Natural World

Lions: Pride in Peril (14x7)

Air date: Feb 18, 1996

The King of Beasts, the lion, has an image of noble magnificence - a deadly hunter, red in both tooth and claw, to which all creatures defer. And yet, behind this facade, every lion has a personal history of drama, intrigue and tragedy. For seven months, award-winning film-maker Owen Newman followed the lions of the Tokitok pride in Tanzania's breath-taking Ngorongoro Crater. What started out as an intimate story of lions in their full glory evolved into a record of a pride which had fallen on hard times. David Attenborough relates the demise of the Tokitok lionesses, and their two guardian males as they strive to retain their 'kingdom' and protect their cubs among the more powerful prides that inhabit the Crater.