Previously on Kingdom,,,
,,Mutima, the young leopard, reached independence,
So now it's time for her mother, Olimba,,,
,,to mate again,
GRUNTING
The lion pride has grown in strength,
The males killed one of the hyena mothers, Tam,
and now they have forced Storm and her pack to flee,
GROWLING
BARKS
But no matter how powerful your family,
this place, Nsefu,
is a dangerous place in which to rear young,
LOW RUMBLING
Even lion cubs are vulnerable,
LOW RUMBLING
ROARS
Five years,
Four families,
Who will rule this kingdom?
LOW RUMBLING
Lions are most at risk in their early days,,,
,,so cubs are kept in a secret den,
but if they stray into the open,,,
SNORTS
,,away from their mothers,,,
YELPS
LOW RUMBLING
,,dangers can come from anywhere,
An elephant could crush a cub
with a single step,
CUB YELPS
LOW RUMBLING
YELPS
Better to stay close to Mother,
The dry season here in Nsefu
is tightening its grip,
SNORTS
Elephants needing to quench their thirst
follow well-trodden paths
that lead to the river,
Further along the elephants' path,
the pride are resting,,,
GENTLE SNORING
,,taking a break from the heat of the day,
SNORTS
LOW RUMBLING
When it comes to grumpy elephants,
it's not just cubs
that have to get out of the way,
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
LOW GRUNTING
In the grove of ebony trees,
the hyenas Tandala,,,and Tenta
keep their cubs close,
YAPPING
But Tenta's twins are now at the age
when they want to explore the world for themselves,
YELPS
These sausage trees,
named from the shape of their fruits,,,
,,are bursting into bloom,
The opening of these crimson flowers
is welcomed by many here,,,
,,for, within the giant petals,
there is sweet nectar,,,
,,irresistible to hungry visitors,
They come right to the hyenas' doorstep,
GRUNTS
Time for some fun,
YOWLING
The twins lead the way,
CHIRPING
But not everyone,,,
YELPS
,,is willing to tolerate their games,
GRUNTS
BARKING
The cubs are soon back for some rest,,,
,,and a drink,
Hyena mothers produce
one of the richest of all milks,
But even so,
the cubs need to feed for up to four hours a day,
And each mother provides milk for a year,
GENTLE GRUNTING
The cubs' insistent demands
force Tenta and the other females
to take risks in their search for food,
CAWING
Vultures -
a sign that the lions have made a kill,
CAWING
The commotion has drawn most of the clan,
including Tenta and Tandala,
They are nervous,
GRUNTING WHINE
The males from this pride killed their sister, Tam,
LOW GROWLING
But, today, the males are not here,
This is too good an opportunity to miss,
GRUNTING
As the clan advances,,,
,,their confidence grows,
YAPPING
GROWLS
YAPPING
A brief and uneasy truce,
It's very rare for lions to share a kill with hyenas,
If the males were here,
the situation would be very different,
But where are they?
GENTLE ROARING
They are several miles away -
on patrol,
The brothers regularly travel huge distances
to protect their family,
especially their cubs,
from rival lions,
Roaring males make it clear to anyone for miles around
that this is their territory,
GENTLE ROARING
Their patrol has brought them close to the edge
of the national park,
This deep gully marks the boundary line,
But it's a line that means nothing to the brothers,
Outside the protection of the park,
there are dangers beyond rival lions,
As the brothers cross the boundary,
they leave the safety of the park,
INSECTS FLUTTER
Back in the centre of Nsefu,
one of the females, Rita,
is guarding her cubs,
Rita must keep her young a secret,,,
,,until it's time for them all
to rejoin the pride,
A lilac-breasted roller,,,
SQUAWKS
,,a bush squirrel,,,
,,and a ground hornbill
are unwelcome visitors,
That beak looks nasty,
This little one needs extra help,
He's blind in one eye,
MEWS
GRUNTS
What is more,
these visitors could give away the cubs' location,
SQUAWKING
Prying eyes are everywhere,
Being a mother in Nsefu is not easy,
Mutima is trying to find her own way,,,
BARKING
,,but her youthful clumsiness,,,
,,creates problems,
SQUAWKING
Nearby,
her mother, Olimba,
is calling and scent-marking,,,
GRUNTING
,,signs that she's still looking for a mate,
Her messages have not gone unnoticed,
GRUNTING
A male,
Male leopards spend most of their time alone,
They're unpredictable
and can be very aggressive,
He's a lot bigger
and much more powerful than she is,
If Olimba is to have more cubs,
she will have to take the risk,
Her flirting helps to ease any tension,
This behaviour is rarely seen,
GROWLING
They will stay together for at least 48 hours,
During that time, they mate repeatedly,,,
GROWLING
,,increasing Olimba's chance of pregnancy,
Mutima,,,
,,has never seen her mother with a male before,
It's an aspect of life that will affect both her mother,,,
,,and herself,
In the secrecy of their den,,,
,,Rita is still nursing her cubs,
CUB YOWLS
To keep them fed, she must hunt,
But that means leaving the cubs alone,
GRUNTING NEARBY
LION GROWLS QUIETLY
GROWLING
SNARLING
One on one,
bringing down even a young buffalo is hard,
BUFFALO GRUNTING
It's a battle of endurance,
Rita will not be able to keep this up
for much longer,
This is Rita's younger sister,
She has heard the struggle,
Now it's two against one,
After weeks of nursing her cubs by herself,
it's a welcome change for Rita
to have her sister at her side,
GRUNTING
SNORTS
PANTS QUIETLY
YELPING CALLS
GRUNTING
YELPING
Hyena,
YELPING
They appear whenever lions make a kill,
YELPING
But, tonight,
they don't seem to be heading this way,
They were going to the lions' den,
YELPING AND BARKING
PANTING GRUNTS
Without their mother, the cubs were defenceless,
None have survived the hyenas' attack,
BIRD CHIRPS
The rest of the family
are unaware of the disaster that occurred overnight,,,
GENTLE SNORING
,,and that the next generation of their pride
has been lost,
Rita and her sister,,,
,,return to the others,,,
,,alone,
Lions are the most social of all big cats,
The sisters can find solace in their family,
The loss of the cubs is not the only blow to the family,
After leaving the safety of Nsefu,
both of the pride males
were shot and killed,
For any animals living here,
fortunes can change in an instant,
The temperature is now reaching
nearly 50 degrees Celsius,
GRUNTING
Month after month of extreme heat
and the lack of rain
has caused the water level in the river to drop,
Once a mighty torrent,
it's now reduced
to a series of shallow channels
and sandy islands,
The river is no longer
the impassable barrier it once was,
The buffalo herds are leaving Nsefu,
looking for grazing beyond the far banks,
LOW GRUNTING
Buffalo are the main source of food
for the hungry lions,
In the dry season,
the Luangwa has some of the densest populations
of crocodiles and hippos found anywhere on Earth,
If the pride want to hunt buffalo,,,
,,they will have to cross,
LOW GRUNTING
They must choose their route carefully,
GRUNTS
The deepest water
can hide the greatest dangers,
LOW GRUNTING
BUFFALO GRUNTING
Now on the other side,,,
,,the pride will need to split up the herd,,,
,,if they are to have any success,
SNORTS
Working together, they cause a stampede,
BUFFALO GRUNTING
They are looking for any sign of weakness,
Success,
PANTING
LOW GROWLING
This is a sound the pride does not want to hear,
LOW GROWLING
GROWLING
A rival pride,
This is their home,
Without the power of their males,,,
,,Rita and her sisters are in real danger,
Lions will kill rivals
who encroach on their territory,
SNARLING
GROWLING
The lionesses have no choice but to retreat,
GRUNTING
SNORTING
PANTING
Now the pride has no males,
no cubs,
and its favourite prey
has moved into the territory of rival lions,
The future of this family,,,
,,is in jeopardy,
THUNDER RUMBLES
After months of almost unbearable heat,,,
,,clouds begin to build at last,
THUNDER CRACKS
These storms mark the end of the dry season,
THUNDER CRACKS
PANTING
THUNDER CRACKS
BIRD CALLS
Rain reshapes the land,
The river refills,
And only the strongest will be able to cross,
SNORTS
This year, the downpours have lasted much longer than normal,
The river has burst its banks,
flooding Nsefu in a way not seen for years,
For the hyena family,
living in the ebony grove,
this is a disaster,
Before the rains came,
the clan had been going from strength to strength,
But the waters have completely flooded their den,
Many of the cubs have died,
and what remains of the clan is scattered,
Tenta and her twins are the only ones left here,
YOWLS
They were stronger than the younger cubs
and so better able to escape the rising water,
But now, hungry and homeless,
they must navigate the watery labyrinth
to find food,
The twins have never before travelled as far as this,
SNORTS
YELPS
This strange new world
can seem overwhelming,
Tenta hears a familiar sound on the wind,
DISTANT YOWLING
It's her clan -
or, at least, some of them,
YOWLING
Unfortunately, without their queen to lead them,
they have become undisciplined,
Fighting is rife,,,
,,especially over food,
LOW GROWLING
YOWLING
But now Tenta is back,
She is quick to restore order,
YOWLING
And with order will come strength,
What is more, her twins can now feed,
It pays to be the daughters of the queen,
SQUAWKING
Although many of the clan are here,
Tandala, Tenta's closest ally,
is still missing,
Mutima is thriving in her second wet season,
The gullies are full of water,
so it's now impossible to hunt in them,
But there is an alternative
at this time of year,
The annual gathering of yellow-billed storks,
Every year, these trees are full of chicks,,,
,,too young to fly away,,,
,,and a promising opportunity,
SQUAWKING
No nest is out of reach,,,
,,even right up here in the thinnest of branches,
Last year, Mutima didn't have the skills
to make the most of this tree-top larder,
But she's now an accomplished and resourceful hunter,
Her mother's focus, however,
is not on finding food,
It's on her future,
If Olimba is going to raise more cubs,,,
,,the last thing she needs
is competition,
And her daughter has become her rival,
PANTING
Mutima has no idea of the danger coming her way,
Danger from her own mother,
Mutima can flee,,,
RUSTLING
,,or turn,,,
,,and fight,
SNARLING