion,

the chances are pretty slim that you're going to survive.

Because it's such a big animal,

and because they're usually in a group.

For a farmer to have a group of lions,

some adult males, let's take a small pride.

An adult male of about 210, 215 kilos,

a few females of about 120 to 160 kilos

and some sub-adults.

So say you have a group about nine, 10 animals

on your property, it's daunting.

And in the back of your mind, you know

how many head of livestock am I going to lose.

That's the one thing.

Now when you want to try and protect your livestock

from lions, most importantly is you need strong

and very high bummers or crawls.

To protect your animals inside strong

so they can't stampede out if they get free

and higher so the lions can't jump in.

Of course, the base has to be strong so they don't dig in.

That's your lion, and it's very, very difficult

to farm livestock with lion on your property.

(lion growling)

(cheetah growling)

There is no trait more characteristic

of felines than the desire for freedom.

They can be very aggressive in the pursuit of it.

(cheetah snarling)

The cost of freedom is often their own life.

Conflict with humans has no other outcome.

Though the size of the cage may vary,

the only future on the horizon for these animals

is captivity.

- The question is how to handle predators in captivity.

It starts with the size of the enclosure you provide them.

The larger the enclosure obviously,

the less contact you will have with that predator,

because they're naturally avoiding human contact.

For ambassador animals that are orphaned for example,

or injured, human contact is often

maintained to keep them in a tame or semi-tame state.

That will reduce stress because the animal

will get habituated to that type of contact.

In cases for releasable animals, you want to minimize

human contact to a point where you don't

actually have any contact with that animal.

You wanna provide them with the largest possible area

in captivity so they can still exercise their ecology

as much as possible, though in a limited area.

But also to not get habituated and to not experience stress.

- [Narrator] An animal deprived of its freedom

is always susceptible to stress.

This leopard scrabbles compulsively behind the bars.

And this lion hurls itself at them.

(lion roaring)

In these circumstances, getting too close

to a lion is highly unadvisable.

(lion growling)

(hissing)

Any feline, even a caracal yearns to be free

and feels incredibly frustrated

when it discovers its territory is limited,

and that it depends not on itself,

but on its captors for food.

(caracal hissing)

- I think it's very important and one of the keys

to conservation, is adding more land

to the conservation areas that are existing.

One of the most important factors, I really believe

is that people must be incorporated.

Farms must be incorporated, livestock must be incorporated.

We all need to learn to live together.

The key is, as we were talking previously,

is conservation, which is connecting up

all the aspects of Africa, every single piece of it.

And helping it to function together.

- [Narrator] The main challenge for conservation groups

is to help people understand that it's possible

to live alongside the big cats if we give them space

and understand their needs and instincts.

A leopard's instinct is to observe and examine nature

in incredible detail.

(birds chirping)

Even when its taking a stroll,

apparently relaxed and detached,

a leopard notices everything going on around it.

From the tracks, this female can tell

that other leopards have passed this way,

as well as prey, and this awakens

her instinct to explore and to hunt.

She plunges into the tall grass.

There's no way of seeing what is up ahead,

so she relies on her extraordinary sense of hearing.

She knows what's on the other side.

(drum music)

The head of the family of warthogs

senses danger and prepares to face it,

but he hasn't seen the leopard at his right,

which turns to attack the females

and the piglets left unprotected by the male.

The leopard is an astute hunter.

She has distracted the male just long enough.

He will not make it in time to prevent her

catching one of the piglets.

The leopard is the star attraction on any safari.

Many people are prepared to pay

large sums of money just to photograph one.

It's a fact the conservationists need to exploit

so the farmers come to see leopards

not as enemies but as a source of income.

- People learn to tolerate predators

if they can get a income from them.

So for us, it's the leopard.

Leopards eat a lot of kudu and a lot of oryx and zebra

which cost money theoretically to us,

but the money they generate from tourism

which the guests will actually come and see them,

which is really rare, that makes the balance

equal if you know what I mean.

For instance on a farm, if a farmer can realize

that he can take a foreign tourist

to see a leopard on his farm, he will actually

make a lot of money rather than just shooting the leopard.

He will shoot the leopard once, and will make

say 10 thousand US dollars,

because that's what he get from that.

If that leopard lives for 10 years on his farm,

he will maybe take a thousand people seeing that leopard,

he will make a million dollars

out of that leopard long term.

- [Narrator] This female climbs to the top of the tree

to call her cub, a young male.

The mother is unafraid of us, but the cub is unconvinced,

and daren't come any closer.

The mother moves from one side to the other,

checking that there are no lions, hyenas,

or rival leopards in this vicinity

and reassures the cub that there is no danger.

But the cub prefers to wait down below.

The mother is used to our presence,

feels no anxiety, and relaxes on her favorite branch.

Now it's the cub that must wait

until the mother finally comes down from the tree.

They walk together, the mother leads the way,

and the cub follows.

Mother and cub exchange sounds,

growls, silences and eye contact

in a private language that is impenetrable to us.

Following them, but keeping a safe distance,

we have demonstrated that it's possible to live with them.

But many people remain unconvinced.

- Remember, we are the biggest threat for them.

So if they're not scared of us,

somewhere down the line they're gonna get shot

because somebody will think this animal's

got rabies, or it's gonna catch my cattle,

or my sheep or my goats.

And this animal will be killed.

You have to keep them scared,

they have to keep their distance.

They should not come too close, for their own safety.

They come too close to people, they get killed.

- [Narrator] It's depressing to reflect that should

this leopard ever run into a human,

or stray onto a farm, its days will be numbered.

(instrumental music)

These two brothers were found as orphaned cubs.

They live in a fenced enclosure of five hectares,

and dream of regaining their freedom one day.

If they're lucky, they will be released

into a large reserve, but otherwise

they will remain confined until

they become irritable and aggressive.

(lions growling)

Over the last century, the pressures

exerted by humans on big cats have been huge, even cruel.

We have killed them out of fear, ignorance,

to trade in their skins, or for sheer pleasure.

This has brought the cheetah to the verge

of a second and final extinction event.

The first took place over 10 thousand years ago,

and was due to competition with other predators

or an epidemic.

The species were saved thanks to a small group of survivors

and has made it to the present day

as a fascinating genetic anomaly.

As well as being a dangerous predator,

a leopard can be as playful as a cat.

It is not always an animal to be feared.

Most of the time it wants nothing to do with humans.

All it requires is a territory on which

it can live, hunt, and find a mate.

From time to time, it stares at us intently,

as if it expected something of us.

It warns us not to come any closer,

not to cross the line that would

separate it from its freedom.

(drum music)

The big cats need this freedom,

but there are few wild habitats left for them to live in.

Looking towards the future is

to fear the end of the big cats.

(drum music)

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