Favorite Lion Documentaries

[cleargreenwater]

is this guy gonna piss me off?

Considering what you stated: Definitely

Then I stand warned But thanks for the recommendations!

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

Case in point, I saw one a few years ago on the current pride decending from the Maneaters of Tsavo. No idea what is was called though, it's lost to me. But it's out there, really!

One recent one I saw that I caught & remember the name of is Planet Carnivore: Lion. Alec Baldwin narrates; he's done a lot of wildlife documentaries lately, I never would've saw that development in his career but I guess Jeremy Irons was a one-shot deal & Mike Rowe is already too busy

I hope he does more. I know he did narration for The Unlikely Leopard, Eye of the Leopard and Relentless Enemies and all for NG.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

I really have to say though, I strongly dislike the cult of personality much wildlife programing has become in the wake of Steve Irwin

??

Jeff Corwin and Jack Hanna were very popular and this was before Steve passed away.

[cleargreenwater]

I really have to say though, I strongly dislike the cult of personality much wildlife programing has become in the wake of Steve Irwin

??

Jeff Corwin and Jack Hanna were very popular and this was before Steve passed away.

I mean like going out and interacting/"befriending" wild animals, Jack Hanna was around in my childhood but he wrangled captive ones and taught from those, supplemented by video. I mean like the Grizzly Man. Yes OK, document their lives but get way too close to them, they loose their fear, you loose yours, next thing they kill your special snowflake a-- and additionally all the bears that grew up used to you around now also don't fear humans. What does that accomplish except inviting animal/human clashes?

That was my problem with this hyena doc, it was really fascinating stuff, the clan had a barren alpha, that's practically unheard of and *super* rare....and the show did a really good job until the last 20 minutes was about this guy "befriending" the clan. Wat?? OMG, get your fat head out of it, what did that just do except introduce hyena cubs to humans as a non-threat in an area surrounded by villages and tourists? You had massively interesting stuff there, you mean in months of watching these critters in completely unique circumstances you couldn't find/splice >20 minutes of footage?

Hosting a show, finding an animal in the wild & talking about it is one thing. If I ever run in to a bear, though, I sincerely hope it has zero acclimation/comfort or previous interactions with "friendly" people.

I don't know, I grew up on too much Marty Stouffer's Wild America and hands-off docs, lol.

[DGFone]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Big Cat Diaries yet. (Do documentary TV shows count?) Okay, so that series is only 1/3 lions, but is still an amazing watch, and because of its episodic nature, is much longer than the other documentaries. Plus, it has one element that I really enjoy that other documentaries try to avoid at all costs: the human element. As in, you see the humans and the cameras and all that just as much as the wildlife, and you end up getting a much better feeling of people visiting a lion's home versus some kind of ghost.

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

^I have seen Big Cat Diary. It airs on Animal Planet weekdays at 7AM over here. I think it was funny how they named two of the lions Simba and Scar.

CGW, have you watched this hyena docu that has this hyena matriarch called 'Gork'? She treated her clan very badly and there was a coup. It's called Hyena Queen.

Speaking of Big Cats, whose ready for Big Cat week on NatGeo?

Has anyone here heard of the Mapogo lions? I only recently discovered them. Very brutal stuff!

[cleargreenwater]

CGW, have you watched this hyena docu that has this hyena matriarch called 'Gork'? She treated her clan very badly and there was a coup. It's called Hyena Queen.

That's the one I'm talking about. Really fascinating stuff on it's own merit, why the host insisted on getting accepted by the clan and showboating himself the last third of the show just really put me off. There was nothing wrong with following the animals, it was an extremely unique situation and hyenas are complex enough to be compelling even without such extraordinary circumstances, totally intriguing events. What possible purpose did it serve for this guy to acclimate to them and get the cubs to interact with him? It just irked the ever-living hell out of me Was that necessary? Really detracted from what was could've been a great documentary.

[evil eye lver]

My all time favorite documentary is the Tau and Banda one. Also not sure of the names, but the one with the mother lioness and her two babies trying to escape from a one eyed lioness and an enemy pride( I was tearing up only 5 min in, it only got sadder from there), and the one chronicling the 6 male coalition with the infamous Mr T, that one was horrific, but amazing.