'Misfit' Lion Finds Hope After Devastating Loss Love Nature
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 The burst of energy has taken its toll on the injured mother of the little dreamer.
00:07 She's having breathing problems.
00:10 The wound looks a little better, but she still moves gingerly, as if every footstep causes
00:17 her discomfort.
00:22 The dreamer has given up trying to elicit any affection from her.
00:34 After his big meal of meat, he's thirsty, but has an instinctive fear of water.
00:41 The river is a lifeline, but it's full of dangers too.
00:48 For comfort, he goes not to his mom, but to the misfit.
00:58 Their bond is getting stronger all the time.
01:07 The rest of the day is spent sleeping off the meal.
01:14 The dreamer finds a quiet moment for a nervous drink.
01:32 This may be the turning point.
01:35 His mother's wound is finally starting to heal over.
01:41 And above all, he has the misfit, a solid friend.
01:59 That evening, the little cub's mother seems stronger and wanders off.
02:04 A lion's ability to heal is remarkable.
02:08 Her body is working overtime to get her back to full hunting fitness.
02:16 At dusk, the elephants return.
02:33 A cue for the rest of the pride to move further along the beach.
02:50 Every night, the Anseifu brothers declare their pride's ownership of this territory.
03:07 The misfit sits apart from the other yearlings.
03:11 It's only when the dreamer joins him that he plays.
03:29 The cub's mother is off consulting with one of the big males.
03:33 She's definitely feeling better.
03:42 Together they set off for the night's hunt.
03:46 The pride is on good form, strong, and taking buffalo regularly.
03:59 The evening patrol is a training session for all the youngsters.
04:03 The yearlings are learning how to hunt cooperatively.
04:13 They found something, a pair of warthogs hiding in a bush.
04:40 The misfit and the dreamer aren't usually this close to the action.
04:44 It's an exciting night for them.
04:50 A warthog isn't much of a meal.
04:52 There's hardly enough to feed all 16 lions.
04:57 And new mouths are coming to the table.
05:00 Hyenas, lots of them.
05:05 The dreamer is in the thick of the melee.
05:23 The hyenas are getting cheeky.
05:45 The misfit has had enough of the scrum.
05:49 Grabbing a scrap, he moves away.
05:52 He's an easy target.
06:00 Five burly hyenas against one yearling lion.
06:20 Just in time, the lioness has come to the rescue.
06:34 Meal over.
06:35 The pride moves on.
06:37 But in the drama over the misfit, the dreamer has been left behind.
07:06 By morning, the pride is miles away.
07:13 The misfit is battered and sore.
07:16 But it's nothing that won't mend.
07:21 The little cub, however, is nowhere to be seen.
07:26 The cub's mother retraces her steps, searching for him.
07:31 Her calls echo across the plains.
07:37 Just as she's recovered enough to nurse him again, the cub, the little dreamer, has gone.
07:46 For several days, she scours the bush looking for her cub.
07:55 All in vain.
08:02 The dreamer is dead.
08:03 The misfit is on his own.
08:08 He needs to make a friend in the pride all over again.
08:17 As the season begins to change, the lost cub's mother seems to find it hard to let go.
08:31 She becomes a lonely figure at the edge of the pride.
08:40 A storm would be a welcome relief.
08:43 The days are hot and full of biting insects.
08:48 The misfit is bothered by a tsetse fly.
09:02 There's only one thing to do.
09:05 He goes over and sits with one of the other yearlings.
09:11 His brother gets his tsetse fly.
09:14 Perhaps not the best way to make friends, but it's a start.
09:26 Two weeks go by and the injured lioness has made a full recovery.
09:32 The scar is barely visible.
09:36 She's still roaming away from the pride, but she's no longer searching for her lost cub.
09:43 She's searching for the males.
09:47 She's coming into oestrus and wants another litter of cubs.
09:52 She's found one of the brothers.
09:56 He inhales the scent of her urine, testing her readiness to mate.
10:04 The signs are good.
10:06 There's a new future here.
10:15 Hope is on the horizon for the parched landscape too.
10:42 The misfit moves to join his brother.
10:47 Since the cub died, the misfit's becoming more sociable.
11:01 He's lost his youngest half-brother, but he instinctively knows he needs a teammate.
11:11 Strong families are vital to lions.
11:16 He's slowly maturing.
11:18 His brother is responding and invites the misfit to wrestle.
11:39 For the first time, he's playing with his peers.
11:57 It'll take a while, but the misfits beginning to fit in.
12:07 Over the coming weeks, he and his brother make up for lost time.
12:16 His first two years have been hard, but they seem to have made him stronger.
12:23 It's early days yet, but his prospects are rising.
12:28 He has a new allegiance to build on.
12:31 Perhaps one day, the misfit and his brother will have a pride of their own and raise a
12:38 new generation of lions to rule the Luangwa Valley.