BIRDS CALL
INSECTS CHIRP
A female western lowland gorilla...
SHE SNUFFLES SOFTLY
..and her newborn...
..just moments old.
For his mother,
the arrival of her young baby is
the start of a new chapter in her adult life.
Parenthood.
Her journey will be challenging...
..full of excitement...
..uncertainty...
..and complete commitment.
There will be mistakes.
There always are.
But success for her, and indeed for all parents,
has perhaps the greatest of consequences.
It ensures the future of life on our planet.
BIRD WARBLES
Parenthood is a journey like no other.
The responsibility of providing constant food
and safety for offspring can be extremely challenging.
For most, it all begins with a good home.
A mother lion in the grasslands of the Kalahari in Botswana.
Her 20-strong pride is ruled by her
and her sisters...
..who each has her own cubs.
One mighty family who help each other through thick and thin.
CUBS MEWL
For months, their home is scorched by 45-degree heat.
THUNDER RUMBLES
THUNDER CRACKS
But once a year, their territory is brought to life by distant rains.
ELEPHANT GRUNTS SOFTLY
Up until now, these cubs have had very little experience of water.
So their mother will have to guide them
to get them through the trauma.
CUB MEWLS
MOTHER HISSES
Getting used to swamp living is
a vital part of their cubs' upbringing...
..because these precious waters attract animals from miles around.
BUFFALO GRUNT
Cape buffalo.
The smell of fresh water lures them from the surrounding savanna.
And they come in extraordinary numbers.
A herd three miles long and full of one-tonne animals.
They too cannot survive without
the water at the centre of the lions' territory.
BUFFALO SNORT AND BELLOW
She must show her cubs that patience is their greatest ally.
Once in the swamp, the buffalo spread out into smaller groups.
Lionesses will take the lead in any hunt.
But a mother here has the added pressure of having
to teach her growing cubs how to tackle giants.
One swipe of its horns could kill any one of them.
The cubs must watch and learn.
DEEP RUMBLING GRUNT
BUFFALO GRUNTS
The younger lions are allowed to be the first to feast.
Hunting giants, however, is not without its risks.
One of the pride's mothers is missing.
LION CALLS
Contact calls go unanswered.
CALLS CONTINUE
In attempting to provide food for her young,
she has been gored by a buffalo.
There is nothing the pride can do to help.
With her cubs too young to hunt for themselves
her death leaves their future uncertain.
CUB MEWLS
But they don't have to face it alone.
The matriarchs will take on responsibility for them.
LION PURRS
In lion society, females often share the load of parenting.
Related adults will continue to care for the orphans
alongside their own offspring.
It'll be another year before they're fully independent.
In that time, they must be taught how to survive here.
And luckily for them,
the leader of this pride is an excellent teacher.
Parental investment is a risky strategy for many animals...
..particularly in the largest of all habitats -
the ocean.
The sheer diversity of life makes some parts of
the ocean a highly competitive environment.
So the animals who choose to raise their offspring here
need to have an edge.
Here in Indonesia, protected by the reef,
lives one of the ocean's most ingenious parents.
A female boxer crab.
Attached to her underside is her brood of over 1,000 eggs.
Her challenge is to keep them safe until they hatch
whilst keeping herself well fed.
So, like any good parent, she's come prepared with a solution.
On her claws are live anemones
that she's collected from the reef around her.
The anemones filter food from the surrounding water...
..which the crab mother steals for herself.
It's an ingenious way to keep energised while looking after young.
But it's not without risk.
To capture the food she needs
she must take her anemones out in the open.
A cuttlefish.
A cunning predator that pounces on the unprepared.
Exposed and alone...
..she is a sitting crab.
But she isn't defenceless.
Her anemones have venomous stings that can deter most predators.
A very effective weapon for a mother in need of protection.
In fact, her anemones are such good tools
that they are highly prized amongst the crab community.
And this mother has a jealous rival.
Empty-clawed, her opponent will do anything to secure her own anemone.
She isn't going to surrender them without a fight.
Overpowered, the mother loses one of her anemones.
The battle leaves her exhausted and vulnerable.
She needs to lie low and buy herself some time...
..because this super mum has yet another trick.
Slowly and meticulously, she dissects her remaining anemone,
creating a clone.
Her remarkable problem-solving allows her to keep herself
and her young alive for a few more days...
..until, eventually, she's ready to let them go.
Climbing to the top of her coral home,
she begins to release her tiny offspring into the current...
..a few at a time...
..until all her crablets are independent.
Thanks to her care and attention,
she has given them an excellent start in life.
Raising offspring alone is extremely challenging...
..so many parents resort to teamwork.
A female burrowing owl is looking
for a partner amongst the wild lands of Arizona.
And this young male seems eager to please.
To win her over, he must first find a decent burrow.
And that is proving tricky.
Burrowing owls use holes abandoned by other animals.
But the ones he has found are either still in use...
..or already have well-established families.
Her patience is running thin.
When finally he's found one,
she flies in for a closer inspection.
The hallway clearly requires a little housekeeping.
Though small inside, it's deep enough underground
to keep her chicks cool in the midday heat.
Returning to await her verdict...
..he receives a less-than-enthusiastic yes.
Over the coming weeks, she will lay one egg a day
and then incubate them all until they hatch.
His responsibility now
is to provide her with a constant supply of food...
..until, eventually, their teamwork pays off.
CHICKS SQUEAL
At first, the father's food supplies
are enough to keep their chicks growing.
But soon, both parents will have
to work to put enough food on the table.
All this constant activity inevitably attracts attention.
COOS SOFTLY
A roadrunner.
Fast and wily, this opportunist could kill
an entire brood of young chicks.
Their burrow has been chosen to keep them hidden from predators.
But at the first sign of danger, the chicks create a deterrent.
HIGH-FREQUENCY RATTLING
Their call mimics the sound of an angry rattlesnake.
But rattlesnakes are one of the roadrunner's favourite prey.
Returning with takeaway,
the father is alerted to the danger.
SQUAWKING
Disaster averted.
OWL SCREECHES
OWL COOS
But now both parents are caught between keeping
a watchful eye on their chicks and providing enough food for them
to grow large enough to defend themselves.
They work around the clock.
And their chicks' expectations are seemingly never ending.
The parents' lives soon reach a turning point.
The growing chicks begin spending more and more time
exploring their surroundings.
And there are less demands on the parents,
as a few of the chicks become capable of finding their own snacks.
For the parents, that is a welcome relief.
Parenthood is even harder
when the environment is working against you.
And for those parents
who need reliable fresh water to raise their young,
the conditions are rarely perfect.
The Ruaha River in Tanzania.
For most of the year, it provides a lifeline to those that live here.
But during the dry season, this refuge almost disappears...
ELEPHANT GRUNTS
..leaving this mother hippo and her calf with a dilemma.
He was born just two months ago, at a time when water was plentiful.
But now there are only a few pools left where the water
is still deep enough to shield him from the harsh sun.
HIPPOS HUFF
The other hippos in the area have
had the same idea,
so her new-found nursery
has become...
..a little crappy.
For now, though, hygiene is the least of the mother's worries.
These enormous fountains of fertiliser
require 50kg of vegetation every day.
And now, in the dry season, that is a problem.
Good grazing is nearly one-and-a-half miles
from the safety of the river.
But it's too hot to make the journey in daytime.
She must wait until nightfall.
In the cool of the night, the surrounding bush comes alive.
But with darkness comes the unknown.
Like it or not,
the hippos must leave the safety of their pool...
..and head into the night in search of food.
The mother must not leave her calf alone.
So the pair begin the slow and uncertain certain walk
to find distant grazing.
CREATURES SQUAWK, GRUNT AND ROAR
CALLS CONTINUE
There is some safety in numbers close to the water.
But this far into the dry season, the best food is further away.
Their size offers them some protection.
The hippo mother is a formidable bodyguard.
Her mouth is filled with 20cm ivory tusks
that serve only for defence.
But a young hippo is vulnerable.
So the calf must never stray too far from his mother.
LOW BELLOW
THEY MUNCH VEGETATION
There is an unnerving quietness to the bush around her.
But now they are too far from the water to seek refuge there.
And their stalkers know this.
A nearby male also senses danger, and he joins the mother.
Even in small groups,
hippos can defend themselves against a single lion...
..but not against a pride.
The mother knows if they all hold their ground
they might have a chance.
HIPPO GROWLS
The less experienced male panics...
HIPPO BELLOWS
..and they lose their advantage.
HIPPO CALF YELPS
ROARING AND SQUEALING
The body of a young male hippo will keep
a pride fed for a week.
The mother and her calf return to the protection of their pool.
They have had a lucky escape.
But the mother hippo's remaining refuge will soon dry out.
And she and her calf will have
to travel further and further into the unknown.
They'll need to do this every night.
All parents need dedication in the face of adversity.
The quest for food can be
a seemingly never-ending commitment for many parents.
And here in Namibia, one takes that commitment to extremes.
This female African social spider laid her eggs just days ago.
And now her brood of 30 spiderlings are dependent on her for food.
So, in their early life, she regurgitates a milky liquid
which the spiderlings drink directly from her mouth.
They will grow to ten times this size in the coming weeks.
To fuel such growth, she will need to leave her nursery to hunt.
Luckily, this mother has family she can rely on.
50 fully grown adult sisters who share her nest...
..and who hunt in perfect unison.
By stopping simultaneously, they can listen with their feet
to detect the whereabouts of their prey in their vast nest.
Within weeks, her spiderlings
are ready to start hunting for themselves.
And as they grow, her offspring and all their cousins become insatiable.
They're born with the ability to hunt together as a pack,
just like their mothers.
Only now, there are over 1,000 of them.
FLYING INSECT BUZZES
Her role is almost over, which is just as well.
Since laying her eggs,
the mother's condition has been deteriorating
and her movements have become laboured.
The demands of parenthood are finally taking their toll.
But she has one more gift for her offspring.
The only thing she has left.
Her struggling appears to mimic
the vibrations of a distressed prey insect.
And her hungry spiderlings descend en masse
to their mother's dinner table one last time.
Only this time,
she is the main course.
Hers is the ultimate sacrifice,
born out of a need to ensure the survival of the next generation.
But the spiderlings are not yet finished.
They turn on their surviving relatives,
eating every adult in the colony one by one...
..until the next generation is all that is left.
Parental sacrifice on this scale is rare in the natural world...
..though there comes a time in a parent's journey when
all that effort seems worth it.
A female western lowland gorilla in Gabon.
She will help her young for almost four years to learn
the complexities of living in their jungle home.
But as he becomes more independent,
she must let go and allow him to acquire
the rules of a gorilla's social life.
His new-found independence triggers
a crucial moment in his mother's journey.
It gives her the chance to think about her next stage of parenthood.
The father of her young one is reaching the end of his prime.
At 34, he's old for a silverback.
And unbeknownst to him, he is under constant assessment.
Female lowland gorillas will leave their troop
if they think there might be better options.
And that decision all boils down to one thing.
Has he still got it?
GORILLA GRUNTS SOFTLY
Hmm...not bad.
Her offspring will inherit his excellent physique,
giving them a good head start in life.
Brawn isn't the only thing she considers.
Though males play little part in raising their offspring,
females nonetheless prefer males with a degree of tolerance.
And the old silverback has always been good with kids.
On top of his physique and character,
she's also constantly assessing what his territory has to offer.
Wherever it comes from...
..good and plentiful food is crucial
for any mother trying to raise her young.
And variety helps parents
teach their young about what to eat and where to find it.
In the food department, he scores highly.
He even has a swamp...
..which might not sound like much...
..but the grasses here provide much-needed protein
to a lowland gorilla's diet.
She also is looking for protection when life gets risky.
ELEPHANT TRUMPETS
GORILLA GROWLS
A forest elephant is not immediate competition,
but a threat to young gorillas nonetheless.
Willingness to stand up to those bigger than him
is certainly attractive in a partner.
If she chose to leave, however, there would be significant risks.
Any new male with whom she associates
could kill infants that aren't his own.
So she'll have to leave her child behind.
And it would take months to establish herself
within a new troop.
Here, at least,
she already has a partner.
Just a slightly mature one.
For now, it seems he has passed her test.
But there's still time to change her mind!
GORILLA BREAKS WIND
Parental strategies have evolved over millennia.
But now over 80% of the Earth's landmass is affected
by human activity...
..and animal parents are having to adapt to this new world.
An endangered Iberian lynx...
..known as Audrina.
This abandoned barn is the best place left for Audrina
to raise her five kittens.
SHE PURRS
It's an excellent refuge for her growing family -
cool, sheltered and full of activities for soft play.
In fact, this place is so good that Audrina is not alone.
Both her mother and her daughter
have chosen to raise their kittens here.
Three generations raising their young together.
A rare phenomenon and a sign of hope.
But the recovery of lynx here has only been possible by
what has happened outside the barn.
ENGINE CHUGS
Less than a decade ago, the farmers here chose
to change their practice to suit the native wild animals.
They stopped hunting and began creating habitat
amongst their crops.
And quicker than anyone had imagined,
the native animals moved back in.
First prey...
..then predators.
Soon, the farm became a safe refuge for parents like Audrina
to introduce their kittens to
a world that had been redesigned with them in mind.
One where kittens have room to explore...
..play...
..and hunt.
And they thrived.
We're beginning to understand
that it's possible to use our world for our needs
whilst also providing for wild animals.
And we are discovering that by doing so
it's possible to help other species.
Iberian lynx have begun a remarkable recovery,
but their fate still remains in the balance.
The future is uncertain for all parents across our world.
But what is clear is that for all of us to survive
we will need to help each other.
The Parenthood team relied on experts all over the world.
HE MIMICS ANIMAL CALL
And in Loango National Park in Gabon,
primatologist Dr Martha Robbins and her team came with
20 years of crucial expertise.
The idea behind this project is to link research
and conservation of western gorillas.
For this project to succeed,
we need to work together with Gabonese people.
And the Babongo have remarkable tracking abilities
where they can see things in the forest that we can't see.
TRANSLATION:
The Babongo trackers take the lead daily into the forest,
and by snapping twigs as they go along,
they leave themselves a trail to follow back.
But it is their carefully crafted
relationship with the gorillas that is key.
The trackers know they must first
help the crew gain the silverback's trust.
Whoa.
You could feel the power of this massive creature.
Silverbacks are probably the most powerful of all primates.
And they warn the crew it isn't going to come easy.
The gorillas really like the swamps
because it's full of tasty gorilla food.
The swamps don't pose a challenge for the gorillas.
The swamps pose one of many challenges for us!
Uh-oh.
You OK? Nope.
The team try as best they can to keep up,
and just as they reach dry land...
..the gorilla family have other ideas.
So just crossed the swamp.
We have managed to find the gorillas, which is great.
The gorillas have decided that they're going to
go back across the same swamp that we've just crossed.
So, yeah, we're going to follow them across and do it all again.
Back on the other side, they catch a fleeting glimpse,
but the gorillas have yet to accept the crew's presence,
and disappear into the forest.
So, back to searching.
They tracked down the gorillas once again,
but if the crew thought the swamps were hard work,
the mangroves are even trickier.
And once again, the crew are left trailing in the gorillas' wake.
Frustratingly, they decide to abandon the day's search.
A new day, a new lead.
The trackers' familiarity with the gorillas' movements
continues to be essential.
But the silverback is still unsure about the cameras
and keeps his family moving.
I have seen the silverback's bum - quite special already, I guess.
The science team spot a potential obstacle on the path ahead.
ELEPHANT GROWLS
There's nothing worse than an angry elephant.
So now we're just making our way around
so that we don't get in their way or disturb them.
ELEPHANT GROWLS
Luckily, it isn't a problem
for the trackers to pick up the trail again.
Faustin just pointed out a track that he just found,
and this is the trace that he sees.
A moment of calm in the forest allows the crew to finally set up.
But just as they do so, the rains arrive.
A wet camera could spell the end of their filming trip.
So they're forced to retreat once more.
Ah, it's so wet!
Overnight, the rains have washed away the tracks of the gorillas.
But the trackers pick up another sign.
The freshly stripped twigs
indicate gorillas have recently been feeding here.
And now it seems the silverback
is willing to finally allow the crew access.
INFANT COOS
So cool. So cool.
Over the following weeks, the science team helps
the crew to understand the gorillas' behaviour.
A big reward is discovering new things
that we don't know about these animals.
There's something every day
that the gorillas do that can put a smile on your face.
This shoot would have obviously been impossible
for us without the help of
all the amazing guides and trackers that we had.
Next time...
..oceans.
# Go steady You can take your time
# You're ready It'll all be fine
# And whatever you face
# There's a bond you can't break
# Cos I'll love you
# And that'll never change That'll never change
# Ooh-oh-oh That'll never change
# That'll never change
# Ooh-oh-oh That'll never change
# That'll never change
That'll never change
# That'll never change
# That'll never change. #