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.

As the animal babies approach the end of their first year,

they need to take on the most complex challenges of their lives.

In Kenya, on her first birthday...

..an elephant calf must work out how to feed herself.

At the edge of the Arctic,

a fox cub must become independent...

..before the onset of a brutal winter.

In Sri Lanka, a one-year-old macaque must develop the skills

to survive beyond his mother's protection.

They are taking their life in their hands, these monkeys.

And one of our closest cousins - a mountain gorilla -

must learn the coordination to explore Uganda's forest kingdom.

That is just saying, "I'm one-year-old now. Right now."

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

Half of those cubs...won't make it.

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

This is their first year on Earth.

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

In southwest Uganda,

an unparalleled island of forest

covers mountain tops close to the equator.

It is known as Bwindi...

..The Impenetrable.

It's July, and wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet is here to follow

the progress of one of the rarest babies in the wild.

One of possibly only 50.

He is tracking her family with the help of Dr Martha Robbins,

of the Max Planck Institute,

who has been unlocking the secrets of this forest

for more than 20 years.

Their tracks lead to a unique habitat in its heart...

..a swamp.

GRUNTING

The family are Bwindi mountain gorillas.

I just spotted Nyakabara.

One-year-old Nyakabara has a bracelet of white fur,

never seen before in mountain gorillas.

who protects this group of 13.

LOW GORILLA RUMBLE

They are so closely related to us that Vianet must wear a mask

to prevent the spread of any human diseases.

She's just, like, piggybacking on her mother's back.

At 7.5kg, Nyakabara is more than three times her birth weight.

As an infant, she spent her first few months

just sleeping and suckling,

attached to her mother,

and absolutely helpless.

Now, she's alert, active,

and can ride on her mother's back to see what's going on.

Vianet is here to see if, as a one-year-old, she's developing

the vital skills to forage for herself.

But it's not going to happen in the swamp.

The food here is for experts only...

..thistles.

I'm being very careful with how I hold it cos it's covered in spines,

but the gorillas love this.

It's very high in protein... Right.

..and there's not very much of it in Bwindi. Oh...

But the way they eat it's amazing,

cos they take their hands and they just... MAKES SCRAPING SOUND

..go all the way up to get the leaves, and then they fold it a bit

and they put it in their mouth. Wow.

But even if you watch them chew,

they're kind of chewing like this... VIANET LAUGHS

And so I think it's a little bit painful for them to eat!

The nutrients thistles provide

mean it's worth the effort and discomfort.

But the gorillas only make the trip to the swamp once a month.

Nyakabara won't be capable of this level of manual dexterity

for another three years.

But Vianet wants to see if she can master the more basic techniques

of food manipulation.

And that's something she learns by watching her mother handling

around 100 different food plants.

GORILLA RUMBLES

BRANCHES CREAK

At around eight months of age,

mothers become less protective of their babies, and, increasingly,

let them work out how to do things for themselves.

Woody vines are an abundant food plant in the forest,

and gorillas like to eat the pith inside.

GORILLA RUMBLES LOWLY

Nyakabara learns by observation, not instinct.

She has to find a way to get the same results for herself

by trial and error.

VIANET: Look at that, look at that.

I wasn't expecting this.

She's trying to strip the bark.

This is actually the first time I've seen her doing this.

That is a moment!

A milestone...

..in Nyakabara's life.

Nyakabara has the basics covered.

But the real challenge of growing up in the Bwindi...

..are the trees.

There are more than 200 species here,

and many bear highly nutritious fruit.

Bwindi mountain gorillas are unique in that they spend several hours,

every day, high up in the trees, foraging for this fruit.

But combining climbing skills with foraging techniques places

huge demands on a one-year-old's dexterity, balance and coordination.

At just two months old, Nyakabara and her mother fell from a tree.

And falls are one reason why only two thirds of infants survive.

By eight months old, she started to climb for herself,

but was very shaky and kept under close control by her mother.

Now, as a one-year-old, her mother gives her free rein to explore.

VIANET LAUGHS

Nyakabara's next challenge

is to combine her climbing and foraging skills.

She literally climbed that tree.

We're talking about five metres tall, that tree.

Away from her mother...

..just on her own,

exploring her little world.

Oh, man...!

Oh!

Look at that...!

Hanging on with one arm,

Nyakabara has to try and bring the fruit to her for inspection.

NYAKABARA SNIFFS

A sniff tells her that this one is not quite right.

But African star apples have just come into fruit,

and make the perfect snack.

FRUIT CRUNCHES

This is...

This is exactly what I was expecting...

Look! Chest beating, as well!

VIANET CHUCKLES

Brilliant!

That is just saying, "I'm one-year-old now. Right now."

VIANET LAUGHS

"I've reached my first year...

"..on Earth."

It will take three years before this precious baby

can survive here on her own.

But, over the next 12 months, she will hopefully perfect the skills

required to move freely

and confidently 30 metres above the ground,

between the trees of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

8,500km away, at the edge of the Arctic...

..the Hornstrandir peninsula is the most remote corner of Iceland.

It's September.

Colder weather is taking over from the short summer months.

In just a few weeks, this valley could be blanketed by snow and ice

as the long, desolate winter returns.

Fela is the only white Arctic fox cub in the litter of eight.

At just four months old, he's almost adult size.

But he is not an adult yet,

he still relies on his parents for food.

Autumn is the cut-off time when cubs must learn to get the food they need

to survive their first winter.

Wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson is here to see

if Fela has the resourcefulness to come through this crucial period.

FELA SNIFFS

He purposely came downwind of me

so he could give me a really good sniff to see who I was,

and he seemed happy enough.

At around 3kg, Fela is healthy and starting to grow

the thick fur he needs to survive sub-zero winter temperatures.

He was born with acute senses of sight, hearing and smell.

They are all focused towards the moments his parents return

from the hunt with a meal.

But, at this time of year, food is in short supply.

Back in the summer, breeding sea birds provided the only food

for Fela's family.

But there is never enough to support a whole litter,

and competition between the cubs was intense.

CUBS CHIRP AND SQUEAK

Arctic fox cubs generally only have a 50% chance of survival.

I'm seeing the same animals again and again,

I'm really pretty convinced, at this stage,

that there are only four youngsters left.

I hoped that a few more might make it through.

Both parents have been working themselves to the bone all summer,

rushing around this valley, supplying food as much as

they could - but the food is coming to an end and they have to

look after themselves. They have to put on enough weight to condition,

to get through the winter.

The white mother of the cubs has found a sea bird.

Now she has to decide whether she will keep providing for her young.

EXCITED SQUEAKING

A black cub rushes to be fed.

Fela's spotted her too.

CUB WHINES

The dark cub begs...

..but the vixen is keeping this bird to herself.

WHINING CONTINUES

FELA SQUEALS

Fela flicks his tail, and also calls to demand food.

CUBS CALL

But he too is rejected.

The vixen leaves behind her hungry cubs.

This is a turning point in Fela's life.

He now has to find his own food if he's going to survive.

This is a really dangerous time now for these young animals.

Only the smartest and the most resourceful are now

going to make it through.

Each morning, Colin looks for any sign that Fela is developing

the skills to find food for himself.

Now the breeding sea birds have gone, Fela must learn

to search out alternative foods.

But these are things he may never have tasted before.

So he needs to explore everything within this landscape.

He found something to play with.

He's still acting like a puppy.

Fela is now 40 times his birth weight,

and must concentrate on finding the 500 calories he needs a day.

The quicker he realises he's now on his own

and fully independent, the better.

The first snowfalls have arrived on the hilltops already,

it's a real sign of things to come,

and it's a real reminder of how little time Fela has.

Winter winds can top nearly 200km an hour,

and temperatures can drop to 20 below.

He's so alert to everything, every little movement!

He looks to be...

..searching the rocks for...

..I think, spiders.

Fela's instincts are kicking in.

I really came here to witness the early days of Fela's independence,

and that's exactly what I'm seeing right now.

Of course, you think, "Well, a spider - it's not exactly like

"eating a sea bird or something."

But they're full of energy.

Full of nutrition.

And, if he gets enough of them, it'll be plenty to sustain him.

In the remaining days of autumn,

Fela will eat as much as he can to build up his fat reserves.

It's amazing how in just a short time he's...

..gone from that sort of little ball of fluff that first emerged

above the ground to the resourceful, boisterous, bold character

that he's become.

He'll get through into next spring,

and then it will be time to find a mate of his own.

And, hopefully, these valleys will resound to his calls

in the years to come.

I think there's a good chance they will.

It's June on the tropical island of Sri Lanka.

In a northern province, lies the bustling town of Polonnaruwa.

And, at its heart, the ruins of the island's ancient capital.

A sanctuary that is home to over 1,000 endangered toque macaques.

Wildlife camerawoman Sue Gibson is following

a very high-ranking infant within one of the troops here.

A year ago, Sue filmed the alpha female's newborn son, Jazir,

on his first day.

This is pretty unreal, actually.

I get treated with a little baby boy who's just a few hours old.

Now at 12 months, Jazir is triple his birth weight,

around 1.5kg.

Crikey, I really didn't expect him to be...

..so different. He really does look quite a lot bigger.

He looks really healthy.

Jazir has grown faster than other babies in the troop,

thanks to his alpha mother.

As top ranking female, she gets priority access to food,

and can provide the richest milk.

Sue is working with Dr Wolfgang Dittus

from the Smithsonian Institute.

For almost half a century,

he has studied how rank affects success in toque macaques.

So, being the son of an alpha female has, you know, been,

really good for him up until now, but the future's still uncertain.

He's done well - thanks to his mum - to get this far, but now

it's going to be progressively more his own ability to find food,

his fighting ability, getting others to help him and helping others.

All those political skills have yet to be learned by Jazir.

JAZIR CHIRPS AND SQUEAKS

Sue is already witnessing Jazir moving away from his mum,

and feeding by himself.

This is great. Jazir foraging on his own - on bugs and berries

and all those insects.

And that is a really important step.

MACAQUES SCREECH AND SQUEAL

He is learning to use his bigger size to outmuscle

his smaller, lower ranking peers.

Giving him the time to discover which food is best,

and where to find it.

Other frustrated infants must wait their turn,

as Jazir crams extra into his cheek pouches for later.

MACAQUES GIBBER

In macaque troops, frustration can build into tension...

..and tension can boil over into fights.

AGGRESSIVE CHITTERING

They have got some nasty canines.

And they are ONLY for inflicting pain,

and not to help with eating.

MACAQUES SCREECH

Badly wounded macaques can drop down the pecking order...

..or even die.

It's important Jazir watches older males to learn how to read

these potentially dangerous encounters to avoid getting hurt.

Exaggerated brow movements are used to encourage friendly contact.

But tree shaking by the alpha male tells others

they need to keep their distance.

That's really interesting.

That is a definite moment I've not seen before.

Jazir jumping up and down on a branch...

..like a lot of the dominant males do.

That's a sign of power and showing your authority.

And it's certainly good to see him going through those motions

because it's something that he'll be using in the years to come.

Jazir is practising skills that could enforce his strength

and power amongst his peers.

But he still needs to learn the final and most difficult lesson...

..diplomacy.

SQUEAKING AND SQUEALING

He's got a long way to go yet.

He really does need to become socially independent of his mother,

meaning that he needs to form

alliances with older males, especially.

Like all males,

Jazir must leave his family in just a few years' time

to join another troop.

VEHICLE HORN BEEPS

And that means emigrating to the hustle and bustle

of the urban sprawl.

I mean, this is Jazir's future.

He's going to be growing up in a human-dominated world.

He is going to have to leave the tranquillity and the sanctuary

of the temples.

And form - or join - another troop outside of there,

and in this... TRUCK HORN SOUNDS

..what feels, very chaotic environment.

Life is tough outside the ruins,

as monkeys must steal and raid from humans.

Often seen as pests, they can be chased off or attacked.

TRAFFIC SOUNDS

These monkeys are taking massive risks.

A third of young males don't survive this dangerous transition.

But, by working with other males,

Jazir can improve his chances of joining and thriving

within a new group.

What I really want to see is him forging those new relationships

and allies with other members of the troop.

Because, in a few years, when he leaves, those relationships

are going to be vital for his survival.

As the days pass...

..Jazir shows a softer side to his character.

It feels like when he's with his peers and others the same age,

or even, like, the slightly older males...

..there's a bit of a different vibe.

MACAQUE SCREECHES

Jazir has joined a huddle, and is grooming an older male.

This is the way male macaques nurture new friendships.

Taking time to build close ties now means Jazir is more likely

to get support later, when it counts.

This is great, this is really what I was hoping to see.

This intimacy between Jazir and the other male macaques is real proof

that he's building those essential bonds.

It's a huge step forward.

The chances of becoming an alpha male are slim.

But the skills Jazir is mastering now will give him the best shot...

..at ruling his own troop within Polonnaruwa's ancient kingdom.

Some animal babies are born with an ally...

..who can help them through times of change.

The vast Mara-Serengeti ecosystem.

25,000 square kilometres of grassland.

It's late August, and the great migration has arrived...

..1.5 million wildebeest.

THUNDERING HOOVES

This is peak hunting time

for Africa's most successful land predator...

..the spotted hyena.

HYENA WHOOPS

Spotted hyena clans are ruled by the larger, more aggressive

adult females, with a queen at the top.

In this clan of 60, the second adult in command is Soup.

Bisque and Chowder are her twin daughters.

They are now 11 months old.

Since birth, the sisters have relied on the protection of their mother

and the safety of the den.

CUBS SQUEAK AND GIGGLE

Now, approaching the end of their first year,

they've grown to 25kg...

..almost half adult size.

At this stage in their development,

they must learn the skills to survive out on the savannah...

..where they will explore beyond the den and their mother.

Vianet is tracking the cubs during this critical time,

as they learn to identify opportunity from danger.

They've grown up really big.

Let me see...

They look completely different to what I left four months ago.

Vianet is working with Michigan State University scientists.

They've studied hyenas here for over 30 years, and know

what dangers the sisters will face.

Lions are definitely the main threat to hyenas.

They are competitors, they're all going after the same prey together.

Here - lions will actually scavenge from hyenas slightly more often

than hyenas will scavenge from lions.

And, also, because they are competitors, they find cubs,

find hyena cubs, they will kill hyena cubs.

Only half of hyena cubs will survive to their first birthday.

Bisque and Chowder must learn to spot and avoid lions

if they are to make it through.

At this age, the sisters spend less time at the den.

They have started to explore on their own.

Their territory stretches over 3,000 hectares,

and it takes Vianet hours to find them.

This is a really exciting moment because it's time to...

..move away from the mother.

Exploring...

..their environment.

It's great.

Bisque and Chowder's highly tuned senses are vital

to surviving this new world.

Sight is their primary tool when hunting.

Scent is vital in identifying whether they have strayed

into a rival clan's territory.

And they can hear hyena calls from 5km away...

..enabling them to hone in on kills.

I think I've heard a call...

..at there.

Hyenas will call in others to protect the carcass

from rival clans or lions.

But since an adult can consume 15 kilos at a time,

Bisque and Chowder may not find much of it left.

Another cub has found part of a kill.

And Bisque moves in to make a challenge for it.

LOW WHINE AND GRUNTING

HYENAS SQUEAL AND LAUGH Chowder joins the fight.

So now both sisters can chase off the others

to keep hold of this meal.

This is the first time I've seen this,

trying to crunch food, the bone.

They're becoming carnivore, for sure.

Adult hyenas have reinforced, oversized teeth

and a crushing bite to pulverise bones.

The sisters need four years to develop this phenomenal weaponry,

and must practice at every opportunity.

But feeding alone, they are at their most vulnerable to predators.

They're so young.

They're not quite clear yet what danger is out there.

They can't see what Vianet can.

Just by this tree here...

..the big, male lion.

LION RUMBLES AND SNORTS

With their heads down, focused only on feeding,

Bisque and Chowder are exposed.

VIANET GASPS

Might be trouble here.

Oh...oh...

LOW RUMBLING

LION SNARLS HYENAS YELP

Right at that moment when the lion was approaching,

my heart was just pounding!

Thinking it might come close and just maybe kill one of those cubs.

This is what they are exposed to.

It's a threat they will have to learn to live with day by day.

But, in their first year, the twins have grown faster and bigger

than all the other cubs in the clan.

If they continue to look out for each other, then the signs are

they will thrive here in the Maasai Mara.

On California's rugged coast, another animal baby must overcome

the challenges of the busy, human world.

The town of Monterey is one of the USA's top fishing ports,

and lands 10,000 tonnes of seafood from the Pacific Ocean every year.

Seafood is also in demand by southern sea otters living

along this stretch of coastline.

Once hunted to the edge of extinction,

they now number just over 3,000.

Sea otters are one of the few animals to master tool use...

..smashing open molluscs and shellfish on rocks

they bring up to the surface.

It's a complex lesson for any pup to master.

But to survive...

..they have to crack it.

SHELLFISH CRACKS

It's April, and Colin is in Monterey following Limpet...

..a five-month-old pup who is fast getting close to independence.

Limpet must master tool use soon,

because he'll have to leave his mother in a matter of weeks.

He has grown a lot!

He's certainly looking much bigger and bolder.

Limpet now weighs 11kg, five times his birth weight.

Newborn sea otters can't dive or swim.

For his first few weeks, Limpet either floated on the surface

or was towed around on his mother...

..building an intense one-to-one bond.

Male pups have a tendency to rely more heavily on their mothers...

..but that bond will have to break.

Limpet is still feeding on her milk...

..but she is rolling to discourage him.

If she finds him too demanding,

she could now enforce weaning and abandon him,

sooner rather than later,

leaving him unprepared.

Only half of sea otter pups make it through their first year.

They always live on the edge,

and that's the thing about sea otters around here.

They're in a resource limited population where their food

is often hard to come by.

Michelle Steadler of Monterey Bay Aquarium

has studied the otters here for 30 years,

and understands the intense pressure that the mothers are under.

They're still lactating - 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, giving to the pup,

and they get skinnier and skinnier as time goes on.

So it's a big draw on their energy resources.

But his next meal is delivered by Mum again...

..a large burrowing marine worm she dug up in the seabed.

COLIN: Yeah, every time she brings something up,

he's going and grabbing it from her.

He should now be hunting by himself.

Limpet must reduce his demands on his mother

by learning to bring food up.

Because, right now, she has to find twice the amount of food

she needs for herself.

But there might be some hope.

April is squid season.

GULLS CRY

Millions of opalescens squid come to spawn on the seabed here.

A massive seasonal boost for the otters,

and also for fishing fleets that work 24 hours a day.

This should be easy prey for Limpet to practise on.

Oop, oh...!

Oh, look!

Finally, Limpet lands a catch.

That really proves he's getting someplace.

But squid spawning only lasts two weeks.

These easy pickings will soon vanish.

To really succeed, Limpet must learn how to find and open shellfish.

A complex procedure that his mother seemingly performs with ease.

He's been watching his mum over the months, watching her

manipulate all those shellfish, and that's what I want to see him do.

I want to see him dive down to get something, bring it up,

and actually open it up and eat it.

Because that's...

..that will really mean that he's ready.

To master tool use, a pup first needs to identify a tool.

Sea otters scour the seabed for a suitable stone - or anvil -

which they store in a pocket of skin under their arm.

Then, once they find a mollusc to open, they bring both

to the surface, rest the rock on their belly,

and begin bashing.

THUDDING SOUNDS

It takes a great deal of manipulation, coordination,

force and energy to get to the protein-rich and fatty contents.

Something Limpet has to get to grips with, in the next few days,

to prevent his mother leaving him too soon.

After a couple of days, Limpet surfaces with a stone.

A tool.

That's great.

Wonderful.

All he needs is something to open.

He's got it!

A mussel.

STONE CLACKING

Good job!

Success. Look - he's got it open.

That's a really important thing to see.

Fantastic.

And he's not just, you know, copying his mum any more.

He's not just sort of going through the motions.

He's actually making his own decisions,

so he really has nailed it.

Limpet has reached a fundamental milestone for a sea otter pup -

tool use.

Not only has he unlocked access to a whole host of prey items

in the marine environment, but, by taking some of the pressure

to find food off his mother,

he has bought himself valuable time with her.

He will have a few more weeks in her care and protection

to practise essential life skills...

..before he embarks on life without her.

Then he'll join other newly weaned pups to start a new adventure

on the coast of California.

The bonds between some babies and their mothers

will last an entire lifetime.

It's October in Samburu,

the end of the dry season.

After five months of baking heat,

all life is desperate for the rains.

Baby African elephant Safina is one year old.

This is her first dry season.

Her mother, Cyclone, is the single-tusked matriarch of this herd

of three mothers and their young.

Each adult needs around 100kg of food each day,

and they will travel around 15km to find it.

But, during drought, mothers can struggle to provide enough milk.

Safina must master her trunk if she's to tackle all the different

foods she needs to survive throughout the year.

Sue is following Safina to see if she can learn the skills to adapt

when resources are limited.

During the dry season,

I'd like to see how much more she's learning from the herd

and one of the things I'm looking out for is how she uses her trunk.

A baby elephant cannot properly feed or drink

without mastering its trunk.

As a newborn, Safina had very little control of her trunk

but was able to use it to express bonds of friendship.

As matriarch, Cyclone decides where the herd feeds next

based on her 46 years of experience.

SHE GROWLS GENTLY

Without the rains, nutritious grasses have withered and died.

The herd can only get enough food by feeding on woody shrubs like acacia.

Stripping bark and leaves whilst avoiding six-centimetre-long thorns

requires trunk strength and dexterity.

Safina tries to mimic Mum.

She's got a lot to learn, Safina, because

that trunk has got thousands of muscles in it -

more than we have in our entire body -

so you can imagine why that would take so long to get a handle of.

For now, Safina continues to suckle every three hours.

In her first year, her milk intake has doubled

and she has tripled in size to 300kg.

To keep growing and developing, it is vital for Safina to learn

from the adults how to feed on these plants.

And, at this age,

Safina is capable of learning new behaviours rapidly.

Ear-spreading and charging towards an unsuspecting victim...

SHE TRUMPETS

..makes her look bigger and more aggressive.

She's getting feisty!

What's really interesting about Safina's behaviour,

this mock charging, is that this is learned behaviour.

It's not like a lot of other animals, where it's instinctual.

She's actually copying what other members of the herd have done.

During a charge, adults learn to curl their trunk away

from any damaging impacts, something Safina is still grappling with.

Safina gets most of her water from milk, but the adults must find

up to 100 litres of water each, every day.

Now, at the end of the dry season, the only water source left

for all the elephants in the region is what remains

of the Ewaso Ny'iro river.

Elephants don't drink through their trunks like a straw.

They draw water up into their trunks and then

spray that into their mouths.

Up to ten litres at a time.

But Safina is once again struggling to co-ordinate her trunk.

Safina's got right down on her knees to try and get in the water.

I think she's trying to take some of it up just with her mouth,

not just her trunk.

She's going to have to learn that's not the best way to do it.

She needs to copy Mum.

Once the herd's thirst is quenched, Cyclone moves them on

in the relentless search for food.

As matriarch, she must call on her encyclopaedic memory

to remember where enough food can be found.

Safina is learning to map her environment,

and she'll remember all these routes...

..so, when she's older, she'll know where to come for water,

where the best vegetation is.

Every day, Sue looks for signs that Safina is developing

the trunk control to finally feed herself during this dry time.

Young calves can learn to tackle new foods by watching and testing

what others are eating.

Ooh.

Safina's really beginning to master her trunk now,

if I think back to a few months ago.

Stripping acacia branches, which is quite a talent,

cos they're very spiky.

She's like a sponge, the way that she sort of absorbs all this

information that's going on around her.

The rains are arriving and new shoots will soon emerge.

It will be at least another year before Safina is able

to feed herself completely.

But Safina will be constantly learning across a lifetime

that could span 70 years.

I'm optimistic Safina has the best start in life with a mother

like Cyclone because she's so experienced,

and, when she's her mother's age,

this world could have changed so much.

But she'll have been equipped with the best skills and knowledge

possible to hopefully adapt to that changing world.

Within just a year, these animal babies have transformed...

..from vulnerable newborns

into confident characters.

As they've grown, they have faced a variety of challenges.

Overcoming their fiercest rivals...

..escaping from potential disaster...

LOUD CRACK

..and learning the skills to survive in their environment.

They have beaten the odds

and adapted to this ever-changing world.

They are now ready to take their next steps in the wild

at the end of their first year on Earth.