EPISODE 05: Big Cat Diary Uncut – '2003: Kike's Story and Bella the Leopard'

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

Today's episode is called '2003: Kike's Story and Bella the Leopard', and it is the fifth episode in our ten part series named Big Cat Diary Uncut. Join us in this episode as we tell the story behind the first series of Big Cat Week, broadcast in 2003 on BBC1/Animal Planet. One of the iconic stars was Kike the cheetah, who became famous for leaping up on to the roof of safari vehicles in the Maasai Mara NR where she grew up. Some people think the young female was Amber's daughter who featured prominently in Big Cat Diary in 1998. She was also known as Queen, the orphan cheetah female - one of a litter of five - whose mother was killed by a predator in 1988. She and her siblings were returned to the wild, and associated vehicles with food supplied to them by rangers prior to becoming independent. Queen loved to leap up on to the bonnet of a safari vehicle to check for prey or danger from her aerial perch, just as she would when there was a termite mound to climb up on to. Kike took this habit to a whole knew level, not only climbing on to the roof of a vehicle, but in the case of Jonathan's Toyota Land Cruiser sitting on the open lid of his roof hatch and at times peeing and pooing onto him and his precious camera gear! There are still times when Jonathan is stopped in the street to confirm "Aren't you the bloke that the cheetah crapped on?" .

This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.