29x06 - Revealing the Leopard

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: across the globe
and under cover

Lives an elusive animal.

The leopard.

Outnumbered by enemies,

Cunning and stealth
help it survive.

Lions and tigers
are disappearing,

But leopards adapt and thrive.

They are the largest predator
able to live so close to us.

A mother and her cubs reveal

What it means to be a leopard
in the modern world.

A predator...

A teacher...

A parent.

A successful
and very clever cat.

[ Leopard calling ]

The african rain forest

Is a leopard's real home.

Our ancient ancestors
are from here, too.

We are old jungle enemies.

A leopard is a camouflaged cat,

A tree cat, a night cat,

A k*ller of snakes and birds,

Monkeys and apes.

Nowhere is safe.

The perfect predator.

A leopard weighs less than
a full-grown person,

Yet 11' could,

If it wanted to, k*ll you,
and hide your remains.

But instead, a leopard
would rather not be seen.

A million or so years ago,

East africa dried,
and the rain forest shrank back.

Now only remnants remain,
along ribbons of river.

A mother leopard awakes here now
to a world

Of big animals
and strong hunters.

Lions and hyenas,
the heavyweights,

Jostle over who's boss.

[ Calling ]

She's a single mother.

Here, around the serengeti,
her enemies outnumber her.

She's out of the jungle,
and it's too open,

Full of specialist K*llers --
faster hunters.

It's a cheetah.

A leopard may be
slower than a cheetah

And weaker than the lions
and hyenas,

Yet she'll beat them all,
in the end.

Across the world now,
there are many more leopards

Than any other big cat.

She carries her tail high.

Gazelles then know
she's not hunting,

Although they insist
on sounding the alarm anyway.

[ Gazelles calling ]

Using the li1tle we know
from different leopards,

Different lives,

A single character emerges.

It lets us explore

What 1t is to be a leopard --

A mother, a patient hunter.

She st*lks like the forest
leopards, trying not to be seen.

She notices when the gazelles
are watching.

She hunts with her wits,
a very clever cat.

Thomson's gazelles
have crossing points --

A perfect place for an ambush.

The river makes them nervous,
and with good reason.

Sometimes she doubles back

And works around
from another angle.

It's as if she can visualize
her whole territory,

Laid out like a map in her head.

[Alarm call]

[ Gazelle bleating ]

The gazelle is heavy,
and she is tired,

And there is no easy tree
in which to stash her k*ll.

Lions and hyenas fight over
their spoils, die fighting.

Not leopards.

Smarter to admit defeat, remain
in the shadows, and hunt again.

Leopards like their lives
to be private.

This mother is special.

She's become used to vehicles
and tolerates being filmed.

She reacts very differently

If lions or hyenas are tracking
her, or to people on foot.

One extraordinary day,

She lets the filming car
follow her to her den.

Their eyes are just opening.

They are only days old.

However careful she is,

The family is
incredibly vulnerable.

[ Cubs calling ]

Leopards are secretive because
they themselves are hunted.

Hyenas, like other predators,

k*ll their weaker rivals
if they possibly can.

[ Leopard snarls ]

[ Hyena yelping ]

[ Hisses]

The hyena may return
with backup.

She has to move the cubs.

She knows every cave
along the gorge

And moves to one
a few yards farther down.

One cub is moved,
and one is waiting,

When she senses another problem.

baboons.

Baboons can be as bad as hyenas.

A troop of baboons
would overwhelm a mother

And k*ll the cubs.

She must go back for the other
twin, with dozens of eyes

Watching out specifically
for leopards.

She manages to slip between
them, unnoticed.

In a few days, the cubs grow

From helpless bundles
to inquisitive kittens.

She seems a good mother,

So gentle for a k*ller...

But protective.

Lions are her greatest fear.

It's not just about the cubs.

She is in danger, too.

Lions will sniff her out,

Corner her, and k*ll her.

She has to stay a step ahead,

Always on the move around
her ten-square-mile territory.

The new den is deep within
thorny bushes and among rocks.

For today, at least, the lions
have given up chasing shadows.

She shares the landscape with
the masai,

Nomadic herders
of sheep and cattle.

[ Cattle lowing,
bells clanging ]

People are so noisy,
they're easy to avoid.

Yet she takes the danger
seriously

And melts away into the rocks.

You might think
that we were just

Another problem for leopards,
like baboons

Or lions,
but there are differences.

We offer such plentiful
and easy food.

[ Tribe chatting ]

[ Tribesman whistles ]

[ Whistling continues ]

There is something unique
in the relationship

Between leopards and man,

An ancient intertwining
of each other's lives.

Millions of years ago,
we ventured together

Beyond the rain forest,
both probably

Most afraid
of each other.

Fire and shelter,
even the first society

And language, evolved to help
defend us from leopards.

The masai are still more afraid

Of leopards
than lions or hyenas.

They protect their cattle at
night behind high thorn walls.

The warriors would k*ll a
leopard if they got the chance.

Leopards ofl'en prowl secretly
around these villages.

People and livestock
are part of her world.

Yet attacks by leopards
are rare.

It's as though she is following

An ancient compromise --
two clever K*llers

Who have learned
to dance around each other.

[ Noes barking 1

It's in her nature
to slip like a shadow

Between different worlds,

And for nobody even to notice.

A leopard is
a shy, careful k*ller.

Is this part of their success
across the world?

From africa long ago, leopards
spread north and east

Through arabia and persia,
and on into india.

They found a way
around the himalayas

Into china and russia,

And south towards thailand
and malaysia.

Leopards cover nearly half
the world now.

Nobody knows exactly
how many leopards there are,

But roughly ten times more

Than all the lions, tigers,
and cheetahs added together.

Half a million perhaps,

Scattered thinly
over africa and asia.

Leopards in india are smaller

But equally adaptable
and careful.

They need to be.

Tigers, wolves, bears,
and lions all live here.

The panther, bagheera,
from "the jungle book"

Is an indian leopard.

He is mowgli's wise friend,

And they battle shere khan,
the tiger.

Tigers and lions
used to rule here.

Now they are more like
rare relics, unable to adapt.

India is more crowded,
and many leopards live

On farms and near villages.

Here in northern india,

Traditional life takes leopards
into account.

Sheep and goats are brought in
from the hillsides.

Children are sent to bed
at twilight.

There are high walls of thorns,
as in africa.

Houses are guarded
by dogs and peacocks.

For a few nights, this village

Is under the watch
of starlight cameras

That use infrared lights,

Invisible to leopards.

There are few large predators
able to live

So close to us.

Some places have hungry bears.

And there are coyotes in america

And urban foxes in europe, but leopards
also live vvith people, largely unnoticed.

The sheep and goats seem
not to smell or hear anything.

The leopard patrols the village
as if it owns it,

Stopping only for a drink.

Maybe that was why it came.

[ Rooster crows 1

Leopards may be secretive,

But there is curiosity

And courage, too.

Perhaps it is wiser sometimes
to investigate danger,

To keep track of your enemies.

Leopards build up an amazing
knowledge of their world.

Much of this begins
when they are cubs.

Back in africa,

We return to our story,

To a leopard mother
and two cuss,

Now three or four months old.

The cubs have
stayed hidden all day,

Doing nothing
to give themselves away.

The gully is a thoroughfare
through the drying plain.

Baboons are regular visitors.

Time to leave.

[ Calls 1

It is crucial one of the baboons
doesn't notice the cubs.

She must feel it is too late
to rescue it without being seen.

Leopard mothers
must make hard decisions.

She melts away into the bushes
with only one cub.

The cub knows to hide,

Without any fuss
or calling for mother.

A baboon stops right in front
of the cub's hiding place.

[ Animals calling ]

[ Squealing ]

It's impossible to know
what gave the hiding place away,

But it seems obvious
the cub was found and k*lled.

Mother leopards may wait hours

Before searching
for a missing cub.

[ Calling ]

The remaining cub tries to help
in the search.

It's not unusual
to lose a cub to baboons.

The majority of young leopards
die a violent death.

But many hours later,
the missing cub emerges,

Miraculously unhurt.

It seems almost impossible.

This leopard cub already knows
the rules --

Fear your enemies,
slink into the shadows,

Hide for hours,
and let nobody see you.

We would never have seen
anything

If this one family
hadn't allowed it,

Accepting us,
after years of patience.

The cubs learn how to hunt,

Practicing on
any passing insect.

The cubs' mother
is always careful.

Like a house cat using a kitty
litter, she buries any evidence

Near the den.

It's not hard to imagine
a family of leopards

Remaining undiscovered anywhere.

But how leopards
can adapt to change

And survive hard times
is the next part of our story.

The plains are drying,
and most of the large animals

Migrate away,

Searching for green grass.

Out there,

Only the tough guys remain.

[ Rumbling ]

Warthogs survive
by digging up roots.

[ Squealing ]

Warthog adults are fearless,
with lethal tusks.

[ Piglet squealing ]

This is a lucky leopard.

During the drought,
she hunts animals

That have an echo
of her jungle ancestry.

Warthogs are like bush pigs,

And guinea fowl are similar to
ground-dwelling forest birds.

dir-dir are like
rain forest antelopes.

And there are monkeys...

Lizards,

Mice, dung beetles.

There is no other predator
in the world

That eats such a range of prey.

Her character adapts

As the landscape changes.

Here is a cat showing us

She can survive anywhere.

Oman, in the middle east.

The landscape looks barren,
just scrub and rock.

The leopard researchers never
see the wild leopards.

They track them with radio
transmitters and camera traps.

Arabian leopards are half-size.

Paler, but otherwise similar.

While her cub hides in caves,

She hunts gerbils, hares,

Small gazelles, snakes,
anything.

People have taken over
the desert oases,

Forcing leopards out.

They've been shot,
poisoned, collected,

And now they're
critically endangered.

Some of the leopards survive
in extremes --

Mountains and deserts.

The rarest live
beyond the himalayas,

Past china,
in russia, around vladivostok.

Amur leopards face
freezing siberian winters.

Leopards have an extraordinary
talent to survive,

But it is not always enough.

There are only about 5o left.

Farther south, rice paddies

And plantations
replace wilderness

All the way to the equator.

Leopards hold out.

Their rivals have disappeared,

And they've become
the only widespread

big predator left...

Unless you count us.

The survivors move between

Tiny refuges --
woods or hilltops --

Within hundreds of square miles
of farmland.

Black leopards, panthers,
are occasionally seen here.

The black is just
a recessive gene,

Like our red hair or blue eyes.

Many were caught
for the pet trade

For the west, until keeping
leopards as pets was banned.

They hunt any small wildlife,

Like ducks or rats.

Farmers claim they also eat
a lot of livestock

And persecute them as pests.

Most people never even see
the neighborhood leopard.

The leopards stay
one step ahead,

Hear people coming, and hide.

Most intriguing of all
are the whispers of leopards

Even deeper in our world.

Around beijing, mumbai,
and jakarta

Are suburban leopards,
fleetingly glimpsed.

They seem to be eating stray
pets and rats and rubbish.

But why not just eat us, surely
the easiesi' prey on the planet?

The answer may be traced back
to where the story started --

The rain forest in africa.

There are no lions
or hyenas here.

Leopards are the top predator.

Yet they still hide.

What are they afraid of?

A g*ng of male chimps
becomes very focused

If they hear
of a leopard nearby.

Their hair stands on end

And their senses strain

As they systematically
set out to terrorize the cat.

This is a strange sort of hunt.

[ Chimp calling ]

Both hunter and hunted

Seem equally afraid
of each other.

[ Chimps hooting and screaming ]

Chimpanzees have been known
to corner leopards

And a1tack them with sticks
and stones, much as we would.

Leopards are very afraid
of chimps,

Especially when they see them
walking upright.

Two million years ago, we think,

Our ancestors here
had fire, weapons,

Walked upright,
and were well organized.

It is easy to imagine
prehistoric people

Terrifying leopards.

It's no wonder they don't think
of us as an easy meal.

A leopard's ancestry gives it
a unique sensitivity and skill.

It can outwit
many dangerous animals.

But a leopard does
have an equal,

A constant threat --

Another leopard.

Back in east africa,

How a family copes
with other leopards

Is the next chapter
of the story.

There are elements
of a leopard's life

That are easy to see --

The changing seasons
and their food.

Their enemies, lions and hyenas,
are violent and obvious.

There is also the invisible,

The rare relationships
of a very private animal.

The family with twins

Has survived, and the cubs
are over a year old now --

Teenagers, as it were.

Their mother could start looking
for a mate soon,

But she's distracted.

The herds of wildebeest are back
in her territory.

She leaves the two cubs alone
for most of the day.

The cubs haven't forgotten about
baboons or lions and hyenas

And wait in the safety
of a tree.

They may not have considered
the threat of another leopard.

A mother's first concern
isn't always food.

Most females spend a lot of time
patrolling their territory

And checking for clues
of other leopards.

She covers 5 or 1o miles a day,
checking trees,

Renewing scent and claw marks.

This is a notice board.

Any leopard can add a message
that will last for weeks.

She can also spray

A more detailed and pungent
signal,

Which reveals if she has cubs

Or is looking for a mate.

Where leopards are rare,
with huge territories,

Th ese messages, and their
rasping calls, are critical.

It is how leopards
find each other.

When leopards finally meet,

It is ofl'en hard to piece
together what's going on.

The male might be on patrol,
checking,

Feeding in the area
for a while first.

His life is all about mating.

She's unlikely to be
interested -- she has her cubs.

But she must be careful.

He may k*ll the cubs

So she'll be available
to breed now.

Their lives are ruled
by distrust,

By secret messages on trees

And rare meetings
with wordless communication.

Leopards live like spies
behind enemy lines.

Her focus must stay on her cubs.

She must look after them
and feed them.

The herds have many eyes
and scare easily.

She has different strategies.

She charges in like a lion,

A new trick
for hunting on the plains.

She brings down
a big yearling wildebeest.

She's tempted by another.

Chaos in the herd
can be a problem,

attracting unw anted attention.

Different ways of hunting
carry different risks.

Hunger could make a leopard

Reckless enough
to confront a thief,

But it rarely does.

Better a lioness has her lunch
than has her.

Meanwhile, the teenage cubs are
testing each other's strength.

The cubs are surrounded
by food, temptation.

They have a chance here
to practice hunting

On the real thing.

The approaching night is

An opportunity
for us to discover

A whole new side
to leopards.

To see anything
in the pitch dark,

We have to switch
to infrared cameras again.

The cubs seem excited,
but not yet ready to hunt.

Leopards are generally
nocturnal,

But with bigger predators
out at night,

It's a more dangerous time
for them here.

[Thunder]

Their mother,

A distance away, is starting,
very carefully, to stalk.

She ventures out into the open.

Darkness is her cover now.

A moth wants to drink
from her eye.

She's determined to ignore it.

Her concentration is total.

Wildebeest calves
aren't so vigilant,

And the night offers
all the help she needs.

In a flash, she's up atree
with her prize.

The stampeding herd will attract
every lion and hyena nearby.

Sure enough, a lioness finds her
and starts to climb.

But lions are not good climbers.

They're too heavy,
not agile enough.

The leopard's meal is safe,

And the lioness
is soon distracted

By another opportunity.

With the lioness gone,

The mother can go
to get her cubs.

She soon discovers they are not
where she lefl' them.

A hyena has found the twins.

One of them flees.

Each of the cubs has
a very different character.

The other rashly
stands her ground.

[ Thunderclap 1

The mother can hear nothing
over the storm.

We don't know what happened.

Maybe the hyena got the cub
in the dark, or lions.

Or, more likely,
it was the male leopard.

Maybe the cub forgot,

For a moment, the leopard law --

Run, hide, be invisible.

A moment of misplaced bravado,
punished.

Now only the male cub is lefl'.

After losing a cub,
the relationship

With her surviving
adolescent son changes.

They become much closer.

She should be finding a mate,

Perhaps preparing for another
litter of cubs,

And encouraging him to move on.

But she doesn't.

She hunts,
while he sleeps and eats.

A typical teenager.

Another year goes by,

And he's still hanging out
with his mother.

At nearly two and a half years
old, he's bigger than she is.

She concentrates on wildebeest
and zebra for them to eat.

She drags meals back for him.

Meanwhile, he sneaks out
at night,

Then eats a quarter of his
body weight for breakfast.

Sometimes he brings back
gruesome offerings

To practice hunting on.

But even a dead porcupine seems
to be able to escape from him.

He is exploring his world.

He learns what is dangerous

Or too big to hunt.

Sometimes he stays
in the river gully

And practices hunting geese.

He targets antelope and hares,
hyrax, or a mongoose.

All leopards learn
to hunt small prey,

A talent that will keep them
alive when food is scarce.

Occasionally a young leopard
can get overconfident.

But hyenas and lions
soon teach him a lesson.

[ Snarls ]

Whenever he runs into problems,
he still has mom as a backup.

As he grows up, it's clear
he's learning to adapt,

Preparing for the future.

Meanwhile, lions look
increasingly precarious

In a modern world.

almost a year after most cubs
would have left,

His mother finally seems ready
to ease her overgrown cub out.

She's courting,
calling for partners.

One morning a few weeks later,

The mother leopard appears ill
and hasn't hunted.

The overgrown cub
is waiting for breakfast.

he's spraying,
ready to mark his own territory .

Inside, perhaps, changing her
chemistry,

Could be the next generation.

Time, at last,
for him to move on.

Young males are forced to roam,

Avoiding territorial leopards,
in search of a new home.

Beyond --
not far for a leopard --

Are towns, then cities.

[ Horns blaring ]

In nairobi, people see them

From the roads
and on landfills at night.

Leopards have secret lives
all over africa and asia,

Adapting to how we have
encroached into their world.

People call them "vermin,"
"problem leopards,"

And sometimes they are.

But there may also be
an overgrown cub,

A truly remarkable character,

Living a secret life undercover

And battling to cope with
problems we have created.

Maybe one day we'll make
more space for leopards.

But until then, wherever he is,

May his ancient instincts
and all his mother taught him

Protect him.

Be adaptable...

Be clever...

Become an invisible shadow...

And slip away.

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what you've seen

On this "nature" program,
visit pbs.org.