I'm a stranger here.
♪ ♪
I bet they've never seen anything like me.
(bird cawing)
Get used to it.
I'm known as Saya.
I've been on the move for months,
seeking a territory to call my own.
♪ ♪
This place is exactly what I want--
a paradise,
perfect for a leopard,
the Kabini Forest of India.
♪ ♪
(growl)
But they say this land belongs to him...
♪ ♪
...Scarface.
And he won't give it up without a fight.
♪ ♪
(growling)
Scarface won this round,
but I'll make this kingdom mine.
Mutant or not, I won't back down
because I'm the real Black Panther.
♪ ♪
(growling)
♪ ♪
This wound was my welcome to the neighborhood.
To claim this territory as my own,
I'm gonna have to go through Scarface.
♪ ♪
First, I've got to unlock this forest.
And it's tougher than I thought.
♪ ♪
Do not make a sound.
♪ ♪
Closer.
♪ ♪
Closer.
(monkey barks)
(barking)
Really?
(barking)
Langurs.
Man, I hate these guys.
The forest security alarm.
Any predator sets them off.
(barking)
But they see me coming a mile away.
They don't know what to make of me.
(barking)
And they won't let up until I'm out of sight.
(barking)
They call this one Fang, for obvious reasons.
He's the gang's leader.
Do you have any idea how many of your cousins I've eaten?
Arrogant little monkeys,
I'm not even hunting them.
(langur barking)
♪ ♪
Another day of eating scraps.
So close, I can taste them.
♪ ♪
I gotta figure out a way to hide from those monkeys.
It's not easy.
My unusual coat makes hunting here extra challenging,
especially now.
It's Kabini's dry season.
The trees have lost their leaves,
and the forest is bleached by the sun.
I stand out like a silhouette.
I do have spots.
All leopards do.
It's just the rest of my fur is also black.
There's a reason most leopards here don't look like me.
See what I mean?
Invisible.
♪ ♪
That's Cleo.
Maybe she can nab one of those pesky langurs.
♪ ♪
(twig breaks)
(barking)
Too late, my friends.
(barking)
♪ ♪
There's no way she's going to fall out of that tree.
Cleo's another reason this place is worth fighting for.
♪ ♪
To rule, I need two things-- territory and heirs.
Cleo's confident.
She's strong and beautiful.
Come on, approach her!
♪ ♪
The timing couldn't be more perfect.
Her feelings are hurt,
she could use a couple of kind words.
♪ ♪
Seize the moment, man!
♪ ♪
She's not having it,
not today.
♪ ♪
Cleo's the most dominant female leopard in this place.
That's why she's with you-know-who...
Scarface.
Oh, they're the "it couple."
Sharing a tree, if you know what I mean...
...while I'm stuck down here.
♪ ♪
(grunting)
Cleo's raising Scarface's cubs.
She knows that mating with the leopard who rules the territory
gives the cubs the best chance of survival.
And for now, there's no doubt who's top dog around here.
Scarface reminds us every day that this is his turf.
If I'm gonna make Kabini mine,
I've gotta be smarter than him,
find my own way, despite the odds.
But there's a lot more to deal with here than just Scarface.
(growl)
There's something else about India's Kabini Forest
that makes it tough for a black panther.
It's roasting hot.
And if you hadn't noticed, I'm wearing a black fur coat.
I feel the heat more than other leopards.
♪ ♪
It's a serious problem,
until I track down a special place that offers relief.
The backwaters, hidden in the heart of the jungle.
It's one more thing that makes Kabini such a prize.
This clearing holds water year-round,
even during the dry season.
♪ ♪
Everyone for miles relies on it.
♪ ♪
But there's a catch.
♪ ♪
I'm not the only one who's here to cool off.
♪ ♪
That's Khal.
He's still young, an upstart,
but he's three times my size,
plenty big enough to kill me.
Khal's a beast, probably weighs 500 pounds.
But I can use that to my advantage,
with an escape route where he can't follow.
Tigers are just too heavy.
That's what makes this territory a haven
for a climbing cat like me.
It's the land of magical trees,
a refuge from the tigers.
♪ ♪
There's Kismet,
their queen.
Regal, beautiful,
deadly.
She scares me,
but I admire her.
With no dominant male tigers here, she's the ultimate ruler.
♪ ♪
She's raising her three cubs to eventually take over.
And she will not suffer fools.
Khal's no match for Kismet,
but he's still a threat to her teenagers.
He knows that if he can kill her youngsters,
she'll wanna have cubs again
and possibly mate with him.
I ain't proud of it, but that's the way it is with us big cats.
♪ ♪
Kismet wants Khal as far away as possible.
(growling)
♪ ♪
One less tiger works for me, too!
(growls)
♪ ♪
Truth is, this jungle's tough.
I may be safe up here,
but a panther's gotta eat.
♪ ♪
I have to figure out how to hunt down here
where the tigers roam.
Only then can I challenge Scarface for his kingdom.
There's tension in the air.
I can feel it.
♪ ♪
Scarface is on the hunt.
Even bad guys have to eat.
♪ ♪
The chital deer don't see him...
♪ ♪
...but the mother senses the danger.
♪ ♪
(barks)
She knows the best chance of survival for both of them
is for her to flee and leave her fawn to hide.
♪ ♪
But I've seen this trick before,
and so has Scarface.
♪ ♪
It's how it works out here.
(growling)
I gotta hand it to him.
Scarface is an expert hunter.
I guess it's part of what Cleo sees in him.
♪ ♪
With her cubs almost fully grown,
I know she'll be ready to mate again.
But I still have work to do.
My coat means I have to work even harder to win Kabini,
and Cleo.
♪ ♪
Scarface, though, he's convinced he's the boss.
♪ ♪
What's worse, she goes to him.
(growls)
It's bad enough to know it's happening.
(Scarface growls)
Now I have to hear it?
♪ ♪
But us leopards aren't the only ones with romance on our minds.
(growls)
Males fight for the right to mate...
♪ ♪
...including the greatest dandy of them all.
(screaming)
♪ ♪
It seems that the peacocks battle
to set up their territory,
where they can strut their stuff,
as only a peacock can.
(feathers rustling)
Unfortunately for him,
the peahen has seen it one too many times.
(rustling)
Yeah, she's seen that, too.
♪ ♪
She may not be interested in him, but I am.
(barking)
♪ ♪
Man, the langurs blew my cover again.
♪ ♪
(peacock calling)
♪ ♪
My number-one goal is to find a way to camouflage myself.
But things are ready to change.
I can smell it.
For the last four months,
the forest has been baking under the Indian sun.
Dry and barren.
(thunder)
Soon, everything's going to be different.
(thunder)
The monsoons are here.
(thunder)
♪ ♪
(thunder)
♪ ♪
(thunder)
♪ ♪
The new season brings life and opportunities for many.
♪ ♪
I've never seen this place so green.
♪ ♪
But I notice something else about the wet season.
The clouds and all these leaves,
they bring shadows.
They're everywhere.
Darkness, in the middle of the day.
This could be how I blend in.
♪ ♪
And I need some cover right now.
It's Kismet.
And I'm caught on the ground.
♪ ♪
(panting)
♪ ♪
If she sees me, it's over...
♪ ♪
...so I keep to the shadows.
♪ ♪
(growling)
And she walks right past me.
♪ ♪
I may have found the key to unlock Kabini...
♪ ♪
...but there's another beast that haunts this forest,
one I can't outfox by hiding in the shadows.
If you hear its calls, do like I do--
run!
(growl)
Mornings here can be eerily beautiful.
♪ ♪
The mist provides cover.
(bird squawking)
But I'm not the only one who can take advantage.
(grunting)
Those alarm calls aren't for me.
♪ ♪
That's what I feared--
dholes, Kabini's wild dogs.
They terrorize the whole forest.
I can take on one or two,
but as a pack, they're as deadly as they come.
Even the tigers fear them.
♪ ♪
The shadows can't protect me from these guys.
Their sense of smell is too good.
And it's not just one nose, but 20 of them.
♪ ♪
Only one option--
up the trees.
Dream on, dog.
That's as far as he'll get.
Dholes are no climbers.
Don't have the claws for it,
or the muscles.
♪ ♪
They know they're wasting their time.
♪ ♪
Where are they off to now?
♪ ♪
Oh, the pack's headed out to the backwaters,
where they'll take on anything.
(grunting)
(barks)
A wild boar's no joke.
Their tusks could rip a dhole's belly wide open.
♪ ♪
(trumpets)
Well, well!
A higher power comes to intervene.
(grumbling)
(roaring)
If the tiger Kismet is our queen,
the elephants are like gods.
♪ ♪
They gather at the backwaters
to socialize and look for mates.
(roaring)
♪ ♪
Kabini holds one elephant deity
that deserves everyone's respect...
Bogeshwara.
They say he's the biggest tusker in all of Asia.
The elephants here aren't poached like they are
in so many other places.
They can spend their days
feeding on Kabini's vast fields of sod.
Must be a herbivore thing.
♪ ♪
Tusker or not, the dholes only worship the pack.
(grumbles)
Why would they taunt a giant?
Territory?
Do they see them as prey?
(roars)
Who knows?
(trumpets)
(grumbling)
Anyway, looks like the rest of the pack
has hit the jackpot.
Bothersome predators, dholes.
(snarls)
We leopards don't mess with the elephants.
We get on pretty well, considering.
Only a novice would seriously try to take on
one of these behemoths.
♪ ♪
But a brash, young tiger,
well, that's a different matter.
♪ ♪
(panting)
♪ ♪
Is Khal gonna do what I think he is?
He's got guts, I'll give him that.
At 200 pounds, a baby elephant would be quite a meal.
He's a big enough cat to take it down.
All he needs is a moment.
♪ ♪
So, how does a tiger sneak up on 10 tons of elephant?
♪ ♪
Ah, I see what you're doin'.
♪ ♪
(barks)
So do they.
(barking)
(elephant trumpets)
(growling)
It's just a pipe dream.
(elephant snorts)
What young Khal doesn't realize
is that it's not just the mother who'll protect her baby.
It's the whole herd.
Elephants have size, brains, and numbers on their side.
They're untouchable.
And I've heard they hold a grudge.
(elephant grumbling)
(roars)
(grumbles)
Oh, they won't forget Khal.
(grumbling)
♪ ♪
Change is in the air again.
Monsoon season is ending.
Everybody's taking in as much as they can
before Kabini dries up.
♪ ♪
Once more, hunting becomes extra tricky for me,
trying to hide myself in the bone-dry forest.
But I've learned something from life in the wet season,
looking like I do.
Shadows are my cover.
♪ ♪
Even during the dry season, I can find darkness.
My world.
Now I have a strategy.
First thing I have to do is keep out of sight
of those troublesome langurs.
♪ ♪
They'll alert the whole forest that I'm on the hunt.
But I can use my ally--
the shade.
♪ ♪
So far, so good.
♪ ♪
No alarm calls.
♪ ♪
I just have to get a little closer.
Once I'm in range,
those monkeys can screech all they want.
♪ ♪
The brighter the light, the blacker the darkness.
Clouds, trees,
sun, shadows.
It's all in the timing.
♪ ♪
Now!
♪ ♪
(cries)
♪ ♪
With every kill, I become stronger,
more confident.
Soon, I'll throw shade at Scarface
and fight him for the right to rule this territory.
♪ ♪
Looks like Cleo's made a kill,
and it's a good one.
Now that her cubs are grown,
this is likely the last time she'll hunt for her family.
But she's nervous.
Why are the cubs hiding?
♪ ♪
Oh, that's why--
Khal.
♪ ♪
If he finds out she's here,
he'll try to kill her and her cubs.
♪ ♪
She better get them quick.
Let Khal take the deer.
♪ ♪
(growls)
(growling)
But wait a minute.
(roaring)
Well, look who's here.
Our enemy's enemy is our friend.
The big guys have never forgiven Khal
for threatening one of their own.
(roars)
(elephant trumpets)
(grumbles)
♪ ♪
I wonder if Cleo even knows
I've been rootin' for her the whole time.
♪ ♪
It's morning in Kabini,
and I'm ready to make my move.
Cleo is the key to the kingdom.
She's been marking her territory.
Her scent leaves a trail.
It tells me she's looking to mate.
(growling)
♪ ♪
Any other leopard knows, too,
including Scarface.
♪ ♪
Where is Cleo?
♪ ♪
There you are.
♪ ♪
Are you staying with Scarface,
or will you choose me?
♪ ♪
(growls)
(grunting)
That's him.
♪ ♪
Today will decide my fate, one way or another.
We're gonna settle this.
It's time for this forest to go black.
(grunting)
♪ ♪
Leopard, you flinched.
Up a tree?
(growls)
(growling)
♪ ♪
Sorry, Scarface,
you're in my territory now.
♪ ♪
And Cleo?
Now we're the power couple.
♪ ♪
The forest is gonna be different.
Now it belongs to me.
Well, us...
...and her...
and him...
and them.
Even you.
Well, you know what I mean.
It's all Kabini.
♪ ♪