Original subtitles

This story is like a fairy tale...

...except it's entirely true...

...and we don't know yet how it will end.

But it begins a long time ago...

...in a land far away...

...with not one, but two...

...real-life fairy godmothers.

Daphne Sheldrick was born...

...in Kenya...

...and lived with her family in Tsavo National Park.

When poachers killed elephants for their ivory tusks...

...Daphne adopted their orphaned babies.

Halfway around the world...

...in the jungles of Borneo...

...Birut� Galdikas came to study wild orangutans.

But as loggers cut down the rain forest...

...and drove orangutans out...

...Birut� rescued and raised the little ones left behind.

Both women made...

...the same promise to the animals in their care.

To raise them only as long as they needed help...

...and to prepare them...

...to one day return to the wild.

It's been over 50 years since Daphne Sheldrick...

...first adopted orphaned elephants.

Sities, come.

She's created a safe haven for them...

...at a very special nursery just outside Nairobi.

- About three and a half months? - Yeah.

What's the umbilicus like?

Okay.

These little orphans...

...have been rescued from all over Kenya.

They may look big, but they're just little children.

The biggest ones are still babies themselves.

They instinctively take care of little Sities...

...who's just 3 months old.

Daphne established this nursery after her husband David passed away.

It's a place for the orphans to heal...

...physically and emotionally.

The elephants helped me to turn the page in my life...

...and I try to do the same for them.

We've rescued over 200 baby elephants.

Most have lived, but others haven't.

Before Daphne...

...nobody had ever successfully raised an infant elephant.

It took me 28 years of hard work...

...before I finally developed a milk formula that would help them...

...grow up big and strong.

Okay, Kilaguni, have your milk.

Okay.

Kilaguni is almost 2 now.

His mother was killed by poachers.

He stayed by her side, and when hyenas came in the night...

...they attacked him and bit off his tail.

Good boy.

But he's healed and happy now...

...and a favorite of the others.

He doesn't like the noise.

Without their mothers to provide shade...

...little elephants need lots of sunscreen so their ears don't get burnt.

They're just like our own children:

Lovable one moment, naughty the next.

Thousands of miles away in Indonesia...

...Dr. Birut� Galdikas continues her lifelong effort...

...to save orphaned orangutans.

Over 300 of them live here at her care center...

...on the island of Borneo.

All these orangutans are here for one reason:

Their mothers have been killed and their forest home cut down.

These are the lucky ones who survived.

They are so fragile as infants.

Like our own kids, they need lots of love and attention.

I've studied wild orangutans for 40 years.

And we use that...

...knowledge to simulate the different stages of orangutan development...

...with humans acting as surrogate mothers.

These orangutans are the same age as human toddlers.

They're too immature to play in the real jungle...

...but a jungle gym helps them learn the skills...

...they'll eventually need in the wild.

Young orangutans still need milk, and lots of it.

Orangutans here are under human care...

...but not control.

They need to retain their wildness.

These orphans grow up so differently than wild orangutans.

But as long as they feel loved...

...they'll have the confidence they need later in life.

I often wonder if they miss the touch of their real mother.

Or do they even remember her at all?

Family is the most important part of an elephant's life.

They live in herds so it takes a team of people...

...to replace the loved ones that they've lost.

People always ask me how we choose the keepers.

The truth is...

...the elephants do.

They can read your heart...

...and they understand how you genuinely feel about them.

Edwin, our head keeper, loves the elephants.

And they love him.

Elephants won't live unless they are happy.

We keep them as happy as possible...

...entertaining them and playing little games.

When a little elephant starts to play, you know they're going to win.

Come. Come, come, come.

Sities, come, come.

Come on, come on.

Good. Good boy.

Kick it, kick it.

Orangutans are happiest at play in the jungle.

And this group is now old enough...

...to explore the forest that surrounds the care center.

These trees bear the same fruits they'll find in the rain forest.

For many, it's their first taste of the wild.

This is Sanaga.

He knows all the best spots to find fruit...

...like wild durian...

...a stinky but delicious treat.

All orangutans have their own personality.

Ombray is a real comedian.

I'll never forget Ombray's rescue.

We drove for hours through a giant palm oil plantation.

It was once pristine rain forest and home to Ombray's mother.

She was killed...

...and he was captured and kept as a pet.

But orangutans are not meant to be pets.

My son Fred has a special touch with orangutans.

Ombray refused to get In our truck.

He had his heart set on another ride.

Young orangutans cling to their mothers for dear life...

...so holding on tight is in their blood.

At the end of a long day, the elephants return home...

...escorted by Daphne's grandsons.

- I saw a springhare. - A springhare?

There was one 2 feet and it had a tail that long:

- Really? What, was it down there? - Yeah, it was.

There's lots of springhare burrows down there.

I've lived amongst nature my whole life.

I've cared for animals as big as elephants...

...and as small as this little hyrax.

And I've loved them all the same.

In the wild...

...baby elephants would never be left alone.

So here, the keepers always stay with them...

...even through the night.

Like all new orphans...

...Sities has difficulty sleeping.

Elephants do have an incredible memory...

...but sometimes what they remember...

...is awfully sad.

Good.

Sleep well, Sities.

Birut�'s research station, Camp Leakey...

...is deep in the jungles of Tanjung Puting National Park...

...home to the largest population of wild orangutans...

...left in the world.

For 30 years, Birut� lived here...

...and raised orphan orangutans in the surrounding forest.

They're wild now...

...but sometimes come back to Camp Leakey to visit.

It's the only place in the world...

...where humans and great apes are truly equal.

I've had this feeling ever since I was very young.

The tropical rain forest represents the original Garden of Eden.

Our ancestors left the garden...

...but orangutans never did.

They maintained a childlike innocence that we humans lost...

...a long, long time ago.

Many of the orangutans released here have succeeded in the wild...

...and are now mothers and grandmothers themselves.

Tom is the dominant male in the area.

He weighs over 300 pounds and is the wild-born son...

...of an orangutan Birut� raised 35 years ago.

Like the orangutans, I started my own family at Camp Leakey.

Our children played together and grew up together.

I came to Borneo looking for animals to study.

I never thought I'd find lifelong friends.

Don't spill my coffee.

I bet you will.

Hi, Siswi.

Are you going to come with me, Siswi?

Well, I'm going.

Bye.

Both Birut� and Daphne do much more than raise rescued animals.

Their organizations help protect the national parks...

...where their orphans will eventually live.

Tsavo National Park is home to the largest population of elephants...

...in Kenya.

The old bulls are the scouts and guardians of the elephant herds.

They live apart from the females and their young.

- Hello? Hello, Mama Daphne. - Yes?

A patrol has spotted something wrong.

A baby elephant among a group of bulls.

His mother has been poached.

He needs milk to survive...

...but they can't feed him.

If he's not rescued soon...

...this little elephant will die.

Well, we'll mobilize the rescue team.

We'll be ready in the nursery.

The rangers must be bold to drive the bulls off.

They can easily flip over a truck.

A female herd would defend the baby to the end...

...but the bulls know he doesn't belong.

Most orphans come in extremely traumatized.

This elephant has seen his family killed...

...by human beings...

...so he sees us as the enemy.

He's terrified and doesn't understand that we want to help.

By morning, the new orphan...

...has a name, Kandecha.

He's begun to trust the keepers...

...and is finally getting the nourishment he needs to survive.

He's joined this little family...

...just as Kilaguni is about to say goodbye.

Orangutans typically leave their mothers...

...when they're 7 or 8 years old.

As the orphans reach that age...

...Birut� and her staff identify which ones...

...are ready to thrive on their own.

Wild orangutans don't live in groups.

They're solitary...

...so they must take care of themselves.

Ombray will be a great wild orangutan one day...

...but he's still too young.

Sanaga and Pushka are building their own nests.

They've become more independent...

...and I feel they no longer need us.

Before being cleared to join the wild population...

...all orangutans get a thorough checkup.

Sanaga is healthy and ready to go home.

So is Kilaguni.

It's graduation day...

...for him and two other elephants.

As with many big changes in life...

...the first step can be the hardest one to take.

You're okay.

Come on.

Come on.

Kilaguni. Come, come.

Kilaguni. Come on.

A remote compound in the middle of Tsavo...

...will be the elephants' home for the next few years.

It's a halfway house...

...where they'll live until they no longer need human help.

Kilaguni, hi. You have a good trip?

What happens next is truly astounding.

Dozens of ex-orphans, all living wild now...

...come from many miles away to greet the babies.

Elephants have amazing powers of perception and communication.

It's one of the great mysteries of the natural world.

The orphans will always love their human family.

But in time, these older elephants will take over...

...and lead them into the elephant kingdom.

Kilaguni and the others will be...

...milk-dependent for three more years.

They're still vulnerable, so they'll sleep here...

...where they'll be safe from the lions outside.

Kilaguni.

Their journey to freedom...

...takes Sanaga and Pushka deeper and deeper...

...into Tanjung Puting National Park...

...where one of the last pockets of orangutan habitat...

...still remains.

With every step, I feel a flood of mixed emotions.

I'm happy...

...but I'm also worried.

It's a dangerous world...

...and I won't be there to protect them.

Their long detour through the human world...

...is about to end.

Okay?

Okay.

Okay. There you go.

There you go, Pushka.

You can go. Come on. There you go.

That's a good vine. Yup.

It's hard to say goodbye...

...but this is their destiny.

They were born to be wild.

On their first day in Tsavo...

...the wild ex-orphans lead Kilaguni and his friends...

...to a water hole where they revel...

...in the freedom of a wild life.

The big elephants took this step many years ago.

They know that Kilaguni is too young to join them now.

They've come to say:

You're part of our family.

You're one of us and we love you.

Our job is almost done now.

It's up to the ex-orphans to teach the little ones...

...how to be wild elephants again.

The animals in this story are like us in so many ways.

They want to grow up free...

...and raise their families in a world that's safe.

And if we let them disappear from this earth...

...then a part of us will disappear too.

These orphans have been given a second chance at life.

But whether they'll live happily ever after...

...depends on us.