knowing there's a simple life-saving treatment, he darts mannana and the babies.14 more years of life. and it's not an easy life. there are hyenas to outwit. stronger, more powerful lions, gangs to her solitary prowl. and the difficulty to give birth to cubs who die more often than not. from eight litters, vardy says only four of mannana's offspring survive to adulthood. mannanna loses two litters to competing male leopards. then, to ensure the survival of her next litter, she endures two separate mating cycles. it is both painful and tedious. leopards mate every 15 minutes for five days. mannanna does this with one, then crosses to the other side of her territory to mate with his rival. each male, she hopes, will think the cubs are his and let them live. after all that, she gives birth to only one cub, leaving this little one especially vulnerable when his mother is away. when she returns and the baby is gone, the culprit is not a jealous male leopard but in this case an african rock python with an obvious bulge. mannanna attacks repeatedly and won't give up till