Rare animal behaviors were captured in a new BBC wildlife documentary series.
The series, titled “Kingdom” and narrated by biologist Sir David Attenborough, follows leopards, hyenas, wild dogs and lions in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley over five years. Elephants and baboons are among the other animals featured in the series.
In one snippet, a pack of wild dogs chase a pregnant hyena after she tries to take their food. However, the dogs are then distracted by a lion taking the carcass, allowing the hyena to escape.
As the lion drags the carcass away and the dogs disperse, Attenborough notes that kings of the jungle “can take anything they want.”
“We could never have written a script like this, only nature could write this script,” executive producer Mike Gunton told the BBC.
The documentary will premier on BBC One at 1:20 p.m. EST on Sunday.
The Zambia Carnivore Program (ZCP), a conservation group, protects animals in the southern African country. According to the program’s website, its mission is “to conserve Zambia’s large carnivores and the ecosystems they reside in through science, action and strengthening local leadership.”
ZCP team members logged over 5,000 days in the field last year, according to its annual impact report. The group also intensively de-snared 16 large carnivores, vaccinated nearly 3,000 domestic dogs against rabies, monitored 1,262 carnivores, conducted 13 herbivore surveys and held 280 awareness events regarding human-wildlife conflict mitigation.
The report also said that ZCP monitored and protected over 480 lions, over 455 wild dogs and 280 spotted hyenas in 2024.
ZCP also works with communities more effectively co-exist with wildlife via outreach programs, clean sweeps and vaccination programs. The goal, the report states, is to convince those living in close proximity to wildlife to “become more appreciative of the benefits of conservation.”
