The hunters of Africa come out of their hiding places at night. They slept most of the time during the day to avoid the heat. But now their time has come. They are equipped with “super senses” that enable them to find their prey in complete darkness while staying invisible themselves. Lions, leopards and hyenas are the ultimate rulers of the night, but they all have different hunting strategies. Leopards sneak up to their prey like phantoms and attack in the last moment, while lions try to ambush their next meal and take it down as a team. Hyenas are long distance athletes and hunt their victims to exhaustion. All of this would be left in the dark, if not for extremely light sensitive lenses and thermal cameras. Thanks to this modern technique, we are able to get a unique view into the secret world of Africa’s hunters of the night.
In the jungles of north west India, there lives a remarkable wild tiger family. Now, using 50 years of footage, the story of their matriarchal clan is pieced together.
Life on the savannah of southern Tanzania is a study in contrast between rainy and dry seasons. When water is abundant, the wildebeest at the rivers provide food for the lion population, while the buffalo graze contentedly on the succulent grasses in the hills. The two great adversaries -- lion and buffalo -- can keep their distance. Intimate Enemies is a film about the relationship between these two great animals as a drought forces them into a titanic battle
Kenya's Musiara marsh is prime lion country. Lush tall grasses, scrubby brush, and an abundance of watering holes attract a vast array of big game and smaller wildlife to this lowland valley. Yet during the lean winter months, before the great migration of wildebeest and zebra, the resident lions live on the edge of starvation. Everything rides on the success or failure of a few critical hunts. The fate of the young cubs hangs in the balance as the bond that holds the pride together is stretched to the limit. Now enter the domain of Kali the lion and her pride as they face the daily challenge to survive on the African plains
The animals of this African spring run a deadly gauntlet to survive. The spring flows out of a sandy river bed 30km inland from the Zambezi River and is the lifeline for hundreds of animals between August and the end of November each year. But taking a drink from this water source comes at a price, as it is flanked by a cliff on either side and forms a perfect ambush alley for the two resident lion prides with one shared goal: eat as much buffalo as possible. It is the perfect place to hunt, a predator’s playground
Nakuru National Park in Kenya is rather like a reform centre for wayward youth. Take Scarface: as a young lioness with a reputation for killing sheep and cattle, she was due to be shot. Instead, she was chosen to establish a new pride in Nakuru. Wildlife film-maker Barbara Tyack chronicles the life of this special lion family with a weakness for climbing trees. Fabulous camerawork captures great chase sequences, some gory ones, and the odd romance
In the heart of southern France there is a fog-prone area where, according to legend, a bloodthirsty creature wreaked havoc 250 years ago. A rumor is spreading again in this legendary place, as eyewitnesses report an animal with large paws and a long tail that crosses roads in a single leap - powerful enough to tear down a horse and leave it mutilated in the pasture. Is the Beast of Gévaudan back? The animal photographer Bruno Loisel has a supposedly more rational explanation. The animal that fits the descriptions could be a cougar, but this species of big cat is only native to America. In order to learn the proper techniques for tracking down the puma, he travels to Canada, where he accompanies a team of researchers dedicated to studying the shy, almost invisible predator. Will Bruno be able to use his findings to solve the mystery of the new beast of Gévaudan?
Three lionesses try to survive in the Namibian desert.
For many years lions and hyenas have competed hard for meat. Both control each other, stealing and killing each other. But in this game, both survive and no one prevails.Their destinies are united. This is the story of the ancestral confrontation between the most iconic predators of Africa
This is the exciting story of two lion cubs born with a rare whim of nature. In Krüger park, South Africa's major natural reserve, about once in a generation a pride of lions includes a rarity: white cubs. This time two are born to the sister of a lioness with two elder, regular 'golden' cubs, whose natural camouflage is a major hunting and hiding advantage. The tiny pride is precarious anyway, having lost its sole male, with three lion brothers roaming around, eager to render a lioness mating-ready again by killing her offspring. Meanwhile prey and even the cubs are in danger from hyenas and leopards, as everyone lurks for a 'free meal', and some prey defending themselves and their young prove fearsome, notably buffaloes
The Serengeti is one of the most brutal environments on the planet. It's also home to the tough Vumbi lion pride. Using ground-breaking new tools (including a lion-proof peeping Tom robot), National Geographic explorers Michael "Nick" Nichols and Nathan Williamson embed with the lions to reveal a never-before-seen view into a world with razor thin margins between life and death.
In the furthest reach of northeast China, is a mountain wilderness that few have yet explored: Hunchun National Nature Reserve. At its core, lives one of Earth’s rarest predators: The Amur tiger
Jonathan Scott narrates the extraordinary story of the leopard - the one big cat that still survives across half the world while tigers, cheetahs and lions are all struggling. By following the lives of leopard mothers and their cubs in East Africa the film investigates what it is about the natural history of these cats that makes them born survivors. Perhaps the most extraordinary revelation is that leopards are living undercover on farms and even in cities across Africa and Asia.
Follow two males lions who swam across the river from Namibia, and joined up with two females in Selinda. This union resulted in six cubs as they grow, learn to hunt, and ultimately, become the first pride in Selinda in many years
Five lion prides in Africa compete for scare food and each have adopted their own style of hunting. Follow them as they take down everything from buffalo to giraffes. Only the most cunning and capable will survive.
For two years Simon King takes on the role of mother to two male cheetah cubs, Toki and Sambu, orphaned when their mother was killed by a lion
The vast east African savannah is the only place in the world where "big cats" -- lions, leopards and cheetahs -- can be seen in a single location. The abundant source of food is the reason why these cats, which reign at the top of the food chain, can survive. The endless grassland gives them life. This is the story of the animals on the savannah, the more than one hundred species of herbivores such as gazelles and buffalos, and the big cats standing at the top of the ecosystem
David Attenborough narrates this astonishing story of a wild cheetah family. Known for being fast, captivating and extremely elusive, cameraman Kim Wolhuter offers a new insight into their remarkable lives. For nearly two years, he walked alongside a wild cheetah mother and her young family to unravel in intimate detail what it takes to turn tiny cubs into accomplished predators
After 25 years of the Project Tiger Scheme operating in the Madhya Pradesh, these magnificent animals have become more trusting, permitting an extraordinary intimate film which follows them from sunrise to sunset, in monsoon rains and in shimmering heat
Following award-winning filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert on their 30-year-long quest to document the behaviour of big cats in Botswana, this film brings together three decades worth of material, including extraordinary footage of hunting lions, scavenging hyenas and stealthy leopards. See firsthand the numerous changes that have led to dramatic decline of the lion population, and what needs to be done in order to ensure their survival
As little as 15 years ago, no one had captured the unforgettable image of a leopard in its ghostly nocturnal stalk. Viewers had never seen intimate portrayals of the sleek and elusive serval, or witnessed the nighttime romps of the beautiful black-eared caracal. The team of Owen Newman and Amanda Barrett filled those gaps with a series of spectacular breakthrough films in the 1990s. Among the first to apply infrared light and night vision goggles to wildlife studies, they combined technology with intrepid determination and a strong dose of luck, illuminating the cats we hardly knew, and giving us fresh insights into those we only thought we knew, such as lions and cheetahs