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00:46A female western lowland gorilla and her newborn.
01:03Just moments old.
01:14For his mother, the arrival of her young baby is the start of a new chapter in her adult life.
01:29Parenthood.
01:42Her journey will be challenging.
01:49Full of excitement.
01:53Uncertainty.
01:54And complete commitment.
02:03There will be mistakes.
02:05There always are.
02:14But success for her, and indeed for all parents, has perhaps the greatest of consequences.
02:26It ensures the future of life on our planet.
02:48Parenthood is a journey like no other.
02:58The responsibility of providing constant food and safety for offspring can be extremely challenging.
03:16For most, it all begins with a good home.
03:25A mother lion in the grasslands of the Kalahari in Botswana.
03:40Her 20-strong pride is ruled by her and her sisters.
03:48Who each has her own cubs.
03:53One mighty family who help each other through thick and thin.
04:03For months, their home is scorched by 45-degree heat.
04:17But once a year, their territory is brought to life by distant rains.
04:39Up until now, these cubs have had very little experience of water.
04:48So, their mother will have to guide them to get them through the tomb.
04:57No!
05:17Getting used to swamp living is a vital part of their cubs' upbringing.
05:24Because these precious waters attract animals from miles around.
05:36Cape Buffalo.
05:39The smell of fresh water lures them from the surrounding savannah.
05:45And they come in extraordinary numbers.
05:58A herd three miles long.
06:01And full of one-ton animals.
06:14They, too, cannot survive without the water at the center of the lion's territory.
06:25She must show her cubs that patience is their greatest ally.
06:35Once in the swamp, the buffalo spread out into smaller groups.
06:45Lionesses will take the lead in any hunt.
06:53But a mother here has the added pressure of having to teach her growing cubs how to tackle giants.
07:15One swipe of its horns could kill any one of them.
07:20One swipe of its horns could kill any one of them.
07:24The cubs must watch and learn.
07:31The cubs must be.
07:32And then briby on.
07:34They are!
07:45The cubs must be turned in as long as they have been.
07:48The cubs must not구요.
07:48The cubs must be found, this one of them could be found in herself.
07:49A property of a tower.
07:49The cubs must be sent in as long as they have been to the east of the rainbow.
07:50The cubs must powin-thin the air.
07:51Now, it'sっちゃing out.
07:52To be the first to feast.
08:25Hunting giants, however, is not without its risks.
08:32One of the pride's mothers is missing.
08:38Contact calls go unanswered.
09:01In attempting to provide food for her young, she has been gored by a buffalo.
09:11There is nothing the pride can do to help.
09:24With her cubs too young to hunt for themselves, her death leaves their future uncertain.
09:48But they don't have to face it alone.
10:03The matriarchs will take on responsibility for them.
10:19In lion society, females often share the load of parenting.
10:28Related adults will continue to care for the orphans alongside their own offspring.
10:35This will be another year before they're fully independent.
10:43In that time, they must be taught how to survive here.
10:53And luckily for them, the leader of this pride is an excellent teacher.
11:23Parental investment is a risky strategy for many animals.
11:31Particularly in the largest of all habitats, the ocean.
11:41The sheer diversity of life makes some parts of the ocean a highly competitive environment.
11:52So the animals who choose to raise their offspring here need to have an edge.
12:05Here in Indonesia, protected by the reef, lives one of the ocean's most ingenious parents.
12:15A female boxer crab.
12:20Attached to her underside is her brood of over a thousand eggs.
12:27Her challenge is to keep them safe until they hatch, whilst keeping herself well fed.
12:36So like any good parent, she's come prepared with a solution.
12:46On her claws are live anemones that she's collected from the reef around her.
12:56The anemones filter food from the surrounding water, which the crab mother steals for herself.
13:07It's an ingenious way to keep energised while looking after young.
13:16But it's not without risk.
13:22To capture the food she needs, she must take her anemones out in the open.
13:33A cuttlefish.
13:36A cunning predator that pounces on the unprepared.
13:52Exposed and alone.
13:58She is a sitting crab.
14:09But she isn't defenceless.
14:14Her anemones have venomous stings that can deter most predators.
14:22A very effective weapon for a mother in need of protection.
14:32In fact, her anemones are such good tools that they are highly prized amongst the crab community.
14:51And this mother has a jealous rival.
15:05Empty clawed, her opponent will do anything to secure her own anemone.
15:20She isn't going to surrender them without a fight.
15:39Overpowered, the mother loses one of her anemones.
15:45The battle leaves her exhausted and vulnerable.
15:50She needs to lie low and buy herself some time.
15:58Because this super mum has yet another trick.
16:05Slowly and meticulously, she dissects her remaining anemone.
16:12Creating a clone.
16:21Her remarkable problem solving allows her to keep herself and her young alive for a few more days.
16:31Until eventually, she's ready to let them go.
16:49Climbing to the top of her coral home, she begins to release her tiny offspring into the current.
17:00A few at a time.
17:05Until all her crablets are independent.
17:13Thanks to her care and attention, she has given them an excellent start in life.
17:31Raising offspring alone is extremely challenging.
17:37So many parents resort to teamwork.
17:46A female burrowing owl is looking for a partner amongst the wild lands of Arizona.
17:56And this young male seems eager to please.
18:05To win her over, he must first find a decent burrow.
18:09And that is proving tricky.
18:14Burrowing owls use holes abandoned by other animals.
18:19But the ones he's found are either still in use.
18:26Or already have well-established families.
18:36Her patience is running thin.
18:44When finally he's found one, she flies in for a closer inspection.
19:08The hallway clearly requires a little housekeeping.
19:16Though small inside, it's deep enough underground to keep her chicks cool in the midday heat.
19:25Returning to await her verdict, he receives a less than enthusiastic yes.
19:46Over the coming weeks, she will lay one egg a day and then incubate them all until they hatch.
19:56His responsibility now is to provide her with a constant supply of food.
20:10Until, eventually, their teamwork pays off.
20:29At first, the father's food supplies are enough to keep their chicks growing.
20:37But soon, both parents will have to work to put enough food on the table.
21:11And with a great protection now, the death of the child lost the whole morning.
21:12Where are they healthy?
21:12How does he know?
21:12With life on earth the child lost his newborn, his time is much better for them to avoid their年.
21:12So what happens then, who's gonna say?
21:14All this constant activity inevitably attracts attention.
21:31A road runner.
21:34Fast and wily, this opportunist could kill an entire brood of young chicks.
21:46Their burrow has been chosen to keep them hidden from predators.
21:52But at the first sign of danger, the chicks create a deterrent.
22:02Their call mimics the sound of an angry rattlesnake.
22:10But rattlesnakes are one of the road runner's favourite prey.
22:17Returning with takeaway, the father is alerted to the danger.
22:36Disaster averted.
22:47But now, most parents are caught between keeping a watchful eye on their chicks
22:53and providing enough food for them to grow large enough to defend themselves.
23:06They work around the clock.
23:15And their chicks' expectations are seemingly never-ending.
23:22The parents' lives soon reach a turning point.
23:28The growing chicks begin spending more and more time exploring their surroundings.
23:38And there are less demands on the parents as a few of the chicks become capable of finding their own
23:45snacks.
23:55For the parents, that is a welcome relief.
24:14Parenthood is even harder when the environment is working against you.
24:23And for those parents who need reliable fresh water to raise their young, the conditions are rarely perfect.
24:36The Ruaha River in Tanzania.
24:40For most of the year, it provides a lifeline to those that live here.
24:46But during the dry season, this refuge almost disappears.
24:57Leaving this mother hippo and her calf with a dilemma.
25:10He was born just two months ago, at a time when water was plentiful.
25:18But now, there are only a few pools left, where the water is still deep enough to shield him from
25:25the harsh sun.
25:30The other hippos in the area have had the same idea.
25:35So, her newfound nursery has become...
25:38...a little crappy.
25:40...
25:41...
25:42...
26:11For now, though,
26:12hygiene is the least of the mother's worries.
26:17These enormous fountains of fertiliser
26:20require over 100 pounds of vegetation every day.
26:25And now, in the dry season,
26:28that is a problem.
26:33Good grazing is nearly one and a half miles
26:36from the safety of the river.
26:41But it's too hot to make the journey in daytime.
26:50She must wait until nightfall.
27:04In the cool of the night, the surrounding bush comes alive.
27:13But with darkness comes the unknown.
27:27Like it or not, the hippos must leave the safety of their pool
27:34and head into the night in search of food.
27:44The mother must not leave her calf alone.
27:46So the pair begin the slow and uncertain walk
27:50to find distant grazing.
28:03Food!
28:07Food!
28:10Food!
28:13Food!
28:25There is some safety in numbers close to the water.
28:30But this far into the dry season, the best food is further away.
28:40Their size offers them some protection.
28:49The hippo mother is a formidable bodyguard.
28:54Her mouth is filled with 20 centimeter ivory tusks that serve only for defense.
29:03But a young hippo is vulnerable.
29:07So the calf must never stray too far from his mother.
29:11Oh!
29:12No!
29:50There is an unnerving quietness to the bush around her.
29:59But now they are too far from the water to seek refuge there.
30:05And their stalkers know this.
30:13A nearby male also senses danger, and he joins the mother.
30:19Even in small groups, hippos can defend themselves against a single lion.
30:27But not against a pride.
30:38The mother knows if they all hold their ground, they might have a chance.
30:55The less experienced male panics.
31:02And they lose their advantage.
31:30The body of a young male hippo will keep a pride in the world.
31:34And fed for a week.
31:45The mother and her calf return to the protection of their pool.
31:51They have had a lucky escape.
32:01But the mother hippo's remaining refuge will soon dry out.
32:10And she and her calf will have to travel further and further into the unknown.
32:17They'll need to do this every night.
32:27All parents need dedication in the face of adversity.
32:41The quest for food can be a seemingly never-ending commitment for many parents.
32:53And here in Namibia, one takes that commitment to extremes.
33:09This female African social spider laid her eggs just days ago.
33:17And now her brood of 30 spiderlings are dependent on her for food.
33:34So, in their early life, she regurgitates a milky liquid, which the spiderlings drink directly from her mouth.
33:48They will grow to ten times this size in the coming weeks.
33:55To fuel such growth, she will need to leave her nursery to hunt.
34:12Luckily, this mother has family she can rely on.
34:20Fifty fully grown adult sisters who share her nest.
34:26And who hunt in perfect unison.
34:49By stopping simultaneously, they can listen with their feet to detect the whereabouts of their prey
34:58in their vast nest.
35:00to get pumped began.
35:27Within weeks, her spiderlings orang예요.
35:30ready to start hunting for themselves.
35:34And as they grow,
35:35her offspring and all their cousins become insatiable.
35:47They're born with the ability to hunt together as a pack,
35:50just like their mothers.
35:55Only now there are over a thousand of them.
36:00They're born with the ability to hunt together as a pack.
36:20Her role is almost over, which is just as well.
36:26Since laying her eggs,
36:28the mother's condition has been deteriorating
36:32and her movements have become labored.
36:37The demands of parenthood are finally taking their toll.
36:45But she has one more gift for her offspring.
36:50The only thing she has left.
37:03Her struggling appears to mimic
37:06the vibrations of a distressed prey insect.
37:12And her hungry spiderlings
37:14descend en masse
37:16to their mother's dinner table
37:18one last time.
37:23Only this time,
37:25she is the main course.
37:54She is the main course.
37:59sacrifice, born out of a need to ensure the survival of the next generation.
38:13But the spiderlings are not yet finished.
38:21They turn on their surviving relatives,
38:25eating every adult in the colony one by one.
38:35Until the next generation is all that is left.
38:50Parental sacrifice on this scale is rare in the natural world.
38:59Though there comes a time in a parent's journey when all that effort seems worth it.
39:18A female western lowland gorilla in Gabon.
39:27She will help her young for almost four years to learn the complexities of living in their jungle home.
39:38But as he becomes more independent, she must let go.
39:44And allow him to acquire the rules of a gorilla's social life.
40:04His newfound independence triggers a crucial moment in his mother's journey.
40:13It gives her the chance to think about her next stage of parenthood.
40:23The father of her young one is reaching the end of his prime.
40:31At 34, he's old for a silverback.
40:37And unbeknownst to him, he is under constant assessment.
40:44Female lowland gorillas will leave their troop if they think there might be better options.
40:50And that decision all boils down to one thing.
40:58Has he still got it?
41:04Hmm.
41:06Not bad.
41:09Her offspring will inherit his excellent physique.
41:14Giving him a good head start in life.
41:30Brawn isn't the only thing she considers.
41:34Though males play little part in raising their offspring.
41:38Females nonetheless prefer males with a degree of tolerance.
41:46And the old silverback has always been good with kids.
41:50And the old silverback has always been good with kids.
42:07On top of his physique and character,
42:09she's also constantly assessing what his territory has to offer.
42:23Wherever it comes from,
42:28good and plentiful food is crucial for any mother trying to raise her young.
42:43And variety helps parents teach their young about what to eat and where to find it.
42:51In the food department, he scores highly.
43:08He even has a swamp.
43:13Which might not sound like much.
43:16But the grasses here provide much-needed protein to a lowland gorilla's diet.
43:28She also is looking for protection when life gets risky.
43:42The forest elephant is not immediate competition, but a threat to young gorillas nonetheless.
44:02Willingness to stand up to those bigger than him is certainly attractive in a partner.
44:18If she chose to leave, however, there would be significant risks.
44:28If she chose to leave, however, there would be significant risks.
44:35So, she'll have to leave her child behind.
44:40And it would take months to establish herself within a new troop.
44:47Here, at least, she already has a partner.
44:52Just a slightly mature one.
44:59For now, it seems he has passed her test.
45:10But there's still time to change her mind.
45:22Parental strategies have evolved over millennia.
45:28But now, over 80% of the Earth's land mass is affected by human activity.
45:36And animal parents are having to adapt to this new world.
45:53An endangered Iberian lynx, known as Odrena.
46:11This abandoned barn is the best place left for Odrena to raise her five kittens.
46:23It's an excellent refuge for her growing family.
46:27Cool, sheltered, and full of activities for soft play.
46:37In fact, this place is so good that Odrena is not alone.
46:43Both her mother and her daughter have chosen to raise their kittens here.
46:52Three generations raising their young together.
46:58A rare phenomenon and a sign of hope.
47:05But the recovery of lynx here has only been possible by what has happened outside the barn.
47:19Less than a decade ago, the farmers here chose to change their practice to suit the native wild animals.
47:30They stopped hunting and began creating habitat amongst their crops.
47:40And quicker than anyone had imagined, the native animals moved back in.
47:49First prey, then predators.
47:55Soon the farm became a safe refuge for parents like Odrena to introduce their kittens to a world that had
48:03been redesigned with them in mind.
48:08One where kittens have room to explore.
48:14Play.
48:18And hunt.
48:23And they thrived.
48:28We are beginning to understand that it's possible to use our world for our needs,
48:35whilst also providing for wild animals.
48:44And we are discovering that by doing so, it's possible to help other species.
49:01Iberian lynx have become a remarkable recovery.
49:06But their fate still remains in the balance.
49:13The future is uncertain for all parents across our world.
49:19But what is clear is that for all of us to survive, we will need to help each other.
49:33The Parenthood team relied on experts all over the world.
49:38This shoot would have obviously been impossible for us without the help of all the amazing guides and trackers we
49:47had.
49:48For this project to succeed, we need to work together with the Babongo.
49:53It is Babongo Tracker's carefully crafted relationship with the gorillas that is key.
50:01It is Babongo Tracker's carefully crafted relationship with the gorillas that is key.
50:23And now, even after the
50:24people travel to South Africa's Malchus Island to film the remarkable parenting story of the endangered Cape Gannet.
50:33But you can clearly see what it used to be like.
50:37This was all nest, right up until the house.
50:40And now the colony starts way back there.
50:43The single largest threat to the Cape Gannet is the decline of food resources.
50:51There's not enough fish.
50:53And what some seals have now learned is that the Gannets carry fish in their stomach.
51:00In a day, just one day, we can have a hundred or more predated out at sea.
51:07As the climate heats, rainfall is becoming less reliable everywhere.
51:13There is often too much or too little, and at the wrong time.
51:18A significant challenge for the Parenthood crews while filming the series.
51:24East Africa was in the grip of a historic drought.
51:27And the consequences for both wildlife and people became clear.
51:33We've just been filming a group of elephants, and they just ran into a big herd of cattle.
51:38How do you deal with 10,000 cattle as an elephant?
51:41It's a whole level of parenting skills that they're not equipped to deal with.
51:45The lack of fresh water and grass has put both people and elephants under immense pressure.
51:52We have the power to help nature recover.
51:57And sometimes, it's the simplest changes that can have the most profound impacts.
52:04In the vast grasslands of Patagonia, the Parenthood team are here to record the story of adult Juanacos and their
52:12calves.
52:14Soon, the issues facing Juanaco parents became clear.
52:18It's estimated that fences are responsible for the deaths of at least 30,000 Juanaco in Patagonia every year.
52:28If they just made them a tiny bit lower, it would be such a simple solution, and it would make
52:33the world of difference, I think.
52:34If there is no Juanacos, the ecosystem will collapse.
52:41I have a complete hope, and I'm very optimistic, of the capacity of nature to recover.
52:48While the climate changes and resources dwindle, every community can find ways to support the natural world.
52:56It's up to us to ensure that they, and generations to come, will have the planet worth inheriting.
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