All language subtitles for Baby Animals Series 1 02of13 Mothers Darlings 1080p

(Female Narrator):
Every animal has a mother,

but not all mothers look after
their young.

Those that do, form one of
nature's strongest bonds.

A devoted mom will defend
her little ones with her life.

Which is why it's never
a good idea

to get between a mother
and her baby.

(♪♪♪)

(Bird calls)

(♪♪♪)

Now you see her,
now you don't.

When she's not hanging out
with her mom

this little lemur loves to leap.

>> Joslin is
one of our newest additions.

People have described
ringed-tailed lemurs at this age

as the "popcorn phase".

When she first started
getting off of mom

and gaining some independence

that she never strayed far
at all.

Now she's all over the exhibit,
and when she--

has gotten to this point

she would essentially pop
all over the place,

bounce around.

Jocelyn wasn't always so jumpy.

She started out clinging
to her mom's chest,

then graduated
to riding piggyback.

Now, at almost three months,

Jocelyn took a leap of faith,

and started exploring
her surroundings.

She spends about a third of
her time on the ground

more than any other
lemur species.

Though she's curious about
her world

she never strays far
from her mom, Jushy.

And this first-time-mom
has much to teach her daughter.

She's doing a
wonderful job.

We're very, very impressed with
how calm she is

from the outside.

And it's so important
for infants

to learn from their mother's.

Jushy is a very--

as lemurs go
a very smart animal,

very manipulative with her
enrichment items

and Jocelyn watches every moment
of it.

Jushy is also teaching Jocelyn

how to be strong
and independent.

In the wild,

female ringed-tailed lemurs
protect their home,

get first dibs on food,

and get groomed
before adult males.

Mothers and daughters
stay together in the wild.

Eventually, Jocelyn would either
inherit her mom's ranking,

or have to fight her
to win the role of alpha female.

Even though Jocelyn
doesn't have to worry too much

about the social hierarchy here,

it's still important for her
to learn

how to be large
and in charge.

She gets to practice her
assertiveness skills on her dad,

Frodo.

As Jocelyn is
learning
her
role as a young maturing female,

she engages with her dad
from time-to-time.

Sometimes as simply,

Jocelyn jumping on Frodo's back
or off his head.

And the fact, that he's just
being a good dad,

and sitting and taking it
and tolerating it

is the mark of a good dad
for a ringed-tailed lemur.

Dad sort of
takes a
backseat
in family rituals,

when Jushy and Jocelyn
wrap their tails around

and huddle together to create
a lemur ball to fall asleep

dad's not invited.

In the wild,

snuggling protects lemurs
from the harsh weather.

Here in captivity,

Jocelyn and her mom
huddle together

to share some one-on-one time.

Except for their behavior,

it's hard to tell the difference
between Jushy and Frodo

just by looking at them.

They are the same size,

and share many of the
same features

including their signature
black and grey tail,

which is longer than their body.

Lemurs can't hang
from their tails

but those flashy appendages
aren't just for show,

sometimes,
they're exclamation marks.

Lemurs do use
their
tails,

but it's more for things like
communication,

their emotions come through
in how they use their tail.

But it's also used as balance,

when they're jumping

that tail helps with
balance in-flight basically.

Flight safety is crucial
for a bouncing baby lemur,

like Jocelyn.

Falls, predators
and harsh weather

kill up to half of
all baby lemurs in the wild

before their first birthday.

Here at the zoo,
Jocelyn's as safe as can be.

Luckily, ringed-tailed lemurs
reproduce easily in captivity.

Which gives this baby
of an endangered species

a fighting chance.

She has no concern in the world.

When she's not
sleeping
and nursing,

she's just always on the go.

She's a very independent
little girl.

She's very playful too.

And she's even started to groom
with her mother and her father

which is really nice to see
that reciprocating behavior,

so she's just always active.

You can really see the process
of her growing and maturing.

With her
natural
curiosity,
and Jushy's careful guidance,

Jocelyn will grow up to be
fearless and confident,

just like her mom.

Like many primates,

the white-cheeked gibbon
is a bit of a mama's boy.

But this guy holds
a little tighter than most.

This is Tualang.

In the wild,

he would be found swinging
through the rainforest

of South-east Asia on his own.

In captivity, Tualang still
living with his parents,

while practicing his moves.

They are known
as the
true brachiators of the jungle.

And what that basically means
is they do hand-over-hand swing

from branch to branch.

With gibbons,
they're the true acrobats.

They literally would let go
one branch

before they grab on to another.

And they can make leaps
of up to 30 feet in one swing.

Tualang was
born at
the zoo
to parents Millie and Henry.

At birth,
he looked exactly like his mom,

covered in oatmeal-colored fur.

But now, just over a year old,
Tualang resembles his dad,

with black fur
and those namesake white cheeks.

Tualang is quite the handful,

he's practically the same size
as his mother,

but she still carries him
pretty much everywhere.

Mom
carries the
infant around,

the infant will hold on
to the fur,

and hold on really tight.

But the infant also learns
very early on

that it has to hold on tight

because mom always has to be
on the move.

For a gibbon in
captivity,

Tualang isn't ready to wean
himself from Millie just yet.

The bond
between
mother
and infant is very strong,

and usually,

the rearing of that infant is
a long extended period of time.

Nursing between the infant
to mom

is not just important
for nourishment,

but it's also important
for keeping that bond going.

Infants will nurse
for several reasons,

obviously, for nutrition,

but they'll also nurse
because of comfort.

It makes them feel comfortable,
it makes them feel secure.

In this particular case

I think our gibbons seems to be
all about motherhood,

so she's probably going to let
him nurse as long as he wants.

But Tualang's
father,
Henry,

is not completely out
of the picture.

A little rough housing with dad
helps Tualang's development.

During the
stages
of
development with the infant

both parents are involved.

So the infant will learn
different types of behaviors

from either parent.

Playtime, things like that--

a lot of those things
actually come from dad.

The nurturing part
comes from mom.

It's pretty similar
to how we raise our own kids.

Tualang's
family is
close.

But Henry and Millie don't want
him hanging around forever.

Like any young adult,

he's going to have to
move out soon

because among grown-up gibbons
three is a crowd.

Gibbons are
unique
because
they're one of the few primates

that are actually monogamous.

They'll pick a mate for life.

This becomes
a very complicated structure

within that pair

because they have to keep
that bond together.

If they have an offspring
that offspring has to leave

once it reaches maturity

because it is considered
a threat to that dynamic.

Millie and
Henry
serenade
each other with vocal duets

that can be heard
a couple of blocks away...

(Gibbon calls)

...and can go on for 17 minutes.

(Gibbon calls)

Sometimes,
Tualang even joins in.

(Gibbon calls)

One of the
unique
things
about gibbons is they usually--

that mated pair
will form a synchronized call

and it's very unique
to that pair.

And the pattern and the rhythm
of that vocalization

let's them know
who is making the call.

And they recognize each other
through that sound.

During
this time
with his parents,

Tualang is learning
vital skills he'll need

when it's time for him to settle
down with a female gibbon.

Tualang has a lot of growing up
to do,

but he doesn't have to
pack his bags just yet.

He has at least six more years

before he needs to find
his own place.

Until then, he is just
hanging out with mom and dad.

Their name actually means
"person of the forest".

And, like a person,
a baby orangutan needs his mom.

The largest arboreal mammal
in the world

lives only in the
Southeast-Asian islands

of Borneo and Sumatra.

Males can weigh as much as
240 pounds.

They're the only true
arboreal apes

spending as much as 95%
of their lives in the trees.

Orangutans are
a very intelligent animal.

They're one of the great apes,

so they're very closely related
to us.

And in that aspect they have
higher brain function

than other species.

They use tools to access food,

so they do
a lot of different things

that really show
how smart they are.

Like this
little guy,

a 2-1/2-year-old
Sumatran orangutan, named Pongo.

Pongo loves to show off

and make sure all the other apes
know just how clever he is.

Pongo like most
orangutans
his age

feels like he has a lot
to prove.

He has a ton of energy,
always climbing around.

But if he
should
wander
beyond his comfort zone,

he hurries back to his mom
for re-assurance.

His mom is 19-year-old Blaze.

She'll hold him
until he feels secure again.

Pongo is Blaze's first baby.

It wasn't an easy birth.

Blaze had suffered complications
from other failed pregnancies.

So Pongo had to be delivered
through caesarean section.

But it doesn't matter
how he arrived,

now, they have lots of
mother-son cuddle time.

As for Pongo's father, Benny,
he couldn't care less.

A typical orangutan dad,

he has no interest
in family life.

Males have
pretty much
zero to do with

raising their offspring.

They'll breed with the females,
and then they go on their way.

Benny has
developed
large cheek pads or flanges

to advertise that he is the
primary breeder in this group.

As a Sumatran orangutan
like his dad,

Pongo will grow up to look
slightly different

from his Bornean cousins.

Borneans tend
to have
a little bit larger

of those cheek pads.

Bornean orangutans also are
little bit darker and orange,

they have more of
an auburn color,

whereas Sumatrans have a little
bit more of a lighter color

to them.

Pongo is
always on
the move in way or another.

Sometimes he even uses his feet,
but not if he can help it.

Like all orangutans,

he prefers to let his fingers
do the walking.

It's similar
to if a
kid was
using the monkey bars at a gym.

They swing underneath the
branch or vine

that they're using to travel.

They'll also climb
hand-over-hand.

He has a
natural
aptitude
for it,

but success comes
from trial and error,

and by watching his mom, Blaze.

For Pongo, hanging out with mom
is like a training session.

Every day she has something new
to show him.

By far the most important lesson
is how to become independent

because orangutans
are a natural born loners.

Most
primates,
including you and I,

live as groups in families.

Whereas orangutans,
for the most part,

live by themselves in the wild
they are solitary animals.

And the main reason is just the
food distribution.

Because of
their
size,
orangutans need lots of food.

And that means lots and lots
of fruit.

But in the rainforest,

fruit isn't all that plentiful
in one place.

So they
kind of
have to spread out

and that's why they live
by themselves.

Really the only time you'll see
orangutans living together

is when a mother is raising
her young.

Blaze has been
carefully
raising Pongo

for the last
two and a half years.

But now, her little baby boy
is getting bigger

and more adventurous.

He would be
what
we call
an older infant

phasing into a young juvenile
right now.

Pongo can
pretty much
perform
all the skills that his mom can.

He explores
and keeps testing his limits...

...and his mom's patience.

He sometimes discovers
that he's too big to do

what he used to do
as a younger ape.

That means he tends to get stuck
in certain spots way high up.

Mom is always
there for
support,

like, if he gets stuck
up high on a platform

where he can't get down

mom is always there
to come down and catch him.

And when that
happens,
Pongo is not too old

that he can't still enjoy an
awesome ride on his mom's back.

Being an
orangutan
mom is
a 24-hour, 7-day a week job,

for the first several months
the infant does nothing

but hang on to the mother,

so, it was important
that she knew that

she needs to let Pongo hang
on her at all times.

Female orangutans can have their
first baby at around age 12.

And they can only have a baby
every seven or eight years.

Since on average,
they live to 45,

it means they can only produce
four babies

in their entire lifetime.

That's one of the lowest numbers
among all mammals.

That's why mom has to take
especially good care

of the babies.

She carries them constantly
for their first year.

The world is a dangerous place
for an orangutan.

Orangutans out
in the
wild
face a lot of threats right now,

they have a lot of pressure
on them.

Habitat loss is the big one.

I mean, this is due to the
agriculture

that's going on over there,
specifically palm oil.

There are a lot of
palm oil plantations

that are popping up
where orangutans are found.

So, more
than ever
in the wild,

the mother-infant relationship
is crucial.

Every second spent soaking up
mom's wisdom

helps increase the chance
of survival.

(♪♪♪)

Most birds need lots of
parental care once they hatch,

and the tiny hummingbird
is no exception.

That's because
at roughly 2-1/2 inches long,

and weighing as little
as .1 ounces,

it's one of the world's
smallest birds.

Luckily, hummingbird hatchlings
have devoted moms

to help them navigate
this enormous world.

Humming birds belong to the
order of birds

called Apodiformes
which means "footless".

While they do have feet,
they're too weak for walking.

But, when you can fly like this
who needs to walk.

They use their feet
like landing gear.

Everybody loves
hummingbirds.

How can you not love
hummingbird?

They're fascinating
and they're beautiful,

and they pollinate.

But one interesting fact is that
they really are the only bird

that can hover
and fly backwards they're--

they're amazing acrobatics
in the air.

They need that
agility
to navigate around the flowers

they pollinate.

This little guy
barely 3 weeks old

hasn't quite mastered the air
yet.

But he's working on it.

Baby
hummingbirds sit
on the edge of their nest

and flap their wings

up and down, up and down,
up and down.

Until you can start to see them
get a little bit of lift,

but they don't necessarily
let go.

But they're getting those
wing muscles really amped up

for their maiden voyage.

In the wild,
that
voyage
could take the young hummingbird

anywhere from
the coast of Alaska

to the very tip of
South America.

Through some of the most diverse
and extreme environments

in the world.

Which makes this little guy
one of the toughest critters

in the animal kingdom.

That strength
starts with learning

how to defend its territory.

One way is by using its gorget,

the flat iridescent feathers
around its head

that flash bright colors
in the sun.

Depending on the circumstances,

a flash can signal
no trespassing,

but it can also mean
I'm available.

There's a
number of
different courtship behaviors

that hummingbirds have -

many of them sing...

...they also will position
themselves in such a way

to flash all that
beautiful gorget area

and all the color
to the female.

When this
little guy
is old enough to mate

he'll try to impress the female
with his fancy J dive.

It goes up
very,
very high,

while the female is perched
lower,

and right in front of her,

right when he gets down
to eye level with her

he makes this noise
with his tail feather,

it's a very high-pitched squeak
and then goes back up

and repeats these dives
over and over and over again.

And once the
deed
is done,

the female gets busy building
a home for her new family.

Hummingbird
nests are
really amazing.

They're made of anything
that you can see around us here

they use all these different
plant materials

and they use spider web

that is what holds
the whole nest together.

Besides being
strong,
spider silk is expandable.

As the babies grow,

the nest will stretch
along with them.

You'll
start out
with a very small,

sort of, cup-shaped nest,

and you'll see mom
pushing it out with her--

her rear end and her feet

until she makes this nice dip
in the center.

And then, when the youngsters
get bigger and bigger

they can push on this as well.

So, for instance, you may see
a nest that's this big,

but as the babies grow
and just before fledging

it may be that big.

This
newborn's nest
took a week to build.

Every mother designs her nest
a little differently

before laying
her tic-tac size eggs.

Some are what
I like
to call
the Martha Stewart

of hummingbird household making

because they'll elaborately
decorate

the sides of their nest.

They adorn
their
nest
with twigs, mosses, lichen,

and even paint chips.

This hummingbird is an
only child, but not for long,

mother hummingbirds generally
lay two eggs one day apart.

The very, very
first thing
a chick has to do

is get out of the egg.

Once that happens,

then they need to be nourished
by their mother for 21/23 days.

With absolutely
no help
from dad.

When you
are
a mother hummingbird

you really are all on your own.

The dad really does not help in
any way, shape or form

except to inseminate the female.

Mom feeds her
chicks
roughly every 20 minutes.

It's
almost like
sword swallowing,

and then, mom will fly away,

goes and gathers
more nectar and insects.

The long
slender beak
and a super long tongue

help the hummingbird collect
flower nectar

all while beating her wings
50 times a second.

Although the chick is still
too young to feed himself

he's working
on his tongue exercises

in anticipation of that day.

From the moment the
chick hatches, he's vulnerable.

There's
nocturnal
predators
and there's diurnal predators,

anything from--

something the size of a snake

to something the size of
a praying mantis.

But mom
is never
too far away.

A mother
hummingbirds' role
is protection and food,

and then, she'll also keep the
baby chick warm at night.

When this
little
one was
20-days-old,

it was finally time to fledge.

It may not go
very far
from the nest

and it also might go right back
in to the nest.

It all depends
on their confidence level.

Until he feels
ready
to spread his wings for good,

mom will keep feeding
for up to four weeks.

Kids, sometimes it feels like
they'll never move out.

But once he's out of the nest
there no going back.

Adult hummingbirds
lead solitary lives,

and can usually live
to 12 years of age.

While he's here, this little guy
can still enjoy

mom's sweet home cooking.

So many baby animals
are born defenseless,

but under the tutelage
of their doting mothers,

they quickly become
masters of their universe.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)