As a recapitulation of Big Cat Week 2005 and,
The Big Cat People Podcast, Series II: Big Cat Diary Uncut
Episode 7 – "2005: Honey ad Toto"
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE
Date of Release: 19 June 2023
Being a single cub surviving from a litter, Toto's entire world was centred around his mother, Honey
Photo Credit: BBC
It's Big Cat Week 3 and we're as keen as ever to find ways to move the brand forward. This year the innovation comes courtesy of the team working on Planet Earth, the pioneering high-definition natural-history series first broadcast by the BBC in 2006. A deal has been struck whereby we provide the Planet Earth team with an accommodation in Big Cat camp and they record us a couple of hours of spectacular aerials. So at one point we see the chopper swooping low alongside me as I drive towards Paradise Plain, then soaring like a giant vulture, capturing everything for miles around. Suddenly there is a sense of scale and grandeur — a bird's-eye view of a solitary vehicle racing across the plains, a tiny dot in the wilderness (Scott, Stars 121).
YET ANOTHER dramatic start to Big Cat Week – with full of actions, tenacity and jeopardy – with an essential flavour of renovation. This time, this key notion, jeopardy, was more concentrated than ever. For Big Cat, following and chronicling the cheetah story had been a real dynamic. Over the years, in the case of leopards and lions, there happened to be a singular concentration in terms of the cat dynasty. But for cheetahs, the story was a bit different. They roam over much wider areas, at times, almost ten times larger domains than a lion pride and often turned out to be difficult to catch up with. Over the past few series, the viewers were introduced to several legendary cheetah mothers who turned out to be the stars of this wildlife soap in their own rights. This time, the prime attraction of the show was Toto, a tiny seven-week-old cheetah cub- a single male survivor of the litter his mother produced. 'Toto' is a Swahili word for a 'child'. He happened to be the youngest cheetah cubs, ever filmed in Big Cat – a tiny fluffy ball of fur, seeing whom, it is absolutely hard to repress one's desire of adoration – the cutest kitten that audience can ever imagine.
Tailing with Mom's tail
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10220083383608848&id=1052514656
Toto's mother got a hard deed on her hand to keep her only son alive, a "battle royal". Being a single cub has also have its advantages. It is easy for a mother to keep track of the single cub, as well as there is always plenty of for the lone survivor. This cheetah family was found near the Paradise Plain area on the east side of the Mara River. It was no wonder how vast an area may a cheetah occasionally preoccupy because just three years ago in Big Cat Diary, Simon King had to park his filming vehicle on the west side of the river in the Mara Triangle and head back to camp by fetching the ferry to reach the desired cheetah family. Now, to everyone's utter surprise, that very female cheetah who was filmed in 2002, headed towards the east side of the river, and reappeared once again on the show nurturing Toto — it was confirmed that Toto's mother was none other than Honey. Honey, in the meantime, had raised another litter of four cubs after 2002 – three males and one female – but we would come to their story in the final part of this rendering. How on earth would little Toto manage to hold on his ground against this massive predator infested area, that was the biggest query of all. But at times, it is not always a grim reality for a single cheetah cub to survive successfully. Honey and Toto share their 200 sq. km. home range with another mother and cub – a grown-up one, and she was about to serve as a replica of a successful individual survivor.
Little Duma with her mother in 2004
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 123
The Big Cat team first met Duma (a Swahili word for a cheetah), this sixteen-month-old single female cub with her mother (later named Shakira, who would go on to be a star in the years to come and the very same female who appeared in front of Kike and her three cubs in 2003 series) just a year ago, towards the end of last Big Cat Week. Certainly, it was convincing enough to assume that tiny Toto too could also acquire the same success in surviving. Though encountered and filmed for a special broadcast of Big Cat Diary: Family Histories, narrated by Jonathan Scott, Duma and her mother did not turn out to be an essential part of 2004's Big Cat Week, like Honey and her four quarter-grown cubs of nearly a year old. Keeping their story completely aside was an apt idea of Nigel Pope, the series producer, to endow a strong singularity on the story of Kike's three cubs. However, in 2005, it was absolutely fascinating to catch up with Duma with her mother. She seemed to be doing well, but whether she had acquired any betterment in hunting skills, was a real question. Duma's mother showed every intention to leave her cub on the trail of independence as the cheetah mothers do at a certain juncture, but it seemed she was not yet ready. Ending up everyone's hard query on the prospect, she finally went on. Shocked and inexperienced, Duma kept calling her mother with a little bird-like chirping sounds of hers, but hardly she recognised that her calls were not to be reciprocated by her mother.
Duma trying to catch a grant gazelle
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 117
In the particular episode of Family Histories, the scene of an elephant calf crossing the plains with its mother added a metaphorical tinge, prompting us to realise the contrary predicament of Duma, who had recently been deprived of her mother's association. Over the years, the show had acquired its quintessence of entertainment, alongside its fact-based essence. Many of the cheaper suggestions of using the phraseology like "gang of hyenas" instead of "clan of hyenas" and, 'war' instead of 'battle' were injected from time to time, but those were duly refused. The same entertaining layer of presentation prompted to be true to one of the editorial sections too, let us perceive the direct essence from Jonathan Scott's The Big Cat Man: An Autobiography (2016):
[...] when my producer [Robert Yeoman] asked if I minded the editors using a different end piece to a segment featuring the young cheetah named Duma [the aforementioned broadcast of Big Cat Diary: Family Histories], I refused. Ever since Duma's mother Shakira had abandoned her (as cheetah mothers do) to negotiate the uncertain path of full independence, we had watched day after day as the youngster tried and failed her first kill. It was a fascinating transition to witness, as Duma constantly stopped to call for her mother as she wandered in search of prey. Late one evening, when it was almost too dark to film, Duma finally managed to chase down and kill a young Thompson's gazelle. It was a dramatic moment despite the poor quality of the image, so to my thinking using a previous hunting attempt of Duma's shot in good light to cut with the final moments of the real chase was out of the question. We prided ourselves on the legitimacy of the series (279).
Shakira, Duma's mother, aiming at prey
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 116
Indeed, Duma's success in catching her first prey was not merely a meal, it was a triumph – a triumph towards the uncharted domain of independence. But, would Toto be able enough to make the same? The dangers were around the corner. In Programme 2, a couple of big male baboons started to leisurely move towards Toto and, Honey was powerless to defend. Baboons are known to have killed little cheetah cubs: "And remember, these are the primates that can kill a leopard. And a little thing like Toto – nothing, a snack." The moment was severely agonising as one of the baboons threatened Honey. She had not got many options against those stroppy primates:
The heart of the matter was addressed as we waited for the situation to resolve itself: Toby Strong, the cameraman tasked with filming me, said, 'Jonny, tell me you're not going to stand by and let little Toto get killed by those baboons?' When I said that was exactly what we would have to do he was outraged, asking me to radio our wildlife cameraman for his thoughts on the matter. When he responded that his job was to film what happened, not to interfere, Toby was shocked at our seeming lack of compassion for Toto's plight (Scott, Autobiography 284).
Honey with little Toto on the lookout, always cautious with the thoughts of impending dangers
Photo Credit: BBC
Jonathan commentates on the scene in the series, "We always say you cannot interfere, it is not fair. But your heart is just crying out!" Luckily, the baboons were shifted to their agenda and Toto and Honey got a lucky escape. Later on, in two subsequent programmes, there bumped in the lion troubles. At one point, one big male lion passed through Honey and Toto's hiding place, searching for his allies. In Programme 4, however, we are introduced to a very ominous starting. As the cheetah crew set off finding the mother and the cub, one of the spotters called on the radio saying three adult male lions had been sighted in Paradise Plain and, they were heading towards Toto's Hill, a small rocky outcrop where Honey used to hide the small cub. Another blow and the team was absolutely shattered. In such a state of affairs, cheetah cubs get killed by lions or any big predator. By roaring, stopping, sniffing and sensing the air, the lions were terrorising the atmosphere. Their venture reached its climax when they stopped at a point. And suddenly, to everyone's relief, some lionesses came out. It was sure that those males were after their pride members and ultimately, one of the spotters reported that Toto was found safe. But how long would fortune favour Toto's luck? That was yet to be seen.
The agonising search for Toto
Photo Credit: BBC
After a storm soaked night, Honey and Toto disappeared. There was no result after immense searching high and low, occasionally having sightings of other cheetahs. Jonathan, at one point, was so convinced after having a glimpse of a mother cheetah with her single cub on the south of Talek river – identical to Toto. But, that was a momentary relief as a blissful dream amidst the harsh reality. The young female was bearing a yellow tag on her left ear. Sure enough, she was one of the females whom the Mara Predator Project was keeping an eye on. The crew could only wish success to this young cub. The plight turned more gloomy. Jonathan's crafty use of the phrase "We're losing the light," in the series, does not denote only the arrival of a shabby evening towards the end of the filming as the day drew to an end but also connotes the fading hope of catching up with little Toto once again.
After a storm-soaked evening as seen in Programme 4, both the mother and cub went missing
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 134-35
However, the predicaments with the lions in this series could not be more different than the context of the cheetah story. In 2004, during the last series, the Marsh Pride did not turn up on the scene with their familiar enigma. The two new males that chased off Simba two years ago in 2003, had mated with the Blonde Sisters and after passing their time as mere trespassers, they moved on to further south. Since then, the pride had witnessed several turns and twists. Kali and Notch, the elderly females were gone. Kali seemed to have abandoned her pride and moved into Mara Triangle last year. On one occasion, she was photographed by Angela Scott snatching a Thompson's gazelle kill from Honey and the cubs in early 2004.
Notch, the new pride male of the Marsh Pride
Photo Credit: BBC
Now in 2005, the Marsh Pride was blissed to have their successful core constellation of four adult females – White Eye, Red (Mama Lugga), Lispy and Bibi – all from the litter, born in 1998, the survivors of buffalo trampling and were filmed from the second series of Big Cat Diary as the tiny cubs. They were to carry forward the legacy of the Marsh lions with eight cubs – five males and three females (who would have to go on to be the most shining stars in the chronicle of the Marsh Pride). But above all, it all happened with the strong layer of protection, conjured up by Notch and his coalition partner, the two new pride males. Bibi was eventually reintegrated with the pride but, her two cubs soon went missing, probably perished by the new males.
Simon King with his delightful company of the Marsh Pride of lions, featured adults here are White Eye and Bibi
Photo Credit: Xavier Van der Veken
The eight cubs were ranging from three to ten-month-old and were born between January to June 2005. The youngest member of the pride was Moja, a tiny female cub (later named Charm) along with her brother and belonged to either Bibi or Lispy. After the demise of another blonde sister, Split Nose, Lispy and Bibi got much closer and often referred to as "Blonde Sisters" by Simon King on several occasions, though they were neither direct siblings nor the original pair of "Blonde Sisters" in the pride. To add more about the sub-adults filmed in the 2003 series, they all fleed along with Kijana and the two female cubs (named Maridadi and Young Girl) after the rupture created by the opponents of Simba, their father and protector. They were able enough to put a healthy distance between them and the invading males. Nsu Nsu seemed to act like a bridge up between the new males and the core pride but soon she too got chased off and later on, disappeared. Simba was found at Rhino Ridge, mortally wounded by some young adversaries and vanished. Now, after a natural cycle of restructuring and re-framing, the Marsh Pride represented a true picture of contentment.
Red, the pioneering matriarch with the rest of the pride
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://www.columbusdirect.com/content/jonathan-and-angela-scott-from-big-cat-diary-talk-big-cats-cecil-the-lion-and-the-future-of-conservation/
But this scene of contentment might be a bit misleading. 2005 was turning out to be a strange reproduction of the situation of 2003. Like Simba was left alone to fend for himself and the pride after the death of his elder companion, Blondie, Notch too faced a vulnerable predicament. He did have a coalition partner along with him. A few months before the commencement of the filming, his companion was attacked and killed by three adult males from the Paradise Plain area. The lions can count the number of the presence of their kinds by differentiating the roars. A group of scientists, in order to testify the hypotheses, set up an amplifier to reproduce the sound of lions' roar, hearing which, three males came to investigate and eventually Notch's partner had a nasty altercation with them, having the most fatal consequence, losing his life.
Notch along with his colleague in 2004
Photo Credit: Mark Eveleigh
The scientists never repeated such a process of the survey since these are preoccupied with the chance of getting lions killed at times. In fact, the killers were believed to be the very same males who were legging towards Toto's hill. The cubs that were born during the aforementioned period were fathered by both Notch and his coalition companion, so it is safe to assert that not the whole bunch, but some of them were sired by Notch while the others were either his nephews and nieces or merely some young relatives because we do not know whether Notch's companion was bearing a blood relationship with Notch or not. In the early days in Mara, at least fifty per cent of the lion pride were accompanied by two pride males and forty-five per cent of them were not having a direct relationship with each other. They seemed to have formed a coalition while roaming in their bachelorhood. The same might be the scenario with Notch and his mate.
Notch's coalition partner, who unfortunately was killed by three adult males
Photo Credit: Mark Eveleigh
Notch in Musiara Marsh in 2004
Photo Credit: Mark Eveleigh
Simon had a gut feeling that at any moment, the apparent peace of the Marsh Pride might have been shattered since some of the spotters had reported that a pair of two handsome young male lions were located nearby, looking for trouble and, a fight could take place any time during this Big Cat Week. His assumption came true. Towards the end of Programme 1, Notch was found confronting two young males lions of nearly three-and-a-half-years-old. They were not still fully ready to proclaim a domain on their own. Having an altercation with a full-grown pride male like Notch could also have serious consequences. He was alone but determined to stand his ground. The invaders, on the other hand, though lacked experience and tenacity, were more in number. The table could certainly be turned on the solo fighter, Notch. A sense of brooding danger was built up gradually. But, the Marsh Pride male was found safe and unharmed the next day. Furthermore, to add a twist to the plot, he was being accompanied by a single young lioness (later named Tamu, the star of the next series).
The family frame of the Marsh Pride featuring the cubs with Lispy, Bibi and White Eye
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://www.facebook.com/100044614081365/posts/385335239630276/
Whether the strange female was a part of the Marsh Pride or not, was anyone's guess at the moment. What was inevitable was that Notch was supposed to make most of the opportunities of having an affair with his new girlfriend. The lion copulation literally takes a tremendous number of attempts to produce one healthy cub who would be able to pass its critical first year of life with a good physical state. The young female, however, was certainly having her first oestrus at the moment and, though flirtish enough, seemed to lack experience before a male like Notch, a handsome one.
White Eye and Bibi ganging up the cubs
Photo Credit: BBC
The pride females soon picked up the sense of affair going between the new girl and Notch and immediately burst into action. It was so amusing to watch Notch indeterminate regarding the situation at hand. Simon wonderfully covered up the whole thing:
Rest of the Marsh Girls have just seen what's happening with Notch and this young lady. They're not happy. He's got some explaining to do, she's got some running to do. When you get a catfight like this, it's a very, very mobile affair. This young female is not gonna stand and argue with four adult females and you can't blame that. The male is chasing his new lady. He doesn't know quite what to do, right now, his allegiance is likely to settle with this young female.
Lispy with one of the cubs
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://www.columbusdirect.com/content/jonathan-and-angela-scott-from-big-cat-diary-talk-big-cats-cecil-the-lion-and-the-future-of-conservation/
After the familial harassment, the Marsh Pride with Notch, the pride male, seemed to acquire a fragment of the peace in their turf. They seemed to be satisfied with the hunting opportunities presented to them and, their commitment to motherhood was a thing to be reckoned with. Notch, after losing his coalition partner, seemed to keep a low profile and used to hang on with the adult females. On one occasion, Red and the rest of the pride were seen killing a wildebeest and when Notch approached the kill, it was quite uncanny of a male lion. Simon empathically reassured:
Here comes the big fellow, slowly. Interesting – Notch has definitely lost something of his power in this society. He's right at the back of the group. We expect the adult male in the pride to muscle in and to take the intended lion's share. When he used to be with his buddy, the two of them would be charging in, and nobody would get in their way. Now, it's almost as if he's too nervous to eat! Notch, you really do need to get some of your confidence back. If those younger, bolder male lions turn up, which at some point, they must definitely will, you're going to be beaten up, driven out and, have your family scattered and killed! (Emphasis added)
Notch, cautiously scanning the horizon
Photo Credit: Land and Ocean Photography
Keeping a seemingly low profile and roaring in a limited range might have helped Notch to get safeguarding but, as the series drew to an end, they all seemed contented and the stability of the family looked apparently safe. It was really heartening to recall a rainy play session of the eight lion cubs, absolutely drenched, and playing with full of intensity — "It's really is the kids going off and playing in the street together. Not from the same litter, not from the same mother but, very, very close" — the essential kernel of a pride to succeed.
The Lion [T]rail: Two of the bigger cubs scampering with Moja, the youngest female of the crèch
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 124
While Simon caught up his old friends, the intrepid Saba Douglas-Hamilton once again was back on the trail of the leopards. Last year on Big Cat Week, things went on per expectations. Bella's scrounging son Chui turned out to be quite a character to be reckoned with. In 2005, everyone was hoping to find out Bella with a new litter of small cubs. That would have been an amazing scene to witness – the continuation of yet another legacy. As it always happens with the leopards, Bella did not fail to give a few initial slips before she finally turns up on the scene. Samuel Ruto, one of the spotters, reported on the radio that Bella was tracked down along by the Talek River and it seemed that she was going to cross a point with some purpose in her mind. Nobody was certain whom she was going to meet. The expectations of finding out Bella with cubs was turning out to be more exciting as time passed. Finally, a miraculous discovery was made. To everyone's utter surprise, the entity that was prompting Bella to meet with keen intention was not new cubs or any male in the residence, rather, it was Chui, her grown-up son, who, at that point was a bit more than two-year-old. This was quite unusual. Chui should have been segregated from his mother and ventured out on his own. He was certainly old enough to consider a movement for settling down his own home range. Saba was wondering what on earth had happened to the resident male of the area! The leopard called Golden Ball, otherwise known as Big Boy, Chui's father, should have come and chased off him by the time. In fact, Golden Ball happened to be the same male who killed Bella's male offspring from her litter of 2000 – Olive's brother, fathered by Fig Tree Male, who preoccupied quite a large area around the Talek River, from Fig Tree Camp to Maji ya Fisi.
Chui, the young lad treed by lions
Photo Credit: D. Woods
Last year when the crew caught up with Chui, he was a mischievous adolescent, ready to push his luck around. At times, he was seen scampering with the buffaloes at the river bank – potentially a dangerous game and keeping an eye on a crocodile just a few meters away. This time too, Chui was proving to be a cub at heart. Once again, he was filmed gazing at a full-grown hippo at the bank of Talek River. Hippos are nocturnal grazers and generally prefer to stay out of trouble. A cheeky cat-like Chui was his least bothering. Still, he took no chance and was immersed in the weeds. Furthermore, Chui was proving to be a utopian killer, aiming his glances at a small group of giraffes who seemed to be wondering what he was performing at the moment. Clearly, he was taking the advantage of most of the opportunities, acquired by his mother.
Bella after a hunt at the bank of Talek River
Photo Credit: BBC
Bella, however, was in her old form – a supreme hunter at her best. But, having always the lions and other opportunistic scavengers around the corner, and an overgrown son towing her, hunting down and preserving the kills were real deals. On one occasion in this series, she managed to grab a wildebeest calf at the river bank, but soon after she started feeding on it, a lioness came out of nowhere and chased her off. By 2005, Bella was almost ten-year-old and, was definitely losing her prime. Killing to satisfy an extra mouth was turning out to be an added pressure to her. Thanks to her commitment and tolerance. But the hope of the arrival of any big male during the series was not completely ruled out. In Programme 3, an interesting situation could be unveiled. A hunting scene took place in the series when Saba found herself right in the middle of the hunt, having the vast migratory herd on one side and Bella on the other. But, at the edge of the crossing point, Bella missed the chance.
Bella in the riverine grasslands
Photo Credit: J. Hawks
An excellent hunter, Bella was always an eagle-eyed cat to pick out the opportunistic twists. In 2005, a spin-off series called Big Cat Uncut was broadcast on BBC3, immediately after the broadcast of the main series. This special projection, narrated by eminent Hollywood actor Jamie Theakstone, consisting of six spectacular programmes (whose fragments are still available on the YouTube platform of BBC Studio), highlighted the special "behind the scene" moments of a total of seven series of Big Cat, filmed so far with Simon King as the explicating presenter of the sequences. Thereupon, we renovate a special segment featuring Bella, trying to hunt down Thompson's gazelle (seen in Programme 3). As the herd crossed the river and moved upwards, Bella let the first gazelle go, and exploded on the immediate next one who happened to follow the first passer-by – the lucky one! It just goes to show how calculative a leopard can be at the moment. By the end of the series, Chui was still hanging out with his mother, showing no sign of departure. It was still uncertain whether any new male would turn up on the scene during the final days of filming. Bella was starting to show her age with a relatively short temper and a slightly grizzled look. Only the time would say whether she was going to be caught up once again with a new litter.
Spotting the Leopard: Saba Douglas-Hamilton on the trail of Bella
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 109
This series of Big Cat Week turned out to be more special because of its occasionally glittering reappearances of some of the old stars. Saba and the leopard crew had to give up the search for Shadow the leopard two years earlier in the 2003 series and, had to switch to Bella as the next leopard star. Though the presenters and the guides received the updates on Shadow from time to time, she finally made a guest appearance in this series. There was no mistake who the leopard was because Shadow had an arch-like pattern of five distinctive spots just under her right eye – "Shadow's personal trademark," as Jamie Theakstone narrated. The footage, however, was not shown in the main broadcast of the series, rather, it was incorporated in Big Cat Uncut and more significantly, in Big Cat Diary: The Big Story, the tenth-anniversary special feature of the show, where Saba reintroduced her with her own charming presence:
Well, this is quite a surprise on our first morning looking for leopards. We've come across an old friend of Big Cat Week. This is Shadow. She's so lovely. We actually haven't seen Shadow for three years – she'd been completely lost! She's about the same age as Bella, probably nine-and-a-half-year-old to this stage — in fantastic condition and, she has these seamless features – beautiful smooth ears and lovely unscarred face which shows in this area she's quite clearly the Queen Bee.
Shadow reappeared on the screen
Photo Credit: BBC
Alongside witnessing the tosses of life and death, Jonathan and the cheetah crew caught up with their old friend – the show's glamour queen, Kike. One of the greatest and lovely elements that people love in Big Cat is following individual stars from one series to the next. So, in Programme 3, when Kike turned up on the scene, accompanied by a young male, everyone was delighted. This happened to be a clear indication that she was in oestrus and the team was likely to witness a fractious element of wilderness – the cheetah courtship. As Kike jumped on the filming vehicle of Warren Samuels, the dedicated mind to film cheetahs for the series, it was discovered from her teets that she had lost her latest litter quite recently. As Kike decided to give the male a slip, leaving him perplexed and frustrated on the ground, the agonising monotony began. The male was certainly not one of the cats who developed a habit of climbing onto the vehicles. Wilson Wemali, the spotter and Warren had a waiting session of seven long hours in the field with the yearning to record an affair of mating. They did not intend to miss a chance and so, a prolonged waiting for a "nature's call" was quite obvious. After the long trail of monotony —
Kike on Warren Samuel's car
Photo Credit: I. McCarty
Eventually Kike jumped down and rolled on the ground in front of the young male, who looked inexperienced around an oestrus female. We waited all day for the courting couple to mate until, desperate for a pee, Warren and I moved away for a moment, leaving Angie to keep watch. Just as we were relieving ourselves Angie called on the radio to say the cheetahs were about to mate. We scrambled back into our vehicles, but it was too late – copulation in cats is brief at the best of times – and we missed the shot. Next time we needed to pee we would definitely use an empty water bottle! (Scott, Stars 130)
Kike on the bonnet of a filming vehicle
Photo Credit: J. Ansley
But everyone's heart was pondering with fear and curiosity regarding what happened to little Toto —
By now we have run out of time, and I must draw a line under events for our audience: 'Two days after we left the Mara we received news from Simon and his wife Marguerite, who had stayed on to film a sequence on cheetahs for Planet Earth, that Honey had been found — but without little Toto. We'll never know what happened, but the odds were always stacked against him. It's harsh out here and these are real-life dramas — inevitably for some of our cats there just can't be a happy ending.'
Honey was found alone, without little Toto after the ending of the series
Photo Credit: Xavier Van der Veken
— Jonathan explicated the singularity of emotion for little Toto in Big Cat Diary: The Big Story:
It was so different from when I had seen the lion cubs being attacked by the buffalo – I sat there, I did my job – I watched, I recorded and you saw, the audience saw. The results... this I suppose maybe because it was a single cub, so your focus was so much on the individual. So, he became even more of a character. Because he was one, he wasn't just one amongst six or eight lion cubs. He was the one little entity and I have been rooting for him to survive.
The series touchingly ends up with the recapitulations of Notch and the Marsh Pride, Bella and Chui, and Kike with her mate, and the end credit consists of the footages of tiny Toto, rejoicing his tender presence in our hearts.
Toto had stolen the hearts of about 7 million audiences worldwide. It was hard to see him disappeared without a trace. We, the viewers, are still delighted to recall his charm till the date.
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 123/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10220083383608848&id=1052514656
References
Scott, Jonathan. Angela Scott."Spirit of Survival". Stars of Big Cat Diary. United Kingdom: Evan Mitchell Books, 2009. 120-135. Print.
— "Big Cat Diary". The Big Cat Man: An Autobiography. United Kingdom: Bradt Travel Guides, 2016. 263-287. Print.
Credits
Presented By
Simon King
Jonathan Scott
Saba Douglas-Hamilton
Photography
John Aitchison
Gordon Buchanan
Simon King
Hitesh Makan
Warren Samuels
Simon Bell
Pete McCowen
Toby Strong
Michael Kelem
Sound
Andy Hawley
Engineering Manager
Andy Milk
Editors
Nick Carline
Deborah Williams
Assistant Editors
Ivan Jones
Andy Derbyshire
Online Editor
Tony Osborne
Music
David Poore
Dubbing Editor
Paul Fisher
Dubbing Mixer
Adam Palmer
Graphic Design
Burrel Durrant Hifle
Acknowledgement
Collin Welensky
Governors' Camp
Maasai Mara National Reserve
Narok County Council
Production Team
Nikki Andrews
Lisa Asch
Pete Blackwell
David Breed
Natasha Breed
Chris Brennan
Charles Kerore
Japhet Kivango
Robert Chebusit
Willy Gitai
Ian Johnson
Jacob Lelesala
Sammy Munene
Samuel Ruto
Angela Scott
Wilson Wemali
Frances Sadera
Wilson Lolpapit
David Sexton
Production Co-ordinators
Jenni Collie
Jolie Bradfield
Production Manager
Lisanne O'Keefe
Producers
Colin Jackson
Adam Chapman
Marguerite Smits van Oyen
Series Producer
Nigel Pope
Executive Producer
Sara Ford
A BBC/ Animal Planet Co-Production
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