NARRATOR: If you want to film tigers, get an elephant.
Preferably one that can carry a camera.
These ele-cams have already told the story of four cubs growing up.
They filmed as the cubs practised their killing and fighting skills.
But then the cubs' mother was injured
and a rogue male entered their territory.
This was the cubs' greatest challenge yet.
The cubs flee across the dammed lake
in the centre of Pench Tiger Reserve.
They have reason to be worried.
A strange male will kill cubs so that he can have the chance of mating with their mother.
The cubs must put as much distance as they can between them and him.
The male decides not to follow.
But while he's around, the cubs are in danger,
particularly as their mother is injured.
They reach the far shore.
Although they have bought some time, they're still in danger,
for their father, when last seen, was also injured.
The elephant camera team set off to find him.
They head towards the alarm calls of prey
that so often give away a tiger's location.
And here he is, the aptly named Charger.
(GROWLING)
He was last seen nearly two weeks ago.
Then he had wounds on his side from a fight,
and was unusually subdued.
But it's a different story now.
-(TRUMPETING) -(SNARLING)
He's back to his old belligerent self.
(ROARING)
The cubs are not far away.
Now, with Charger back to fighting fitness,
they have some much-needed protection.
But what they need right now is a meal.
They're 15 months old, and certainly big enough to catch a small deer.
But have they yet developed the necessary skill?
Here's a chance for them.
They'll have to do better than that
if they're to survive as adults.
They still need their mother's help and tuition.
They find her where they saw her last.
The wound on her side is still visible.
But she seems considerably perkier.
Tiger saliva contains a strong antibiotic,
so even serious wounds rarely go septic.
It seems she might be all right.
The cubs, when without her, stick closely together.
When one makes a move, they all do.
(ROARING)
They can't resist play fighting,
even though the strange male must still be on their mind.
And then a tiger seems to appear in the water.
(GROWLING)
The cub tries an alternative crossing
but the water tiger is there as well.
(SNARLS)
Best to take the long way round.
(ROARING)
Submerged tigers forgotten, he joins the game.
The cubs must spend another night on their own.
Next day, the cubs have caught something.
It's a pangolin, a scaly anteater.
They last encountered one when they were just a few months old.
Then, it scared them. Now it's a different story.
Pangolins exude a foul odour like a skunk,
so few animals eat them, and the cubs decide not to try.
They're so absorbed in their game,
they nearly miss an important arrival.
It's their mother.
They are safe once more.
She seems fully fit.
Her cubs are hungry
and she leads them away towards the best hunting grounds.
Log-cam can film animals automatically.
It will switch itself on when something is happening,
even when the elephants are not around.
One has recorded golden jackals
and they have got pups, just three weeks old.
There are six of them and they've just started to venture out of the den.
But for safety, they must stay close to the entrance.
This pup, however, has other ideas.
Fortunately, mother quickly spots him.
(PUPS CALLING)
And she shepherds him back to the safety of the den.
The tiger family are back at the lake,
but this time, their mother is with them.
She's caught a sambar deer and seems intent on dragging it into the water.
The cubs appear to be eager to help,
but it's not clear what they're trying to achieve.
They're certainly enjoying themselves
and need little excuse for a game of chase.
Tigers do sometimes kill prey in water,
so this is all good practice,
as are the running leaps and the rugby tackles.
The mother seems to have her own plan for the carcass and continues to drag it away.
For her cubs, it's still just a game.
The natural buoyancy of her kill makes it easier for the mother
to move it through the water, but the cubs aren't helping one little bit.
(GROWLING)
She finally drags it to the shore,
but out of water, it's hard going.
The cubs still love play fighting,
but as they get bigger and more powerful,
their blows seldom make serious contact during their sparring.
The mother perseveres with her puzzling mission.
She seems to be tiring, unlike her cubs, who have energy to spare.
Their play is now about testing each other to see who is top cat.
The mother's chosen obstacle course
runs across an inlet of water that cuts through the shoreline.
She's determined to get the carcass to the other side.
The cubs show no interest in helping.
Sambar are India's largest deer
and this is hard graft, even for a tigress in her prime.
Female cubs play more aggressively than males.
They may eventually set up neighbouring territories
so perhaps it's safer to sort out their differences now,
before they can do much harm to one another.
But it will be some time before they acquire
their mother's formidable strength.
When they finally fight, they seem to really mean it.
(ROARING)
After their mother has been labouring for an hour,
her intentions have become clear.
She simply wanted to take the carcass into shade.
The tigers are dozing, so the langurs venture down to the ground.
But nonetheless, they must prepare to be challenged.
The hawk eagle tries to make himself look bigger.
For the moment, there's a stand-off.
But there can only be one winner in a contest like this.
Log-cam and the other remote spy cams
continue to document the tiger's once secret world.
When the tigers start to move,
the elephants and their mobile cameras take over
and enable us to travel with the tigers at their level.
By now, this wild bunch have little to fear
and they stride through the forest with confidence.
A group of tigers such as this is a rare sight indeed.
Adult tigers are basically loners.
They don't practice the kind of communal hunting techniques
for which lions, who do live in large groups, are famous.
Finding prey is the easy bit.
To succeed, they will have to get close
without alarming the deer.
At first, that looks deceptively easy.
The cubs must be feeling that they could walk right up to their prey.
She checks that her brother is backing her up,
and prepares for the charge.
But the deer know just how close is safe.
Her brother tries a swifter approach.
But he peaks too soon.
All is not lost.
The deer are running right in front of one of his sisters.
But she didn't take her chance.
The youngsters still have a lot to learn.
Mother isn't far away and she is well hidden.
Now it's her chance.
But the sambar's kicks are very effective defence.
Another failure.
The family move on to try their luck elsewhere.
Their journey takes them near the jackals' den.
While their mother is around, the pups are now very confident.
They even follow her for short forays away from the den.
Jackals will scrounge from tiger kills.
But this is too close for comfort.
For the tiger cubs, each new location is another playground.
-(GROWLING) -They immediately try out the facilities.
A leaning tree provides lots of possibilities for games,
but there are many other ways of having fun in this jungle gym.
(ROARS)
(SNARLING)
They only play in the cool of the morning.
When the day begins to heat up, they rest in the shade.
The heat draws game to the water holes, as the mother knows it will.
She brings one down.
(DEER CALLING)
It's a spotted deer.
The cubs have heard the commotion and are quickly on the carcass.
When four cubs compete for food,
the weakest frequently loses out
and may eventually die from starvation.
But among these cubs, even the smallest, a female, seems well-nourished.
Apparently, mother is such a good hunter
that there's always enough to go round.
But they still quarrel over their meals.
(GROWLING)
And it's usually the females that start the argument.
For the nearby jackals, this is a bit of luck.
They seek out kills, hoping for a share in the spoils.
The cubs have yet to learn what skilled dodgers jackals can be.
Unlike their normal prey, she actually runs towards the tigers.
This is blatant provocation.
The attack came as a surprise to the jackal
but she is far too agile to be in any real danger
and the cubs are quite used to failure.
With the tigers so close, the mother jackal decides to move her pups.
This one is quite a bundle but fortunately the rest are quite capable
of following under their own steam.
Jackals always have alternative dens for emergencies.
This one is in the hollow of a fallen tree.
As the day heats up, two of the cubs take to wallowing in the mud,
an effective if rather messy way of keeping cool.
The others are still getting rid of their surplus energy.
(GROWLING)
Not very elegant, but at least he's not alone.
The mud looks permanent, but in just a few hours, it will blow away as dust,
and the cubs will be spotless again with their coats dry-cleaned.
Peacocks originated in India, and here in the wild they are quite nervous creatures.
They're so inoffensive that langurs allow them to share their waterhole.
They are occasionally killed and eaten by tigers,
but they're more of a snack than a meal.
The cubs seem to be fascinated by them.
(PEACOCK HONKING)
Like many birds, peacocks will mob predators
and keeping danger in their sights helps prevent a surprise attack.
Their mocking must be infuriating for the cubs.
They play a game of dare as soon as he looks away.
This really is teasing.
And he loses patience.
His sister makes an easier target.
As the cubs grow in confidence, they tackle almost anything.
A tail to them must be like a piece of string to a kitten.
(SNARLING)
But what it's attached to is an altogether different proposition.
Wisely, the cub thinks better of it.
Wild boar are different.
They are prey.
This one seems to have a spot of cramp.
(SQUEALING)
Yet another failure.
The time has come for the elephants
to take another of their six-week breaks.
When they return, they have no difficulty in locating the cubs again.
The alarm calls of prey quickly reveal where they are.
The tigress is with them. They are still living together as a family.
The elephants put trunk-cam down
and leave it to make the final approach under its own power.
The cubs are feeding on a carcass.
It's a wild boar killed by their mother.
The cubs are now nearly as big as she is,
so feeding them all is a major challenge for her.
Even so, her cubs' bellies are rarely empty.
But feeding them so well doesn't encourage them to hunt for themselves.
(GROWLING)
They certainly have the aggression,
but they must learn how to use it to bring down prey.
A good meal is usually followed by an after-dinner siesta.
But even these quiet periods are times of learning.
One of the males tries some sexual experimentation.
But his partner, his brother, is rather baffled.
The elephant's tail no longer provokes a reaction.
Everyone is just trying to find a way to get comfortable.
One of the males goes off to spend time on his own.
Spotted deer appear nearby.
The cub decides to try his luck.
His stalking technique has greatly improved. Now, he's acting like a pro.
He uses a tree trunk as cover.
He places his paws with great care
to avoid making even the slightest rustle.
Now his success will depend on his timing.
Close, but missed again.
Nevertheless, this is real progress.
The family has moved into the shade
but there is very little space.
By the time the cub returns, there's no place for him.
His mother makes it clear that he's not welcome.
She's starting to lose patience with her grown-up family.
The cubs are also far less tolerant of one another.
(GROWLING)
Even their games now have an aggressive edge.
It seems they want to play but are nervous as to what might happen.
Again, it's the females who show the most aggression.
(SNARLING)
The squabbling continues as one female tries to settle down for a rest.
Eventually, this rivalry will force them apart.
Mother is equally hostile.
She is beginning the process of making her cubs less dependent on her.
So the female cub has to find a spot of her own.
She's not alone for long.
Her brothers are still ready to show affection.
It's a peaceful interlude but an increasingly rare one.
Monkeys on the other hand are always companionable.
Regular grooming maintains the bonds of friendship between them.
Langur monkeys are particularly social.
The females and their young live in family troops, led by a dominant male.
The jackals' new den is not far away.
The monkeys set off to investigate the new arrivals.
The pups now regularly venture from the den,
even when their mother is away.
But they vanish into it at the first sign of danger.
Monkeys are intensely inquisitive
and they have nothing to fear from jackal pups as young as this.
But mother jackal is a different matter.
(MONKEYS SCREECHING)
It's now safe to come out for play.
The pups have started to eat meat
and mother jackals, like many dogs,
have a special way of delivering it to them.
When the pups nuzzle her mouth, she disgorges a meal.
While the tiger cubs were sleeping, the deer have been active.
It's the turn of the second male cub to try his luck.
He succeeded in taking them by surprise but again, he wasn't close enough.
He is learning exactly what the critical distance is.
All Indian predators are under constant high-angle surveillance
and lookout duties for a langur start at a tender age.
Despite the challenges, leopards are good at catching monkeys.
This one is returning to an earlier kill.
But the leopard has unwelcome company.
Although leopards were once a danger to the cubs,
the tables have now turned.
The leopard won't risk a fight.
He can soon catch another monkey.
So the male cub steals a kill.
One of the spotter elephants has given birth.
The calf's father must be one of the elephants that carry the spy cams.
It's great news but also a total surprise.
No one knew the mother was pregnant.
The tigers are at an old favourite location,
the dammed reservoir that they used as small cubs.
They are now 20 months old.
Not so long ago, the whole family could fit under this log.
Tigers are always on the move.
But they are also creatures of habit,
so that although this reservoir is twice the size of an Olympic pool,
a spy cam can be placed beside the precise spot that the tigers will use.
Elephants love water too.
And they start young.
The cool water has given the cubs new energy.
One of them has become fascinated by his reflection in the poolside camera.
Another cub has different preoccupations.
The reservoir is in a deep hollow
which conceals the tigers from other forest dwellers.
How will her hunting technique compare with her brother's?
She adopts a swift but stealthy approach,
and closes the gap as quickly as possible.
Crouching low is a good move.
A camera on the other side shows how well-camouflaged she is.
The deer may be suspicious, but it doesn't seem to see her.
It even moves towards her.
The deer are just about in range.
She may be leaving it too late.
The deer make up her mind up for her.
But she wasn't close enough.
Back at the dam, one of her brothers is having his own adventure.
Tightrope walking.
Not such a good idea, but turning around is even more difficult.
The other cub's fascination with log-cam is turning into an obsession.
He investigates further.
He then sees how it works underwater.
Some above-water photography.
Then underwater once more.
When the elephant crew return a month later,
there's been quite a change in the family's behaviour.
One of the males is found beneath the shade of a tree,
but he seems to be alone.
Then, some way away, the second male is discovered.
The two used to be inseparable.
This one seems to have inherited some of his father's aggressive nature.
(GROWLING)
The females are found together,
but all is not sweetness and light.
Even here, the one in the water
makes it clear that she wants to be alone.
(SNARLS)
The cubs are beginning to separate.
Tigers are solitary hunters.
Learning to live alone is an essential part of growing up.
But to survive on their own, they must succeed as hunters
and they still have to pass this crucial test.
At least here they have plenty to practice on.
A jungle cat pays a visit.
Any cat makes the deer nervous,
even though jungle cats aren't big enough to harm them.
Tigers, on the other hand, are something everyone should worry about.
Fortunately for the jungle cat,
the cub is too focused on her prey to notice him.
She is making good and determined progress.
She's learnt to move only when the prey is not watching.
As she closes the distance, her movements slow.
As yet, she hasn't been seen.
The deer bolts. She follows.
That was close.
Although the male cubs are becoming more independent,
they spend more time together than the females do.
Males are often attacked by other males.
Staying together may give the brothers some protection.
At 20 months, their only danger is from people and other tigers.
All animals fear them, except, it seems, the skittering frogs
that are hitching a ride on this cub's back.
As they mature, they will face new dangers.
Male cubs have been known to travel over 200 kilometres
to find a territory of their own,
and these journeys often bring them closer to human habitation.
Outside the reserve, they will face conflicts with farmers
and they are at greater risk from poaching.
There are also no elephants to protect them.
Next morning, the jungle cat is found dead.
The culprit appears.
The cubs now kill everything that dares cross their path.
But, in common with other cats,
they rarely eat other carnivores.
Catching a proper meal still eludes them
but fresh opportunities appear every day.
The larger female takes up the challenge.
All is going well.
She places each paw with consummate care.
She could hardly be closer.
She selects her target.
And gets it.
-(DEER BELLOWING) -It's a fawn.
From now on, fawns will be her mainstay,
as she perfects her hunting techniques.
The other cubs are not far away.
But a fawn is too small to share.
-(GROWLING) -Her sister pushes her luck.
(ROARING)
Claws are unsheathed for the first time.
The cubs are now real tigers.
The monsoon arrives.
The cubs are two years old and by now they may well have left the reserve.
The elephants set out to see if any of them can be found.
A female is spotted first.
She was the best hunter, so it's no surprise that she is thriving.
But is she alone?
The second female.
It seems that the sisters
have carved out separate territories close to their mother.
Then one of the males appears.
This is more unusual.
Perhaps Pench has enough game to support him too.
And then, most remarkably, the other male is also seen.
This is good news indeed.
Most tigers are killed outside reserves.
If they can find their own space here,
then they have every chance of surviving and having cubs of their own.
Given protection, tigers breed very well.
The individual success of these cubs brings real hope
for the survival of one of our most endangered animals.
As filming comes to an end,
one of the log-cams is found to have recorded more good news.
Three precious new cubs.
And then a fourth.
As the story of our four cubs ends, a new one is beginning.