Big Cat Tales: 'We need to save these animals before it's too late'

Big Cat Tales: 'We need to save these animals before it's too late'

Gemma Peplow, arts and entertainment reporter

Zoologists and wildlife photographers Jonathan and Angela Scott have been documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in Kenya's Maasai Mara national reserve for years.

Image: Angela and Jonathan Scott

Some 80% of wild cat species across the world are said to be shrinking - with almost half considered vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

As they try to raise awareness through their new series, Big Cat Tales, the couple share some of the pictures taken during filming and discuss what can be done to help.

Image: All pictures: Animal Planet / jonathanangelascott

Angela: "When you are out there with the cats it is so peaceful. People think it's dangerous but it's actually so quiet and peaceful and in harmony, and I think this picture shows that.

"Mostly you see the animals passing each other. A lion will only go hunting when it's hungry. And also, lions and most cats are quite lazy."

Jonathan: "The animals want to get on with their business. Unless you push them, then they can respond, but generally they just want to be left alone. We're the problem.

"There seems to be this human tendency to want danger, but the reality is if you just respect the animals and understand their behaviour and work with them, it's easy.

"And there's a sort of contract between the animals, because it's a waste of time if you're constantly chasing something you can't catch, when it's not the right moment. Or if you're constantly worrying about the predator when you should be feeding. It just wouldn't work."

Angela: "One of the things I love so much about the lionesses is that it is a true sisterhood. They are so bonded together and they really watch each other's back, and I love that.

"They are constantly licking and grooming and they need to be touching each other. In this particular picture, you can see the little cub, Moja, is in such heaven."

Jonathan: "This might not look like it, but this is mating.

"There's a fascinating fact that apparently it takes on average three thousand copulations for every cub that reaches a year of age because they repeatedly copulate as part of this process of stimulating the female's reproductive system.

"So over a day they could be mating four, five, six, seven times an hour, all day. So 80 times in a day."

Jonathan: We were about 30ft away for this one. Leopards are special. They're the most solitary and probably the most difficult normally to see of the three big cats. It's just their nature.

"They're well camouflaged, they're secretive, they don't want to be seen because if the prey animals see them they start alarm calling and that then attracts bigger predators like lions, which could kill them, or hyenas, which will steal their food. So there is this air of mystery.

Angela: "It's the cat that everyone wants to see."

Angela: "These are five cheetah boys and we'd been following them all morning. It was quite extraordinary because they suddenly went for a wildebeest and to my astonishment, the cheetahs actually chased the wildebeest in a big circle and came straight towards my car

"It was just perfect. I always think it is extraordinary when you're in a moment like that, the world goes very still around you. It's almost in slow motion because you have to be so focused to actually get a shot like that. You have to let everything disappear.

"These things are happening so quickly, especially with cheetahs, but it is almost like everything slows down around you. People think it's manic, but for me it isn't definitely. Everything goes very quiet when those times are happening. I shut out everything around me just to be able to be very, very focused."

Jonathan: "It's a very dramatic moment.

"We hope our work helps people to care. We're are currently writing a new book, Remembering Lions, and we just hope that it isn't a question of when the last lion roars. We need to save all these animals before it's too late."

:: Catch Big Cat Tales on Animal Planet on Sunday evenings at 8pm