All language subtitles for Baby Animals Series 1 09of13 Herd Mentality 1080p

NARRATOR: A flamboyance...

that's what you call
a group of flamingos.

Elephants herd in a parade.

A group of zebras
is called a dazzle.

Whatever the name,

being part of a group
has advantages.

Hanging with the herd
fends off predators,

helps with mating,

and sometimes it makes it easier
to bring up baby.

(♪♪♪)

(Chirping)

Forget privacy.

From day one,

the world for a Chilean flamingo
is a busy place.

The same goes for flamingos
at a zoo.

And a two-week-old chick
like Tweedle

might get lost in the shuffle.

He lives at Reid Park Zoo,
in Tucson, Arizona.

RAMSEY: When flamingo chicks
first hatch,

they're white little puffballs

and they've got black legs
and black bills.

As they get older,

that down gradually starts
to turn grey.

At about 40 days,
they start getting feathers.

NARRATOR: It'll be a while
before Tweedle turns pink

but right from the get-go,
he's displaying his personality.

RAMSEY: So this chick is
a little more apprehensive

about coming off the nest

than our previous chicks
have been.

It took Tweedle over a week
before it felt comfortable

coming off the nest
and exploring,

but this one's gonna
stick closer to mom and dad

than our previous chicks did.

NARRATOR: That cautious attitude
should suit

both of Tweedle's protective
parents just fine.

RAMSEY: With flamingos,
both mom and dad help
take care of the chicks.

So they both help
to build the nest,

they both sit on the egg.

NARRATOR: The parents pile up
a mound of mud

to raise it
above the water level

to protect the egg.

There's no risk of flooding
here at the zoo,

but the behavior
is instinctive.

A female flamingo
will only lay one egg a season,

so the male and female go to
great lengths to keep it safe.

With so many flamingos around,
that's not easy to do.

RAMSEY: They like to live
in very large flocks

and they stay
very close together

but they're constantly
squabbling.

They're always kind of chirping
at each other

and kind of just giving
little knocks on the head

to each other.

NARRATOR: While a crowded group
life may lead to squabbling,

the flamingos' mating ritual,
especially in the wild,

is a striking display.

It's truly flamboyant.

RAMSEY: For flamingos
to have successful breeding,

they have very weird behaviors
that they do as a flock.

So they march around,
they do these wing salutes,

they do thing
called head flagging

where they all turn their heads
at the same time.

NARRATOR: Flamingos really have
the hang of group living,

which is as essential at the zoo
as it is in the wild.

If there are fewer
than 15 flamingos in a zoo,

it's a problem.

RAMSEY: If they don't have
enough of them,

they won't build nests
and they won't lay eggs.

So it's really important
to have enough flamingos

in order to make them feel
comfortable enough to breed.

NARRATOR: Once a chick is born,

flamingo parents share
other duties, like feeding.

Adults produce
what's known as crop milk

and pass it
into a youngster's beak.

RAMSEY: Tweedle, as you can see,
has a very different bill

than the parents have.

His is much smaller
and pointier.

But as he gets older,
at about 40 days,

that bill's gonna start
to curve down

so he has the same type of bill
as mom and dad.

NARRATOR: When Tweedle
is an adult,

that banana-shape
will pay off at meal time.

RAMSEY: Flamingos have
a unique way of eating

where they'll stick their head
in the water

and it's upside down.

NARRATOR: Their beaks are
like big scoops

and gather in everything,
including muddy water.

When their beaks close,
the morsels of food stay in,

but their tongues move quickly
to push the water out.

This filtering technique
lets them eat tiny crustaceans

and insect larvae,
which are the reason

behind the flamingo's
distinctively colored feathers.

The shrimp and mollusks
are loaded with beta-carotene -

the same stuff
that makes carrots orange.

That makes its way through
the flamingos' bloodstream

and into their feathers.

The zoo can only give them
some of the same food

they'd find in the wild,
so they also have a supplement.

RAMSEY: There's a very special
diet that we buy

that's specifically
for flamingos.

This has all the nutritional
things that they need in it

as well as the same type
of pigments in it

that will help keep them pink.

NARRATOR: Becoming, and staying
pink, are important,

especially for the males.

Pale flamingos
are not as attractive to females

as really pink flamingos.

Tweedle won't turn pink
for at least a couple of years.

But he is developing
another hallmark of flamingos...

the one-legged pose.

RAMSEY: It's mostly for comfort.

If you think about how
when a person stands,

when they're just standing
in one place for a long time,

they usually put their weight
on one leg or the other.

The only difference is
that flamingos lift that leg up.

NARRATOR: Other research
suggests it helps the birds
conserve body heat.

Tweedle's a quick study.

But he's still timid.

While another flamingo waits
for her egg to hatch,

little Tweedle stays close,

under the watchful eye
of his parents.

As close as Tweedle can get.

They're just
a couple of weeks old,

so these three reindeer calves,

named Daisy, Aster
and Sawyer,

are still getting comfortable
moving about.

They're not ready to pull
a sleigh from the North Pole.

But it won't be long
until they can try.

STEPHANI: When reindeer
are first born, they weigh
about 10 pounds

and, within their first hour,

are able to walk around
and keep up with mom,

and then after a day,
they're able to outrun a human.

Reindeer are found
in many northern countries.

The ones
at the Assiniboine Park Zoo

in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
are Eurasian tundra reindeer.

In North America,
they're also known as caribou.

One of the most
important instincts

Daisy, Aster and Sawyer
will develop

is to shadow their mothers.

STEPHANI: In the wild,
the babies need to learn
herd mentality

so that they know to stay
with the herd

since there is safety
in numbers.

They'll go between cycles
of walking around

to look for a different
grazing area

and then they'll switch
into a resting mode.

And they all tend
to follow one leader.

NARRATOR: Reindeer or caribou
herds head north in the summer.

That's when they're drawn
to the tundra,

which is lush with grasses
and plants.

It's a massive migration,
a journey of hundreds of miles.

Reindeer stand out
in the deer family

for other reasons too.

They are the only species
of deer

in which females
can have antlers.

STEPHANI: Both male and female
babies will start developing
their antlers

within two to three weeks
of being born.

And when they first start out,
they'll just be little nubs

that's on the tops
of their head.

It might be hard to tell,

but little bumps are starting
to emerge on Daisy's head.

You won't need to squint
at those nubs long.

Reindeer have the second largest
antlers of any deer,

after moose.

STEPHANI: Antlers are
made of bone

and they grow from the top
of the skull.

They grow forward from the tips

and to help them grow,
they get a velvet skin layer

that helps deliver blood
and nutrients to them

as they grow.

NARRATOR: Male reindeer
lose their antlers at the
beginning of the winter.

They regrow later
that same season.

And by the time summer comes,

they can measure
up to three feet long

and weigh 50 pounds.

Female reindeer,
on the other hand,

keep their antlers
through winter until spring.

So those big, brave reindeer
guiding Santa's sleigh,

like Donner, Dasher and Rudolph,
are all females!

Reindeer shed more
than their antlers.

When the weather turns warm,

they don't need the protection
of their heavy winter coat,

so off it comes.

A shorter, darker coat will come
through for the summer months.

Living in such large herds
can sometimes lead to confusion.

STEPHANI: Sometimes the babies
will go to the wrong mom

and they'll try
and nurse off her

but often the mom
will shoo them off

so she has enough milk
for her calf.

The calves will stay
with the mom

and drink milk for the first
month almost exclusively

and after that,
they'll start to graze.

NARRATOR: Sawyer is a
hungry little thing.

Reindeer milk
will take care of that.

It's one of the richest milks
of any land mammal.

It's got 22%butterfat,
compared to cow's milk at 4%.

After these babies are weaned,
it's on to solid food.

In the wild,
that means lichens.

STEPHANI: The snow will cover
the lichens that they eat

and they have to be able
to detect where they are

in order to dig down
to get to them.

NARRATOR: A very good
sense of smell

helps the reindeer
find the buried food.

But there is another
helpful adaptation

that scientists believe
is unique to this mammal.

Reindeer have special vision,

which allows them
to better see lichens

in the dim light
of an Arctic winter.

STEPHANI: Recently
scientists have discovered

that reindeer can see UV light.

NARRATOR: Their keen eyesight
also helps them avoid
competition.

STEPHANI: The UV light
will help them see traces
of pee

or fur,
which will allow them to see

if there are other reindeer
in the area

that might be competing
with them for food

or it'll help them better pick
out predators such as wolves

that are camouflaged
in the snow.

(Honking)

NARRATOR: Daisy, Aster
and Sawyer are happy
just to see mom.

STEPHANI: When they wake up

and they notice they're a little
bit further from mom,

they'll start crying for mom

and making a honking sound
to get her attention.

(Honking)

NARRATOR: These little calves
will grow up quickly.

Until then, sticking with mom
is a wise step.

It might not be obvious
at first,

but elephants and humans
have a lot in common.

They're emotional,
intelligent,

and highly social.

Like humans,

elephants also take a long time
to grow up,

and growing up
means constantly learning.

That's certainly the case
with Nandi,

a 14-month-old elephant
that lives with her family

at the Reid Park Zoo
in Tucson, Arizona.

Just a few months earlier,

when Nandi
was about 8 months old,

she stuck close
to her mom, Semba.

TYGIELSKI: Nandi was staying
a little closer to mom.

So she was a little
less confident,

more concerned with how close
she was to her mom.

She would frighten
a little more easily

and run back to mom
and check in with her.

NARRATOR: Nandi was learning
how to be an elephant...

experimenting
with her trunk,

timidly stepping
into the pool,

and figuring out her place
in the family.

In the wild, Nandi might be part
of an all-female herd,

led by an experienced matriarch.

The herd would nurture her

and eventually teach her
how to raise calves of her own.

In the zoo,

she's getting both the nurturing
and education

from all of the members
of her family.

There's dad, Mabu.

Mom, Semba.

And three siblings:

Eight-year-old Punga,

4-year-old Sundzu,

and of course Nandi.

Lungile is another adult female
who helps with the youngsters.

It's a big family,

and each of the elephants
has a role to play.

TYGIELSKI: We can see how
our herd works together
in that the kids,

the young elephants,
play all day

but when they get really rowdy,

oftentimes one of the adults
will come,

and often it's mom,
who might discipline one sibling

or one of the brothers
for being too rough on Nandi.

NARRATOR: Nandi doesn't
seem to mind.

As she gets older,

she wants to play
with her big brothers

and doesn't want to be left out
of the fun...

even if it means
pushing herself.

TYGIELSKI: The pool's
a little bit frightening

to a baby elephant initially

and so she's becoming brave,
curious and independent

swimming on her own.

NARRATOR: Her family's
showing her the ropes.

She's learning from them,
just like human babies do.

TYGIELSKI: So Nandi's
learning how to interact
with her environment

in part from her siblings
and her mom,

so she does watch them
and she mimics them.

And then the other thing
that's interesting is

because she's curious,
she tries new things

and sometimes they work.

And sometimes they don't.

NARRATOR: Playing
increases her confidence,

but she's also just
more sure-footed.

TYGIELSKI: She runs more
smoothly, flaps her ears
more confidently,

and some of that
is just growing into her body.

NARRATOR: Nandi can also use
her feet to communicate.

Researchers know
that elephants in the wild

can send and receive messages

through very low
frequency sounds.

These also travel as vibrations
through the ground.

So an elephant
across the savannah

might send a warning call,
and another might hear it,

but also get the news
through a rumble it feels

through its feet or trunk.

At the zoo, Nandi and her family
are close together

but they still communicate
in the same way.

TYGIELSKI: They also do have
lots of vocalizations

that we can't hear

so sometimes
we'll watch their behavior

and we suspect
that they're rumbling

at these low frequencies
that we can't hear

and they're saying something
to one another

based on their body postures.

NARRATOR: Just as human babies

become more nimble
with their fingers,

elephants become more agile
with their trunks.

TYGIELSKI: Nandi's trunk when
she was a very young elephant,

it was as though she had a
spaghetti noodle hanging
from her face

when she would run,
it would just flop around

where now she really is becoming
quite skillful at using it.

NARRATOR: Nandi's trunk
is now less spaghetti

and more of a fine tool

that can help her get
what she wants.

That's because a network
of muscles

gives her incredible control
over her trunk's movements.

Nandi and her mom use
their trunks to stay in touch.

Sometimes, Semba gives Nandi
a friendly nudge.

Other times, they share food.

So, Nandi's trunk is a nose,
a hand,

a voice, and a straw,
all in one.

And her mom's is still
an occasional blanket.

Nandi still has a lot
of learning to do,

but now
that she's 14 months old,

it's easy to see the changes.

TYGIELSKI: She's become much
more independent and curious,

and charges right ahead of mom

and doesn't worry about how
close her mom is following her.

NARRATOR: But she's still
a toddler.

And, like all toddlers,

she knows exactly where mom is
when she needs her.

This baby zebra, Graham,
looks all right now,

but 4 months ago,
his handlers at Newquay Zoo

in Cornwall, England,
were concerned.

MEEK: The baby had just been
born and still wet,

and they take a few hours
just to get up on their feet

but he slipped a little bit.

NARRATOR: It could've been
the handlers who were wobbly,

after all,
it was all new to them.

Graham was the first zebra calf
ever born at the zoo.

MEEK: So it was a
little bit dramatic

but we managed to get him up
and stand him up

and as soon as he was
on his feet,

he was bright eyed
and bushy tailed.

NARRATOR: Graham was fine.

Like other foals,

he was able to walk
about 20 minutes after birth.

Graham's arrival
was a happy surprise

for someone else:
his mother!

Typically, a zebra mare
is able to reproduce

from age 2 until 15.

Graham's mother
is already 14 years old,

but Graham is her first foal.

MEEK: I think zebra will
produce up to 20 years old

but probably in the wild,

an older animal like that,
anything beyond 15

is probably getting a little bit
too old to reproduce

and they would have already
produced four or five youngsters

by then.

NARRATOR: Graham is a
Chapman's zebra, a subspecies
of the plains zebra

that's found in the grasslands
of southern Africa.

It's a wide-open habitat
with a range of animals,

including large predators.

So zebras stay in herds

because there's greater safety
in numbers.

Mares must separate
to give birth

but rejoin the herd
as quickly as possible.

Even at the zoo,

Mom is very protective of
the latest addition to the herd.

MEEK: She is quite defensive.

If you watch her,
she'll very often stand

between the other two zebra
and the foal

and she does exactly the same
with us.

She looks upon them as the same
she does with the keepers,

so she can be quite defensive
over him

but only if you get
a little bit too close.

NARRATOR: Graham's safe here.

And he's healthy too.

MEEK: Well, this is an
interesting thing

on the growth rate of the zebra.

Because this is the first one
we've bred at the zoo,

we were quite surprised
on how quickly he grows

and they appear to grow
very quickly at an early stage

to become big and strong

and be able to get away
from predators

and then it seems to slow up.

NARRATOR: Graham will
mature quickly.

He might head a tightly-knit
family group of female zebra

and their foals,
called a "harem".

For now, Graham is getting along
just fine

with the other zebras
in the zoo.

MEEK: Zebras are very sociable.

He's mixed very well
with the other girls,

the other female zebra
in there.

NARRATOR: He's also
getting used to other species

that he would encounter
on the savannah.

MEEK: We have wildebeest
and the other antelope

but so far
we haven't mixed them.

We're very careful
when they're very young

to actually be--

not to mix them too much
with the other animals.

Uh, he has actually mixed
with the Nyala antelope

which are quite calm

but the wildebeest can be--
can be difficult

so, so far, we're just holding
back a little bit.

NARRATOR: Graham will
eventually mix with them.

Wildebeest are a natural partner
in the wild,

essentially
traveling companions.

MEEK: Large herds
will actually migrate

with wildebeest
and other antelope,

um, and they follow the rains,
as the rains

go and the rich grass
is ahead of them,

then they graze all the way
and then they turn back again.

NARRATOR: For zebras,
wild or captive,

eating grass or hay
is about quantity, not quality.

MEEK: Zebra actually
graze constantly.

They don't eat lots
and lots of rich food.

In the wild,
it's very seasonal,

you've got a dry season
and a wet season

and they'll put
a little weight on

and the foals are often born
in the wet season.

Uh, in captivity we have
to try and replicate that.

Certainly this time of year,

this is in the austere time
of year

when there isn't a lot
of great grazing

so we basically feed them
on good quality hay

and very little else.

NARRATOR: At two weeks of age,
Graham started to chew grass.

MEEK: The grazing with the
youngster actually surprised us

because at two weeks old,

we noticed
that he was picking at grass

and starting
to eat a little bit.

And this was a little bit
of a concern

because from the keepers'
point of view,

they had to ask the vet,
you know is this normal?

Because is he getting
enough milk,

is he looking for other food?

And apparently all equines,
including domestic equines,

they do start to pick at grass
from 2 to 3 weeks old.

Doesn't mean to say

they're getting
a lot of nutrition from it,

it just means that
they're starting to pick it

out of the ground.

NARRATOR: And what about
Graham's stripes?

There are many theories about
why zebras are striped.

The most common one is that

they act as a type
of camouflage.

MEEK: In basically large herds
of zebra, who all run together,

and it's very difficult

to distinguish one end
of the zebra from the other

in a large herd.

NARRATOR: But in fact,
new research suggests

that a zebra's stripes might be
a deterrent to biting flies,

which can spread diseases.

Scientists have found

that hungry flies find them
unappealing to land on.

They think it has to do

with the way the flies' eyes
see the tight striped pattern.

Researchers may never get
to the bottom of this mystery,

but Graham's stripes
will continue to dazzle anyone

who sees him.

These baby animals all need
to live within large groups

in order to survive.

Sometimes
it's essential for mating.

Other times,
it's a good defense strategy.

Big families can also help
to raise little ones.

For these animals, social living
is simply second nature.

(♪♪♪)

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