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00:02Lions.
00:04The world's most iconic cats.
00:09The ones that are heading for extinction.
00:13With wilderness disappearing across Africa,
00:17lion numbers have almost halved in the last 20 years.
00:24Their struggle to survive and thrive is more important than ever.
00:29Every cub counts.
00:36One of the last refuges for this embattled species
00:41is the wildlife haven of the Luangwa Valley in Zambia.
00:47It's here our team have followed three lion prides for the last six months.
00:52Two huge males coming back to claim their territory.
00:55Through the heat of the day.
00:59And into the hidden world of the night.
01:03Seeing them like this is just quite extraordinary.
01:07We've been right in the lion's den.
01:10He's coming to the car. Everyone's still.
01:16To gain a better understanding of the challenges they face.
01:20We've lost some of the cubs here.
01:22So we don't know how many are still alive.
01:24Can the next generation of cubs make it through their most dangerous year?
01:29And provide hope for the survival of the species.
01:48It's October.
01:50And in South Luangwa National Park the dry season has reached its peak.
01:56Daily temperatures are a scorching 45 degrees.
02:03A lioness steps out into the heat of the day.
02:08Behind her, three brothers.
02:12Three future kings.
02:16If they can survive this critical first year.
02:24Like all lionesses, their mother, Ava, is keeping the cubs hidden from the world.
02:32She's been separated from her pride since they were born six weeks ago.
02:39The cubs were blind in their first ten days and unable to walk.
02:45Now they're growing fast.
02:47And starting to venture beyond the confines of their hiding place.
02:55The cubs' vocal cords are strengthening.
03:01They've developed a repertoire of vocalizations.
03:07Except the trademark roar.
03:11That comes with adulthood.
03:17Along with tigers, lions are the only big cats that roar.
03:23The sound is louder than a jackhammer.
03:29Adult males use it to advertise their presence and intimidate rivals.
03:43And worryingly, Ava can hear roaring nearby.
03:53It's two unknown males.
03:56Who'd kill a cub that isn't their own.
04:01Ava can't fight them off by herself.
04:05She hides her cubs.
04:10But if these youngsters are to stay protected, Ava must find and rejoin her family.
04:16The Hollywood pride.
04:24Right now, they're three kilometers away.
04:34The Hollywood pride have held this territory for generations.
04:41And it surrounds our filming camp.
04:43And it surrounds our filming camp.
04:45Oh.
04:48Twenty meters away.
04:50With no fence between at all.
04:54Filmmaker Katie and specialist lion cameraman Nathan have spent the last six months embedded in lion country.
05:04Oh, my goodness.
05:07Oh, my goodness.
05:08Things happen here that you can never believe.
05:13But nothing has prepared them for what will happen in the next week.
05:17Because conditions here have reached boiling point.
05:28Nearly all available water has evaporated in the heat.
05:37It's only 10.30 in the morning, 41 degrees.
05:40And it's not even the hottest point of the day.
05:43Which means that until the imminent rains arrive,
05:46the dwindling Luangwa River has become a battleground.
05:57This is the source of life for the whole of Luangwa.
05:59Literally all the wildlife is drawn here.
06:02The elephants are coming down.
06:04The herds of buffalo come down.
06:05The game has come down.
06:06So you find a lot more of the predators, the lions, the leopards,
06:09and things like that come down this way.
06:13The biggest danger for the lions often comes from their own kind.
06:23More lions are concentrated in a smaller area.
06:26Those are more likely for conflict.
06:28Not good for our cubs.
06:29Kind of a miracle that they survive at all, really, with everything going on.
06:32Yeah.
06:40Five kilometers from camp, there's a group of females.
06:45The outcasts.
06:51And they've been battling to keep their two cubs alive.
06:57Brothers Prince and Ziggy are now 18 months old and living with their mother Rosa and some aunts.
07:08Her collar has been fitted by a research team studying carnivores.
07:16With the help of her loyal sisters, Rosa's been on the run with Prince and Ziggy since they were attacked
07:23by a roaming male lion last year.
07:28They became known as the outcasts.
07:31They became known as the outcasts.
07:34To get greater protection for her cubs, a few months ago, Rosa tried to rejoin her old pride.
07:43But the pride have been taken over by new males.
07:48The punks.
07:51They are not Prince and Ziggy's fathers and are therefore a threat.
07:57Rosa's flirting didn't go down well with the pride's females.
08:09But she's still determined to get her cubs accepted by the punks.
08:15It will increase their chances of surviving the dry season.
08:21And this time, she's brought reinforcements.
08:27Her loyal sisters will be helping.
08:39The outcast females have enticed the punks away from their pride.
08:45Prince and Ziggy watch from a safe distance.
08:48While the sisters attempt to seduce the three males with their feminine charms.
09:01The females are doing more than just flirting.
09:11Distraction mating is a cunning tactic by females to manipulate males.
09:24Mating is brief, but can happen more than 50 times a day.
09:36Prince and Ziggy take the chance to sneak closer.
09:40Prince and Ziggy take the poor.
09:49But they've been spotted.
09:56Quick as a flash, another Ann puts herself between the male and the cubs.
10:10Each time the cubs are threatened, one of the scheming ants initiates mating.
10:26As darkness draws in, the hidden world of the night reveals itself.
10:49And the distraction mating continues.
11:00Prince and Ziggy stay nearby.
11:07These are determined females.
11:11Mating has now been going on for 18 hours.
11:24At dawn, Nathan finds the group by the river.
11:30And it appears that the females have succeeded.
11:34So we've got the outcast females, and Prince and Ziggy lying in amongst the females, and
11:40two of the males here as well.
11:42So it's looking more and more like Prince and Ziggy are becoming accepted.
11:48You know, I think they've got a good chance now.
11:52Their mother, Rosa, seems to feel confident that they are safe with the punks.
11:58So Prince and Ziggy's mum has actually gone back up the bank and left them here alone with
12:02a couple of their aunts.
12:04But her confidence is misguided.
12:07And it's about to get her cubs in trouble.
12:15The punks' family appear.
12:19These three females are mothers to seven young cubs.
12:24The mothers are on high alert for dangers to their cubs.
12:31And now they can see Prince and Ziggy as a threat.
12:50The cub has gone to a rather angry outcast female.
12:58What's actually quite apparent is that the females are sort of growling at the other's
13:02cubs.
13:03It's almost like the two separate subgroups.
13:06They're not particularly happy with each other's cubs at the moment.
13:14The dominant female from the punks' pride can't hide her animosity towards Prince and Ziggy.
13:22And launches an attack.
13:26Prince runs for cover.
13:28But Ziggy is frozen in place.
13:32And gets a beating.
13:42Prince is now all alone.
13:46And right in the lioness's sights.
13:58He is frozen, with no one to protect him.
14:07It's over.
14:14Suddenly the dominant pump inexplicably tries to protect Prince.
14:28Perhaps Rosa's efforts have had an effect
14:34It gives Prince the chance to run for his life
14:51So it seemed that Prince was particularly singled out
14:55And attacked and driven off
14:57And he's run off into the distance
15:09The traumatised and injured cub
15:12Gets as far away as he can
15:17Having heard the commotion
15:19His mother Rosa heads off in pursuit
15:24Which leaves Ziggy trapped
15:26Ziggy's now left all by himself with the rest of the cubs
15:30So he seems to be keeping pretty still and pretty flat
15:33And trying not to draw any attention to himself
15:38But he's surrounded by females that just beat up his sibling
15:48With Ziggy still in danger
15:50His loyal aunt tries to defuse the situation
15:56By leading the cub away from the pride
16:02And just in time
16:06The angry lioness launches again
16:09This time and another of Ziggy's aunts
16:36As the dust settles
16:37The cub makes a getaway
16:43And there's Ziggy walking off over there
16:51He's walked off clearly a little bit traumatised
16:56And quite alert in looking back in the direction of the rest of the pride
17:01He's walked off a good couple of hundred metres
17:03Or further down the beach
17:07Ziggy's surrounded by danger
17:09Not just from lions
17:13Hippos and crocodiles are everywhere
17:20And this is the first time in his life
17:22That Ziggy's been without his mother and brother
17:26He's completely by himself
17:29And we're not sure where Prince is at the moment
17:37Five kilometres away
17:38The youngest three cubs
17:40The Hollywoods
17:41Might be in trouble
17:46Nathan's heard a report that the little ones have been attacked
17:52And in the heart of their territory
17:55He's made a disturbing discovery
17:58So we set up looking for the Hollywood pride
18:01And we've come across these two young males
18:04This is the area where Ava keeps her cubs
18:06And these males are a huge risk
18:08I think unfortunately
18:09If these males came across the Hollywood cubs
18:12And not being the fathers
18:13They would certainly try and kill them
18:16And there's evidence that one of them
18:18Has recently come to blows
18:21You can see the male is actually licking scars
18:24Wounds on his leg
18:25So he's certainly been in a fight
18:32Nathan sets out to search for Ava
18:34And her young trio
18:37He's hoping she's got them to safety
18:44In a small copse close to camp
18:48He spots movement in the undergrowth
18:51Oh my god
18:53Cubs
18:59I only see two
19:03But Nathan can't find the third cub
19:08Actually quite distinct
19:09The third one
19:10There's little spots
19:11Almost like a leopard
19:15Unfortunately I don't see Spotty
19:21If Spotty is alive
19:22He should be close to his mother
19:40As the minutes drag by
19:44Reality dawns
19:49Spotty hasn't made it
19:52Unfortunately there were three of them to start with
19:54And there's only two of them now
20:00But she's done very well to keep these guys alive
20:06It's never been more important for Ava
20:08To locate the rest of her pride
20:09And gain greater protection for her two remaining cubs
20:23The temperature has now reached 50 degrees
20:42Even on the riverbed
20:44Large areas are nothing but dust
20:51Around what remains of the water
20:54Tempest flower
21:07Predator is pitted against predator
21:19And even the film crew are feeling the heat
21:26He's coming to the car
21:27Everyone's still
21:28He's coming to the car
22:12As the day draws to a close
22:13Prince and Ziggy are still separated
22:16From their outcast pride
22:18We still haven't seen Prince anywhere
22:21We've searched up and down
22:23And it seems to have moved off
22:30Ziggy has stayed in the same spot all day
22:34The day's nearly come to an end
22:36The sand's just sitting behind us
22:38And Ziggy's completely by himself
22:42It might end up being quite a long lonely night for Ziggy
22:44With Prince not here
22:46And having to keep his distance from the rest of the pride
22:54Being on his own food is his biggest problem
22:56But there are a number of other things
22:58Possibly other males passing through territory
23:02Hyenas
23:03Elephants
23:04Buffalos
23:05I mean there's water right next to him
23:07Just have to be careful about crocodiles
23:12There's no guarantees of what's ahead
23:17As night falls
23:20Ziggy is without his pride
23:24But he's not alone
23:37Over 6,000 hippos live in Luangwa
23:43It's one of the world's largest concentrations
23:46With almost 50 animals per kilometre of river
23:53Although they stay in and around water throughout the day
23:56The vegetarians venture onto land at night to feed
24:05The largest males eating up to 60 kilos of fodder a day
24:19Every hippo sees a lion as a threat
24:24So Ziggy's keeping a low profile
24:32His only hope is to rejoin his family
24:37But they are nowhere to be seen
24:44Ziggy is facing the longest night of his life
24:58Come 5am
25:02Nathan's keen to find out what's happened to the cub
25:09So we're just looking in the area where we left Ziggy last night
25:11And there's a lot of tracks up and down, up and down
25:15He's been here a lot
25:20You can actually see him up ahead over here
25:27Looks like just Ziggy alone by himself
25:29No Prince
25:33So where Prince is remains to be seen
25:37Ziggy hasn't moved
25:41He's no doubt getting hungry
25:46And Nathan's seen that the punk's pride may have a kill not far away
25:51I think they're on a kill a couple of hundred metres from here
25:55He's looking in that direction
25:57But he's not making any attempt to move in that direction
26:05With the threat of being attacked
26:07The cub won't risk venturing any closer
26:11He knows it's not a good idea to go over there
26:18Ziggy needs to move somewhere safer
26:23But he's too nervous to leave
26:39Over a kilometre away
26:41Ziggy's mother Rosa
26:42With one of the punk males in tow
26:44Is searching for her lost cubs
26:49When she set off in pursuit of Prince
26:51Ziggy was still with the pride
26:55So now she has no idea where either of her cubs are
27:08Of equal concern is whether single mother Ava
27:11Has managed to keep Spotty's two brothers alive
27:15And managed to meet up with the Hollywood pride
27:22Vultures are circling close to camp
27:24A sign of a kill
27:26Well inside Hollywood territory
27:37This buffalo kill is not that far from where the cubs have been kept
27:40So we're hoping to actually spot if mum and the cubs are here or not
27:51Some very fat bellies
27:54They're here
27:58The cubs are here
27:59They're looking great
28:05They've literally been introduced to the rest of the pride now
28:11Such a lovely moment
28:15Getting to know their extended family is an exciting time for the cubs
28:21They've grown up hidden in the bush
28:24So this is quite a new novelty for them
28:26A bit of exploring all these new faces
28:33The pride isn't used to playing with little cubs
28:43It looks like a lot of the young aunties are very inquisitive about the cubs
28:48Unfortunately they're quite rough
28:53But the cubs are certainly giving their best back
28:56In other words smiling and swiping
29:03Lions are a highly social species
29:06And the bonds built in the pride are an essential part of the cubs future
29:19It's been a successful introduction
29:23And living with the pride will bring the extra protection the little ones need from rogue males
29:36With temperatures soaring
29:38The pride retires to the shade
29:46Although the Hollywood cubs are now far safer in the body of the pride
29:52Across Africa only one in five cubs makes it beyond the age of two
30:00With attacks by their own species being the greatest threat to their existence
30:22Worryingly
30:23After hours of searching
30:25Rosa still hasn't found either Prince or Ziggy
30:35But as she enters an ebony grove with one of the punks in tow
30:39The purrs seem to catch a scent
30:50Something makes the male hang back
30:54While Rosa is drawn to a gully
31:21It's Prince
31:23Her cub
31:46The furosity of the attack on the beach
31:48Was too much for Prince's young body
32:02When you see
32:03The cub that could grow up to something big and beautiful
32:07Kind of face down in the mud
32:11It's very sad to see
32:19Rose's gamble to get her cubs accepted
32:22Has failed
32:40I mean we really have to try and stay emotionally detached from who we're following
32:45But you can't help it
32:49I mean we've always been really hoping that Prince and Ziggy would make it
32:54And unfortunately Prince Prince didn't
33:00Rosa stays in the ebony grove
33:02Near Prince's body
33:20While Ziggy
33:21Rosa's last remaining cub faces the prospect of another night alone
33:33With Prince having died now it is going to be incredibly tough for Ziggy to survive on his own
33:50There's every chance
33:51There's every chance Ziggy will meet the same fate as his brother
33:58And now his hiding place has become unsafe
34:17Ziggy's chances of making it to the end of the dry season
34:20A diminishing by the hour
34:33The punk cubs that Prince was killed to protect are just a few hundred meters up the river
34:42Usually a pride's females share the rearing of their cubs
34:49As a group they can defend them more successfully
34:58But today not all the mothers are around
35:03So on the other side of the river there's one female
35:06She's actually been left with all the cubs
35:09So she's got five bigger cubs
35:11Then the two smaller cubs
35:13And they're all running up and down playing all over the place
35:17Having crossed over to feast on a buffalo in the night
35:20Young cub Pip and his six siblings have ended up in a rival pride's territory
35:29Although they seem oblivious to any threat
35:33And they're running riot around the lone female
35:37I can only imagine that she's quite irritated and wants to get back this side of the river
35:40And hand them over to their mothers
35:46With dusk approaching
35:48The lioness either risks a long night in enemy territory
35:53Or she and the cubs have to recross the Luangua
35:58Luangua river is notorious for being one of the densest populations of crocodiles and hippos
36:02Of pretty much any river in Africa
36:13These cubs are the future of their pride
36:19Now all seven of them face running the gauntlet of crocodiles and hippos
36:48But help is at hand
36:51The rest of the pride's females appear on a sandbank halfway across the river
37:05Whether it's safe or not
37:07They're going
37:16They're going
37:47The presence of the lionesses seems to deter the crocodiles from attacking
37:58But a bigger, angrier problem is coming their way
38:10A three-ton hippo determined to defend his stretch of sand
38:23The pride spread out
38:31The hippo realizes the tables are turning
38:34And he's surrounded
38:50Pip and his siblings are safe
39:09And he's surrounded by the people
39:10And he's surrounded by the people
39:12And he's surrounded by the people
39:12And he's surrounded by the people
39:12And he's surrounded by the people
39:13And he's surrounded by the people
39:14And he's surrounded by the people
39:14And he's surrounded by the people
39:19And he's surrounded by the people
39:29it's been six hours since rosa discovered prince's body and she stayed with him
39:40she's sort of staring off into the distance in the direction where prince's body is
39:46it's thought when a cub dies a lioness suffers high levels of stress
39:53she seems to be mourning she's certainly very sort of subdued quiet
40:02not even hunting impalas that walk literally right on top of her
40:14if her other cub is to survive rosa needs to move on
40:23she needs to find ziggy
40:43come nightfall rosa continues to grieve
40:57back in the ebony grove rosa is beginning to stir
41:08and shortly before dawn she moves off
41:22for hours she retraces her steps
41:28visiting old haunts of the outcasts
41:35ziggy hasn't eaten for four days and is too young to hunt for himself
41:43without his mother he'll starve
41:55in the heart of hollywood territory the gully by camp holds the only remaining water
42:01other than the luanga river
42:06and the pride have decided it's safe enough to bring their youngest two members
42:11not only all the lions still here but mom and her cubs have also come down
42:21it appears the pride have bonded with them for good
42:25which means in addition to their mother the cubs now have ten aunts watching out for them
42:31the females in the lion priors have this incredibly strong bond
42:35and they will do everything to protect their cubs
42:40they're built to try and keep the next generation going
42:44that's in their dna it's running through their blood
42:58the hollywood cubs are safe
43:03the hollywood cubs are safe
43:18after hours of searching for ziggy he spots a trio of lions sheltering under a bush
43:25and one of them looks to be a young male
43:29it's this one here the second one looking a little bit smaller and spots on the legs
43:37and the familiar face pops up
43:42this is ziggy here it's fantastic
43:46nathan's delighted to find ziggy with his mother
43:51he's looking in good condition mom's here yeah it's great news for him
43:59rosa and one loyal aunt have retreated from the punk's pride outcasts once more
44:07they'll provide food for him and give him a good chance to get big enough to get experienced enough
44:13to survive on his own
44:18he certainly seems to have been quite a fighter he keeps coming back
44:23so i mean he's certainly got the determination i think to survive
44:34in a year's time ziggy will be ready to strike out on his own
44:44but for now his family are looking out for each other
44:52the weather begins to turn
44:57it's amazing we've just been sat here watching and almost
45:01this most sudden feeling of coolness and that smell of rain has just started
45:11the dry season is over
45:15and at last the pressure cooker atmosphere is diffused
45:26and the wildlife can spread out far and wide once more
45:39all but two of our cubs made it through their most dangerous year
45:45so with luck and some determined parenting
45:49one day these little fighters will be the kings and queens of luangwa
46:02one day one day we haven't done it
46:03to find the crime of the sky
46:03so let's get started
46:03so now I'm going to ask you guys
46:04what am I going to ask and I'm going to ask for the milkshake
46:04and I'm going to ask you guys
46:04You