EPISODE 02: Big Cat Diary Uncut – '1998: Amber the Cheetah and the Battle at Bila Shaka'

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

Today's episode is named '1998: Amber the Cheetah and the Battle at Bila Shaka, and it is the second episode in our ten part series named 'Big Cat Diary Uncut'. The second series of Big Cat Diary videoed in 1998 was one to remember, packed with action from all three big cats. Jonathan bears witness to a battle royal at Bila Shaka, the traditional birthplace of the Marsh Pride, as a herd of buffalo launch a deadly attack on the pride and its 11 tiny cubs. We meet the new pride males Scruffy and Scar who are instantly recognisable in looks and character. Simon catches up with the Mara's legendary cheetah known to the safari guides as Queen, who he renames Amber. Queen earned her name from her habit of jumping up and sitting on the bonnet of safari vehicles in regal style.

We learn about her unusual start in life that prompted her car climbing habit. Her three subadult offspring - 2 males and a female - provide lots of action for the cheetah team, while our leopards Half-Tail and her year-and-a-half-old daughter Zawadi (now independent) generate plenty of high octane moments to keep Jonathan and our audience enthralled. Both Amber and Half-Tail are now 11 years old - old by big cat standards - and we can never be certain if or when we will see them again. As if to underline that point, Half-Tail comes close to losing her life when bushwhacked by two lionesses, while Zawadi demonstrates her hunting skills right in front of Jonathan's vehicle, all captured to perfection by cameraman Richard North. Roll on 2000!

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.