Testing Limits

♪♪ -From around 3 months old, animal babies are fast growing into their abilities, but face new challenges to their success.

♪♪ In California, a 3-month-old sea otter pup has to learn what's safe to eat in a world enmeshed with humans.

-It's always a shame to see wild animals playing with things that we have discarded.

-In Sri Lanka, a 7-month-old macaque is forced by his mother to toughen up to stay on top.

At the edge of the Arctic, sibling rivalry takes on a new meaning when fox cubs must compete for every meal.

And, in Kenya, a 5-month-old elephant has a limited window to bond with new families to survive in an increasingly dangerous world.

-It's not just dangerous for me in there.

It's dangerous for elephants, and I just hope that Safina's okay.

Like all babies, these young animals will have a first year filled with joy, love, and play.

♪♪ But there will also be challenges... [ Elephant grunts ] [ Macaques chitter ] [ Sea otter barks ] ...sometimes on a daily basis.

[ Hyena growls ] [ Macaques squeak ] [ Thunder rumbling ] [ Roars ] -I'm quite nervous because lions don't like hyenas.

♪♪ -To tell the stories of these magical months, four renowned wildlife cinematographers will follow the lives of our baby animals as they grow and develop.

♪♪ -This is pretty unreal, actually.

I get treated with a little baby boy.

He's just a few hours old.

[ Trumpets ] -[ Lowered voice ] This is the stuff that makes elephants so exciting.

It's just the way we are.

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

♪♪ This is their first year on Earth.

♪♪ -From 3 months on, all our animal babies can get around on their own and the impact of their environment and the struggle to find food really begin to hit home.

♪♪ Southern Kenya.

The Maasai Mara joins the Serengeti to form an immense grassland... ♪♪ ...one of the most important wildlife habitats in Africa.

It's April, and the rainy season brings new growth.

Hidden amongst the long grass is a spotted hyena den.

Twin sisters Bisque and Chowder are now 6 months old.

They are part of a clan of over 60 living in a female-ruled hierarchy.

The sisters quickly learned that their mother's high status meant they could throw their weight around inside the den.

But they don't yet understand that social status won't mean anything outside it.

Only 50% of cubs make it through their first year.

Lions are their greatest threat.

Until now, they've been small enough to hide in their den underground, but they're growing quickly.

They already weigh 22 pounds, five times their birth weight, and soon will be too big to hide.

As they become more exposed, they must quickly learn to identify threats from outside to survive the next few months.

[ Suspenseful music plays ] African-born wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet is back in Kenya to follow Bisque and Chowder through this critical stage.

-I'm hoping I will catch the moment where they will go and explore the world beyond the safety of their den.

♪♪ ♪♪ -As the cubs have grown in size, they have also grown in confidence.

Wow.

Look at that.

[ Cubs squeak ] [ Laughs ] They are so inquisitive.

[ Sniffing ] ♪♪ -Researchers from Michigan State University have studied the Mara hyenas for 30 years.

Emily Nonnamaker and Kecil John are closely following the development of Bisque and Chowder; and their mother, they call Soup.

-They've had some time to learn where their rank is from their mom, and, now, they're gonna start relying more on each other, and when they're being aggressive towards other low-ranking hyenas, they're really going to have to back each other up and stop relying on Mom as much.

-Hyenas produce milk so rich in fat and protein that the twins can be left for days while their mother hunts.

But without her, they are vulnerable to outside threats.

♪♪ -I don't know what -- what's happened, but, um, something has got their attention.

♪♪ -A lone male hyena is lurking in the long grass.

Every hyena has a unique scent, so the twins will be able to quickly detect if they know him or not.

-They just don't like male presence here.

Just they're all on alert.

♪♪ -Young males move between clans looking to mate.

♪♪ -He's coming 'round.

He's trying to sneak in.

♪♪ -The sisters are only a quarter of his size, but they outrank him in this female-led society.

They cannot overpower him, but they must still oppose his approach, and all hyenas are taught to respect high rank.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Look at the size of this male, but they just don't care.

They are challenging him, you know.

"We are small, but we will protect our territory."

-Maintaining your rank is incredibly important in hyena society.

All adult immigrant males are lower than all the females and their cubs.

Males know their place in society, and they know if they step out of line, they might be punished.

-Hyena punishments can be brutal, even fatal, but he is persistent.

Even though they are only 6 months old, Bisque and Chowder have to stand up to his challenge.

♪♪ The twins keep him out.

This successful interaction means they are learning to protect their clan.

-I think, for Bisque and Chowder, this will be something their mother, Soup, will be proud of.

-This is a milestone for the sisters, reinforcing their status at the den.

♪♪ ♪♪ The next day, Soup is back from the hunt and with her daughters.

Since their birth, the clan's den site has been their entire world.

Now, at around 7 months old, they need to start learning the skills to survive outside it.

And their mother takes the lead.

♪♪ ♪♪ -This is the first time they've left the safety of the den.

Soup's basically taking them out to explore their territory.

♪♪ ♪♪ -The sisters must stick close to their mother.

She has to teach them how to identify and escape threats.

-This is a very significant moment.

The more they explore with their mother, Soup, the better the chances of them making it when they are on their own.

♪♪ -At this time of year, long grass can easily conceal stalking predators.

-I just spotted some lions.

Like, four individuals.

And I'm quite nervous because lions don't like hyenas.

-The cubs are born with an instinctive fear of a lion's scent, but no concept of what these predators look like.

They can only learn to put the two together face-to-face.

-Lions are the number-one danger for our cubs.

At any stage if a lion catches them, they will kill them.

-Lion predation accounts for around 30% of cub deaths.

And Vianet has lost sight of the sisters in the long grass.

♪♪ [ Thunder rumbling ] ♪♪ [ Rumbling continues ] [ Birds chirping ] After hours looking for the cubs, Vianet finds the family back at the den.

Soup has managed to keep them safe.

-They're back.

[ Whispers indistinctly ] ♪♪ It must have been a big day for them.

-But today is just the first step on a steep learning curve.

As they spend more time away from the den and on their own, the only way to survive is to learn for themselves how to recognize and evade lions.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Every baby faces difficulties on the road to independence, but for some, the harsh reality comes as quite a shock.

November brings the monsoon to the ruins of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka... ♪♪ ...which have weathered the storms for 1,000 years.

The human population left long ago, and the toque macaques moved in -- intelligent monkeys found nowhere else on Earth.

Wildlife camerawoman Sue Gibson has been obsessed with primates since she was a child.

She's back in Sri Lanka to follow the progress of a very privileged baby born in the heart of these regal ruins.

Jazir was born 5 months ago into another strict social hierarchy.

His mother is the alpha female of this troop of 34 macaques, and since his first couple of weeks, he has physically transformed.

Jazir is now a healthy 5 month old.

He has doubled in size and weighs around 2 pounds and is eating up energy as he explores his treetop world.

♪♪ He now has the coordination and motor skills to use his tail as a counterbalance and safety line.

-The agility of these babies at 5 months is off the scale.

I mean, they're like Olympic gymnasts.

-In the past few months, he has learned to balance on moving branches, judge distances, and leap from tree to tree.

[ Bird cawing ] Jazir's physical prowess and rapid transformation is directly linked to his mother's high rank and protection.

-Jazir really has a head start in this group, being born to a high-ranking female, and one day he could lead a troop like this.

-His mother's milk is more nutritious than lower-ranking females because she gets priority to better food.

He could grow 50% bigger than his low-ranking peers in his first year, but his relationship with his mother is about to change, as he enters a new phase of development: weaning.

And, unfortunately for Jazir, he has grown so quickly, his mother can wean him 2 months earlier than some of his peers.

It can be a very unpleasant process.

A bite to the arm sends a painful signal.

♪♪ -Jazir's mum is starting to reject him when he comes for milk, and that's only gonna happen more and more, which is a real problem for Jazir because it means he's got to find his nourishment from another source.

This is gonna be a real turning point for him.

♪♪ [ Squeaking softly ] ♪♪ -So, up to now, it's been kindergarten.

Things have been pretty easy.

Now, it's time to go to school and learn to be a little more independent of your mom.

-Dr. Wolfgang Dittus, from the Smithsonian Institute, has studied the social and family life of these monkeys for almost 50 years.

-So, as long as Mom's got milk, he's gonna take advantage of her.

She's got to push him off and be a little bit nasty.

-Jazir has no choice but to let go and learn to find food for himself.

♪♪ ♪♪ -He's got to be a little bit more resourceful with how he gets his food.

This is a really good lesson to be learning now.

-Berries are a year-round favorite and a food many of the infants start with... ♪♪ ...but picking them demands time and energy.

Jazir watches his peers at work, then makes his move... ♪♪ ...stealing food from another baby.

Theft is a milestone.

It proves he is learning to exploit his status to get what he wants.

-He's asserting his position and also putting them back in their place.

-But this development in behavior could have negative consequences.

Two days later, Sue sees signs that Jazir's aggression is growing.

He is testing everyone's limits and hasn't yet learned when to stop.

[ Screeching ] If he pushes too hard, parents get involved.

A firm slap in the face from another mother causes havoc.

No one hits the alpha's son.

[ Screeches ] [ Hisses, screeches ] [ Chittering ] -There's a strict hierarchy for a reason.

These rules need to be enforced in the interest of the group.

They have to stick to their rank because otherwise, it's just chaos.

♪♪ -Jazir's high status in the troop allows him a certain level of protection, but he is being heavy-handed with his peers and making enemies.

All males are eventually forced to leave their birth troops, and life without family support can be tough.

Jazir needs to start learning from his social interactions and begin to forge alliances to keep the advantages he was born with.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Over 8,000 miles away, another infant is on the verge of weaning.

♪♪ But he has to learn how to find food in a complicated man-made environment.

Monterey, in California, is a tourist hot spot south of San Francisco that attracts nearly 5 million visitors a year.

Monterey sits in the middle of the home range of the southern sea otter, the smallest marine mammal in the world.

This population was almost wiped out by fur hunters, but now numbers just over 3,000.

Limpet is a winter-born pup.

It's February, and he is now 11 weeks old and weighs over 15 pounds.

Just a month ago, Limpet struggled to master a critical but deceptively simple step for a sea otter pup -- [ chuckling ] his first dive.

He could only stay under for five seconds at a time.

But in 4 weeks, his physiology has changed.

He can now hold more oxygen in his lungs, dive down to around 7 feet, and stay under for almost a minute.

Wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson has filmed otters in his native Ireland for decades.

He is in Monterey to see how the man-made environment affects a baby otter at around 3 months old.

♪♪ -See that dive?

A perfect dive.

Looks like all that youthful fur has gone and now has an adult coat.

He's able to submerge with ease.

-Limpet's energy demands have doubled since his birth, yet he is still dependent on his mother for both milk and solid food.

In the next couple of weeks, he has to learn for himself the skills to identify food and bring it to the surface.

But there are no signs he's capable of this yet, and that could be a problem for his mother.

-One slight concern I have is that his mum's actually looking really thin.

She looked quite ribby as she was diving.

She looked a little bit skin and bones.

-She should have a little more body fat on her and look a little better.

-Michelle Staedler, of Monterey Bay Aquarium, has been studying the stresses on mothers raising pups here for 30 years.

-They're still nursing the pup.

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 for the females.

-And, unlike other marine mammals, sea otters don't have any blubber to act as energy reserves.

They have to find all the calories they need to survive every day.

♪♪ Over the next few days, Colin keeps a close eye on Limpet to see if he can start to find food for himself.

-Ah.

-But the signs aren't promising.

Every time he surfaces, it's without any food.

Limpet's mother may wean and abandon him from around 5 months old, so time is running out.

Limpet has hit 12 weeks old.

His energy demands now outstrip his fully grown mother's.

But now, there are finally signs that he is capable of retrieving objects from the seabed.

-What's he got?

He's picked up something unusual.

-A latex glove.

-He can't quite yet identify his food.

It's always a shame, you know, to see wild animals playing with things that we have discarded.

-Monterey Bay is one of the most protected marine sanctuaries in the U.S., yet pollution on land can still run off into the ocean.

40% of otter deaths are as a result of poisoning, infection, or contamination.

And plastic waste also ends up in the sea otters' home range.

There are at least five golf courses in striking distance of the ocean.

♪♪ -He's got a golf ball.

He hasn't quite figured out what's food and what isn't, and he doesn't want to start chewing on things like golf balls because they can be toxic, like so many of the things that end up in the oceans.

-Scientists have collected more than 50,000 golf balls from the seabed here in the last 5 years.

Over time, their plastic coating will break down into smaller and smaller pieces.

These microplastics are consumed by the shellfish sea otters eat and, over time, can accumulate to toxic levels inside them.

-No matter where you go in the sea, these days, you tend to come across human detritus and, when you've got a endangered population, like these guys, this really isn't something you want to see.

-At 12 weeks old, Limpet is developing the skills to forage items from the seabed.

-Ah.

-Hopefully, in the next 4 weeks, he can turn a corner and learn to identify prey, rather than plastic.

Every baby has to learn how to deal with the environment it's born in.

For one, that means building the skills to thrive at truly great heights.

♪♪ Southwestern Uganda.

Once, a single forest spread from here into four other countries.

But, now, this region supports the densest rural human population on the continent.

♪♪ Only isolated pockets of forest remain, including the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest... ♪♪ ...home to one of the rarest wild babies on the planet: a mountain gorilla.

Nyakabara is one of perhaps only 15 mountain gorilla babies in the world.

It's February.

She's 8 months old and weighs around 11 pounds.

♪♪ Learning to explore and push boundaries is an essential part of infant development, one that can test both mother and baby.

Vianet has filmed gorillas in Congo and Rwanda and is here as Nyakabara embarks on the greatest challenge of her first year -- to escape her mother's protection and learn the skills to climb.

Mountain gorillas are endangered and so closely related to humans, we can share the same illnesses, so anyone getting close must wear a mask.

Nyakabara is physically developing twice as fast as human babies.

At only 6 months old, she could already move about on two limbs, the equivalent of a toddler.

Her curiosity in the forest is growing fast, but she hasn't learned the skills yet to explore it.

-What I would like to see is her creating a gap between her and her mother, you know, being more independent.

And, of course, her mother is being very, very cautious, very protective.

She keeps making sure that Nyakabara doesn't go too far, is trying to keep her close by.

-She usually doesn't let Nyakabara stray more than 3 feet away, but her mother has good reason to be protective of such a precious baby.

♪♪ When she was only 2 months old, Vianet witnessed Nyakabara and her mother fall from a tree.

Falls account for many baby gorilla fatalities.

But Nyakabara's mother has to take her baby to great heights every day, because the trees here are so rich in food.

♪♪ The only other population of mountain gorillas lives on the steep volcanoes of the Congo-Rwandan border, where the vegetation is more limited.

Dr. Martha Robbins, of the Max Planck Institute, has studied the Bwindi gorillas for more than 2 decades to find out how they use the forest.

-Because Bwindi is at a lower altitude, there are a lot more fruiting trees here that the gorillas can capitalize on.

-Some gorillas weigh more than 350 pounds and have to find 40 pounds of vegetation to eat a day, and fruit provides a high-energy hit and their bodies are well-adapted for finding it.

Gorillas have the greatest muscle mass of any living primate, so can support their own weight on a single limb to control their position in space.

And they have a highly adaptable power grip, to grasp trunks, vines, and branches.

Nyakabara must learn these techniques, but no gorilla can afford to make mistakes at these great heights.

-I'm quite concerned about them.

It's quite high, this tree.

We are talking about 30, 40 meters high.

-I mean, the gorillas' world is much more three-dimensional than for us.

They climb.

There's food they want to eat up there, and so, when they're very young, they will still stay attached to their mother, like Nyakabara, and that grip that those babies have on their mothers is extremely strong.

-Human babies are born with the same grip reflex, but lose it after 3 months because they don't need to cling to their mothers to survive.

♪♪ Three days pass, and Vianet is seeing a change in Nyakabara.

She still isn't big enough or skilled enough to negotiate the canopy, but near the ground, she is practicing and refining her motor skills.

Day by day, her dexterity is improving, and so is her grip, which, of all the great apes, is the closest to a human's.

♪♪ Her protective mother always keeps her within a few feet.

♪♪ But Nyakabara keeps testing her limits.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Oh.

Good.

Look.

She's climbed that little branch by herself.

-This is a real milestone for a great ape that spends 15% of its life up trees.

In the next few months, her mother will begin to let her roam further and test the boundaries even more.

-That's just great to see.

It's great.

-But to really thrive in Bwindi, Nyakabara must keep developing her strength, balance, and coordination so she will be able to climb and start to find food for herself.

♪♪ [ Waves crash ] For some babies, finding food isn't enough.

They also have to keep it, and sometimes it's their own siblings they have to fight off.

Just a few miles south of the Arctic Circle lies the Hornstrandir Peninsula, Iceland's most isolated region.

Winter temperatures can drop below zero Fahrenheit, and summer only sees 2 months totally free of snow.

Just one native land mammal is tough enough to call this place home -- the arctic fox.

Colin is an expert in remote survival and is following a litter of eight fox cubs here in the race to bulk up before winter.

It's August, and the cubs face a critical turning point -- Their mother has stopped providing milk.

-I wonder how many are still here.

♪♪ -There are seven dark cubs at the den site, but the eighth is missing.

-Absolutely no sign of Fela yet.

That's a bit of a worry.

-Fela was the only white cub in the litter... ♪♪ ...and the last time Colin filmed the cubs, all were perfecting the characteristic hunting pounce... [ Screeching ] ...except Fela.

-Big litter like this, it's very unlikely that all will survive.

I just hope Fela's here someplace, but I'm definitely concerned now.

-The cubs are now 11 weeks old and weigh around 3 pounds.

But they have to lay down fat to survive their first Icelandic winter.

At this age, each cub must put on around an ounce every day for the next 2 weeks to stay on target.

Competition is fierce.

[ Animal calling ] A call from the ridge above might shed light on Fela's disappearance.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Among the rocks, hidden in plain sight, is Fela.

-[ Whispers ] Oh.

They're so well-camouflaged.

It's good to see Fela again.

I'm really genuinely surprised that all eight of them are still alive.

That's a real testament to the hard work and the experience of their parents.

-But it's not clear why Fela is up on the ridge, away from his family.

-It's odd to be this far from the den, where all the others are.

♪♪ ♪♪ -The next day, Colin returns to the den site.

And so does Fela.

[ Barking playfully ] -This play looks all so innocent, but that will be tested very quickly when food arrives, and then it's every cub for himself.

What I'm hoping to see then is that Fela is going to have to outcompete his brothers and sisters to get to the food first.

-The cubs' father has caught a fledgling seabird, essential food for hungry cubs who need to eat 10% of their body weight each day.

This might be Fela's only chance of a meal today.

♪♪ Two dark cubs dominate the bird.

Fela is missing out.

-Arctic foxes do not do sharing.

They do selfishness.

The more selfish you are, the more likely you are to survive.

The key is being the first on the scene when the parents return.

[ Barking ] -Calls encourage parents to drop food near their cubs.

Most cubs stay close to the den, waiting for the food to arrive, but Fela leaves.

If he misses another opportunity, he could become weak and less able to compete.

♪♪ His father has another kill.

The race is on.

♪♪ This time, Fela intercepts him on the way down to seize the precious meal.

-Oh, that happened so fast.

I don't know where the darn fox came from, but, Fela spotted him before I did and was just -- had that food grabbed and was gone over the hill in no time.

-Perhaps Fela is smarter than his siblings, working out that staying high up, away from the competition, could be a life-saving advantage.

-All signs point to Fela actually being in a really good place.

I think there's a good chance he's going to make it.

He's lookin' good.

-At 12 weeks old, Fela's gamble is paying off, but he must keep winning the kills to reach adult size by autumn.

In a few weeks, as his energy requirements double, his parents will stop providing food, and he won't have long to learn how to find it for himself.

♪♪ ♪♪ For one baby, her entire survival depends not on beating rivals, but on finding as many allies as possible.

It's May in Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, and the elephants are on the move.

[ Elephants rumbling ] ♪♪ Safina, the baby African elephant, is now 7 months old and around 550 pounds, a tenth of her adult weight.

[ Cyclone rumbling ] She's putting on around 9 pounds each week from drinking around 5 gallons of milk a day, but Safina cannot feed herself yet.

Trunk control is so complex, it will take at least another 6 months to fully master these essential skills.

Her mother is Cyclone, the herd's matriarch with the single tusk.

Until now, Safina has relied solely on her mother and aunts for protection... ♪♪ ...but elephants are highly social animals and also share knowledge with other families in times of trouble.

It's critical for Safina's long-term survival that she meets and bonds with other families in her first year to build her own support network.

And the best chance she'll have to do this is in the next couple of weeks.

♪♪ Last month's rains have triggered one of the largest elephant migrations in East Africa.

[ Trumpeting ] The herds are heading for the protected reserves of Samburu and Buffalo Springs, where Safina's family lives.

Wildlife cameraman Bob Poole spends most of his year filming elephants across Africa and is in Kenya to film Safina during this unique opportunity to interact, gain friends, and become part of elephant society.

-I've come back to Samburu after the rains, and it's totally transformed into this lush grassland, and all this grass brings hundreds of elephants from all over Northern Kenya.

-They gather together here once a year to feed on new growth, socialize, and reinforce friendship bonds.

[ Elephant rumbling ] -There's a group of elephants here.

I need to identify them, but I'm hoping this is the family.

That's Cyclone.

And there in the back is Safina.

[ Chuckles ] [ Elephants rumbling ] -The other infant in the herd is Mvua.

Her mother survived against the odds only because she forged a special relationship with the herd when she was young.

-Social bonding is really important in times of need because you get situations like Mvua.

Her mother, Rayne, her whole family was gunned down by poachers, and she was able to be adopted into Cyclone's family only because of the bonds that had existed long ago.

-Increasingly, wild elephants come into contact with humans as both compete for limited land and water.

Conflict is on the increase.

It's essential Safina mixes with as many different elephants as she can in the coming days to build her own bonds, in case something ever happens to Cyclone.

Bob keeps track of the herd through the 40,000-acre reserve by working in tandem with conservationists Save the Elephants, pioneers in GPS tracking.

[ Elephants rumbling ] Every day, elephants arrive.

Some travel almost 100 miles to gather in social super herds in the reserve.

But Bob's GPS tracker reveals something about Safina's family that doesn't look good: They are traveling away from the incoming herds.

-Unfortunately, Safina's mother, Cyclone, is taking the whole family south from here into a disputed area.

There's a lot of conflict going on.

-It's impossible to know what is motivating Cyclone.

♪♪ Beyond the border, farmland cuts through the elephant's natural habitat.

Sometimes, elephants raid crops.

Clashes with farmers can result in deaths on both sides.

Safina and her family have no official protection out of the reserve.

If conflict occurs, intervention may be impossible.

-I'm right on the boundary of the reserve.

Unfortunately, Cyclone's gone right down into the middle of this area.

There was a gun battle a few days ago.

People were killed.

It's not just dangerous for me in there.

It's dangerous for elephants.

First of all, a lot of poaching takes place.

They kill elephants for their ivory.

Second of all, one of the tribes that's fighting over this territory uses elephant parts for medicinal purposes.

Elephants have been killed recently out here for those parts of their bodies, and I just hope that Safina's okay.

♪♪ -There is nothing Bob can do but wait and hope.

♪♪ ♪♪ Three days pass.

Safina and her family have not returned.

On the fourth day, the GPS reading indicates that Safina's family is, at last, on the move.

-I've just received coordinates for Cyclone's family.

They've finally come back into the park.

About 300 meters ahead of me right now is the last known point, and I'm just seeing the tops of elephants over here.

[ Elephants rumbling ] This is really great, and look at how happy they seem right now, all of them taking part in a nice bath here.

-This time, Safina and her family have made it back safe, and they are joined by one of the migrating elephant herds.

-I've felt extremely anxious for the last few days not being able to go and be with these elephants and sort of stressed in a way, and, now, I feel totally relieved.

♪♪ And there's Safina over there... [ Laughs ] Clearly loving it.

[ Elephant trumpets ] Ahh, it's just magic.

♪♪ -Safina's brain has enormous capacity devoted to processing memory and her sense of smell.

♪♪ This might just look like innocent play, but by touching and smelling with her trunk, Safina is gathering highly specific information about each of these individuals.

This is how elephants bond and establish new relationships.

♪♪ ♪♪ As the days pass, Bob witnesses Safina join up and socialize with more than 60 elephants from four different families.

-This is a really important milestone for Safina because it'll be the first time that she's seen so many elephants coming together.

It's just absolutely fun and games, but it can't be underestimated, how important this is for bonding.

These moments, you know, this play, is all part of creating tight bonds with each other, and the bonds that she'll create at this time... [ Elephant trumpets ] ...will last for the rest of her life.

-The relationships Safina is building now, in her first year on Earth, could help keep her safe for the next 70 years.

-Next time, on "Animal Babies"... as the babies move even closer towards independence, they face some of the biggest challenges of their lives.

To secure a safe future outside the temple, Jazir has to learn [ Horn blaring ] to make allies with older macaques.

-He's going to have to leave there and deal with this, and this is dangerous.

-As Bisque and Chowder become more exposed, they have to learn to look out for each other.

And, in the last weeks with his mother, Limpet must master how to use tools.

-This is an important time to learn the sort of very last lessons he can from his mum.

♪♪ ♪♪ -To order "Animal Babies: First Year on Earth" on DVD, visit ShopPBS or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video.

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