All language subtitles for Tales From Zambia Series 1 6of7 Pride Lands 1080p

NARRATOR:
\hA pride of lions.

Africa’s most
fearsome hunters.

Their territory,

a small patch of land
in Zambia’s wild
Luangwa Valley.

They share this land
with rival hunters,

potential prey,

and thousands of other
remarkable animals.

While the pride struggles
to catch a meal big enough
to satisfy them,

we spend one day

and one night here...

And meet the animals
that also call
the pride’s land home.

It’s early afternoon

and the pride rests
in the lengthening shadows.

Nine-strong and led
by three adult lionesses,

they are the top
predators here.

And the valley provides
them with plenty of prey.

But recently,
they haven’t had much luck.

With their male away
patrolling the territory,

their last few hunts
for large prey have failed.

(GROWLING)

They’re hungry.

(GROWLS)

All they’ve managed
is a small kill.

A warthog caught off-guard.

But when you have
so many mouths to feed,

it’s barely even an appetizer.

Warthogs have savage
tusks that can reach
over 25 inches long.

This time, the risk has been
greater than the reward.

Battered and hungry,
there’s too little left
to go around.

The lionesses leave the scraps
to the rest of the family.

A young male will need
around 11 pounds of food
a day to survive.

There isn’t even enough left
for the vultures to pick at.

(VULTURES SQUAWKING)

This is the pride’s land,

20 square miles
of pristine wilderness

on the banks of the
meandering Luangwa River.

But they aren’t
the only animals
that live here.

With the sun past its peak,
high midday temperatures
are fading fast.

The cooling air rejuvenates
all the animals that call
this land home.

Stirring from their siestas,
it’s time to wake up

and get on with what
remains of the day.

(WARTHOG GRUNTING)

Warthogs emerge after
hiding from the midday
heat in their burrow

and head to what
remains of a lagoon.

Their homes are usually
within strolling distance
of a water source,

and the muddy edges
of the lagoon

provide the perfect place
for an afternoon dip.

Warthogs are part
of the pig family

and are also in the same order
of mammals as the hippo.

Like all pigs, they don’t have
functioning sweat glands,

so to regulate
their temperature,
there’s only one option...

To wallow.

Mud stays cool
longer than water

and protects their skin
from the sun.

A pig and muck
go hand-in-hand.

(SNORTS)

It’s such an essential
part of a pig’s lifestyle

that some scientists
believe spending so
much time in the mud

is what stopped them
from evolving the ability
to sweat in the first place.

(ELEPHANT GRUNTING)

The afternoon draws out
more of the valley’s wildlife
to the local watering hole.

Under the watchful eyes
of the pride.

Above, a squadron
of great white pelicans
ride the rising thermals,

fueled by the afternoon heat.

They’re attracted by
the narrow crescent
of water below,

one of the few water
sources left within
the pride’s territory.

Sweeping low over
the water in formation,

they work together
to channel air under
them and generate lift.

(SQUAWKING)

Those that fly alone
waste up to 14% more energy.

Preening is top priority,

keeping their feathers
aerodynamic as well as
waterproof.

Flapping their gular sac
is a pelican’s way
of cooling down.

It’s still too hot
to fish for now.

In the woodlands,

the shade brings relief
to the savannah’s more
secretive creatures.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

The late afternoon’s
cooler temperatures
draw a herd of greater kudu

tentatively
out of the shadows.

After a day of foraging
on herbs, leaves and flowers,

a thirst-quenching drink
at the lagoon is too
tempting to pass up.

But breaking cover
has its risks.

A kudu would be the ideal meal
for the unsatisfied pride

and certainly
worth investigating.

The big bull takes the lead.

The females know
something’s not right.

(SNIFFING)

Smelling, they search
for any signs of a threat.

The lioness stays downwind.

Giant ears swivel
to locate the sounds
of any predators.

Their acute senses
make them tough
to sneak up on.

(WARNING GRUNTS)

The lioness has been made.

(KUDU GRUNTING)

(GRUNTS)

With all their
attention on her,

the lioness has
little chance of
a successful hunt.

It’s over before
it even began.

Returning to her pride,
she reaffirms her bond
with her sister.

She may not have
succeeded in providing
for the pride this time,

but fewer than one in five
daytime hunts are successful.

The fast-approaching
night may provide
more opportunities.

Unlike lions, wild dogs
rarely hunt at night.

They prefer dusk and dawn.

The pack is getting
ready to head out and
the pups are excited.

(PUP BARKING)

They’re a year old
and finally grown-up enough

to join the rest of the pack
on their daily expeditions.

Maybe tonight will
bring their first hunt.

(BIRDS SQUAWKING)

Back at the lagoon,
marabou storks
join the pelicans.

These big birds
are talented scavengers,

feeding on any remains
they come across.

Their grotesque
featherless heads,

cloak-like plumage
and love for carcasses

mean they’re often referred
to as the "undertaker bird".

But they don’t exclusively
feed on carrion.

The low water level
means fish are
tightly packed together.

Easy pickings.

The marabou wade right in.

Pelicans and yellow-billed
storks aren’t far behind.

Dredging the lagoon,
marabou lead the procession,

closely followed
by the yellow-billed storks.

Probing the water and mud
with their gaping bills,

the storks feel
for their food.

Pelicans drag their net-like
sacs through the water,

and spoonbills
sweep side to side.

The fishing party
pushes prey into tighter
and tighter groups.

A wall of birds
and roiling water
leave the fish desperate.

There’s no way out but up.

As the sun dips
toward the horizon,

the hustle and bustle
of the afternoon
begins to subside.

With the party winding down,
it’s time to find a roost
for the night.

They’re not the only ones
calling it a day.

Baboons head homeward
after a day of foraging
on the plains.

Guinea fowl take one
last scratch before
turning in for the night.

The lions watch and wait
while all around them
settles down.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

As the last light reaches
across the valley...

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

...the day shift hands over
to the creatures of the night.

While some return
to the safety of
their treetop homes,

the ground below comes alive.

Matabele ants
are on the march.

Under the cover of darkness,
they’re moving house

and taking all of their
belongings with them.

Up to 2,000 worker ants
carry precious packages.

Black cocoons

and white developing larvae.

The next generation.

The larvae are the colony’s
brood, its prized possessions.

The adults will defend
them without mercy

from anything
that comes too close.

Following a chemical trail
laid down by the lead scout,

they head towards
their new home.

Matabele ants
are semi-nomadic.

Once they find a home,
they will only be
there for a month

before moving on again
to fresh hunting grounds.

It’s 10:00 and the full moon
hangs high above the valley.

Night is the domain
of the predator.

This is when the lions
are most active.

(IMPALA CALLING)

But the full moon’s
bright light is ruining
their element of surprise.

The impala and puku
see them coming.

(IMPALA CALLING)

While the pride struggles
to catch its next meal,

the lagoon appears empty.

But it’s not
as quiet as it seems.

Honey badgers have emerged
from their burrows.

They are nocturnal
and will spend most
of the night foraging

in the dried lagoon beds.

Honey badgers
are opportunistic feeders

and these lagoons
hide a buffet
just below the surface.

Frogs and insects
have buried themselves
to escape the dry season,

making them hard to find.

(SNIFFING)

But an incredible
sense of smell

helps the badgers
pinpoint food easily.

They have to eat around
two pounds a night to survive,

and this means they’re
always on the move.

Tough and industrious,
they can cover over 25 miles
in search of food.

A marathon every night.

(ANIMAL HOWLING)

All this activity
stirs up insects
for another nocturnal animal.

More than 1,200 species
of bat exist worldwide

and almost three-quarters
of them are insectivores.

Each must eat a third
of its body weight a night,

hundreds of insects
every hour.

Like honey badgers,
they cover great distances.

The lions have
come down to drink.

With half the night gone,
they’ve been unable
to make a kill.

Under the canopy
of a nearby ebony grove,
a sausage tree is in bloom.

Their chandelier-like
flowers open at dusk

and each only lasts one night.

Brimming with nectar
and pollen, they attract
a host of insects,

and the bats home in
for a feast.

(HYENA HOWLING)

On the edge
of the ebony grove,

a spotted hyena den
is also drawing in the bats.

They feed on the insects
attracted to the remains
of the hyenas’ last meal.

It’s 2:00 a.m.
and the clan is out.

(CUBS WHINING)

There are six new cubs.

Stuck underground
for most of the day,

they have plenty
of energy to expend.

It’s time to play.

(PLAYING NOISILY)

They’re neighbors from hell
for a sleeping baboon.

Hyena society
is highly competitive.

Cubs are born with their
eyes open and teeth bared.

From birth, they fight
savagely with their siblings.

It creates a hierarchy
that will last for life.

After two weeks, aggression
begins to give way to play,

and after a month it becomes
even more enthusiastic,

helping them to
establish friendships and
to integrate into the clan.

(HYENA LAUGHING)

But they can get
a bit carried away.

Exhausted,

the little cubs
settle down to suckle.

Their mother invests
far more resources in her milk
than other carnivores.

It has three times
the fat and protein
content of a human’s

and her cubs will be
completely dependent on it

until they’re
eight months old.

But to provide
this nutritious milk,
she must eat frequently.

Her acute sense of smell
can locate food up to
two and a half miles away.

And a stench on the wind
catches her attention.

It’s two hours before dawn.

(IMPALA CALLING)

Hunt after hunt.

Failure after failure.

(HIPPO GRUNTING)

The pride has no luck.

They give up for now.

The full moon
has spoiled their chances.

Stomachs rumbling,
their attention turns
from prey to one another.

Lions are the only
truly social cat.

Grooming helps them maintain
the close bonds needed
to hunt cooperatively,

even when it
doesn’t go to plan.

(DISTANT ROAR)

Distant roars echo
through the cool night air.

Their male is calling,
the sound carrying almost
five miles across the valley.

(ROARING)

Proclaiming,
"This land is ours."

(ROARING)

And tonight, he is louder
and closer than he has
been for some time.

They head towards the sound,
hopeful for a reunion
with their pride male.

The hyena mother’s
incredible sense of smell

has led her
to a buffalo carcass.

It’s rancid,

but her strong stomach acid
will kill any bacteria
on the decomposing meat.

It has more than enough
nutrients for her to
produce the rich milk

her cubs need to survive.

Access to the food depends
on her ability to dominate
others in the clan.

(GROWLING)

As the matriarch,
she quickly puts
others in their place.

(GROWLING)

The more she can stuff down
before her clan-mates,

the better chance
her offspring will
have of surviving.

(HOWLING)

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

Dawn breaks
in the ebony grove.

Silence has fallen
over the hyena den.

The clan rests after
the activity of the night.

With the pride
nowhere to be seen,

baboons descend
from their roosts.

(CHITTERING)

(BIRDS SQUAWKING)

Like beacons
in the morning light,

the sausage flowers
are attracting even
more admirers.

Like bats, birds are drawn
by the insects’ presence.

Carmine bee-eaters,

named for their
favorite prey,
gather on nearby perches.

(SQUAWKING)

Unlike bats,
they don’t use sound.

Their incredible eyesight
helps them catch their
marks with ease.

In the cool
morning air, the animals
are full of energy.

Young rams move together
as part of a bachelor herd.

They may not hold
any territory yet,

but this ragtag
group of youngsters
still establishes a hierarchy.

(ROARING)

A single male roars,
putting on a show
for the other rams.

For impala males,
this is how you sort
the men from the boys.

(ROARING)

And it’s contagious.

Chasing one another
lets the rams see
who’s in the best condition.

The boys’ unruly
behavior is largely
ignored by the females.

These highly
ritualized displays

rarely lead to
any serious fights,

so injuries are uncommon.

Their excited roars carry up
to a mile along the river.

The impala bachelors
aren’t the only boisterous
animals this morning.

Baby baboons play
on the riverside.

(SCREECHING)

Their big brains need
training to develop.

Climbing, jumping and chasing
are the perfect ways
to learn to be a baboon.

(SCREECHING)

Adults may play less
as they get older,

but it won’t save them
from becoming target practice.

The midmorning sun
steadily marches on.

The pride dozes
at last with bellies full.

They managed to
meet up with the male
and take down a young hippo.

Finally, they’ve made
a kill big enough to
satisfy the entire pride.

But they’ll have to wait
if they want seconds.

The male dominates
the carcass.

Younger cubs have joined
to wait for their share.

For one hungry juvenile,
it’s too much
to just sit and watch.

(GROWLING)

But Dad is unwilling to share.

When it comes to feeding,
cubs are lowest on the ladder.

Persistence
eventually wins out.

The male has
had his fill and allows
the others to tuck in.

An adult lion can easily
eat over 60 pounds
in one sitting.

This carcass won’t last long
and they all know it.

The valley is hotting up,

and as the sun rises further
into the cloudless sky,
shadows begin to retreat.

With the lions
otherwise occupied,

the kudu venture out
into the open
to quench their thirst.

But they won’t
drop their guard.

Lions aren’t the only
predators around.

Perimeter checked,
they head down
to a pool to drink

before temperatures
become too unbearable.

In this climate,
they need to drink

one and a half gallons
a day to survive.

They head back
to the woodland,

where they’ll be
able to feed, protected
by the shade of the canopy.

The male returns
to the carcass.

It’s time for thirds.

But it’s getting too hot
to eat out in the open.

If the male is going
to be this greedy,

a drink at the river
might be a better option.

An explosion of color
catches their attention.

(BIRDS SQUAWKING)

It’s noon and the
carmine bee-eater males

are beginning to return
from their morning hunt,

bug in beak.

These are romantic tokens
for their mates,

delivered straight
to the burrow.

But a carmine colony
can be a rough neighborhood.

Hard-earned gifts are eyed up
before they even reach
their rightful recipients.

It’s easier to steal
than work for your bug.

This one’s made it
past the thieves.

His mate quickly
comes to collect.

Better to be safe than sorry.

(SQUAWKING)

On the other
side of the river,

African skimmers carve
through the shallow waters.

Like the carmines,
they nest in areas exposed
by the low water levels.

But instead of digging
a burrow in the bank,

they make a scrape
in the damp sand.

The moist sand
keeps their eggs cool

when the sun hangs
high in the sky.

But it leaves
the clutch vulnerable
to wandering predators.

A ground hornbill is named
for its habit of stalking
over land in search of prey.

There’s little he won’t eat.

Frogs, insects, even
tortoises can fall prey
to his powerful bill.

A couple of skimmer eggs
could make a delightful snack.

This should be an
easy meal for the largest
species of hornbill.

(SQUAWKING)

But he should know
better than to mess with
a pair of worried parents.

(SQUAWKING)

The skimmers are dwarfed
by the hornbill,

but the safety of their
clutch comes first.

The mobbing is too much.

He’ll have to look
for food elsewhere.

At 2:00 in the afternoon,
the searing sun bears down
on the valley’s inhabitants.

The male lion is out on patrol

and the females
lounge in the shade.

The heat of the day
and that full feeling
has them at its mercy.

If they could,
they’d sleep all day anyway.

Under a sausage tree,
the kudus are keeping
to the shadows.

Sausage fruits hang
from the branches above.

They can grow
over a foot and a half long
and weigh almost 22 pounds.

The flowers have
already fallen,

fine dining for
the valley’s herbivores.

But some kudus
aren’t quite so elegant.

This female’s gone
for a sausage fruit instead.

Quite the mouthful.

Rock hard,
it’s tough to get down.

Maybe another.

Maybe not.

(LION ROARING)

The male lion’s roars
carry across the valley again.

But this time, weighed down
by a belly full of hippo,

he isn’t really putting in
much of an effort.

(LOW ROARING)

The blazing sun slowly
begins its journey back
towards the horizon.

From dusty lagoons
to leaf-littered woodland,

shadows begin to
lengthen and rake across
the ground once more.

The wild dogs shouldn’t
have to get up for
an hour or so yet.

Like the lions,
they’re taking
the afternoon off.

But in the bush,
you’ve got to be careful
where you lay your head.

(BEES BUZZING)

African honeybees have built
a hive inside a nearby tree.

Legendary for their
aggressive nature,

they will defend
their nest by attacking
anything that moves.

Bee guards patrol
the area investigating
any potential threats.

(BEES BUZZING)

A swarm of angry bees
isn’t the best lullaby
for a tired wild dog.

(YOWLING)

African honeybees sting
10 times more frequently
than their European cousins.

There’s no option other
than to find somewhere
else to sleep.

An hour before sunset,
vultures circle in the
soft light of the evening.

(VULTURES CALLING)

They descend
en masse to the carcass
of a young elephant.

The male lion is here too.

But with the table crowded
and his belly still working
on this morning’s meal,

he’s content
to just watch and wait.

(SQUAWKING)

Fifty ravenous birds jostle
for a position where they’ve
ripped the carcass open.

(SQUAWKING)

The boldest birds
get first feed.

The lappet-faced vulture
is the largest vulture
in Africa.

Its strong hooked beak easily
tears through tough hide,
tendons and cartilage.

(SQUAWKING)

His aggression and power

mean the smaller
white-backed vultures
wouldn’t dare challenge him.

But other lappets will.

Fights over the carcass
come thick and fast.

White-backed versus
white-backed.

Lappet against lappet.

(SQUAWKING)

Gorging, the vultures
wolf down two pounds
of meat a minute.

Vultures may have
a bad reputation,

but removing festering
carcasses keeps the
environment disease-free.

Some have overdone it.

And as the sun falls,
the circle of satisfied
birds grows.

The scent brings in a hyena.

A sure sign of the
fast-approaching night.

Alone, he’s no match
for the watchful lion.

(SQUAWKING)

The day is coming to an end.

As nocturnal creatures
begin to stir from their dens,

impala and puku prepare
for the night ahead.

The pride may have fed today,

but it won’t be long before,
stomachs empty,

their attentions turn
to the next meal.

Every night is
a long night for those
that call this valley home.

♪

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