The Leopard Legacy

Follow the story of a leopard mother as she raises her cubs near the Luangwa River.

• Fred Vigeant
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  Fred Vigeant is WITF's Director of Programming and Promotions for TV and Radio. Fred manages the schedules for our radio and television platforms. He also analyzes audience research and manages the public affairs program Smart Talk. Previously, Fred was at WRVO in Oswego, NY for 12 years serving in various roles including Program Director and before that Operations Manager. Fred graduated from the State University of New York College at Oswego with a B.A. in Mass Communications and Broadcasting.

 Courtesy of Will Steenkamp / © Into Nature Productions

Leopard mother Olimba looks up at her boys, who romp in the hollow of a tree offscreen. Zambia, Africa.

A confident and powerful leopardess called Olimba rules over an exceptionally large area along Zambia’s Luangwa River. She is a formidable hunter, a courageous ruler and a devoted mother. She has just given birth to two tiny cubs, and as she faces the challenging task of motherhood, it is a constant battle to hunt successfully, to defend her prime territory and to protect her cubs against enemies.

One day, Olimba discovers a nomadic male leopard near her cubs, and without hesitation, she attacks him. He makes a lucky escape, but when Olimba returns to the den, one of her cubs is gone. As she comes to terms with her loss, Olimba forges on as a devoted mother and passes on all her knowledge to her blue-eyed boy, named Makumbi. When he is one year old and succeeds in hunting his own prey, Olimba must part ways with her son. Their final hostile encounter leaves the youngster vulnerable with a dreadful eye injury. Will his resilience and fighting spirit help him overcome this injury?

Watch this episode of Nature Wednesday April 14 at 8pm on WITF. Nature is also streaming simultaneously on all station-branded PBS platforms, including pbs.org and the PBS Video app, which is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Chromecast. PBS station members can view episodes via Passport (contact your local PBS station for details). To further explore the natural world, the Nature website offers behind-the-scenes videos, filmmaker interviews, blog posts, educational resources, digital-only series and more.

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