Episode 5 Wild Tales


Episode 5

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The world is full of amazing animal families.

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Tales of life and death happen every day.

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For the youngest members, growing up's tough, really tough.

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These stories recreate their rollercoaster lives,

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here on Wild Tales.

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We're following the stories of three fantastic animal characters.

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Bill and Ben are two young lions, realising that the world

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is much harder when your family isn't around.

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Eli and Ebony are two jumbo youngsters,

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learning what you have to do to become a grown-up.

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And Selkie the seal, who's on his own,

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swimming it up in the open ocean.

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But where do we start?

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Well, hold on, we're about to find out.

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First stop is the east African savannah.

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Last time on Wild Tales,

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Eli's sister Ebony was taken hostage by another herd of elephants,

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and she soon realised that this family wasn't friendly.

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Her family were on a rescue mission, but will they get her back?

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Ebony is still imprisoned in the middle of a strange herd

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of elephants, and these strangers won't let her go.

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ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

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She cries out desperately.

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Finally, her family arrive in a whirlwind of noise and aggression.

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Even Eli is involved.

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ELEPHANTS TRUMPET FURIOUSLY

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There's Ebony, on the left, but the strangers just won't let her go.

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The family have to rethink their tactics,

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because little Ebony could be squashed underneath this battle.

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They've finally done it,

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and Ebony's got Mum's guiding trunk to lead her to safety.

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That was far too close,

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and the herd will be keeping a beady eye on her from now on.

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Ebony won't be straying from Mum again in a hurry.

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She has really learnt her lesson.

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There's nothing more comforting than a good ol' drink

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after all that commotion, and this girl can put away 30 pints a day.

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This gives the herd a chance to reunite

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and start celebrating the victory,

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keeping Ebony safe and sound right in the middle,

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away from prying trunks.

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Well, apart from Eli's, but he's just checking she's OK.

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He's too big to be kidnapped,

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but at five years old, even Eli's still got a lot to learn.

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200 miles north in the Masai Mara, and last time on Wild Tales,

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As the Simba family recovered from their run-in with the buffalo,

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Bill and Ben were growing up fast.

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Their lessons were becoming a bit more serious,

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and with their teenage years in front of them,

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they had a lot to learn.

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Bill and Ben are now two years old.

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They're teenagers in cat years,

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so are growing like rockets, with attitudes to match...

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This is THE golden time for Bill and Ben.

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They're still welcome at the family table,

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but spend most of their time larking around with their mates.

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When you're a lion, this is the ultimate age to be.

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And to make things even better, the wildebeest are on their way.

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Every year, over a million wildebeest pile into the Masai Mara.

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They risk their lives crossing rivers and streams,

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and cover hundreds of miles on their journey.

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Why?

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To eat grass, and they have to pass right through

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Bill and Ben's family home, perfect for our two stars.

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So at the moment,

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the Simba family have a permanently stocked larder.

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And there is an addition to their family.

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Bill and Ben have a younger sister.

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She's five weeks old, and is spending most of the time

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away from the violence of pride life.

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But like all big brothers,

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Bill and Ben still manage to get her involved.

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It's all one big game, and great to be one of the big kids,

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but they've got to be careful,

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they just don't know their own strength.

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This furry punchbag is going to grow up tough.

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But these beatings don't last long, because lions love to sleep.

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Especially when they're teenagers,

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and it's far too early for Bill and Ben.

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LION SNORES

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4,500 miles north, in chilly Scotland.

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Last time on Wild Tales,

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Selkie was only three weeks old when his mum left him for good.

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Without her, the sea suddenly looked like a really scary place to be.

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25 and a half days since he was born,

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and dawn breaks on a huge day in Selkie's life.

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The pups are high and dry sheltering from the wind,

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and don't they look different now?

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Selkie's lost almost all his white fur,

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and now he has his new waterproof coat.

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He must be desperate to get out into deep water.

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Some of our seal pups are making a break for it already.

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Finally, our beach bum is about to become a deep sea diver.

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This is a huge moment for Selkie.

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If only Mum were here to see him now.

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One last look at the beach he used to call home,

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and here we go.

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Wow, he's finally made it, and it's paradise.

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Selkie's weightless. He's perfectly designed for life at sea,

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and food is everywhere.

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Time to explore his new world...

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..but he doesn't know where to go, and he's on his own.

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He could really do with Mum's help.

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He'd better keep an eye out for danger.

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All sorts of monsters lurk in the depths,

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and when you live in prime fishing waters, danger is never far away.

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Ebony's kidnapping is a distant memory

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as the herd move on in search of more lush grass.

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At this time of the year, every elephant in the area

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knows to head to the marshes beneath Mount Kilimanjaro.

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Its snow-capped peaks are melting

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and keeping the grassy surrounds lush and green.

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We're not talking one or two families, but hundreds of them.

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Eli's the odd one out. He's one of the only boys,

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cos elephant families are almost all girls.

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So where are all the males? Well, they're on their way.

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This giant bull knows to head to the marsh,

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because the girls are there, and that's what he's after.

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He probably weighs six tons, and is four metres tall.

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Like Mount Everest when you're Ebony's size.

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This is prime time for Eli to learn the do's and don'ts

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of bull elephant life.

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He'd better concentrate, cos he only gets the opportunity

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to study these lot for a few days a year.

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The big male will hang around until one of the females is ready to mate.

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It won't be long,

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and hopefully there will be no competition between now and then,

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but judging by his broken tusks,

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this bruiser's been in more than one or two fights in the past.

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Our bull is not the only one in the region.

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Males are turning up from all around, like bees to a honeypot.

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When there are this many boys together,

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fights are inevitable.

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Not far away,

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it looks like these two giants are on a crash course

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for an almighty battle.

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Eli and Ebony had better keep out of the way.

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Three months later in Bill and Ben's world,

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and the wildebeest migration has vanished

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just as quickly as it appeared.

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Our brothers are getting huge,

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and are a starting to get fluffy around the edges.

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These lion hoodies are how you can tell them apart

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from the other teenagers in the gang.

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With food harder to come by, for them, at least,

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they've joined forces with some likeminded youths,

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and the gang have gone walkabout.

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But this is absolute madness. A fully grown buffalo,

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and for once, he's minding his own business.

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The challenge is all part of the fun,

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and this is a great opportunity to show off.

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It's like a game of cat and mouse,

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except this mouse could kill any of the cubs in seconds.

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Especially if they get near his horns.

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Curiosity could well kill our cats.

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The teenagers could never kill a buffalo.

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Buffs weigh over a ton,

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so this is surely just one big game for Bill and Ben,

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but a game so dangerous

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that some of the cubs are losing their lion's courage already.

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When you're young, you feel invincible,

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and Bill certainly needs to be if he's going to pull off this stunt.

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That hide is like armour plating,

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and Bill realizes he's bitten off more than he can chew.

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The buff can get out at any time, and if he does,

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our gang could be in serious trouble.

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It's time to beat a hasty retreat

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and find something else to play with.

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The kids aren't done on their adventure just yet.

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Back with Eli and Ebony's herd, and all's quiet for now.

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But trouble is brewing between two huge bulls.

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Eli races forwards for a front row seat.

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This is a huge lesson for his next stage in life.

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The bulls face each other,

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using their ears to look as big as possible.

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They'll do anything to avoid a battle...

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because when you're this big, fights can be fatal.

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These giants are almost the same size and age,

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and neither wants to give way,

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which means a fight is inevitable.

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Bull African elephants aren't the biggest land mammals on Earth

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for no reason.

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These battles can go on for ten hours or more.

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Ebony watches the action through mum Ella's legs.

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She's not going any closer, and with good reason.

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But Eli can't help himself. This is fascinating.

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Each of these bruisers weighs as much as seven cars.

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All that tusk, muscle and flesh can do some serious damage.

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It is an extraordinarily dangerous moment for them both.

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ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

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Eli watches as the loser is chased off.

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That's how to do it,

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and he's already practising. Eli has learnt a valuable lesson.

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When you're a bull elephant,

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you have to fight your corner to get the girls,

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and doesn't Eli know that now?

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Practice makes perfect,

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but he'll have to wait until he's 30 before he's in with a chance

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of winning a fight like the one he's just seen.

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Up in Scotland,

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and Selkie's settling in nicely to his watery home.

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When you're new to the ocean,

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you need regular breaks,

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and he's heading for a sunbathing rock,

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but round the headland, a pod of killer whales is coming towards him,

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and these brutes have only got one thing on their minds.

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These eight metres long wolves of the sea weigh as much as a bus,

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and can swim at 35 miles per hour.

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They scour the coast looking for food,

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and love seals...

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..for breakfast.

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The whales know that the rock is a prime hunting spot,

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and the water's so dirty that Selkie won't be able to see them

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until it's too late.

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WHALE SQUEAKS

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But he's heard something,

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and his instinct kicks in like a rifle bullet.

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He's got to get out of the water fast,

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or his life at sea will be over before it's begun.

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And he's not alone.

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The killer whales are getting closer by the second.

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Only 50 metres from Selkie, the whales pick up a couple of victims.

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It must be terrifying. These lot don't stand a chance.

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As the whales reach the rock, Selkie swims for his life.

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He's trying to get on the rock, but he's fallen in!

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He's made it in the nick of time.

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As the whales swim off,

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our young star climbs as far away from them as he can get.

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The teenage gang are busy beating each other up,

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which is a lot more fun than the marsh buffalo.

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All this play fighting may look like fun,

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but it does have a serious side.

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The cubs are practising for when they're older,

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and they really need to be king and queens of the beasts.

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When they get bored of that,

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it's time to wander around the hood looking for something else to annoy.

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And that something has caught Bill's eye.

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A spitting cobra,

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and our stupid teenagers just can't help themselves.

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It's like they're hypnotised!

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Cobras have a hidden weapon, fangs on top of their mouths

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that squirt venom with incredible accuracy,

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and that venom is like acid.

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They always go for the eyes of their opponent,

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and the venom could blind a lion.

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But do Bill and Ben keep their distance? Of course not.

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Making mistakes may be all part of growing up,

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but the way Ben is going, even nine lives might not be enough.

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The only thing that saves him

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is that another show-off gets even closer,

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The slithery water pistol is cocked, ready to fire.

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Suddenly, the "who can get closest?" game is over,

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and it's ended in tears,

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Think shampoo in your eyes, and times it by 100.

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It could so easily have been Ben.

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Sometimes they have to learn the hard way,

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and it's the second scare in a day for our gang.

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For now, their curiosity has been beaten out of them,

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so the best plan is to head back to the pride,

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where, with a bit of luck, there'll be dinner on the table.

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After all the action, it's time for a family celebration

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in the world's biggest playground.

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Eli has said goodbye to the males for another year,

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but he's still practising,

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and spending more and more time away from the herd with his mates.

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Ebony's doing what she does best.

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She's got Mum's milk for at least another year,

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so she's full of energy.

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When you're a young elephant, growing up is all about learning,

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and your family is your fortress,

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so having the best jumbo mum in the whole wide world

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makes life pretty good,

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especially when milk's always on tap.

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Once he's sure the killer whales have gone,

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Selkie slips back into the water with food on his mind.

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He's got to work out how to fish, and there's no-one to teach him.

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Our star's in at the deep end.

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It's lucky that he's got all that fat to keep him warm and well,

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which gives him plenty of time to perfect his fishing techniques.

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He uses his whiskers as fingers, feeling his way through the sand,

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and scores his first fishy meal.

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Maybe it's not so bad out here after all!

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Back with the Simba family, and life returns to normal for Bill and Ben.

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It looks like all the gang

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have recovered from the run-in with the cobra,

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and as usual, the little ones are getting a hard time.

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Life's definitely better back with Dad

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and the rest of the Simba family,

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and the brothers show him that he's still boss.

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Mum and the other girls have been shopping,

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dinner's on the table, and our teenagers are starving,

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so they tuck into what may be their last supper with the Simba family.

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Growing up is anything but plain sailing.

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Our stars have come through

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the obstacle course that is surviving in the wild,

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Many youngsters don't make it this far,

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and at times it's been tough, really tough.

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For Bill and Ben, fighting buffalo was a huge problem,

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But Mum came to the rescue.

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Eli nearly drowned as he took the toughest swimming lesson

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known to elephant-kind.

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In Scotland, Selkie's waterworld nearly sunk our star

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when he bumped into a pod of killer whales.

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It wasn't just how to avoid being killed

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that our five mini explorers had to take on board.

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Eli bits and pieces caused him no end of trouble.

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Selkie had to learn to avoid the heavyweights on his crowded beach.

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Whilst Bill and Ben had to watch Mum shopping.

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Then they had to catch it...

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..but it wasn't easy.

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Our stars have beaten the odds to get this far,

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and with luck, they've got a great future ahead of them.

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For Bill and Ben, the end of family life is in sight.

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Any day now, they could leave the pride,

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and go it alone to become kings of their own family.

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Eli will also leave his family in a few years,

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but little Ebony will stay for life.

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In ten or 12 years,

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she'll be able to have her own babies. Imagine that.

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And Selkie has five years of sunbathing,

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fishing, and playing around ahead of him,

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because being young is the ultimate age to be,

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and it's been a whole load of fun.

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Our fat acrobat was in his element burning blubber in the open ocean.

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And Bill and Ben were definitely the kings of mischief.

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our terrible two just never stopped.

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And playing didn't get better than when Ebony was involved.

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But for now, we've got to leave them.

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After all, the world's a big place,

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and there are lots more Wild Tales to tell.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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Email [email protected]

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