Original subtitles

For animals all around the world...

..their first year is one of the most difficult

and most dangerous.

To survive, they must overcome daily threats and challenges...

..from rivals,

from the elements,

and predators.

In this series, three wildlife camera operators will travel the

globe to follow our planet's most

iconic species as they grow and develop,

day by day.

In this episode, the babies are between three and nine months old,

and face tough challenges in the race to independence.

In California, a sea otter pup has to learn what to eat,

and what to avoid in a human-dominated world.

It's always a shame to see wild animals playing with things that...

..we have discarded.

In Sri Lanka,

a five-month-old macaque must use his privileged position

to learn the skills to stay on top.

At the edge of the Arctic, as food becomes scarce,

three-month-old fox cubs must compete for every meal.

And in Kenya, a five-month-old elephant has only a couple of weeks

to meet new families and build the bonds to survive a dangerous world.

I just want them to come back out of harm's way and be safe.

This is the story of what it takes to survive in the wild.

Half of those cubs won't make it.

This is their first year on Earth.

It's almost like seeing your kid ride a bike for the first time.

Southern Kenya.

The Maasai Mara joins the Serengeti to form an immense grassland...

..one of the most important wildlife habitats in Africa.

It's April, and the rainy season brings new growth.

Hidden amongst the long grass is a spotted hyena den.

HYENAS WHINE

Twin sisters Bisque and Chowder and now six months old.

They are part of a clan of over 60, living in a female-ruled hierarchy.

When they were only three months old, the sisters learned that

they could use the high rank inherited from their mother

to dominate others in the den.

But they don't yet understand the dangers lurking outside it.

Only 50% of cubs make it through their first year.

LOW GROWL

Lions are their greatest threat.

Until now, they've been small enough to hide in their den underground,

but they're growing quickly.

They already weigh ten kilos -

four times their birth weight -

and soon will be too big to hide.

As they become more exposed,

they must quickly learn to identify threats from outside

to survive the next few months.

Wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet

is here to follow Bisque and Chowder through this critical stage.

I'm hoping I will

catch the moment where they will go and explore the world

beyond the safety of their den.

As the cubs have grown in size,

they have also grown in confidence.

Wow...

Look at that.

HYENA CUB SNIFFS

CUBS SQUEAL

VIANET LAUGHS

They are so inquisitive!

Researchers from Michigan State University have studied

the Mara hyenas for 30 years.

Emily Nonnamaker and Kecil John are closely following

the development of Bisque and Chowder,

and their mother they call Soup.

They've had some time to learn where their rank is from their mum,

and now they're going to start relying more on each other.

And when they're being aggressive towards other low-ranking hyenas,

they're really going to have to back each other up

and stop relying on Mum as much.

Hyenas produce milk so rich in fat and protein

that the twins can be left for days while their mother hunts.

But without her, they are vulnerable to outside threats.

I don't know what...what's happened, but, erm...

..something has got their attention.

A lone male hyena is lurking in the long grass.

Every hyena has a unique scent, so the twins will be able to quickly

detect if they know him or not.

See, they just don't like male presence here.

They just stay all on alert.

Young males move between clans, looking to mate.

It's coming round.

It's trying to sneak in.

The sisters are only a quarter of his size,

but they outrank him in this female-led society.

They cannot overpower him,

but they must still oppose his approach...

..and all hyenas are taught to respect high rank.

CUBS SQUEAL AND WHINE

Look at the size of this man!

But they just don't care, they're challenging him, you know?

"We are small, but we will...

"..protect our territory."

Maintaining your rank is incredibly important in hyena society.

All adult immigrant males are lower than all the females and their cubs.

Males know their place in society,

and they know if they step out of line, they might be punished.

Hyena punishments can be brutal,

even fatal,

but he is persistent.

Even though they are only six months old, Bisque and Chowder

have to stand up to his challenge.

CUBS WHINE AND SQUEAK

The twins keep him out.

This successful interaction means they are learning

to protect their clan.

I think for Bisque and Chowder, this will be

something their mother, Soup, will be proud of.

This is a milestone for the sisters,

reinforcing their status at the den.

The next day,

Soup is back from the hunt, and with her daughters.

Since their birth, the clan's den site has been their entire world.

Now, at seven months old, they need to start learning

the skills to survive outside it...

..and their mother takes the lead.

This is the first time they've left the safety of the den.

Soup's basically taking them out to explore their territory.

The sisters must stick close to their mother.

She has to teach them how to identify and escape threats.

This is a very significant moment.

The more they explore with their mother, Soup,

the better the chances of them making it

when they are on their own.

At this time of year, long grass can easily conceal stalking predators.

I just spotted some lions.

Like, four individuals.

And I'm quite nervous because...

..lions don't like hyenas.

The cubs are born with an instinctive fear of a lion's scent,

but no concept of what these predators look like.

They can only learn to put the two together face-to-face.

Lions are the number one danger for our cubs.

At any stage, if a lion catches them, they will kill them.

Lion predation accounts for around 30% of cub deaths.

And Vianet has lost sight of the sisters in the long grass.

THUNDER RUMBLES

After hours looking for the cubs,

Vianet find the family back at the den.

Soup has managed to keep them safe.

HYENA MOANS

WHISPERING: When I saw the lions this morning,

I was really worried.

But now look...

..they're back,

having quality time with their mother.

It must have been a big day for them.

But today is just the first step on a steep learning curve.

As they spend more time away from the den on their own,

they must learn to recognise and evade lions themselves,

to make it through their first year.

Every baby faces difficulties on the road to independence...

..but for some, the harsh reality comes as quite a shock.

November brings the monsoon to the ruins of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka,

which have weathered the storms for a thousand years.

The human population left long ago...

..and the toque macaques moved in.

Intelligent monkeys found nowhere else on Earth.

Sue Gibson is following the first year of a very privileged baby

born in the heart of these regal ruins.

Jazir was born five months ago in another strict social hierarchy.

His mother is the alpha female of this troupe of 34 macaques.

And since his first couple of weeks,

he has physically transformed.

Jazir is now a healthy five-month-old.

He has doubled in size, weighs around a kilo,

and is eating up energy as he explores his treetop world.

JAZIR CHITTERS AND CHIRPS

He now has the coordination and motor skills

to use his tail as a counterbalance and safety line.

The agility of these babies at five months is off the scale.

I mean, they're like Olympics gymnasts.

In the past few months,

he has learned to balance on moving branches,

judge distances,

and leap from tree to tree.

Jazir's physical prowess and rapid transformation is directly linked

to his mother's high rank and protection.

Jazir really has a head start in this group,

being born to a high-ranking female.

And one day he could lead a troupe like this.

His mother's milk is more nutritious than lower-ranking females

because she gets priority to the better foods.

He could grow 50% bigger

than his low-ranking peers in his first year.

But his relationship with his mother is about to change

as he enters a new phase of development...

..weaning.

And because he's benefited from her high rank,

Jazir is being weaned two months earlier than some of his peers.

It can be a very unpleasant process.

A bite to the arm sends a painful signal.

Jazir's mum is starting to reject him when he comes for milk,

and that's only going to happen more and more, which is a

real problem for Jazir,

because it means he's got to find his nourishment from another source.

This is going to be a real turning point for him.

JAZIR SQUEAKS

So, up to now, it's been kindergarten,

things have been pretty easy.

Now it's time to go to school

and learn to be a little more independent of your mum.

Dr Wolfgang Dittus from the Smithsonian Institute

has studied the social and family life of these monkeys

for almost 50 years.

So, as long as Mum's got milk,

he's going to take advantage of her.

She's got to push him off and be a little bit nasty.

Jazir has no choice but to let go and learn to find food for himself.

He's got to be a little bit more resourceful with how he

gets his food. This is a really good lesson to be learning now.

THUNDER RUMBLES

But daily rains reduce foraging time...

..and send Jazir back to his mother's side.

More than 100 different types of fruit, flower, leaves and insects

come and go over the seasons.

But Jazir has to learn when and where he can find them.

Fortunately for him, those at the top of the pecking order

get first access.

Jazir - like any other high-ranking, sort of, young baby -

gets away with lots of mischievous things,

because if anybody tries to

discipline him, anybody from a lower rank tries to discipline,

he'll just scream and his mum will come to his rescue and back him up.

So these high-ranking little infants,

they learn to be brats.

Learning to be a brat could be a useful survival technique.

It could short-cut the energy Jazir needs to find and collect food.

Berries are a year-round favourite,

and a food many of the infants start with.

But picking them demands time and energy.

Jazir watches his peers at work...

..then makes his move...

..stealing food from another baby.

Theft is a milestone.

It proves he's learning to exploit his status to get what he wants.

He's asserting his position, and also putting them

back in their place.

But this development in behaviour could have negative consequences.

Two days later, Sue sees signs that Jazir's aggression is growing.

But he is an inexperienced infant,

and hasn't yet learned when to stop.

If he pushes too hard,

parents get involved.

A firm slap in the face from another mother causes havoc.

No-one hits the alpha's son.

AGGRESSIVE SCREECHING

There's a strict hierarchy for a reason.

These rules need to be enforced in the interest of the group.

They have to stick to their rank because, otherwise,

it's just chaos.

Jazir's high status in the troop allows him a certain level of

protection, but he's being

heavy-handed with his peers and making enemies.

All males are eventually forced to leave their birth troops,

and life without family support can be tough.

Jazir needs to start learning from his social interactions

and begin to forge alliances to keep the advantages he was born with.

Over 14,000km away,

another infant is on the verge of weaning, but he has to learn

how to find food in a complicated man-made environment.

Monterey in California is an affluent coastal town and tourist

hot spot, attracting nearly five million visitors a year.

Monterey sits in the middle of

the home range of the southern sea otter -

the smallest marine mammal in the world.

This population was almost wiped out by fur hunters,

but now numbers just over 3,000.

Limpet is a winter-born pup.

It's February, and he is now 11 weeks old

and weighs over seven kilos.

Just a month ago, Limpet struggled to master a critical

but deceptively simple step for a sea otter pup...

..his first dive.

He could only stay under for five seconds at a time.

But in four weeks, his physiology has changed.

He can now hold more oxygen in his lungs,

dive down to around two metres,

and stay under for almost a minute.

Wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson is following

Limpet and his mother to understand what factors make the first few

months of life so challenging here.

A perfect dive.

Looks like all that youthful fur has gone, he now has an adult coat.

He's able to submerge with ease.

Limpet's energy demands have doubled since his birth,

yet he is still dependent on his mother for both milk and solid food.

In the next couple of weeks, he has to learn for himself

the skills to identify food and bring it to the surface.

But there were no signs he's capable of this yet,

and that could be a problem for his mother.

One slight concern I have is that his mummy's actually

looking really thin.

Ah... She looked quite ribby as she was diving.

She looked a little bit skin and bones.

She should have a little more body fat on her and look a little better.

Michelle Steadler of Monterey Bay Aquarium has been studying

the stresses on mothers raising pups here for 30 years.

They're still nursing the pup - that takes a lot of energy.

And then they're also giving the pup a third of the prey items,

or the food items, that they bring up from the bottom.

And so they're constantly giving and giving to the pup,

and they get skinnier and skinnier as time goes on.

So it's a big draw on their energy resources, for the females.

And unlike other marine mammals,

sea otters don't have any blubber to act as energy reserves.

They have to find all the calories they need to survive every day.

Limpet is developing fast.

He now has the stamina to dive almost as often as his mother.

But he's not yet finding food for himself.

And as he must learn to forage in a man-made marina,

he faces further challenges.

Pups can get stuck in structures underwater...

..entangled in fishing gear...

..or hit by boats.

OTTER CALLS

And these calls are coming from a mother otter in distress.

OTTER CONTINUES CALLING

A female otter has obviously lost her pup, and she's swimming

all around the harbour - vocalising - trying to find it,

waiting to hear a response.

Now she's going to go right in front of the boat.

Don't do it!

A pup surfaces by the mother.

Was that Limpet? Does anyone know, is this Limpet?

Limpet appears confused by her calls and calls back,

even though she isn't calling for him.

LIMPET CALLS

Quite a frantic call, and pups are tuned in to respond to it quickly.

OTTERS CONTINUE CALLING

As soon as Limpet's mother sees what's happening...

..she moves her distracted pup away.

It just makes me think, you know, about how vulnerable

Limpet really still is.

And you see something like this, and you realise there are so many things

that could still happen to him.

Yeah, there are a lot of things that can happen to him,

and you just keep your fingers crossed and hope that his mum

gets him to that point where he can be weaned and off on his own

and become a grown-up sea otter, basically.

At only 12 weeks old, Limpet's energy demands actually

outstrip his fully-grown mother's.

But now there are finally signs that he is capable of retrieving

objects from the seabed.

What's he got?

He's picked up something unusual.

A latex glove.

He can't quite yet identify his food.

It's always a shame to see wild animals playing with things that...

..we have discarded.

Monterey Bay is one of the most

protected marine sanctuaries in the US.

Yet, pollution on land can still run off into the ocean.

40% of otter deaths are as a result of poisoning,

infection or contamination.

And plastic waste also ends up in the sea otter's home range.

There are at least five golf courses in striking distance of the ocean.

He's got a golf ball!

He hasn't quite figured out what's food and what isn't,

and he doesn't want to start chewing on things like golf balls,

because they can be toxic, like so many of the things

that end up in the oceans.

Scientists have collected more than 50,000 golf balls from the seabed

here in the last five years.

Over time, their plastic coating

will break down into smaller and smaller pieces.

Microplastics are ingested

by the shellfish that Limpet and his mother eat.

They can build up in their stomachs

and poison them.

No matter where you go in the sea these days,

you tend to come across human detritus.

And when you've got an endangered population - like these guys -

this really isn't something you want to see.

At 12 weeks old, Limpet is developing the skills

to forage items from the seabed.

Ah... OTTER CALLS

Hopefully, in the next four weeks,

he can turn a corner and learn to identify prey,

rather than plastic,

and take the pressure to find food off his mother.

Southwestern Uganda.

Once, a single forest spread from here into four other countries.

But now this region supports the densest rural human population

on the continent.

Only isolated pockets of the forest remain,

including the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest...

..home to one of the rarest wild babies on the planet...

..a mountain gorilla.

Nyakabara is one of, perhaps, only 50 mountain gorilla babies

in the world.

She's eight months old

and weighs around five kilos.

Learning to explore and push boundaries is an essential part

of infant development...

..one that can test both mother and baby.

Vianet is here as Nyakabara embarks on the greatest challenge

of her first year -

to escape her mother's protection and learn the skills to climb.

Mountain gorillas are endangered, and so closely related to humans

that they can pick up our infections,

so Vianet a must wear a mask.

At only eight months old, Nyakabara is developing

twice as fast as human babies.

Her curiosity in the forest is growing fast,

but she hasn't learned the skills yet to explore it.

What I would like to see is her creating that gap

between her and her mother.

You know, being more independent.

And, of course, her mother is being very, very cautious,

very protective.

She keeps making sure that...

..Nyakabara doesn't go too far.

She's trying to keep her close by.

She usually doesn't let Nyakabara stray more than a metre away.

But her mother has good reason to be protective of such a precious baby.

When she was only two months old,

Vianet witnessed Nyakabara and her mother fall from a tree.

Falls account for many baby gorilla fatalities.

But Nyakabara's mother HAS to take her baby to great heights every day

because the trees here are so rich in food.

The only other population of mountain gorillas

live on the steep volcanoes of the Congo-Rwanda border,

where the vegetation is more limited.

Dr Martha Robbins of the Max Planck Institute

has studied the Bwindi gorillas for more than two decades

to find out how they use the forest.

Because Bwindi's at a lower altitude, there are a lot more

fruiting trees here that the gorillas can capitalise on.

Some gorillas weigh more than 180 kilos,

and have to find 20 kilos of vegetation to eat a day.

And fruit provides a high-energy hit,

and their bodies are well adapted for finding it.

Gorillas have the greatest muscle mass of any living primate,

so can support their own weight on a single limb

to control their position.

And they have a highly adaptable power grip to grasp trunks,

vines and branches.

Nyakabara must learn these techniques,

but no gorilla can afford to make mistakes at these great heights.

I'm quite concerned about them. It's quite high.

Those trees, we're talking about 30, 40 metres, or what?

I mean, the gorilla's world is much more three-dimensional than for us.

They climb, there's food they want to eat up there.

And so, when they're very young,

they will still stay attached to their mother, like Nyakabara.

And that grip that those babies have on their mothers

is extremely strong.

Human babies are born with the same grip reflex

but lose it after three months because they don't need to

cling to their mothers to survive.

Three days pass, and Vianet is seeing a change in Nyakabara.

She still isn't big enough or skilled enough

to negotiate the canopy.

But nearer the ground,

she's practising and refining her motor skills.

Her protective mother always keeps her within a metre's distance.

But Nyakabara keeps testing her limits.

Oh, my God.

Oh...

Look, she's climbed that little branch by herself.

This is a real milestone for a great ape that spends

15% of its life up trees.

In the next few months, her mother will begin to let her roam further

and test the boundaries even more.

That's just great to see. It's great!

But to really thrive in Bwindi,

Nyakabara must keep developing her strength, balance and coordination,

so she will be able to climb and start to find food for herself.

For some babies, learning to access food is not enough -

they have to learn to fight their own siblings to make it through.

Just a few kilometres south of the Arctic Circle

lies the Hornstrandir peninsula - Iceland's most isolated region.

Winter temperatures can drop below minus 20,

and summer only sees two months totally free of snow.

Just one native land mammal is tough enough to call this place home...

..the Arctic fox.

Colin is following a litter of eight fox cubs

in the race to bulk up before winter.

It's August, and the cubs face a critical turning point.

Their mother has stopped providing milk.

I wonder how many are still here.

There are seven dark cubs at the den site,

but the eighth is missing.

Absolutely no sign of Fela.

Yeah, that's a bit of a worry.

Fela was the only white cub in the litter.

And the last time Colin filmed the cubs, all were perfecting

the characteristic hunting pounce...

..except Fela.

A big litter like this, it's very unlikely that they'll all survive.

I just hope Fela's here someplace, but I'm definitely concerned now.

The cubs are now 11 weeks old and weigh around a kilo and a half.

At this age, each cub must put on around 30g every day

for the next two weeks to survive their first Icelandic winter.

CUBS CHIRP AND SQUEAL

Competition is fierce.

ANIMAL CALLS

A call from the ridge above might shed light on Fela's disappearance.

Among the rocks, hidden in plain sight...

..is Fela.

Oh...

They're so well camouflaged.

It's good to see Fela again.

And I'm really genuinely surprised that...

..all eight of them are still alive. That's a real testament to the

hard work and experience of their parents.

But why Fela is up on the ridge, away from his family, is unclear.

It's odd to be this far from the den, where all the others are.

The next day, Colin returns to the den site...

..and so does Fela.

This play looks all so innocent.

But that will be tested very quickly when food arrives,

and then it's every cub for himself.

What I'm hoping to see then is that Fela is going to have to outcompete

his brothers and sisters to get to the food first.

The cubs' father has caught a fledgling seabird -

essential food for hungry cubs who need to eat

10% of their body weight each day.

This might be Fela's only chance of a meal today.

CUBS SQUEAL

Two dark cubs dominate the bird.

Fela is missing out.

Arctic foxes do not do sharing,

they do selfishness.

The more selfish you are, the more likely you are to survive.

The key is being the first on the scene when the parents return.

CUBS CRY

Calls encourage parents to drop food near their cubs.

Most cubs stay close to the den,

waiting for the food to arrive...

..but Fela leaves.

If he misses another opportunity,

he could become weak and less able to compete.

His father has another kill.

The race is on.

This time, Fela intercepts him on the way down

to seize the precious meal.

Oh...look at that, that's so fast.

I don't know where the dark fox came from,

but Fela spotted him before I did, and just had that food grabbed

and was gone over the hill in no time.

Perhaps Fela is smarter than his siblings,

working out that staying higher up, away from the competition,

could be a life-saving advantage.

All signs point to Fela actually being in a really good place.

I think there's a good chance he's going to make it. He's looking good.

At 12 weeks old, Fela's gamble has paid off.

But he must keep winning the kills to reach adult size by autumn.

In a few weeks, as his energy requirements double,

his parents will stop providing food, and he won't have long

to learn how to find it for himself.

For one baby, her entire survival depends not on beating rivals,

but on finding as many allies as possible.

It's May in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya,

and the elephants are on the move.

ELEPHANTS RUMBLE AND SNORT

Safina, the baby African elephant, is now seven months old

and around 250 kilos -

a tenth of her adult weight.

ELEPHANT RUMBLES

She's putting on around four kilos each week

from drinking around 20 litres of milk a day.

But Safina cannot feed herself yet.

Trunk control is so complex,

it will take at least another six months to fully master

these essential skills.

Her mother is Cyclone, the herd's matriarch,

recognisable by her single tusk.

Until now, Safina has relied solely on her mother and

her aunts for protection.

But elephants are highly social animals and share knowledge

with other families in times of trouble.

It's critical for Safina's long-term survival that she meets and bonds

with other families in her first year,

to build her own support network.

And the best chance she'll have to do this

is in the next couple of weeks.

Last month's rains have triggered one of the largest

elephant migrations in East Africa.

ELEPHANTS TRUMPET

The herds are heading for the protected reserves

of Samburu and Buffalo Springs,

where Safina's family lives.

Sue will film Safina during this unique opportunity to interact,

gain friends and become part of elephant society.

This abundance of vegetation has brought hundreds of elephants

into the reserve.

And this is the time where Safina will encounter more elephants

than she's ever seen before.

They gather together here once a year to feed on new growth,

socialise and reinforce friendship bonds.

That is a lovely, big group of elephants.

And...

..I'm pretty sure I've just spotted Safina's mum, Cyclone.

Yep, there she is, er, cos she's missing a tusk.

So Safina is going to be very close by.

Oh, yes, look. There we go!

Underneath...

She can still fit underneath her mum,

just about, getting shade.

The other infant in the herd is Mvua.

Her mother survived against the odds only because she forged

a special relationship with the herd when she was young.

Mvua's mother, Rain,

she was orphaned because her parents and the rest of her family

were gunned down by poachers, which is horrendous.

But she was accepted into this group - Cyclone let her in.

And, really, the reason why that happened was because of

previously established bonds.

More and more wild elephants come into contact with humans

as both compete for limited land and water.

Conflict is on the increase.

It's essential Safina mixes with as many different elephants

as she can in the coming days,

to build her own bonds, in case something ever happens to Cyclone.

Sue keeps track of the herd through the 200 square kilometres

of the reserve by working in tandem with conservationists,

Save the Elephants - pioneers in GPS tracking.

Every day, elephants arrive.

Some travel almost 150km to gather in social superherds.

But Sue's GPS tracker reveals something about Safina's family

that doesn't look good -

they're travelling away from the incoming herds.

I don't know why Cyclone's taken the herd over there.

She's an experienced matriarch, so she must have good reason to.

Maybe there's much better food? Plenty of water?

But it's a massive gamble.

It's impossible to know what is motivating Cyclone,

but if she maintains her present course,

the family will leave the protection of the reserve.

Beyond the border,

farmland cuts through the elephants' natural habitat.

Sometimes elephants raid crops.

Clashes with farmers can result in deaths on both sides.

Safina and her family have no official protection

out of the reserve.

If conflict occurs, intervention may be impossible.

There's nothing Sue can do but wait and hope.

So, this is really not good.

I've got the coordinates for where the herd are,

and at the moment they're in a place that I can't get to.

This is the boundary of the reserve.

And over there is a kind of no-man's-land.

Even in the last couple of days, there's been some fighting,

and people have been killed.

What's worrying, erm...

..is that our elephants are in there.

These tribes, one of them...

..has a history of killing elephants for traditional medicine.

I just want them to come back over here,

out of harm's way, and be safe.

Three days pass.

Safina and her family have not returned.

But on the fourth day, the GPS reading indicates

that Safina's family is, at last, on the move.

I've had some really good news,

and some coordinates have come in, and it sounds like Safina

and the rest of the family have come out of that danger zone

and made their way back into the reserve, which is fantastic news.

Well, whoever this is, they're enjoying a mud bath.

We've got a little one there.

Where's Safina?

This time, Safina and her family have made it back safe.

And they're joined by one of the migrating elephant herds.

Oh, that's a major, major relief.

It was getting to the point there where...

..I thought we'd lost them.

This is exactly where you want them to be,

and what you want to be seeing.

Out of the danger zone, back in reserve,

hanging out together...

Look at them all, they're all just....!

SHE LAUGHS

..happy. They're very, very happy.

Safina's brain has enormous capacity devoted to processing

memory and her sense of smell.

This might just look like innocent play, but by touching and smelling

with her trunk, Safina is gathering highly specific information about

each of these individuals.

This is how elephants bond and establish new relationships.

As the days pass, Sue witnesses Safina join up and socialise

with more than 60 elephants from four different families.

Oh, my goodness, this is amazing!

Safina may not really appreciate

the importance of what's happening at the moment.

She's having a lovely time playing with other elephants the same age,

but she's coming into contact with older elephants,

other families, friends.

And when there's times of need, she'll have a whole host

of other elephants that she can possibly go to.

So these connections that she's making now

will last a lifetime.

As the babies move even closer towards independence,

they face some of the biggest challenges of their lives.

To secure a safe future outside the temple,

Jazir has to learn to make allies with older macaques.

He's going to have to leave there and deal with this,

and this is dangerous.

As Bisque and Chowder become more exposed,

they have to learn to look out for each other.

And in the last weeks with his mother,

Limpet must master how to use tools.

This is an important time to learn the, sort of, very last lessons

he can from his mum.