As a recapitulation of Big Cat Week 2006 and,
The Big Cat People Podcast, Series II: Big Cat Diary Uncut
Episode 8 – "2006: A Lioness Called Tamu"
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE
Date of Release: 28 June 2023
Tamu with her cubs in the Marsh
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott
Last year on Big Cat Diary, Notch, the leader of the Marsh Pride was caught having an affair with a new female. Bella was still hard at work, providing for her scrounging son Chui. And, Toto's mum battled baboons, lions and elements in an effort to keep her only son alive. But sadly, Toto's mum lost the battle. Now, one year on, the drama continues...
The series opens up with a refined recapitulation of what happened in the previous Big Cat Week, comprising the moments of tenderness and tenacity. Now, after a year in September 2006, the Big Cat team returned to catch up with the latest progress of their beloved feline stars. As he had been doing from so many series of Big Cat, Simon King, once again ventured out on the trails of the lions, the biggest one of Maasai Mara's feline. He was delighted to be back with the Marsh Pride of lions once again. Last year, several fragmentary disruptions shattered the familial peace from time to time but in this series, they seemed to be inevitable. Notch, the adult pride male was still in charge and, having no further harassment from any invading band of males, he seemed to gain back his confidence. The four females, whom the audience fondly called The Golden Four – White Eye, Red, Lispy and Bibi, were still in charge as the core matriarchal kernel of the pride and they seemed to be invincible. All their eight cubs – five males and three females – had survived and turned out to be bumbling two-year-old adolescents. But, besides this picture of contentment, someone was there out of the frame. Simon was to find out who she was and what predicament dawned upon her to stay in the fringe of the Marsh territory.
Simon drove into the Bila Shaka Lugga to trace out the fact. This area is widely known as the nursery of the lion cubs, born in the Marsh Pride. It would be so exciting why this lone female had chosen this patch of ground to keep her head low. Soon he discovered that she was the same female who the lion crew filmed in the last series, courting with Notch, the pride male. Whether or not that mating bore any cubs was anybody's guess but what was confirmed at the moment was that she turned out to be a mother of four healthy cubs, not more than six-week-old. Simon named the female Tamu (a Swahili word for "the sweet one") as she immediately turned out to be a star character of this series of Big Cat Week. For a lone lioness mother, it is tremendously hard to raise her young ones without the support from the family – the timely formed up crèch by several mothers. Tamu's predicament as a single mother would test her courage at every nook and corner and at times, she would have to push her luck. The four adult females were less likely to accept her as one of their own in the pride even though Tamu was supposed to be distantly related to the Marsh Pride.
Two of Tamu's cubs
Photo Credit: Bob Eveleigh
Jonathan Scott dates back some events in Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009) and tells us:
Our hunch was that she was one of the two young females [named Young Girl and Maridadi] who used to hang out with Nusu Nusu and the young Kijana – the ones we had seen four years earlier disturbing Mama Lugga [Red's other name for her extreme commitment to motherhood] and her first litter of cubs [In the fourth series of Big Cat Diary when Saba joined as a new presenter and shared the Marsh Pride's tale]. That would explain the age difference between the older females in the Marsh Pride, who were eight years old, and Tamu, who was around four. Also, Tamu was in excellent physical condition – groups of lionesses often beat up strangers who invade their territory, and she showed no signs of this, which made it likely that she was a relative.Wherever she came from, Tamu lived on the fringes of the Marsh Pride – like Bibi, she seemed to be the only surviving female of her age group – and we knew watching Bibi's struggle two years earlier that Tamu would have an uphill battle to keep her cubs alive. It wasn't impossible – Bibi was eventually reintegrated into the nurturing fold of the pride and her cubs survived – but it was certainly going to provide us with the jeopardy our producers craved (138).
Simon King keeping an eye on Tamu and her cubs after the devastation caused by the rogue male
Photo Credit: BBC
And certainly, this very family turned out to be real fireworks of jeopardy as three of the Marsh Pride sub-adults bumped into her and immediately chased her off. By the end of Programme 1, it seemed to the viewers that Tamu managed to escape by jumping into the river or clinging on to the patches around the river. Eventually, the news from the lion crew lightened everyone's agony. She had been reunited with her cubs during the night. The next day, Simon headed back and watching on screen, we, the audience can still feel the sense of relief as he recorded her after the harassment of the previous day and reassured: "Tamu, you're gonna have to enjoy these moments of peace because you've got an uphill struggle ahead of you. So just keep your head down, keep those cubs hidden and look out for trouble."
Tamu with one of her cubs
Photo Credit: BBC
But the moments of peace could hardly be enjoyed. Soon after the harassment by the young males from the pride, a rouge male was spotted nearby. And, this could mean only one thing. Although on his own, there was a least chance to proclaim a takeover if he found Tamu's cubs, who were certainly fathered by Notch from the Marsh Pride, he would kill them to bring Tamu in oestrus within a few days to mate with her and fetch his gene pool through her. The male slowly advanced and stood about 15 metres away from the den site. He stalked and pounced upon one of the cubs, grabbing it by the chest. The cubs cried out with pain and fear and instantly, Tamu launched herself onto the male with a terrifying snarl, aiming for his head. The male dropped the cub immediately and ran. Chaos reigned and within a few moments, the serene picture of tender motherhood turned out to be a fierce defender. Tamu clawed at the heels of the invading lion and drove him away before she made her way back to her cubs —
Presenter Simon King speculating Tamu's prospect
Photo Credit: Angela Scott
Simon is stunned by what he has just witnessed. He knows all about infanticide, but it is rarely seen and almost never filmed. He punches his fist in delight at the thought that Tamu has saved her cub; his relief is palpable. '[Unbelievable! That's telling him! Well done Tamu!] Unbelievable, I thought for sure that he was going to come and kill the cubs. [...] What a mum Tamu is. [Now that is what you call defending your family. Well done girl!]' What Simon doesn't realise yet is that from John's [John Aitchison, worked together with Simon King in Springwatch] camera position the audience has watched the male grab one of the cubs before Tamu forces him to release it. Simon can't see this from where he is – he can only commentate on what he has witnessed, proving just how real it is for all of us out there – we tell it as we see it and tidy up the loose ends later. It is the immediacy that counts (Scott, Stars 143).
As Notch had his other cubs in the pride to protect, Tamu and his family were left alone. Photographed one is one of the adolescent females having a play-fighting with her father
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 146
Tamu was only able to collect two cubs initially- one safe cub and the injured one, immediately following the aftermath. After two days of escaping with them to a distant new den place, she finally recollected her two remaining cubs who were missing so far. The cause of the death of the injured cub was but the fatal wound, inflicted by the rogue male. Simon emotionally grasped the moment in Programme 3:
And we've got a wonder what's going through her mind now. Is that just confusion? Does she understand it's gone? Does she understand there's no more hope for it? You know, this is tough but it also displays the incredible sensitivity of these animals. Sometimes, it just looks like lions are nothing but raw aggression. But when you see this, the complex thinking hesitates to use the word 'caring', but what is this? This is a display of... to me, it looks like affection.
Tamu acknowledging the death of her cub
Photo Credit: BBC
The audience can find it out in Programme 4 as Tamu and her three remaining cubs – two males and a female – investigated, licked and acknowledged the death of the cub. The next day, she decided to move her young ones into the Bila Shaka Lugga which was predominantly frequented by the Marsh females: "Another huge trek for Tamu and the tiny babies. Each of them taking six or seven steps for every one of hers." In spite of the danger proposed in such proximity to the Marsh females, she dared to take the cubs there. Red ultimately attempted to oust Tamu and her cubs in attempted attacks upon her: "Oh, oh. Red from the Marsh Pride is making her way towards her and I don't think it's to invite her over for tea." – Simon urges Tamu in the series to keep going since she was being chased by perhaps the most powerful lioness in the Mara. The rationale for this decision is that although she was endangered by this, her cubs would be spared by Notch, the very male, who fathered them. The next day she was still in search of a safe heaven for the cubs and herself: "It's easy for Tamu to negotiate this land, but for those little guys every tussock is a hill, every termite mound is a mountain and every narrow ditch is a lake for them to cross. There are so many new things, so many new life experiences all pilling in top of each other." However, in the final episode of the series, the audience can heave a sigh of relief as Tamu finally managed to recollect her missing cub – a little female: "I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. I don't know how she feels but ... I know that that little cub was alone for a whole night surrounded by the rest of the pride. But she's got it back. She is just the best mum." They emerged from the reed to a wildebeest kill that Tamu made earlier. Indeed, they had been gone down a storm during the filming of Big Cat Week and Simon assures that, having almost all sorts of disruption, perhaps they would be just one step advance on their trail of survival.
Tamu with two of her cubs
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009)/ p. 138
The lions' story certainly turned out to be a captivating engagement for the audience of this year's Big Cat Week, but everyone had been yearning to know what happened to little Toto. There was only one conclusion: Toto was no more. It was sad to speculate such an end to Big Caf's most desired little star. As one may come to know from the last series, his end was put in the final programme of the series in quite a euphemistic way – a notion of sincere empathy. But as it happens to every cat in the Maasai Mara, their story continues. No sooner than the 2006 series aired on television, we catch up with Jonathan Scott and the rest of the cheetah crew fetching a ferry to get to the other side of the river – to Mara Triangle. Jonathan introduces: "It's so good to be back in Kenya's Maasai Mara. I'm following the cheetah story again this year. Now, we've had words that an adult female who might be Toto's mum, has been spotted on the other side of the river to where our camp is. So, we're hitching a ride on the ferry to go and figure out exactly who it is." Words came from Japhet Kivango, one of the cheetah spotters. Crossing the river and reaching on the west side to catch up with the cheetah family was something that the cheetah crew had previously done in 2002. Now, the same routine was about to preoccupy the team.
Honey and the cubs on a termite mound
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://images.app.goo.gl/9MXGQ7gpnQvX6fmPA
Mara Triangle still happens to be one of the promising zones for the cheetahs to flourish – an area with lesser traffic and low-density tourism with a vehicle called Cheetah One, a conservation effort that was funded by Big Cat Diary and Jonathan and Angela Scott, The Big Cat People. To everyone's delight, the process of monitoring the activities of the tourists and ensure privacy for the cheetahs with small cubs was working finely. Early 2006 proved to be a good time for Honey since she gave birth to five cubs in the Triangle. By the time when the filming was begun, there were four cubs – three males (the legendary Honey Boys of the future) and a female. It was a real happiness to see Honey in excellent health, nurturing her four boisterous youngsters. The cubs were about six-month-old and proved to be fearless in the presence of vehicles by reaching the spare wheels of Warren Samuel's filming vehicle. Chirs Brennan helped to coordinate the crew's effort and tracked down Honey's whereabouts each day on his GPS. Honey happened to be much nomadic. For cheetahs, there lies nothing called a fixed territory. When she was on the east side of the river in Paradise Plains with Toto in 2005, that was quite a harsh time. But now, all seemed to be settled down.
Jonathan Scott in his happiest mood, speculating the pure essence of wilderness
Photo Credit: Angela Scott
In Programme 1, Honey was seen making a wildebeest kill. Cheetah mothers often try to grab something bigger whenever she has to take care of a larger number of cubs. Honey's four cubs were already grown-up enough and pretty demanding. Earlier in the same episode, she was seen stalking an eland calf but eventually gave up. Jonathan was quite worried about the fact of their staying on the kill till late evening. Honey looked before and after and made sure whether the stampeding herd of wildebeest had attracted any unwanted attention. The next day when the crew set off, Angela Scott called on radio reporting that Honey was spotted near a rocky outcrop but there were only three cubs. The spirit of the team was dismayed. Everyone was speculating that the cub might be momentarily lost and would be picked up by her mother and siblings very soon. But as the time passed, tension mounted up. Even the three little male cubs too started calling with the mild chirping sound of theirs. With their mother around, it was sure that these calls definitely meant something else. They were calling their little sister. Eventually the cheetah family began to return to the same spot where they feasted on the kill last evening. Vultures were scattered around the carcass and the cheetahs were seen sniffing something on the ground. Cameraman Warren Samuels moved close to check out what actually happened. It was the cub! Warren called on the radio and confirmed the news. Jonathan drove his vehicle on the spot and picked up the gory. It was likely that the family bumped into a lion and it was too late for the female cub to escape. If hyenas would have killed the cub, they would have devoured their victims. Certainly, it was a deed by any lion.
Honey and three male cubs
Photo Credit: S. Bedford
"Honey and her surviving family have moved away from the place where the cub was killed. They need to put the loss behind them, and so do I," — The cub was put to rest and Honey had to move on for the sake of her three remaining survivors. A number of hunting attempts turned out to be successful. In Programme 3, Honey and her cubs were again about to encroach the lions on a hunting prospect. The clouds were densing darkening the horizon, an opportune moment for the cats to grab a meal. The cheetahs were again on the same hunting ground with lions. An ambience of tension indeed for Jonathan and the cheetah crew. He happened to be so concentrated on the moves of the cheetahs that the proximity of the lions was literally overlooked. Asking Chris Brennan about the position of the lions and figuring out in the mirrors, he came to know about the closing of the gap as one of the lionesses was hiding herself from her prey behind his car, and as we can see in the series, commentating him with a tensed tinge of remorse: "Oh my God! I'm so stupid! Am I stupid? Am I really stupid? [...] I don't believe that. I was so concentrated on where those lions had been." Sure enough, the chance of any further encounter was not to be ruled out. But as the lions attempted killing, Honey and the cubs were spared (much akin to a situation when Kike bumped into Marsh lions in 2003 – common scene on the plains, see Part 5).
Honey's cubs on Warren Samuel's car
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ Stars of Big Cat Diary (2009), p. 148
The next day the crew set off to find out the cheetah family but to their surprise, two adult male cheetahs were tracked down by Japhet Kivango. They were identified as Honey's brothers, the maternal uncles of these three youngsters. They were identical in each of their steps and gestures and that happens to be a behavioural entity, acquired from living life together for so many years. Males cheetahs are known to have formed up coalitions consisting of brothers or even unknown nomads. Jonathan relates in the series the prospect of three cubs of Honey – when they would grow up, they would be a force to be reckoned with. Three of them in number – even better. The cheetah brothers scattered a herd of wildebeest and moved on, checking out whether there was any calf to grab. Soon after, Honey and the cubs were tracked down. In the scorching midday heat, they sought refuge beneath Jonathan's car, while Honey moved away under the shade of a tree. Starting up the engine, Jonathan made the cubs pop out so that they might not lose sight and the proximity of their mother. It was so interesting to see how cautiously these young brothers approached Honey until they got a call from her. Just a careful display of a lifestyle that was to be adopted by these cubs. On the final day of Big Cat Week, one of the three cubs were seen frightened on a balenites tree. He came down and soon it was confirmed that a lioness chased him off and treed. Honey eventually faced off the lioness – a young two-year-old. If often happens that being stumbled by the attack from an unexpected opposition, the mighty ones too give a slip. Honey provided us with one of the most spectacular scenes, charging on the lioness and eventually chasing her out of her patch. By scrapping her feet on the grounds in stone-throwing proximity of the lioness, she just declared her determination. Jonathan relished the moment of relief —
What made the sequence of Honey's confrontation with the lioness so powerful were the camera angles, Warren and Wilson managed to be virtually in two places at once, capturing both the lioness's head-on approach and Honey's viewpoint, pulling focus from one cat to the other. That took quick reaction and perfect timing; they had to think ahead so they knew exactly the right position for the camera. You need a deep understanding of an animal's behaviour in order to know exactly where to be, and when (Scott, Stars 148).
The prospect of the three cubs was promising:
These three are going to boss, they're going to rule the area they settle in. It may not be right here, they'll probably move away from their mum's home range, but they will stick together for the rest of their lives. And why? Power in numbers, easier to hold a territory, easier to look out for danger, easier to hunt.
It would be so fascinating to witness their prospect in a year when Big Cat would be recommissioned.
Jonathan Scott with the cheetah family
Photo Credit: Angela Scott
While there were so many chunks to share in the lion's as well as in our cheetah's story, catching up with the leopard's tale this year was tremendously hard for the crew. Once again, Saba Douglas-Hamilton was heading up the leopard team to find out Bella, the star of the past three series of Big Cat Week. And they were smack in the middle of the actions! Bella had been in oestrus and attracted the attention of different males around the corner. At one point, the spotters located four males in the area, all of them showing passionate interest in her. Saba was enquiring whether one of them was Chui, Bella's son from her last litter who should have been three-and-a-half years old then. But those happened to be some unknown males. One of them – 'a giant of an animal' (Scott, Stars 139), bearing an impressive dewlap and a massive head, was tracked down in her home range. That bruiser happened to be Big Boy, otherwise known as Golden Balls. It seemed that Bella was sharing her patch with the boundary between at least two of these male leopards in the area —
[...] so even though it is difficult to see what is going on among the bushes the sounds are pretty descriptive — roars, rumbles, growls and snarls mixed with the unmistakable caterwauling of mating. It is quite a performance [witnessed and filmed only once in Big Cat Diary, featuring Beauty, Half-Tail's daughter and one of the huge territorial male back in the first series in 1996], sadly conducted in the shadows of deep cover for which Talek is well known and one reason why it is such a good area for leopards (Scott, Stars 139).
Bella in solitude
Photo Credit: Colin Jackson
After a few days, Bella finally got rid of the males and returned to solitude, preferring rather typically 'being a leopard'. However, it was so fascinating to watch the whole leopard crew cooperating in a small area to catch up with all the different males and Bella. Several hunting attempts we can witness in the series, conducted by Bella. Some of them were lost to hyenas and lions – a typical predicament. Meanwhile, the crew traced a young female in a gardenia bush with a Thompson's gazelle kill hanging by the side of her resting place. Although it seemed to be a chance of encountering Olive, Bella's six-and-a-half-years-old daughter but from a close inspection, Saba narrated her to be a female called Mbili, one of Bella's neighbours.
Saba Douglas-Hamilton, heading up the leopard crew
Photo Credit: Angela Scott
Bella, however, showed her great and varied adaptability attempting to grab wildebeest, topi, dik-dik and Thompson's gazelle. On one occasion, she hunted down a hare, although initially, it seemed that she was after a zebra foal, targeting a small herd. There were always lions and hyenas prowling at the corner to give a jip, frequently driving her away from the kills she made. When it all seemed to be too harsh for her, she might at least seek refuge to any of the giant fig trees, featuring characteristics of the Talek area, "leaving the lions and hyenas staring wistfully skywards (Scott, Stars 147).
Mission Bella: Saba and the crew in action in the presence of some tourist vehicles
Photo Credit: BBC
With no cubs to look after, Bella turned out to be more exclusive than ever. Still, finding her out and spending time with her was a treat for the crew – yet another chance to speculate the secretive and solitary world of a leopard. A leopard does not want to be seen either by its prey, by a threatening predator like a lion, or by humans. So, chronicling this phase of her life was seriously interesting. Everyone hoped that she might have had yet another litter of cubs from this mating. It was yet to be seen how Bella bounce back on the scene of Big Cat once again.
Supu, the Kicheche female with her six-month-old cub. The leopard crew came across these cats on one occasion when it was tough finding Bella
Photo Credit: Jonathan and Angela Scott/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=345960210234446&id=100044614081365
References
Scott, Jonathan. Angela Scott."Jeopardy on the Plains". Stars of Big Cat Diary. United Kingdom: Evan Mitchell Books, 2009. 136-149. Print.
Credits
Presented By
Simon King
Jonathan Scott
Saba Douglas-Hamilton
Photography
John Aitchison
Gordon Buchanan
Simon King
Warren Samuels
Pete McCowen
Richard Slater-Jones
Gavin Thurston
Sound
Andy Hawley
Engineering Manager
Andy Milk
Editors
Nick Carline
Steve Phillips
Assistant Editors
Dan Clamp
Melissa Warren
Online Editor
Tony Osborne
Music
David Poore
Dubbing Editor
James Burchill
Dubbing Mixer
Andrew Wilson
Graphic Design
Burrel Durrant Hifle
Acknowledgement
Collin Welensky
Governors' Camp
Viewfinders
Maasai Mara National Reserve
Narok County Council
Mara Conservancy
Production Team
Lisa Asch
Pete Blackwell
David Breed
Natasha Breed
Chris Brennan
Paul Kirui
Japhet Kivango
Robert Chebusit
Willy Gitai
Ian Johnson
Jacob Lelesala
Sammy Munene
Samuel Ruto
Angela Scott
Wilson Wemali
Production Co-ordinators
Jenni Collie
Ellie Williams
Helen Healy
Production Manager
Lynn Barry
Producers
Lizzie Bewick
Adam Chapman
Huw Cordey
Series Producer
Nigel Pope
Colin Jackson
Executive Producer
Sara Ford
A BBC/ Animal Planet Co-Production
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