Big Cats - Season 1

In Ruaha, Tanzania lions form huge 'super prides' in order to hunt giants. Among cats, lions are unusual as they are the only one to live in groups. In numbers they find the strength and audacity to hunt the most formidable prey.

In Sri Lanka, a tiny rusty spotted cat explores his forest home. Two hundred times smaller than a lion, the rusty spotted is the smallest of all cats, but just as curious.

The Canada lynx lives further north than any cat, relying on snowshoes hares to survive the bitterly cold winters. Until now lynx were creatures of mystery - but now technology provides an insight into their secret lives.

In Outer Mongolia the rarely-seen Pallas's cat, at home with her kittens, shows off her unusual profile while hunting: a wide head, unusually low ears and the ability to flatten her body and disguise herself as a rock.

Finally, in South Africa, we uncover the secret of the serval, who thrives among the futuristic landscape of Africa's biggest industrial complex.

These remarkable cats live surprising lives in the most extraordinary places on the planet.

Scientists are studying cats in more detail than ever before, and what they are discovering is truly groundbreaking. Join the scientists in the field, testing new theories and challenging the conventional ideas about cats. New approaches and new technologies are allowing an intimate look at their previously hidden lives. This new age of discovery is revealing there is still so much to learn about the cat family. Using high-tech collars, Professor Alan Wilson has discovered it is not straight-line speed that is a cheetah's greatest weapon but their ability to brake, change direction and accelerate. This is also a crucial time for cat conservation - most are threatened, yet there are many positive stories of cats bouncing back from the brink. Just five years ago the Iberian lynx was considered the rarest cat on the planet. Now, due to a groundbreaking captive-breeding programme, lynx numbers are increasing in the wild.