Original subtitles

Newborn mammals are entirely dependent

on their moms.

Baby koalas and howler monkeys hold on for dear life,

while mum gives them everything they need.

But soon enough, mum, and sometimes dad,

passes on the skills their offspring need

to survive on their own.

(♪♪♪)

(Birds chirping)

It's cozy here

and this baby clearly likes this spot.

Who wouldn't?

This is Reg.

He's a 7-month-old koala,

wrapped in his mother's arms,

living the good life at Caversham Wildlife Park

in Perth, Australia.

Reg leads a life that's a bit out of the ordinary.

Koalas are known to be solitary

and temperamental as adults in the wild,

but in the zoo, these animals are a tight-knit clan,

joined at the hip.

They're very clingy.

They share mum sometimes.

They interact while playing in the trees together.

Sometimes you will see

two or three young joeys on the one mother,

while the other ones are off grooming.

Koalas are often referred to as koala "bears."

We can thank 18th-century settlers in Australia for that.

They were struck by the koalas' bear-like appearance.

It was an honest mistake.

But they're actually marsupials,

with the trademark pouches to carry their young.

Joeys are very attached to their mums.

Reg is at the age where he's just starting to explore.

Like other koalas,

he'll live his life in eucalyptus trees.

He's pretty outgoing at the moment.

He's just learning to climb

and be independent slowly of his mother.

He'll still be with his mother for another 3 to 4 months

until he actually ventures off full-time from her.

For the time being,

Reg is still mostly nursing on his mother's milk

for nourishment.

He'll continue to nurse until he's about a year old.

But he has also started to eat eucalyptus leaves.

The leaves are the mainstay of the koala diet,

even though they're highly toxic.

How do koalas eat them without being poisoned?

It's because koalas have a long gut

with special bacteria that can metabolize the toxins.

As adults, koalas can eat up to 2 pounds of leaves a day!

That's impressive, compared to their body weight,

which can be anywhere between 15 and 25 pounds.

Digesting all those leaves takes energy!

So koalas are slow-moving and sedentary,

sleeping up to 22 hours a day.

To prepare for a full-time eucalyptus diet,

Reg will have to eat a special form of his mom's poop.

It's called "pap".

When Reg makes the switch from milk to leaves,

the pap will give him the special gut bacteria

needed to digest tough eucalyptus leaves.

Now that is an interesting rite of passage!

If Reg were in the wild,

he'd learn to fend for himself in a few months' time.

The joey would actually leave the mother at 12 months

and probably never see her again.

Especially, if they're a young male,

they get sent away from the group.

It's a life of a solitary koala.

They would have to face the possibility,

if they're a male, of extending their food range

to find their own location

where other males are not gonna pick on them.

And as a female, finding a group of koalas

that would accept her into the area

that they could share.

In the wild,

young koalas have some important steps to take

before they're ready to venture out on their own.

So they'd have to be totally weaned.

They'd have to locate different species of their food trees

and then they have to cross from tree to tree on the ground.

So they have to learn the survival skills

of when to do it for protection from other animals.

For now, Reg and his mates at the zoo are getting stronger.

The joeys have learned already wonderful climbing skills.

They've built their forearm muscles,

their leg muscles.

They've learned their balance and stance.

And that's already a very strong climbing animal.

Eat, sleep,

practice a little climbing and repeat...

...with plenty of cuddle time with mom.

The cutest thing that the joeys do, I would say,

is snuggle.

If ever a keeper comes in to an enclosure,

they love to get on you,

have a little climb and a snuggle.

It is so cute.

It's summer in the Scottish Highlands

and nature is in full bloom.

The grass and heather

aren't the only things having a growth spurt.

Animals too, including some

that haven't been seen in these parts

for thousands of years.

Now that they're here, it's hard to miss them.

The antlers are a bit of a giveaway.

Moose are back in the British Isles,

where they're known as European elk.

In the UK, there's only six places

that actually have European elk.

Back in 2009,

we had the first calf born in the British Isles

in nearly a thousand years.

It's a comeback tale.

And you're looking at the newest chapter.

Twins, born at the Highland Wildlife Park

near Aviemore, Scotland.

The species, which once roamed the forests here,

has been extinct in the British Isles

since about 900 AD.

But they're still found in Scandinavia

and northern Russia.

European elk were brought back to the UK in 2007.

So far, they've settled in well at the Park.

The birth of twins

doubled the park's population in one fell swoop.

This is dad, Bob,

and this is Cas, their mother,

formerly the only two European elk in the preserve.

Moose calves are heavily dependent on their mother

for the first year of their life.

In fact, these two are most often by Cas's side.

The female is called Siri and the wee male is called Ari.

They're really confident.

They follow mum and dad all around the enclosure.

Ari is relatively wee compared to Siri.

He was born small, but healthy.

Now he's starting to gain on his sister.

The calves sport orange fur.

That will change as they grow older

and as the weather turns cold.

For now, they're enjoying summer

and an endless supply of leaves delivered to their feet.

Moose are browsers and the park provides them

with a steady diet of willow, rowan and birch,

with the side orders of heather

and, in winter, pine needles.

As babies, the most important part of their diet

is mum's milk.

But they don't have long to enjoy it.

Cas will be weaning them by summer's end.

They're growing by leaps and bounds.

And boy, can they bound!

In their first week of life, baby moose can outrun humans.

Right now, they're usually making a beeline for mum.

She is very good, she's very attentive.

She knows where the safe places are

to take the calves away from the public eye

if she wants them to go off-show for a bit.

Dad keeps an eye on his family

At 8 years of age, Bob is mature in every sense.

It's a tight family unit, for the time being.

He's very kind to the females.

He doesn't chase them, he's not too bossy.

So the calves are not only learning from mum

but they're also learning from dad as they're developing.

Whatever they're doing and wherever they are,

this family communicates well

with body language and with vocals.

It's a lot of little noises that are reassuring noises

but they're also

move-over-you're-in-my-space- eating-my-food noises

and they're kinda like... (Mimics grunting)

Those sort of noises.

In the wild, food is just one thing

these calves would have to compete for.

A good mate would be another.

That's where antlers come in.

All Ari has right now are two little bumps.

They'll stay small for the first year.

As he develops, he'll look more like his dad.

First, he'll grow some facial hair.

This beard is called a "bell".

And then he'll start growing his proper antlers.

And, like all male moose,

he'll have to grow a full set every year.

At the beginning of the year,

the stags will have this amazing set of antlers.

Around about March time, they'll cast them

and it's almost like a little bit like havin' a wobbly tooth.

They'll be wobbly one day

and then they'll just fall off one day.

It doesn't hurt them.

Then they start growing new antlers,

sprouting an inch each day.

That requires a phenomenal amount of energy.

The soft fur on these antlers is where that energy comes from.

It's called "velvet",

and it supplies blood to keep antlers growing.

Every August, that blood supply is cut off,

the velvet dries up, and the antlers become hard,

ready to fight with.

It's all about having the best antlers,

being the strongest bull you can,

to win the best girls

and to win as many girls as what you can.

Several months have passed.

Bob's mating is done for the season.

Cold weather has set in.

He's standing by his family.

(Elk grunting)

In the wild now, the male wouldn't be with them,

he'd be off.

But at the minute, he's still quite happy

to be around the female and the youngsters

and they all get on very well.

The calves are 6 months older and bolder.

They've had a good summer fattening up

and have shed their orange fur.

And then comin' into the winter,

it'll go into sort of a dark brown,

a few flecks of grey through it as well.

But they've both put sort of the weight on,

the nice bulk to keep 'em warm durin' our winters up here.

By next summer, Siri and Ari will be moving

to other reserves throughout the UK.

So they have just a few months to learn

as much as they can from mum.

They'll be watchin' her where she goes for the best food

and which food is gonna be better for them,

where the streams are for her to drink from.

They'll still be picking up a lot from her

until they leave the park and go on to new homes.

They're still young,

but Siri and Ari will play a role

in restoring the European Elk population

to their ancient stomping grounds.

In the animal world, Asian small-clawed otters

could be poster animals for the saying

"all for one and one for all."

Sticking together,

that's the secret of their survival.

These pint-sized otters are the smallest

of the 13 different species of otters

found around the world.

And when they're born, they are absolutely miniscule.

Three months ago,

at the Dudley Zoo near Birmingham, England,

mother otter Kia and father, Buddy,

had a litter of four pups.

At that time,

the tiny blind pups weighed less than 2 ounces each.

Now they're big enough to survey their territory

with mum and dad.

(Otters squeaking and grunting)

Kia and Buddy already have the foundation

for strong family ties.

They'll stay together forever.

They'll produce roughly

about two litters every single year.

So it's quite a lot of offspring actually produced.

As their offspring are growin' up,

they'll stay with them.

So they'll stay as a big family unit.

These babies will be ready to have pups of their own

by the time they're 2 or 3.

Until that time, mum keeps the pups in line.

The mother is very, very protective of her babies.

She'll attack anything that comes near them.

To the point, where they're a bit over protective.

(Squeaking)

Kia is definitely watchful.

But she can also be pretty friendly.

They do a lot of kissin'.

They'll groom each other for bondin'.

They'll share food.

Well, they'll share most of the time.

On some occasions, you may see mother otters or an adult parent

take a fish from a baby.

And just because they're teaching it a lesson

that it needs to work for its own food.

Not sharing offers a bit of a reality check.

(Otter chomping)

It's not always going to be provided

because if the babies think

the adult's gonna bring us the food,

they're never gonna start foraging,

they're never gonna start to learn.

Meals at the zoo are scattered everywhere

to encourage foraging.

(Otters chomping)

Today's meal is fish and is hidden--

Where else?

We put a lot of it in the water,

encouraging them to go in the water

'cause in the wild,

that's where they find a lot of their food.

Those short claws help them find and hold on to a good meal.

(Otter chomping)

They get that name because of their nails.

They don't actually protrude further than their toes.

This gives them dexterity

and they're able to feel for their food

such as mollusks and crustaceans.

Although they spend more time on land

than any other otter species,

these little ones are ideally suited to an aquatic life.

Otters are perfectly adapted for water life

from their eyes to their tails.

When they're swimmin',

they're actually using their legs, their feet

and almost doin' like a doggy paddle.

Their hands are actually webbed.

Kia and her family

like to cement their family bond in many ways,

as do all Asian small-clawed otters.

Otters communicate a lot of the time

with different types of vocalizations,

roughly 12 to 13,

which they're doin' through their mouths.

It sounds a lot like high-pitched squeals

at a different tones.

(Otter chittering)

Each call has a distinct meaning.

(Otter squeals)

Anything from alarm to distress to a friendly hello.

(Otter chitters)

But they don't just rely on sound.

They rely on smell as well.

And the family that smells together

stays together.

They'll actually scent mark a lot of stuff.

They've got a special glands on the underside of their tail.

So when they're excretin' feces and fecal matter,

which is called "spraint",

they'll actually attach the scent to their poo.

They'll all produce the same scent

and if any intruders were coming in and scentin',

they'll all know that that was the intruder.

Talk about closing ranks on outsiders!

They have other defense strategies too.

(Birds chirping)

In their native habitat in Asia,

they prefer the protection of mangroves,

swamps and murky waterways.

Otter families hide away in dens known as "holts".

They're often found along muddy riverbanks.

And life in the zoo doesn't dampen that instinct.

Otters will naturally use these for protection

and areas to sleep in.

They're often found underground

and they'll take nest materials such as plants.

That's where they're safe from predators

and that's where they'll rear litters, keep their babies

and most of the time that's where they keep safe.

Whether it's a burrow underground in the wild,

or a little wooden house at the zoo,

at the end of the day, there's no place like home.

(Monkey howling)

The residents of the Santa Ana Zoo

in Santa Ana, California, are used to this sound.

(Monkey howling)

It's not an alarm clock,

although it can be pretty alarming

if you don't know what it is.

(Monkey howling)

It's the sound of a troop of black howler monkeys

doing what comes naturally.

This is Grita,

one of several howlers that live here.

She has a 6-week-old baby, but it's very hard to spot.

Like most primates at that age, it's stuck to mum 24/7.

So the zoo hasn't been able to get close enough

to find out if it's a boy or a girl.

Initially, they're clutched onto mom, all the time

and they ride on mom.

and then as they get older, they start exploring

and slowly they start extending the distance from mom.

If a newborn weren't enough to manage,

Grita also has a 2-year-old son, Blake.

And she has a 10-month-old daughter,

Charlie.

These siblings keep the troop occupied.

And heading up this troop is Thaddeus.

He's the only black howler monkey in this troop

who's actually black.

The females and youngsters of this species

are golden-brown.

Even howlers that don't share the same mother get along.

So it's become a family affair.

This troop of howler monkeys in our zoo

are very, very close-knit.

The dad has two wives, so to speak,

and all the little kids and they all get along.

They all hang around with each other all the time.

There's obviously a dominance and discipline

that occurs between all the adults

and then between the siblings,

the young siblings and the older siblings.

But it's just like one big happy family.

The slow pace of life is similar in the zoo

as it would be in the wild for black howler monkeys.

13 species of howlers live in the forests

of Central and South America.

Black howlers live in groups of 5 to 20 monkeys.

The key difference is that these monkeys

are endangered in the wild, and safe here.

In the wild, adolescent males and females

eventually leave or get kicked out of their troops

and join new ones.

For Blake and Charlie,

that means moving to another zoo.

But for now, they're happy playing and spending time

with this bunch.

Charlie's tail helps her antics.

She's a natural born swinger, as are all howlers.

These tails are prehensile

and it means they can use them like another arm.

They're very sensitive and strong,

handy for carrying things, for balance,

or just hanging around.

They can be as long as a monkey's body.

So when Charlie grows to full size,

that will be about 3 feet of body

and another 3 feet of tail!

Charlie and Blake certainly seem

to have monkeying-about figured out.

They definitely show normal behaviors of monkeys:

climbing around trees and playing

and getting into trouble like normal little kids do.

Although, they're still learning...

They're just not as skilled

so they don't tend to jump as far

and do as many of the gymnastics that you see the adults do.

The monkeys are skilled at finding food.

Although, howlers are mostly leaf-eaters in the wild,

the zoo gives them foods like kale and other vegetables.

Mama digs for the good stuff,

sweet carrots at the bottom of the bin.

When Charlie's not monkeying around,

she's taking it easy.

Howler monkeys can spend

as much as 80% of their day resting.

That's because their bodies are designed to eat leaves,

which have little nutrition.

And digesting them takes a lot of energy!

So, even though Charlie and her troop

get other foods at the zoo,

she's just doing what she was meant to do.

Even she needs to rest occasionally.

And what about that howling?

Howler monkeys are the loudest land animal in the world!

That sound can carry for 3 miles.

Howler monkeys can project their voice.

They actually have pouches and a very large larynx.

Their-- lower part of their neck inflates

and they can resonate the sounds in there

and then project them.

(Monkey calls)

In the wild,

the howling happens early in the morning

and at night.

It's how the monkeys stake out territory

and warn competitors.

But in the zoo,

Charlie's family doesn't have any rival neighbors.

So the calls happen a little less frequently.

And while the howls sound sad or angry,

this tight-knit family is thriving.

That's great news for an animal that's endangered in the wild.

Mammal moms and dads want to give their babies

a good start in life.

But parents can only do so much.

Eventually, their offspring learn

what it takes to fend for themselves

and make their own way.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)