African predators engage in their own ‘Game of Thrones’
SAVUTE, BOTSWANA It’s a jungle out there.
Two prides of lions, the royalty of the bush country here, fight for control of territory. A leopard tries to protect her cubs from the lions. A pack of wild dogs confronts hyenas and elephants tromping through the dogs’ camp.
Think Game of Thrones of the animal kingdom, where families fight for their land. It is a fitting parallel to describe the conflict of wild beasts in this drought-strick- en land. They are the stars of a three-part special, Savage King
dom, which airs on NatGeo WILD beginning Friday night. Fittingly, the series is narrated by Charles Dance, who played Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones.
A visit to this area of Chobe National Park, sponsored by Nat Geo WILD, underscores the extraordinary lengths the filmmakers went to capture the amazing conflicts that occur here.
Watching these animals in their natural habitat is also a poignant reminder of their daily struggle to survive — not only from the threat of the harsh natural conditions, but the danger posed by hunters, poachers and urban development.
Botswana is among the few countries in this southern African region to take steps to preserve the dwindling numbers of big cats, elephants, wild dogs and other animals, which are increasingly endangered because of human activity. Botswana’s government has created a large sanctuary to protect these magnificent creatures, who are under enough stress just putting up with the brutal heat and scarcity of water — and food for those animals that aren’t meat eaters.
In all, the crews shot 20,000 hours of film.