This is Nsefu, in the heart of Zambia,
Years of rivalry between those that live here
are coming to a climax,
The final chapter,,,
,,is about to begin,
Five years,,,
,,four families,,,
,,who will rule this kingdom?
The borderlands of Nsefu are on fire,
The lions' nursery has been reduced to ashes,
But that will not stop this pride,
They are returning to the centre of Nsefu,
But they are on a collision course with rivals,
Rivals who had been getting accustomed to life without lions,
Just a few months ago,
the wild dog family were 22 members strong,
But Storm, the pack's matriarch, has died,
Like her son Flint, she was killed by a crocodile,
Without their leader and mother, the pack is disbanding,
YELPING
Now there are just a few yearlings left,,,
,,and Storm's partner,
Zuwa,
A hyena,
It's looking to steal their kill,
LOW GROWL
GROWLING AND SQUEALING
They may have done enough to drive this single hyena away,,,
,,but with the pack so diminished,
it'll be harder to protect each other
from more powerful rivals,
SOFT GROWLS
The very survival of what is left of Storm's family
is now at risk,
HIGH-PITCHED YELPING
Over these last four years, Mutima has grown
from a small cub,,,
,,into a powerful adult leopard,
But by doing so she became a rival to her mother,,,
SNARLING ,,who then forced Mutima to leave,
In the last six months,
Mutima has travelled over 100 miles
looking for a suitable home,,,
,,but without success,
So she has now returned to where she grew up,
Nsefu,
Today, she is in a grove of ebony trees in the south,,,
,,just a couple of miles down the river from her mother,
And she is scent-marking,,,
,,proclaiming that this is now her territory,
Just upstream, her mother Olimba
still rules the dry gullies
that are the best hunting grounds,
But she's failing to make the most of them,
Old age is getting the better of her,
BIRDS HONK
Even these Egyptian geese,,,
GROWLS
,,are proving a bit beyond her capabilities,
She's barely catching enough food to survive,
Close by, the once-powerful hyena clan
have lost Tenta, their queen,,,
,,and her closest ally, Tandala,
The clan is in turmoil,
HIGH-PITCHED CRIES
Without a leader to keep everyone in line,
it's become a free-for-all,
There is incessant in-fighting,
A new leader is needed
who will be powerful enough to restore order,
The lions are taking a well-earned break in their wanderings,
It's been a long way for little legs,
But the cubs won't sleep for long,
At this age, they are very boisterous,
Parenthood can be very trying,
Nikita, the youngest lioness,
tries to join in their games,
Without cubs of her own,
she can sometimes forget her own strength,
CUB YELPS
Playtime is over,
They are not far from the heart of Nsefu -
almost home,
Walking across open landscape can be dangerous
for young cubs,
It's best for everyone to stay in line,
and close to mother,
But every path can lead to new distractions,
This cub is unlikely to have seen
a buffalo herd as close as this before,
That is probably close enough,
This stream is blocking their path,
They all need to cross,
The adults know very well that deep waters can be dangerous,
Once again, the cubs should stay close
to their mother,
CRIES
There is nothing any of the family can do to help,
Today, the pride has lost a daughter,,,
,,and the cubs,,,
,,a sister,
They seem to find some comfort from one another,
The arrival of darkness gives Olimba the leopard
the best chance of catching something for dinner,
She's not the only one looking for a meal,
A genet,
It will eat frogs,,,
,,if it can catch one,
But Olimba can't survive
on things as small as little amphibians,
DISTANT WHINNYING CALL
LOUD CALL
The calls of lions echo
across the heart of Nsefu,
The pride is back,
The lionesses leave the cubs with a baby-sitter
and go off to find food,
LOW GROWLS
They have been attracted by the scent of a kill,
SNIFFS
BARKING
It's been stashed in a tree,
And it's been abandoned for good reason,
Directly below, there is a nest of African honeybees,
BUZZING
And bees don't like anything getting as close as this,
The lions have met their match,
The pride's males are also searching for a meal,
Crocodiles have gathered around this big hippo,
It would be wise to leave this to them,
One of the brothers is feeding on an antelope,
SNARLING AND GROWLING
Male lions are greedy
and don't like to share,,,
,,even with their siblings,
They will have to settle for half each,
It has been a long night for Olimba,,,
,,and without success,
She is still hungry,
Porcupines are slow,
But a suit of sharp spines is excellent defence
and can make them dangerous,
Tackling one is a last resort,
But last night she did try,,,
,,and paid a price,
A porcupine quill lodged deep in her neck,
Life for Olimba is getting more and more difficult,
She is no longer in her prime,
After a busy night,
all that the male lions want to do,,,
CONTENTED PURRING
,,is to sleep,
But with all these excitable cubs around,,,
,,it's almost impossible to get any rest at all,
CUBS YELP
MALE LION GROWLS
GRUNTS
Patience is wearing thin,
CUB CRIES OUT
The cubs aren't getting the message,
SNARLS
But the females won't tolerate this level of aggression
towards their young,
SNARLS
GROWLING
LOW ROARING
It's a reminder to the males
that females together are strong,
And they are about to become stronger still,
Nikita, the youngest lioness,
is returning to the pride after several weeks away,,,
,,bringing with her a new addition,
And not just one,
CUB MEWS
MEWING
Father and cubs are meeting
for the first time,,,
CUB YOWLS
,,without any trouble,,,
CUB MEWS OLDER CUB GRUNTS
,,at least not from dad,
GROWLS
This pride is now the largest it has ever been,
And size brings power,
The dogs, however,
are now down to a mere handful,
And they find themselves face-to-face
with the lion pride,
Zuwa recognises that the odds are stacked against them,
BARKS
DOGS BARKING
LION GROWLS
A single charge is all it takes
to force Zuwa and his family to retreat,
When the wild dogs first arrived,
they were a strong force
and were able to make a home here,
But now they are weaker
than they have ever been,
SOFT GROWLING
PANTING
WHINING
HIPPOS GRUNTING IN DISTANCE
DISTANT GRUNTING
DISTANT WHOOPING
The sound of other dogs
is coming from across the river,
DISTANT WHOOPING
They could drive away Zuwa's family,
or even kill them,
But they could bring an opportunity,
GROWLS SOFTLY
WHOOPS
WHOOPING
DISTANT WHOOPING
A reply to his calls,
DISTANT WHOOPING And it's an encouraging one,
WHINING
HIPPOS GRUNT
DOGS SQUEAL
CHATTERING
Zuwa tries to find
the best spot to cross,
But it's still risky,
HIPPO GRUNTS
YAPPING
Zuwa can find a new partner in this pack,,,
,,and, with luck, a new beginning beyond Nsefu,
Now only three families remain,
Hidden in the woodlands,,,
,,is a new generation of hyenas,
The previous chaos has turned to peace,,,
,,all because a new leader has emerged,
This female,
bigger and stronger than the others,
has claimed the throne,
YAPPING
And with their new queen,,,
,,the clan could once again challenge the lions,
LOW GRUNTING
The lions are resting after a hunt,,,
,,and have left their cubs
feeding on the carcass,
WHOOPING BARK
A valuable carcass and unguarded cubs,
The hyenas have killed the pride's cubs before
and could take the chance again,
WHOOPING BARKS
WHOOPING AND BARKING
CHATTERING
GROWLING
WHOOPING AND GRUNTING
GROWLS
Nikita,
WHOOPING
HOOTING GROWL
These hyenas should be able to see off
a single lioness,
WHOOPING
SNARLS
HOOTING GROWL
But Nikita,,,
,,is not alone for long,
WHOOPING
HYENAS BARK
LION SNARLS
HYENAS WHOOP AND SQUEAL
LOW ROARING
ALL ROARING
Roaring together is a clear statement of power,
LOW ROARING CONTINUES
CUB YOWLS
Over the last four years,
this pride has grown into the greatest force in Nsefu,
The wild dog family are gone
and the hyenas subdued,
The lion family will rule this kingdom
for generations to come,
But the lions are not the only winners here,
Olimba has not only recovered from the injury
inflicted by the porcupine quill,,,
,,she has, over the years,
survived every challenge that has come her way,
And she has not finished yet,
GRUNTS
After three years of trying,
Olimba has,
at last,,,
,,a new healthy cub,,,
CUB YOWLS
,,a son,
She is now one of the most successful leopard mothers
on record,
Over her lifetime,
she's watched other families rise and fall,
and power come and go,,,
CHIRPS
,,but a cub born in the heart of this kingdom
is surely life's greatest success,
Next time,,,
,,the drama behind life in the Kingdom,
The conservationists,,,
,,the anti-poaching teams,,,
,,and the film crew,
How's it going, Nathan?
Oh, I'm loving it!
Wild dogs are on the move,
and they're moving fast,
The story beyond Kingdom,