Lions are the very image of majesty.

And, indeed, of Africa itself.

Their strength lies in the power of the pride, their tight-knit family.

Lions have ruled the savannahs for millennia.

And yet, within the last 20 years or so, their numbers have fallen by almost half.

Our team has spent two years following perhaps the most famous lion family of all, the Marsh pride of Kenya’s Masai Mara.

As we join them, the very survival of this great dynasty is under threat.

Their future depends entirely on the strength and determination of one extraordinary leader.

Perhaps the most powerful in the history of the Marsh pride.

A lioness known as Charm.

The Masai Mara.

The pride have always thrived here through an alliance between powerful alpha males to protect the family and experienced females to raise the cubs.

But, for the first time in the pride’s history, this alliance has been shattered.

The family has been abandoned by all the adult males.

The survival of the pride now rests upon the shoulders of Charm and her cousin, Sienna.

The only remaining adults.

If their young are to reach adulthood and the dynasty return to full strength, they must now both protect and feed the whole family.

August.

Following the recent rains, it’s a time of plenty.

The lions are surrounded by wildebeest on their annual migration.

A quarter-tonne bull would make a good meal for all ten of the pride.

But even though Charm is an experienced hunter, most attempts end in failure.

Charm uses her hind legs to knock the wildebeest off-balance.

The smallest cubs won’t be able to catch food for themselves for another 12 months.

Their ever-growing appetites mean that Charm and Sienna have to hunt around the clock.

The females are often forced to head out alone.

Tonight, it’s Sienna’s turn.

Sunrise.

Sienna is seriously injured.

She’s too week to move.

A lone lion is always at risk of attack by buffalo, hyenas, even other lion prides.

It’s evening, and Sienna hasn’t returned to her family.

Now, everything depends on Charm.

As night falls, Charm has no choice but to head out to hunt, leaving the vulnerable cubs alone.

She’s being trailed.

Hyenas.

They’ll attack lone lions if they get the chance, to steal any kill they make.

Charm must work fast before they find her.

They’ve tracked her down.

On her own, she couldn’t hold them off.

But another of the pride has been following Charm.

Her three-year-old daughter, Yaya.

The rest of the pride arrive.

To eat.

Yaya has stepped up to help defend the pride and feed her family.

Daughters stay with their mothers for life, and may eventually have cubs of their own.

Yaya is not yet an adult, but as Charm’s eldest daughter, she’s next in line to lead the pride.

Charm also has a three-year-old son, Tatu.

The beginnings of an impressive mane are a sign of his approaching adulthood.

Like every adolescent, Tatu can’t resist the chance to test his growing strength.

Even against a two-tonne hippo.

But he’s not the only young male in this pride.

His cousin, Red.

Over the last few months, the two of them have begun to forge an alliance.

But even together, they’re not really going to worry an angry hippo.

Unlike their sisters, sons always leave their family when they reach adulthood.

Their growing bond may enable them to leave as a powerful partnership.

Eventually, they’ll fight other males to try and take over a pride of their own.

But for the time being, they still need Charm to look after them.

It’s been four days since Sienna was attacked.

She’s back on her feet.

But she’s in urgent need of a meal.

She simply doesn’t have the strength.

As they mature, young males begin to explore the boundaries of the pride’s territory.

Red has ventured out alone.

And blundered straight into the middle of the hyena clan.

He’s trapped by over 20 of them.

The pack tries to wear him down.

This number of hyenas could kill him.

It’s impossible to fight them all at once.

He can’t keep them at bay for much longer.

He’s tiring fast.

His ally, Tatu, has heard the commotion.

Now, the odds have changed.

Even for 20 hyenas, a pair of male lions is too much to take on.

Red is lucky.

Tatu has saved his cousin’s life.

After weeks of feeding on scraps, Sienna has grown strong enough to try and rejoin her family.

She greets Charm first.

Even after being apart for so long, the bond between them is still strong.

Yaya also welcomes Sienna back into the pride.

At last, Charm’s family are back together.

Charm not only has her hunting partner back, but another hunter is emerging.

Yaya is becoming a powerful lioness.

She’s learned how to stalk.

Stay low.

Approach silently.

And from downwind.

But the key to a successful ambush is not being noticed.

Now it’s seen her, the wildebeest, with its sharp horns, has the advantage.

But Yaya is learning.

Mother and daughter are starting to develop their partnership.

It’s October.

The great wildebeest migration never stops.

And now, they’re leaving the Masai Mara.

For Charm and her family, food is about to become much more difficult to find.

The plains are now empty.

And, in search of food, Charm leads the pride to the edge of their range.

Here, she finds another kind of prey.

Cattle, illegally brought into the lions’ territory to graze.

An opportunity to feed her hungry family.

But hunting cattle can lead to disaster.

To protect their livestock, herdsmen sometimes put out poisoned bait.

Lions can’t tell when a meal is toxic.

A week later, Charm’s one-year-old son is so ill he can hardly stand.

The whole pride are showing the signs of poisoning.

And Sienna is missing once again.

As the temperature climbs, the pride heads off to find shade.

But the struggling cub is too weak to follow.

Charm needs to stay with the rest of the pride.

Hours later, the cub still hasn’t caught up with his mother.

And there’s no sign of Sienna, either.

The next day, Charm returns to her son’s side.

He’s still very unsteady.

But his mother can’t abandon the rest of the pride.

For the sake of the pride, charm abandons her young cub.

The others are waiting for her.

They need her now more than ever.

She will never see her son, or Sienna, alive again.

Despite her losses, there may still be a future for Charm and her dynasty.

Her eldest cubs, Yaya and Tatu, have survived the poisoning.

Charm keeps the pride moving in a constant search for prey.

Catching enough food is hard, even with Yaya’s help.

But Charm is relentless.

The younger members of the pride try to follow her example.

Even with little to hunt and the constant harassment of hyenas, Charm’s skill and experience as a leader is keeping the pride alive.

A few weeks later, her efforts begin to be rewarded.

Tatu and Red are now over four years old, ready to take the final step to adulthood.

It’s time for them to leave the pride.

For Charm, this is success.

They head out as a partnership, to battle other males, to win a pride of their own, and continue the family’s bloodline elsewhere.

But Charm still needs to get the remaining four female cubs safely to adulthood.

One early morning in May, ..The roar of adult male lions.

Two new males, outsiders, are searching for a pride to take over as their own.

New males could bring the possibility of a new generation of cubs.

But they could just as easily bring disaster.

Soon, the new males begin to impose their authority on the Marsh pride.

Charm’s youngest daughter is still too young to breed.

To the males, she’s nothing more than another mouth to share food with.

They don’t want her in their pride.

Try as she might, Charm struggles to defend her daughter.

Even she is no match for an adult male.

Charm tries distracting them, putting herself between them and her cub.

But it’s no good.

If her daughter stays, the males will eventually kill her.

The cub has no choice but to leave.

And the males don’t stop there.

Every young cub is driven out.

Their future is uncertain.

There’s nothing Charm can do.

Eight months ago, Charm’s pride numbered ten lions.

Of them, only she and Yaya now remain.

The return of the wildebeest signals the end, at last, of the hard times.

Time for a new beginning.

Charm is starting the process of rebuilding the Marsh pride.

She and one of the males have separated themselves from the rest of the group.

Females are only able to conceive once every few months.

For those crucial days, the male won’t leave her side.

Charm stays close to him to strengthen their bond.

If the male isn’t certain any future cubs are his, he will probably kill them.

Four months later.

Charm is alone, away from the pride.

Over the last 14 months, her dynasty has faced ruin.

But now, there is new hope.

Just two weeks old.

Charm gave birth away from the others.

Inquisitive and clumsy lions could be a threat to the newborns.

But her two cubs are still extremely vulnerable.

Buffaloes seek out lion cubs and will kill them if they get the chance.

She shields them with her body.

Without her to protect them, the buffalo will trample them to death.

Charm has forced the entire herd to back down.

Life is always dangerous for lion cubs.

But these two have an experienced mother to look after them.

At last, Charm’s pride is increasing again.

One male and one female.

And these cubs may soon be joined by more.

Yaya has paired off with the other adult male.

Soon, she too will have cubs.

Charm’s grandchildren.

Charm is taking her cubs to meet the rest of the Marsh pride for the first time.

Once their father has accepted the cubs, he’ll defend them as fiercely as their mother.

They are the future of his dynasty, too.

Charm has been away from the pride since giving birth, and hasn’t seen Yaya for weeks.

Their bond has held through perhaps the hardest times in the pride’s history.

With her daughter pregnant and her son looking for a pride of his own, Charm’s dynasty and the Marsh pride will live on.

This extraordinary lioness has succeeded.