Big Cat Diary

Big Cat Diary, also known as Big Cat Week or Big Cat Live, is a long-running nature documentary series on BBC television which follows the lives of African big cats in Kenya’s Masai Mara. The first series, broadcast on BBC One in 1996, was developed and jointly produced by Keith Scholey, who would go on to become Head of the BBC’s Natural History Unit. The original presenters, Jonathan Scott and Simon King, were joined by Saba Douglas-Hamilton from 2002 onwards. The Natural History Unit originally wanted to film in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, but when this proved too expensive, they switched to Kenya. Filming is timed to coincide with the arrival of the annual wildebeest migration in the Mara, which is when the most predators gather to take advantage of abundant prey.

Each series has followed the daily lives of a lion pride, a cheetah family and a leopard family. The crew, which can number up to 60 people, use specially modified 4WD vehicles to travel around the Mara, tracking, spotting and filming the cats. The presenters also travel in the vehicles, addressing the camera as the action unfolds in front of them. They use names and develop personalities for particular cats to draw the audience into a relationship with them, creating empathy for the characters. The similarity to soap operas has led to Big Cat Diary being called "the original wildlife soap opera". Notwithstanding the popularity of the show, this technique has drawn criticism from some quarters for trivialising and sanitising the natural world.

Originally intended to be a one-off series, Big Cat Diary proved so popular that a further eight series have been broadcast to date, plus occasional specials. Recent series have drawn audiences of over 7 million viewers to BBC One, and spawned a number of other programmes using the same 'Wildlife Diary' format, including Elephant Diaries (2005, 2008), Chimp Week (2005), Big Bear Week (2006) and Orangutan Diary (2007). For the first few series, the episodes were broadcast weekly, but since 2004, they have been shown on consecutive nights over the course of a single week. The 2004, 2005 and 2006 series were called Big Cat Week. Since 2005, the Big Cat Diary website has carried additional video footage from the field and in 2006, a spin-off series called Big Cat Uncut was broadcast on BBC Three immediately after the BBC One episodes.

In July 2008, the BBC Natural History Unit announced it would be returning to the Masai Mara in October 2008 for its most ambitious live international broadcast, Big Cat Live. Kate Silverton and local Masai guide Jackson Looseyia join Simon King and Jonathan Scott for the nightly live programmes on BBC One. Saba Douglas-Hamilton will not return to present the series. Additional content will be broadcast on CBeebies and bbc.co.uk and the new website has already gone on air. The live programmes will air between 5th and 11th October 2008.

The cats

The lion prides

• The Marsh Pride

They have been the most successful group to be filmed for Big Cat Diary. They have appeared on the show every year since the show started. The longest-standing member of the pride was Khali, who was eight years old when Big Cat Diary started in 1996. The surviving cubs of the 1998 buffalo attack are now the oldest lionesses in the pride. These are White-Eye, Red and the Blonde sisters (one of which is Bibi who was kicked out of the pride in 2003, but later allowed back in).

• The Ridge Pride

This pride has only appeared in the more recent series. The main lions in this pride are Cheza and Sala. These two are young cubs that are growing up together despite having different parents. They were one of the main features of the 2005 series. Now as adults, they have since joined forces with another young lion from the Ridge pride and taken over a nearby pride.

• Tamu and her four cubs

Tamu, focus of the 2008 series, is a lone lioness with four cubs, fathered by Notch of the Marsh Pride. Tamu is a social outcast. Tamu has to hunt alone, keep her strength up and provide for her four cubs. She is met with hostility from all lions, especially the lionesses from the Marsh Pride. Tamu lost one of her four cubs in a lion attack.

The cheetahs

• Fundi and Cubs

In the first series, the show followed Fundi and her adventures trying to protect her cubs. There were two cubs. The male cub was a mischievous cheetah and the other always followed her brother. This usually led to trouble.

• Amber (sometimes known as Queen)

Amber was first seen as mother to three small cheetah cubs, one later named Kike. She had a distinctive notch in her right ear. Amber was one of the first cheetahs to jump onto the jeeps and use them as vantage points to spot danger or prey. She was last seen and filmed in 1999.

• Kimbia

Kimbia was the territorial male cheetah in 2000.

• Kidogo and cub

Kidogo was also part of the first series and continued for many years onwards. A first-time mother, Kidogo hunted regularly to keep her cubs well-fed; this led to her being a very entertaining cat.

• Kike and her three cubs

Amber's daughter Kike returned in the first Big Cat Week in 2004. Discovered at Rhino Ridge, Kike was mother to three small cubs. This was Kike's fourth litter but she hadn't previously raised even a single cub successfully. Like her mother Amber had done, Kike used the jeeps as vantage points to watch for danger or prey and even occasionally as toilets. The three cubs went on to appear in the 2005's Big Cat Week. In an October 2008 webcast for Big Cat Live, Jonathan Scott confirmed that Kike has not been seen for a while and as she is old for a cheetah, he believes she has probably died. He confirmed that her three cubs have survived and that one of the females, now named Itchy, has mothered cubs of her own.

• Honey and her cubs, including Toto

Honey first featured on Big Cat Diary in 2002, where she was struggling to raise three young cubs, even to the point of seeing off a male lion to keep them safe. For 2006's Big Cat Week, viewers were introduced to her young cub, Toto, a Swahili word meaning ‘little one’. Honey was not actually credited on screen as Toto's mum because this was not known until after the filming of the series. When he was first filmed, it was estimated that Toto was only 6-8 weeks old, making him the youngest cheetah cub ever to be filmed on Big Cat Diary. Keeping Toto alive seemed to be a constant battle for his mother: he survived close encounters with baboons, lions and other dangers. It is estimated that only 25% of cheetah cubs make it to maturity.

In the final episode of the series, Toto went missing overnight after a storm, and was not found. It was reported a few days later that Honey, was found living alone. Nobody knows what exactly happened, but little Toto had not survived. The end credits that year consisted entirely of footage of Toto.

Honey returned in the 2007-2008 series. When filming began, she had four cubs, but one, a female, was soon lost in a lion attack. The cub was last seen alive feasting when Jonathan Scott noted that Honey was being risky by letting her cubs feed for so long. The cub was found the next day by Honey, dead, in a thicket of grass.

In February 2007, nearly an entire year before her final appearance on screen Honey was killed after a tragic blunder by a vet when the vet shot her in the wrong place with a tranquilising dart. The dart did not go into the muscle but hit her in the stomach near her kidneys. Oblivious to his mistake, the vet went on to treat Honey's cub while she was left out in the scorching afternoon sun.

As of April 2008, Honey's three remaining cubs, all males, are doing well. After her death, the Mara Conservancy had to provide food for them for several months. However, they are now fully grown, hunt on their own, and are self-sufficient. It is believed they have even taken down an adult Topi. The three of them are now quite a killing machine when they hunt together.

In October 2008, the three now fully grown sons of Honey were filmed during Big Cat Live. They have all formed a strong bond and are actively seeking to mate with females. Unfortunately, this led to them having a confrontation with Shakira and her cubs. Thankfully, they did not hurt any of them.

• Shakira and her cubs

In series three (filmed in 2005) of Big Cat Week, Jonathan Scott (whilst following the story of Honey & Toto) introduced us to Duma and her mum (later named Shakira). In a special Big Cat Diary broadcast after the series, Jonathan told the story of Duma in more detail. This included her leaving Shakira for the very first time making her an independent cheetah.

For Big Cat Live in 2008, Jonathan Scott again followed the story of Shakira. This time however, Shakira had five baby cubs. Sadly, two of them died during the series. So far, the three remaining cubs have survived, all of which are females.

The leopards

• Half-Tail and Shadow

Big Cat Diary only followed one leopard family through each generation. This family started with Half-Tail. Half-Tail was one of the most famous big cats and appeared on the show for quite a few years. She was named Half-Tail after a baboon (or possibly lion) chase in which she lost half her tail. Half-Tail only ever managed to raise three cubs. Shadow and Beauty were her daughters and were both featured in the series. She also raised a male cub called Mang'aa. Half-Tail had her sixth and final litter of cubs in 1998 but was sadly killed when she attacked the livestock. As her cubs were too young to fend for themselves they died shortly afterwards. Shadow was to be the next leopard they followed and she went on to have a cub herself called Safi, who was rather shy of the cameras. When the show returned in 2004, a new family was chosen ending the line. Shadow was filmed briefly for Big Cat Week series three (broadcast in 2006), however the footage was not shown during that series. The footage would later air in a special documentary.

• Bella and family (sometimes called the Jackson five )

Bella and her son Chui appeared on the show together for three years. They first appeared in 2004, when Bella was mum to two small three month old cubs, Chui and his sister. Months after filming ended, Chui's sister vanished. It later became clear she was dead, probably killed by lions. In 2005, the public and crew said goodbye to Chui and saw what should have been the final shots of them together, as he would leave Bella's side and protection sometime after filming. In October 2006, it was announced on their website that Chui had now been chased away by the resident male and Bella was now mating again. Chui has now been reported to have moved to a new territory down river, where he was seen a month ago mating with a new female in Bella's adjacent territory. In Big Cat Live, we were introduced to Olive. Olive is Bella's daughter from 2001, before Chui was born. Olive has three cubs, one male, eight-month-old Kali and two twin females, Ayah and Binti, independent from their mother. Bella, Olive, Ayah, Binti and Kali have been nicknamed the "Jackson five" because new presenter Jackson Looseyia has been following their progress.

International broadcasters

• Canada - Animal Planet
• United States - Animal Planet
• Portugal - SIC
• Mexico - Canal 40
• Turkey - TRT 1
• Australia - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Sweden - Animal Planet

Spin-offs

Various spin-off programmes have been made, although most only lasted for one series. They are:

Big Bear Week

Jonathan Scott followed the brown bears, Saba Douglas-Hamilton followed the polar bears and Jeff Turner followed black bears. They were all situated in different parts of Canada. It aired in 2006 soon after the third series of Big Cat Week.

Chimp Week

Filmed over eight years in Tanzania, it followed the lives of chimps and aired in January 2006.

Elephant Diaries

Two series that aired in 2005 and 2008. Each consisted of five episodes shown daily for a week. The elephants were orphaned and rescued by the David Sheldrik trust and therefore not wild. Michaela Strachan was following the younger elephants and Jonathan Scott was following the younger elephants in voi. It is unlikely to be recomissioned.

Orang-utan Diary

One series, shown in April 2006. It was filmed at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and showed the lives of rescued orang-utans. It was presented by Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard.

External links

• Big Cat Diary at BBC Online
• The Mara Conservancy Blog: The Mara Triangle
• Big Cat Live
• Orangutan Diary
• Elephant Diaries
• Chimp Week