First Steps Life Story

There's a story that unites each of us with every animal on the planet.

It's the story of the greatest of all adventures -

the journey through life.

Animals have just one goal at the end of this journey,

to leave offspring, and every one begins its life

with an irrepressible instinct to survive and overcome the odds.

The drive and inventiveness of animals is breathtaking.

Every aspect of their behaviour,

whether it's spectacular or beautiful, or simply extraordinary,

is their way of meeting a particular challenge.

In this series,

we will see animals of all kinds striving to overcome the obstacles

that face them at each stage in their lives.

They will be strong...

..cunning...

..and ingenious.

They will fight battles...

..and will do whatever it takes to win a mate.

Each success leaves each individual one step closer

to leaving offspring - the next best thing to immortality.

The journey through life begins afresh with every new generation,

as it has for countless millions of years.

It is life's great story.

I'm in South Africa, sitting beside a colony of meerkats,

waiting for this year's youngsters to emerge

and start exploring their world.

-Here they come.

-MEERKAT CHATTERS

That's the adult.

They must check the coast is clear.

There's another one.

Ah, there's a baby.

Hello, little one.

We can't know what the future's going to hold

for this little creature.

Just as every one of our histories is unique to ourselves,

so this animal too will have its own story.

HE CHUCKLES

If one of these little creatures, indeed, if any animal

is to become one of life's winners by leaving behind offspring,

then a long and difficult journey lies ahead.

This is the story of life

and, for these little creatures, it's just beginning.

Good luck to you.

Many animals face their greatest challenge

within days, or even hours, of entering the world.

This is when they are smallest and most vulnerable.

The remote Orsted Dal Valley in Greenland,

scene of one of the most extraordinary trials that any animal

must face at the beginning of its life.

Newly hatched barnacle geese.

Their parents chose to nest on top of a huge tower of rock.

Such extreme isolation was the only way

to protect their brood from predators on the ground.

But now there is a price to pay.

Up here, the five goslings may be safe and warm,

but they have nothing to eat and they're getting hungry.

Like their parents, they only eat grass, and to find it

the goslings must first get down there, 400 feet below.

But they won't be able to fly for another eight weeks.

So they'll have to jump.

The father is restless.

He decides it's time for the family to leave.

GOOSE HONKS

He calls to encourage them.

But they are so tightly bonded to their mother

that they will only follow her.

The parents both survived the descent as youngsters.

They're living proof that their chicks can make it.

The fluffy goslings are certainly light and well-padded.

But luck will play its part.

GOOSE HONKS

At the bottom of the cliff, their mother calls for them to join her

and instinct compels them to follow.

CHICK CHIRPS

The gosling spreads its body and flaps its tiny wings

to slow its descent and lessen the impact of inevitable crashes.

If the first collision is belly-first,

it should survive the fall.

This chick jumps off the back of the cliff.

It's less of a drop,

but there's far more risk of getting lost in the crevices below.

The third makes another good jump.

But the fourth slips.

CHICK SQUEALS

Plummeting down headfirst,

too close to the cliff, could bring disaster.

The third gosling is doing better.

Hitting the rock belly-first should prove a life-saver.

But still the tumble goes on.

ADULT GEESE HONK

There is nothing its mother can do but follow it down.

CHICK CHIRPS

One last chick.

The perfect launch.

And a controlled drop.

This is as good a descent as it's possible to make.

Its parents are there to meet it.

A little dazed, perhaps, but all in one piece.

One gosling, at least, hasn't made it.

GOOSE HONKS

And this chick appears to be in a bad way.

GOOSE HONKS

At last, it responds to its mother's calls.

CHICK CHIRPS

The resilience of a barnacle goose chick is extraordinary.

But there are still chicks unaccounted for,

somewhere amongst the rubble.

The parents can't risk searching because they need to lead

their two survivors away quickly, before predators arrive.

CHIRPING

-CHICK CHIRPS

-A third one has made it.

But it needs to catch up.

Reunited.

Three out of five chicks have made it.

Without such a dramatic start in life,

it's unlikely any of them would have even got this far.

These chicks will face more dangers in the future,

but, only two days old, they've already survived

the greatest challenge of their lives.

A young animal significantly improves its chances of surviving

if it can grow fast and few babies have more growing to do

in their first weeks than a humpback whale.

In just six weeks, this new-born calf must leave these nursery waters

off Hawaii and start on a 3,000-mile migration

to its feeding grounds in the Arctic.

WHALE SINGS

For that, it will need to be strong.

Twirling at the surface

rapidly develops muscle strength and diving ability.

Before then, this one-tonne calf must double its weight

by drinking over 3,500 pints of its mother's fat-rich milk.

MOTHER SINGS

CALF SINGS

But the milk supply is limited.

Until its mother reaches the feeding grounds, she's fasting.

Humpback calves make such demands of their mothers

that females can only raise one every two or three years.

If the calf is to be ready for the migration,

then what they both need now is to be left in peace.

But here, the birthing season and the mating season coincide,

and that spells trouble.

Male humpbacks will pursue any females,

even if they are still nursing and, so, can't get pregnant.

These 40-tonne males, fired-up with testosterone,

pose a serious threat to any calf that gets caught up in the chase.

WHALE SINGS LOUDLY

As the mother tries to outrun the males, the calf sensibly stays

as close to her as possible to avoid being separated and lost.

WHALE SINGS LOUDLY

WHALE CALLS

WHALE CALLS

As more and more males join the chase,

the mood becomes ever more aggressive.

Now there is a real danger of the calf being injured

by flailing tails and crashing bodies.

Eventually, the males become so pre-occupied

with fighting each other that the calf and her mother can escape.

Even if a calf gets away unharmed,

the ordeal can leave it exhausted.

The dangers from the breeding season will only grow in intensity

and some calves will become so weakened

that they'll struggle to survive the coming migration.

Even the most formidable predators

are surprisingly vulnerable in infancy.

Here in Kenya's Maasai Mara, a lion cub has, on average,

only a one-in-five chance of surviving its first two years.

Which ones do so depends on the strength of the pride

to which they belong.

CUB SQUEAKS

For six weeks, this female cub

has been hidden away by her mother in the long grass.

But today, with her brother and sister,

she's going to join the creche at the heart of her pride.

Adult females provide the food and the first line of defence.

With at least four in her pride,

this cub should be well looked after.

All the lionesses have their own cubs,

who will be both playmates and future allies.

Under the females' watchful eyes,

she can practice her stalking, pouncing and fighting skills.

CUBS GROWL

But there is one more family member to meet

and perhaps the most important of all.

LION PURRS

Her father.

Her ultimate defender.

Marauding rival male lions are a constant threat.

If they overthrew him, they would kill all his cubs

and father their own.

The security of the whole pride,

and this cub's future,

rests on him remaining strong.

But the early days of an animal's life are a very different prospect

if its parents do not support it.

This peculiar, almost alien scene

is, in fact, the emergence of a brood

of orchid mantids from their egg case.

Mantids, like the great majority of animals, play the numbers game.

Having over 60 hatchlings

increases the chances that a few will make it to adulthood.

But during these first minutes, they are especially vulnerable.

They must quickly hide away...

and wait for their soft bodies to harden.

Within 20 minutes, they are transformed.

Now the immediate danger is from each other.

Mantids will eat anything that moves...

including other mantids.

Time to leave.

This tiny insect is now open to attack from predators

lurking in the undergrowth.

Whether an individual mantis survives or not

is partly a matter of chance.

Whether it's spotted by a predator.

Whether it turns right...

or left.

So far, its luck has held.

But this hungry jumping spider is still in pursuit.

A mantis is born with exceptional eyesight...

..but the spider's is even better.

Although this young mantis can't yet fly,

its long forelegs, evolved to catch prey, give it reach.

There seems to be no escape.

But this mantis has a surprising line in self-defence.

Kung fu, praying mantis style.

Of course, it's all bluff,

trying to look bigger and confuse its enemy.

But it's got away with it.

Just staying alive for its first few hours

is a significant accomplishment for a newly hatched insect.

But there's still a long way to go.

With a bit of luck, in two months' time,

it will be as big and beautiful as this orchid mantid.

Or maybe not.

After all, mantids are cannibals.

However, there are plenty more where that one came from.

A young fur seal,

just old enough to be left alone while its mother hunts out at sea.

It won't be long before the pup has to negotiate

these treacherous waters for itself and learn to catch its own food,

while avoiding predators.

But how can he take his first lesson without risking it being his last?

Luckily, the fur seals on this beach in Kaikoura, New Zealand

have, in the last decade, discovered the perfect place to do that.

Surprisingly, the pup heads, not towards the sea, but inland,

on one of the strangest journeys any seal makes.

A stream meets the beach...

..and this pup swims up it.

Each seal pup only makes this journey once.

What drives it to travel deep into the forest is a mystery.

At last, this pup has arrived.

This secluded waterfall makes for a perfect learners' pool.

In this sanctuary, he can join the local pups to learn

manoeuvres that will one day help them escape their enemies.

No-one knows how the first pups found this place,

but each year, more and more young seals make the journey.

They're getting a crucial head-start in life.

And learning is always easier when you're enjoying yourself.

SEAL BARKS

Each seal spends three days in intense training.

Then, after this rite of passage, they head back to the beach.

It won't be long now before they will leave their mothers for good

and put their new skills to the test.

It's now late in the meerkat pupping season in South Africa

and the pups born two months ago are growing well.

This pup has been well cared for and fed,

but now it's time she learned to catch her own food.

One of the great benefits of being raised in meerkat society

is that adults without young of their own help with childcare

and will spend hours teaching the youngsters.

Today's first lesson is ant-hunting.

Being shown the right approach is one thing...

..but when the food bites back, all technique goes out of the window.

Not exactly a resounding success.

However, this helper now has a different kind of lesson in mind,

one designed to bring a pup face to face with danger for the first time.

It will be her biggest test so far.

A scorpion -

an excellent source of protein and a meerkat's favourite food.

But their sting is very painful, much worse than an ant.

The tutor weakens it with a bite before handing it over.

But the pup still has a fight on her hands.

MEERKAT CHATTERS

The idea is to nip off the sting on its tail,

but its pincers are almost as formidable.

The pup's helper keeps a watchful eye on her.

She has disarmed the sting,

but those pincers are still giving her trouble.

MEERKAT CHATTERS

A pause, perhaps for encouragement,

before the helper gives her the nod to finish the job.

At last, a small but significant success.

It's a test that every member of her family

will have to go through...

..and this youngster has passed in triumph.

Back in Hawaii, six weeks have passed.

This humpback whale calf has fallen behind

on the annual migration to the Arctic.

It struggled to grow strong enough and now it's fighting for its life.

Exhausted and weak, it has already been targeted by sharks.

Its mother helps it to the surface to breathe,

which takes its toll on her, too.

This is now a huge test of the strength of their bond.

But suddenly the calf is alone.

Its mother appears to have abandoned it, perhaps to save herself.

Sharks move in.

With a shark on its tail, the end for this calf now seems inevitable.

But bursting from the deep, the mother is back.

And she's brought help.

A male.

Although he's unlikely to be the calf's father,

he does something to help it that has never been witnessed before.

He blows a wall of bubbles, creating a protective screen around the calf.

The sharks are held back.

But not for long.

A shark is soon trailing the whales again.

A bolder strategy.

The aggression the male whales were using against each other

in the breeding season now appears to be aimed at the shark.

As long as there is a chance of the calf surviving,

the bond between mother and young remains extraordinarily strong.

The compulsion of the young to survive

and of adults to protect burns bright,

even against heavy odds.

For many young animals, taking their first steps

away from the protection of parents can be daunting.

Long-eared jerboa live in the remote Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

After six weeks of being cosseted underground with their families,

young jerboa finally emerge to spend their first night alone,

learning to catch food.

Infrared cameras can reveal their lives,

but to this jerboa, the night is completely dark.

Luckily, his hearing more than compensates.

His ears are longer, compared to his body,

than those of any other animal.

In fact, his ears are so sensitive

that every new sound tends to give him a fright.

OWL CALLS

The call of a little owl, a jerboa's main predator

and something worth being nervous about.

OWL CALLS

OWL CALLS

The youngster's challenge is to distinguish danger from dinner.

An aggressive gecko is definitely not on the menu.

A jerboa's hearing is so acute he can even detect sleeping insects.

But it's hard to grab them when you can't see them.

At last, food.

Confidence grows with success.

Learning to take care of yourself is a tiring business.

Rather than return to the family burrow, he naps in the open.

But with his immense ears, it must be hard to tune out.

OWL CALLS

There comes a time when every animal must finally leave youth behind

and enter the adult world for good.

A black-footed albatross on the brink of adulthood

and learning to fly.

Her maiden flight will take her away from this tiny Pacific island

and out to sea.

She will not touch ground again for three years.

But she's not quite ready...

BIRDS CAW

..yet.

Learning to control a six-foot wingspan

in a gusty sea breeze takes practice.

These fledglings have not been fed

since their parents left a few weeks ago.

To find food, they must leave, too.

And eventually one of them takes to the wing.

But maiden flights often prove to be a bit of a false start.

Tiger sharks.

ALBATROSS SQUEALS

They congregate here every year,

precisely when albatross chicks fledge.

If a shark doesn't strike exactly on target,

a lucky albatross may escape.

There can be few animals that have to face such danger

at the very moment they leave home.

It's a remarkable escape,

but a water takeoff is even harder than from land.

This albatross has left youth behind.

It's time to embark on the next step of life's story -

independence in the adult world.

It's been over 30 years since anyone climbed these cliffs.

Producer Tom Hugh-Jones and cameramen Mateo Willis

and Mark Payne-Gill are in Greenland

to film newly-hatched goslings leap from these towering spires.

They can only convey the scale of what these tiny animals

must go through by showing it from their perspective.

Wow. I'm not one for vertigo,

but I just can't imagine what a chick would feel like

having to do this.

We're not going to have much time once they jump, eh?

No. A lot of waiting and then suddenly it all happens.

-Yeah.

-It's just that moment, isn't it?

-And you've got 20 seconds to get everything.

-Yeah.

Tom spots his first pair of barnacle geese and he has good news.

RADIO: Yeah, copy, Tom. Over.

She's still brooding the eggs,

so we're here in plenty of time, which is good.

The team has some time on its hands to prepare for the big moment.

Three, two, one, go.

Tom helps Mark to get his eye in.

RADIO: I don't think a chick will be quite the same.

Tom checks on the nests every few hours.

All the mothers are still on the nests, but no signs of chicks.

Just have to sit and wait, which is what we do. Over.

The only thing that seems to be hatching round here are mosquitoes.

Have you got mozzie repellent?

I haven't, no.

Sorry, I just swallowed a tonne of mosquitoes.

HE COUGHS

But it's the birds that are constantly on their minds.

-I dreamt about ducks last night.

-Ducks?

-Yeah.

-Actually, I had a dream about birds as well.

-Mark dreamt about chicks.

GOOSE HONKS

The wait is over. I've just spied our first chick.

CHICK CHIRPS

These chicks may jump any time.

Where are the chicks?

Mateo concentrates on trying to film the leaps...

..while Mark focuses on the front of the cliff for the fall.

Their nest is just there above my fingertip.

They've got to go down, down, down, down, down, down, down, down

till they hit the scree slope below.

That's an incredible fall for anything, let alone a gosling.

It's almost 48 hours since the chicks hatched,

so they're really getting to the limit of how long they can go

before they start getting too hungry,

so we should be on for a big jump.

Just saw the female.

Come on, what you going to do?

-RADIO:

-The female is pointing towards the back side of the rocks.

No, no, not the back side.

-RADIO:

-I'm going to follow her, saw her head moving.

Come on. He comes forward again.

Come on, Mum and Dad!

-RADIO:

-OK, I see the chick now with the dad.

They might be about to go.

-It's going to jump on the far corner.

-I've got two chicks.

There it goes, there it goes, there it goes,

There it goes, there it goes, there it goes!

-RADIO:

-All the way down, all the way down. Wow!

OK, I didn't see that. That was hidden from my view.

Did you see the last one jump, Mateo?

-RADIO:

-I did, until it was flying through the air

and then I didn't catch it.

OK, got the chick, got the chick, got the chick.

GEESE HONK

That was a shock for it, but it survived.

All the chicks jumped where the cliff obscured

Mark and Mateo's view.

What happens next comes as a shock.

-RADIO:

-A fox coming up the stream, he's now about to...

Follow the fox.

GEESE HONK

GEESE HONK, CHICKS SQUEAL

-RADIO:

-Mark, did you see that?

GEESE HONK

CHICK SQUEALS

-RADIO:

-Oh, it's heartbreaking.

I know, I know. I think it's got them all.

That's really sad.

There's nothing you can do.

The fox has its own young to feed.

Life in this barren landscape is desperately tough

for all its inhabitants.

The team has to move on and try to film another nest.

-And I'm going to head off up round here...

-Yeah.

..and try and find a good position.

So, this nest here is our last great hope,

probably the only remaining one that we can get a good viewpoint on.

The parents appear eager for their chicks to go.

CHICKS CHIRP

-RADIO:

-Stand by, Mark. It looks like it's going to jump.

By the male's feet.

Come on!

Oh, where are you going to go?

Here it goes, here it goes. Chick's going.

Wow!

Oh, my goodness.

Here it comes.

Wow.

-RADIO:

-They're all falling exactly the same way, all at once.

Here we go, here we go, here we go.

-RADIO:

-Chick's just tumbling down.

Can you see it?

Tumble, tumble. Whoa!

Down the scree slope.

Crikey!

How many chicks can you see?

Erm, I count three.

No visual yet on any foxes.

So far, so good,

and they seem to be moving through.

CHICKS CHIRP

The team is able to film the family

all the way down to the river and safety.

They've witnessed the triumph

of one of the most extreme survival strategies in nature.

I mean, think how far they've had to come

and this is only, what, their third day in the world?

Yeah, it's just great to see them doing what they should be doing now.