01x02 - Raising a Family

[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]

Nothing is as precious as a
cuddle with your sleeping child.

[grunts]

But as every parent knows,

moments like these are
few and far between.

Because life doesn't get tougher
than when you're raising a baby.

Unless, of course,
you're raising two.

And, like this family,

you live in Fongoli, in
southeastern Senegal.

A baking hot, barren world.

Right now, this chimpanzee mother's
priority is feeding her children.

[grunts]

But out here at the end
of the dry season...

the larder looks empty.

To keep her family alive,
she'll have to dig deep.

A huge, mud-baked fortress.

Could this hold the answer?

Termites.

Millions of them.

Full of fat and protein.

Food that could provide the
vital calories her family needs.

The issue is getting to them.

But if anyone can, she can.

Chimps share 98% of
their DNA with us.

And, like humans, their minds
are built for problem-solving.

With walls baked hard as concrete, she
can't smash the termite mound open.

So she looks for something...

to help her unlock the riches...

and does something fewer than 1% of
animals have the intelligence to do:

She crafts a tool.

A handmade termite fishing rod.

As any angler knows, fishing
is a question of patience...

and skill.

Not quite.

Gotcha.

Time and again, she shows
her children how it's done.

Just like her mum showed her.

It's a skill they'll be able to
pass to their own families...

when the time comes.

[sniffing]

Few things can prepare you for
the ever-changing challenges

of being a parent.

And, just like us,

animals do everything
they can to get it right.

[seagulls squawking]

For all animals,
family comes first.

In the Californian kelp forest,

one dedicated dad
will stop at nothing

to give his children
the best start in life.

This striking fellow
is a garibaldi fish.

He's hoping to become a father
to nearly a million babies.

But to stand any chance,

he must first find a safe
place to protect his eggs.

Almost impossible

here in the turbulent...

surge zone...

where everything
everywhere is on the move.

Without protection, any
eggs will be washed away.

And with them, his
chances of fatherhood.

Anchored to the calmer
side of the rocks,

this patch of red
algae looks promising.

Sheltered from the current, its
feathery strands are strong.

The perfect place
to attach eggs.

But for the number of
babies he hopes to have...

he'll need more space.

His patch will never get bigger

unless he can keep the
hungry pests at bay.

And they love red algae.

And keep coming...

and coming.

It's a colossal task...

in these tumultuous seas.

But this dad-to-be
works tirelessly

to prepare the area for
his future offspring.

After a very busy month,

his patch of red algae
has tripled in size.

And for garibaldi females,
bigger is always better.

Over the next few days, he
mates with as many as he can.

Each female adding an astonishing


until he's tending to an
eye-wateringly large family.

This garibaldi dad has cleverly
created a safe zone in the surge zone.

It's extremely rare to see
male-only parental care

in the animal kingdom,

but in fish, it's a speciality.

More than 50% of fish dads take on
sole responsibility for childcare.

Three weeks later...

his diligence pays off.

For this super dad,
it's a numbers game.

Because in a
fish-eat-fish world,

unfortunately, only a handful
will make it to adulthood.

No matter how many babies,

the goal of every parent is
to keep their family safe.

But how can you protect your children
if you don't even get to meet them?

That's the sad truth facing
one extraordinary insect.

This green lacewing has
just one shot at motherhood.

She's only got a
month to live...

and hundreds of eggs to lay.

But hungry predators
are everywhere...

with eggs top of the menu.

So how can this
lighter-than-a-raindrop mum-to-be

keep her eggs safe when she
won't be around to protect them?

She looks for a special spot,

selects the perfect leaf...

and does something magical.

From the tip of a
delicate leaf hair...

she spins a silken thread.

Laced with protein, it hardens
in the blink of an eye.

A unique hair extension.

The perfect support
for a precious egg.

And she creates this
enchanting structure...

for every single one.

And just as well.

By suspending the
eggs in midair...

and disguising them
as part of the plant,

she has hidden them
in plain sight.

So the ants don't even realize
there are eggs there at all.

With her family
safe from harm...

this maternal magician has
performed her last act.

She might not live long
enough to meet her children...

but she's done
everything in her power

to give them the best
possible start in life.

And five days later, they
begin to reveal themselves.

Unlike the lacewing, most parents don't
have a magic trick up their sleeve.

For them, raising a family
takes unwavering devotion.

[warbles]

This young eider duck
is sitting on eggs...

high on a ridge on an Icelandic island
at the edge of the Arctic Circle.

Out here, she's
exposed and vulnerable.

[gulls squawking]

Gulls on the hunt for ducklings.

And if they don't get
them, the elements will.

To keep her unborn family alive,

this devoted mother will
put her body on the line.

[quacks]

She barely leaves her
nest, not even to eat.

It's an intense
energy-sapping vigil

that drains her of almost
half her body weight.

[birds chirping]

After a month,
starved and exhausted,

her devotion has paid off.

[duckling chirping]

But she's not done yet.

Up here, her ducklings
will quickly starve.

Just hours after
becoming a new mum,

she must get her hatchlings to
the sea, so they can all eat.

But that's a long way down...

[gulls squawking]

through gull territory.

The odds are stacked
against them.

They must stay under the radar.

[warbling]

Whispered contact calls
keep the family close.

Newborns can't fly...

- [duckling thuds]
- but are light enough to bounce.

[ducklings chirping]

The final stretch across open
ground is the most dangerous...

and keeping them hidden
from the aerial surveillance

is near impossible on her own.

[gulls squawking]

So Mum does something
unthinkable.

- [warbles]
- Calling.

[gulls squawking]

- [warbles]
- She exposes the family's location...

- [duck warbling]
- [gulls squawking]

- to everyone.
- [warbling continues]

But like an SOS...

[duck warbles]

it alerts dads...

and other mothers in need.

[warbles]

[ducklings chirping]

[ducks warbling]

United, they create a defensive
circle that encloses the chicks.

[ducklings chirping]

A security escort that discourages
the gulls from aerial attack...

[duck warbles]

so their precious offspring
can reach the sea in safety.

The young mother's
sacrifice is rewarded.

She can eat for the
first time in a month.

And her ducklings get the
nourishment they need.

Watching your children take their
first steps towards independence

is a proud moment
for every parent.

But for some, it can
be a long time coming.

This female meerkat is
mum to a huge family.

Her teenagers still
haven't left home.

And her hungry newborns
demand constant attention...

and protection.

Because here in the
Kalahari Desert...

one wrong step
could be your last.

[snake hisses]

When danger comes calling,
everyone looks to her.

[meerkats chattering]

Right now, a rival meerkat
group is on the warpath.

They could target her babies.

[meerkats chattering]

She faces the dilemma of
working mums everywhere:

How to be in two places at once.

Leave the newborns alone
and they could starve.

But if she doesn't
see off the intruders,

it's almost certain
death for her pups.

[meerkats chattering]

Left with no choice...

- [meerkats chattering]
- she charges into battle.

Leaving her helpless babies
with a trusted family member.

The last line of defense.

[meerkats chattering]

[meerkats growling]

[chattering continues]

The longer Mum's away...

[whimpering]

the hungrier the pups get.

But the meerkat guard offers
much more than protection.

She does something
extraordinary.

[meerkats chattering]

She suckles the
hungry youngsters.

Fewer than 1% of mammals can
act as a wet nurse like this.

It's a clever solution
for a working meerkat mum.

But it's not the only way she
spreads the load of childcare

because when it comes
to raising meerkats,

every member of this
family pulls their weight.

Scorpions are a family favorite,

but they have enough venom to k*ll
something 100 times a meerkat's size.

The growing pup must learn to
disarm it before it's safe to eat.

[meerkat shrieks]

[shrieks]

- Inexperience soon shows.
- [chatters]

[chattering]

But this is a family
that stands together...

and an older sibling is always
on hand to show them the ropes.

He teaches the pup how to
safely bite off the sting.

Thanks to his brother's help,

maybe he's learnt enough to
do it on his own next time.

They say it takes a
village to raise a child,

and when it comes to
meerkats, it really does.

Raising a family can be the most
rewarding job in the world...

but it's far from easy.

It takes great patience...

dedication...

and a little bit of magic

to give your children
the best start in life.

Wildlife cameraman and
primate specialist Max Kölbl

has spent thousands of
hours filming chimpanzees.

But in all that time, he's
never seen them termite fishing.

[Kölbl] It's such
a unique behavior.

It is something that I heard about,
but I had never seen it in the wild.

Filming chimpanzees
is like boot camp.

You are constantly on the go
with a 25-kilo pack on your back.

Sun is high.
Temperatures are high.

[Bonneville] These chimps can
roam up to ten miles a day,

and it's a sweltering


In these conditions, Max couldn't film the
chimps without an expert guide, Jacques.

Jacques has been working with those
chimps for over ten years now,

and he knows those individuals
like his own family.

[Keita in French] Chimpanzees
are especially similar

to humans in character
and mentality,

you can get close to
them when they're calm,

and study them in
the wild environment.

[Bonneville in English]
Without his help,

Max will never get close
enough to film termite fishing.

[Kölbl] They have a very vulnerable being
with them, so they want to protect it.

So you just have to make them
feel as comfortable as you can.

[Bonneville] The mother
chimpanzee has spotted something.

Could this be the moment
that Max has waited for?

[Kölbl] They all have
sticks in their mouth,

which hopefully means that
they're gonna go fishing.

Let's see.

[Bonneville] After 15 years
of working with chimpanzees,

Max's dream is realized.

The light is great. The kid sits in a
great spot. You can't imagine it better.

[Bonneville] It's an
extraordinary intimate moment

between this wild
mother and her children.

[Kölbl] Their society is filled with
things that our society is filled with.

They have hierarchies, they cooperate,
they play and they love each other.

I think that no other species loves their
kids in the same way as chimpanzees do.

[Bonneville] Next time...

When danger lurks
around every corner...

[chatters]

you need to know when
to stand your ground

and when to run and hide.

If your life is on the line...

[quills rattle]

it takes great intelligence to
protect yourself and survive.