Cheetah Tales

Synopsis

The story of a mother cheetah, her offspring, their challenges and hope for the population as told from the perspective wildlife film- makers, Brent and Wium of Painteddog.tv.The mother cheetah, Mabaibai (elegant in the Spedi language), gave birth to 5 cubs, and with cheetahs being at the bottom of the predator hierarchy in the African wild, Mabaibai has about a 30% chance of raising then to adulthood. Over a year she faced many challenges, such as attempts by the local male lions trying to catch and kill her and her cubs, and yet she managed to raise 2 of her cubsto adulthood. We then follow the 2 young adults as leading conservationists relocate them to the Bangweulu Swamps in northernZambia, and they become the first free roaming cheetahs in the area in over a 100 years.Parallel to this, we also follow a mother lioness, Nyeleti (star in the Shangaan language), who gave birth to 4 cubs at around the same time as Mabaibai, with Brent and Wium documenting how much easier it is for a lion mother in the wild as compared to a cheetah mother.