0:00:12 > 0:00:1650 kilos heavier and a whole head longer than a lion,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19the tiger is the world's uncontested super-cat.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35And yet, despite the armies of cameramen who have come to film these breathtaking animals,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38there is one event that has eluded almost all of them.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43The hunting behaviour of lions and cheetahs has been recorded many times,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47but documenting a tiger kill has proved almost impossible.
0:00:50 > 0:00:57Today, there are twice as many tigers in captivity in America as there are in the jungles of India.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Tigers are facing extinction in the wild, and with their catastrophic decline,
0:01:05 > 0:01:11the opportunity to document the central event of their predatory lives is becoming harder and harder.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16I'm Simon King. I'm a wildlife film-maker,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20and I've been invited by Indian cameraman and tiger specialist Alphonse Roy
0:01:20 > 0:01:25to try and capture one of nature's most elusive moments.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41For the past 20 years, I've been lucky enough to film wildlife all over the world,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45but this is the first time I've ever been to India.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53For me, the supreme moment in the natural world is predation.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55To some, this may seem bloodthirsty.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58But never do you see an animal at full stretch,
0:01:58 > 0:02:03as you do when a predator and prey are put to the ultimate test of survival.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07This is when millions of years of evolution are tested.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26The chaos of it all, and out there, I know there are tigers.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I think that's our train!
0:02:37 > 0:02:42I've come to India to see if my experiences filming predation in other parts of the world,
0:02:42 > 0:02:47and with other species, can transfer to a totally unfamiliar setting and a very different beast.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55I've done some packing exercises in my time, but this one takes the biscuit!
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I've got a month to try and film a tiger kill.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00No-one touches the big lens.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Nine...ten.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10I'm heading 500 miles due south from Delhi into the Deccan Plateau of central India.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14A peaceful night's sleep(!)
0:03:19 > 0:03:2216 hours!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Filming a tiger kill will be a huge challenge,
0:03:32 > 0:03:38but, travelling across India, I'm quite frankly amazed there are any tigers left at all.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41India is a nation of one billion people.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47There are simply fewer and fewer places left where a tiger can live and hunt.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50..to visit all the community.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55'As the scale of the task ahead sinks in, it's good to know that I'm not doing this alone.'
0:03:55 > 0:04:00For the past 17 years, Alphonse Roy has been visiting Bandhavgarh tiger reserve.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07He's probably filmed more tiger footage than anyone else alive.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11TIGER GROWLS
0:04:12 > 0:04:16But despite the many thousands of hours he's spent amongst tigers,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Alphonse has never filmed a tiger catching a meal.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22THEY GROWL SOFTLY
0:04:22 > 0:04:24THEY ROAR
0:04:24 > 0:04:25I'm very obsessed with it,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29because I've been trying to shoot a tiger making a kill for so many years,
0:04:29 > 0:04:35come close, very close to it, for twice or thrice, but haven't got it on film.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38It's like er...trick or treat.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41It's an excuse for the kids to just have fun.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43DRUMMING, SHOUTING AND SINGING
0:04:43 > 0:04:45I have arrived on a very auspicious day.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51This is Holi, the Hindu festival of colour, which marks the end of winter and the start of summer.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04It's a day when all differences are set aside.
0:05:10 > 0:05:17I've been thrown in at the deep end into a very exotic, utterly unfamiliar world.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26SOUNDS OF THE FESTIVAL FADE
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Bandhavgarh lies at the geographical heart of India,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and has, for centuries, been one of the best places in the world to encounter tigers.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Tigers are undoubtedly India's most charismatic animals,
0:06:20 > 0:06:27and getting permission to film in these reserves is, not surprisingly, very strictly controlled.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Woo!
0:06:29 > 0:06:32CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Hah. I've just got back into camp and been handed this illegible fax,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44which apparently constitutes our permission. We have... Happy Holi.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Happy Holi, sorry to ignore you.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48Happy Holi.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52We now have permission to go into the park and to see tigers for the first time,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54so it really is a happy Holi.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06While Alphonse goes off to scout the jungles and gather information, I prepare cameras and equipment.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12We've got so much kit, it's coming out of our ear-holes.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17After 17 years, Alphonse has developed his own unique methods,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21including his trusty elephant tripod -
0:07:21 > 0:07:26quite a contraption to sit on close to one of the world's most powerful hunters.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49These meadows are ruled over by a tigress called Chakra.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Alphonse has filmed Chakra's mother, and even her grandmother,
0:07:53 > 0:07:59but in all that time, he's never seen a tigress bring four cubs up to maturity.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03I'm used to seeing prides of up to 30 lions,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07but a family of five tigers is something very special, even to Alphonse.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18They may be almost fully grown, but the cubs still rely on their mum to bring home dinner.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21We couldn't have arrived at a better time.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26This hungry family will depend on Chakra's hunting skills, and so will we.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35ELEPHANT RUMBLES
0:08:35 > 0:08:4040% of the world's tiger habitats have disappeared in the last ten years.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Bandhavgarh is a reminder of how so much of India once was.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53At dawn, this is a place of true magic.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00ELEPHANT RUMBLES
0:09:12 > 0:09:15I'm entering tiger country for the first time in my life.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17PEACOCK CRIES
0:09:32 > 0:09:36- Look! This is the male cub, this is the male cub.- There's a cub! - Can you see?
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Not only am I looking at my first wild tiger,
0:09:39 > 0:09:46this is one of Chakra's cubs, the family we'll be following, AND it's on a kill.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48What a palaver!
0:09:50 > 0:09:57Nothing can prepare you for the thrill of seeing your first wild tiger at close range.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01That is magnificent!
0:10:01 > 0:10:04You think you know a tiger from watching them on films,
0:10:04 > 0:10:09from looking at them in photographs, but I can tell you now,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12the first time you see one in the flesh, in the wild,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16it contains a majesty and a power that...
0:10:16 > 0:10:18is unsurpassed.
0:10:24 > 0:10:31These animals - these tigers - are not unlike leopards in their hunting strategy,
0:10:31 > 0:10:37because this cat has clearly used very thick cover to make the kill.
0:10:37 > 0:10:45But what is really, really encouraging is that it's been made on the edge of this meadow area.
0:10:48 > 0:10:55What is also very clear, is that trying to record a kill, using this method,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58is going to be...impossible.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04The amount of movement, the amount of sound, the amount of disturbance that we've already created,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07would have sent a herd of deer running a long time ago.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17So we're just going to take a little move,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and check out where, perhaps, the mother is, or some of the other cubs.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25There's the adult, sleeping like a baby.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39The markings are exquisite.
0:11:39 > 0:11:47I think for that reason alone, this must rank as the single most beautiful big cat in the world.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Large numbers of tourists may detract from the intimacy of a tiger sighting,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59but it's a small price to pay.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Without tourists, it's unlikely any tigers would survive in the wild for long.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Alphonse has asked me to help him document a kill.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen with so many witnesses present.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17I mean, we are,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21the same as anybody trying to get a view of this cat, and yet we're part of a...
0:12:21 > 0:12:25of a pressure group, if you like, that are moving in on her,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29when really my instinct says, "Pull back, leave her be."
0:12:50 > 0:12:53After 17 years of near misses,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57I need to work out what Alphonse needs to do differently in order to film a tiger kill.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01And to do this, I need to immerse myself in this unfamiliar world.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17WARTHOG GRUNTS
0:13:21 > 0:13:23HIGH, FRENETIC BIRDSONG
0:13:24 > 0:13:26PEACOCKS CRY
0:13:44 > 0:13:48I'm a guest here, I'm a guest at the invitation of Alphonse.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52I'm humbled in his presence, he's a magnificent film-maker.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57He's recorded events with tigers that nobody else has witnessed, let alone filmed.
0:13:57 > 0:14:04But I have been invited here to help record that missing link in their lives -
0:14:04 > 0:14:06hunting behaviour.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11My experiences elsewhere, perhaps, can lend something to this exercise.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21It may seem to some people,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26that the desire to film or record animals killing other animals is a little morbid.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33The truth is, whenever you witness a kill, yes, it can be disturbing.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35You know it's a life being taken,
0:14:35 > 0:14:40but there is a fundamental beauty,
0:14:40 > 0:14:47to that terminal, that final embrace, which is unparalleled.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38Tigers hunt alone, with none of the advantages a pride of lions can bring to the chase.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41For a solitary cat, the ambush is everything.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05The prey species have evolved extraordinary defences -
0:16:05 > 0:16:09acute hearing, eyesight, and sense of smell.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Watching one of Chakra's inexperienced cubs hunting,
0:16:17 > 0:16:24it's very clear that without surprise on their side, any tiger is facing very long odds.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28DEER GIVES ALARM CALL
0:16:35 > 0:16:39I do believe that we can record something special,
0:16:39 > 0:16:45and, perhaps, that's never been seen before, by adopting entirely new methods,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49that have no effect on the cats whatsoever.
0:17:04 > 0:17:05WATER SPLASHES
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Water holes are always a good place to meet the locals.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Predators know this, too.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28PEACOCKS CRY
0:17:43 > 0:17:46While Alphonse is off tracking down the tigers,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I've decided to put up a tree platform and wait and see what happens.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54We know that Chakra and her family come here quite often.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11PEACOCKS CRY
0:18:11 > 0:18:18We've got one of our tree platforms in position overlooking this water hole.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23You can see they're a frequent visitor because they use this tree as a scratching post,
0:18:23 > 0:18:28just like your kitten at home, but...these aren't your average kitten.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33This is where they come to stretch, exercise and maybe even clean their claws,
0:18:33 > 0:18:40and er...you can see the grooves in this bark made by their claws are phenomenally deep.
0:18:40 > 0:18:46It's a little bit sobering to see that some of the scratch marks reach to the same height as my platform,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48so I'm going to have to keep an eye on them.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52PEACOCKS CRY
0:18:59 > 0:19:01FLURRY OF BIRD CALLS
0:19:12 > 0:19:14PEACOCK CRIES
0:19:19 > 0:19:26Typically, while Alphonse searches in another corner of the park, the entire family pays me a visit.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Although tigers don't have the climbing skills of leopards...
0:19:42 > 0:19:43TIGER GROWLS
0:19:43 > 0:19:46..I know from those claw marks that I'm not out of reach.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50If this tiger wanted to join me, it could do it in a flash.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58The cubs seem unperturbed by anything,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03but I know their carefree world is about to be turned upside down.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07Over the past 14 months, Chakra has seen to their every need.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13But tigers aren't social cats and, very soon, she'll simply abandon them,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16leaving them to make their own way in the jungle.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Even though the edges of the pool are fairly open, the jungle soon crowds in.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00I realise a kill could be happening just a few feet from me,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and I wouldn't be able to get my camera onto it.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14We're going to need as much visibility as possible,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18and the open grasslands of the meadows are looking more and more attractive.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22This is the killing field we've been looking for.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39We've noticed an old forestry watchtower with a great panoramic view of the grasslands.
0:21:44 > 0:21:45This is perfect.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Totally inconspicuous, we're not going to disturb anything from up here.
0:21:50 > 0:21:51Anything. Completely.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Look at this stag. He's so preoccupied with the girls,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56he's just walking through the long stuff.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59What we don't want to happen now is a kill.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03I've seen them many times on a kill in these grasslands.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Right here I've seen it and I've seen them as well on all the terrains, it's quite equally spread.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14And because of this group of tigers - the mother with four cubs - the chances are fairly high for us.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18I would say this is camera position number one.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23The moment they go off into the forest, we may as well let them go.
0:22:23 > 0:22:30- Exactly.- So we wait for events in this sort of clearing and then work that to the best of our ability.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Above all, we're out of the way of people and we won't disturb anything, I love it.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36And I can have a flask...
0:22:36 > 0:22:37and a sandwich.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Different cameramen have different approaches to their subject.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47The tower gives me a bird's-eye view of Alphonse and a chance to study his methods.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Over the years,
0:22:55 > 0:23:01he's perfected a strategy, using a combination of a forestry elephant and a 14-foot tripod.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06He's documented some extraordinary behaviour.
0:23:08 > 0:23:14It's stuff I'd never see from up here with my sit-and-wait tactics.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Alphonse has moved into the territory of another tigress, Chakra's sister,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27who has a much younger litter of cubs.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37Inevitably, the tigress must leave the cubs when she goes off to hunt,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and it's now that they face the greatest danger.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44While Mother's away, the jungle is full of opportunists.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46CUB GROWLS FEEBLY
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The limestone cliffs of Bandhavgarh are honeycombed with caves,
0:24:03 > 0:24:09some of them natural, others that were excavated by holy men and hermits millennia ago.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20As the tigress returns to the den, she clearly senses something isn't right.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22TENSE, SYNCOPATED MUSIC PLAYS
0:24:49 > 0:24:52MUSIC BUILDS TO CLIMAX AND STOPS
0:24:52 > 0:24:54BEAR ROARS AND PANTS VIOLENTLY
0:24:58 > 0:25:01TIGER GROWLS
0:25:11 > 0:25:13TIGER GROWLS
0:25:26 > 0:25:33A tiger's diet includes bear, but with her priorities to her cubs, she won't risk any injury.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I've never before seen something like this.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It is an extraordinary and rare moment,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24but it's becoming clear to me that if it is a tiger kill we're after,
0:26:24 > 0:26:26the elephants are not the answer to our quest.
0:26:34 > 0:26:35CAMERA WHIRS
0:26:38 > 0:26:43They love the water, which is very unlike African lions.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49CAMERA CLICKS
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Hi, Simon.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57I manage to persuade Alphonse to give up the elephants for a day and come up to the tower with me.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05And we are rewarded almost immediately.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07CRICKETS CHIRP
0:27:38 > 0:27:40DEER GIVES ALARM CALL
0:28:12 > 0:28:18It is a very near miss and persuades me that we must concentrate our energies here.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29And then, just when I thought we've found the perfect spot, everything stops.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Reports come back that Chakra has taken her family high up onto the plateau.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50Until they decide to come down again, there's nothing to do except wait, and explore.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Bandhavgarh has one of the highest concentrations of tigers
0:29:03 > 0:29:05anywhere in India.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10This may, ironically, owe a lot to the region's origins
0:29:10 > 0:29:13as the hunting reserve of the Maharajahs of Riva.
0:29:16 > 0:29:23Hunting tigers was the ultimate privilege, a right that was jealously guarded by local rulers.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35In the past, every self-respecting Maharajah would have shot 109 trophies.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38That was considered to be the lucky number.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17A week later, and Chakra and her family are still nowhere to be seen.
0:30:17 > 0:30:23And with no sign of them, Alphonse decides it's time to adopt some extraordinary local measures.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Alphonse explains how in Hindu mythology,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42Brahma is the giver of life, while Shiva is the destroyer.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47Between the two lies Vishnu, the preserver.
0:30:49 > 0:30:55At the foot of the plateau, a massive granite statue of Vishnu has slept for 1,200 years.
0:30:55 > 0:31:03It's here that offerings are traditionally made and when in Rome, as they say...
0:31:08 > 0:31:12Hinduism's reverence for life provided the world
0:31:12 > 0:31:16with its first green manual for coexistence.
0:31:16 > 0:31:22Vishnu says, "All creatures are like jewels in a necklace beaded to me."
0:31:26 > 0:31:29The tiger is the central thread that binds this ecosystem.
0:31:29 > 0:31:34If the tiger disappears, then everything falls apart.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Tigers are crepuscular - they hunt at dusk and dawn.
0:31:53 > 0:32:01Now, new technology is allowing us to peer into this last dark corner of the tiger's life.
0:32:01 > 0:32:09This is the thermal imaging camera, Alphonse, and if I pan it across the meadow...
0:32:11 > 0:32:15- Oh, what are these? - This is the deer, these are cheetah,
0:32:15 > 0:32:21which you can just see now with the naked eye, but here they are glowing red.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26We know this is deer. If you panned around and you suddenly picked up a cat shape,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29you'd know that it was on its way,
0:32:29 > 0:32:34so particularly from this vantage point, it gives us a real opportunity to spot what's going on.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36- Classic!- It's fun, isn't it?
0:32:38 > 0:32:39CAMERA WHIRS
0:32:39 > 0:32:41BIRDS CRY
0:32:50 > 0:32:53These thermal images have their own surreal beauty,
0:32:53 > 0:32:59but, more importantly, they'll help us at first light find out what's going on in the meadow below.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20An unmistakable outline, but this isn't Chakra.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42Male tigers patrol huge territories, and this one's just passing through.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20Chakra's family are back and what a spot to find them.
0:35:32 > 0:35:33TIGER GROWLS
0:35:36 > 0:35:40Time is running out. I've only got another week here in Bandhavgarh,
0:35:40 > 0:35:44before I have to leave for another filming assignment in Scotland,
0:35:44 > 0:35:46a world away from all this.
0:35:49 > 0:35:55As I'm wondering how best to persuade Alphonse to stop following Chakra on elephant-back,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58events take their own course.
0:36:01 > 0:36:09He's just witnessed the Chakradhar female making a kill, really close to the elephant he's using,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13but he hasn't managed to film it, and I'm not sure why. Oh...
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Poor guy, he must feel...gutted.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27At three points, we were there, perfect, we were there. It was going fine.
0:36:27 > 0:36:34But at the fourth place, we had this chital give the alarm call,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37and in a flash, we were just considering...
0:36:37 > 0:36:41Because we're in the moving elephant, the tiger's moving, you know.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45DEER GIVE ALARM CALLS
0:36:48 > 0:36:50It's just that I'm not lucky. I mean...
0:36:57 > 0:37:04He's invested so much of his time, his energy, his passion, in these animals,
0:37:04 > 0:37:11and to come so close and have it slip through your fingers is agonising.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30I'm really uncomfortable working with the elephants.
0:37:30 > 0:37:35I just don't think we're going to see what we want to see with hunting, using it at the moment.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39I don't know if you're comfortable with this idea,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43but I would much rather we used the elephants to spot the cats in the first place,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46and then pull out, don't be near them, don't sit watching them.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50Right, right. The stalking - this particular female, the way she's doing it -
0:37:50 > 0:37:56she is doing it by the edge of the forest, and chital are usually living on the edge of the forest,
0:37:56 > 0:37:59- between the forest and the grassland. - Perfect. Let's do it.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
0:38:07 > 0:38:11Ever since the missed kill, I feel Alphonse and I have turned a corner.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14The elephants are now only being used for tracking,
0:38:14 > 0:38:18and all our energies are focused on the tower and toward one goal.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27ELEPHANT RUMBLES
0:38:41 > 0:38:43DEER CRIES
0:39:02 > 0:39:06I've got very little time left here in India, just a few days left,
0:39:06 > 0:39:13and I am sure, that, even if I don't get it, then Alphonse will in the very, very near future,
0:39:13 > 0:39:20and particularly, if we can deploy some of the methods we've been honing over the past week or so.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27I, personally, would love to witness that event,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30but if Alphonse manages to record it and I see it later,
0:39:30 > 0:39:37I'll be even more delighted because he's spent so many years following these beautiful cats.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40He knows them intimately, he knows them as individuals.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00It's my last visit to the tower.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Go ahead.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11'Simon, I was heading back to say farewell to you,
0:40:11 > 0:40:16'but I just got this message that they've found all the four cubs and the mother together.'
0:40:16 > 0:40:18That's amazing.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20So all five back in the same space.
0:40:22 > 0:40:27Alphonse, as you know, I've got a lot of packing to do, and I'm not going to be able to stay around.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31Er...good luck. It's been a tremendous pleasure,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35and, um...look forward to catching up with you soon. Over.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39'Thank you, Simon. I'm really feeling bad that I am not able to come and say bye to you,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42'and if I ever caught a kill from that tower,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46'I will name the tower in your honour, and call it Simon King Tower.'
0:40:46 > 0:40:52That's very sweet of you, Alphonse, thank you, and, er...it's going to happen and you'll see it from here.
0:40:52 > 0:40:54Good luck, speak to you soon, over.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56'Bye.'
0:41:01 > 0:41:05I hate this moment where I have to pull away from a place,
0:41:05 > 0:41:12that I've grown to understand a little and to begin to love.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24And especially when you're working with such charismatic creatures as tigers.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31I came here with the ambition to see one.
0:41:31 > 0:41:39That ambition has blossomed and developed into watching much more intimate elements of their lives,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43so I'm going to leave here with, um...very mixed emotions.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Summer has set in, temperatures are rising to the high 40s,
0:42:04 > 0:42:09but Alphonse tells me the hotter it gets, the better his chances.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25The tigers don't go up to the plateau any more.
0:42:25 > 0:42:32That has turned, under the sun, into a huge, rocky radiator, hot both by day and night.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49Under the branches, the jungles are muggy and oppressive.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55Only in the open grasslands do welcome breezes bring relief to the herds.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58The killing fields are crowded.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26As I thought of Alphonse on his tower, I began to realise what a daunting task we'd set ourselves,
0:43:26 > 0:43:31and exactly why filming a tiger kill has eluded so many for so long.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Massive human pressure and loss of habitat
0:43:41 > 0:43:45has seen tiger populations fall by more than 90%.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50Today, hunting has been replaced by poaching to still further reduce their numbers.
0:44:00 > 0:44:06The dense undergrowth of the Indian jungle and the tiger's solitary, semi-nocturnal lifestyle,
0:44:06 > 0:44:09combines to make the possibility of seeing
0:44:09 > 0:44:16one of the remaining 2,000 or so tigers left in the wild actually make a kill very remote.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27But I also knew that Chakra was a formidable hunter.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21ALPHONSE SPEAKS TO HIS COLLEAGUES
0:45:47 > 0:45:49She's got it, man, she's got it!
0:46:17 > 0:46:19I'm feeling top of the world, man!
0:46:21 > 0:46:23PHONE RINGS
0:46:23 > 0:46:30- Hi, Alphonse?- 'Simon, we got the kill, we got the kill this morning.' - Ha-ha! That is such good news!
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Yeah, it's the female. It's the Chakradhar female.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38She came there in the morning. She came into the grassland and then, we just climbed up the watchtower,
0:46:38 > 0:46:43- and we looked out and the tigress was standing there in the centre of the grassland.- Amazing.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Then she walked away, straight towards the forest.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49We thought, that's the end of the game and she was moving away.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53And that's when suddenly, she went, caught it,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57and held it for probably two or three minutes.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06Then she carried the kill, walked out, majestically out, in the grassland, then took it undercover.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08I mean, we were shell-shocked.
0:47:12 > 0:47:17- 17 years, Alphonse... - Yeah.- ..you got it!
0:47:17 > 0:47:20- Thanks a lot for the call, Simon. - Yep, you're a star. Well done.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Blimey!
0:47:38 > 0:47:42I know of only one other clear shot of a tiger kill.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51Alphonse's determination has been rewarded, documenting this elusive, fleeting moment.
0:48:00 > 0:48:07In doing so, he's added an important layer to our appreciation and understanding
0:48:07 > 0:48:11of these beautiful, but critically endangered, animals.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27Subtitles by Ericsson