GAME OF LIONS
Timecode
01:00:00:00
NG US WILD SCRIPT by Dereck Joubert
Cut-to-Clock 44:00 minute Clock
1080/23.98
Video/Shot
Audio/Narrative
Description
ACT 1
IN: 01:00:00:00
OUT: 01:13:07:10
Duration: 00:13:07:10
Fade Up
01:00:02:17
Night, a lion roars a
full roar into the
darkness.
He is answered by
another male and two
more.
NARRATOR
There is a deadly game at play in the African night.
Roaring.
NARRATOR
It’s announced each evening.
01:00:08:00
01:00:10:15
There are kings in residence and kings in the
making.
Roar
NARRATOR
As each regent calls his dominance into the
darkness, every challenger listens carefully for
signs of weakness.
01:00:20:05
Lions roar at night
01:00:36:07
Lion runs in and
attacks hyenas.
NARRATOR
The game is; how convincing each male’s
message is.
01:01:09:10
NARRATOR
He will charge in and fight, steal, growl away any
dissention in a display designed to roar confidence.
01:01:19:10
But don’t be fooled, this is not all for show.
1 Lionesses on kill, it
splits up and the two
males fight.
01:01:23:20
Fighting
01:01:32:10
NARRATOR
They clash like gladiators, and that they are:
warriors of an ancient realm three and a half million
years old.
When two masters battle for the spoils, anything
can happen.
Fighting in dust over
carcass (night.
01:01:39:04
NARRATOR
They are the epitome of raw power.
01:01:42:07
They are the symbol of raw Africa.
Male stands and looks
around (night).
01:01:50:08
01:01:55:07
(graphic)
NARRATOR
In each territory there can only be one winner in
this, Game of Lions.
TITLE GRAPHIC:
‘Game of Lions’
Dawn, aerial male lion
walks.
01:02:12:09
NARRATOR
There was a time in Africa when a million lions
roamed from coast to coast and ruled the
savannas.
Walking male lion.
NARRATOR
As he patrols his land, he has one mission: to
defend it for as long as possible. A single glance
strikes fear into the hearts of those around.
01:02:21:19
01:02:34:02
Today these territories are as strictly held as ever.
Male lions turns and
roars, jacanas fly.
01:02:45:10
NARRATOR
And out there, the first round of the game is at
play, a deadly shuffle of genetics, that will
determine who is the next king, who will be cast
out and which males will survive.
2 Young male running.
01:03:13:01
Young male driven
away by older male
01:03:22:11
01:03:33:19
His only sin was to develop the beginnings of a
mane.
Young male driven
away by older male
01:03:38:13
01:04:21:19
NARRATOR
The two and a half year-old has been isolated from
the pride, his own pride. Today his own fathers are
driving him out.
NARRATOR
If one of these were not his fathers, he would be
dead already.
If he resists, he will be.
Male lion walking
through grass
01:04:38:04
Male lion runs in
towards us.
01:04:51:04
Freeze frame male
lion
NARRATOR
The betrayal by his own blood may be confusing to
him but this is an ancient rite: the casting out of
young males into a world of unknowns. A world
where he will either make it, or die.
Decisions today will determine who survives to be
king and what genetic material is destined for
failure.
NARRATOR
To understand what it takes to be a survivor we
have to rewind every success story and follow the
bloodlines of strength.
Rewind.
01:05:04:01
Lion cubs
NARRATOR
It is the life lived by claw and tooth but for male
lions the puzzle is in the numbers.
Cubs play and run.
01:05:12:23
NARRATOR
Lions are born in equal numbers, males to
females, a tumbling mess of small bodies, born
roughly the same time in a pride, courtesy of the
magic of synchronicity of their mother’s body
cycles.
3 Cub plays with log.
01:05:28:15
Cubs play
Cubs play.
01:05:42:13
Two cubs fight
together.
01:06:00:07
NARRATOR
Their nurseries of almost ‘same aged’ cubs, and
equal genders, make for a very social upbringing.
NARRATOR
It’s a training ground, a playing field, a time when
lifelong bonds are developed. Bonds that may one
day be the foundation of a strong brotherhood to
fight for territory.
NARRATOR
For now, soft mouths bite and gentle paws slap
out.
Cub playing with rock
NARRATOR
At this age, any young male that is more
adventurous will attract accidents. A heavy rock
may be an innocent toy, but dropping on his tender
paw and this young male might just become an
early victim.
01:06:09:05
Tail biting threesome.
01:06:29:06
NARRATOR
A small male learns here that when someone
ambushes you, someone else has your back.
01:06:50:07
Soft fur protects them from needle sharp teeth.
Three cubs play,
skyline.
01:06:57:03
Two cubs play,
skyline.
01:07:10:14
NARRATOR
The “nursery” system works. Cubs are seldom
much more than a few months difference in size.
So older cubs can’t do too much damage.
NARRATOR
The danger now is that cubs can sometimes get
picked on and played to exhaustion.
Cub jumps on mother.
01:07:18:22
NARRATOR
It seems as though mothers have developed a
4 surprising protectiveness to male cubs in
particular, perhaps understanding that the odds are
already stacked against them.
01:07:32:12
Larger cub flips small
one over.
Play in grass. Two
small cubs fight.
01:07:59:18
NARRATOR
So ironically, because of this protectiveness and
perhaps a more robust style of playing, little males
slightly edge out the female cubs. By 3 months,
male cubs often outnumber their sisters.
NARRATOR
It’s a male aggression that can well up inside of
them at any moment, at any age.
Cub leaps at her.
NARRATOR
A fully-grown female collapsing at the wrong time
on a cub 1/10th of her size, might be the end of
him.
01:08:12:16
01:08:20:20
Being a cub is always a risky business.
Young male looks out
over the savanna.
01:08:26:11
01:08:34:14
01:08:42:23
01:08:53:17
NARRATOR
If there is a loner, looking out at the horizon, it’s
probably a young male looking to his future.
Water reflection a
young male lion walks
alone.
Will he be number one, or number seven? A
survivor or a lost nomad?
Aerial of a single
young male walking
through water
NARRATOR
Across the grassland, across whole countries this
outcast is a perfect example of why most cubs are
born at roughly the same time in a pride.
Aerial of a single
young male walking
through water
NARRATOR
If you’re a single child, you get a lot of attention,
perhaps even better training, but when it’s time to
leave, you leave alone.
Aerial of a single
young male walking
5 through water
NARRATOR
This young male in the Okavango Delta in
Botswana has challenges mounting up every day.
01:09:02:03
Aerial
NARRATOR
His genetic job now is to survive and carry his
fathers’ genes to another kingdom, to conquer it for
them by spreading their bloodline. But this vast wet
wilderness will swallow up a solitary, inexperienced
hunter; a young male that every resident lion wants
dead.
01:09:07:23
01:09:27:06
Aerial
NARRATOR
His only escape is to live on the fringes of
territories now. He’ll work a no-man’s land
between his old family’s range and the next,
hoping to stay silent. Undetected.
Two males
01:09:44:06
01:10:10:07
Buffalo come into
frame
Lions chasing buffalo
Buffalo and lionesses.
Buffalo attacks male
lion
Male lion dies.
01:10:39:02
01:11:02:23
NARRATOR
Male lions are not well adapted to the hunt. Their
manes are territorial flags not camouflage in the
long grass. So when the herd breaks away the
buffalo target the dark-maned male. It’s like a
deadly hit and run. A sharp thrust into the side
punctures a lung.
For this male it is over.
Pride moves on and
attacks the buffalo.
01:10:52:06
NARRATOR
The pride males are alert; to prey and interlopers.
NARRATOR
The battle rages on, its combatants oblivious to the
fallen male and also to the young castaway
watching the family he once was a part of.
As they chase down and wrestle a buffalo to the
ground, for a feast at which he would once have
6 been a favored guest, now he can only watch.
Buffalo run off.
Kill concludes,
Young male watches.
Buffalo run off.
Feeding.
Male lion enters...
NARRATOR
The surviving male is now the only master.
01:11:31:10
Growls and females
move off.
Young male watches.
NARRATOR
This is how the young nomad will eke out his small
living. He will wait for the family to cause chaos
and for them to become too engaged in their own
more immediate business, to take notice of him.
01:11:48:09
Lion swimming.
NARRATOR
The water has always been an uncomfortable
place for him, all cats tackle the dark waters with
caution. Crocodiles use it as their hunting ground.
01:12:05:15
Feeding male.
01:12:22:10
01:12:29:19
Lion swimming
Feeding pride.
Lion facing buffalo
herd
01:12:38:01
Young male and herd.
Crosses water and
calls.
Young male climbs
out of water
01:12:44:20
NARRATOR
But if he can just keep the herd outside the pride’s
territory he will be able to hunt with immunity.
If he manages this badly though and they turn back
into his father’s land, the opportunity will have been
lost.
NARRATOR
He sets up a ‘one lion blockade,’ though not with
much confidence.
NARRATOR
If he can frighten the herd away with a roar, he will
have a little more time. But roaring will definitely
7 attract his father. So he does something quite
sneaky. He almost ‘whispers’ his roar to the
buffalo, making sure it doesn’t reach the pride.
Calls again, softly.
Zoom in.
01:13:03:19
NARRATOR
But then...an opportunity he could not have
predicted.
Cow charges
He stands his ground
2 Second Filler
ACT 2
IN: 01:13:09:11
OUT: 01:18:59:19
Duration: 00:05:50:09
01:13:12:03
Calf in grass next to
buffalo
Calf in grass
Buffalo charges lion
01:13:46:08
01:14:03:09
Stand-off – lion and
buffalo
NARRATOR
A buffalo calf was born during the chaotic chase
and crossing.
NARRATOR
The calf is growing stronger by the second but if he
pushes in fast now, the pride may notice the
disturbance and come over. If he waits, the
newborn might stand up and disappear among the
protective legs of the herd.
NARRATOR
It’s a tight rope of risk and reward.
Male buffalo looks and
walks off.
01:14:25:18
Young male lion walks
in and carries off the
baby buffalo.
Adult Male lion
NARRATOR
It was a game well thought out and executed,
virtually under the nose of his new nemesis; his
own father. Buffalo hunting is a skill he might just
develop as his specialty.
Cub on hill looking out
01:14:41:21
NARRATOR
So will this be this young male’s future?
Condemned to a life of loneliness and high risk.
8 Pride from the air.
NARRATOR
Or, will this young cub break away with his siblings
when his time comes?
01:14:50:22
Pride runs.
NARRATOR
Most nomads don’t have to leave in ones or twos
like the buffalo hunter.
Sometimes strong bonds formed by cubs playing,
make the young females leave with their brothers
and cousins as a whole teenager group.
01:14:57:05
Adult male Lion
It happens suddenly, when the regent turns on
them, foaming at the mouth and shooting looks of
threat and dismissal
Adult male Lion
Aerial of pride
NARRATOR
But as they show the first signs of adolescent
rebellion he won’t tolerate them in his territory one
more day.
01:15:14:17
01:15:28:08
NARRATOR
Compared to the solitary young male this
subdivision seems like a far better option for them.
But it’s not always what it seems.
01:15:35:08
Sunset
01:15:44:17
Their lives will be transformed now as they are
driven deeper into the interior, where the water
dries out.
Pride at night
Night, walking lions.
01:15:58:04
Impala run. Off screen
catch.
Lions fighting over
carcass
01:16:11:23
NARRATOR
Lions lose condition fast. Ironically their strength in
numbers is now their weakness. Further from the
water prey is scarce.
NARRATOR
A fully-grown impala antelope lasts under 12
seconds and is devoured so fast that any
latecomer gets nothing at all.
9 Walking thin lion.
NARRATOR
In just one season they lower their standards and
go on the prowl for anything.
01:16:31:10
Elephant carcass.
NARRATOR
Even a five day-old elephant carcass, reeking of
hyena and vulture stench is attractive. Attractive
enough.
01:16:39:20
Male walks in.
01:16:49:17
Maggots
Lion leaps onto
carcass
Lion chases hyena.
NARRATOR
It’s a token defense, a feeble attempt at dominating
the carcass and just a game for the lions.
Lion tries to eat
carcass.
The meat is too far-gone, rotten beyond a stage
that even these wanderers can tolerate.
01:17:21:19
01:17:30:03
NARRATOR
But they can’t afford to be fussy now. Not tonight.
Not this close to the fragile fringe of life where even
the writhing mass of maggots are not off putting to
the young lions.
They are desperate.
Hyenas approach
01:17:56:08
Lion walks away.
Lion collapses
NARRATOR
And when finally they leave, the months of fighting
over scraps and eating putrid remains wherever
they can find them, thins down their numbers one
by one.
Day. Feet.
NARRATOR
Day after day, they weave their way through life,
into ever increasingly dry country.
01:18:19:14
01:18:28:02
Thin lion walking
covered in mud
Fate cast these youngsters out at just the wrong
time of the year for them, into the dry season when
the searing heat drains the last moisture from their
bodies.
Drinking.
10 Thin walker.
NARRATOR
Early rains might yet save them.
01:18:49:11
2 Second Filler
ACT 3
IN: 01:19:01:20
OUT: 01:24:40:08
Duration: 00:05:38:13
01:19:04:11
Thin lion collapses
NARRATOR
Of the original 12 nomads in this group, only 3 will
make it through the first season.
Impala reflected in
water
Hyena walks
01:19:46:23
Hyena feeds
Water lilies.
Pull out.
01:19:56:21
01:20:04:11
NARRATOR
As each lost nomadic male succumbs to this
inevitable process of elimination, his body adds to
the life of someone else.
It is the harshness of this incredible system that
makes it so beautiful.
Water lilies.
Pull out.
NARRATOR
The success of Africa is in its elaborateness; its
balance of life and death, its harmony. For every
dark shadow there is a shaft of light, a prize for
those who want to reach for it.
01:20:20:22
Of all the stages of males’ lives, this nomadic
phase is the one that most determines their fate.
01:20:29:10
Those lost wanderers that make it out of the
wilderness will be hardened and beaten but alive,
the ultimate survivors ready to rule.
Young cub looking
out.
01:20:43:14
NARRATOR
And which will he be? A lost loner or a nomad in
group whose success seemed assured, but
became victims to competition?
11 Young male cub on
rock.
01:20:55:10
Adult Male lion
01:21:09:23
Pride with young
males.
NARRATOR
This system of expulsion seems unfair and even
an instinct that works against their own survival,
against the future of all lions.
NARRATOR
Some prides, like this one that lives along a river,
hundreds of lion territories to the north, in East
Africa, hold their grown cubs in the family a little
longer. Perhaps too long.
Female wanders off.
NARRATOR
A large female is keeping a secret and no one
notices. She has been hunting with the pride at
night and sneaking off during the day.
01:21:24:17
Bush. Cubs. Mother.
NARRATOR
Actually she has three secrets. All ten days old.
Hidden a good distance from the hunting grounds,
in the dense bush of a small river.
01:21:37:05
She tries to pick them
up.
01:21:49:07
Zebras and
wildebeest.
01:22:04:03
Lioness holding cub
01:22:12:20
Cubs in grass
NARRATOR
She has given birth to cubs out of sync with her
sisters. So she has to be more attentive, she can’t
add her cubs to a nursery like they all did, and she
often has to miss out on the hunt.
NARRATOR
At this time of the year, zebras and wildebeest are
heading south and close to where the cubs are
hidden.
NARRATOR
She must conceal them. And she has to do it
alone.
Zebras approach
water.
12 NARRATOR
The rivers are always choke points, often causing
anxiety for animals that are dependent upon solid
footing to make an immediate escape.
01:22:31:14
Zebras come in
tensely.
01:22:53:07
Zebras move down
muddy bank
NARRATOR
Predators know these vulnerabilities and often
listen for the splashes of water and frantic calls of
their prey, as family members get separated and
they lose focus on their surroundings.
Lioness.
NARRATOR
This is a threat…and an opportunity. Zebras have
sharp hooves and the herds bunch together in the
thick bush and at these crossings. Cubs would
stand no chance at all if they were found.
01:23:15:04
Zebras, wildebeest
herds. Crossing.
Lioness.
NARRATOR
But she missed out on last night’s kill and so she
takes a calculated risk as the herd moves away
from the den site. She leaves the cubs and follows
it into the dusk.
01:23:57:12
Sunset, dust.
Wide Sunset
01:24:24:01
Zebra drinking
NARRATOR
The further into the night they move, the better it is
for the solitary nocturnal hunter, disguised in the
grass, hidden by the noise and the darkness.
2 Second Filler
ACT 4
IN:01:24:42:09
OUT: 01:31:14:06
Duration: 00:06:31:22
13 Zebra drinking
NARRATOR
The zebras are alert but at a disadvantage.
Zebra/lion attack and
fight.
NARRATOR
The lioness springs her trap.
01:24:57:06
01:25:04:07
Aerial lioness & zebra
herd
NARRATOR
Her near success drives her to follow on and hunt
into the herd even further and further over the
plains, chasing the zebra, testing their strengths.
The taste of blood in her mouth keeps her going,
not just for herself, but so she can produce milk for
her three cubs.
01:25:31:22
Aerial Zebras
NARRATOR
But the hunt takes her a long way away from their
den.
01:25:53:14
Aerial female slows
down.
Aerial female
01:26:00:14
NARRATOR
It’s not uncommon for single mothers to be away
for hours, even days.
Water, reflection.
01:26:08:12
Young male moves
through water
01:26:19:20
NARRATOR
Another solitary nomad is also following the herds.
He risks a lot more than just being seen by males.
This tactic of living on the fringes of the mosaic of
lion territories, weaving a delicate path so as to not
attract attention, is working quite well for him.
Pride look up.
NARRATOR
Until now.
01:26:32:20
Pride stalk in closer.
01:26:39:12
NARRATOR
By following the zebras and not paying enough
14 attention, this young male has walked into
trouble… the large female’s pride from the river.
The adolescents are out just spoiling for a fight.
Pride attacks him.
He walks off.
Pride watches him go.
01:27:24:03
Young male limps
away
01:27:35:15
Pride watches
Young male
Young males
01:27:46:23
They see something
ahead.
01:28:02:05
NARRATOR
Every lion is a dangerous well-armed animal.
Sometimes it is more effective just to injure your
opponent quickly and let him go.
A single nomad’s vulnerability is that a gashed
thigh will lead to infection, forever putting him out
of the game
NARRATOR
The young males have numbers in their favor and
for some reason, a free pass to stay a little longer
in the pride.
NARRATOR
Adolescent males are always up to something. The
River pride has seven of them. They spot
something in the grass.
Pride run in.
NARRATOR
And they want it.
01:28:13:06
One grabs it and runs
off.
01:28:21:21
01:28:26:12
Young male carrying
cub
Male almost falls on
cub.
NARRATOR
A ten day-old cub.
NARRATOR
The cub has strayed from the riverbank while its
mother was out hunting zebra. This fragile being,
new to the world has never before seen a fullygrown lion other than his benevolent mother. This
rough and tumble must be totally confusing.
15 Fight.
NARRATOR
Suddenly, something even stranger happens.
01:28:58:06
One young male, not even the biggest, lashes out
at anyone who comes close.
Runs up to cub.
NARRATOR
And takes possession of the disorientated cub.
01:29:08:16
Nuzzles the cub.
NARRATOR
Even though he is years older he approaches the
cub with a soft mouth reminiscent of cubs at play,
but with a force that is barely restrained.
01:29:16:18
Another male walks to
fallen acacia.
A second cub
NARRATOR
A second cub is on the move, heading for the
thicket.
01:29:39:17
01:29:44:15
01:29:50:09
Male stands on
acacia, it traps the
cub.
More males approach
Cubs tries to escape
01:30:04:21
NARRATOR
But she’s going nowhere.
NARRATOR
Everyone is now interested in these tiny lions.
Some instinct tells her she needs to escape, now.
Female across the
plains.
01:30:12:16
NARRATOR
The mother is on her way home, blissfully
unaware.
Group around cub.
01:30:26:15
NARRATOR
The danger now is that the cubs will be crushed by
enthusiastic possessiveness. They have a small
window of safety. Gentle investigations may risk
tiring them out but while the novelty holds they
might still remain safe, until their mother returns.
16 01:30:59:02
Lions play roughly
with cub
NARRATOR
With this much tension. Something is going to
break. Someone will get hurt.
Female walks
casually.
2 Second Filler
ACT 5
IN: 01:31:16:07
OUT:01:36:41:18
Act 5 Duration: 00:05:25:12
01:31:17:16 01:31:27:00
01:31:43:22
NARRATOR
Instead of getting bored with their playthings the
older cousins get even more worked up.
NARRATOR
The caretaker male fights off anyone who touches
his cub, and crushes the little body under him.
Lions around cub
Fighting
Cub growls at lions
It holds them at bay for now.
01:31:54:17
01:32:01:06
Cub tries to get away
Fight, Cub gets
snatched.
01:32:42:12
Fighting
Cub tries to climb
away again.
01:32:58:21
NARRATOR
At this stage, the tiny male cub has only one
weapon: attitude.
But every desperate attempt at escape is foiled
and slowly both cubs start taking a beating that will
sap their strength.
NARRATOR
Over the next five hours two of the three cubs are
played with, bitten and fought over and while the
one possessive male keeps trying to rescue one
cub for himself, it is getting rougher each time.
NARRATOR
So far though, possibly because of a thick winter
coat of fur, the sharp teeth and claws of the
adolescents haven’t caused any serious damage
to the cubs.
17 Mother running.
NARRATOR
She’s still a long way off.
01:33:09:11
Young male with cub
01:33:12:10
Cub struggles to get
away.
01:33:23:11
Male looks through
undergrowth.
01:33:38:10
NARRATOR
This constant violence will break the back of their
spirit and sap their will to continue. The cousins will
have committed infanticide.
NARRATOR
But then fate selects once again. In their
determination to escape, the cubs overshoot their
original hiding place…straight into the river
NARRATOR
It’s a fortress of thorns and the steep bank
prevents the males from getting to the cubs, but
down below, the weakest just manages to hang on
without slipping down into the cold water.
Male comes down.
NARRATOR
He is determined to get to the cubs.
01:34:00:11
Finds cubs.
NARRATOR
Life hangs by a thread, in this case; a single root or
vine that could snap at any moment.
01:34:09:02
Cub clings to the vine
01:34:18:23
Lions fighting
01:34:27:16
Lion with cub in its
mouth
NARRATOR
Just before stepping on the foliage and breaking
that silken vine, the young male hears a
commotion.
NARRATOR
The rest of the lions have discovered the third cub.
Male climbs the bank.
01:34:32:12
NARRATOR
Whether it’s curiosity or possessiveness, he‘s
18 Young males fighting
over cub
desperate to get to the third cub and either claim it
as his prize or stop the others from claiming it as
theirs.
Storm.
NARRATOR
In the afternoon, the play turns more serious,
darker.
01:34:46:01
Young males fighting
over cub
Male runs off with cub
01:35:02:09
Dead cub in grass
NARRATOR
It’s had enough. Too many heavy bodies pulled at
it from every direction and fought over it for too
long.
01:35:13:22
And for this young male the game is at an end.
01:35:27:15
Pride in rain
Rain water, swells
river.
Cub trying to climb up
bank
NARRATOR
The rain further upstream turns the river cold. It
starts to rise, flooding steadily towards the
thicket...where the two survivors lie entangled in
the undergrowth already half submerged.
Wider of cubs.
NARRATOR
Fear of the rising water forces one cub to drag
himself up again away from one danger but
towards another.
01:36:10:14
Second cub clings to
bank
01:36:24:19
NARRATOR
The second cub barely has the strength to move.
He clings desperately to twigs and vines, but as he
struggles more of the soil that anchors his precious
lifeline is washed away beneath him.
2 Second Filler
ACT 6
IN: 01:36:43:19
OUT:01:44:09:23
Act 6 Duration: 00:07:26:05
Cub clings to
riverbank
01:37:05:05
NARRATOR
The day has taken its toll. She has no energy left.
19 Cub clings to
riverbank
01:37:12:14
NARRATOR
But then suddenly she finds the strength from
somewhere...
Mother with cub in her
mouth
Mother has cub.
01:37:18:18
01:37:36:23
Mother with cub
Young males
01:37:58:04
Mother carrying cub
Mother. Pull out.
Young males eating
cub
Young males eating
cub
01:38:20:15
Cub alone
She dips her head
down bank with cub in
mouth.
NARRATOR
She has saved one cub. Her next instinct is to
move it away from the water and hide it from the
adolescents.
NARRATOR
An impossible choice; stay with one and protect it,
or leave it, vulnerable, and search for her second
cub.
NARRATOR
Especially while those males cannibalize one of
her cubs right in front of her.
01:38:14:00
01:38:42:10
NARRATOR
Her mother is back. She must quickly move the
one cub that she has found to higher ground…
NARRATOR
What conditions make some of these cubs survive
and not all of them? All share the same genes, the
same experiences.
So is it all chance? Perhaps, in this case… it’s
simply the fact that the mother won’t give up on a
single one of them while there is still hope.
NARRATOR
This time, she’s rescued two of her cubs and
managed the impossible.
20 Older cubs eat her
third one.
01:38:53:21
Female comes back
baring teeth.
01:39:06:15
NARRATOR
But this is exactly why young males are thrown out
of the pride at a certain age: they start to
cannibalize the very core of the family itself: its
future.
NARRATOR
When she returns she knows what has happened
to the third cub, a male, her legacy to this game of
lions. She can smell how his story ended.
01:39:19:21
Young male eating
cub
Female baring teeth at
young male
NARRATOR
Pride
It’ll take a few weeks from this moment but
ultimately the cousins will be cast out to wander
into the back-country to starve or to sneak into the
Female bares teeth
forgotten corners of their father’s territory.
01:39:45:05
01:40:09:07
Lioness looking at
pride
But as she approaches growling her anger, her
loss, her displeasure, she sends a more defining
message; that the seven adolescents’ time as
family members is over.
NARRATOR
Only one of these seven males will make it to
adulthood.
Buffalo sunrise.
01:40:31:13
01:41:02:01
Male Lion emerges
from the water.
Male lion moving
through water.
NARRATOR
And one day from the deep swamplands and
rivers, the Buffalo Hunter emerges like the phoenix
risen, fortified by his hardships, proven stronger
than the others of his generation. He may not be
totally confident or dignified as he navigates the
tricky reed beds, but he is ready for his final round.
NARRATOR
He is enticed to an island. It has buffalo and strong
residents, a pride and a male. And he’s here for
both. He will want to take them all by surprise.
21 Buffalo running.
NARRATOR
And there is no better time for surprise than when
everyone is busy hunting.
01:41:17:09
Chase. Kill.
01:41:38:09
NARRATOR
He bides his time. And attacks.
Young male runs in.
NARRATOR (CONT’D)
It is the culmination of his lessons, a direct
confident attack, no compassion for his victim.
01:41:47:23
01:42:00:23
Draw first blood and draw it fast. Hit hard and step
back. His first order of business is to slay or fight
any lion he sees, male or female.
01:42:13:23
It defines his intention. It states his dominance. He
is here to win.
Slow-mo fight.
NARRATOR
This is the game of kings, the game of lions, the
game that has made them icons of Africa,
fearsome symbols of nobility and power for millions
of years. It is what we humans have revered and
modeled ourselves on since ancient times.
01:42:22:21
01:42:50:13
01:43:03:21
01:43:23:11
Male lion
Human hunter
Hunter shoots male
lion
NARRATOR
And finally with the dominance declared and won.
The throne claimed, females gathered around him,
the game has one final hurdle.
NARRATOR
This one does not select the weakest; those
destined not to make it, but carefully selects the
strongest, the biggest, the best.
NARRATOR
Of the 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 3,000
are males that make it this far. Each year 600 of
those battle weary warriors, survivors of this
22 arduous game of kings, are shot for sport and
recreation.
01:43:41:11
Trafalgar lion in
bronze.
Pull into eyes
01:43:46:00
.
01:43:55:00
CREDITS
‘HELP NOW’
01:43:55:13
‘Text LIONS to 50555
to give $10’
NARRATOR
Today, we have more statues of lions than we
have real lions.
Unless we change our values very soon we’ll have
only these cold, empty eyes to remind us how
much we have lost.
[Cross fade]
01:44:02:15
‘CauseAnUproar.org’
01:44:09:23
[Program End]
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