Premieres Wednesdays Sept. 18 - Oct. 16, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app
BIG CATS 24/7, a new-six part series, will transport you to Botswana’s wild Okavango Delta where a team of local and international filmmakers use the latest filming technology to follow lions, leopards and cheetahs day and night, revealing the lives of big cats like never before.
Filmed in one of the most dynamic locations on the African continent, BIG CATS 24/7 captures the big cats’ battle to survive through dramatic changes within their families and their home. An elite camera team including wildlife cinematographers Gordon Buchanan, Vianet Djenguet and Anna Dimitriadis, led by Brad Bestelink and his local camera team, documents the dramatic lives of individual lions, cheetahs and leopards for six months, over two extreme seasons.
This raw and unfiltered observational wildlife series shows their fight to survive in an increasingly challenging world. From unprecedented wildfire to floods and extreme drought, the African cats and the BIG CATS 24/7 camera crew are tested to their limits.
With extraordinary, unparalleled access, filming from the ground, the air and through the night in an area unvisited by tourists, the BIG CATS 24/7 team works together to follow the cats’ lives around the clock while forming unique bonds along the way. A revolution in low light camera technology enables the filmmaking team to capture previously unseen behavior at night, while cutting-edge drones are able to track the big cats’ movements like never before, as they battle for supremacy in a brutal and unforgiving environment.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1 Premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The BIG CATS 24/7 team begins a six-month expedition following lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Okavango Delta, but a huge wildfire threatens the resident big cats and the team.
Episode 2 Premieres Wednesday, September 18 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV - The team continues following the Okavango Delta’s big cats after a huge wildfire. The dominant male lions fight intruders, while leopard and cheetah struggle to get a meal.
Episode 3 Premieres Wednesday, September 25 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - A fight with intruders leaves the lion pride males injured and the mothers with cubs vulnerable to attack. Xudum the female leopard takes risks to find a mate.
Episode 4 Premieres Wednesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The Okavango Delta is transformed by the arrival of the flood, bringing new challenges for the big cats. The lion cubs experience water and the danger it brings for the first time.
Episode 5 Premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - The BIG CATS 24/7 team witnesses a baby boom in the Delta. Lioness Matho must protect her cubs along while the leopard Xudum reveals her newborns with danger looming nearby.
Episode 6 Premieres Wednesday, October 16 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV - Lion numbers continue to grow, but there’s not enough food to go around. A lioness risks her life to feed her five cubs and Xudum’s newborn leopard cubs face a deadly threat.
Watch On Your Schedule: BIG CATS 24/7 will be available to stream on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.
Credits: A BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for PBS and BBC, with BBC Studios handling global distribution. Executive Producers: Roger Webb and Tom Jarvis, the series producer is Rowan Crawford and the production manager is Gillian Goodlet. Narrated by Adetomiwa Edun. Bill Gardner is Editorial Consultant for PBS. Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS. It was commissioned for the BBC by Jack Bootle, BBC Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Sreya Biswas, Head of Commissioning, Natural History.
