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00:00the male lion in his prime he can span 11 feet in length weigh up to 550 pounds
00:17and pack a roar that can be heard up to five miles away
00:24he is the undisputed king of beasts
00:30but there's another power behind the throne
00:39weighing in at 300 pounds
00:45the lioness combines both speed and power she's faster more agile
00:54and more deadly and on the savannah the lioness is queen
01:08southern africa over 750 000 square miles of temperate grassland
01:28home to hot summers and arid winters
01:30and thousands upon thousands of lions
01:46during the rainy season grass on the savannah grows tall and thick
01:51providing food for herds of migrating animals
02:00and creating the perfect cover for ambush hunters
02:04during this time of plenty a lioness can stalk her prey entirely unseen
02:21a wildebeest and her baby paws in the open grassland
02:29they seem to sense something is wrong
02:34the grass obscures their view of the predator stalking nearby
02:37until it is too late
02:51so
02:57so
03:03The wildebeest struggles against the inevitable.
03:12Although she outweighs the lioness,
03:15she cannot defend herself against the big cat's weapons.
03:28One-inch-long claws dig into her flesh like grappling hooks.
03:34And four canine teeth penetrate two inches into her skull,
03:39anchoring together predator and prey.
03:43Usually, the lioness kills by knocking down her prey
03:47and clamping on its throat.
03:51But this time, she opts for more personal technique.
03:55Hanging on to the wildebeest,
04:02she covers its mouth with hers.
04:06Huge nostrils allow her to breathe,
04:09while her victim suffocates,
04:13staring into the eyes of its killer.
04:15Death is all in a day's work for the lioness.
04:27She has a family to feed.
04:30And today, that family eats well.
04:33Even some of the cubs get a taste.
04:34With meals like these,
04:42the youngest lions get a good start in life.
04:46It will take 18 months before they can hunt for themselves.
04:53The pride will look out for them until then.
04:58Lions are the only big cats that live in prides.
05:01Females in a pride share a family bond.
05:07Mothers, sisters, and daughters may live together for their entire lives.
05:11The pride's males come from outside,
05:20exiled by their family upon reaching adulthood.
05:28The males defend territory.
05:37And father all the pride's cubs.
05:39But they rarely hunt for themselves.
05:47Their giant mane makes them obvious to prey.
05:55So the job of finding dinner
05:57belongs to the pride's females.
05:59An experienced hunter chooses her prey carefully.
06:15Timing is everything.
06:16A lioness can only run at her top speed
06:32for about 300 feet.
06:43So she has to make it count.
06:44Once she gets a chokehold,
07:04her family joins the kill.
07:07Every hunt tests their ability
07:15to work together.
07:26A full-grown lioness
07:28needs 12 pounds of meat a day.
07:30And she can eat four times that much.
07:41The pride must kill often
07:42to keep their bellies full.
07:44At daybreak,
08:00a young mother-to-be
08:02mother-to-be
08:16mother-to-be
08:20mother-to-be
08:22mother-to-be