It's hard to describe how important it is to me in northern Botswana.

Lions move out of the delta because all the territories air occupied.

So as they move out, they get into these high conflict zones around these villages, where livestock are often the only food that the lions confined.

Yeah, that was really the genesis of pride in our pride's.

We knew we had to do something.

We're working with communities to help people coexist with these cats.

If livestock are killed, people are gonna be more motivated to go after the lions.

So it's really about helping people protect their livestock and, in the end, protect lions.

Mhm.

The early warning system is based on the satellite tracking collars that we put on the cats so we can warn the village that ah, particular lion is approaching at a particular time, so make sure that your livestock are protected.

We're closing in on one of our Lion Ness's, which we hope to call her tonight.

My anger is one of the lines that we started the program with about a year and a half ago, when we put out our first satellite collars.

She was one of our target animals because we know she's one of the individuals that likely moves into this floodplain.

With that conflict.

Interface happens well.

The footage we're collecting is to learn more about line behaviors on particularly things that interactions with cattle are coming into community properties.

A caller will go on the line and the collars meant to stay for a couple of years.

This is the critter cam.

Critter Cam is a short term tool.

It's only meant to stay for a few days on.

There's an animal walks around.

The camera hangs below the battery pack.

My Yanga made it back in July 1 of the things that we had in mind is that she's likely with Cubs that are about 3 to 4 weeks old and she's not.

She's not.

She's really close.

Yeah, I'm looking at thes cheese, but I would like to go this sizes and just maybe we can get behind picks direction.

How is it So we gain past great, too.

She is.

I'm the term right now and she's walking in the open.

Erica E think I saw the collar.

It's a redress.

It's a reverse it together.

Her.

There she goes, right?

Vet didn't hesitate.

Yeah, we had a bit of an operation to try to make sure that she was safe, that the Cubs were safe and that we were able to swap the callers quickly.

Outflow.

Outflow.

Oh, that.

Yes, animals wake up like that during anesthesia is different animals and their impulses to get away.

Hello.

She's obviously has some adrenaline to try.

Toe fight the drug.

She's big.

She's got a big belly.

I think she's down.

But listen, when she wakes up, she is not going to eat us.

Mhm, but not that quickly.

Let me put it that way and look at the stomach.

Nobody ever said Yes.

Bad explains why she doesn't want to go down.

Maybe that she's heavily pregnant because they tend to then fight the drug tremendously.

Since we hadn't seen the Cubs in that moment and she had a full full belly, you know, we're starting to second guess ourselves.

What's going on?

She actually still pregnant.

You may actually see something in the critter cam.

Mhm eso as we're watching this footage, she's doing what lions do.

Basically rest.

And then there's the cups.

Oh, my God.

You gotta be kidding me.

Way.

See this little fuzz ball in the corner?

And this small cubs starts moving towards her.

It signals.

Later in the footage, we start to see two cubs come out.

Oh, that covers a least three weeks old.

So then it means that she had So we had the date right?

A few weeks old, just as we had previously predicted.

And then they start toe play and tumble on each other.

It doesn't get better than this.

This is exactly what we're looking for.

Oh, man.

We were so surprised and happy have that confirmation of the Cubs to see them so healthy and to get that inside view at that early stage is hugely valuable.

Nothing.

What?

We've already started using this footage and it's been edited down.

It's the villages that actually name the individual lions in our study.

And we've gone to some of these communities to be able to show them Oh, you know, my nga, she's actually has cubs.

And when there's a trigger of our early warning system.

When she starts approaching, the village will be able to send messages using that name.

The critic cams help us personalized and individualized.

These cats, people who live in these villages close to the lions that have just basically a negative association.

Lions mean dead cattle.

They get this window into the lives of these lions, and they get to see them in a different context.

We hope that this helps drastically reduce the killing of livestock, drastically reduce the killing of lions and create greater tolerance and to create greater connection.

And then we hope that that helps us get closer to coexistence.

Mhm!

Yeah, Yeah!

Mhm, right.