Original subtitles

(Female Narrator): Every animal has a mother,

but not all mothers look after their young.

Those that do, form one of nature's strongest bonds.

A devoted mom will defend her little ones with her life.

Which is why it's never a good idea

to get between a mother and her baby.

(♪♪♪)

(Bird calls)

(♪♪♪)

Now you see her, now you don't.

When she's not hanging out with her mom

this little lemur loves to leap.

>> Joslin is one of our newest additions.

People have described ringed-tailed lemurs at this age

as the "popcorn phase".

When she first started getting off of mom

and gaining some independence

that she never strayed far at all.

Now she's all over the exhibit, and when she--

has gotten to this point

she would essentially pop all over the place,

bounce around.

Jocelyn wasn't always so jumpy.

She started out clinging to her mom's chest,

then graduated to riding piggyback.

Now, at almost three months,

Jocelyn took a leap of faith,

and started exploring her surroundings.

She spends about a third of her time on the ground

more than any other lemur species.

Though she's curious about her world

she never strays far from her mom, Jushy.

And this first-time-mom has much to teach her daughter.

She's doing a wonderful job.

We're very, very impressed with how calm she is

from the outside.

And it's so important for infants

to learn from their mother's.

Jushy is a very--

as lemurs go a very smart animal,

very manipulative with her enrichment items

and Jocelyn watches every moment of it.

Jushy is also teaching Jocelyn

how to be strong and independent.

In the wild,

female ringed-tailed lemurs protect their home,

get first dibs on food,

and get groomed before adult males.

Mothers and daughters stay together in the wild.

Eventually, Jocelyn would either inherit her mom's ranking,

or have to fight her to win the role of alpha female.

Even though Jocelyn doesn't have to worry too much

about the social hierarchy here,

it's still important for her to learn

how to be large and in charge.

She gets to practice her assertiveness skills on her dad,

Frodo.

As Jocelyn is learning her role as a young maturing female,

she engages with her dad from time-to-time.

Sometimes as simply,

Jocelyn jumping on Frodo's back or off his head.

And the fact, that he's just being a good dad,

and sitting and taking it and tolerating it

is the mark of a good dad for a ringed-tailed lemur.

Dad sort of takes a backseat in family rituals,

when Jushy and Jocelyn wrap their tails around

and huddle together to create a lemur ball to fall asleep

dad's not invited.

In the wild,

snuggling protects lemurs from the harsh weather.

Here in captivity,

Jocelyn and her mom huddle together

to share some one-on-one time.

Except for their behavior,

it's hard to tell the difference between Jushy and Frodo

just by looking at them.

They are the same size,

and share many of the same features

including their signature black and grey tail,

which is longer than their body.

Lemurs can't hang from their tails

but those flashy appendages aren't just for show,

sometimes, they're exclamation marks.

Lemurs do use their tails,

but it's more for things like communication,

their emotions come through in how they use their tail.

But it's also used as balance,

when they're jumping

that tail helps with balance in-flight basically.

Flight safety is crucial for a bouncing baby lemur,

like Jocelyn.

Falls, predators and harsh weather

kill up to half of all baby lemurs in the wild

before their first birthday.

Here at the zoo, Jocelyn's as safe as can be.

Luckily, ringed-tailed lemurs reproduce easily in captivity.

Which gives this baby of an endangered species

a fighting chance.

She has no concern in the world.

When she's not sleeping and nursing,

she's just always on the go.

She's a very independent little girl.

She's very playful too.

And she's even started to groom with her mother and her father

which is really nice to see that reciprocating behavior,

so she's just always active.

You can really see the process of her growing and maturing.

With her natural curiosity, and Jushy's careful guidance,

Jocelyn will grow up to be fearless and confident,

just like her mom.

Like many primates,

the white-cheeked gibbon is a bit of a mama's boy.

But this guy holds a little tighter than most.

This is Tualang.

In the wild,

he would be found swinging through the rainforest

of South-east Asia on his own.

In captivity, Tualang still living with his parents,

while practicing his moves.

They are known as the true brachiators of the jungle.

And what that basically means is they do hand-over-hand swing

from branch to branch.

With gibbons, they're the true acrobats.

They literally would let go one branch

before they grab on to another.

And they can make leaps of up to 30 feet in one swing.

Tualang was born at the zoo to parents Millie and Henry.

At birth, he looked exactly like his mom,

covered in oatmeal-colored fur.

But now, just over a year old, Tualang resembles his dad,

with black fur and those namesake white cheeks.

Tualang is quite the handful,

he's practically the same size as his mother,

but she still carries him pretty much everywhere.

Mom carries the infant around,

the infant will hold on to the fur,

and hold on really tight.

But the infant also learns very early on

that it has to hold on tight

because mom always has to be on the move.

For a gibbon in captivity,

Tualang isn't ready to wean himself from Millie just yet.

The bond between mother and infant is very strong,

and usually,

the rearing of that infant is a long extended period of time.

Nursing between the infant to mom

is not just important for nourishment,

but it's also important for keeping that bond going.

Infants will nurse for several reasons,

obviously, for nutrition,

but they'll also nurse because of comfort.

It makes them feel comfortable, it makes them feel secure.

In this particular case

I think our gibbons seems to be all about motherhood,

so she's probably going to let him nurse as long as he wants.

But Tualang's father, Henry,

is not completely out of the picture.

A little rough housing with dad helps Tualang's development.

During the stages of development with the infant

both parents are involved.

So the infant will learn different types of behaviors

from either parent.

Playtime, things like that--

a lot of those things actually come from dad.

The nurturing part comes from mom.

It's pretty similar to how we raise our own kids.

Tualang's family is close.

But Henry and Millie don't want him hanging around forever.

Like any young adult,

he's going to have to move out soon

because among grown-up gibbons three is a crowd.

Gibbons are unique because they're one of the few primates

that are actually monogamous.

They'll pick a mate for life.

This becomes a very complicated structure

within that pair

because they have to keep that bond together.

If they have an offspring that offspring has to leave

once it reaches maturity

because it is considered a threat to that dynamic.

Millie and Henry serenade each other with vocal duets

that can be heard a couple of blocks away...

(Gibbon calls)

...and can go on for 17 minutes.

(Gibbon calls)

Sometimes, Tualang even joins in.

(Gibbon calls)

One of the unique things about gibbons is they usually--

that mated pair will form a synchronized call

and it's very unique to that pair.

And the pattern and the rhythm of that vocalization

let's them know who is making the call.

And they recognize each other through that sound.

During this time with his parents,

Tualang is learning vital skills he'll need

when it's time for him to settle down with a female gibbon.

Tualang has a lot of growing up to do,

but he doesn't have to pack his bags just yet.

He has at least six more years

before he needs to find his own place.

Until then, he is just hanging out with mom and dad.

Their name actually means "person of the forest".

And, like a person, a baby orangutan needs his mom.

The largest arboreal mammal in the world

lives only in the Southeast-Asian islands

of Borneo and Sumatra.

Males can weigh as much as 240 pounds.

They're the only true arboreal apes

spending as much as 95% of their lives in the trees.

Orangutans are a very intelligent animal.

They're one of the great apes,

so they're very closely related to us.

And in that aspect they have higher brain function

than other species.

They use tools to access food,

so they do a lot of different things

that really show how smart they are.

Like this little guy,

a 2-1/2-year-old Sumatran orangutan, named Pongo.

Pongo loves to show off

and make sure all the other apes know just how clever he is.

Pongo like most orangutans his age

feels like he has a lot to prove.

He has a ton of energy, always climbing around.

But if he should wander beyond his comfort zone,

he hurries back to his mom for re-assurance.

His mom is 19-year-old Blaze.

She'll hold him until he feels secure again.

Pongo is Blaze's first baby.

It wasn't an easy birth.

Blaze had suffered complications from other failed pregnancies.

So Pongo had to be delivered through caesarean section.

But it doesn't matter how he arrived,

now, they have lots of mother-son cuddle time.

As for Pongo's father, Benny, he couldn't care less.

A typical orangutan dad,

he has no interest in family life.

Males have pretty much zero to do with

raising their offspring.

They'll breed with the females, and then they go on their way.

Benny has developed large cheek pads or flanges

to advertise that he is the primary breeder in this group.

As a Sumatran orangutan like his dad,

Pongo will grow up to look slightly different

from his Bornean cousins.

Borneans tend to have a little bit larger

of those cheek pads.

Bornean orangutans also are little bit darker and orange,

they have more of an auburn color,

whereas Sumatrans have a little bit more of a lighter color

to them.

Pongo is always on the move in way or another.

Sometimes he even uses his feet, but not if he can help it.

Like all orangutans,

he prefers to let his fingers do the walking.

It's similar to if a kid was using the monkey bars at a gym.

They swing underneath the branch or vine

that they're using to travel.

They'll also climb hand-over-hand.

He has a natural aptitude for it,

but success comes from trial and error,

and by watching his mom, Blaze.

For Pongo, hanging out with mom is like a training session.

Every day she has something new to show him.

By far the most important lesson is how to become independent

because orangutans are a natural born loners.

Most primates, including you and I,

live as groups in families.

Whereas orangutans, for the most part,

live by themselves in the wild they are solitary animals.

And the main reason is just the food distribution.

Because of their size, orangutans need lots of food.

And that means lots and lots of fruit.

But in the rainforest,

fruit isn't all that plentiful in one place.

So they kind of have to spread out

and that's why they live by themselves.

Really the only time you'll see orangutans living together

is when a mother is raising her young.

Blaze has been carefully raising Pongo

for the last two and a half years.

But now, her little baby boy is getting bigger

and more adventurous.

He would be what we call an older infant

phasing into a young juvenile right now.

Pongo can pretty much perform all the skills that his mom can.

He explores and keeps testing his limits...

...and his mom's patience.

He sometimes discovers that he's too big to do

what he used to do as a younger ape.

That means he tends to get stuck in certain spots way high up.

Mom is always there for support,

like, if he gets stuck up high on a platform

where he can't get down

mom is always there to come down and catch him.

And when that happens, Pongo is not too old

that he can't still enjoy an awesome ride on his mom's back.

Being an orangutan mom is a 24-hour, 7-day a week job,

for the first several months the infant does nothing

but hang on to the mother,

so, it was important that she knew that

she needs to let Pongo hang on her at all times.

Female orangutans can have their first baby at around age 12.

And they can only have a baby every seven or eight years.

Since on average, they live to 45,

it means they can only produce four babies

in their entire lifetime.

That's one of the lowest numbers among all mammals.

That's why mom has to take especially good care

of the babies.

She carries them constantly for their first year.

The world is a dangerous place for an orangutan.

Orangutans out in the wild face a lot of threats right now,

they have a lot of pressure on them.

Habitat loss is the big one.

I mean, this is due to the agriculture

that's going on over there, specifically palm oil.

There are a lot of palm oil plantations

that are popping up where orangutans are found.

So, more than ever in the wild,

the mother-infant relationship is crucial.

Every second spent soaking up mom's wisdom

helps increase the chance of survival.

(♪♪♪)

Most birds need lots of parental care once they hatch,

and the tiny hummingbird is no exception.

That's because at roughly 2-1/2 inches long,

and weighing as little as .1 ounces,

it's one of the world's smallest birds.

Luckily, hummingbird hatchlings have devoted moms

to help them navigate this enormous world.

Humming birds belong to the order of birds

called Apodiformes which means "footless".

While they do have feet, they're too weak for walking.

But, when you can fly like this who needs to walk.

They use their feet like landing gear.

Everybody loves hummingbirds.

How can you not love hummingbird?

They're fascinating and they're beautiful,

and they pollinate.

But one interesting fact is that they really are the only bird

that can hover and fly backwards they're--

they're amazing acrobatics in the air.

They need that agility to navigate around the flowers

they pollinate.

This little guy barely 3 weeks old

hasn't quite mastered the air yet.

But he's working on it.

Baby hummingbirds sit on the edge of their nest

and flap their wings

up and down, up and down, up and down.

Until you can start to see them get a little bit of lift,

but they don't necessarily let go.

But they're getting those wing muscles really amped up

for their maiden voyage.

In the wild, that voyage could take the young hummingbird

anywhere from the coast of Alaska

to the very tip of South America.

Through some of the most diverse and extreme environments

in the world.

Which makes this little guy one of the toughest critters

in the animal kingdom.

That strength starts with learning

how to defend its territory.

One way is by using its gorget,

the flat iridescent feathers around its head

that flash bright colors in the sun.

Depending on the circumstances,

a flash can signal no trespassing,

but it can also mean I'm available.

There's a number of different courtship behaviors

that hummingbirds have -

many of them sing...

...they also will position themselves in such a way

to flash all that beautiful gorget area

and all the color to the female.

When this little guy is old enough to mate

he'll try to impress the female with his fancy J dive.

It goes up very, very high,

while the female is perched lower,

and right in front of her,

right when he gets down to eye level with her

he makes this noise with his tail feather,

it's a very high-pitched squeak and then goes back up

and repeats these dives over and over and over again.

And once the deed is done,

the female gets busy building a home for her new family.

Hummingbird nests are really amazing.

They're made of anything that you can see around us here

they use all these different plant materials

and they use spider web

that is what holds the whole nest together.

Besides being strong, spider silk is expandable.

As the babies grow,

the nest will stretch along with them.

You'll start out with a very small,

sort of, cup-shaped nest,

and you'll see mom pushing it out with her--

her rear end and her feet

until she makes this nice dip in the center.

And then, when the youngsters get bigger and bigger

they can push on this as well.

So, for instance, you may see a nest that's this big,

but as the babies grow and just before fledging

it may be that big.

This newborn's nest took a week to build.

Every mother designs her nest a little differently

before laying her tic-tac size eggs.

Some are what I like to call the Martha Stewart

of hummingbird household making

because they'll elaborately decorate

the sides of their nest.

They adorn their nest with twigs, mosses, lichen,

and even paint chips.

This hummingbird is an only child, but not for long,

mother hummingbirds generally lay two eggs one day apart.

The very, very first thing a chick has to do

is get out of the egg.

Once that happens,

then they need to be nourished by their mother for 21/23 days.

With absolutely no help from dad.

When you are a mother hummingbird

you really are all on your own.

The dad really does not help in any way, shape or form

except to inseminate the female.

Mom feeds her chicks roughly every 20 minutes.

It's almost like sword swallowing,

and then, mom will fly away,

goes and gathers more nectar and insects.

The long slender beak and a super long tongue

help the hummingbird collect flower nectar

all while beating her wings 50 times a second.

Although the chick is still too young to feed himself

he's working on his tongue exercises

in anticipation of that day.

From the moment the chick hatches, he's vulnerable.

There's nocturnal predators and there's diurnal predators,

anything from--

something the size of a snake

to something the size of a praying mantis.

But mom is never too far away.

A mother hummingbirds' role is protection and food,

and then, she'll also keep the baby chick warm at night.

When this little one was 20-days-old,

it was finally time to fledge.

It may not go very far from the nest

and it also might go right back in to the nest.

It all depends on their confidence level.

Until he feels ready to spread his wings for good,

mom will keep feeding for up to four weeks.

Kids, sometimes it feels like they'll never move out.

But once he's out of the nest there no going back.

Adult hummingbirds lead solitary lives,

and can usually live to 12 years of age.

While he's here, this little guy can still enjoy

mom's sweet home cooking.

So many baby animals are born defenseless,

but under the tutelage of their doting mothers,

they quickly become masters of their universe.

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