BIG CATS 24/7: Season 2

By Jennifer Robinson / Web Producer

Published August 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM PDT

Young male lions must leave their birth pride to start a family of their own.

Premieres Wednesdays, Sept. 10 - 28, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app + Encores Thursdays, Sept. 11 - 25 at 7 p.m. on KPBS 2 + Sundays, Sept. 14 - Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2

Stream Season 1 now with KPBS Passport!

An elite team of wildlife filmmakers returns to Botswana’s Okavango Delta to follow the dramatic lives of its lions, leopards and cheetahs. Following the cats day and night, the team reveals brand-new insights into their lives.

Following the success of Season 1, PBS’s BIG CATS 24/7 returns for a second season! Over six new episodes, an elite team of wildlife filmmakers returns to Botswana’s breathtaking Okavango Delta to follow the dramatic lives of its lions, leopards and cheetahs, day and night, in one of Africa’s last wildernesses.

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Brad has found Lediba the leopard, and she’s not happy — a lone male lion has stolen her meal. Having not eaten for several days and her cub now reliant on meat, she’s not leaving. As night falls and Greg joins Brad, Lediba chooses to undertake a highly risky move; using the cover of darkness she sneaks past the resting lion and steels her meal back while his back is turned.

Season 2 sees the return of a familiar cast of human and big cat characters. The expert team of cinematographers – Gordon Buchanan, Anna Dimitriadis, Brad Bestelink, Sets Nthomiwa, Rea Schulte to Brinke, Greg Hartman and Tristen Woodward – live and work together from the Natural History Film Unit, Botswana’s remote film camp in the heart of big cat territory.

Wildlife cinematographer Gordon Buchanan is in his element as he follows the Xudum lion pride.

Together, they follow the twists and turns in the lives of the key big cats introduced in the first season.

Pobe’s cubs are no longer reliant on her milk; now weened, they need meat to sustain them. Rea and Anna follow in behind and as the cubs play, Pobe takes an opportunity to hunt. Zebra and antelope scatter as she charges out of cover to successfully bring down a meal for the three of them.

Across five vital months cats – and humans – battle punishing seasonal change, from flood to extreme drought. Over brutal terrain in searing temperatures, the team keeps its cameras rolling 24/7 to capture unparalleled, unseen animal behavior.

Wildlife cinematographer Greg Hartman prepares to film the lions into the night.

State-of-the-art thermal cameras, and the latest in drone technology, mean the team can film the cats from the ground, the air and through the night, transporting audiences into the heart of an area almost entirely free from human influence.

Greg is with some of the young Xudum pride lionesses, including new lion mum Serami and her two tiny cubs. Their rest is broken by elephants — who do not like to share any space with lions. The lionesses are no match for the elephants, which leaves the cubs exposed and in danger.

Alongside some of the continent’s most trusted experts and accomplished cinematographers, BIG CATS 24/7 immerses viewers into the endeavor of the filming process, and most importantly, into the extraordinary lives of the Okavango Delta’s big cats.

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For cheetah cubs Kea and Bo, playtime allows to them practise their future hunting skills.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1: “The Rogue Boys” Premieres Sept. 10, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

Brad has located the Xudum pride mums and cubs on the move. Led by their noses, hungry mothers Magogo, Nosi and Mmakgosi locate an unexpected opportunity — a leopard with its meal high in a tree. Taking advantage of their uncommon tree climbing ability, the lionesses give the leopard no choice but to abandon its kill. Mmakgosi, first up the tree, is not forthcoming with sharing the prize.

The team returns to Okavango Delta to catch up with old friends. Lionesses hunt nonstop to feed growing cubs. Leopardess Xudum moves on, and the new mom, Lediba, steps into the spotlight. Pobe, the cheetah, returns with two cubs of her own.

There are now more than forty members of the Xudum Pride, making it the largest in the world.

Episode 2: “Under Siege” Premieres Sept. 10, 2025 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

Anna is staying with cheetah mum Pobe and her two cubs through the night. While settling into feed on a fresh meal, an unwelcome visitor arrives — a large and potentially dangerous male leopard. Pobe’s mothering instincts take over, and she takes a risk to draw the male leopard away from her cubs.

With the dominant males gone, trouble looms as intruder lions close in on the Xudum pride’s young cubs. Leopard Lediba searches for her missing cub after a tense encounter, while Pobe the cheetah must defend her family’s food from bigger cats.

Cheetah mum Pobe uses a termite mound to scan for prey.

Episode 3: “A Pride Divided” Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

Intruding male coalition “The Rogue Boys” catch up with Xudum pride mums Matho, Naledi and Tsebe, and their nine cubs. But the males get more than they bargain for as the mothers meet them head-on.

Under attack from a growing number of intruder male lions, the mums with young cubs must find the rest of the pride. Leopard mum Lediba risks it all for a meal, and the cheetah cubs face danger during a vital lesson in survival.

Lediba's young leopard cub uses the trees to stay safe from danger while her mum is away hunting.

Episode 4: “Reunion” Premieres Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

Sets is called in to follow Pobe and her cubs and witnesses the cheetah bring down an impala in spectacular fashion. But she lets the impala go. It’s a test for her cubs — she is allowing them to put into practice what they have witnessed their mother do on many occasions.

Reunited, the Xudum Pride lionesses struggle to feed their young—one cub is starving. As male leopards are pushed closer together by rising floodwaters, leopard mum Lediba and cheetah mum Pobe each fight to keep their cubs alive.

Pobe the cheetah's cubs must stick close to her in an area crawling with dangerous lions.

Episode 5: “New Beginnings” Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

Leopard mother Lediba is out hunting after stashing her cub. As Brad follows her, Lediba appears to be using noise created by elephants to stalk something. It becomes clear that she’s after vervet monkeys. Scaling a tall cluster of trees, Lediba shows her incredible agility as she leaps from branch to branch.

The core of the Xudum Pride has fled south, but a group of its young females surprises the team in the north. Meanwhile, tragedy strikes the cheetah mother, Pobe, and Lediba, the leopard, struggles to provide for her ever-growing cub.

Leopard mum Lediba leads her cubs to a new nursery every few days to keep them safe.

Episode 6: “Succession” Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV

As night falls, Anna and Greg are following the Xudum pride mums and cubs. The cubs, led by Mathata, start to hunt a small herd of male buffalo. For the first time, the cubs and lionesses work together and succeed in bringing a bull down. But the rest of the buffalo herd return — they are not leaving their comrade behind.

A new generation of big cats rises in the Okavango Delta. First-time lion mum Serami protects her cubs while Mathata steps up to feed the pride. Pobe and Bo return, and as Lediba’s cub grows in confidence, she vanishes.

The Xudum Pride mums are moving their cubs south to keep them safe from intruder male lions.

Watch On Your Schedule: BIG CATS 24/7: Season 2 will be available to stream with the PBS app. Watch the best of PBS anytime, anywhere on the free PBS app. Stream your favorite PBS shows on-demand and livestream shows from your local station, all from your favorite device.

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Young lioness Serami is finding her feet as a new mum to two tiny cubs.

Credits: A BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for PBS and BBC, with BBC Studios handling global sales. The Executive Producer is Tom Jarvis, the Series Producer is Rowan Crawford and the Production Manager is Gillian Goodlet. Narrated by Adetomiwa Edun. 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.

Leopard mum Lediba takes a risk and free falls from a tree onto her prey.