Africa's Hunters Series 1: Teenage Pride 5/6 (2015)

 

In this episode we had the last look at the Nsefu lion pride. And we learned that teenagers are dumb and reckless regardless of species. And some die because of that. We also learned that a male lion, having all the females in his pride, is having something on the side going on. Men...

Africa's Hunters Series 1: The Misfit 4/6 (2015)

 

Today's episode chronicled the struggles of on of the cubs, a runt. Visibly smaller and timid, he was not participating in the siblings' games and making friends. And after his accidental adventure, when he came back limping, he was nearly mauled by adolescents in his pride, shunned by his mother and aunt, ignored by his siblings and on the verge of starving to death.

The tenacity of this one is admirable.

National Geographic Vanishing Kings: Desert Lions of Namib (2016)

This one is beautiful AND informative. Three minutes in I learned that one lion's territory here is the size of Switzerland. The five males are even called by one observing scientist - Five Musketeers. And one of their mothers is 17 years old, which is very old for a lion in the wilderness. Which means she's an incredible hunter. And her passing was really hard to watch.
And humans killed the last adult male desert lion. Now it's up to those 5 boys.

Kings of the Desert (2017)

See, there's a reason I absolutely hate recaps - because I really don't need people to tell me what I saw. And this documentary is exactly this - it tells you what's going on on the screen. It has 0% of any knowledgeable info presented. 

But I watched it for the kitties. Fear not, I have another docu lined up - Vanishing Kings - Desert Lions of Namib. Maybe a better one.

Return of the Giant Killers: Africa's Lion Kings (2015)

We had a split in the lion pride protected by 5 brothers and 3 of them left. Then we had a fearless leader moving into the eternal plains full of game and the emergence of her heiress. 

It's not the most informative documentary out there, not an ounce of a knowledge except for the fact that lions, if the circumstances are right, can hunt elephants.

Serengeti (2019) Episode 6: Rebirth

 

In the last episode our cheetah Mum, Kike, makes a comeback, teaches her three offsprings how to hunt and leaves them, lion sisters are reunited, Bakari the baboon becomes the leader and a carcass of an old elephant brings lions and hyenas together for a meal.

If you're looking for an informative nature documentary - this is not it. It was a dramatised retelling of stories that took place - and to my chagrin - to anthropomorphize the animals we saw in these 6 episodes. There was absolutely zero knowledge presented.

The cinematography is good, though.

Serengeti (2019) Episode 5: Exodus

This episode deals with: three black-maned lions bloody return, hyena clan leader Zalika moving her group into another den, drying up the water hole, Tembo the incel elephant finding a friend and leopards trying to eat a porcupine. The emphasis is on trying.

Serengeti (2019) Episode 4: Misfortune

Episode 4 where we have Shani, a zebra mother separated from her foal, lion sisters trying to reunite with their pride, three black-maned lions killing everything with a pulse, rite-de-passage (literal) for a male elephant. some baboon conflict and wild dogs trying to outsmart hyenas. Spoiler alert: futile.

Serengeti (2019) Episode 2: Conflict

A conflict between first-time Mama Cheetah and both hyenas and jackals. 

Also a small brawl between male elephants. Cause they have to measure who has a longer... err...trunk. As all males do. 

Also, I am clearly a cat lady. My screenshots are heavily on the big cats side.