A lone African wild dog walks along a dusty, reddish-brown path in the Land of Lions. Its distinctive mottled coat and large ears are visible as dry grass lines both sides of the path. The background is softly blurred, highlighting the dog on its journey.
In the Land of Lions, a group of African wild dog pups with large ears and distinctive mottled coats energetically tug on a stick, mirroring the playful spirit of their surroundings.
A close-up of a relaxed African wild dog with large ears and a spotted coat, resting on the land with its tongue out. Other wild dogs are blurred in the background, suggesting they are also resting after a long day in the savannah shared with lions.

Dogs in the Land of Lions

Nature & Wildlife·1 x 50 min·Completed

In the heart of Zimbabwe, a courageous mother, Puzzles, defies the odds to raise her pups amidst deadly lions and harsh challenges in this inspiring Wild Dog tale.

Factsheet

You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More Information
Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content
Genre
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
1 × 50 min
Definition
HD
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
Back to all projects

Synopsis

‘Dogs in the Land of Lions’ is a deeply intimate portrayal of selflessness and motherhood in the rare African Wild Dog. In the mist-shrouded hilltops of Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve in Zimbabwe, we meet Puzzles and her mate, Jigsaw. They’re attempting to do something Wild Dog pairs almost never get right – raising a family without the help of a pack. While Puzzles hunts to feed their 3-month-old pups, Jigsaw must keep them safe from lions – a Wild Dog’s most deadly natural enemy.

Over the seasons, the pair defies the odds, keeping all their offspring alive.

By winter, Puzzles is pregnant again and the young family moves to a hilltop cave, where Puzzles is confined with a dozen new, tiny pups. Now she must rely on Jigsaw and their inexperienced yearlings to hunt and return with food for her. But in the woodlands below, disaster strikes. Lions kill Jigsaw, along with one of the yearlings, leaving Puzzles to raise nearly two dozen young dogs, all on her own.

Her priority is to relocate her entire family to a new, safer den. The pups soon tire and the only way for her to move them is to carry each in her mouth, one by one to their new home.

Next, she must rely on her inexperienced teenagers to hunt; otherwise she and her rapidly growing pups will starve. Without adult supervision, the young hunters are easily distracted. Soon they get serious and succeed in provisioning their mother and young siblings.

Over the weeks, Puzzles decides her pups are old enough to leave the den, and for the first time she and all her children run together as one pack. They’re a formidable force: hunting wildebeest and exacting revenge on their lion enemies. But, lions aren’t the only enemy here. Roads kill too, and the entire pack is distressed when one of the pups is killed by a car.

Over the months, Puzzles’ family shrinks further as her daughters leave to start a new pack of their own. Without a mate, she will not raise another litter. Yet, with only 700 breeding pairs alive today, this single mother’s contribution to her species has been invaluable.

Team

Written and directed by Robyn Keene-Young
Produced by Adrian Bailey and Kim Wolhuter
Executive producers Sabine Holzer, Walter Köhler
Production companies A co-production of Terra Mater Factual Studios, Hat Creek Productions, Mavela Media and Thirteen Productions for WNET

Awards & Recognitions

Gödöllö, Hungary International Nature Film Festival Gödöllö Official Selection 2020
Eckenförde, Germany Green Screen - Internationales Naturfilmfestival Eckenförde Official Selection 2019
Lihula, Estonia MAFF - Matsalu Nature Film Festival Official Selection 2019
Distributor

Talk to our Distributor

Interested in licensing and watching the full production? Contact our distributor here.

Get in touch
Footage rights

Licensing & Usage

Interested in licensing or footage usage?
Contact us directly.

Get in touch

In the same Genre