01x09 - Mastering Your Talent

[bunniefuu]

[Bonneville] Experience a
world beyond imagination

where fish can fly...

lizards walk on water,

apes master tools

and frogs disappear
in plain sight.

Animals do the
smartest things...

through every stage
of their lives.

[meerkat barks]

From leaving home...

to raising a family.

From finding food...

to making friends.

[elephant trumpets]

They find ingenious
ways to survive

against all odds.

[bellows]

Welcome to The Secret
Lives of Animals.

[birds chirping]

[Bonneville] The
Australian Outback.

A kangaroo playground.

But life on these grasslands
isn't all fun and games.

Adult males stand six foot tall.

And they're packed with muscle.

They need it...

- to fight for dominance.
- [grunting]

[grunting continues]

With claws sharp enough
to blind an opponent.

And kicks so powerful they
can damage vital organs.

This young male will soon
have to step into this arena.

[grunting]

It's a daunting prospect.

To master the skills
he'll need, he must go

to fight school.

It's a vital rite of passage.

[grunting]

Here, they get to
grips with grappling,

eye gouging...

and most importantly...

kicking.

It's hard to pull off.

To hit the mark, he must learn to
use his tail like a fifth limb.

It's designed to take his
weight and add stability.

It requires strength...

balance

and, most of all, practice.

[warbles]

After six months, his
training's complete

and he's fully grown.

But...

dominant males won't tolerate fight
school graduates in their territory.

Now he'll have to earn his
place on this grassland.

[groans]

The gloves are off...

this is the real thing.

[grunting]

Now almost three foot long,

his tail is seven
pounds of pure muscle.

A firm anchor...

from which to kick...

with force.

The old heavy-weight has
the size advantage...

but the young contender
has stamina on his side.

He saves his
strength and then...

lands a punishing body blow.

Powerful enough to stop
his opponent in his tracks.

[groans]

With the skills he's learnt,

he's one step closer
to becoming a champion.

Standing on your own
two feet is not easy,

but if you can master
your natural talents,

you'll enjoy the rewards
for the rest of your life.

Off the coast of Thailand,

on a small island...

long-tailed macaques
live hand-to-mouth.

A diet of leaves alone isn't
enough to sustain them.

And this young male is hungry.

But his coastal home does
have a hidden bounty.

Twice a day...

a potential feast is revealed.

Shellfish.

Packed with protein.

The problem is
getting into them.

The old-timers are
eating like kings.

[macaques squealing]

And they aren't
the sharing types.

If he wants to eat, he must figure
out how to do it for himself.

At first glance,

it looks simple.

But there must be more to
this than meets the eye.

Macaques are one of only
a handful of primates

clever enough to
use stone tools.

And careful observation begins

to reveal their secret.

He notices each kind of shell
needs a different type of stone.

Pointed are best to chisel
oysters off the rocks.

Flat and heavy to
pound loose shells.

The trick is getting
the right combination.

And so far, he
hasn't cracked it.

He needs to find a rock just
the right shape and weight.

And that's not all.

Shells are hard to keep still.

Those in the know find
somewhere to secure them.

Their very own anvil.

Then, it's a matter
of persistence.

Until...

smashed it.

With these newfound skills,

he can now enjoy almost 50
different types of shellfish.

And eat more calories
in a few hours

than a whole day
spent chewing leaves.

Freeing up precious time...

to live the high life.

Not all animals watch
and learn from others.

Some must figure it
out for themselves.

This Madagascan panther
chameleon is just one day old...

and already abandoned
by his mother.

He may be smaller
than your thumb,

but he has the potential to become one
of the most effective hunters on Earth.

Hidden in his mouth
is a secret weapon.

An insect's worst nightmare.

One of the fastest
muscles in the world.

But acceleration of naught to 60
in seven hundredths of a second

takes some getting used to.

[buzzing]

Aiming is difficult when your
eyes don't always move together.

And everyone has a blind spot.

To target accurately,

he'll need to get
both eyes aligned.

Locked on...

bull's-eye.

And saliva 400 times stickier
than ours seals the deal.

In less than a day,

this boy wonder has
become one sharp sh**ter.

But his tiny size
makes him a target too.

An adult panther chameleon
would eat him in a flash.

There's only one
way out of this...

doing something
heavy adults can't.

Lighter than a dollar bill...

he skydives...

to safety.

Few animals perfect their
superpowers so quickly in life.

For most, discovering their
inner talent takes time.

In a Vermont woodland...

[chittering]

these raccoon kits are taking their
first steps towards independence.

[chittering]

Just three months old,

they're still under Mum's
watchful eye, for now.

Budding explorers, they
are into everything.

Which can get them into trouble.

[chitters]

But curiosity is essential.

It's how raccoons learn.

Right now, they're
looking for food

like insects, frogs and snails.

But unlike most mammals,

they don't just hunt
with their nose.

They hunt with their feet.

Independent toes make their
paws as dexterous as our hands.

And they can figure out what an
object is just by touching it.

[sniffing]

When they don't immediately
find what they want,

they keep looking.

A creek can be a
challenging hunting ground.

Ripples and the sun's glare

make it hard to see
under the surface.

But when wet, a raccoon's paws
become even more sensitive.

Just like a cat's whiskers,

fine hairs on their fingers
sense the tiniest vibrations.

Sending signals to a
brain that, for its size,

is more devoted to touch
than any other carnivore.

But it takes time to
figure out what's what.

So, if at first
you don't succeed,

try...

try...

again.

Gotcha.

A tasty crayfish.

Not a bad end to
a morning's work.

While some animals have natural curiosity
and work things out for themselves...

others need a helping hand.

In Borneo, this young
orangutan is two years old.

She has the longest childhood
in the animal kingdom.

And she needs it.

Because there is so much to
learn about her rainforest home.

She'll spend almost all of
her life up in the trees...

so climbing is the most
important skill to master.

In the low branches,
she's confident.

But orangutan's main
food source is fruit.

Most of that...

is found way up there...

over ten stories
high in the canopy.

She must learn to climb
these giants on her own.

Mum leads the way.

She tries to copy every step.

It's a good start.

But this isn't called a
rainforest for nothing.

[thunder rumbling]

Wet trees make
climbing treacherous.

No conditions for a beginner.

But even this is an
opportunity for learning.

When it rains every day, it's handy
to know how to make a shelter.

An umbrella.

It's something only
great apes can do.

Mmm.

Not quite there yet.

[thunder rumbling]

Every storm passes eventually.

With the return of the sun...

the climb is back on.

Up here, one slip
could be fatal.

Climbing this high is a matter
of endurance and stamina.

But Mum is always close
by in case she gets tired.

After nearly an
hour, she's made it.

- [chattering]
- A cause for celebration.

The prize is worth the risk.

Durian fruit.

Packed with vitamins
and calories,

it's the ultimate brain food.

Just what her
growing mind needs.

This young orangutan will be eight
before she's ready to go it alone.

Until then, she knows she'll
be learning from the best.

Reaching the peak of your
potential isn't easy.

But with curiosity...

persistence...

and the spirit to succeed...

[kangaroo grunts]

you can master your talent...

and reach dizzying heights.

To film a young orangutan's precarious
journey towards independence,

the team ventured deep
into the Bornean rainforest

where they saw firsthand
the challenges they'd face.

[Lightbody] One of the hardest
things about filming orangutans

is getting shots that aren't just
looking up at them from below.

We really want to be
eye-level with them

and sort of be really
embedded in their world

and the only way to do
that is to be up there.

[Bonneville] The team want to film her
first solo climb high into the canopy.

But these are some of the
tallest trees on Earth,

rising over 200 feet.

The only way to film
at these heights

is with the help of an elite
team of rope specialists.

First, they must accurately
sh**t a fishing line

- over the highest branch.
- [crew member 1] Got it.

- [crew member 2] You got it. [chuckles]
- One shot.

Awesome.

[Bonneville] Next, they use it to
haul up over half a mile of rope

and establish a complex network of
filming track and platforms to work from.

Then, the cameras are very
carefully winched into place.

Yeah, it looks okay
from down here.

[Bonneville] It's an
impressive feat of engineering.

Rigged and ready to film.

[chattering]

[Bonneville] But the
orangutans have other ideas.

[orangutan chattering]

Basically, we've put up
a jungle gym for them,

um, and they're just enjoying
swinging on them. [chuckles]

[grunts]

- [chuckles]
- [Bonneville] While they play...

[crew chattering]

the sh**t grinds to a halt.

[crew chatter continues]

She's literally
holding us to ransom.

[crew member speaks Malay]

We just have to sit it out.

[Bonneville] After
a lengthy standoff,

the troublemakers
tire of the ropes...

[Lightbody] Oh,
she's climbing...

[Bonneville] ...and the young orangutan
turns her attention to the real thing.

- They come in down here.
- Yep.

[crew member] I think
that's nice, isn't it?

[Lightbody] We've
got an orangutan.

Quite confident it's going to
have a go at climbing the tree,

so we're hoping all
the stars align.

[Bonneville] And then,

the moment they've
all been waiting for.

Slowly.

[crew applauding]

[Lightbody sighs]
That was great.

[Bonneville] The crew's high-wire
camera rigs are a soaring success.

[chuckles]

Capturing a unique moment in
this young orangutan's life.

She's just at the age where she's
sort of gaining her independence.

So every day is
like a school day.

[Bonneville] And she's passed today's
milestone test with flying colors.

[elephant rumbling]

Next time...

We all grow old.

But by sharing experience...

taking on fresh challenges...

and finding a special
place within the family...

old age can actually be

a new beginning.