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S43E4: Lions of the Skeleton Coast | Clip

Extraordinary Lion Behavior Caught on Camera

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Orphan lion cubs Alpha and Bravo reached the ocean and made the Skeleton Coast their new home. Here, they learned how to hunt and eat a new set of prey from the marine ecosystem: seals.

TRANSCRIPT

- [Narrator] When Philip caught up with them, he was just in time to witness the most extraordinary lion behavior he had ever seen.

- [Philip] They started hunting.

I noticed that the seal had come ashore and they were stalking the seal.

- [Narrator] Alpha and Bravo had made their first seal kill.

But this new kind of prey came with new challenges.

- [Philip] They initially struggled quite a bit to handle the seal with a thick pelt and the blubber.

They didn't understand how it was made up, and they kept on rolling it around.

It was difficult for them to penetrate.

This is a species of which they had no understanding, of their biology, of how they live.

Lions have a really good understanding of the behavior and natural history of their prey animals, but this is a species of which they know nothing.

And there I was, sat on the beach next to the lions feeding on their fresh seal kill.

I was so elated.

After all these years, seeing the lions back on the beach, and I thought the world has to see this.

- [Narrator] The young lionesses would keep returning most nights, combing the beaches in search of individual seals coming onto shore.

And having mastered the skill of hunting this newfound marine prey, the Skeleton Coast became their new home.

- [Philip] This is something I've always dreamt of.

The lions not only returning to the coast but learning about how they live there.

And Alpha and Bravo made that dream come true.