Earth at Night in Color (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Lion Grasslands - full transcript
After dark on Kenya's Maasai Mara grasslands, a lioness won't rest until she finds the young cubs she's lost.
[Tom Hiddleston] The night.
A shadowy world that hides
more than half the animals on our planet.
Until now, cameras only offered
a glimpse into their lives.
But with next-generation technology,
we can see the night as clear as day.
With cameras a hundred times
more sensitive than the human eye...
we can now capture the beauty of night...
in color.
Alien landscapes.
Strange creatures
brought to life by the darkness.
Unseen behaviors.
Now we can follow the lives of animals
in Earth's last true wilderness.
The night.
Another day draws to a close
across Kenya's Maasai Mara.
A last refuge for Africa's lions.
The grasslands here are home
to three generations of a small family.
Six adolescents.
A pride male.
And one devoted mother.
The lioness.
She has three new cubs.
At ten weeks old,
her youngsters are too small
to defend themselves...
but big enough to get into trouble.
The coming weeks will test this mother
more than ever.
Only around one in three cubs
make it through their first year.
By day, the lioness must rest.
Because as the sun sets...
her work begins.
Lions are largely nocturnal...
living out 80% of their lives after dark.
We've never been able to tell
the full story
of a lioness and her family at night.
But for the first time,
low-light cameras
can see their moonlit world...
in color.
This astonishing new way
of seeing the night
offers a whole new understanding
of lion family life.
At the start of the night,
one important member of the family
is absent.
The pride male is out on patrol.
His job is to protect
his 40-square-kilometer territory
from rival lions.
[lion roaring]
His roar is a warning call
that travels further at night
when the air is cool.
[roaring continues]
Bellowing at over a hundred decibels...
[roaring continues]
...he can be heard eight kilometers away.
It's clearly exhausting work.
[roaring]
But he gives it everything he's got...
to keep his family safe in the darkness.
[roaring continues]
Protected by the male,
the lioness's first job of the night
is to feed her cubs.
At ten weeks old,
cubs are entirely dependent on milk
from their mother
and can each drink up to a liter a night.
Once she's fed them...
she lets them play with their older
brothers and sisters in the moonlight.
Lions aren't just more active at night.
They're also more social.
The cubs might be small, but they're
already learning to play fight.
But if things get too boisterous...
[lioness roaring]
...the lioness steps in.
Playtime...
is over.
As the most experienced female,
the lioness must feed the whole pride.
But she can't hunt with her cubs in tow.
To the human eye...
it's almost pitch black.
But our cameras show...
that to hunt for her family,
her only option is to abandon her cubs.
With her little ones unguarded...
the lioness knows she must work fast.
[wildebeest bleating]
Lions are known for hunting as a pride.
But tonight...
the lioness doesn't rely on teamwork.
[bleating continues]
With night vision
six times more sensitive than ours,
she picks out a herd of wildebeest.
Approaching from downwind,
she must get within 30 meters of her prey.
She makes the kill all on her own.
An adult wildebeest will provide food
for her whole family
for up to two nights.
But the lioness can't rest for long.
She must get back to her cubs.
Lions aren't the only animals
to hunt these grasslands by moonlight.
[owl hoots]
An African eagle owl.
With eyes adapted for the darkness...
and fringed wings that reduce noise...
he swoops silently down
on rodents and reptiles.
But under a full moon
his usual prey will see him coming.
So instead he targets smaller victims
hiding in the grass.
To catch them,
the eagle owl must get off his perch
and chase them down on foot.
A wolf spider makes a tasty supplement
to his normal diet.
But to get the same calories
he'd find in a mouse...
he'll have to catch up to 30 spiders.
With more than 60 different species
on his nightly menu,
the eagle owl isn't exactly a fussy eater.
Back with the pride...
the family is still feasting.
[hyenas whooping]
But the lioness can hear danger.
[whooping continues]
Hyenas.
These nocturnal scavengers
steal around 20% of lion kills.
The pride male has heard the commotion.
- [lion roars]
- [hyena shrieks]
- [roar]
- [shrieking]
A single adult male is powerful enough
to drive off an entire mob.
Now he wants his share of the kill.
And not even the lioness...
can stand in his way.
Bullied off her own kill...
and with hyenas at large,
the lioness must now find her three cubs.
[lioness calling]
A low-pitched grunting call is how
lion mothers summon their youngsters.
[calling continues]
[cub mewls]
One of the cubs is safe.
But the other two are missing.
It's not uncommon for cubs to go astray
for a few hours at night.
But they usually respond to their mother's
contact calls if they're close by.
[lioness calling]
[cub calling]
Her young cub's meows
are a sign of distress.
In the darkness, she scans the night
for any trace of her cubs.
[lioness calling continues]
She will not give up until she finds them.
Three days later...
[lioness calling]
...and despite calling day and night
across her territory...
the lioness still hasn't found
her missing cubs.
Without milk, cubs will struggle
to survive beyond four days.
The odds are now stacked against them.
A fourth night draws in.
Her search continues...
with her little one in tow.
And she's right to persevere.
Her missing cubs are alive.
But they're not alone.
Hyenas are close by.
And they're not the only threat.
If buffalo stumble
into the cubs' hiding place,
they will trample them.
The lioness can sense the dangers.
[cubs calling]
Finally, after four nights...
she hears a call she recognizes.
[calling continues]
- Moving closer, she picks up a scent.
- [lioness, cub calling]
[cub continues calling]
Safe...
at last.
Her family is reunited.
Lions are the most social
of all the big cats.
But because they're largely nocturnal
until now we've only had a glimpse
of their complex family lives.
By following this pride
night after night...
we can finally see
the lengths a lioness will go to...
to keep her family fed,
together and alive.
Following a small pride of lions
in the darkness
across Kenya's Maasai Mara...
[man grunts] Is that yours?
...the Earth at Night team saw
how the whole family
relied on the lioness to survive.
[man] She's a great mom.
It's amazing how well she's worked
to protect these cubs.
She's incredibly vigilant.
You watch her when she's with her cubs.
She's always looking around for potential
signs of danger, approaching hyenas...
[Tom Hiddleston]
The lioness was a devoted mother.
But with so many mouths to feed,
it was clear she was also overstretched.
So when two of her young cubs
went missing during filming...
[lioness calling]
...the team feared the worst.
[Samuels] Buffalo, lions and hyenas are
the three biggest threats to lion cubs.
And two of them
hit them yesterday afternoon.
I mean, it's heartrending. It really is.
[Tom Hiddleston] Each life is precious
in this last refuge for lions.
[indistinct radio chatter]
Guides and spotters
worked around the clock.
And the team's low-light camera technology
aided the search.
By the fourth night
they were giving up hope.
I can hear hyenas.
Oh, there's something happening
just near your side.
Okay. Hold it. Hold it.
We were absolutely convinced
that they weren't alive.
That they'd been killed.
Hey, hey, look at this!
Here the two cubs are there.
Using these cameras, for me,
has been a real revelation.
It's allowing us to see stuff
that we would never normally see.
Turns us humans into nocturnal animals.
This is just incredible.
We've now found the mother
with all three cubs together.
[Tom Hiddleston] There are only
around 20,000 lions left in the world.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is
a last refuge for these majestic animals.
[Samuels]
Lions represent the spirit of Africa.
- [lion roaring]
- You take that spirit away
and Africa's just lost something
truly very special.
[Tom Hiddleston]
At this crucial time...
when we're only beginning to understand
the complex nocturnal lives of lions,
it's more important than ever to protect
Africa's most magnificent big cat.
A shadowy world that hides
more than half the animals on our planet.
Until now, cameras only offered
a glimpse into their lives.
But with next-generation technology,
we can see the night as clear as day.
With cameras a hundred times
more sensitive than the human eye...
we can now capture the beauty of night...
in color.
Alien landscapes.
Strange creatures
brought to life by the darkness.
Unseen behaviors.
Now we can follow the lives of animals
in Earth's last true wilderness.
The night.
Another day draws to a close
across Kenya's Maasai Mara.
A last refuge for Africa's lions.
The grasslands here are home
to three generations of a small family.
Six adolescents.
A pride male.
And one devoted mother.
The lioness.
She has three new cubs.
At ten weeks old,
her youngsters are too small
to defend themselves...
but big enough to get into trouble.
The coming weeks will test this mother
more than ever.
Only around one in three cubs
make it through their first year.
By day, the lioness must rest.
Because as the sun sets...
her work begins.
Lions are largely nocturnal...
living out 80% of their lives after dark.
We've never been able to tell
the full story
of a lioness and her family at night.
But for the first time,
low-light cameras
can see their moonlit world...
in color.
This astonishing new way
of seeing the night
offers a whole new understanding
of lion family life.
At the start of the night,
one important member of the family
is absent.
The pride male is out on patrol.
His job is to protect
his 40-square-kilometer territory
from rival lions.
[lion roaring]
His roar is a warning call
that travels further at night
when the air is cool.
[roaring continues]
Bellowing at over a hundred decibels...
[roaring continues]
...he can be heard eight kilometers away.
It's clearly exhausting work.
[roaring]
But he gives it everything he's got...
to keep his family safe in the darkness.
[roaring continues]
Protected by the male,
the lioness's first job of the night
is to feed her cubs.
At ten weeks old,
cubs are entirely dependent on milk
from their mother
and can each drink up to a liter a night.
Once she's fed them...
she lets them play with their older
brothers and sisters in the moonlight.
Lions aren't just more active at night.
They're also more social.
The cubs might be small, but they're
already learning to play fight.
But if things get too boisterous...
[lioness roaring]
...the lioness steps in.
Playtime...
is over.
As the most experienced female,
the lioness must feed the whole pride.
But she can't hunt with her cubs in tow.
To the human eye...
it's almost pitch black.
But our cameras show...
that to hunt for her family,
her only option is to abandon her cubs.
With her little ones unguarded...
the lioness knows she must work fast.
[wildebeest bleating]
Lions are known for hunting as a pride.
But tonight...
the lioness doesn't rely on teamwork.
[bleating continues]
With night vision
six times more sensitive than ours,
she picks out a herd of wildebeest.
Approaching from downwind,
she must get within 30 meters of her prey.
She makes the kill all on her own.
An adult wildebeest will provide food
for her whole family
for up to two nights.
But the lioness can't rest for long.
She must get back to her cubs.
Lions aren't the only animals
to hunt these grasslands by moonlight.
[owl hoots]
An African eagle owl.
With eyes adapted for the darkness...
and fringed wings that reduce noise...
he swoops silently down
on rodents and reptiles.
But under a full moon
his usual prey will see him coming.
So instead he targets smaller victims
hiding in the grass.
To catch them,
the eagle owl must get off his perch
and chase them down on foot.
A wolf spider makes a tasty supplement
to his normal diet.
But to get the same calories
he'd find in a mouse...
he'll have to catch up to 30 spiders.
With more than 60 different species
on his nightly menu,
the eagle owl isn't exactly a fussy eater.
Back with the pride...
the family is still feasting.
[hyenas whooping]
But the lioness can hear danger.
[whooping continues]
Hyenas.
These nocturnal scavengers
steal around 20% of lion kills.
The pride male has heard the commotion.
- [lion roars]
- [hyena shrieks]
- [roar]
- [shrieking]
A single adult male is powerful enough
to drive off an entire mob.
Now he wants his share of the kill.
And not even the lioness...
can stand in his way.
Bullied off her own kill...
and with hyenas at large,
the lioness must now find her three cubs.
[lioness calling]
A low-pitched grunting call is how
lion mothers summon their youngsters.
[calling continues]
[cub mewls]
One of the cubs is safe.
But the other two are missing.
It's not uncommon for cubs to go astray
for a few hours at night.
But they usually respond to their mother's
contact calls if they're close by.
[lioness calling]
[cub calling]
Her young cub's meows
are a sign of distress.
In the darkness, she scans the night
for any trace of her cubs.
[lioness calling continues]
She will not give up until she finds them.
Three days later...
[lioness calling]
...and despite calling day and night
across her territory...
the lioness still hasn't found
her missing cubs.
Without milk, cubs will struggle
to survive beyond four days.
The odds are now stacked against them.
A fourth night draws in.
Her search continues...
with her little one in tow.
And she's right to persevere.
Her missing cubs are alive.
But they're not alone.
Hyenas are close by.
And they're not the only threat.
If buffalo stumble
into the cubs' hiding place,
they will trample them.
The lioness can sense the dangers.
[cubs calling]
Finally, after four nights...
she hears a call she recognizes.
[calling continues]
- Moving closer, she picks up a scent.
- [lioness, cub calling]
[cub continues calling]
Safe...
at last.
Her family is reunited.
Lions are the most social
of all the big cats.
But because they're largely nocturnal
until now we've only had a glimpse
of their complex family lives.
By following this pride
night after night...
we can finally see
the lengths a lioness will go to...
to keep her family fed,
together and alive.
Following a small pride of lions
in the darkness
across Kenya's Maasai Mara...
[man grunts] Is that yours?
...the Earth at Night team saw
how the whole family
relied on the lioness to survive.
[man] She's a great mom.
It's amazing how well she's worked
to protect these cubs.
She's incredibly vigilant.
You watch her when she's with her cubs.
She's always looking around for potential
signs of danger, approaching hyenas...
[Tom Hiddleston]
The lioness was a devoted mother.
But with so many mouths to feed,
it was clear she was also overstretched.
So when two of her young cubs
went missing during filming...
[lioness calling]
...the team feared the worst.
[Samuels] Buffalo, lions and hyenas are
the three biggest threats to lion cubs.
And two of them
hit them yesterday afternoon.
I mean, it's heartrending. It really is.
[Tom Hiddleston] Each life is precious
in this last refuge for lions.
[indistinct radio chatter]
Guides and spotters
worked around the clock.
And the team's low-light camera technology
aided the search.
By the fourth night
they were giving up hope.
I can hear hyenas.
Oh, there's something happening
just near your side.
Okay. Hold it. Hold it.
We were absolutely convinced
that they weren't alive.
That they'd been killed.
Hey, hey, look at this!
Here the two cubs are there.
Using these cameras, for me,
has been a real revelation.
It's allowing us to see stuff
that we would never normally see.
Turns us humans into nocturnal animals.
This is just incredible.
We've now found the mother
with all three cubs together.
[Tom Hiddleston] There are only
around 20,000 lions left in the world.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is
a last refuge for these majestic animals.
[Samuels]
Lions represent the spirit of Africa.
- [lion roaring]
- You take that spirit away
and Africa's just lost something
truly very special.
[Tom Hiddleston]
At this crucial time...
when we're only beginning to understand
the complex nocturnal lives of lions,
it's more important than ever to protect
Africa's most magnificent big cat.