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NARRATOR: High up above the Mediterranean Sea,

newborn monkeys prepare to patrol

the Rock of Gibraltar.

Across the Atlantic,

flamboyant flamingos forage to feed their flock.

And a single-mother manatee

trains her young

in the ways of the wild.

Bound together by a common goal,

Fighting for their future.

For these animals,

family life is the key to survival.

Inside the different realms of the Wild Kingdom,

members of a single species assemble in droves,

And one flock,

herd,

or troop

reigns supreme.

These are the world's great

At the southern tip of Europe,

the Rock of Gibraltar

stands guard at the gateway

between the Atlantic Ocean

and the Mediterranean Sea.

This is one of the Pillars of Hercules,

the end of the known world in Greek mythology.

The British flag now flies

above this strategically valuable post.

And modern myth says it will stay here,

as long as Gibraltar's wild monkeys,

remain rulers of the Rock.

Currently, there are just over

200 Barbary macaques

living amongst the 30,000 residents

of the small, densely populated city of Gibraltar.

Hundreds of tourists also flock to the Rock every day.

The hustle and bustle of the city

is a part of life for the macaques

But make no mistake,

these are wild monkeys.

In fact, they are the only non-human primates

that live wild in Europe

The empire of the Barbary macaques

is scattered across

northern Africa,

once known as

the Barbary Coast,

and here in Gibraltar.

In 2009 the species was declared endangered.

Deforestation has decimated the Atlas Mountains

of Algeria and Morocco,

which was once home to three quarters

of the Barbary macaque population.

So while Gibraltar's stronghold is thriving,

it may also be the last hope for the Barbary macaques.

If this animal empire is to rise again,

it must have a well-established succession plan.

Macaques form social groups

of 10-100 individuals called troops.

While hierarchy among females is based on birthright,

male members of the troop must fight for their rank.

Two competing males joust with each other

to establish dominance.

The fight draws a crowd.

Potential allies pick sides

hoping to be part of the winning coalition.

As is often the case, the elder emerges the winner.

It's not uncommon for these sparring matches

to leave lasting scars.

But it's well worth it.

To the victor goes the spoils.

Evidence suggests it's the macaque female

who chooses her mate.

And chances are, she'll pick the winning male.

But Barbary macaques are a promiscuous bunch.

After partnering with the dominant male,

females will mate with others in the troop.

This increases the odds of conception.

It also means there's no way to know who the father is.

In a busy city like Gibraltar,

this could pose a problem.

A baby monkey is vulnerable.

Danger lurks around every corner.

Someone will have to help protect

the heir to the empire.

To the west, across the Atlantic,

the Caribbean Sea rests between the coasts of two continents

This is the breeding ground of the American flamingo,

also known as the Caribbean flamingo.

These are the only flamingos found in North America.

At least, the only real flamingos.

It was artist Don Featherstone in 1957

who created the now infamous

pink plastic lawn ornaments.

Fake fowl folk art is an icon of American kitsch

that is celebrated to this day

and a popular prank on 40th birthdays.

From cave drawings to Alice's croquet mallets,

this colorful character has been making an appearance

in artwork and stories for centuries.

In the natural world,

the American flamingo is currently thriving.

But that may not last long.

Other flamingo species in the western hemisphere,

like the Chilean and Andean flamingos, are in decline.

Current trends suggest the American flamingo

may face the same fate.

If they are to avoid the fall of their empire,

flamingo families must ensure their bloodlines.

And that means

relying on a heavily coordinated mating ritual.

The American flamingo lives throughout the Caribbean,

and from South Florida in the north

to Venezuela in the south.

Each year, thousands travel

from the mainland of Venezuela

to the island of Bonaire, to breed.

In Pekelmeer, on the southern tip of the island,

is the largest natural flamingo sanctuary

in the western hemisphere.

It's an ideal habitat for these aquatic birds.

"Pekel" is Dutch for salt water,

and "meer" means lake.

The shallow water is home to algae, insects

and the meal of choice for flamingos,

shellfish.

This is the source of their signature look.

These crustaceans contain large amounts of beta carotene,

just like carrots.

And it's beta carotene that makes flamingos pink.

These birds seem proud of their pink plumage.

Flamingos spend about a quarter of their time preening,

nearly twice as much as other waterfowl.

When birds preen,

they gather oil from a gland at the base of their tail.

They then redistribute the oil to the rest of their bodies.

It keeps the bird's feathers in tip-top shape.

Here on Bonaire's breeding grounds,

looking good is especially important.

In addition to keeping them warm and dry,

well-preened plumage helps attract a partner.

Like many other species,

these birds compete for a mate.

But this isn't a show of strength,

it's more like a dance competition.

All at once, groups of tens

or even hundreds within the colony

will begin an elaborate series of movements,

all with the goal of attracting a mate.

And the flamboyant flamingos

have some fancy dance moves.

They start with a head flag,

stretching their necks and heads high,

bill pointing up, and moving their heads

from side to side.

They then lift their wing in a salute

to show off their plumage.

And finally, the twist preen.

Each bird twists it's head back and quickly preens.

But, unlike the macaques of Gibraltar,

a flamingo couple will usually mate for life.

All the more reason for this single adult female

to be picky in choosing her partner.

Finally, the dance ends

and cupid's arrow finds its mark.

A female calls out to her chosen mate,

Then starts walking away from the group,

making herself available.

She stops, lowers her head and spreads her wings.

It's an invitation for the male to mount.

It's a complex operation.

Made no easier by the fact

that it all takes place in the water.

For this couple, it's just the first

of many challenging steps

in starting a flamingo family.

They must now build a nest

big and strong enough to resist flooding

and changes in temperature.

The bond between these partners may be unbreakable,

but the fragile egg they hope to produce, is not.

1,200 miles northeast from Bonaire,

the coast of Florida is a much sought after winter escape.

And not just for humans.

When the temperature drops in December,

manatees begin to move from the cold open ocean

to the warmer inland waters along the coast.

Manatees are large marine mammals

that belong to the order Sirenia.

Sirenia is from the Latin "siren", or mermaid.

The myth of a part-woman,

part-fish has existed

as long as there have been seafarers.

Christopher Columbus himself wrote

of the "female forms that rose high out of the sea".

Historians believe this is the first written record

of a manatee sighting in these waters.

Similar to flamingos, West Indian manatees

range from the southeastern United States

to the northern coast of South America.

Manatees are slow moving

and have a low metabolic rate.

This leaves them vulnerable in the cold.

Exposure to water temperatures

below 70 degrees Fahrenheit

can lead to a condition called "cold stress syndrome"

and even death.

So, like the snowbirds that make

the annual migration south for the winter,

these manatees head for warmer climes.

One popular destination

is Sanibel Island,

off the coast of Fort Myers, Florida.

Its warm water springs, lagoons and bayous

offer ideal habitats to find a mate.

But that habitat is shrinking.

And so too is the manatee population.

It's estimated that there are fewer than

6,500 manatees in Florida,

few enough to be considered endangered.

Because females give birth

only once every two years,

every chance to breed is crucial

to sustaining their empire.

In one of Sanibel Island's warm water springs,

a female lays in wait.

She has the full attention of multiple male suitors.

A dozen bulls follow her,

forming a mating herd.

Within the herd, these males compete

to become the first to mate.

Like the macaques,

more than one will have a chance

at fathering her calf.

It's a matter of playing the odds.

For this female to have the best possible chance at conception,

she will mate with multiple members of the herd.

Three weeks later,

the males disperse.

Their part in the breeding process is complete.

And it's been a success.

This female is now pregnant.

Her pregnancy will last a whole year.

During this time, the mother manatee

and her unborn calf are vulnerable.

When these big mammals break the surface to breathe

they're an unwitting target for the hull or prop of a boat.

Most of Florida's manatees

bear distinctive scars to prove it.

Locals say that not a single manatee has gone unscathed.

This potential new manatee mother

must be cautious and careful

if she's to survive long enough

to deliver the newborn now growing inside her.

High up on the Rock of Gibraltar,

six months have passed

and a new member has joined the troop.

Like other primates,

the baby macaque sticks close to its mom at first,

feeding on her milk.

Though sometimes mistaken as apes,

macaques are in fact, monkeys.

The difference is in the tail.

Most monkeys have them.

Ape's don't.

Though it doesn't look like it,

macaque's do have a tail,

it's just really small.

A fully-grown macaque's tail

is only between 1/8 and 3/4 of an inch long.

And there is another extraordinary quality

that makes the Barbary macaques unusual.

Males play an active role in parenting.

It's uncommon among primates.

Especially when paternity is uncertain.

Since it's near impossible to know who the father is,

it would be easy enough for any mating male

to be a deadbeat dad.

Instead, they all pitch in.

Perhaps because of this uncertainty,

all male Barbary macaques in a troop

are integral to raising all the infants.

It's a form of what scientists call "alloparenting",

when individuals other than the biological parents

act in a parental role.

For the Barbary macaques,

it really does take a village to raise a family.

Just months ago,

these male macaques waged war

for the affection of a female.

But when it comes to child care,

they must put aside their differences

and help train and protect the troop's new recruits.

It's a challenging responsibility.

After a few months,

the young macaque is eager to roam the slope

and explore the empire it will one day inherit.

Now weaned from its mother,

it must find food on its own.

But Gibraltar is a busy post.

The roads of the Rock are dangerous,

especially for a hungry,

and curious, little monkey.

On the Caribbean island of Bonaire,

when it comes to nesting,

birds of a feather truly flock together.

The expecting flamingo parents join other couples,

all nesting together at the same time, once a year.

The success of this animal empire

is based on the colony's chicks all hatching in sync.

This makes it easier to provide for the newborns.

a responsibility that, like the Barbary macaques,

is shared by all the adults of the flock.

To get ready for laying and hatching,

both the male and female help build the nest

out of mounds of mud, stone,

straw and feathers.

Construction takes about six weeks.

The flamingos use their bills to make the mound

by bringing the mud and other materials

towards their feet.

If they build it right,

it will stand about 12 to 18 inches tall

and will be shaped like a volcano.

On top they make a shallow well for the egg.

The mound helps keep the egg at a constant temperature

It also keeps it out of ground level flooding.

The nest has to be built well enough to hold the egg

and mom and dad, for at least a month.

Once the nest is complete, mother flamingo lays her egg.

Flamingos usually lay one large egg.

It's shaped the same as a chicken egg,

but weighs two to three times as much.

Both parents help with incubation while they wait.

And after just under a month,

the egg hatches

Both mother and father are there

when the chick emerges from its shell.

They stand over and gently preen

and nibble the newborn.

At first, the chick can only move

by pushing its wings and lifting its head.

As the hours and days pass,

it grows stronger and begins to walk.

Its red bill and plump, swollen legs

turn black after a week or so.

After ten days,

the new chick is ready to join a crèche,

it's a kind of flamingo daycare

where chicks are watched by a group of adults.

There's still a long way to go

before he is ready to leave the nest for good.

He must learn to feed on his own.

And with human civilization expanding nearby,

Bonaire's once bountiful banquet is depleting.

There's simply not enough grub to go around.

With thousands of mouths to feed,

the newest members of this empire

will need to learn to fight for food,

or flee, if they are going to survive.

The inland waters of Florida's Sanibel Island

are calm and quiet.

It's been a year

since the manatee mating herd dispersed.

The pregnant female has managed to stay safe and secure

in the warm shallow waters of the mangroves.

And she's now the proud mother

of a new baby calf.

Like most manatee births,

her newborn is a single calf

just over three feet long

and weighing between 55 and 65 pounds.

Within minutes of birth,

the precocious newborn manatee calf

is able to swim.

Like all mammals, manatees need air to breathe.

They hold their breath underwater

while closing the flaps on their nostrils.

They can stay submerged for as long as 20 minutes.

But they'll usually go to the surface

every five minutes to breathe.

And while the newborn can swim to the surface on his own,

he needs a bit of encouragement.

An attentive mother is right alongside

to make sure her baby

does as nature intended.

The calf begins to feed within a few hours after birth,

nursing from teats located behind his mother's flippers.

During nursing, the mother and calf bond is strong.

West Indian manatees

can grow as large as 13 feet long

and weigh 1,200 pounds,

about as much as a grand piano.

Manatees are sometimes called sea cows.

And, given their size and shape,

it's easy to see why.

Their closest relative is in fact

a four-legged land animal,

but it's not the cow.

It's the elephant.

There's an unusual twist in this family tree,

it's thought that manatees evolved from a land mammal

and moved to the sea,

the opposite of the usual evolution story

that tells of animals leaving the water for land.

Now, millions of years later,

manatees have adapted to life in the sea.

Unlike macaques and flamingos,

by the time this newborn manatee takes his first breath,

his father will be long gone.

Mom will be the sole parent for the crucial first years

of this vulnerable infant's life.

The young manatee stays close to his mother's side

at all times.

While adults typically swim in single file,

the calf will always travel parallel to his mother

Sticking close means mother and calf

can stay in constant communication.

Manatees are relatively quiet creatures.

But they can emit a wide range of sounds.

Mother and calf are especially talkative,

the calf cries out when it's hungry

or gets separated.

This dependency will continue for as long as two years.

During this time, mother manatee will serve as teacher.

The young manatee is an attentive student.

And he must be.

There's lots to learn, about migration routes,

rest areas, and especially,

how to find food.

These mammals are herbivores and eat a variety of plants.

Mother manatee will eat

15% of her body weight every day.

The newborn must learn to find enough food on his own,

if he's to make it past his second birthday.

And foraging for food pushes the young manatee

further into Florida's busy waterways,

and into the path of potential danger.

Putting food on the table

is a fundamental part of any family life.

Once infants have been weaned,

they have to learn how to forage on their own.

A young Barbary macaque takes its lead

from the troop's senior supervisors,

searching the slopes of the Rock of Gibraltar

for a meal.

The diet of most macaques

consists of a mixture of plants and insects

like snails, worms, and spiders.

The Gibraltar monkeys have an advantage

over their African and Asian kin.

They're a popular tourist attraction.

And despite rules against feeding,

they get, and often take,

their fair share of handouts.

Hand feeding often encourages good monkeys

to behave badly.

Local officials have taken measures

to control the feeding.

They offer grains of barley and chopped up vegetables

to keep the monkeys happy, and occupied.

It's a healthier alternative to human leftovers

that can cause tooth decay and disease.

But it's a less than ideal solution

to a serious problem.

Any helping hand from humans

puts the monkeys at risk.

On the Rock of Gibraltar,

natural predators like dogs and birds are scarce.

Cars and trucks, however, are not.

A sentinel watches from above as other members

of the troop scavenge for food.

Suddenly, he appears agitated,

scratching and moving sporadically.

He senses danger,

and calls out to the rest of the troop.

It's a very specific call.

Pitch and loudness vary based on the caller

and who he's calling.

Barbary macaques can tell the difference between calls

by members of their own troop

from those in other groups.

They even have different calls for different threats.

It's an essential skill for the society to survive.

Thanks to the warning signal,

the foraging party is able to move out of harm's way.

As the sun sets over the Mediterranean,

the Barbary macaques seek shelter in the trees

along the slopes of the Rock of Gibraltar.

The juvenile monkeys are now safe and secure

in the company of the troop.

To relieve the stress of a dramatic day,

they relax by grooming.

Though it sometimes results in a snack,

the main function of grooming

seems to be to soothe the nerves.

Scientists believe that it's the groomer,

not the groomed, that benefits the most.

And as they have for the last few months,

male adults play a leading role in ensuring

the juveniles have a chance to unwind.

In just a few more years,

when they reach the age of four or five,

the juveniles will be ready to start their own families.

And they too will have to help their young

navigate the streets of Gibraltar.

For the last six centuries,

macaques and humans have managed to live together

in these tight quarters.

Both must follow the rules of the Rock

if they're to continue to co-exist

for the centuries to come.

It's not just mammals like monkeys and manatees

that provide milk to their newborns.

When young flamingos are born,

both mother and father produce a liquid food

in a pouch in their throat called a crop.

They regurgitate this flamingo milk

to the young.

It's also, the color red.

While the baby is grey or white at birth,

the pigment from the flamingo milk

will turn it pink after a year or so.

Then, he's on his own.

Once the young flamingo's beak is developed,

he must learn how to use it.

A flamingo's beak is custom built

for the job of filtering food.

The top looks like an inverted spoon

Inside are hundreds of horny plates,

similar to certain baleen whales like humpbacks.

These work like a filter or sieve.

In shallow water, they use their long legs like stir sticks,

churning the sediment on the bottom.

The hungry flamingo dips its head upside down,

taking a mouthful of water laden with insects,

tiny crustaceans and algae.

It then pumps its muscular tongue like a piston

to drive water through the filter.

Algae and shellfish now take the place of the red milk,

providing the beta carotene

that keeps a flamingo's feathers pink.

As the chicks grow,

so too will their appetites.

Flamingos spend about a third of their time feeding.

Most eat during the night.

But breeding flamingos will also eat

during the day.

Producing milk for their chick

leaves both parents looking rather pale.

They've lost much of their pretty pink plumage

and must eat extra helpings of shellfish

to return to their former glory.

With growing chicks and hungry parents,

the demand on food sources here in Bonaire increases.

And there's not enough to feed the thousands of beaks.

Both climate change and encroaching development

are putting a strain on the wetlands

on which flamingos depend for food.

And when food is scarce,

hungry birds get agitated.

Though they may have a reputation

as peaceful and gentle creatures,

when it comes to food,

these birds aren't afraid to fight.

It starts with a show of force.

They expand their plumage and open their wings,

each competitor trying to show he or she

is the biggest and strongest.

If an actual fight breaks out,

it's called bill fencing.

A parry and thrust of necks

and bashing together of beaks.

Finally, one bird gets tired and walks away.

But diminishing resources don't diminish their appetites.

Everyone has to eat.

As a result, every day,

a few hundred leave the island

for the coastal waters of nearby Venezuela,

in search of more food.

Flamingos may not look like they were built to fly.

Their legs are longer than their bodies.

And their necks are so long

they need nineteen bones for support.

But they are, in fact, expert and frequent flyers.

They need a running take-off

to get their long lean bodies in the air,

and must continuously flap their wings.

Once they take to the skies,

adult flamingos can fly up to 40 miles per hour.

They need the speed.

Theirs is a daily round trip commute,

50 miles from Bonaire

to the mainland and back again.

By the time the youngsters reach two and a half months old,

they too are able to make the flight.

But they're traveling on a different itinerary.

They will stay on the mainland for 4 to 5 years,

until they reach sexual maturity.

Only then will they return

to the breeding grounds of Bonaire,

with the hopes that it will still have enough resources

for them to continue the life cycle

of their empire.

Manatees spend approximately

half of their day sleeping underwater,

They spend the remainder of their time mostly, eating.

A fully grown manatee

can consume over 100 pounds of plants.

That means mom is munching on a meal

for up to seven hours every day

Now she must teach her calf how to use his flippers

to "walk" along the bottom,

to dig for plants and roots on the sea floor.

When she finds a plant,

she uses her flippers

to scoop the vegetation toward her lips.

A manatee's lips are split in half,

left and right sides can move independently

and have seven muscles.

They work much like the trunk

of their distant relative, the elephant.

They're called prehensile lips.

They work back and forth

in a way that helps them graze on sea grass

and large leafy plants.

The manatee does not have front teeth.

Behind the lips, on the roof of the mouth

are dense, rigid pads like molars,

used to tear through and grind plants.

On Sanibel Island,

it may appear as though the manatees

live a tropical life of leisure,

relaxing and feasting in the warm shallow water.

But this image is deceiving.

Boat strikes kill an average

of nearly one hundred animals every year,

Water pollution and rising sea temperatures

also cause "red tide",

large concentrations of toxic algae

that kill hundreds of manatees a year.

It takes females five years, and males eight,

before they reach sexual maturity.

Manatees that don't make it that long,

don't have a chance to breed.

Conservation efforts are helping to protect

these docile, mythical creatures.

But for now, mother manatee

must trust that her newborn is well-equipped

to survive in the wild,

and will live long enough

to start a family of his own.

From southern Europe,

to the islands of the Caribbean,

to the warm waters of Florida,

the survival of each of these species

depends on preserving its lineage.

Macaques, flamingos, and manatees

all face looming threats at the hands of

an expanding human population.

Whether by working together,

or forced to go it alone

family life is paramount to ensuring

the next generation

can adapt to a changing environment,

and continue the legacy

of these

of these Animal Empires.

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