All language subtitles for Big Cats S01E02

High in the tree tops
of Central America....

..a margay rules the forest.

Just one of a remarkable family...

..that has conquered the world.

One family...

..40 different faces.

They thrive in every landscape...

..from the frozen north...

..to the driest deserts.

From the most remote,
barely explored places...

..to the heart of our modern world.

These are the cats.

The monsoon wetlands of South
Asia...

..home to an extraordinary cat...

..one whose entire life
revolves around water.

This is a fishing cat.

Their unique ability
to catch slippery fish

in these weed-filled ponds

has allowed them to colonise
these vast wetlands.

Beneath their long outer coat,
they have a shorter layer

of insulating fur
that acts like a wet suit

and they have
partially webbed feet.

They're well adapted to
a life aquatic...

..but, even so, every fishing cat
still has to learn how to fish.

This female has two kittens
just a couple of months old.

Up to now, they've been kept
safely away from the water's edge,

but that's all about to change.

This is the first time
they've seen water.

It's natural to be nervous...

..but these water babies
take to it like a cat to water.

It's time to show them the real
reason they've been brought here.

Long whiskers detect vibrations
from fish moving in the shallows...

..helping to gauge
the exact striking distance.

Now it's the kittens' turn.

For now, it's only water plants
that need to be afraid.

This could take some time.

They'll be back tomorrow
for another lesson.

All over the globe,
cats of all shapes and sizes

have adapted to the challenges

of the planet's
most extreme environments.

This is the Namib, Southern Africa,

the oldest desert on Earth.

Here, there's no surface water
for hundreds of miles.

Despite this, these desert lions
thrive amongst the dunes.

They live in small, isolated prides,

relying on shared knowledge
and experience

to find food
in this hostile landscape.

Amongst the dunes, three sisters,
barely a year old.

They are alone,

recently orphaned.

The youngest,
most inexperienced pride in Africa.

This is the hardest time of the year
for the animals of the Namib.

The desert is at its hottest...

..and driest.

Yet it's this hostility that
offers the cubs a chance to survive.

It will mean searching
day in, day out.

They walk twice as far as lions
living on

the savannas of East Africa.

This is the lifeline
they were looking for,

a victim of the extreme heat,

a dead oryx.

These cubs don't have the skills
or strength to hunt yet.

But like all desert lions,
when times demand it,

they will scavenge...

..even on rotting meat.

With luck, this strategy

of scavenging
victims of the harsh desert

will keep the cubs from starvation.

A kudu,

a huge antelope,

and one rarely seen in the desert.

But this is no victim of the heat.

This is a lion kill.

A lioness that's not going to share.

A close call

and a vital lesson for the sisters.

In the desert,

the biggest danger
facing young lions

comes from adult lions.

The desert has provided
just enough for them to survive.

Very soon they will be old enough

and strong enough

to hunt for themselves.

Cats have evolved to survive in
almost every environment on Earth.

The thick fur and large padded
feet of Canada lynx

enable them to thrive in
the deep snow of the frozen north.

In the forests of India,

wonderfully agile clouded leopards

are at home
amongst tangled branches.

Large claws provide grip

and a long tail gives them balance.

On the African plains,

caracal spring almost effortlessly
over the tall savanna grass...

..using their long, powerful legs.

Whilst some cats are finely tuned
to live in just one environment,

some have a different strategy.

They will go wherever
new opportunities appear.

The Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

Here, there's a cat that can
swap life in the jungle

to go hunting on a tropical beach.

Thermal-imaging cameras

reveal the nightlife
on this Pacific shore,

and it's busy.

A jaguar, the biggest and most
powerful cat in the Americas.

They're built to take on

the biggest, most dangerous prey
in the jungle...

..but this female is pregnant.

Right now, she needs to eat as much
as possible

to provide nourishment
for her developing cub.

Tonight, this beach may provide
a very welcome addition to her diet.

A jaguar's eyes are six times more
sensitive to light than our own,

so, even in the dark, anything that
moves catches her attention.

Around the time of the full moon,

turtles come ashore
to lay their eggs.

An olive ridley turtle has one-inch
thick armour for protection...

..but, for its size, a jaguar has
the strongest jaws of any cat...

..a bite powerful enough to crack
open this rich source of food.

She is not the only one
that benefits -

other animals clean up the scraps.

Her visit to the beach couldn't
have been timed any better.

It's the beginning of
a seasonal gathering of turtles,

known locally as the arribada,
the arrival.

Over the next few nights,

30,000 turtles will come
to this beach to nest.

In fact, she won't eat many.

But for this expectant mother,

the meat from a few turtles
will make all the difference.

Soon this opportunity will be over

and she will return to hunting
in the forest...

..leaving the beach
to the thousands of hatchlings

that emerge
and return safely to sea.

2,500 miles north...

..the cool and stormy shores
of California.

A very different coastline,
where a very different cat

has found her own way
to make her living.

At home in her den
close to the beach...

..a bobcat.

Bobcats usually hunt rabbits
and small mammals,

but this female has
set her sights rather higher.

Here, where a freshwater stream
meets the sea...

..gulls flock to drink
and wash salt from their feathers.

It's what she's counting on.

But it's not going to be easy.

She'll just have to wait
for the gulls to come back.

To hunt like this
takes determination.

Most end in failure...

..but she returns, day after day.

With every attempt,
she refines her technique.

At last...

..but one gull
won't keep her fed for long.

Fortunately, this beach
is never short of chances to hunt.

There's no doubting
her persistence and skill...

..even if the occasional gull
does slip her grip.

And, remarkably, she's doing all
this whilst she's blind in one eye.

The Sundarbans of India
and Bangladesh

is the world's largest
mangrove swamp.

Unexplored, muddy islands
surrounded by the sea...

..where a legendary
big cat rules.

Perhaps the most elusive
and least understood.

The swamp tiger.

Only at low tide is it possible
catch a glimpse

of what lies within
these mysterious mangroves.

This is when the animals
come down to the shore to feed...

..both hunted...and hunter.

Low tide also offers a brief chance

for this male to patrol
the shoreline of his island.

Scent marking is a warning
to other tigers to keep off.

This is a place where a cat
must live his entire life

in tune with the tide.

With the rising water,

life retreats back to
the depths of the mangroves...

..and he must follow...

..disappearing again
into these strange swamplands.

We know almost nothing
about these tigers,

but researchers now believe
that as many as 100 of them

make these remote islands
their home.

The world's most celebrated big cats
continue to surprise us,

but the most surprising cats
of all...

..are the little cats.

Out of the 40 known cat species,

33 are what scientists call
the small cats.

They are the most secretive
and least studied of all the cats.

In the mountains of Chile,

a guigna, the smallest cat
in all the Americas,

hunts moths amongst the undergrowth.

Ocelots are the most common cat
in the Costa Rican jungle,

yet they are rarely seen.

Their perfectly camouflaged coats

help them to disappear
in an instant.

African wild cats live scattered
all across Africa,

from Morocco to South Africa,

one of the most widespread
of all cats,

yet they too are hardly ever seen.

But now specialist camera
technology is giving us

a new insight into the mysterious
lives of these small cats

in some of the most remote
places on Earth.

The Karoo desert, South Africa.

A vast landscape dominated by
low desert scrub.

It provides the perfect
cover for Africa's smallest cat.

She waits for the cool of night
before heading out to hunt.

A black-footed cat.

This little female is known to
researchers as Gyra.

She's tiny, weighing
not much more than a kilo,

200 times lighter than a lion.

She'd be almost impossible to find,

but she's being tracked with
a radio collar.

And using surveillance cameras
that rival a cat's night vision,

we can at last reveal
her nocturnal pursuits.

She can walk 20 miles a night
in search of food,

the furthest recorded
for any small cat.

Guided by superb night vision, and
responding to the tiniest sounds...

..anything that moves
is a potential meal.

She'll even eat locusts...

..but she prefers gerbils.

Or, if that doesn't work, birds.

With a wiggle to tuck her legs in,

she gets as low to the ground
as possible.

Primed like a spring,
she can deliver maximum power...

..to jump.

She hits her target 60% of the time.

It's what makes black-footed cats
the most lethal hunters

in the entire cat family.

And the reason for Gyra's
huge appetite

is that she's raising
her own little hunter.

Even the deadliest cat in Africa
can have a softer side.

Perhaps the most bizarre
small cat of all

lives here...

..in the heart of Mongolia...

..one of the most remote
and least populated places on Earth.

After decades of research,

we are now able to reveal
an insight into their hidden lives.

This is Pallas's cat.

She's cautious
and she has good reason.

Kittens.

Four of them.

Two months old

and just out of the den.

They're already becoming
a bit of a handful.

They live in a world
of windswept grassland,

an area three times
bigger than the UK,

but this outcrop of rocks is
a safe place to hide the family.

It's morning
and the kittens are hungry,

but a mother can't hunt with four
excitable youngsters tagging along.

Today, she will have to leave
her kittens home alone.

Out here, in the open,
there's nowhere to hide.

The only thing she can do
is to try and blend in.

A Pallas's cat's ears

are positioned unusually low
on the side of their head

and that helps them
to keep a low profile.

What's more, these cats can flatten
their body to look...

..like a rock.

She'll need to hunt all day

to provide enough
for her growing kittens,

who, meanwhile, are getting up
to all sorts of mischief.

Play will help them to hone
their own hunting skills.

A silver vole finds itself the
centre of the kittens' attention.

The key

is a silent,

patient

approach.

Alas, on these rocks,
a vole has the upper hand.

Fortunately, the kittens can
rely on their mother to provide.

Pallas's cats
actually do very well here

and there could be as many as
10,000 living in these grasslands...

..not that it makes them
any easier to see.

In some places,
small cats are living secret lives

right under our noses.

East of Johannesburg, Africa's
biggest industrial complex.

The size of a town.

Behind the barbed wire,

surveillance cameras detect
intruders every night.

A cat has taken over.

The tierboskat,

also known as a serval.

This restricted area is now the home
of around 100 of these

small spotted cats...

..the densest population
anywhere in Africa.

This secure wasteland
is teeming with life.

It's a place
where people rarely venture...

..and the fences keep
out larger predators

that might be a threat
to the servals.

What's more, the water used to cool
the heavy industry

has helped create lush meadows
around these pools

and that, in turn, has led to
an explosion of rats and mice.

All a serval can eat.

They're not only attracted
by the food,

but by the one thing
that all cats need,

their own space...

..where they can be left
undisturbed.

This is a small cat paradise.

Cats have conquered
almost every corner of the planet.

But now, even in
the most remote places,

they are feeling the impact
from our way of life...

..as we encroach more and more
into their world.

Around the planet,
their numbers are decreasing.

If cats are to survive
in our changing world,

we just need to leave them
some space.

For the Big Cats team,

it was filming small cats
that posed the greatest challenge...

..none more so than Pallas's cat in
the remote grasslands of Mongolia.

Producer Paul Williams
and camerawoman Sue Gibson

are hoping to be the first team
to film this elusive cat

and they're hoping to find
a family with kittens.

They're joining Gaana
and his research team,

who have been studying
the cats here for over a decade.

As luck would have it,

the researchers have already seen
kittens on their camera traps.

We've got kittens and a mother,

which is really exciting cos that
was only a few days ago

that they were caught
on the camera trap.

They stake out the location, hoping
that the family is still around.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Do you see?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Oh, wow! Wow, wow, wow!

They're one of the cats
we've really been desperate to film

and to see one for the first time
is absolutely incredible.

That's really special to see.

I can't believe
how lucky we've been.

While the cats are asleep
in their den,

the team gather rocks to build a
hide.

We're going to leave all the kit
here and then back off.

There might be something new
in the environment

but at least there won't be
anyone here.

Hoping that the behaviour
of the cats won't change

and they will be fine with it.

The next day, when the mother leaves
to go hunting,

Sue and Paul sneak into position

while the rest of the team
keep a lookout from the hills.

All they can do now
is wait and watch.

It's not long before
the mother returns.

Sue, can you copy me? Yeah?

Mother is coming on your right
to den.

OK, copy that.
I'll go silent now, thanks.

I've just filmed
my first Pallas's cat.

They were quite far away,
but it's only the first day.

I wasn't expecting
to film anything yet, actually.

Filming doesn't often start
this well

and, sure enough,
their luck doesn't last long.

This big storm suddenly
appeared on the horizon

and already the wind's
really picking up.

It could be pretty severe

and I don't want to stick
around here very long.

Exposed on the Mongolian Steppe,

the winds quickly reach
speeds of 50mph.

The storm is coming up,
so we need to tighten up.

Absolutely insane.

Phwoar, it is blowing
like crazy out there!

The freak storm has left
a trail of destruction.

Our dining tent is
gone...completely.

It blew our toilet tent
to the other side of the mountain.

I'm glad I wasn't sat on it
when that happened!

While the rest of the team
clean up the debris,

Sue and Gaana head back to the hide.

It's not looking good.

I'm wondering
whether the storm has moved them on

because I haven't seen
Mum or kittens.

After 12 hours, there's still been
no sign of the cats.

So we're going to have to
get together and have a chat,

and think about...what to do.

The cats could have gone anywhere
and in any direction.

With no time to put out
more camera traps,

the team have to search
the old-fashioned way.

It's so difficult finding that
little cat in this big landscape.

Days of searching...

..turn into weeks.

No cats again.

The Pallas's cat is probably one
of the most difficult cats to find,

which is why it's
never been filmed before.

This landscape is vast, these
cats are incredibly well camouflaged

and are very, very good at hiding.

Finally, Gaana has some good news.

You found a den? Yeah.

- Ah, fantastic!
- Hi, Paul, do you copy? Over.

I've just heard from Gaana
that he has found a den.

Nice one! Great news, great news!

Sue now has a second chance.

The new den is high on a hill,
sheltered amongst rocks.

It's the same family and,
even better,

the kittens are now
much more active.

It's exactly what the team
were hoping to film -

kittens at play.

They are the cutest kittens
I've ever seen

and I've filmed quite a few
on this series.

To be that close to little wild
bundles of fluff, that was amazing.

It's a remarkable insight
into the life of a remarkable cat.

Next time,
the frontiers of discovery...

Just in front of us.
Ah, that's really special!

Holy mackerel!
..getting closer than ever before...

There you go!

..to the secret lives of cats.

There.