Gibson the Lion VR-video

The world’s first VR 360-video of wild lions

In a first-ever lion VR 360-video filmed from the heart of a pride in the wild, you get to come face to face with lions in Virtual Reality.

In close collaboration with Zambia Carnivore Programme, Martin Edström and the IVAR Studios team push the boundaries of immersive wildlife storytelling further in this lion VR 360-video for National Geographic.

Following the Mwamba pride together with the Zambia Carnivore Programme in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, the Gibson The Lion VR film lets you follow the young lion Gibson and his mother, as they are forced to leave their pride because of conflict with a new dominant male.

Lions 360° | National Geographic

You can watch the video for free on National Geographic’s Facebook or Youtube.

A lioness from the Mwamba One pride, which Martin Edström and his team followed for a month in Zambia to create a VR and 360 documentary.
A lioness from the Mwamba One pride, which Martin Edström and his team followed for a month in Zambia to create a VR and 360 documentary.

Connecting to wildlife

While being the symbol for wilderness and Africa as a whole, lions are on the brink of extinction in all but the largest and best managed national parks. Their numbers are dwindling.

The young cubs of Mwamba One pride, huddled in the shadow of a tree in South Luangwa National Park. Since lions can't sweat, they spend most of their time in the hot season resting beneath large trees.
The young cubs of Mwamba One pride, huddled in the shadow of a tree in South Luangwa National Park. Since lions can’t sweat, they spend most of their time in the hot season resting beneath large trees.

Just over a century ago, there were more than 200,000 wild lions living in Africa. Today, there are only about 20,000.  These magnificent predators, on top of the food-chain and ecosystem, are slowly fading away – and currently listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

National Geographic Explorer Thandiwe Mweetwa (front) and Zambia Carnivore Programme director Matt Becker (back) looking at a pride of lions. Spending most of their time in the field, they track the movement and dynamics of lions and other carnivores - like wild dogs and hyenas - throughout South Luangwa National Park and other sites in Zambia.
National Geographic Explorer Thandiwe Mweetwa (front) and Zambia Carnivore Programme director Matt Becker (back) looking at a pride of lions. Spending most of their time in the field, they track the movement and dynamics of lions and other carnivores – like wild dogs and hyenas – throughout South Luangwa National Park and other sites in Zambia.

The Lion VR 360 project was done in close collaboration with The Zambian Carnivore Programme, an organisation dedicated to conserving large carnivore species and the ecosystems they reside in for one of Africa’s most wildlife-rich places. Having followed lions in the South Luangwa valley for years, their scientists have got to witness the many ways human civilization encroaches the territory – and lives – of the lion population.

While filming the Lion VR 360 project, we got to witness some of these problems first-hand.

Johnathan Merkle and Ben Goodheart of the Zambia Carnivore Programme are inspecting the wound of a male lion wounded by a snare. After tracking down the lion and sedating it with a tranquilizer dart, the scientists have about 30 minutes to work on the lion before they need to give him space to wake up. Removing the snare, cleaning the wound and giving the lion antibiotics to help ward of infection, the scientists hope to give the lion a better chance of survival despite being the victim of a snaring attempt.
Johnathan Merkle and Ben Goodheart of the Zambia Carnivore Programme are inspecting the wound of a male lion wounded by a snare. After tracking down the lion and sedating it with a tranquilizer dart, the scientists have about 30 minutes to work on the lion before they need to give him space to wake up. Removing the snare, cleaning the wound and giving the lion antibiotics to help ward of infection, the scientists hope to give the lion a better chance of survival despite being the victim of a snaring attempt.
Inspecting the teeth of a lion can give scientists many clues about its life. Noticing how the large canine teeth have been worn down, scientists can draw conclusions about food habits as well as age of the lion.
Left: A male lion has just been sedated with a tranquilizer dart by wildlife officers inside South Luangwa National Park. Middle: Inspecting the teeth of a lion can give scientists many clues about its life. Noticing how the large canine teeth have been worn down, scientists can draw conclusions about food habits as well as age of the lion. Right: The male lion has been caught in a snare – and is still carrying parts of the snare with him. Wildlife officers and staff from the Zambia Carnivore Programme want to remove the snare, give antibiotics and see what they can do to help him survive the snaring.

The first step in caring about something, enough to take action for conservation, is to connect with it. That’s why the Lion VR 360 project targeted empathy through a new approach: putting people face to face with lions, inside a Virtual Reality headset.

In the middle of a pride, as if they were there.

Meeting lions face to face

What happens if we actually get to meet lions face to face? With all the thousands of hours of lion footage and documentaries available today, how can we get a new perspective of wildlife?

This was a central question to the Lion VR 360 project, offering a new way to experience the life inside a pride of wild lions. The project aimed to give people access to a new perspective, that has not been truly possible with traditional film and still photography.

A new, inner perspective – getting so closely immersed within a pride of lions that you can almost feel like one of them.

Accomplishing this required some next generation thinking, compared to traditional wildlife filmmaking. This time, filming from afar wouldn’t be enough.

That’s why the team had to get a camera in there – into the middle of the pride.

Early mornings is a must when shooting wildlife, as you want to capture the action before lions and other animals rest in the day. During the VR lions expedition, leaving camp at 3am was normal.

Filming Lions in 360 degrees

Apart from the traditional problems faced in wildlife filmmaking, the team’s main challenge was of course to get a 360-camera into the middle of a pride of wild lions. This had to be done without the lions destroying camera systems or getting hurt themselves.

Working with the National Geographic Remote Imaging team, the project had access to some of the best tools (and minds) on the planet when it comes to wildlife imaging.

Getting a camera into a pride of lions is impossible without the right gear - in this case, an armored remote controlled vehicle. Mike Shepard of the National Geographic Remote Imaging team is assembling the equipment on location in South Luangwa National Park.
Using cutting-edge technology and custom built camera rigs, National Geographic Explorer Martin Edström and his team sent 360 cameras like this one up to lions in Zambia. With the goal of creating the first ever 360-video documentary following a pride of wild lions, they were able to create footage that makes you come closer to lions than ever before.
Left: National Geographic Explorer Thandiwe Mweetwa tracking down a pride of lions. Middle: Mike Shepard of the National Geographic Remote Imaging team is assembling the equipment on location in South Luangwa National Park. Right: Martin Edström mounting a custom-made camera rig, combining 3 cameras, with which the team was able to construct small enough 360-camera solutions that the lions accepted them in their presence.

Meet the droid

Together with Mike Shepard and the tools from National Geographic Remote Imaging, the team built out a mobile camera platform based on a remote controlled car. Sourcing local materials for armoring the camera car during the expedition in Zambia, the team covered the mobile platform with half an oil barrel and thereby established a new nickname for the platform: The Droid.

The Droid would serve as the most important tool of the whole expedition, getting the various camera systems in place – right in front of the lions.

In fact, the Mwamba pride would come to accept the Droid as a creature of it’s own – not really minding it at all.

After carefully habituating the Mwamba Pride to the presence of the camera car, over the course of almost two weeks, the crew could begin to film and craft a narrative from the dynamics of the pride. Most days were spent, as in all wildlife filmmaking, tracking down and locating the pride. Since lions can roam many miles at night, it’s an ever-present challenge of following in their paw prints.

A lion cub of the Mwamba pride meeting the Droid camera system for the first time ever. After realizing the camera car wasn't that interesting (being all metal) the lions slowly accepted it as a creature of some kind - letting the team move around freely through a remote controller.
Left: Lion cubs of the Mwamba pride meeting the Droid camera system for the first time ever. Middle: After realizing the camera car wasn’t that interesting (being all metal) the lions slowly accepted it as a creature of some kind – letting the team move around freely through a remote controller. Right: The old lion male (that we call Pala in the story) didn’t care about the camera system even from the start. He never interacted at all and we could film him freely.

Working closely with the scientists and researchers of the Zambian Carnivore Programme was instrumental in telling an accurate and interesting story about the pride.

Spending a full month in the field, the team got to closely follow the Mwamba pride of lions – focusing on Gibson and his mother. Struggling to get the camera system into place before any action happened – spending hundreds of hours simply waiting – the team slowly got to witness the pride dynamics unfold before the cameras.

What's this? A young lion of the Mwamba One pride walks up to inspect the camera belonging to National Geographic Explorer Martin Edström's team. Habituating the lions to both the remote controlled camera car, as well as the camera itself, was a long process of trial and error. Eventually, the lions of Mwamba One pride accepted its presence - making it possible for the team to film immersive 360 degree footage from within the pride.
What’s this? A young lion of the Mwamba One pride walks up to inspect the camera belonging to National Geographic Explorer Martin Edström’s team. Habituating the lions to both the remote controlled camera car, as well as the camera itself, was a long process of trial and error. Eventually, the lions of Mwamba One pride accepted its presence – making it possible for the team to film immersive 360 degree footage from within the pride.

Gibson the Lion

Young cubs of Mwamba Pride with blood on their fur, after eating the warthog their mother killed for them.
Young cubs of Mwamba Pride with blood on their fur, after eating the warthog their mother killed for them.

The story is a simple one, and gives a small sliver of insight to the group dynamics of these big cats and their pride – to give people access to the aspects of lion life that seem almost human.

As a cub and young male lion, Gibson has enjoyed the safety and comfort of his pride. Until now. There’s a new male coalition (a collection of male lions courting the females of the pride) in the area. One of these lions is Pala, the oldest.

A framegrab from the last scene of the Lion 360 video. Shot at twilight, the team managed to get a camera in between lions and elephants, as the latter chased the lions away.
A framegrab from the last scene of the Lion 360 video. Shot at twilight, the team managed to get a camera in between lions and elephants, as the latter chased the lions away.

Male lions can sometimes see cubs from other males as a threat. This is what happened to Gibson; Pala and his coalition (with two other males we could observe) did not want Gibson in the pride. They want Mwamba pride to be populated by their own offspring, without any other males present.

This is why Gibson’s mother has led him away.

To keep him safe, and alive.

He has yet to be seen in the wild in 2017, and might have been killed.

A large part of working in remote parts of Zambia is about your car breaking down. Working with the scientists to find the lions often lead through tricky terrain – and on some days you bust a tire twice!

The Team

The Lion VR 360 project brought together a small team of dedicated scientists, conservationists and storytellers to create something unique: bringing lions closer than ever before.

What does it take to film immersive 360 video from a wild pride of lions? A remote controlled camera car, a lot of persistance - and a solid terrain vehicle to work from! National Geographic Explorer Martin Edström (right) with team members Fredrik Edström (left) and Erik Löfblad (middle).
The core team of Fredrik Edström, Erik Löfblad and Martin Edström and the Droid (in front)
Happy to have just captured the first shots of wild lions in 360-video ever, photographer Erik Löfblad is eager to get out filming again.
Martin Edström, photographer, journalist and National Geographic Explorer, sitting in the back of a landrover looking for lions in a remote part of South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.
Left: Happy to have just captured the first shots of wild lions in 360-video ever, photographer Erik Löfblad is eager to get out filming again. Middle: Martin Edström sitting in the back of a Land Rover looking for lions. Right: Fredrik Edström, team member on the VR Lions project, getting shots in the first morning light.

The Lion VR 360 project started in 2015, and was led by Martin Edström as producer and director. Core team members Erik Löfblad and Fredrik Edström were central to all stages of the project, from the start of planning and designing the technical solutions as well as filming in the field.

Post-production was led by IVAR Studios. With hundreds of hours filmed in Zambia, the stitching and post-production workflow was a complicated process – followed by editing the final video.

Gibson meets the world

When not traveling, Martin is a highly sought-after keynote speaker on the subject of interactive and immersive storytelling, as well as telling the stories about natural heritage and conservation that has brought him and his cameras around the world.
Martin talking about filming Gibson the Lion at a National Geographic event in London, 2018.

Since the publication of Gibson the Lion in June 2017, the Lion VR 360-video has been showcased all over the world at National Geographic events and has over 50 million views across platforms online.

Martin continues to give talks about the project at key events, to describe the technology and workflow involved to invite audiences to watch wildlife in a new way – but also to give a heartwarming glimpse of the life inside a pride of lions.

Special thanks

The Lion VR 360 project couldn’t have been realized without the help from a lot of people, that helped us at key stages of the project. They include:

Zambian Carnivore Programme
Mwamba pride
Johnathan Merkle
Gibson Banda
Matt Becker
Luke Dollar
Fiona Pamplin
Rob Clifford
Ben Goodheart
Thandiwe Mweetwa
Kaitlin Yarnall
Camilla Hansen
Merci Olsson
Joakim Mörnefält