All language subtitles for PBS.Nature.Super.Cats.Series.1.2of3.Cats.in.Every.Corner.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

From the iconic big
cats that enthrall us...

to the little-known small cats

that are just
coming into light...

these felines have conquered
the planet

and are leading
extraordinary lives.

They are acrobats
in the jungle...

opportunists on the beach.

There's even
a semi-blind bobcat

who can pluck her dinner
from the air.

From the oldest desert
in Africa...

to the highest mountain
on Earth,

cats have adapted to
the challenges of every climate

and found a way to survive.

The monsoon
wetlands of South Asia.

Home to an extraordinary cat.

One whose entire life
revolves around water.

This is a fishing cat.

Their unique ability
to catch slippery fish

in these weed-filled ponds

has allowed them to colonize
these vast wetlands.

Beneath their long outer coats,
they have a shorter layer

of insulating fur
that acts like a wet suit,

and they have
partially webbed feet.

They're well adapted
to a life aquatic.

But even so, every fishing cat
still has to learn how to fish.

This female has two kittens
just a couple of months old.

Up to now they've been
kept safely away

from the water's edge,
but that's all about to change.

This is the first time
they've seen water.

It's natural to be nervous.

But these kittens
are born water babies.

It's time to show them
the real reason

they've been brought here.

Long whiskers detect vibrations
from fish

moving in the shallows...

helping to gauge the exact
striking distance.

Then it's the kittens' turn.

For now, it's only water plants
that need to be afraid.

This could take some time.

They'll be back tomorrow
for another lesson.

All over the globe,
cats of all shapes

and sizes have adapted
to the challenges

of the planet's
most extreme environments.

This is the Namib,
Southern Africa.

The oldest desert on Earth.

There's no surface water
for hundreds of miles.

Despite this, these desert lions
thrive amongst the dunes.

They live in small,
isolated prides,

relying on shared knowledge
and experience

to find food
in this hostile landscape.

Emerging from the dunes,
3 sisters, recently orphaned,

barely a year old.

They are alone...

the youngest, most inexperienced
pride in Africa.

This is the hardest time
of the year

for the animals of the Namib.

The desert is at its hottest
and driest.

Yet, it's this hostility
that offers the cubs

a chance to survive.

It will mean searching,
day in, day out.

They walk twice as far as lions

living on the savannas
of East Africa.

But this harsh place sometimes
throws them a lifeline,

a victim of the extreme heat,
a dead oryx.

These cubs don't have the skills
or the strength to hunt yet...

...but like all desert lions,
when times demand it,

they will scavenge,
even on rotting meat.

With luck, this strategy

of scavenging victims
of the harsh desert

will keep the cubs
from starvation.

A kudu, a huge antelope, and one
rarely seen in the desert.

But this is no victim
of the heat.

This is a lion kill.

A full-grown lioness
who's not going to share.

A close call and a vital lesson
for the sisters.

In the desert, the biggest
danger facing young lions

comes from adult lions.

The desert has provided
just enough for them to survive.

Very soon, they will be
old enough and strong enough

to hunt for themselves.

Cats have evolved to survive

in almost every environment
on Earth.

The thick fur and large
padded feet of Canada lynx

enable them to thrive in the
deep snow of the frozen north.

In the forests of India,

wonderfully agile
clouded leopards

are at home
amongst tangled branches.

Large claws provide grip,

and a long tail
gives them balance.

On the African plains,
caracal spring

almost effortlessly
over the tall savanna grass

using their long, powerful legs.

While some cats are finely tuned
to live in just one environment,

others have
a different strategy.

They will go wherever
new opportunities appear.

The Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

Here, there's a cat that has
mastered life in the jungle

emerging to hunt
on a tropical beach.

Thermal imaging cameras
reveal the nightlife

on this pacific shore,
and it's busy.

A jaguar, the biggest and most
powerful cat in the Americas.

They're built to take
on the biggest,

most dangerous prey
in the jungle...

but that task is even more
difficult for this female.

She's pregnant.

Right now she needs to eat
as much as possible

to provide nourishment
for her developing cub.

Tonight, this beach may provide

a very welcome addition
to her diet.

A jaguar's eyes are 6 times more
sensitive to light than our own,

so even in the dark,

anything that moves
catches her attention.

Around
the time of the full moon,

turtles come ashore
to lay their eggs.

For protection,
an olive ridley turtle

wears armor
one inch thick.

But for its size,

a jaguar has the strongest jaws
of any cat.

And a bite powerful enough
to crack open

this rich source of food.

She is not the only one
that benefits.

Other animals clean up
the scraps.

Her visit to the beach couldn't
have been timed any better.

It's the beginning of a seasonal
gathering of turtles

the arrival.

arribada,

known locally
as the

Over the next few nights,

30 thousand turtles
will come to this beach to nest.

It's rare for a cat to have
food so readily available,

and this pregnant mother
isn't the only one

that will feed well tonight.

As many as 14 jaguars patrol
this beach.

One of the densest populations
in the world.

In fact, they won't eat many,

but the meat from just
a few turtles

will make all the difference.

Soon this opportunity
will be over,

and the jaguars will return
to hunting in the forest...

leaving the beach to the
thousands of hatchlings

that emerge and instinctively
head for the sea.

Two and a half thousand
miles north...

the cool and stormy shores
of California.

A very different coastline
where a very different cat

has found her own way
to make a living.

At home in her den close
to the beach,

a remarkable bobcat.

Bobcats usually hunt rabbits
and small mammals,

but this female
has set her sights higher.

Here, where a freshwater stream
meets the sea...

gulls flock to drink and wash
salt from their feathers.

It's what she's counting on.

But it's not going to be easy.

She'll just have to wait
for the gulls to come back.

To hunt like this
takes determination...

and an enterprising spirit.

Most end in failure.

But she returns day after day.

With every attempt,
she refines her technique.

At last!

But one gull won't keep her
fed for long.

Fortunately, this beach

is never short of chances
to hunt.

There's no doubting
her persistence and skill...

even if the occasional gull
does slip her grip.

And like any cat, once a bobcat
has perfected the hunt...

they'll keep on killing...

ensuring that they have
enough food

just in case the supply
should suddenly run out.

And what makes this hunter
truly remarkable

is that she's blind in one eye!

The Sundarbans of India
and Bangladesh

is the world's
largest mangrove swamp.

Unexplored muddy islands
surrounded by the sea...

where a legendary big cat rules.

Perhaps the most elusive
and least understood.

The swamp tiger.

Only at low tide is it possible
to catch a glimpse

of what lies within
these mysterious mangroves.

This is when animals come down
to the shore to feed...

...both the hunted

and the hunter.

Low tide also offers
a brief chance for this male

to patrol
the shoreline of his island.

Scent marking is a warning
to other tigers to keep out.

This is a place where a cat
must live his entire life

in tune with the tide.

With the rising water,
life retreats,

back into the depths
of the mangroves...

and he must follow,
disappearing again

into these strange swamplands.

We know almost nothing
about these tigers,

but researchers now believe that
as many as a hundred of them

make these remote islands
their home.

The world's most celebrated big
cats continue to surprise us,

but the most surprising
cats of all...

are the little cats.

Out of the 40 known species,

33 are what scientists
call the small cats.

They are the most secretive

and least studied
members of the family.

In the mountains of Chile,
a guina,

the smallest cat
in all the Americas,

hunts moths
amongst the undergrowth.

Ocelots are the most common cat
in the Costa Rican jungle,

yet they are rarely seen.

Their perfectly
camouflaged coats

help them to disappear
in an instant.

African wildcats live scattered
all across Africa,

from Morocco
to South Africa.

They're one of the most
widespread of all cats,

yet they, too,
are hardly ever seen.

But now specialized
camera technology

is giving us a new insight
into the mysterious lives

of these small cats...

in some of the most
remote places on Earth.

The Karoo Desert, South Africa.

A vast landscape dominated
by low desert scrub.

It provides the perfect cover
for Africa's smallest cat.

She waits for the cool of night
before heading out to hunt.

A black-footed cat.

This little female is known
to researchers as Gyra.

She's tiny, weighing
a mere two pounds,

200 times less than a lion.

She'd be almost impossible
to find,

but she's being tracked
with a radio collar.

And using surveillance cameras
that rival a cat's night vision,

we can at last reveal
her nocturnal pursuits.

She can walk 20 miles a night
in search of food,

the farthest recorded
for any small cat.

Guided by superb night vision,

and responding to the smallest
of sounds,

she finds almost anything
that moves is a potential meal.

She'll even eat locusts...

but she prefers gerbils.

Or if that doesn't work...

birds.

With a wiggle to
tuck her legs in,

she gets as low to the ground
as possible.

Primed like a spring,
she can deliver maximum power

to jump!

She hits her target 60%
of the time.

It's what makes
black-footed cats

the most lethal hunters
in the entire cat family.

And the reason for Gyra's
huge appetite

is that she's raising
her own little hunter.

Even the deadliest cat
in Africa has a softer side.

Perhaps the most bizarre
small cat of all lives here...

in the heart of Mongolia...

one of the most remote and least
populated places on Earth.

After decades of research,
we are now able to reveal

an insight
into their hidden lives.

This is a Pallas's cat.

She's cautious and she has
good reason.

Kittens.

4 of them.

2 months old
and just out of the den.

They're already becoming
a bit of a handful.

They live in a world
of windswept grassland,

an area three times bigger
than the state of Texas.

But this outcrop of rocks is
a safe place to hide the family.

It's morning, and the kittens
are hungry,

but a mother can't hunt
with four excitable youngsters

tagging along.

Today, she will have to leave
her kittens home alone.

Out here in the open,
there's nowhere to hide.

The only thing she can do
is try and blend in.

Pallas's cats' ears
are positioned

unusually low on their heads,

and that helps them
to keep a low profile.

What's more, these cats
can flatten their bodies

to look like a rock.

She'll need to hunt all day

to provide enough
for her growing kittens,

who, meanwhile, are getting up
to all sorts of mischief.

Play will help them to hone
their own hunting skills.

A silver vole finds itself

the center
of the kittens' attention.

The key is a silent,
patient approach.

Alas, on these rocks,
a vole has the upper hand.

Fortunately, the kittens can
rely on their mother to provide.

Pallas's cats actually
do very well here.

There could be as many
as 10,000

living in these grasslands...

not that it makes them
any easier to see.

In other places, small cats
are living secret lives

right under our noses.

East of Johannesburg, Africa's
biggest industrial complex.

It's the size of a city.

Behind the barbed wire,

surveillance cameras
detect intruders every night.

A cat has taken over.

The tierboskat,
also known as a serval.

This restricted area is now
the home of around

a hundred of
these small spotted cats...

the densest population
anywhere in Africa.

This strange industrial
wasteland is teeming with life.

It's a place where people
rarely venture...

and the fences keep out
larger predators

that might be a threat
to the servals.

What's more, the water used
to cool the heavy industry

has helped create lush meadows
around these pools,

and that, in turn, has led to
an explosion of rats and mice...

all a serval can eat.

They're not only attracted
by the food

but by the one thing
that all cats need --

their own space

where they can be
left undisturbed.

This is a small cat paradise.

Cats have conquered almost
every corner of the planet.

But now, even in the most
remote places,

they are feeling the impact
of our way of life

as we encroach more
and more on their world.

Around the planet,
their numbers are decreasing.

If cats are to survive in our
changing world,

we just need to leave them
some space.

Next time...

The frontiers of discovery...

Just in front of us.
Ah, that's really special.

Holy mackerel.

...getting closer
than ever before...

There you go.

...to the secret lives
of cats.

There.

series concludes.

"Nature's" landmark three-part

It's a critical time for new

research and cat conservation.

This is an age of discovery

that's revolutionizing

how we view this amazing

super family.