Natural World (1983) s21e02 Episode Script

This tigress is one of the greatest fighters I've ever seen She is living in a tiger paradise a beautiful and rich land she's fought for long and hard And with two young cubs, she is a mother for the first time But there is danger in this tiger paradise Her mate, the father of her cubs, is gone There is a new male tiger in town this can only mean trouble To claim this tigress, the new male could kill her two cubs Can she hold him off long enough for her cubs to grow up in tiger paradise? I am Valmik Thapar and I am in Ranthambhore National Park in central India It's one of the last strongholds of the Royal Bengal tiger I've been coming here for 26 years to learn about the tiger especially in this area of lakes behind me The ancient Mughal ruins that surround Ranthambhore's beautiful lakes have been transformed into a perfect place for tigers And it's home to one special tiger I've been following for nearly 4 years now a tigress called Machali I've come back here to find out what has happened to Machali one of the greatest fighters Ranthambhore has ever known Two years ago, Machali fought huge battles with her mother to take control of this superb area of water palace and temple the lakes And she won her battle she pushed her mother away took over this area and raised her first litter This is family life amongst the tiger this is the beauty of Ranthambhore They're both male cubs and she is really looking after them at the moment Oh, well, look at it learning the ways of their mother, With a fighter like Machali for a mother we could be looking at the next generation of Ranthambhore's great tigers But I've discovered that there is trouble for this family When I was here two years ago, Machali had a mate a big experienced male He fathered her cubs and he should be here now protecting them but he is vanished, I think he is dead Now Machali has to raise her cubs all on her own without a strong resident male so the tigress has to be really careful she got to keep them well-protected she has to defend them and chase away any male intruder In fact, she is bound to fight the male so that he keeps a distance from the cubs The lakes are prime tiger territory any male tiger will be quick to move in and check out the chances of becoming the new resident But who will it be? There is nowhere else in the world where tigers are so accustomed to people but it's mainly the tigress and her cubs we can get close to not the big males Even with all my years of experience here in Ranthambhore I still know so little about the males especially when they're trying to claim a new territory Just what are they prepared to do to get a mate Finding a male tiger for me is the most special thing because they are evasive and elusive This one is just coming into his prime he is still young, but he is a beauty I know this male, it's Nick He is only three years old so he is not very experienced Is he old enough to mate? I wonder will he stay? But he is not the only male around We found signs of a much bigger tiger nearby He is about five, so he's much more experienced and a far more dangerous proposition God, this guy knows what he's doing With these two males moving through Machali's territory her cubs could be in real danger I saw a frightening scene many years ago This is what an adult male tiger can do to cubs on his own, even big cubs Machali's two boys are much smaller It's early June and the monsoon isn't far off Temperatures have soared to over 120 degrees in the shade and Machali's brought her cubs to a cool, secluded spot not far from the lakes I've named this cub Broken tail after this strange kink at the end of his tail and both these cubs are only turning into real characters Even in this boiling heat the two of them seem to have boundless energy practising their hunting skills is a vital part of learning how to survive on their own But at the moment, they are still totally depend on Machali They won't be able to hunt for themselves for many more months They are getting really adventurous at this age but wandering off into the open is exactly what a young cub shouldn't do with big males in the area Even though Machali's calling her cub back he doesn't seem to be taking any notice This is a crucial time in the family's life These cubs need to test the boundaries with their mother if they are ever going to make it on their own but if they stumble into one of the males, it could be disastrous This time, Machali's warnings worked but from now on, it's going to be harder and harder to keep control of these growing cubs And she needs to be careful Nick, the first male we spotted looks like he's making himself at home in Machali's territory I think he is going to make a move to claim Machali before long The monsoon has finally arrived and this may be just the break she needs As new watering-holes spring up everywhere tigers and their prey will spread out on the park so there should be fewer chances of the cubs running into the males by the lakes Machali should also find it easier to hide her cubs in the tall grass that will cover the park in the next few months But for me, the rains are less welcome The roads will become impassable and the park will be closed now for four months I have to leave Ranthambhore's lakes to the crocodiles and the vultures All I can do is wait and hope that the cubs would still be here when I return Four months is far too long to stay away it's my first day back after the monsoon and the change in Ranthambhore is remarkable It's so much harder to spot the tigers in this tall grass That's Machali, but where are the cubs? What a relief! For months now I've been worrying about them hoping they've been able to stay out of danger Broken tail and his brother are in fantastic shape and they almost doubled in size since I saw them last but they won't reach their full size until they are four The cubs may think they are having fun but Machali has some serious lessons to teach them When the cubs finally go off on their own they'll have to leave Machali's territory completely and because they are male tigers they need to find a territory at least 3 or 4 times the size of their mother's On these trips the cubs are starting to learn the language of the forest how to stalk, prowl, and hunt how to identify all the right sense and sounds But there is more than deer in this area there is another tiger prowling around in the distance Almost certainly a male, but which one? With three mouths to feed, Machali needs to be hunting all the time now But she can't hunt with the cubs They are so noisy they would scare away any prey so this time, Machali's left them behind in the grass These two youngsters just can't resist chasing everything around them They'll need much more practice before they can hunt successfully on their own This is how life should be for these two cubs They should have at least 6 or 8 more months of this growing up by the lakes learning the ways of the tiger But without their father to protect them I just know this life can't last much longer Machali needs to prepare the cubs for a life without her It can't be long now before Machali will be forced to accept a new male and have cubs with him Machali has to keep the male happy and her two cubs safe It's going to be a really difficult balancing act Nick, the young male I saw here before the monsoon is back Machali's discovered he's been scent marking in her territory again Even though Nick's keeping his distance he doesn't look as if he has any intention of leaving He is more interested in Machali than in making a kill But for now, scent marking is as close as she is going to let him get Nick may be young, but he seems very determined A few days later, I found Machali being pursued by Nick again He is definitely interested in mating He is much bigger than Machali so this is a really risky moment for her Will she give in and let him mate with her or will she try and fight him off It looks like she's keeping down away from Nick so he can't get behind her and mount her Nick's really enticed by her scent now There is a real tension in the air He doesn't look like giving up They are about to go for each other Machali still has the fight in her and it looks like she's managed to wound more than Nick's pride This gash is going to make it hard for Nick to hunt over the next few days Machali's won the first round but I'll be surprised if that's the last she sees of him At least the cubs are where she left them After Machali's fight with Nick the cubs' existence by the lake is now really precarious The two cubs are all that stand between Nick and Machali As long as Machali has these cubs to take care of she'll try to avoid mating and having a new litter Nick knows this, now whenever Machali leaves the cubs alone there's a risk, she may not find them alive when she returns But male tigers are not the only danger lurking around the lakes These waters are home to the huge Indian crocodile, or mugger an animal quite capable of killing a tiger cub But muggers are more likely to prey on the deer that feed in the lakes And Machali knows that crocs can provide a free meal if you know what to look for Wading deer can get caught by muggers and if Machali and the cubs move in quickly they could steal a meal from the jaws of a croc This means wading through dangerous waters I wouldn't dip my toes in these crocodile infested waters even if there was a feast on the other side This time, the tigers are too late The crocs have already dragged this sambur into deep water It's a dangerous game trying to steal from the muggers but Broken tail wants to give it one more try The cubs are only a few months away from independence Time may have already run out Nick's back again, and he is right in the middle of Machali's territory exactly where the cubs are He looks fully recovered and I don't think she'll be able to fight him off this time What will happen to the cubs if she mates with Nick now They can't survive here with Nick as the resident male Machali's moved away from the cubs and is rolling in scent This is a big change in her behavior and it's the first time she seems willing to leave the cubs The family could be on the verge of breaking up I think she may even be going in search of Nick Yes, she's found him and she is not aggressive at all now I doubt if there will be any fighting this time She is really taking charge she is seducing Nick She is letting this young male, catch her scent and leading him into the bush This could be a clever move by Machali She knows she can't get rid of Nick and I think she may have decided to submit to him to buy a bit more time for her cubs But will it work? Machali definitely has a new mate now This isn't a full mating that's a noisy affair that can last for days But this is a big sign that things have changed The cubs have no idea just how soon they'll have to rely on their own hunting ability And they haven't learnt that teamwork is a complex skill With these two, it only increases the chance of messing up the hunt It's a race against time The cubs' lack of experience is now deadly serious, If they don't learn to hunt successfully, they won't survive This is a big moment for the family I wonder what Machali will do How will she let her cubs know that things have changed? This is amazing, this is the last scene I expect to see She's letting two full-grown cubs suckle her There's no milk for them but this shows the incredibly close bond between the mother and her cubs I constantly wonder the tigers and their behavior after 26 years of tiger watching this is a magical moment for me But I wonder is this a farewell Is this the last time I'll see the family together? A few days later, everything has changed Early one morning, the sound of the crows attracts us to a carcass Hoping to find Machali and her cubs we find her alone We waited with her for many hours but the cubs never appear Eventually she leaves, abandoning the kill to the scavengers What has happened? Have the cubs finally decided it's too dangerous with Nick around and struck out on their own or has something worse happened? Has Nick killed Broken tail and his brother to make way for his own cubs? Since that day, Machali's also become really difficult to find watching Machali as she turns around and moves off from us and we've been hunting for her, searching for her for days We've been really worried because we can't find her cubs After all these months, it's so strange to see Machali wandering the lakes alone I wonder whether these changes and the cubs' disappearance mean she is carrying Nick's cubs now For the next few weeks, we look everywhere We turn everything upside down searching for Broken tail and his brother We hear rumors of sightings but neither of the cubs ever appears We don't know if they are simply hiding from Nick and other males or if they've actually left Machali's territory completely I don't know where these cubs have gone They've become so elusive in the last few months In a way they play hide and seek with everything around them And that's the only way they keep away from the big males they keep away from danger And that's how they would survive to maturity I know that male tigers move further away from their mother's territory than females do so we've decided to look for the cubs outside Machali's normal area And in another part of the park, we soon make an amazing discovery A big adult male, not one we've seen before He's known in Ranthambhore as the Chirroli male and this must be his territory And there're sounds coming from the ridge above It's a female Her cubs are calling from the top They are all squeaking like birds they want to be near mama Her dominant cub looks like the dominant one, he's coming down Another one is coming down She goes, coming down on the road Look at the cubs, they're coming down This is Ranthambhore's newest family a mother with four 3-4 months old cubs It shows that the tigers inside the park are doing brilliantly Even in a tiger paradise like Ranthambhore four cubs is an extremely rare sight I'm delighted the tigress letting us follow her and the cubs so closely and they are so young This must be one of their first walks in the open I could stay with them all day But one of the people helping us search has just seen a male tiger making a kill It may be Broken tail or his brother So what's been happening? You won't believe what I just saw What did you see? I saw a male tiger, upon he charged and killed a sambur And I got it on film You got a killer right then? very few people have that in the world Oh, wow, he's almost done.
On a sambur Look at that.
Wow But it's not one of the cubs it's the male I saw kill a cheetah in Machali's territory before the monsoon that means there are at least 3 adult males trying to establish themselves in this part of the park Our cubs would have to be incredibly clever to still be alive Before continuing our search I can't resist one more look at Ranthambhore's latest family Their father, the Chirroli male, is here to protect them He's an experienced male, and he could reign here for 4 or 5 years that's plenty of time for these little ones to grow up and learn the tiger's skills they need This is really an exciting discovery but there is no sign of Broken tail and his brother here Our next stop is miles away from Ranthambhore's beautiful lakes I am right on the edge of Ranthambhore national park This is where the tree line ends and the agricultural plains start Thousands of people thousands of livestock The irony is that the tigers of Ranthambhore have done so well inside but they're running out of space There's no sign of our two cubs They may have been pushed outwards by a big male but where are they going to go? There is just no more land and there are too many people Are they sentenced to death? Can they ever survive? The edges of the park are protected but they are really not good places for tigers There's virtually no natural prey for them so to survive, they have to feed on livestock which immediately causes conflict with the local villagers Many tigers have died in these areas over the years from poisoning and poaching I think if our two cubs have survived they must have hidden inside the park's boundaries And at last five months after Machali's cubs mysteriously disappeared we have found one of them alive It's Broken tail, and he's turned up only 2km from Machali's territory This is what I've been hoping to see for months now He is just over two years old he is in great condition, as bold as ever and I can't believe we found him face to face with a sloth bear one of the most dangerous animals in the park What confidence! He truly is Machali's son But there is still no sign of his brother and Broken tail's struggle for survival has only just begun For the next few years, he'll have to keep dodging the older males hoping to stay alive until he can claim a territory and the females that come with it Back in Machali's territory, Nick looks right at home This 4-year-old has managed to claim one of Ranthambhore's greatest fighters as his mate and forced her cubs out of her territory He is earned his stripes and he is now the new resident male As a first-time mother Machali has succeeded in rearing at least one male cub in the most difficult conditions a tigress could face Now I am sure she is carrying a new litter of cubs and that Nick is the father This time around, Nick won't be a threat but a protector for both her and her cubs I can't wait to see the next generation grow up in this unique tiger paradise