Plot Synopsis

Narrated by Charles Dance, SAVAGE KINGDOM tells the real-life story of ruthless predators and powerful prey whose interconnected lives expose rivalries, betrayals, battles, struggles and triumphs, as they battle for survival in a remote region of Africa that is drying up after years of flood-soaked abundance. The winners are rewarded with the richest hunting grounds in the kingdom, while the losers are fated to exile...or even death. Each episode is told from one predator's point of view, revealing the exploits between clans that come to a head in rarely seen predator/prey action. There are bold plays for territory, inventive hunting techniques, deaths seen from different animals' points of view and births of new heirs. Shot by award-winning producer Brad Bestelink, who was born and raised in Botswana, SAVAGE KINGDOM takes place in Savute, a remote corner of Africa where animals are pitted against each other in a circle of unending conflict. There are ruthless predators -- lions, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs -- who stop at nothing to get ahead in the game of life or death. Their survival depends on the giant herds of powerful prey -- buffalo, elephant and zebra -- that have roamed Savute's kingdoms in search of sustenance, season after season, millennium after millennium...and drought is coming. Every frame of this series was shot in 4K, as the team was in the field for more than a year, waking up with the animals, tracking them all day and sleeping on top of their vehicles at night.

SAVAGE KINGDOM returned with new episodes on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT on National Geographic Channel. In the season opener, "Dawn of Darkness," the hyenas seize power from the lions, led by a ruthless commander; meanwhile, an exiled queen is hell-bent on winning back the throne for the Matahta Pride. Pula, the leopard, is forced to make a terrible choice between true love and her own future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A new season of SAVAGE KINGDOM debuted on Friday, August 14, 2020 from 9-11pm ET/PT, as National Geographic Channel premiered back-to-back new episodes. In the season opener (9pm), "A Mother's Sacrifice," lioness Tsebe is forced to make a terrible decision to save her beloved pride's cubs. Then, in the second episode (10pm), "The Rebellion," the teenagers themselves in mortal danger when they go it alone after a fight with Thata.