All language subtitles for Life Story (2014) 810p 1of6 First Steps

There's a story that unites each of
us with every animal on the planet.

It's the story of the greatest
of all adventures,

the journey through life.

Animals have just one goal
at the end of this journey,

to leave offspring.
And every one begins its life

with an irrepressible instinct
to survive and overcome the odds.

The drive and inventiveness
of animals is breathtaking.

Every aspect of their behaviour,

whether it's spectacular or
beautiful or simply extraordinary

is their way of meeting
a particular challenge.

In this series,

we will see animals of all kinds
striving to overcome the obstacles

that face them at each stage
in their lives.

They will be strong.

Cunning.

And ingenious.

They will fight battles.

And will do whatever it takes
to win a mate.

Each success leaves each individual
one step closer

to leaving offspring -

the next best thing to immortality.

The journey through life begins
afresh with every new generation,

as it has for countless
millions of years.

It is life's great story.

I'm in South Africa, sitting
beside a colony of meerkats, waiting

for this year's youngsters to emerge
and start exploring their world.

Here they come. That's the adult.

They must check the coast is clear.

There's another one.

Ah, there's a baby.

Hello, little one.

We can't know what
the future's going to hold

for this little creature.

Just as every one of our histories
is unique to ourselves,

so this animal too
will have its own story.

HE CHUCKLES

If one of these little creatures,
indeed, if any animal

is to become one of life's winners
by leaving behind offspring,

then a long and difficult journey
lies ahead.

This is the story of life,

and for these little creatures,
it's just beginning.

Good luck to you.

HE CHUCKLES

Many animals face their greatest
challenge within days or even hours

of entering the world.

This is when they are smallest
and most vulnerable.

The remote Orsted Dal Valley
in Greenland,

scene of one of the most
extraordinary trials that any animal

must face at the beginning
of its life.

Newly hatched barnacle geese.

Their parents chose to nest
on top of a huge tower of rock.

Such extreme isolation
was the only way

to protect their brood
from predators on the ground.

But now there is a price to pay.

Up here, the five goslings
may be safe and warm,

but they have nothing to eat
and they're getting hungry.

Like their parents,
they only eat grass, and to find it

the goslings must first
get down there, 400 feet below.

But they won't be able to fly
for another eight weeks.

So they'll have to jump.

The father is restless.

He decides it's time
for the family to leave.

BIRD HONKS

He calls to encourage them.

But they are so tightly bonded
to their mother

that they will only follow her.

The parents both survived
the descent as youngsters.

They're living proof
that their chicks can make it.

The fluffy goslings are certainly
light and well-padded.

But luck will play its part.

HONKS

At the bottom of the cliff, their
mother calls for them to join her,

and instinct compels them to follow.

The gosling spreads its body
and flaps its tiny wings

to slow its descent and lessen
the impact of inevitable crashes.

If the first collision
is belly-first,

it should survive the fall.

This chick jumps off
the back of the cliff.

It's less of a drop,

but there's far more risk of
getting lost in the crevices below.

The third makes another good jump.

But the fourth slips.

Plummeting down headfirst,

too close to the cliff,
could bring disaster.

The third gosling is doing better.

Hitting the rock belly-first
should prove a life-saver.

But still the tumble goes on.

ADULT BIRDS HONK

There is nothing its mother can do
but follow it down.

CHICK CHIRPS

One last chick.

The perfect launch.

And a controlled drop.

This is as good a descent
as it's possible to make.

Its parents are there to meet it.

A little dazed perhaps,
but all in one piece.

One gosling, at least,
hasn't made it.

And this chick
appears to be in a bad way.

HONKS

At last, it responds
to its mother's calls.

CHICK CHIRPS

The resilience of a barnacle goose
chick is extraordinary.

But there are still chicks
unaccounted for,

somewhere amongst the rubble.

The parents can't risk searching
because they need to lead

their two survivors away quickly,
before predators arrive.

A third one has made it.

But it needs to catch up.

Reunited.

Three out of five chicks
have made it.

Without such a dramatic start
in life,

it's unlikely any of them
would have even got this far.

These chicks will face
more dangers in the future,

but only two days old
they've already survived

the greatest challenge
of their lives.

A young animal significantly
improves its chances of surviving

if it can grow fast, and few babies
have more growing to do

in their first weeks
than a humpback whale.

In just six weeks, this new-born
calf must leave these nursery waters

off Hawaii and start on
a 3,000-mile migration

to its feeding grounds
in the Arctic.

For that, it will need to be strong.

Twirling at the surface

rapidly develops muscle strength
and diving ability.

Before then, this one-tonne calf
must double its weight

by drinking over 3,500 pints
of its mother's fat-rich milk.

But the milk supply is limited.

Until its mother reaches
the feeding grounds, she's fasting.

Humpback calves make such demands
of their mothers

that females can only raise one
every two or three years.

If the calf is to be ready
for the migration,

then what they both need now
is to be left in peace.

But here, the birthing season
and the mating season coincide,

and that spells trouble.

Male humpbacks will pursue
any females,

even if they are still nursing
and so can't get pregnant.

These 40-tonne males,
fired-up with testosterone,

pose a serious threat to any calf
that gets caught up in the chase.

As the mother tries to outrun
the males, the calf sensibly stays

as close to her as possible,
to avoid being separated and lost.

As more and more males
join the chase,

the mood becomes
ever more aggressive.

Now there is a real danger
of the calf being injured

by flailing tails
and crashing bodies.

Eventually, the males
become so pre-occupied

with fighting each other that
the calf and her mother can escape.

Even if a calf gets away unharmed,

the ordeal can leave it exhausted.

The dangers from the breeding season

will only grow in intensity

and some calves will become
so weakened

that they'll struggle to survive
the coming migration.

Even the most formidable predators

are surprisingly vulnerable
in infancy.

Here in Kenya's Maasai Mara,
a lion cub has, on average,

only a one-in-five chance
of surviving its first two years.

Which ones do so

depends on the strength of the pride

to which they belong.

For six weeks, this female cub

has been hidden away by her mother
in the long grass.

But today,
with her brother and sister,

she's going to join the creche
at the heart of her pride.

Adult females provide the food
and the first line of defence.

With at least four in her pride,

this cub should be
well looked after.

All the lionesses
have their own cubs,

who will be both playmates
and future allies.

Under the females' watchful eyes,

she can practice her stalking,
pouncing and fighting skills.

But there is one more
family member to meet,

and perhaps the most important
of all.

Her father.

Her ultimate defender.

Marauding rival male lions
are a constant threat.

If they overthrew him,
they would kill all his cubs

and father their own.

The security of the whole pride,

and this cub's future,

rests on him remaining strong.

But the early days of an animal's
life are a very different prospect

if its parents do not support it.

This peculiar, almost alien scene

is in fact the emergence of a brood

of orchid mantids

from their egg case.

Mantids, like the great majority
of animals, play the numbers game.

Having over 60 hatchlings

increases the chances that a few
will make it to adulthood.

But during these first minutes,
they are especially vulnerable.

They must quickly hide away...

and wait for their soft bodies
to harden.

Within 20 minutes,
they are transformed.

Now the immediate danger
is from each other.

Mantids will eat anything
that moves...

including other mantids.

Time to leave.

This tiny insect is now open
to attack from predators

lurking in the undergrowth.

Whether an individual mantis
survives or not

is partly a matter of chance.

Whether it's spotted
by a predator...

Whether it turns right..

or left...

So far, its luck has held.

But this hungry jumping spider
is still in pursuit.

A mantis is born
with exceptional eyesight.

But the spider's is even better.

Although this young mantis
can't yet fly,

its long forelegs, evolved
to catch prey, give it reach.

There seems to be no escape.

But this mantis has
a surprising line in self-defence.

Kung fu, praying mantis style.

Of course, it's all bluff, trying to
look bigger and confuse its enemy.

But it's got away with it.

Just staying alive
for its first few hours

is a significant accomplishment
for a newly hatched insect.

But there's still a long way to go.

With a bit of luck,
in two months' time,

it will be as big and beautiful
as this orchid mantid.

Or maybe not.

After all, mantids are cannibals.

However, there are plenty more
where that one came from.

A young fur seal,

just old enough to be left alone
while its mother hunts out at sea.

It won't be long
before the pup has to negotiate

these treacherous waters for itself
and learn to catch its own food,

while avoiding predators.

But how can he take his first lesson
without risking it being his last?

Luckily, the fur seals on this beach
in Kaikoura, New Zealand, have,

in the last decade, discovered
the perfect place to do that.

Surprisingly, the pup heads
not towards the sea but inland,

on one of the strangest journeys
any seal makes.

A stream meets the beach...

..and this pup swims up it.

Each seal pup only makes
this journey once.

What drives it to travel
deep into the forest is a mystery.

At last, this pup has arrived.

This secluded waterfall
makes for a perfect learners' pool.

In this sanctuary,
he can join the local pups to learn

manoeuvres that will one day
help them escape their enemies.

No-one knows how the first pups
found this place,

but each year, more and more
young seals make the journey.

They're getting a crucial head start
in life.

And learning is always easier
when you're enjoying yourself.

SEAL BARKS

Each seal spends three days
in intense training.

Then, after this rite of passage,
they head back to the beach.

It won't be long now before they
will leave their mothers for good

and put their new skills
to the test.

It's now late in the meerkat
pupping season in South Africa

and the pups born two months ago
are growing well.

This pup has been well cared for
and fed,

but now it's time
she learned to catch her own food.

One of the great benefits of
being raised in meerkat society

is that adults without young
of their own help with childcare

and will spend hours
teaching the youngsters.

Today's first lesson is ant-hunting.

Being shown the right
approach is one thing.

But when the food bites back, all
technique goes out of the window.

Not exactly a resounding success.

However this helper now has
a different kind of lesson in mind,

one designed to bring a pup face to
face with danger for the first time.

It will be her biggest test so far.

A scorpion.

An excellent source of protein
and a meerkat's favourite food.

But their sting is very painful,
much worse than an ant.

The tutor weakens it with
a bite before handing it over.

But the pup still has a fight
on her hands.

The idea is to nip off
the sting on its tail,

but its pincers
are almost as formidable.

The pup's helper
keeps a watchful eye on her.

She has disarmed the sting,

but those pincers
are still giving her trouble.

A pause, perhaps for encouragement,

before the helper gives her the nod
to finish the job.

At last, a small
but significant success.

It's a test that every member of
her family will have to go through.

And this youngster
has passed in triumph.

Back in Hawaii,
six weeks have passed.

This humpback whale calf
has fallen behind

on the annual migration
to the Arctic.

It struggled to grow strong enough
and now it's fighting for its life.

Exhausted and weak, it has already
been targeted by sharks.

Its mother helps it to the surface
to breathe,

which takes its toll on her, too.

This is now a huge test
of the strength of their bond.

But suddenly the calf is alone.

Its mother appears to have abandoned
it, perhaps to save herself.

Sharks move in.

With a shark on its tail, the end
for this calf now seems inevitable.

But bursting from the deep,
the mother is back.

And she's brought help.

A male.

Although he's unlikely to be
the calf's father,

he does something to help it that
has never been witnessed before.

He blows a wall of bubbles, creating
a protective screen around the calf.

The sharks are held back.

But not for long.

A shark is soon trailing
the whales again.

A bolder strategy.

The aggression the male whales
were using against each other

in the breeding season now appears
to be aimed at the shark.

As long as there is a chance
of the calf surviving,

the bond between mother and young
remains extraordinarily strong.

The compulsion of the young
to survive

and of adults to protect, burns
bright, even against heavy odds.

For many young animals,
taking their first steps

away from the protection
of parents can be daunting.

Long-eared jerboa live in the remote
Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

After six weeks of being cosseted
underground with their families,

young jerboa finally emerge to
spend their first night alone,

learning to catch food.

Infra-red cameras
can reveal their lives,

but to this jerboa,
the night is completely dark.

Luckily, his hearing
more than compensates.

His ears are longer,
compared to his body,

than those of any other animal.

In fact, his ears are so sensitive

that every new sound
tends to give him a fright.

OWL CALLS

The call of a little owl,
a jerboa's main predator

and something worth
being nervous about.

OWL CALLS

OWL CALLS

The youngster's challenge is to
distinguish danger from dinner.

An aggressive gecko
is definitely not on the menu.

A jerboa's hearing is so acute
he can even detect sleeping insects.

But it's hard to grab them
when you can't see them.

At last, food.

Confidence grows with success.

Learning to take care of yourself
is a tiring business.

Rather than return to the family
burrow, he naps in the open.

But with his immense ears,
it must be hard to tune out.

OWL CALLS

There comes a time when every animal
must finally leave youth behind

and enter the adult world for good.

A black-footed albatross
on the brink of adulthood

and learning to fly.

Her maiden flight will take her
away from this tiny Pacific island

and out to sea.

She will not touch ground again
for three years.

But she's not quite ready...

yet.

Learning to control a six-foot
wingspan

in a gusty sea breeze
takes practice.

These fledglings have not been fed

since their parents left
a few weeks ago.

To find food, they must leave, too.

And eventually one of them
takes to the wing.

But maiden flights often prove to be
a bit of a false start.

Tiger sharks.

They congregate here every year,

precisely when albatross chicks
fledge.

If a shark doesn't strike
exactly on target,

a lucky albatross may escape.

There can be few animals
that have to face such danger

at the very moment they leave home.

It's a remarkable escape,

but a water take-off
is even harder than from land.

This albatross
has left youth behind.

It's time to embark on
the next step of life's story,

independence in the adult world.

It's been over 30 years
since anyone climbed these cliffs.

Producer Tom Hugh-Jones
and cameramen Mateo Willis

and Mark Payne-Gill
are in Greenland,

to film newly-hatched goslings
leap from these towering spires.

They can only convey the scale
of what these tiny animals

must go through by showing it
from their perspective.

Wow. I'm not one for vertigo,

but just can't imagine what a chick
would feel like having to do this.

We're not going to have much time
once they jump, eh?

No. Lot of waiting and then
suddenly it all happens.

It's just that moment, isn't it?

And you've got 20 seconds
to get everything. Yeah.

Tom spots his first pair of barnacle
geese, and he has good news.

'Yeah, copy, Tom. Over.'
She's still brooding the eggs,

so we're here in plenty of time,
which is good.

The team has some time on its hands
to prepare for the big moment.

Three, two, one, go.

Tom helps Mark to get his eye in.

'I don't think a chick
will be quite the same.'

Tom checks on the nests
every few hours.

All the mothers are still on the
nests, but no signs of chicks.

Just have to sit and wait,
which is what we do. Over.

The only thing that seems to be
hatching round here are mosquitoes.

Have you got mozzie repellent?

I haven't, no.

Sorry, I just swallowed
a tonne of mosquitoes.

HE COUGHS

But it's the birds that are
constantly on their minds.

I dreamt about ducks last night.

Ducks? Yeah.

Actually, I had a dream about birds
as well. Mark dreamt about chicks.

The wait is over.
I've just spied our first chick.

These chicks may jump any time.

Where are the chicks?

Mateo concentrates on
trying to film the leaps.

While Mark focuses on the front
of the cliff for the fall.

The nest is just there
above my fingertip.

They've got to go down, down, down,
down, down, down, down, down,

till they hit the scree slope below.

That's an incredible fall
for anything, let alone a gosling.

It's almost 48 hours
since the chicks hatched,

so they're really getting to
the limit of how long they can go

before they start getting
too hungry.

So we should be on for a big jump.

Just saw the female.

Come on, what you going to do?

'The female is pointing towards
the back side of the rocks.'

No, no, not the back side.

'I'm going to follow her.'

Come on. He comes forward again.

Come on, Mum and Dad!

'OK, I see the chick now
with the dad.'

They might be about to go.

'It's going to jump on the far
corner.' I've got two chicks.

There it goes, there it goes,
there it goes, there it goes!

'All the way down,
all the way down. Wow!'

OK, I didn't see that.
That was hidden from my view.

Did you see the last one
jump, Mateo?

'I did until it was flying through
the air and I didn't catch it.'

OK, got the chick, got the chick,
got the chick.

That was a shock for it,
but it survived.

All the chicks jumped
where the cliff obscured

Mark and Mateo's view.

What happens next comes as a shock.

'A fox coming up the stream,
he's now about to...

'Follow the fox.'

'Mark, did you see that?'

BIRDS HONK

'Oh, it's heart-breaking.'

I know, I know.
I think it's got them all.

That's really sad.

There's nothing you can do.

The fox has its own young to feed.

Life in this barren landscape
is desperately tough

for all its inhabitants.

The team has to move on
and try to film another nest.

And I'm going to head off
up round here... Yeah.

..and try and find a good position.

So, this nest here
is our last great hope,

probably the only remaining one
that we can get a good viewpoint on.

The parents appear eager
for their chicks to go.

'Stand by, Mark.
It looks like it's going to jump.'

'By the male's feet.'

Come on!

Oh, where are you going to go?

Here it goes, here it goes.
Chick's going.

Wow! Oh, my goodness.

Here it comes.

Wow.

'They're all falling exactly
the same way, all at once.'

Here we go, here we go, here we go.

'Chick's just tumbling down.

'Can you see it?'

Tumble, tumble. Whoa!

Down the scree slope.

Crikey!

'How many chicks can you see?'

'Um, I count three.'

'No visual yet on any foxes.'

So far so good,

and they seem to be moving through.

The team is able to film the family
all the way down to the river

and safety.

They've witnessed the triumph

of one of the most extreme
survival strategies in nature.

I mean, think how far
they've had to come

and this is only, what,
their third day in the world?

Yeah, it's just great to see them
doing what they should be doing now.

Next week on Life Story,
animals grow up in the adult world.

They will master complex skills.

And learn how to
stand up for themselves.

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