Episode 1 Big Cat Diary

This is the Masai Mara in Kenya,

one of the best places on Earth for watching wildlife.

But in this series we'll be looking at it in an entirely new way.

Over six weeks, we'll be following in intimate detail

the lives of Africa's big cats,

in a weekly diary of their hardships and good fortunes - as they happen.

We'll be focusing on a few individual cats in particular -

a female leopard and her cub...

..two families of cheetah, one with quite old cubs

and another with very young offspring...

..these lions, which spend most of their time in the marsh,

and another lion pride living a few kilometres away to the east of me.

The Big Pride is aptly named:

seven adult females, four males

and an incredible 17 cubs!

With the care of so many adults, these cubs' future looks bright.

They even suckle any female with enough milk in the group.

No-one knows what will happen with these cats over the next few weeks.

It's fair to assume there'll be fun, grief and a great deal of fireworks.

To help me cover these events, I'm joined by Jonathan Scott.

To have any chance of following these cats,

we have to be up at dawn, and this is what it's like at base camp.

We've got six camera crews, but we've also got people simply as spotters,

using binoculars to pick up the cats before they go to sleep for the day.

Our area is about 300 square km,

so it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. I'd better go!

We've assigned a camera team exclusively to each of the big cats,

and well before sunrise

the whole operation fans out across the Mara, linked by radio.

-RADIO:

-'Jonathan, can you team up with Gavin and try and find the leopard?

'OK, Keith. I'm on my way to Victory Ridge.'

The variety of habitats and abundance of prey

makes the Mara the best place in the world to see big cats.

Finding lions and cheetahs is relatively simple,

but tracking down a leopard is quite another matter.

So it was unbelievably lucky that on the first day of filming

I chanced upon an old friend in a favourite haunt.

Leopards shun the open spaces,

seeking the cover of long grass or thick bush,

relying on their natural camouflage to remain hidden.

Sometimes I've gone weeks, even months, between sightings.

But this is no ordinary leopard. She's tamer than any other I know.

What's more, she has a cub with her!

This is Half-Tail, a leopard that first appeared here seven years ago.

She's about nine now, and her cub is six to seven months old,

a little female.

You can see the cub is just as relaxed as her mother with vehicles.

It's because the animals are so relaxed near vehicles in the Mara

that we chose this location for Big Cat Diary.

Half-Tail has produced four litters of cubs,

but has only managed to raise two of them.

This female cub was one of a litter of two,

but her brother disappeared when only a few weeks old.

She still suckles her mother,

but she's eaten meat since she was a month old.

Leopards mainly hunt at night,

but to satisfy the cub's need for meat,

Half-Tail must also hunt during the daytime.

We've been so fortunate to find them and to get pictures like this.

But they could vanish tomorrow, and, what's more,

there's no guarantee the little female will survive the next weeks.

It's a long and dangerous path to independence.

This is one of two families of cheetah

we'll be following.

It's made up of three individuals:

an adult female, on the mound, called Fundi - "craftsman" in Swahili -

and her two cubs, which are easy to distinguish

by the ridge of fluffy hair along the backs of their necks.

I've followed them for two days,

and their characters are starting to shine through.

The female is timid, but follows her brother into trouble. He finds it rather a lot!

Fundi's cubs, though almost as big as her,

are still incredibly playful.

In the cool of the day they've been chasing and play-fighting -

essential for developing the hunting skills of their mother.

Sometimes, though, chasing isn't good enough,

and any other creatures in firing range have come in for some stick.

A bat-eared fox isn't a common item on cheetah menus,

but it certainly does for target practice!

The truth is, they could easily outrun the fox,

but they're more interested in the chase than a meal.

Next day, the male starts trouble with a more confusing character...

..an aardwolf.

Aardwolves are small hyenas which eat termites,

but despite their tiny teeth, they do a good line in bluff.

It's enough to convince the female cub that a little respect is due!

After a while, it turned into a bit of a staring match.

The extraordinary thing is that aardwolves are usually nocturnal,

and you very rarely see them -

let alone see them being chased by a cheetah.

A couple of days later, the cubs met their match.

No matter how brave or fierce you are, don't mess with an elephant.

ELEPHANT ROARS

In fact, Fundi and her cubs were quietly minding their own business

when this herd moved in,

and though cheetahs are no threat to these great animals,

the cats were persuaded to leave in no uncertain terms.

ELEPHANTS TRUMPET

Though we've been lucky to witness such a variety of events,

cheetahs spend most of their time doing absolutely nothing.

This isn't simply laziness.

Conserving energy is as important as hunting, especially for Fundi.

She's still sole provider for her cubs,

who, despite their size and speed,

won't be able to kill efficiently for five months or so.

Meanwhile, they depend on their mother's superb ability as a hunter.

This is one of four hunting attempts made by Fundi during the week.

Even from my position on top of the vehicle, I could barely see her

as she stalked through the trees to the right of the impala.

The two cubs join in the chase.

Just as I lose them in the trees, another car moves into a clearing

and Richard manages to record the end.

Fundi swiftly suffocates the prey whilst her cubs help pull it down.

With the cheetah now feeding,

I can move in closer.

They've just managed to kill, on very last light, an adult female impala.

From my point of view with the camera,

it was unfortunate it occurred behind very thick cover.

It's also a problem for the cheetahs

when they kill in this habitat.

They are likely to lose part or all of it to another predator.

They can't see a lion or a hyena coming.

So they are going to have to eat as quickly as they can,

in a shorter time.

And, that night, they did indeed lose most of this kill to hyenas.

As soon as these events are recorded, the tapes are rushed back to camp for editing.

You see the action just days after it's been recorded.

At this stage, nobody knows what will be in our next show.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Most people expect Africa to have lovely blue skies and hot weather,

but this week, it's been bucketing down.

It's been very hard for our film crews just to get around.

But without rain, this area wouldn't support such amazing wildlife.

Every day this week, storm clouds have gathered in the afternoon,

and then the skies have opened.

Soon our cats were looking decidedly bedraggled.

Even though it looks miserable, the rains have advantages.

The cooler conditions are good for hunting

and the fresh grass attracts more prey to the area.

But one day last week, it just never stopped raining.

A dry stream bed in Half-Tail's territory

was quickly transformed into a raging torrent.

The cub seemed fascinated by the water

and at one point was almost swept downstream.

Having coped with this, she was almost immediately in trouble again.

The cats seemed almost to be enjoying themselves.

But we had been hoping for drier weather

because working conditions were getting increasingly difficult.

Trying to film in the rain and keep our equipment dry is a nightmare.

Our vehicles are constantly getting stuck.

Four vehicles got bogged down pulling each other out of the same quagmire.

I can't ever remember it raining so heavily at this time of year,

but it's these downpours during the dry season

that make the Mara a haven for wildlife -

turning it green when the Serengeti plains are dry.

This drives thousands of wildebeest

north into the Mara, in search of fresh grazing.

During the migration, they confront one particularly dangerous obstacle,

the Mara river.

Throughout last week, we've watched thousands of wildebeest stream towards the Mara river,

piling up in one enormous herd at the river's edge.

I've been waiting here for hours as the wildebeest stream off the plains

towards the Mara river.

When you see these numbers - maybe 5,000 here alone -

you have to ask, why so many?

Well, there could be a lion, there are crocodiles,

and there is safety in numbers.

Any minute now, I expect one of them to make the leap into the water

and when they do, every single one will follow.

WATER ROARS

There's an air of confusion and drama about such a large river crossing involving the wildebeest.

Literally thousands of animals getting into the river at once.

The noise is absolutely deafening.

It's really pandemonium.

THUNDER OF HOOVES

The wildebeest don't always work out where they'll get out of the river.

They are attracted to places where there is easy access to the river.

In this instance, there are hippo trails,

where the hippos come out at night,

which the wildebeest squeeze through to the top of the bank.

This crossing continued for over half an hour -

10,000 animals braved the river.

By some miracle, they all crossed safely.

The Musiara marsh is in the heart of the area we're covering.

It's home to the marsh pride of lions.

This territory is usually one of the best for lions at this time of year

as wildebeest and zebra stream into the marsh to drink.

But the recent rain has meant the prey has dispersed.

The pride consists of four related females and their cubs of varying ages.

This young male and his brother

are almost at the age when they'll be encouraged to leave the pride.

The young female will remain, as will the two younger cubs.

It is a small pride, active during the day - which is good for us -

and has been enjoying a relatively untroubled lifestyle.

BIRD SONG

On Sunday, I was driving at dawn through woodland bordering the marsh

when, to my great pleasure,

I discovered two stunning adult male lions.

As the final element missing from the pride,

I expected them to be greeted

by the females who were lying down a few hundred metres to the east.

Both were scent marking on bushes

and leaving other calling cards by clawing trees.

Scent glands in the feet make this more than just stretching the claws.

It's a classic behaviour for a lion defending a territory -

a way to dissuade other males from starting trouble without fighting.

To get a good view of their arrival,

I moved around to the marsh pride, who were unaware they had visitors.

But what happened next was completely unexpected.

Instead of sauntering up to the pride as I'd expected,

the golden-maned male trotted towards them aggressively.

His approach was met with equally aggressive lionesses.

It was clear that these lions were not friends at all.

No sooner had the females given the golden-haired male a beating

than the tables were turned.

The arrival of the black-maned male

caused the females to lose their nerve and scatter,

rushing straight past my vehicle.

We were witnessing an attempt on the part of these males

to take over the pride.

HE CALLS

Most of the cats dashed for the cover of the forest -

the adolescent males very quickly!

HE ROARS

Extraordinary! It's chaos here.

We can only find the golden-maned male.

His colleague is in the forest. He went in after an adult lioness.

The rest of the pride has run off into the forest.

This fella keeps on contact calling and roaring.

He's obviously trying to make contact with his colleague

so that their might, when together, is enough to take over the pride.

HE CALLS LOUDLY

By the end of the week, we'd lost track of the adult males

and the marsh pride were in hiding.

Later in the week, we saw Half-Tail hunt for the first time.

She'd spotted two male impala fighting.

Using a well-worn game trail, she crept closer.

IT CALLS A WARNING

A reedbuck gives the alarm.

The impala scatter.

IT CALLS

As so often happens, she'd been seen.

REEDBUCK CALLS

The reedbuck continue to call,

alerting every animal in the area to Half-Tail, forcing her to move on.

Our other cheetahs are a mother and two 12-week-old cubs.

These little cats still feel the cold,

and the rain has, at the very least,

made them uncomfortable.

They are weaning now.

Their mother, who we called Kidogo,

has to hunt regularly to satisfy their developing appetite for meat.

Though this cooler weather is good for hunting,

it means these tiny cubs need more food than usual to keep warm.

Kidogo is a young mother -

this may well be her first litter.

But she's a skilled hunter

and has perfected the art of stalking close to her target.

Every time the gazelle she's watching look up, she freezes.

When they relax, she inches forwards.

She is now within 30 metres -

crouched in the long grass

the other side of the gazelle.

Despite phenomenal acceleration, she is outmanoeuvred and misses.

When her cubs catch up, they greet her with their usual exuberance -

blissfully unaware of the failure.

These tiny cubs, though relaxed and playful,

are the most vulnerable of any of the cats we're watching.

Kidogo has unwittingly taken them within a hundred metres of Half-Tail

and virtually brushed past the male lions from the big pride.

Neither of those predators spotted these cheetahs in their territories,

or the cubs would have been just a snack, and there's not much their mother could have done.

How these or any of the other cats will fare over the weeks,

only time will tell.

Subtitles by BBC Subtitling - 1996