THE LAST LIONS

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD & BLUE RAY

Running Time : 92 minutes
DVD US$34.00

From the lush wetlands of Botswana’s Okavango Delta comes the suspense-filled tale of a determined lioness ready to try anything—and willing to risk everything—to keep her family alive. In the new wildlife adventure, The Last Lions, filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert follow the epic journey of a lioness named Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions”) as she battles to protect her cubs against a daunting onslaught of enemies in order to ensure their survival.

Fleeing a raging fire and a rival pride headed by the dangerous cub-killing lioness Silver Eye, Ma di Tau and her fragile cubs must make their perilous escape by swimming a crocodile-infested river. Remote Duba Island is both a refuge and a strange new world for Ma di Tau and her cubs to conquer. On Duba, Ma di Tau must face off with the island’s herd of fierce buffalo whose huge, slashing horns are among the most dangerous weapons in Africa. Although the buffalo are one of her biggest threats, they are also one of her best hopes for survival if she can prevail over them. Yet, even as Ma di Tau faces devastating loss and escalating perils, she becomes part of a stunning turning point in the power dynamics on Duba Island, bringing together a competitive rival pride in a titanic primal bid to preserve the thing that matters most: the future of their bloodlines.

The gripping real-life saga of Ma di Tau, her cubs, the buffalo, and the rival pride unfolds inside a stark reality: Lions are vanishing from the wild. In the last 50 years, lion populations have plummeted from 450,000 to as few as 20,000. Dereck and Beverly Joubert weave their dramatic storytelling and breathtaking, up-close footage around a resonating question: Are Ma di Tau and her young to be among the last lions? Or will we as humans, having seen how tough, courageous and poignant their lives in the wild are, be moved to make a difference?

EYE OF THE LEOPARD

Running Time : 92 minutes
DVD US$34.00

“An extraordinary film about one of the world’s most amazing cats.” - Charlie Gibson, ABC Nightly News

“You always seem to be just in the right pace at the right time!” - Victoria Maberly ABC Nightline

DVD just released to the market, this film follows the remarkable life of one small leopard from when she is just 8 days old every step of the way until she is 3 years old and on the brink of adulthood. Legadema, as she is named, works her way into your heart as she slips in and out of danger virtually every day, running from baboons and hyenas but also making landmark strides in hunting and surviving. It is the story of a mother and daughter relationship as well as that of an emerging huntress in Botswana’s magnificent Mombo region of the Okavango Delta.

Download Lessons of the Hunt PDF

LIVING WITH BIG CATS

Running Time : 52 minutes
DVD US$34.00 Excl. VAT

This intimate story is about the relationship between two passionate filmmakers and the big apex predators they have worked with. Dereck and Beverly Joubert, filmmakers, researchers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence have worked with lions in Botswana for over 25 years trying to discover as much as they can about these big cats. Unravelling many myths, and unveiling new behaviour to science.

Today though they change gears and set out to study a different cat. They struggle to adapt to the new habitat, a different pace, and a very elusive cat challenges their resolve. But when they find a leopard of 8 days old their lives change. As they follow the cub and her mother, two wild leopards in the Mombo area a special kind of bond starts to develop between the humans and these elusive cats. Their film Eye of the Leopard tells the story of this young leopardess as she grows up. This film tells the story of the relationship that she develops with Dereck and Beverly, one that turns their lives upside down, challenges their ethics and over 25 years of working limits. It is passionately told, and in many ways a story of internal conflict, testing of boundaries and seduction... The seduction of Dereck and Beverly Joubert by a young leopard who came out of its den and into their lives.

For many years viewers around the world have asked to see how the Joubert’s work, a behind the scenes look at what makes a major National Geographic documentary and at last we have it in this work.

RHINO RESUCE

Running Time : 50 minutes
DVD US$34.00

Is Extinction forever?
Well not in Botswana, This country with a big heart and large wildlife area covering 27% of the countryside lost its rhinos, every last one of them to poaching in the 1980’s. Park Officials rallied and introduced white rhino back into the wild. In the 1990’s they went extinct in Botswana for a second time. This is how it happened.

“In May 1991 we were driving up the border of a national park miles away from anyone and heard gunshots. I went in and tracked for sign of what was happening, giving Beverly instructions to wait 30 minutes and if I did not come back to drive the 3 hours to Savute for help. I found nothing, and returned but something bothered us, and I flew back and searched fro the air… and found a black rhino shot dead, still bleeding and with its horn removed, poached. It was a pivotal event because this was the last black rhino in Botswana, and in fact we didn’t even know it existed. I called General Ian Khama, then head of the army and asked for help. He gave us 30 men and we searched together, and found that in fact poachers had been very active and had also shot 20 elephants. Over the next few months, he increased the patrols to 800 men and systematically wiped out poaching” That took us up to the end of the century.

In a fantastic association driven by Wilderness Safari’s a commercial safari group, the government department of wildlife and a handful of private people, it was decided that the region was safe once again to attempt another re-introduction of rhinos. `It was a huge risk. Not only would a failed attempt close this effort down forever, but it raised the question of increasing poaching once again. Transporting rhinos to the middle of the bush is a massive task. Enter the Botswana air force! So suddenly this effort was upgraded and rhino were being flown around the subcontinent in military transporter planes with military guards. But this is really the story of two characters, one rhino, born free and wild, the first in twenty years, and the man who walks with them each day.  Mpho(which means Gift) has a unique relationship with the rhinos.

It is also a testament to a man who once headed up the army’s efforts at Anti poaching then as vice president when the first rhino’s were release and today as the President of Botswana, that under his watch, rhinos have been rescued from extinction. Mpho everyday tracks and finds rhino. One night he had a dream, a haunting dream about a rhino baby just born, and impossible dream because it was just months after rhinos were flown up and released. The next day he went out and saw the tiny tracks and he wept. A rhino had been born, and she had been transported in the womb survived the journey, one that is arduous enough for an adult. The film is shot in places like Top Gun with low angles and action sequences. At other times it is a personal story of a man who is determined to see rhinos running free in his country again, and steeped in African mythology about how we, like the ancients have a connection to these animals.

RELENTLESS ENEMIES - Lions & Buffalo

Running Time : 92 minutes
DVD US$34.00

In an amazing place called Duba Plains in Botswana, a relatively new island is home to three prides of lions and just over a thousand buffalo. The interactions that happen each day are intense. Three prides compete for the prey but far from being a one sided relationship where lions hunt from the herd, it has become a battle between them with lions often being chased and occasionally killed as well.

The intensity and rawness of this, almost exclusively day time, hunting, is unique. But the opportunity to witness there battles is a rare chance to see and analyze what makes Africa so interesting to us, the chance to see life so transparently on the edge and to think about why we are so fascinated by these extremes.

ULTIMATE ENEMIES - Elephants & Lions

Running Time : 72 minutes
DVD US$34.00

Over eight years of filming in the northern wildernesses of Botswana, the Jouberts have now released this follow up to their famous Emmy Award winning film Eternal Enemies; Lions and Hyenas.

A young pride of lions sets out on a grand adventure, leaving their safe home range and walking west into the unknown. When they finally arrive at a water hole, it is a vision of paradise, except the huge bull elephants that dominate stop them from drinking. Their first kill, a kudu, secures them a place in this territory but this strange status quo changes one day. Two huge bull elephants lock tusks in a battle. One elephant collapses and the lions come out of the shadows. What happens next changes the course of nature in this area and affects the relationship between these two ultimate of enemies as the lions develop techniques for hunting the largest animals in their range.

The sensitive narration of Jeremy Irons sets the mood for this inspired film that blends scenes from nature that have never been witnessed before with a symphonic film score and poetry, creating a surreal experience. The Jouberts understand the nature of wilderness and wild things, and they reach deep inside themselves to help us experience and understand it the way they do in this film.

ETERNAL ENEMIES - Lions & Hyenas

DVD US$34.00

For ages the story of the ancient rivalry between two of Africas most bitter eternal enemies has been shrouded in the secrecy of darkness. Each night is like a battlefield as this war of wits plays itself out between the hyenas and the lions of Savute in Botswana.

Dereck and Beverly Joubert have studied and filmed the lions in Savute since 1981. Because of the unique privilege of working at night they have at last been able to bring to the screen the truth about how lions and hyenas behave in the darkness.

This is the story of one clan of hyenas and one pride of lions as they interact with their neighbours and with each other, surviving each night only by displaying strength and aggression in what can best be described as a blood feud between two eternal enemies.

This has become one of the most popular wildlife shows ever produced with estimates of a quarter of a billion viewers so far, achieving almost cult status in many countries.

The film works well as a first part with Ultimate Enemies for an all round in depth view into the lives of lions in Botswana.

ULTIMATE BIG CAT COLLECTION

Running Time : 72 minutes
DVD US$65.00

ULTIMATE ENEMIES: ELEPHANTS & LIONS
A young pride of lions sets out on an adventure, leaving their home and walking west into the unknown. When they finally arrive at a water hole, it is a vision of paradise, except the huge bull elephants there that stop them from drinking. A duel between these two ultimate of enemies begins as the lions develop techniques for hunting the largest animals in Africa.

ETERNAL EMEMIES: LIONS & HYENAS
This is the story of one clan of hyenas and one pride of lions as they interact with their neighbours and with each other, surviving each night only by displaying strength and aggression, in what can best be described as a blood feud between two eternal enemies. The film has won an Emmy and world recognition as a landmark nature film.

LIVING WITH CATS
This story is about the relationship between two passionate filmmakers and the big apex predators they have worked with. Dereck and Beverly Joubert, filmmakers, researchers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence have worked with lions for over 25 years. Today though, they change gears and set out to study a leopard. This film tells the story of the special relationship that the filmmakers form with a leopard cub as she grows up.

RELENTLESS ENEMIES: LIONS AND BUFFALO
This is a beautiful film about the story of one pride of lion and one herd of buffalo isolated on an island in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. The film shows, in intimate detail, the struggles between these two enemies and the extreme hunting of lions in this deep swamp water.

EYE OF THE LEOPARD
This is an intimate look at the life of a leopard from when Dereck and Beverly Joubert first found the cub on her eighth day, until three years later as an adult. She is a wild leopard hunting the forests of Mombo in Botswana’s Okavango delta, and this story is about her life, her relationship with her mother and her constant battle against the local baboon troop.

BIG CAT ODYSSEY
Each bone in the field tells a story about a kill that they witnessed and every lion is an old friend. A leopard stole their hearts and changed their lives and turned them from admirers and observers into more active advocates. Dereck and Beverly, National Geographic Explorers in Residence, have been filming and following big cats for 30 years. This odyssey of theirs has resulted in one of the greatest understanding of cats to date.

LIONS OF DARKNESS

Running Time : 70 minutes
DVD US$34.00

In the early eighties three magnificent male lions marched into Savute in Northern Botswana, and the area changed forever. For the next three years, they dominated, fighting off other males, mating with the resident females and protecting their pride of lionesses and new cubs against any threat.

One young cub the Jouberts called Tau ( simply meaning "Lion" in Setswana ) soon becomes the focus of the story and it is through his eyes that the complex society of a lion pride is revealed. Intermixed with the narration of Keith David, the Jouberts are also heard explaining some of their own feelings while getting to know the lions, living out their lives with them and witnessing the trials and hardships, joys and delights of lion life.

The story deals with male lions in three critical phases of their lives, an intense study of male lion in a way that reveals the entire life cycle of lions. The film runs slightly longer than normal at 70 minutes.

Watch as lions stalk the night, battle with hyenas for the possession of carcasses and bring down gigantic buffalo in contests that last for hours. These are not only socially complex societies but also truly the masters of the African night. They are also the very symbols of Africa in our minds, their behaviour inspires and intrigues us as it has for millions of years.

REFLECTIONS ON ELEPHANTS

Running Time : 52 minutes
DVD US$34.00

The mysteries of the most intriguing creatures in Africa are revealed on screen here.

Silent language, gentle demeanor and a race against the elements to survive the ebb and flow of Northern Botswana's seasons is what seems to make elephants here what they are. While the species is becoming endangered elsewhere in Africa Botswanas herds are thriving and provide the ideal situation for this film; an open range of many thousands of elephants.

The story of two young calves is the hinge for investigating the lives of all elephants as they march for the water they need so desperately each year. For the first time serious contact between lions and elephants appears on film as with the underwater sequences as they swim across the Chobe river.

When an old bull elephant dies, the resulting behaviour of other elephants is astounding. A haunting ritual, not unlike ancient burials in our society is displayed, just one of the many facets of discovery in this cinematic exploration of their behaviour. Are they even more intelligent than we thought?

Considering the logical rescues of calves stuck in mud, their language skills, the compassion and caring attitudes between them, and on some occasions, to other species and the investigations of the dead it is likely. Rituals, and mystery, it is hard to leave them without a certain amount of reflection, not only on their behaviour but on ours too.

PATTERNS IN THE GRASS

Running Time : 52 minutes
DVD US$34.00

Zebras leave their trails across 300 km of grassland in Botswana on a yearly migration that begins with the first rains.

At first the hazards of huge herds migrating together is daunting enough but at each stage of the migration more and more of their vulnerable lifestyles is revealed.

From when they leave Linyanti in the north the zebras of Northern Botswana must run a gauntlet of death. However, along the way we come to know the zebras as they know each other; as individuals, not as one moving mass of striped horses. Each zebra fits into a hierarchy, each with a pattern as different as our own fingerprints and every one part of a small family group.

Patterns in the grass are left by these delicate painted horses, but each year these patterns become fewer and fewer. Less important than Pandas and rainforests? Perhaps, but who will take care that in time we are not left with only the patterns in the grass?

THE STOLEN RIVER & JOURNEY TO THE FORGOTTEN RIVER

Double DVD Pack Running Time: 104 minutes
(two 52 minute films on one disc)
DVD ZAR 199.00 Excl. VAT

THE STOLEN RIVER
The Stolen River is a riveting and immediate story of the historic moment when the Savuti Channel in Northern Botswana suddenly withered away leaving what was once a beautiful wetland to bake under the African sun. But with this intense drying up, a whole range if interactions start to emerge. A hippo pushes lions asside to get to the spilled stomach contents of a dead elephant, elephants dig down into the earth for water and hyenas turn adversity to their advantage.

JOURNEY TO THE FORGOTTEN RIVER
Journey to the Forgotten River follows on from The Stolen River, and journeys with the animals that did not stay, but chose early on to leave the wreckage of the disappearing river and go in search of the rovers of the north. One traveller on the 120km trek is a female hippo, and we follow as she trudges across the interior, and finally makes it to Linyanti. Her urgency is soon explained. She has the next generation to think about. A classic moment in film, from Journey to the Forgotten River is the duel between a female warthog and some jackal, who are determined to snatch her babies.

WILDLIFE WARRIORS

Poachers and intrigue, but is there something positive in African conservation? In Botswana, definitely! This film by Dereck and Beverly Joubert about the way the government of Botswana, and more specifically, the army under the leadership of General Ian Khama, reacted to the threat of poaching.

In the early 1990's a black rhino was shot by poachers and the army was called in to help. After an initial team of 30 men were put into the field they found out that poaching was rife and that the job of hunting down these hardened outlaws was not going to be easy. The force increased as did the poaching. The film follows the soldiers through their extraordinary training with lions and snakes, among other things, and then out into the field.

The chase is long and hard, set against the backdrop of Botswana's magnificent wildlife. Elephants react to the poaching by becoming shy and nocturnal. Hippos are forced into pools and battle over territories and lions at first glean the rewards as scavengers and then find themselves also under pressure as their food diminishes. Eventually the lions have to prey on young elephant and do battle against the rest of the herd to protect their kill.

While the soldiers use all of their tools; guns, helicopters, vehicles, horses and boats, the poachers use their own special weapons; wire snares, AK 47s and fire. While the wildlife adapts to the changing circumstances around them these two opponents of the same species do battle for the possession of Botswana's wild places in a spectacular fashion.