In only a few months time, the water here will cease to flow. 8000 square kilometres of swamp will dry and disappear. And all the hippos of the Okavango will face real hardship. Water is the Hippo’s Sanctuary. It keeps them cool and baking heat and provides the vegetation on which they depend. And safety away from predators. But with all of this slowly evaporating, everyone will need to be prepared. The calf is now several weeks old and has built up his strength. It’s time for him to meet the family. Returning to the pod with a new baby is inevitably risky. The mother has to reestablish that she’s a member of the pond. And in the excitement, a clumsy adult could crush her calf. The dominant bull is right in her path. If she stands her ground with him, half her battle could be won. But the real problem comes from an unexpected place. Her previous calf is showing an unhealthy interest. She’s battle-scarred and appears to have a quarrelsome nature. Jealousy or curiosity, whichever it is, it’s dangerous.. Her calf is far too young to be pushed around like this. He’s frightened and stays close to his mother. This has turned into an attack and the mother must put a stop to it. The pair remain on the periphery of the pod. But the rest of the family can still hear them. Hippos are thought to be the closest living relatives of whales. And they need to make most of their vocalisations underwater. Their head and jawbones capture vibrations and transmit them directly into the air. Vibrations become sound. And in these quiet waters, these can carry up to a mile. Baboons. Real life cheeky monkeys. Baboons are boisterous, playful characters with personality to spare. Living in large groups or troops of 50 or so individuals, you might be surprised to learn that baboons aren’t actually territorial. Instead, they roam around their home range, most often following their stomachs. Although they have frighteningly long canines, they are opportunistic feeders eating mainly fruit bark roots and seeds. But they will eat meat if they can get hold of it. They’ll try their luck with catching birds, rodents and sometimes even young antelope. For all their troublesome reputation, baboons are very devoted parents. But how does baboon parenting work? We’re going to explore baboon society and find out the secrets behind the success of this plucky primate. Baboons share 94% of their DNA with us. And like us, they are highly intelligent and sociable animals. They have an impressive repertoire of language and have been recently found to use up to 5 vowel sounds. This puts the baboons up there as one of the most advanced animal linguists known to science. Their tongues also contain the same muscles as human tongues, meaning they can make the precise movements required to form the sounds of language just like us. Baboon troops are made up of related females and their babies, along with a smaller number of mature males. There’s a very definite ranking system, which is strictly followed. Violent consequences are likely for Monkey’s who step out of line if they get caught. Just like we saw with hyenas, the female baboons inherit their rank from their mothers. But the mature males in the group are not usually related, and they compete with each other for access to the females forming the own harem within a troop. The hierarchy in males is constantly reinforced not only by violent means like fighting, but also through friendlier activities like grooming and monkeying around. Baby baboons are dependent on their mothers for the first few months of their lives. They cling tightly to their fur and often ride on her back jockey style. They’ll not venture far away from her until they’re about ten months old. Then they’ll start to spend more and more time playing alone or with other youngsters, gradually daring to leave their mother’s side. Sometimes adult males do take on the parenting, this might seem selfless, but it can reap rewards for the males too. Males carrying the babies are less often threatened by the males. This can be an advantage. The lower ranking, This can be an advantage to the more henpecked males of the troop, but it doesn’t protect them altogether, and it can be very dangerous for a baby baboon to get caught in the crossfire. But for babies, especially orphans, the pros outweigh the cons. The male will not only protect his youngster from rival males, but also from predators like lions and hyenas. And young baboons need every ally they can find. Our story begins with a tantalising glimpse of something very special, a cub just 10 days old. Wild cubs as young as this have never been filmed before. For their first six weeks, most cubs usually hide away in their dens, hardly glimpsing daylight. These are unusually adventurous. They seem totally unaware of the dangers. Although their eyes are just opening, they won’t see clearly for another six weeks. They’re the mother’s first litter, and they’re going to be quite a test for her. The tigers must pick them up by the scruff of the neck. It’s a delicate operation, a little too much pressure, and she’ll hurt her cub. She can bite with a force of nearly 500 kilos, but this requires the gentlest touch. Tigers usually have two or three cubs, four are quite a handful and these already seem more challenging than most. The ratio between the sexes among newborns is usually equal. True to form two of these cubs are male and two a female. It will be rare indeed for all four of them to reach maturity. Many dangers lie ahead. At this size they make a snack for even the smallest predator. Their mother must make sure that everyone is accounted for. With two back in the den and one on its way, there’s only one straggler left to worry. The cubs contact cry make sure he’s not forgotten. As long as the cubs call their mother is compelled to keep retrieving them, but this would try any mother’s patience The young Cubs life is very precarious. Had the mother been away hunting at a moment like this, the outcome could have been very different. She’s clearly going to be a devoted mother, but she still has a lot to learn, this is not the way to do it. Filming such behaviour is unprecedented. It gives us an extraordinary opportunity to follow these cubs as they grow. With no other bears around, she makes the move. This is a big moment in the cubs lives. She’s got to be careful, though, another bear could turn up at any moment. The Cubs are a bit nervous being out on the creek, and they know they have to stick close to her wherever she goes. While there are still lots of salmon around, the mother bear can be selective with what she eats. She takes a bite of this salmon and then drops it. And she can probably tell from the taste it’s a male. Bear’s need to target the richest, most nutritious food source. What she really wants to find are female salmon and she’ll go out of her way to catch one. Female salmon are loaded with thousands of brightly coloured, nutrient rich eggs. This is the best part of the salmon, high in calories and fat. And she doesn’t want to leave any behind. The cubs though, still need to learn which are the best parts to eat. Though the cubs are still nursing they need these protein rich salmon as much as their mum does. The whole family has to put on as much weight as possible before winter hibernation. The mother bear is always alert to potential dangers to her cubs. Surprisingly, it’s another ghost bear. This one looks like a large male. The cubs know that when another bear is around, they have to get out of there. They retreat to the safety of the trees. The mother bear’s much smaller than him, but she’s still going right after them. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. He could certainly do some damage to her, and he doesn’t seem much deterred by her approach. That’s a risky move on her part, any time two bears physically interact like that, there’s a good chance one of them could be hurt. They’re very powerful animals. I don’t know her character well enough yet to decide if she’s foolhardy or brave. Only time will tell. But her cubs knew what to do in this situation. They knew that their best defence was to get up as high into a tree as quickly as possible. These heavyweight amphibians are African bullfrogs and they breed explosively when the heavy summer rains create temporary pools. Each male competes for a succession of females and fertilises their eggs. He would accumulate several batches of spawn, amounting to thousands of eggs. When the exhausted females leave, it’s a powerful incentive for him to stay. There’s another good reason too. Tadpoles need help to survive the tropical sun and its shrinking effect on their shallow pools. The father takes action and shepherds his shoal like a sheepdog herding a flock. If the water gets too hot, he herds his tadpoles into a cooler, deeper water with a better supply of oxygen. The hefty male also assumes the role of guard dog. The tadpoles are once again heading for disaster. Their nursery pools are temporary and prone to dry up in the heat of the withering sun. This devoted parent is not about to give up yet. Although a land dweller himself, he senses the need to keep his offspring aquatic. Using his strong back legs and pointed snout, the male digs a channel to a neighbouring puddle to save his family. This excavation work will flood his own nursery or act as an escape route. In such circumstances, a dutiful father is key to survival.
