Cheetahs: Growing Up Fast Natural World

There are a few sights in nature as dramatic

as a big cat battling its prey.

But cheetahs aren't born ready to hunt.

It's a skill their mothers teach them over many challenging months.

What does it take to turn tiny cubs into fully formed predators?

To find out, one film-maker forged an extraordinary bond

with a wild cheetah family

and, over a year and a half,

recorded their lives in remarkably intimate detail.

Thanks to his unique relationship,

we can witness cheetah family life extremely close up...

..and reveal the heartbreak and triumph a cheetah mother faces

as she battles to raise the next generation.

On Malilangwe Game Reserve in Zimbabwe,

a female cheetah has been keeping a secret.

She is the mother of five new cubs.

This is a dangerous place for such small ones,

so she's been hiding them in thick undergrowth.

But her secret is about to be discovered.

Conservationist and cameraman Kim Wolhuter

has spent his entire adult life filming Africa's wild animals.

He had been following the female, gaining her trust,

until she disappeared, six months earlier.

I had a call on the radio that there was a cheetah with small cubs.

And I thought, "Oh, maybe it's her."

And, lo and behold, it was the same mother cheetah

and she had five new little cubs. And they were tiny.

They were probably just nearly three months old.

Like all cheetah mothers,

she has no partner or sisters to help her feed and protect

these vulnerable cubs.

That responsibility is hers alone.

And she's just over a year to teach them

how to survive in the wilderness without her.

But the question for Kim was -

would she allow him back into her world?

And it must have been within the first week, I think,

I got out and I was filming and the cubs came right up to me.

HIGH-PITCHED SQUEAKS

And the mother just lay over there. She wasn't even looking.

And that was how the whole thing started.

And it was wonderful.

The mother's incredible acceptance of Kim

would allow him to witness the lives of a wild cheetah family

in a way he never imagined.

It wasn't long and I was walking with them,

sleeping with them and even following them on the hunt.

It's spring. And for a single mother,

it's no easy task herding five small cats.

But her cubs know her by her call.

Over the coming months, they will pay attention

when they hear her voice.

SQUEAKING CALLS

It's a language we can't understand,

but for them, her meaning is always clear.

Her home spreads for 200 square miles between these forested hills

and the seasonal river to the west.

While this wooded terrain doesn't seem like typical cheetah habitat,

she's already successfully raised four cubs beneath this canopy.

But this doesn't mean that her role as a single parent is easy.

The forest harbours many enemies, like leopards and lions.

Even baboons are too powerful

for the lightweight mother to stand up to.

Their fluffy coats help to disguise them in the undergrowth,

but when they're on the move, they need to stay close by her side.

Right now, with five hungry cubs depending on her milk,

she must seize every chance to feed herself.

Her prey - the impala that thrive in these woodlands.

Every other day, she must wrestle one of these powerful antelope

to the death.

But first, she must lose five little shadows.

When those cubs were really small,

it was quite interesting how she would sneak off hunting

and the little guys would just know that they had to go and hide,

and they'd hide away in a little bush and wait there.

Her hyperactive cubs can't be trusted to keep still.

Their play could attract unwelcome attention.

But their mother simply can't be in two places at once.

In open terrain, she can reach a top speed of nearly 60mph -

twice as fast as an Olympic sprinter.

But the forest is a hazardous obstacle course...

..for a high-speed hunter as well as her prey.

Dinner's ready and she calls her family to join her.

But what does she want?

Their bellies are full with her rich milk,

and they're not too eager to share her strange meal.

In those early days when she would take them to a carcass

and they'd sort of look at this thing, and they'd be terrified,

"What is this thing? What are we supposed to do with this thing?"

And then they'd come and they'd start playing with it,

and they weren't even bothering to eat,

they were just biting and pulling and stuff.

It's been a hard day

and she still needs to get a long line of cubs bathed.

Grooming keeps them clean but it's also the cheetah version of a hug,

strengthening their bond.

And then she still has energy for a bedtime game

that requires unlimited patience from one of the players.

But she can never totally let her guard down.

LION ROARS

The hours of darkness are perilous for these diurnal cats.

And tonight the mother can't protect her family

from their deadliest enemy.

Kim had only been filming them for a few short weeks when tragedy struck.

The next morning, when I came back, one of the cubs was missing.

I searched around and, not far from where I found them,

there were lion tracks.

I can only presume they'd killed a cub.

But normally lions don't, they don't eat them,

so they just kill it and leave it there.

And I searched and searched the area for ages, trying to find something,

but I never could find anything.

The mother has no choice -

she has to share her range with larger predators

that readily kill competitors.

To survive in this forest,

she must keep moving her family as far away from the pride as possible.

Four cubs follow her today.

They're all females, except for one.

And he soon captured Kim's attention.

I started developing a relationship with the little male.

And I call him Solo.

What happens when cheetah reach adulthood,

the males will go off together

and the females will go and have their own cubs.

But Solo was the only male, so he was going to go off on his own.

And it was going to be Solo and my little journey together.

By late spring, the hot, dry season has reached its peak

and soaring temperatures make the family thirsty.

The only water remains in a shrinking dam

where hundreds of birds flock to drink.

African waters are treacherous places to take a young family,

and she approaches with caution.

The safest place to drink is also the least desirable -

a muddy pool near the edge of the dam.

Solo, in a display of early independence,

decides to take his own route to water...

..but soon regrets it.

Mother is impatient to move on.

They can't linger here.

There's no cover for her cubs

and they're still too small to outrun danger.

But she won't need to rely on the dam for much longer

because the summer wet season is about to begin.

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER CRASHES

Rain is a whole new experience for the cubs,

and within a few short weeks,

the only world they've known looks very different.

The dry riverbed becomes a stream.

Then a river, cutting off the western edge

of the mother's territory.

And, in secluded corners of the forest,

hidden from the family's view, new life begins.

THUNDER CRASHES

As the wet season gets into full swing,

they no longer need to risk their lives for a drink.

They can lick as much water as they like off each other's fur.

The cubs' first summer will be a season of discovery

and peculiar playmates.

Aroused by rain from its dry-season burrow,

this one's a little withdrawn around strangers.

His sisters soon lose interest but Solo, always inquisitive,

is determined to play.

Now, if only he could figure out which end is front.

It's been four months since her cubs were born,

and the mother's milk is no longer enough to sustain

their growing appetites.

They need to eat meat.

And today they're going to find out

just what she has to do to feed them.

The forest provides a choice of lookouts to help her locate food.

Her cubs love imitating her,

and an impromptu lesson in hunting is about to begin.

First, scan for prey.

Next, get down and stalk it.

Climbing up is one thing...

..reversing quite another.

This is going to take a whole lot longer than she thought.

Clearly, climbing such upright trees

is not a skill these little forest cats were born with.

Their stalking technique will improve with practice.

For now, Solo is the only one showing any aptitude.

As she closes in on her prey,

the lesson suddenly becomes more compelling.

Watching her is the best way to learn how to hunt.

A signal from her tells them to keep still

for the next few critical seconds.

The wait is over, and they're eager to get closer to the action.

They've never seen her do this before

and their murmurs betray their anxiety.

CUBS WHINE SOFTLY

The ram is almost twice her weight.

His sharp horns are a lethal weapon.

And front-row seats have become too close for comfort.

She needs to clench her small jaws around his throat

until he suffocates.

It seems to be a textbook kill.

Except down does not always mean out with these powerful opponents.

But Kim had faith in the skills of his superb huntress.

When you see how this mother cheetah would catch a big male impala and

then wrestle with this thing, I mean, it was incredible strength,

and the power that she has just to hold on to that thing

and then to bring it down.

Now it's safe.

Her kill is a triumph for the family.

And the little cats have finally developed a big appetite for meat.

THUNDER CRASHES

Even the cold, hard rain is not going to chase them from this meal.

But tonight, by lingering at the carcass,

the mother is making a fatal mistake.

I left the cheetah in the evening, and they had a fresh kill.

And when I got back the next morning the kill has disappeared,

and I found them about half a kilometre away,

just the three cubs.

And my little friend, Solo, was missing.

So I searched and searched the area.

And I found Solo lying at the base of the tree,

dead and partially eaten.

Probably because they were on a kill,

a leopard has come in to the smell or whatever, and surprised them.

This journey that I was going to go on with Solo

had now suddenly come to an end.

And that whole little bubble just got burst instantly.

Predators have killed two of her cubs in the space of a month.

This is the fate of many cheetah cubs.

And a huge challenge for Africa's most threatened big cat.

If she's to keep her last three little ones alive,

she can't afford any mistakes.

So now we were left with three females,

and they were doing really well.

Two months have passed since Solo's death,

and the seven-month-old cubs have outgrown

the protective cloak of downy fur on their backs.

Over the weeks, they've witnessed their mother's hunting prowess

and now every free moment is their chance to play at predator and prey.

They're also beginning to make themselves

known in the neighbourhood.

Some neighbours are less approachable than others.

Part of their long adventure over the coming seasons will be learning

which animals to hunt

and which to steer clear of.

And, speaking of hunting,

their mother's decided that it's time for a more hands-on lesson.

It may seem cruel,

but the season's live impala lambs

provide the perfect classroom exercise

for these predators in training.

MOTHER CHEETAH CALLS

The trick is not to let it slip through their paws.

It's been a successful few weeks for the mother and her daughters.

But that's about to change.

One summer morning, Kim arrived to find the family scattered.

The cheetah were everywhere and I just heard cubs, you know,

that little whistle...

All over the place.

Something had happened.

I found one of the youngsters,

and this cub was obviously in a bad way.

Then I realised it had a serious injury and it looked like, I think,

a baboon had probably bit her across the shoulders.

CUB SQUEALS

You know, baboons and cheetah are a serious problem,

and baboons do go for them and chase them.

And whenever the mother heard baboons,

she would just move away from them.

Her priority is to gather her family together.

But her injured daughter cannot keep up.

The cub is traumatised and, to make matters worse,

biting ants soon begin to swarm all over her.

Kim is concerned that the ants will eat her alive.

Until now, he's simply been a witness,

documenting the family's fortunes.

He faced a dilemma - should he help the cub or not?

We sort of have a policy that if it's a man-made injury,

then you come in and you try and sort the animal out.

But if it's a natural injury, then you don't.

Unless it's an endangered species.

And, in this case, we called a vet in, he came and helped,

we stitched up the cheetah and we took her back to her mother.

Kim's intervention saved her life

and brought him even closer to the family.

So, she would have that scar for the rest of her life now.

And, then, that day, I decided to name her, and I named her Shanatse.

I just like that name.

It's the name of a mopane tree in the local Shangaan language.

And I just liked the sound of the name and it suited her.

In no time at all, little Shanatse is on the mend.

Although it will take a few days

before she's well enough to run around with her sisters.

But the mother's trials are not over yet.

There's more upheaval to come.

Just days later,

one of the other cubs appears thin and unsteady on her feet.

Within hours, she's collapsed and is bleeding from her nose.

She has contracted a mysterious and deadly illness,

and the mother is helpless.

She can offer only comfort, nothing more.

The disease has taken hold so quickly

that even Kim is unable to help.

MOTHER CHEETAH CALLS

Her calls urge her daughter to get up and follow her.

But she can't.

By nightfall, her little one is dead.

Despite her best efforts, the mother has lost three cubs in seven months.

As far as providing goes, she could provide.

And that was never a problem.

She was a really good hunter and she could provide food.

But she couldn't protect them from all that other stuff,

and that's stuff which a lot of cheetah can't do.

Now only two cubs follow where once there were five.

It will take all her skill and a huge dose of luck

to get her surviving daughters through to adulthood.

Soon Kim began to notice that the two cubs

had very different personalities.

You know, Shanatse was always more calculating and quite independent.

While the other cub, which I named Chinzvi,

she was more of a baby and a real mummy's girl.

She just loved her mummy.

She was really obliging and, later, when I needed to check them,

she'd let me just walk up to her and put on a radio collar.

Weeks pass, and the rainy season draws to a close.

It's difficult to find suitable prey in late summer's long grass.

The family spots an impala herd on the far shore.

But the water in between is an unwelcome obstacle,

guarded by ill-tempered hippos.

And these cats don't like to get their paws wet.

The river's gone down since the rains ended,

but they still need to find a shallow place to cross.

True to their characters, Shanatse makes her way across with finesse.

Chinzvi, on the other hand, would rather stay on dry land,

and she wants to be sure her mother's coming along.

There's no turning back now.

The lush summer grazing has left the herds

in peak physical condition.

The mother must get close.

She can't sustain top speed for very long.

It's an exhausting struggle but, today, for the first time,

her daughters are eager to help her.

They might have enthusiasm and instinct but, at eight months old,

they still lack skill.

And it's not clear exactly what Chinzvi's contribution is.

They've participated in their first big hunt.

And Shanatse is eager to claim the trophy.

But Kim knew what was coming next.

Cheetah have this funny thing that, youngsters especially,

once they've caught this thing and once it's down on the ground

then, OK, it's dead now, so we can let go.

And then they're surprise with, "Hey, it's got up again."

Everyone will go hungry today.

By autumn their forest changes colour,

and the mopane trees that gave Shanatse her name

start to lose their leaves.

Change blows in on the cool winds.

One morning, two strangers arrive.

It's a coalition of brothers, with only one thing on their mind -

to mate with the mother.

Unlike other big cats,

cheetahs do not typically kill cubs that do not belong to them.

All the same, Chinzvi seems frightened.

The mother's aggressive response

should leave them in no doubt that she's not ready to mate.

But they're not taking no for an answer.

They follow the family deeper into the forest.

CHEETAH CALLS

Chinzvi's persistent cries are not helping the situation.

The brothers aren't giving up.

They're after a scent that will let them know

that she's come back into oestrus.

And when that happens,

she will abandon her cubs to begin a new family.

It's as if Chinzvi knows this and objects.

SHE CALLS

Their advances are premature.

But they'll be back.

Shanatse and Chinzvi are still too young

to make their own way in the world,

but their mother's running out of time to get them ready

for a life without her.

Months pass,

and the chilly start of winter marks the sisters' first birthday.

They're growing in confidence,

and now approach hunting practice with determination.

A bush piglet has been hidden in the grass

while its mother is away foraging.

Catching such small prey should be a walk in the park.

But their mother is still providing for them,

and they seemed to think this ferocious little snack

is not worth the effort.

For the moment, elephant dung is a much more compliant prey.

They'll sometimes see a piece of dung over there

and they'll go tearing after it and then grab it and hit it,

and then the other one will come in from this side.

And it's like a game of soccer to them.

They love playing those sort of games.

And then they'll stand there with this piece of elephant dung in their

mouth, looking really stupid, and...

Hello!

It didn't run away!

By late winter, the forest has turned bare and cold.

It's over a year since Kim began filming the mother

and her five tiny cubs, and now her daughters are nearly

the same size as her.

But they still depend on her guidance and wisdom...

..especially when it comes to their arch enemy.

This morning they've wandered into a pair of lions,

members of the same pride that killed her cub.

In their evolution, cheetahs sacrificed strength for speed,

and now their only defence against these powerful cats is to flee.

Chinzvi and her mother are ready to run.

But Shanatse's sudden bravado could cost her her life.

She's no match for a male lion four times her weight.

The mother has already lost one cub to lions.

She'll do what she can to save another.

And she sees to it that they quickly retreat.

Shanatse needs to be much smarter next time

if she's to survive alongside these deadly enemies.

As the months fly by,

time is running out for the sisters to perfect their hunting skills.

Today, they've managed to catch a grysbok,

a secretive forest antelope.

This adult might be small enough to wrestle,

but their technique still needs considerable practice.

If they don't silence it quickly, it will attract other predators.

Shanatse finally gets it right...

..while their mother keeps a nervous look out.

Bitter experience has taught her how exposed they are at a kill.

It's a small victory for the sisters, and not the last.

Over the coming months, the demands on their mother to feed them

will lessen, until one day she will know that the time has come.

Nearly a year and a half has passed

since Shanatse and Chinzvi were born.

And, although their mother's made mistakes along the way,

she's done everything in her power

to get these two survivors this far.

Now a fresh instinct is beginning to take hold of her.

She's preparing for another journey into motherhood,

and leaves her scent where it will lure passing males.

Her daughters might not realise it yet,

but this simple action marks the end of their childhood.

Everything will be different from this day onwards.

This remarkable mother's work is finally done.

By some mysterious communication, her cubs know that, this time,

they cannot follow.

These strong, healthy cheetahs are a product of her labour and devotion.

But are they ready for a life on their own?

Kim had been anticipating this bittersweet moment for months.

Well, I knew from the start that one day the mother would just

up and leave them, and the family would begin to dissolve.

And I suppose I was prepared for it.

But their mother's abrupt departure hits Chinzvi hard.

She was so distraught at Mum having disappeared,

and she called and called for a couple of days.

SHE CALLS

Now, with Shanatse it was just very different.

When Mum was gone, she didn't seem to be too fazed.

It was almost like, well, now I'm going to be a normal cheetah,

I don't have to run after my mummy any more.

The sisters only have each other now,

and the next few critical weeks will either make or break them.

This morning, their forest home suddenly seems a lot more hostile.

Their mother would know that the hyena is just nosing around

for a convenient takeaway.

But they're not so sure of its intentions.

And then there are those giants that are always intimidating,

no matter how grown-up you are.

And here, to make a bad day worse, are the baboons.

The young cats have learned to have a healthy respect for the troop.

Shanatse still bears the scar from her ill-fated encounter as a cub.

BABOONS CALL

But, with each passing moment,

the sisters are becoming more self-assured.

They can outrun the baboons at a leisurely trot.

And now they have one less enemy to fear in the forest.

For the baboon, it's a bit humiliating,

trying to chase the fastest animal on land.

As they begin to patrol their forest as adults,

a daunting reality soon confronts them.

If they are to survive,

they'll have to apply their mother's hunting lessons.

First, climb a tree.

Scan the area for suitable prey.

Too big.

Too tall.

Way too big!

Just right!

Kim had been an intimate witness for the milestones in their lives,

almost from the start.

But the ultimate test of their mother's success was still to come.

You know, I'd seen them catch small prey,

but one day they'd have to catch adult impala like their mother.

They see an opportunity.

It's summer's end,

and shorter days have triggered the annual impala rut.

Throughout the forest, rams are jousting for the right to mate.

Days of fighting have weakened the contenders.

If the sisters hope to succeed today, they need to work together.

And they seem to have a plan.

Chinzvi sneaks off to lie in ambush.

Using the forest as cover, Shanatse stalks closer to the ram,

aiming to flush it out.

All their mother's teaching has culminated in this crucial moment.

Shanatse launches the attack.

Chinzvi gets ready...

..and leaps into action.

They've done it.

They'd killed their own impala.

And once I'd seen that they were successful

and looking after themselves,

it was just time that the project would come to an end.

They were going off on their own and they weren't going to stay together

for long, and I was going to go off and do my thing.

In the months that followed,

Kim no longer spent his days with the sisters,

and he began filming a wild dog family.

But there was one farewell still to come.

I finished working with them and I hadn't seen them for a year.

And I was going for this walk and I saw this cheetah in the distance.

And I start whistling and it doesn't even look at me.

And eventually I get closer and she still doesn't look.

And now I realise that it's Chinzvi.

I go and I sit down...

a couple of metres from her, and she still doesn't look at me.

And I'm thinking, come on, I haven't seen you for a year,

surely you can acknowledge my presence.

I mean, we were quite... good buddies at one stage.

And then...

a couple of minutes later,

she got up and she came to me.

And she started licking my face.

And that, for me, is why I do what I do, because it's...

so special.

It was very special.