♪ Djenguet: All the mums are here.

Ah, the cubs are there.

[Lion yowls] Look, look, look.

I'm pretty he's saying, "Mum, mum, I'm hungry again!"

Heh heh!

Narrator: There are now nearly 40 lions and cubs in the Xudum Pride.

Djenguet: The mothers--just don't know how they do it.

The cubs constantly wanting some milk from you, constantly nagging you.

I couldn't be a mother lion.

No way.

Ha ha ha!

♪ There's Tsebe.

Narrator: Young mum Tsebe recently gave birth to 5 cubs.

[Cubs mewing] ♪ [Flies buzzing] Djenguet: It's breakfast time.

♪ It's very rare to have 5 cubs.

Narrator: Only 2% of litters are as big as Tsebe's.

♪ Having so many cubs indicates a healthy pride, but their survival is not guaranteed.

Djenguet: Lionesses only have 4 nipples.

How do you feed 5 cubs simultaneously?

♪ Tsebe's just feeding her own cub, and one of the 9 ladies' cubs is just moving in.

[Growling] ♪ Ooh!

Ooh!

Poor Tsebe.

You know, she's having to deal with this.

She's got a big cub trying to squeeze in and suckle.

Just really, um, doesn't help.

♪ Narrator: At this age, each cub needs to drink more than 20 fluid ounces of milk a day.

Djenguet: Tsebe's going to need a lot of milk to go around.

♪ If Tsebe doesn't provide enough food for them, the cubs will suffer.

Narrator: To stay healthy and keep her 5 cubs alive, Tsebe needs to eat more than the other lioness mums.

[Cubs mewing] Finding enough food as the flood dries up and temperatures soar will be tough.

♪ Gordon is taking over the evening shift to see if Tsebe can get a much-needed meal.

♪ OK.

Climbing down the tree.

Last little hop.

Tsebe's seen or heard something.

[Growling] Narrator: It's the rest of the pride.

Oh, they're talkative tonight.

[Growling] I'll tell you what, it does get the heart pumping when you have lions roaring right next to you.

We've got a huge team of lions out in the floodplain this evening.

♪ [Growling] ♪ Some of the other lions have made a kill, and there's a lot of "Rawwr, rawwr, rawwr!"

Narrator: One of the dominant pride males is joining for his share.

Everyone's just piling in.

All of the females, cubs.

Narrator: It's a meal that Tsebe needs... ♪ but there are too many lions to share it with.

[Growling] Hartman: Absolutely insane situation at the moment.

It's absolute chaos.

[Growling] There's not much left now.

It's just the rib cage and the spine.

[Growling] Uh-oh, uh-oh!

Uh-oh, uh-oh!

Somebody's getting clapped.

[Growling] You'd think that this pride increasing in number would make them a stronger pride, but actually, it weakens them in many ways because you've got limited resources divided many, many times.

How you gauge success isn't really just making a kill.

It's how many lions you're splitting that kill with.

[Growling] Hartman: There's so much competition amongst the Lions, and a lot of these lionesses put in the hard yards, and they've got nothing from it.

[Growling] Buchanan: I do feel for these females.

Narrator: The pride's growth is now outpacing its food supply.

That was intense.

Narrator: With less prey available, new mum Tsebe and her 5 cubs will be the first to go hungry.

♪