EPISODE 1
THE AFRICAN LION
In the early 1900 the African Lion was the apex predator over most of Africa.
By the year 2020 lions will be extirpated from more than 92% of their historic range. South Africa is the only country in Africa where Lion numbers are growing. The Kruger National Park and its adjacent private reserves hold a healthy population of almost 2000 lions. In this episode we follow 2 prides of lions and highlight what makes them such successful cats.
A coalition of three powerful brothers expelled the owners of the territory and assert their presence by hunting buffalos. The three local lionesses, now without a male leader, try to make friends with the three newcomers and quickly come into estrus.
The pride of the adjacent territory is led by an old male, father of 5 cubs for which their two mothers work hard to provide for the growing cubs. But many of their hunting attempts fail, taking the cubs to the point of starvation were it not for several lucky breaks. First a giraffe that dies when it breaks its leg, and then the pride stumbles on the carcass of an elephant. They gorge for days on both.
Through this episode we cut between the two prides and develop the characters of the different lions. In their newfound territory the powerful coalition of brothers are successful buffalo hunters and first time fathers of a litter of three playful cubs. In the territory next door a single old male holds his land long enough to see his 5 cubs grow to maturity. By the end of the episode the 4 older cubs are out hunting on their own and they ambitiously attack a large buffalo bull, but after an hour the buffalo gets away and the youngsters lie exhausted and defeated but ready to tackle a new chapter in their lives where they will need to carve out their own territory in this PREDATOR LAND.
EPISODE 2
THE AFRICAN LEOPARD
The African Leopard has the widest geographical distribution of all the big cats of Africa because of its broad range of prey and its tolerance of different habitats. Southern Africa holds the healthiest population but, because of their elusive nature, their numbers are sketchy and in the Kruger National Park area the estimate population has a great variance of 1316 to 5565. In this area leopards have carved out territories, raised cubs and hunted for food for over a million years. Their territories are relatively small because there is an abundance of prey species. Mothers’ territories overlap with their offsprings’ and males cover an area that includes several females’ lands.
We follow two mother leopards, both with cubs that they need to raise safely to adulthood. The older one a successful hunter that manages to go unnoticed by the local hyena clan. The other leopard harassed at almost every kill by them.
In this episode we see two leopard cubs reach adulthood, we see a young female prepare for her first litter and follow a strong male traverse all the adult females’ territories making sure he sires all their cubs. Throughout the episode we weave the story of the leopards’ prey, impalas, steenbok and warthogs. And we introduce a transient pair of brother cheetahs that pass through in their perpetual search for prey in the open grasslands of the Kruger area. The cheetah is the underdog of the great cats and large predators of Africa, persecuted by humans and killed by lions, leopards and hyenas, they have the highest juvenile mortality with only 29% of youngsters surviving to adulthood. Never-the-less they carve out their own piece of this PREDATOR LAND.
EPISODE 3
SPOTTED HYENAS
The range of the Spotted Hyena in Africa has shrunk considerably because of human disturbance. Today populations are concentrated in protected areas, and it is estimated that in the Kruger National Park region there is a stable population of almost 4000. They are considered to be apex predators of the African savannah as formidable as lions and leopards. The hyenas dominate their territory, keeping a close watch over the leopards from which they steal as often as possible. They follow young lions and lionesses for an opportunity to overpower and steal their kills.
In Kruger about 50% of the hyenas’ diet consists of animals they kill themselves, eyeing out the weak and injured. Spotted Hyenas are the most fascinating predators of the African savannah. They’re the only mammal species on Earth where females are dominant over males and they do not have an external vaginal opening. Instead the female has a pseudo-penis, difficult to tell apart from the male’s.
In the hyena clan’s territory, a pack of wild dogs has stopped to den. While the pups are too small to follow the pack, the adults’ home ranges is only a tenth of the large range they traverse when the pups are agile enough to keep up on a hunt. Morning and evening the adults wake from a lazy rest and rally together. When they return from hunting the pups beg for food which pack members regurgitate on demand. By the beginning of summer the pups follow the adults.
Following the most abundant predator in Africa, the spotted hyena, and the most endangered on the continent, the wild dog, we compare their family life, hunting and feeding strategies while they raise their young in the Kruger National Park and the Greater Kruger area – one of the last strongholds of the formidable predators that have survived on this land for over a million years. This is their land, this is PREDATOR LAND.