BIG CATS 24/7: Season 1

By Jennifer Robinson / Web Producer

Published September 16, 2024 at 2:47 PM PDT

Young male leopard Metsi crosses the flood as he searches for prey.

Premieres Wednesdays Sept. 18 - Oct. 16, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app

BIG CATS 24/7, a new-six part series, will transport you to Botswana’s wild Okavango Delta where a team of local and international filmmakers use the latest filming technology to follow lions, leopards and cheetahs day and night, revealing the lives of big cats like never before.

In Botswana’s wild Okavango Delta, the BIG CATS 24/7 team of local and international filmmakers follows lions, leopards and cheetahs day and night. Using the latest filming technology they reveal the cats’ lives like never before.

Filmed in one of the most dynamic locations on the African continent, BIG CATS 24/7 captures the big cats’ battle to survive through dramatic changes within their families and their home. An elite camera team including wildlife cinematographers Gordon Buchanan, Vianet Djenguet and Anna Dimitriadis, led by Brad Bestelink and his local camera team, documents the dramatic lives of individual lions, cheetahs and leopards for six months, over two extreme seasons.

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Botswanan wildlife cinematographer Gaokgonwe Seetsele Nthomiwa begins a day in his specialist filming truck.

This raw and unfiltered observational wildlife series shows their fight to survive in an increasingly challenging world. From unprecedented wildfire to floods and extreme drought, the African cats and the BIG CATS 24/7 camera crew are tested to their limits.

Wildlife cinematographer Gordon Buchanan films one of the dominant male lions, Madumo, as he surveys his territory.

With extraordinary, unparalleled access, filming from the ground, the air and through the night in an area unvisited by tourists, the BIG CATS 24/7 team works together to follow the cats’ lives around the clock while forming unique bonds along the way. A revolution in low light camera technology enables the filmmaking team to capture previously unseen behavior at night, while cutting-edge drones are able to track the big cats’ movements like never before, as they battle for supremacy in a brutal and unforgiving environment.

Dominant male lions, Big Toe and Madumo, have been head of the Xudum Pride for half a decade.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1 Premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The BIG CATS 24/7 team begins a six-month expedition following lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Okavango Delta, but a huge wildfire threatens the resident big cats and the team.

The situation becomes critical as wildfires to the north change direction, driving them straight toward the team's camp. It's the biggest fire on the Okavango Delta in five years, and it puts the operation and big cats at risk.

Episode 2 Premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV - The team continues following the Okavango Delta’s big cats after a huge wildfire. The dominant male lions fight intruders, while leopard and cheetah struggle to get a meal.

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Survival isn't easy for lion cubs, and 80% won't make it to their second birthday. For the Xudum Pride, the survival of the entire family comes down to its experienced mothers and dominant adult males, Big Toe and Madumo. But wildfires have put the pride in jeopardy, and the pressure is on Big Toe and Madumo to protect their territory and young cubs.

Episode 3 Premieres Wednesday, September 25 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - A fight with intruders leaves the lion pride males injured and the mothers with cubs vulnerable to attack. Xudum the female leopard takes risks to find a mate.

Two intruding male lions on patrol slowly enter Xudum Pride territory. With no sign of the pride’s dominant males, Big Toe and Madumo, a lone female and two juvenile males must defend it alone. But, at only half the weight of an adult male, it’s a dangerous risk for the young lions to take.

Episode 4 Premieres Wednesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The Okavango Delta is transformed by the arrival of the flood, bringing new challenges for the big cats. The lion cubs experience water and the danger it brings for the first time.

A male leopard moves onto the floodplain, heading straight toward Xudum. This poses a great risk to the female leopard, who is close to giving birth to cubs. But Metsi isn’t on Xudum’s trail. Instead, he’s picked up the scent of a young lechwe lamb – and his hunting style takes everyone by surprise.

Episode 5 Premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The BIG CATS 24/7 team witnesses a baby boom in the Delta. Lioness Matho must protect her cubs along while the leopard Xudum reveals her newborns with danger looming nearby.

Matho’s lost lion cub has been alone for 14 hours. As night approaches with no sign of his mother, he starts to wander off into the tall, dense grass. At this age, a young cub has little chance of survival on its own, and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan fears the worst.

Episode 6 Premieres Wednesday, October 16 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - Lion numbers continue to grow, but there’s not enough food to go around. A lioness risks her life to feed her five cubs and Xudum’s newborn leopard cubs face a deadly threat.

Shortly after Xudum returns to her young cub, she detects another leopard at the den site. It’s Musweo, nearly double her size and believed to be the dominant male in the area. She confronts him head-on to protect her baby, but in the harrowing encounter, Musweo manages to grab the cub and carries it off into the night.

Watch On Your Schedule: BIG CATS 24/7 will be available to stream on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.

Food is running low for Tsebe, and she’s always on the lookout for a meal. As a nursing mother, producing enough milk for her large litter of five cubs leaves her constantly hungry. When the female lion hears a lechwe struggling in the water nearby, her hunger leads to a desperate and dangerous battle against a crocodile to steal its prey.

Credits: A BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for PBS and BBC, with BBC Studios handling global distribution. Executive Producers: Roger Webb and Tom Jarvis, the series producer is Rowan Crawford and the production manager is Gillian Goodlet. Narrated by Adetomiwa Edun. Bill Gardner is Editorial Consultant for PBS. Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS. It was commissioned for the BBC by Jack Bootle, BBC Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Sreya Biswas, Head of Commissioning, Natural History.

BIG CATS 24/7: Season 1

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