Living with Leopards: Botswana’s Special Xudum Concession on Netflix: Wildlife filmmaker Brad Bestelink has been hanging out in the Xudum concession in Botswana for the past four years, where he and his team worked on the fascinating Netflix documentary Living With Leopards. He started his journey more than 20 years ago in the Xudum region, where his dad set up a tourism business.

Bestelink really knows the area well and has beautifully captured its diverse ecosystems on film for projects such as National Geographic’s The Flood and the BBC’s Africa’s River Giants. His latest documentary really highlights his love for leopards—their smarts, stunning looks, and independent ways. It especially focuses on how mother leopards care for their cubs.

You can really feel the passion in the documentary. It shows the leopards’ ups and downs, making their story connect with a wider audience. Four years back, Xudum’s landscape changed because of lower water levels, turning it into a hotspot for predators. Seeing this unique chance, Bestelink set up a permanent filming camp in Xudum, which resulted in the creation of Surviving Paradise and Living With Leopards for Netflix.

So, this project kicked off right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it needed a real long-term commitment to capture the journey of leopard cubs as they grew up. Even with the risks involved, Bestelink’s experience and the remarkable traits of a leopard called Mochima gave us a good feeling about the project’s success. Bestelink highlights how crucial it is to create an emotional bond in nature documentaries, with the goal of helping viewers experience the emotional journey of the wilderness.

If you visit Mokolwane in the Xudum Concession, you’ll get a chance to see Bestelink and his team in action, all while enjoying some amazing leopard sightings up close. This area is home to one of Africa’s highest leopard populations and features a beautiful wilderness filled with all sorts of wildlife, like lions, wild dogs, and cheetahs.

Mokolwane gives guests a unique experience, featuring just seven rooms set in 200,000 hectares of pristine wilderness. This setup guarantees a deep sense of solitude and a real connection with nature.