大象传媒

By wildlife cinematographer Gordon Buchanan

Over the past three and a bit decades I’ve filmed wildlife all around the world. Every wild creature has its own allure and fascination for me; the feathered and the fishy; the scurrying and scampering; the creeping and crawling, but the animals that really impress me most are the growlers and roarers.

Big, charismatic mammals have become my speciality of sorts and are the ones I’m always drawn to. I’ve spent time with almost all bear species, from pandas in the bamboo forests of China to polar bears in the frozen North, but another family of animals ignites my passion more than any: big cats. My interest in big cats stretches back to childhood. Never would I have imagined that across my career I’d spend time in all of their habitats, sometimes in very close proximity to them.

From pumas in Patagonia to urban leopards in India I’ve had unforgettable encounters with all seven of the biggest cats on our planet. But one species fires people’s imaginations more than any, the lion.

Lions are without doubt the most recognisable of all large cats; perhaps the most iconic of all animal icons. To be able to spend 14 weeks with them while filming on the Big Cats 24/7 series was simply a privilege.

When I first filmed lions in the early 2000’s I was armed only with a film camera and long lens. On the 24/7 series I still had a daytime camera and very long lens but in addition to that we filmed with all of the latest technology: drones, thermal imaging cameras and motion sensitive cameras. All of the kit needed to capture the lions’ lives around the clock.

The Xudum lion pride is almost too impressive for words. Cute gambling cubs, formidable lionesses and the pride males Madumo and Big Toe.

This is a big family and beyond any stretch Madumo and Big Toe are the biggest of the family. They are fully grown, heavily maned giants. Lions are considered to be in their prime between five and seven years old but at ten years old Madumo and Big Toe are still going strong.

They have defended this lion paradise for the past five years, fathering and protecting cubs, seeing off intruder males and making their presence known in sight, smell and sound. Both lions are visibly impressive, their near constant scent marking communicates their territorial claim, but for me, almost their most magnificent attribute is their seismic roar.

I have spent days and weeks in their company and for most of those hours they are best described as the strong silent types.

They patrol their 150 square mile territory with purpose and determination and generally speaking nothing more can be heard other than the pad of their huge paws hitting the sand or their flanks brushing through the grass. But when they really want to make their presence known, no man, woman nor beast is in any doubt as to who the kings of Xudum Island are.

I have had a front row seat at their roaring performances on many occasions and every time it simply blows my mind and my eardrums!

This sound can travel for over five miles and to hear it at just five meters away makes your toes tingle and your tummy rumble. It’s a bowel loosening noise every time (not literally). The purpose of the roar is to announce their might and presence to any would-be intruder - and it works!

But for me as witness to this - one of the most incredible sounds on earth- their defiant, deafening roar has a deeper significance. I like to think that they not only want to let the whole world know that they exist, that they are colossal, awe-inspiring cats but they are also vulnerable. The future of wild lions in Africa is far from certain. They face persecution, disease and habitat lost. The roars of Madumo and Big Toe and of all wild lions should be heard as a personal message to us. They are here, they are important and they need our protection.