LIONS SNARL
CUBS HOWL
Every year in the Kalahari,
as the dry season tightens its grip,
thousands of hungry animals
make their way to the last remaining patches of grassland.
Savuti Marsh, with its permanent water,
is soon packed with game.
For the lions that live here...
..this is feast-time.
Lion territory doesn't get much better.
But this year...
Savuti has just been through its worst drought in three decades.
When the grass ran out, the grazers moved on...
..and left the cats with a dilemma.
Among the larger animals, only the elephants kept coming...
..prisoners of their need for Savuti's precious water.
If they were going to eat,
the resident lions had to re-write the rules.
And, inspired by a fearless leader...
..that is exactly what they have done.
ELEPHANT CRIES OUT
LION ROARS
By learning how to kill elephants,
this remarkable pride has managed to survive the drought
and hang on to its territory.
Protected by a coalition of five brothers,
these giant killers are now the undisputed masters of the marsh.
But their grip on this precious kingdom
is about to be tested like never before.
With plenty to eat, the pride has been growing.
And in the footsteps of these cubs,
there may soon be more.
A young lioness is ready to mate.
LIONESS SNARLS
Among the coalition of brothers, however, competition is fierce.
LIONS SNARL AND GRUNT
Old rivalries flare up...
..and the lions pick sides.
By the time the dust has settled,
the damage has been done.
In a few reckless minutes,
the band of brothers has torn itself apart...
..leaving just two males to defend the pride.
The three banished lions head off to establish dynasties of their own.
If they're successful, they could be back,
looking to claim the marsh for themselves.
The split does not bode well for the ageing leader and her pride.
These would-be heirs now face an uncertain future.
THUNDER RUMBLES
THUNDERCLAP
Distant thunder is a sign that the wet season may at last be coming.
For the trapped and starving elephants,
it is only rain that can free them from these killing fields.
Hit hard by the drought,
the elephants have been too weak to put up much of a fight...
..and the lions have taken full advantage.
This unusual situation may never repeat itself.
The pride's two remaining brothers still stand shoulder to shoulder.
Alert for hostile intruders,
they step up their border patrols.
They have every reason to be more vigilant.
A young lioness has just given birth to her first litter.
CUBS MEWL
Though full of life, the two cubs are vulnerable.
Until they're bigger, they're best kept hidden...
..even from their own the pride.
It's now up to the other lionesses to do all the hunting.
The pride's leader, however, is looking old.
Since the rains, she's become too frail to keep up.
There are just two lionesses to lead the hunt
and today, they've got several cubs in tow.
As the adults look for a target...
..the youngsters watch closely.
This is the first time that the young lions have joined a hunt...
..and they have much to learn.
BUFFALO GRUNTS
LIONESS SNARLS
BUFFALO BAYS
The rookies are itching to have a go.
Alas, they are still too small -
even for an injured calf.
BUFFALO BAYS
What to hunt and how to kill it
are things that all lions must learn...
..and they are things that vary from pride to pride.
The lesson that these lionesses have just given to their cubs...
..is a lesson that they themselves received several years ago...
..from their own mother.
Now too weak to move,
this once-fearless hunter has been a mere spectator
to the day's proceedings.
Hanging over her daughters is an unanswered question.
If it ever came to it,
would they too be able to lead the pride against elephants?
Or is giant-killing itself destined to die
with the old female's last breath?
Within days, her life is slipping away.
She summons the strength for a final, defiant roar.
LIONESS ROARS
As the days become hotter,
desert winds chase away the last clouds.
The dry season is returning
and the first big herds are starting to stream in from the Kalahari.
BUFFALO GRUNT
Before long, the marsh will provide the only grazing for miles around.
Over the next few months, the pride enjoys a rare period of stability.
Food is plentiful...
..the neighbours stay away...
..and there are even some new arrivals.
For the first time in months,
the pride is starting to look like it has a future.
LION ROARS
More mouths means more work.
And now that they're older,
the three adolescents will have to start pulling their weight.
The pride still has no clear leader.
Any one of the three sisters could step forward.
But, for now, the priority is to eat.
The entire pride is now together...
..and the three adolescents are eager to get involved.
The lions are looking to flush out an injured animal...
..a target that they can isolate and pull down.
But try as they might,
they can find no weakness.
Faced with an advancing wall of horns,
the lions call off the hunt.
Only one of them is unwilling to back down.
Endowed, it seems,
with the same remarkable courage as her giant-killing mother,
she now faces the buffalo alone.
The hunt may not be bringing the lions the meat they need...
..but it has revealed a new leader.
After a week without food,
the pride has only one thing on its mind.
They will have to work together, though, if they're going to succeed.
BUFFALO MOOS
They've been here before...
..and failed.
LION SNARLS
BUFFALO BAYS
Safety for the injured buffalo lies with the herd.
To finish the job, the pride must move fast to isolate it.
BUFFALO MOOS
Teamwork has finally brought success...
..and this time, there's more than enough for everyone.
With their kingdom secured
and a plentiful supply of food...
..the pride's prospects have never looked better.
But the stakes are about to be raised.
THUNDER CRACKS
The passing storm has brought not rain, but fire.
FLAMES CRACKLE
In a landscape already baked dry by the sun,
the flames spread rapidly...
..burning off the grass that feeds the herds.
With nothing left for them on the scorched plains...
..the grazers that would normally stay here are starting to move out.
Within days, the picture has changed dramatically.
What should be a banquet is now an empty table.
Across the burnt marsh,
the lions see only elephants.
ELEPHANTS GRUNT
Both are trapped in this smouldering wasteland.
The elephants, by their need for water...
..the pride, because it has nowhere else to go.
Perhaps she already knows it.
There is, yet again, only one animal here that can sustain the pride.
are far fitter and stronger than they were before.
It's little wonder that the lions seem uncertain.
LIONS GROWL
Even for their leader, so fearless against the buffalo,
this is dangerous new territory.
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
The queen is now facing her greatest test.
If she can emulate her giant-killing mother,
the pride will survive and the marsh will truly be theirs.
But fail, and it will all have been for nothing.
Instinctively, the lions wait for an easy opportunity to present itself.
ELEPHANT CUB SHRIEKS
ELEPHANT ROARS
The pride's leader is undeterred.
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
To succeed, more hunters are going to have to join the fray.
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
With each passing day,
the lions grow hungrier...
..and more desperate.
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
ELEPHANT SHRIEKS
ELEPHANTS TRUMPET
Throwing caution to the wind,
they're ready to try anything.
Led by their queen,
the lions refuse to give up.
With each failure,
the pride's grip on the marsh is slipping...
..and time is not on their side.
Over the past year,
the pride has been on an extraordinary journey.
From thriving family to near disaster and back again.
There is just one final, elephant-sized hurdle...
..a hurdle that nature has forced them to confront
for a second time.
If it's going to survive,
the pride will have to go way beyond what it did before.
It is now...
..or never.