Original subtitles

Narrator: This is the misfit.

A plucky teenager with a troubled childhood.

From abandonment,

To injury

And rejection.

He's not only survived,

He's thrived.

But the next 48 hours will be the most dangerous yet...

He must venture into enemy territory...

(roars)

(growls)

...And face africa's

Fiercest predators.

The misfit battles to feed his pride...

(growls)

Then, finally...

(roars)

...Comes of age.

(theme music playing)

(growls)

Family is everything for lions.

A pride lives and dies by its strength in numbers.

The nsefu pride is no different.

The bonds they share have meant they've prospered

And dominated here on the banks

Of the luangwa river in zambia.

The determined mothers and aunts

Who lead this family have battled

To keep their youngsters safe.

But life hasn't been easy for their youngest member,

Teenager, the misfit.

As the runt of the litter,

The misfit struggled to fit into his boisterous family.

(squeaks)

Always last,

Always bullied...

His isolation led to near death.

Finally, he won the hearts of his pride,

And formed a bond with his older half-brother.

(growling)

A bond that has gone from strength to strength.

While females stay in their pride for life,

All male lions must eventually leave their family

By around three years old.

That time has almost come for the misfit and his brother,

They'll split from the pride in a few months,

With each other for support.

They'll roam the savanna for several years,

Until big enough to take over a pride

And father cubs.

The bachelor years as nomads will be tough,

And, if the misfit is to survive,

He needs to perfect

His hunting skills now.

The teenager faces a huge learning curve.

Not least because the family has hit hard times.

The pride's former leaders, two brothers, have gone.

Chief, the more dominant of the two, was killed.

And notch was driven out by roaming males.

Without their leaders, the pride fragmented,

Leaving just six females and three teenagers

To fend for themselves.

And now the prey in their territory

On the east bank of the river

Has scattered due to recent unseasonal rains.

The pride hasn't eaten for days.

They face a tough decision...

To leave the familiar territory they know in search of food...

Or stay here, and potentially starve.

Across the river

Could be the key to their salvation.

South luangwa national park

Is 3,500 square miles of wilderness

At the tail of the great rift valley.

Home to africa's most iconic wildlife.

(elephant trumpets)

From the heaviest mammal on land...

To the strongest jaws in africa.

The battle to survive here is intense.

(grunts)

Lions may be top of the food chain,

But even they are sometimes vulnerable...

(roars)

From protective giants...

And from their own kind.

(yawns)

The river is the barrier to the misfit's future success.

On the opposite west bank, prey is plentiful.

But it's enemy territory,

Controlled by three battle-hardened brothers.

(roars)

The punks.

(roars)

They'd attack any young male lion

That's not of their own lineage,

So the misfit and other young members of the nsefu pride

Would be in mortal danger.

But hunger has made the decision for them.

They'll have to run the gauntlet of one of africa's

Most indiscriminate killers,

The nile crocodile.

Up to 2,000 pounds,

With a bite strength

Greater than any living creature in africa.

Their jaws contain sensory organs

That detect movement in the water.

They've evolved to efficiently slay anything

That strays into their path.

A young lion like the misfit is an easy target.

The misfit's mother leads the tentative group.

They quickly attract attention.

But they manage to cross without incident.

The safety of the opposite bank

Gives short-lived relief.

(growls)

(roar echoing)

The roar echoing along the river

Means that big male lions are on the prowl.

The punks are surveying their territory.

(roaring)

A lion's roar can be louder than a jackhammer.

(roaring)

Mohawk, the toughest of the brothers,

Uses it to advertise his formidable presence,

And to intimidate rivals.

(growls)

These brothers have ruled the west bank

Of the river for the last two years,

Taking over two prides in the area

As they've established their territory.

They're fearless.

(roars)

(roar echoing)

The nsefu pride, now also on the west bank,

Is right to look nervous.

The misfit sticks close to his bigger brother.

Now in enemy territory,

They need to make a kill

And get out again before the punks find them.

But one of the misfit's aunts opts out of the hunting party.

Instead, she sets off alone, heading north...

Directly towards the punks.

The rest of the pride, including the misfit,

Sticks close to the river.

Their decision to cross appears to pay off.

Impala, heading to drink.

It's October,

Peak of the dry season.

Thirsty herbivores have no option but to make

The dangerous journey to the river.

It's the only place left with water in the 110 degree heat.

(squawking)

It's a gamble, but the antelope know,

Over this open ground,

They should be able to outrun the carnivores.

Impala are among the great athletes

Of the animal kingdom,

Able to leap 10 feet high, and 30 feet in distance.

The lions bide their time, waiting for the right moment.

They can't afford to waste precious energy

On fruitless chases in this heat.

And they have another reason to pause.

Hyenas.

The river clan.

Sniffing around for an easy steal.

The muscular carnivores are the pride's arch rivals,

The two species

Often come to blows over kills,

So the lions don't want to hunt now

And risk losing their spoils.

The big cats may have more muscle power

Pound for pound,

But hyenas have almost twice the bite force of lions.

Hyena clans have been known to kill cornered lone lions.

For now, the misfit and his pride will wait,

Night may give them the upper hand.

As darkness draws in...

(grumbles)

The hidden nocturnal world reveals itself.

(hyena calling)

The cloak of night gives the pride

An advantage over their prey.

Lions' vision has evolved to make them masters

In darkness.

Their eyes contain extra light sensitive rods,

Enabling them to see in low light levels

Seven times better than humans.

(hyena calls in distance)

However, their night vision

Is only marginally better than impalas',

But it's that narrow advantage

That the nsefu pride hopes to exploit.

They wait for the hyenas to leave,

Then head inland,

Tracking the impala herd

As it returns to the plains to graze.

The impala lead them further into enemy territory.

Hunger is giving them no option.

Given the chance, lions can eat up to 18 pounds of meat a day.

But catching speedy prey

Like impala is hard for inexperienced hunters

Like the misfit and his brother.

(animal screeches)

Once they start the chase,

The pride can only keep up with the antelope

For very short bursts, so surprise is vital.

The females spread out in a pincer formation...

But the misfit's inexperience shows.

(birds squawking)

His mistimed run scares a slumbering giraffe...

And the panicked herd scatters.

(birds squawking)

The pride cannot afford

To waste time in dangerous territory.

They try again.

This time the misfit and his brother are kept back.

85% of hunts in prides are carried out by females,

And it's clear these lionesses are experts.

(roars)

An impala buck.

It's welcome food,

But not nearly enough to feed nine hungry lions.

The blood-stained adults

Quickly devour the choicest parts...

But with so little meat,

It soon becomes a tug of war.

The youngsters must make do with scraps.

Only five minutes after being brought down,

The 100-pound impala is gone.

The pride needs more food.

So the females head off again,

Leaving the oblivious misfit with his siblings.

The stragglers are so busy cleaning their blood soaked fur,

They don't see the females leave.

It's only minutes before the determined nsefu lionesses

Set their sights on another impala herd.

(growling)

They dispatch the target quickly.

(growls)

However,

After the excitement of the hunt,

They soon realize that the youngsters of the pride

Are nowhere to be seen.

The misfit and his siblings are alone,

Deep in enemy territory.

(lion roaring)

6:00 a.M.

The lucky survivors of the night

Emerge from their hiding places.

(birds calling)

For the day shift,

It's breakfast time.

But not all have full bellies.

The hyena river clan

Is still looking for an easy target.

A baby giraffe

Piques the interest of a lone female.

The adult giraffes protect the vulnerable calf,

Even from unlikely threats like this.

The hyena won't go up against a fully grown giraffe.

One well-placed kick

From a 18-foot bull could kill her.

She moves on.

The scent of a carcass

Wafting along the beach draws her further away

From her clan.

It's leading her towards the misfit.

(birds squawking)

Still separated from his mother and aunts,

The misfit and other youngsters

Have found their way back to the river.

The remains of a hippo

Provide a desperately needed meal.

But their hunger couldn't have put them

In a more precarious situation.

Not only is the female hyena

Trying to muscle in on the misfit's breakfast...

...Dozens of crocodiles are closing in.

The teenagers will have to fight to keep this food

From other hungry mouths.

(snarls)

(hyena whining)

The misfit's innate hatred

For hyenas spurs him into action.

(hyena calling)

But he should know better

Than to let the hyena distract him.

The crocodiles see an opportunity for a steal,

And swamp the carcass.

The misfit wants his meal back,

But he's completely out of his depth.

A mile inland,

The females are resting from the heat of the day,

Completely unaware that their youngest cub

Is in such danger.

Still missing from the group is the misfit's aunt

Who set off alone shortly after crossing the river.

She's been following the calls of mohawk,

The fiercest of the punks.

But she's not planning on fighting him.

She's going to hit him

With something much more powerful.

Her feminine wiles.

Mohawk's urge to mate is strong,

And she's exploiting it

To her full advantage.

This grimace isn't aggression from mohawk.

It's a flehmen response.

He's analyzing her pheromones through a receptor

In the roof of his mouth.

And he likes what he smells.

The flirtatious aunt signals she's willing to mate.

She's unlikely to have cubs,

Females are five times less likely to have offspring

With males not known to them.

More probably, the aunt is using mating

To distract the male

And minimize aggression while her pride

Is busy hunting on his turf.

Mohawk has fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.

Mating can happen up to 50 times a day,

So it'll be some time

Before he continues his patrol.

As the day moves on,

The temperature soars.

It's 115 degrees.

At the river,

The misfit and his brother

Have managed to reclaim the meager remains of the hippo.

Despite the afternoon's heat,

They take it in turns to guard the carcass.

It's too hot to eat,

But they don't dare leave the meal

To be stolen again.

The crocodiles retreat to the respite of the water,

They're playing the long game,

Saving their energy for the coming night.

The soft flesh of the hippo is perfect

For the white-backed vultures,

Their grooved tongues help them quickly swallow flesh.

They don't waste a morsel.

But the misfit isn't ready to share.

The hyena is also proving persistent,

Despite the misfit's best efforts.

(squawking)

More worryingly...

(hyena calling)

...She's calling for the rest of her clan.

The misfit and his brother

Might think they've won this battle.

They have no idea what's coming.

(growls)

Downstream,

The rest of the river clan have found their own way

To get relief from the heat.

Mud-bathing helps regulate their temperature.

Where they don't have water,

They make their own damp bed to cool down on.

(hyenas chittering)

Spotted hyenas have acute hearing,

And can recognize individual calls

From more than 6 miles away.

The cries are clear,

There's a clan member summoning them

From somewhere upriver.

The determined group makes a bee-line,

Straight towards the calls and the oblivious misfit.

Nine hyenas versus four inexperienced lions

Is going to be a very unfair fight.

But inland,

The females of the nsefu pride

Have also been roused by the hyenas' calls

They start towards the commotion,

Knowing it will lead them to a kill.

It's a race to get to the misfit first.

By the carcass,

Tensions are rising.

The hippos are not happy

To have the youngsters on the beach,

And the misfit's inexperience around danger is clear.

The females up the pace,

They're half a mile away and closing.

They must get to the youngsters before the hyena clan.

(hippo calls)

(hippo calls)

As the second night in enemy territory closes in,

The five females make it to the beach first.

It's a welcome relief for the misfit

And his embattled group.

The downside is the youngsters now must share

The hippo remains.

Lions are opportunistic,

And can gorge a quarter of their body weight

In one sitting.

But there's a hierarchy at the dinner table.

The misfit waits for an opening,

As youngest

He'll be last to eat.

He's not the only one

Who wants a share of the food.

(growling)

This time the crocodiles are not backing down.

(snarls)

(growls)

(roars)

Their sheer weight of numbers

Starts to overwhelm the pride.

And things are about to get a lot worse.

(calling)

(calling)

The lone hyena's calls have worked,

Her clan members arrive.

(hyenas chattering)

It's now eight lions

Versus nine hyenas

And dozens of crocodiles.

The adults decide this fight isn't worth it,

And retreat to safer ground.

But the misfit isn't ready to give up the meal,

He needs this food.

(growls)

(whining)

He tries to stand his ground,

Then his mother steps in to help.

(growling)

But even she can't stand up to this many hyenas.

(snarling)

She makes a break for it.

Now the misfit is alone.

The entire river clan sets its sights on the youngster.

His mother steps back in.

This time the hyenas back away.

It's an incredibly lucky escape for the misfit,

And a valuable lesson,

He's vulnerable alone.

The hyenas turn their attention to the crocs,

Demonstrating exactly why they shouldn't be underestimated.

While half the fearless clan

Distracts the crocodile at the front,

The others sneak in behind

To steal the remains of the carcass.

Reunited, the nsefu pride retreats,

Battle worn and still hungry.

Mohawk and the misfit's aunt

Have been mating almost non-stop for 18 hours now.

(growls) (roars)

But she's had enough.

She's done her distraction job well,

Mohawk has stayed away from her pride.

It's time for her to rejoin them.

She may have won this male over,

But in this territory

She's at risk from other lions.

It's an unemotional farewell.

(snorts)

Down river, and still in enemy territory,

The nsefu pride keeps close to each other.

Last night's battle with the crocs and hyenas

Has left them bruised and battered.

The misfit's wounds from the pursuing hyenas

Show how close he came to catastrophe.

It's a painful lesson to learn

For his upcoming independence.

When you don't have a pride around you,

Sometimes retreat is the best option.

There's no time to dwell.

They're still hungry.

A large herd of buffalo wanders past,

Tantalizingly close.

Their favorite prey.

Weighing up to 1,800 pounds,

Just one could feed the whole pride.

The buffalo herd is hundreds-strong,

Heading inland after drinking at the river.

They won't linger here long,

So the lions can't waste an opportunity to bag one.

But this is going to be a challenge.

Taking a buffalo down is as dangerous as it gets.

Members of the herd aggressively protect each other,

And could easily kill a lion.

If the horns don't get them,

Then stamping or kicking might.

For any hope of success,

The pride needs good, strong hunters.

The timely return of the aunt

Might tip the balance in their favor.

(growls)

They start their stalk.

(growls)

(lions growling)

Buffalo have an excellent sense of smell,

And their keen eyesight

Means they can spot predators over half a mile away,

So ambush is vital.

The pride avoids the pathfinder buffalo,

This big, strong male leads the herd,

Scanning for threats.

They're looking for a dagga boy,

An old and weak buffalo, on the fringes of the herd.

If they can panic the group and split a weaker one off,

They have a chance of bringing it down.

The pride fans out, positioning themselves

Within striking distance of the stragglers.

(grunts) spotted!

It's now or never.

(grunting)

Their tactics work.

They separate a dagga boy from the herd.

And this time it's not a lioness leading the charge,

It's the misfit.

(lion growls)

(chirping)

Finally, success.

The one-ton dagga boy

Will keep the pride full for days.

This time the misfit doesn't have to wait in line.

He's earned his place at the table.

After the lessons he's learned in the last two days,

The misfit's growing into a tenacious lion.

The nsefu pride has overcome its adversaries

And feasted like kings.

Now, after 48 hours on the west bank of the river,

It's time get out of enemy territory.

(grunts)

It's a newly confident misfit

Who makes his way back across the dangerous river.

Head held high.

He's faced some of the most

Difficult challenges of his life.

It's been the making of him.

In a few months' time,

Along with his brother,

He'll be ready to leave the protection of his family

And find his own way in this vast wilderness.

But, for now,

He's enjoying being a part of the family.

Not so much a misfit anymore.

(closing theme playing)