The Big Cat People Podcast

Welcome back to The Big Cat People Podcast! We’re Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors, and conservationists. Today’s episode continues our guest interview series, “In Conversation with The Big Cat People.”Our guest is Nick Garbutt, an award-winning photographer and critically acclaimed author who has spent over 30 years documenting wildlife across the globe. With a background in zoology and post-graduate research, Nick’s career transitioned from hands-on conservation—working with critically endangered birds in Mauritius—to becoming one of the world’s leading voices in wildlife photography and natural history writing.Nick is perhaps best known for his deep expertise in the tropical rainforests of Borneo, the Amazon, and especially Madagascar. Having visited the island almost every year since 1991, he has documented over 80 species of lemurs and nearly all of its major wildlife. Beyond the rainforest, Nick shares our deep-seated passion for big cats; he has photographed all seven species in the wild and serves as a partner photographer with Panthera, the world’s foremost cat conservation organization.A two-time category winner in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, Nick’s work is featured regularly in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, and Terra Mater. He is also the author of numerous definitive guides, including the Field Guide to Mammals of Madagascar.This episode dives into Nick’s journey from scientist to artist, the "visceral thrill" of connecting with a big cat through a lens, and his advocacy for showing subjects within the context of their environment.If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.Connect with Nick Garbutt:Instagram: @nickgarbuttWebsite: nickgarbutt.com

Welcome back to The Big Cat People Podcast! We’re Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors, and conservationists. Today’s episode continues our guest interview series, “In Conversation with The Big Cat People.” Our guest is the world-renowned fine art photographer David Yarrow, celebrated for his powerful, cinematic images that capture the essence of storytelling through photography. Born in Glasgow, David’s extraordinary career began with his iconic 1986 World Cup photograph of Diego Maradona and has since taken him across the globe — from working with sports legends and supermodels to documenting wildlife and frontier towns. Represented by over 50 galleries worldwide, David’s work has generated more than $285 million in sales, placing him among the most successful photographers in the world. Philanthropy lies at the heart of his work — with over $25 million raised for charities, focusing on conservation, healthcare, and pediatric cancer care. His most recent book, David Yarrow: The Collection, features a foreword by Robert Redford and serves as a stunning retrospective of his career. In this inspiring conversation, we talk about his creative process, the art of storytelling through imagery, and how he uses his photography to make a difference. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.Connect with David Yarrow:⁠@davidyarrowdavidyarrow.photography

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is a continuation of our guest interview series, 'In Conversation with The Big Cat People'. In this series, Jonathan and Angie sit down with incredibly talented photographers to discuss the topic of 'Becoming a Photographer'. Today's guest is Shem Compion, an African-born adventurer, nature photographer, author, and innovative photography hide builder. Co-founder of C4 Photo Safaris, his work, renowned globally, includes contributions to the BBC's Planet Earth series. Pioneering photography hides, such as Africa's first underground hide, Shem offers unique perspectives. An educator and author, he's published seven titles, including "A Landscape of Insects." Shem's boundless exploration recently took him along Ethiopia's Omo River, consistently producing creative photographic work. As a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in London, Shem Compion remains a dynamic force in wildlife photography. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com. Connect with Shem Compion: ⁠@shemimages shemimages.com

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is a continuation of a new guest interview series, 'In Conversation with The Big Cat People'. In this series, Jonathan and Angie sit down with incredibly talented photographers to discuss the topic of 'Becoming a Photographer'. Today's guest is Brent Stirton, a Senior Photographer at Getty Images in New York, is celebrated for his compelling documentary work. With an alternative approach to photojournalism, he combines lighting portraiture in the field with prolific work ethic, traveling extensively on commissioned assignments. Collaborating with renowned publications like National Geographic, CNN Traveler, and more, he interprets stories visually. His focus lies in humanitarian issues, including HIV/AIDS, environment, poverty, and women's empowerment. Stirton has received numerous awards, including a Peabody Award in 2012, and holds a journalism degree from South Africa, where he began his career documenting apartheid issues. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com. Connect with Brent Stirton: brentstirton.com @brentstirton

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is the second in the Sacred Nature Series, and it discusses the topic of 'Becoming Conservationists'. A trip down memory lane with Jonathan and Angie, from growing up immersed in Nature - Angie in Tanzania and Jonathan on a farm in the UK - to their shared love of wildlife, photography and art. They met and married in the Maasai Mara in 1992, kindred spirits, with Angie giving structure and clarity to their path, whether what their next project might be - a CD Rom on an African Safari, revising their Safari Guide Books to East African Animals and Birds, or working on television series - they have never looked back, always on the go, living life to the full, whether at home in Nairobi or photographing a world beyond reality: Antarctica. There were halcyon days on safari filming Big Cat Diary for weeks at a time, with Jonathan as co-presenter and Angie as an ace big cat spotter and production stills photographer. Angie has always loved books and dreamed of one day seeing their work writ large in a portfolio book of their own making. That dream was realised with their two award winning titles of Sacred Nature published by HPH Publishes in South Africa. They in turn led to them founding the non-profit Sacred Nature Initiative based on three pillars: Inspire, Educate, Conserve. This is the fascinating and inspiring story of their journey to Becoming Conservationists. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. This episode, titled 'The Truth About Lions', marks the tenth and final episode of our Big Cat Diary Uncut series. Jonathan reflects on the changes in the Marsh Pride and shares insights in a recent documentary. The Lion: The Rise and Fall of the Marsh Pride aired in 2022, highlighting the iconic pride's story through extensive BBC Natural History Unit footage. It addresses the poisoning incident in 2015, the decline of herbivore populations, and challenges like the climate crisis, elephant population, fires, tourism oversupply, and conflicts with pastoralists. The Marsh Pride's territory and uncertain future are discussed, with hope resting on the newly signed Maasai Mara Management Plan for a brighter future. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is called '2006: A Lioness Called Tamu', and it is the eighth episode in our ten part series named Big Cat Diary Uncut. Join us in this episode as we go back in time to the year 2006. If the demise of little Toto the cheetah cub had a UK audience of 7 million viewers of Big Cat Week 3 - and many more around the world - the story of a lioness called Tamu would define Big Cat Week 4. The young Marsh lioness was almost certainly one of two female cubs that accompanied Nsu Nsu when videoing Big Cat Diary in 2002. The little females had played an innocent part that year in Mama Lugga (aka Red) losing contact with her small cubs along the Bila Shaka Lugga. Those four cubs were fortunate to be adopted by White Eye and Kali who raised them in a creche of 10, proving the power of the "sisterhood" to the pride. Now Tamu faced troubles of her own when a nomadic male moves in to the area where she has hidden four tiny cubs fathered by Notch. The iconic pride male sporting a magnificent mane tinged with black was now on his own, having lost his male companion in a fight to the death with three powerful Paradise Pride males more than a year-and-a-half earlier. The migration of wildebeests and zebras had flooded in from the Serengeti, and Notch was doing everything he could to remain close to the lionesses and sub-adults in the pride to avoid two nomadic males who had recently moved in to the area. He spent most of his time in Musiara Marsh where there was plenty of food to scavenge from kills made by other members of the pride. Meanwhile, Jonathan is reunited with Honey - Toto’s mum - who had given birth to a new litter of cubs and was spending most of her time in the Mara Triangle, ranging widely. Just before filming, Honey loses one of her cubs leaving three males and a female of around seven months old. Then, right at the start of the series, another cub is lost - the little female - killed by a lion when mother and cubs tarry too long gorging themselves on a wildebeest calf after dark. While Jonathan and Simon and the cheetah and lion crews have their hands full keeping up with all the dramas of their stories, Saba is struggling. This will be the fourth year she has followed the leopard story for four years and it is proving a tough assignment. Once again Bella is without cubs, and we know how difficult it is when there are no cubs to drive the action. Fortunately, Bella is in oestrus and being courted by four adult males, unfortunately the action occurs deep in cover and the leopard crew are left frustrated. The beauty of Big Cat has always been the richness of the stories and while Bella does provide flashes of wonderful viewing it is Tamu and Honey who hold center stage, keeping everyone glued to their television sets. Tamu is constantly trying to avoid other members of the Marsh Pride - particularly Red and White Eye - who are quick to try and intimidate their younger relative and force her on her way whenever they spot her trying to among the dense reed-beds of the Marsh where she has hidden her cubs. Honey’s three male cubs provide plenty of excitement as they refine their hunting skills and engage in boisterous play sessions. They are destined to become known as Honey’s Boys, a powerful coalition that in time will dominate a huge territory from Musiara Marsh south to Paradise Plain and east to the Rekero area. Roll on 2008! This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is called '2004: The Ridge Pride – Sala and Cheza & Bella and Chui', and it is the sixth episode in our ten part series named Big Cat Diary Uncut. Join us in this episode as we go back in time to the year 2004. Big Cat Week's first series was a hit, captivating audiences with its week-long format. Jonathan questions his performance, while reuniting with the amazing car-climbing cheetah, Kike. He focuses on her independent youngsters, while Saba's leopard team discovers exciting developments. Simon's adventures with the Ridge Pride's cubs provide mischievousness and danger. Kike's offspring showcase survival skills, and we delve into the world of big cat spotting. With golden moments and hopeful futures, Big Cat Week keeps us hooked. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is called '2002: Cubs Galore – Marsh Pride, Honey and Zawadi', and it is the fourth episode in our ten part series named Big Cat Diary Uncut. Join us in this episode as we travel back in time. In 2002, each presenter in Big Cat Diary was accompanied by a DV Director with a hand-held camera to record their every move and dialogue for a more intimate and immediate viewing experience. Saba Douglas-Hamilton joined as a new presenter to narrate the Marsh Pride story, which featured young cubs from first-time mothers Mama Lugga and White Eye. The lionesses adopted a crèche system to raise all 10 cubs communally. Solo, a charismatic lion cub, survived, and Zawadi had a new litter of three cubs at Leopard Gorge. The series delivered high octane action and intense emotions. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We've have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is named '1998: Amber the Cheetah and the Battle at Bila Shaka, and it is the second episode in our ten part series named 'Big Cat Diary Uncut'. The second series of Big Cat Diary videoed in 1998 was one to remember, packed with action from all three big cats. Jonathan bears witness to a battle royal at Bila Shaka, the traditional birthplace of the Marsh Pride, as a herd of buffalo launch a deadly attack on the pride and its 11 tiny cubs. We meet the new pride males Scruffy and Scar who are instantly recognisable in looks and character. Simon catches up with the Mara's legendary cheetah known to the safari guides as Queen, who he renames Amber. Queen earned her name from her habit of jumping up and sitting on the bonnet of safari vehicles in regal style. We learn about her unusual start in life that prompted her car climbing habit. Her three subadult offspring - 2 males and a female - provide lots of action for the cheetah team, while our leopards Half-Tail and her year-and-a-half-old daughter Zawadi (now independent) generate plenty of high octane moments to keep Jonathan and our audience enthralled. Both Amber and Half-Tail are now 11 years old - old by big cat standards - and we can never be certain if or when we will see them again. As if to underline that point, Half-Tail comes close to losing her life when bushwhacked by two lionesses, while Zawadi demonstrates her hunting skills right in front of Jonathan's vehicle, all captured to perfection by cameraman Richard North. Roll on 2000! This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com.

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We've have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is the final episode of our ten part series named 'Our Story: Becoming the Big Cat People'. This episode is named 'The Nature of Life.' Big Cat Diary (1996-2008) was to become a worldwide success watched by millions of viewers, who to this day still ask when it is coming back. DVD's of the series soon sold out, and people are still watching repeats of the more than 70 episodes 25 years later. The BBC went in search of more animal Diaries: Elephant Diaries, Big Bear Diary, Chimpanzee Diaries, and Orang Utan Diaries,. But none would rival Big Cat Diary with its three strong animal characters - the charismatic lions, leopard and cheetahs. In 2009 Jonathan narrates The Secret Leopard for BBC2. The following year he presents the 2 part BBC2 series The Truth About Lions with Professor Craig Packer of the Serengeti Lion Project. Angela leads Jonathan on a spiritual journey, and encourages him to explore the wonders of the Blue Planet. They visit the Galapagos Islands, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, the Maldives and take a yacht charter to the southern archipelago off Myanmar. In the process Jonthan and Angela are reminded of the destructive impact of our species on the Planet. In 2003, the same year that Kike the cheetah jumps on the roof of his vehicle and poops and pees through the roof hatch, Jonathan is diagnosed with cancer of the bladder and undergoes surgery that is successful. 5 years later Jonathan and Angela discover the reason for the bewildering array of symptoms that Angela has suffered from since 1995 - Lupus, an incurable auto-immune disease with debilitating episodes of fatigue and flares. Worse is to follow when in 2012 a CatScan shows that Angela has a cranial aneurism requiring surgery. The operation is successful and the experience reaffirms the couple's love for each other and for life. They founded the Sacred Nature Initiative in 2021 and are determined to continue their mission to help reconnect people to Nature. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We've have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is a continuation of our ten part series named 'Our Story: Becoming the Big Cat People'. This episode is named, 'From Africa to Antarctica.' Opportunity beckons in 1989! I’m asked to co-present Africa Watch with Julian Pettifer, the first live outside broadcast from the Maasai Mara produced by the BBC/Discovery Channel. For ten days we beamed breathtaking images around the world, starring the Marsh Pride and the great migration. Africa Watch proves a great success. There is talk of the BBC finding a TV series for me to present, but not yet. During filming I meet Mitsuaki Iwago the legendary wildlife photographer who tells me to be more adventurous with my own photography. 1991 hails the beginning of our love affair with Antarctica, a land beyond reality, that would keep Angela and myself enthralled to this day. Our annual expeditions aboard Abercrombie and Kent’s Little Red Ship, brought to life by tales of the heroic age of exploration when Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton battled the elements to be first to the South Pole, opened a whole new chapter in our lives “Out of Africa”. En route, via South America, we go in search of Angela’s Grandfather Hugo Salman Backhouse who bred polo ponies on an estancia in Cordoba, Argentina, where Angela’s mother Joy and Uncle Jonny were born and home schooled. Hugo, forever the charismatic adventurer, captained the Argentine Polo Team in 1936, spied for Britain in both World Wars, and rode with Laurence of Arabia. Back in Africa we remember some close encounters with nature, from a 4.5 meter long python curled up under our son David’s cot, to a bull elephant named Tyson who relished trashing the BBC’s camera equipment while filming Elephant Diaries in Tsavo National Park. Yet one of our most frightening misadventures is not in Africa. A meeting on foot with a bull Hooker’s Sea Lion on the remote Campbell Island off New Zealand during our semi-circumnavigation of Antarctica aboard Kapitan Khlebnikov proves a salutary tale. With a warning we would all do well to heed. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com

Welcome to The Big Cat People podcast! We're Jonathan and Angela Scott, award-winning wildlife photographers, authors and conservationists. We've have made our name documenting the lives of lions, leopards and cheetahs in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Today's episode is a continuation of our ten part series named 'Our Story: Becoming the Big Cat People'. This episode is named, "Painted Wolves and The Great Migration." By now I have written books on lions and leopards and spent nearly ten years living in the Maasai Mara. I decide to travel south to the great Serengeti National Park in Tanzania that borders the Mara to the south. I live in my vehicle for weeks at a time over the next three years as I gather material on the Painted Wolves - the African wild dogs, the most social of all the large carnivores in complete contrast to the solitary leopards I had been focusing on. I become one with the pack, living at the den where their puppies are hidden, rising when they do, sleeping in my car wherever they bed down for the night. I find solitude among the vastness of the endless plains to seek answers to the mental health issues that have cast a shadow over my life since childhood. I witness the extent of the bush meat trade - the poaching that kills tens of thousands of animals that are snared, speared, trapped or shot each year. I complete books on both the wild dogs and the great migration, meet Prince Charles (now King Charles III), and two of my childhood heroes Sir Peter Scott and David Attenborough who endorse my work. In 1987 I win the Overall Award in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition with one of my wild dog photographs and begin to feel that I am stepping out of my father's giant shadow. This podcast series is a continuing effort to educate and inspire our audience. If you'd like to learn more about us, or to check out our latest collection of educational ebooks, please visit our website: www.bigcatpeople.com