Big Cat Live 2008

I've been a fan of Big Cat Diary since it started in 1996, when I was just 10 years old. I watched it every two years after that, and I've watched repeats of it on whatever cable channel played it over and over. I've watched the newer, one week format since it started too. When I first read about Big Cat Live, I was definitely excited. Now I've seen most of it, the word amazing doesn't even nearly cover what I think of it.

I think it's hard to amaze people with television these days. You get the feeling that everything has been done, and there isn't much new for us to see. Of course that isn't true, but that's how it can feel. Planet Earth was an exception to that. That series filmed animals hardly ever seen on camera before, and the stories of how long it had taken to get a few short clips were amazing. I think what Big Cat Live are doing now is even more exciting. To see live shots of the animals on air in between showing recorded films taken in the couple of weeks in the run up to the show is one thing, but to be able to then turn on your computer and continue to watch live animals in Kenya's Masai Mara on webcam really is something else.

The show itself is as good as it ever was. It's great to catch up with the Marsh Pride, and I love that we know that these adult females are the cubs attacked by the buffalo in 1998. To have such continuity in the cats they follow really is a great thing, and one of the reasons I keep watching. It was great to be able to see Bella again too, even though she's looking really old now. I love how they follow the leopard families, although it would be really nice to see if Shadow was still around. Whatever happened to Safi too? The new cheetah family is so good to watch. I've always loved watching cheetah mothers raise their cubs, and being able to do it in real time knowing that this is what's going on now, rather than what happened months ago when filming ended, is really special.

Jackson Looseyia has been an awesome addition to the team. This man is a Masai who has grown up in this environment. He knows and understands the land and the wildlife in it, and he gives a perspective that they haven't had before. To hear someone who has seen this for his entire life still talking about it with so much enthusiasm is inspiring, and makes me want to go over there and see it all for myself even more.

As I said earlier, the really amazing thing about this series has been seeing those live images online. Right now I'm watching infra-red video of the Marsh Pride lions. Before that, I was watching them on the thermal imaging cameras. Before that I was watching a hippo feeding right next to the camera. Earlier today, jackal cubs and hyena cubs. At the risk of overusing the word, it truly is amazing. For those of you viewing this blog in the UK, the link to the site where you can watch all this is here. I'll include a view images of what we get for those of you not in the UK. On the left is the four webcams available half an hour ago when I took the screenshot. In the upper left quadrant, thermal images of lions. Upper right, a hyena is just poking his head out of the den. Lower left, I think that's just a camera focussed on the river. Lower right, and that's sleeping jackal cubs. The image on the right shows the thermal image of the lions on it's own. It truly is impressive, especially when you think about the fact that it's all live, and happening right now in Kenya.

I'm hoping, at some point, to see a live lion hunt. Everytime they look like they're going to do it, they just...don't. There has been one shown live, but I missed it. The Big Cat team think it's the first time this has ever been shown live on the internet. It's on YouTube, for those of you outside the UK who can't see it on the website, and is shown below:



When you think about it, this series has been a major risk. What if they hadn't found what they were looking for when they went out there? So many things could have gone wrong with doing this kind of thing live. They've succeeded in showing people in this country a totally different world, in a way they never have before. I don't think the BBC can be beaten for wildlife television, and I hope they do this again next year.