0:00:12 > 0:00:16A baby is about to be born.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34It's a dangerous world.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45For some, childhood is a race against time.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49For others, there are years of tender devotion.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53We are from the same loving cradle.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00The first few days will be crucial.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03There's no turning back. The story has already begun.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17A baby can't usually be born as a ready-made adult.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22It has to be small...
0:01:22 > 0:01:24half-formed.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35A Mountain Gorilla baby will suckle for three years.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40He'll remain within sight of his mother for at least a decade.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47He lives in an extended family, 20 or so uncles and aunts,
0:01:47 > 0:01:53cousins, brothers and sisters, all keen to see mother and new arrival.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16The magical bond between them can be traced back through evolution
0:02:16 > 0:02:19to when animals first recognised each other.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23We need to start the story from there.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Some animals still live in ancient ways,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33echoes from the dawn of childhood.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43Babies are just scattered, like seeds into the wind.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Your chances are slim and you fight your battles alone.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01And then, in a momentous moment, a mother offers some help.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08A mouthbrooder hoovers up her young to protect them from being eaten.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13The trick isn't easy.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Parents and babies need to be able to recognise each other.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22You wouldn't want to end up in the wrong mouth.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35Early attempts at motherhood must have been somewhat experimental.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40This Surinam Toad has eggs that hatch in pockets on her back.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Skin care, as it were.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55Her hospitality has to be worth it, more must survive.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Once out from under her skin, they're off to find food.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10The next step for pioneering parents was feeding their offspring.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15Amourobius spiders hatch a hundred little monsters.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22They eat extra eggs, brothers and sisters,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25but the spiderlings don't care.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Then they look greedily to their mother.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32You can see that it hurts.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34She tries to brush them off.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38She could flee as they start to eat her alive but she doesn't.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51The babies grow.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56More will survive thanks to a mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Hatching hungry can be fatal,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08so mothers start putting more food into the eggs.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12A spoonful of yolk for a Caiman crocodile.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25They emerge from 40 leathery golf balls.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32The squeaking triggers the other eggs to hatch and alerts their mother.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39The Caiman crocodile mother digs the 16 centimetre
0:05:39 > 0:05:44hatchlings out of the nest and carries them all to the river.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48She'll guard them all, night and day, for a few weeks.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Crocodile hatchlings can catch insects and eat snails.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Their mother, babysitting, will go hungry.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12A desert in Namibia and eggs 50 times heavier are hatching.
0:06:12 > 0:06:18The shell is so strong the ostrich mother often helps the chicks out.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25The biggest advance is that both parents look after the eggs.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It's a marriage of necessity,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31one that goes back to food and hungry mothers.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Birds need to eat more than cold-blooded reptiles.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40If the father weren't here, she would either starve or leave.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42So he does the night shift.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46The brood is then safe from hungry jackals.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53To be even safer, ostriches spread the risks.
0:06:53 > 0:06:58Some of them lay eggs in the dominant pair's nest, almost like cuckoos.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02The top couple don't object.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07Maybe it helps to have a few spare eggs in case a predator comes.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10Or maybe there are just too many to count.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21Ostriches are good intuitive parents and with no obvious favourites.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28Foster-chicks aren't fussy either. They imprint on any adult.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Chicks are encouraged to get up and about,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39though it doesn't look very helpful.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45They totter about like children on stilts.
0:08:33 > 0:08:38The ostriches are devoted to the whole brood but they don't
0:08:38 > 0:08:43seem to care about specific chicks, even their own.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Within hours, the family needs to find water.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55It's a death sentence on any chicks still hatching.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03In big families, it's not always possible to worry about individuals.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13In smaller families, perhaps, each chick has a better chance.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Here, in a South American swamp, two or three chicks is the limit.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Wood stork and spoonbill couples are in a race against time,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and food is scarce.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33They all nest together to feel safer,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37but if a caracara chooses your family to attack, there's no defence.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42Spoonbills aren't the right shape to take on a well-armed killer.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51Their only chance is to become big enough as early as possible.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55This chick must be right on the edge.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04The battle pauses.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10It is suddenly as if each bird is considering what it can do.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Perhaps the race to feed the chick paid off.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30If there had been more to feed, each would have been smaller,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34and caracara chicks could have been eating spoonbill for supper.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48The race is competitive.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Stork parents feed more to their favourites
0:10:50 > 0:10:55and the chicks fight for attention and food even to the death.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00Many parents favour one chick over another.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06In some species, parents even kill chicks until only one remains.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Infanticide is a brutal instinct for a mother...
0:11:11 > 0:11:17but in hard times it may keep one alive.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23There's a bird couple that only ever has one chick
0:11:23 > 0:11:29and they go to the ends of the earth to look after it.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38In Antarctica, an Emperor penguin has laid one egg.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43She has put everything into it and now has to feed herself.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46His turn, for the winter.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50She'll be back with food in 65 days.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06He huddles under dancing southern lights.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19As spring returns, he realises the egg is hatching.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32Because there's only one chick, the bond forms with the individual
0:12:32 > 0:12:35and they learn to recognise each other.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40There's no food on the ice.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The chick needs its mother to return.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05She brings a crop full of silverfish or squid.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18It's the father's turn to walk to the sea.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21But some mothers arrive too late.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Out of a desperation to keep one egg from freezing,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41a trek to keep one little character fed against all odds,
0:13:41 > 0:13:46we can recognise what we would call emotion.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14As spring progresses, the ice melts and the sea gets closer.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Fishing trips become shorter.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Chicks demand regular attention for a month or so,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24then one day they just walk off.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Some parents are reluctant to let them go.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56They form teenage gangs which hang out together
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and their parents have to find them for meals.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04Now they can both go on fishing trips.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Birds are, in a way, the best parents,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17loyal couples travelling further.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37But they always lay eggs and that ties them to a nest.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Other animals have found a different way.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54These baby chameleons emerge not as eggs but live young.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59She manages alone. There were no eggs to guard
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and she could take her embryos with her to find food.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06The father has disappeared.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12She can only give birth to as many as she can carry inside her
0:16:12 > 0:16:14but each is safer in there.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25There's no childhood. She abandons them.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28They have to fend for themselves.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31But 150 million years ago,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35new animals emerged that stayed to look after their newborns.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Mammals revolutionised childcare.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55A few primitive mammals still have eggs.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59But when echidnas and platypus emerge,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03they feed directly from their mother's skin.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05All mammals start on milk.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Suckling is one of mother nature's great inventions.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18With food on tap, fathers lose another job.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20They're no help.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26Instead, a remarkable bond forms between baby and mother.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Milk can sustain increasingly helpless young,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42born at any time of year.
0:17:42 > 0:17:48For black bears, two tiny 10 ounce cubs are born in mid winter.
0:17:48 > 0:17:53It helps to be ready early for spring.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58Like the cannibalistic spiders, they feed on her.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03Over a year of gestation and suckling, they absorb half of her.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14Emerging from the den, two months later, is like a second birth.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19For almost two years she'll protect them.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23They'll have to be shown where to go and what to eat.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Every new advance in mothering seems to have drawbacks.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30It's a 24 hour job with no help.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32It must be exhausting.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39The world conspires against mothers who need sleep.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41The absent father's returned.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45He wouldn't recognise his cubs and could easily harm them.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49It's safer to stay out of the way.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51It's a shame he's got no role.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55It's the downside of pregnancy and milk.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59The cubs play near their mother.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05They're like the early mammals, which were explorers and thinkers.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Childhoods have become longer and instincts less important.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14It's how mammals started building a mind of their own.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18The cubs try everything, learning slowly for themselves.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22The greatest gift a mammal mother can give them is time.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29A mule deer mother calving nearby doesn't have any time.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31If you are potential prey,
0:19:31 > 0:19:36birth must be quick, and babies born well developed and able to run.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43The calf is already alert, his senses tuned to danger.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47She automatically eats any telltale remains from the birth,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51though, as a strict vegetarian, she doesn't seem to like them much.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04A mule deer calf must be born with specific fears.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08He can't explore and learn what is dangerous.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Wolves, coyotes and bears could be anywhere.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21The slightest sound or smell triggers fear.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37Grazers the world over are ruled by their instincts, their emotions.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50A wildebeest birth takes minutes.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52The newborn calves, at 40 pounds,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56are as well developed as is physically possible.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31The only security is to hide behind others, melt away into the herd,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33a mother and calf lost among millions.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58In the safety of a nearby river, a hippo is being born.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03She's better able to make choices for her baby.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09She feels safer here from lions and hyenas.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It's an underwater birth.
0:22:21 > 0:22:28Her biggest worry for the newborn is other hippos, the father included.
0:22:28 > 0:22:29She chases them away.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40The newborn has strong instincts, to stay near mum but also not to drown.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Struggling to find shallower water, he may be swept away.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05We can see the confusion and panic.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Even if the calf makes it to the bank,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11instincts are still pulling both in different directions.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19She remains fearful of other hippos,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22though the real danger now is from lions.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33She makes her decision and comes charging over.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Babies depend on mothers balancing their instincts
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and gauging what to do.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53As animals grow up, they need their parents to make the right decisions.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00Often mothers face very difficult choices.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05Few are as stark as the dilemmas facing cape fur seals
0:24:05 > 0:24:07on the south west coast of Africa.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Again, the story begins with a birth.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Nobody helps each other here.
0:24:26 > 0:24:32In this city of seals, there are only single-parent families.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Mother and pup learn each other's smell and call.
0:24:35 > 0:24:42An ancient system of hormones, oxytocin and others, forge the bonds.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46The problems start at the top of the colony.
0:24:46 > 0:24:47It gets very hot.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51Seals need to keep cool or they overheat and die.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Mothers stay loyally with their pup and both suffer in the heat.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Pups rely on their mothers acting unselfishly but her instincts
0:25:08 > 0:25:11of self-preservation may override her pup's needs.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17The seals become desperately hot.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Some first-time mothers panic.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21They make a mad dash for the shore.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36The pups don't understand.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40They try to follow, rapidly over-heating in their black coats.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Out of the desert come brown hyenas.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00An undefended baby is easy pickings.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10None of the others defend the pups.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12They turn a blind eye.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24When the mothers return, for some, it's too late.
0:26:33 > 0:26:39They pass casualties of misguided instincts and heat.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48A few survivors have squashed together in a bit of shade.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Some newborns have mothers that make better choices.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03They drag and throw their reluctant pup towards the sea.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06She's managing to think ahead.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32As the pup gets older he joins a creche.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36The smells and calls that bound them on land fade.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38In a few months they'll be at sea,
0:27:38 > 0:27:42and soon they don't even seem to recognise each other.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49The dangers a newborn pup faces might be avoided
0:27:49 > 0:27:52if the father helped, as birds do.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56A few mammal fathers can become very paternal.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05A Californian mouse male acts as a midwife.
0:28:05 > 0:28:11He cleans up and gets food and water. He's the perfect mouse-husband.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15With his help, there can be four times more young than the normal
0:28:15 > 0:28:17single-parent mouse can manage.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38What makes him stay?
0:28:38 > 0:28:42It's the same hormones that bind mothers and babies.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45The potential was always there.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52In his case, instincts are triggered by chemicals in her scent.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56The same pyrazines are found in Chinese and Western medicine.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00His paternal passions are ignited,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04he bonds with the babies and works to exhaustion.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15How wonderful it must be to be born
0:29:15 > 0:29:21not just to a couple but to a whole group, fired-up to help you.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The original chemistry for mothers and babies
0:29:27 > 0:29:29now binds an extended family.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32It's the next stage.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Muskox are gigantic wild goats, more than oxen.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39They give birth in the Arctic winter.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Newborns must be able to run.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Wolves are about.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56The wolves are looking for any youngsters that get left behind.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00The muskox help them to keep up.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24The muskox behave as wildebeest or seals never would.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26They unite into a single force.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30They form a wall between the wolves and the youngsters.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44These muskox know that they are a family.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46They share a common bond.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56Faced with baby-mad giant hairy goats working together,
0:30:56 > 0:30:58wolves usually give up.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08In a wilderness full of predators,
0:31:08 > 0:31:15some newborns have protection that is organised into a basic society.
0:31:15 > 0:31:21The male Guanaco in the Andes watches over a harem of pregnant wives.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25He's waiting for them to calf.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36Mothers often seem to pause in mid-birth.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39The calf can breathe and meet his aunts
0:31:39 > 0:31:42while the other end is still attached.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59The first sniff and bleat
0:31:59 > 0:32:02are immediately stamped into their memory.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05The bonds are forged.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09His smell and call trigger mothering in the whole group.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12The cocktail of hormones courses through them all.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20The herd are so keen, the mother has to gently shoo them away.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24So instead they see off a caracara.
0:32:29 > 0:32:35For a newborn, organised society is better than a hairy wall.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Guanacos do different jobs.
0:32:37 > 0:32:43Fathers defend the territory from pumas, foxes and rival males.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Mothers look after the chulengos - the babies - together.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51It seems a perfect arrangement.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53But for every new solution, every advance,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55it seems there are always drawbacks.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00Societies hold terrible dangers for newborns.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22Many animals are born into volatile and treacherous communities.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Lion cubs start by avoiding the pride.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34Mothers behave as though society were a dangerous thing.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42The cubs are born blind and helpless,
0:33:42 > 0:33:48and she hides them for the first six weeks, visiting them only for feeds.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Sibling rivalry starts early.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54The cubs all have their own characters, each very different.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Our families are like that too.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07The mother is juggling difficult decisions.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10She must introduce her cubs to the pride.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22It's a risk. Lions kill infants they don't know.
0:34:22 > 0:34:29It's crucial they recognise these cubs as nephews and nieces...
0:34:29 > 0:34:32or even as their own offspring.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37The mother approaches a teenage male,
0:34:37 > 0:34:42probably her son from a previous litter. She snarls a warning at him.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47He welcomes the cubs with open arms.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53A pride male investigates.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Slowly the cubs win him round.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35They play with him, almost teasing his conflicting emotions.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56The new cubs become part of the pride.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Mothers, sisters and older daughters all work together, feeding
0:35:59 > 0:36:05and guarding the cubs as they turn the Serengeti into their playground.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39Elephants sometimes kill cubs.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46Lions eat elephant calves, so feelings run deep.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33The cub's mother alone could never have held off the herd.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38She and her sisters are fierce defenders of the cubs.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41But there are worse threats than elephants.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48If new lions want to start a family,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51adopting stepchildren is not an option.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59They defeat and kick out the pride fathers.
0:37:59 > 0:38:05Now they must kill the cubs and mate with the lionesses.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11If enough of the females have cubs, they may take on the new males.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35But lionesses without young are desperate
0:38:35 > 0:38:37to become mothers themselves.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40They need the new bloodline.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43The argument erupts in anger and frustration.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56If the females can't unite, there is nothing more they can do.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38She will have to try for new cubs, with these killers.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Male takeovers happen every few years.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49But mothers can be killers too.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Rival predators are a threat to any future cubs.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Dogs and cats are old territorial enemies.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Dog dens have lookouts.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11Inside there's one litter of puppies and 10 or 20 adults,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14all working together, sharing motherhood.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Only the top pair breed.
0:40:22 > 0:40:28The rest are babysitters, guards, hunters and defenders.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33The babies were born here, in an old aardvark burrow,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36with their mother and a dozen helpers.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40Now they can smell lions and the adults will fight for them.
0:41:01 > 0:41:07Dogs are emotional animals. They care about each other - more so than cats.
0:41:07 > 0:41:12This is mothers at war.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Both sides enlist their relatives.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Pain is dulled by fear and shock.
0:42:10 > 0:42:16Worse than physical pain, for many animals, is emotional turmoil.
0:43:24 > 0:43:29The lions may be back and the pack must move on.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49The adults help puppies as they learn slowly about their world.
0:43:49 > 0:43:55There's where to find water and safe dens.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59Other animals live here too. Some are best left alone
0:43:59 > 0:44:03and some are dangerous and have to be taken on.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09But most lessons are about sharing pack responsibility
0:44:09 > 0:44:14and coping with the emotional ups and downs.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16They're helped for two or three years.
0:44:16 > 0:44:23In contrast, an elephant calf has a decade of learning.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Their families are even larger
0:44:26 > 0:44:30and much more sophisticated than cats or dogs.
0:44:36 > 0:44:43Elephant society is based around mothers and long childhoods.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48A birth is one of the most emotional times in a herd.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57After 22 months, the newborn arrives, at 250 pounds.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04The enthusiastic greeting is like a collective hysteria.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Some hours later the calf is still surrounded,
0:45:12 > 0:45:16mostly by cousins and aunts wanting to help him up.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22His mother lets the over-enthusiastic relatives fuss over the calf.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29If all goes well, they'll share in the mothering.
0:45:41 > 0:45:46Such close ties around a baby are bound to cause friction.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50A male wants to mate with one of the calf's admirers
0:45:50 > 0:45:54but of course she's more interested in the baby.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57The bull gives the source of his frustrations a shove.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05The newborn, for accidentally derailing a bull's passionate moment,
0:46:05 > 0:46:07next gets a foot in the face.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14For an hour he's kicked about like a football,
0:46:14 > 0:46:19as emotional animals feel frustration or protection.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40In the end he gives up
0:46:40 > 0:46:45and the calf can finally follow the smell of milk to its source.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52A day or two later, one of his aunts touches him
0:46:52 > 0:46:56with her tail, lines up carefully, and wham!
0:46:59 > 0:47:02We don't know what made her kick the calf.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05There are bound to be jealousies around a new baby,
0:47:05 > 0:47:07yet her anger too seems controlled.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12A rational mind is helpful in coping with emotional moments,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15like having a newborn in the herd.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21All over the world you can see animals wrestling
0:47:21 > 0:47:23with the emotions a newborn brings.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27But it's clearest in primates.
0:47:30 > 0:47:35In Madagascar, ring-tailed lemurs have to stay together to survive,
0:47:35 > 0:47:37particularly in a drought.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44One of the babies is too weak to hold on.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Lemurs can't easily carry their young,
0:47:48 > 0:47:50so the mother faces an appalling dilemma.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53If she's separated from the others for too long,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56they could attack her as an outsider.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00She has to choose between her baby and herself.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04The mother moves to follow the troop...
0:48:07 > 0:48:09..but she returns five times.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Her mind must be struggling back and forth.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Many scientists believe she feels emotion
0:48:49 > 0:48:51and is thinking about her feelings.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54It's called affective consciousness.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57It's now thought likely all mammals are aware
0:48:57 > 0:49:00of their instinctive feelings.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03It would be hard to be a good mother without it.
0:49:29 > 0:49:34As her baby got weaker she left for the last time.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38We can't know for sure what she was thinking or feeling but she behaved
0:49:38 > 0:49:42as though she'd come to a decision that she found very difficult.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54The bonds that form at birth, the emotion that lasts a lifetime,
0:49:54 > 0:49:58can't just disappear.
0:49:58 > 0:50:03If a baby dies, the emotional pain is grief.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23She can't bear to let go.
0:50:23 > 0:50:29She'll return to the bones, sometimes for years.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36Monkeys, too, carry their dead infants around.
0:50:36 > 0:50:43Powerful feelings ruled us as animals and rule us still.
0:50:49 > 0:50:56Emotions are just instincts that you can feel, that you are aware of.
0:50:56 > 0:51:02They're the voices of our genes and our past.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06But conscious minds can manipulate each other's emotions
0:51:06 > 0:51:08right from the start.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15A vervet monkey is born.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22The baby meets a young cousin.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27He may be a new friend, an ally or competition.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31It all depends on his mother's social standing.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37She is not the only one in her community having a baby.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43For the teenage sisters it's a thrilling time.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48They beg any chance to hold the newborns.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53The high-ranking females don't beg.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56They grab babies and teach them who's boss.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Junior mothers have to be more protective.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12All newborns are inquisitive but lowly babies aren't allowed out.
0:52:15 > 0:52:20Social status can bring confidence to make new friends...
0:52:20 > 0:52:22or fear and frustration.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29Within a week, emotions that will affect a baby
0:52:29 > 0:52:32for the rest of its life are well established.
0:52:35 > 0:52:41Families have a new role, to provide emotional support.
0:52:43 > 0:52:48For mother and baby, nothing in the world is more important
0:52:48 > 0:52:51or brings greater joy.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Baby chimpanzees spend years learning
0:53:19 > 0:53:22about each other and their traditions.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24Families are the schools.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31In Central Africa, chimps crack nuts with rocks.
0:53:31 > 0:53:37The trick is passed, mother to baby, down the generations.
0:53:37 > 0:53:38It's part of their culture.
0:53:40 > 0:53:45In East Africa they catch termites using twigs.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Babies watch and learn.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58They get the basics almost immediately.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00It's something to do with a stick.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05In some extraordinary footage,
0:54:05 > 0:54:09the mother tries to help and is pushed away by the youngster.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14With endless patience, she tries again.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17"No, not that huge thing. Here, this one is better."
0:54:24 > 0:54:28Only humans are supposed actively to teach
0:54:28 > 0:54:32but textbooks can be rewritten if necessary.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38Young chimps get enormous pleasure from termite fishing.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43A hunger to learn and satisfaction with success
0:54:43 > 0:54:47is also part of our biology. It must drive a lot of what we do.
0:54:53 > 0:54:59Most primates are born into troops, extended families, but not all.
0:55:01 > 0:55:07A three pound newborn orang-utan brings us back to the start.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Fathers and cousins are around but not particularly helpful.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26It'll be seven or eight years before the next one.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30His mother's one of the world's slowest breeders.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37His long childhood gives him time to work things out.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40His mother will help map out where to find food
0:55:40 > 0:55:45and slowly he'll become aware of his world and himself.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53It's not just primates.
0:55:53 > 0:55:58It seems likely all mammals, and maybe birds too, feel emotions
0:55:58 > 0:56:03and make thoughtful choices, particularly around babies.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11Increasingly, orang-utans face disaster.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15Infants that lose their mothers may be lucky enough to be rescued.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18Human step-parents do their best with an orphan.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21They both try to replace a bond that is lost.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Years later, orphans that have grown up with people
0:56:29 > 0:56:31become mothers themselves.
0:56:31 > 0:56:36Without any encouragement, they show their own young a new culture
0:56:36 > 0:56:40they copied when they arrived at the orang-utan sanctuary as infants.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46It seems animal mothers are also trying to build a better world.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12The care animals give to their young is extraordinary.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22As we understand wildlife better, we discover that our way of thinking
0:57:22 > 0:57:27and feeling about babies is often their way too.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38We can understand the emotions we share.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43It's a bond with half a billion years of motherhood.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53It's thanks to pioneering parents,
0:57:53 > 0:57:56and perhaps our own long childhoods too,
0:57:56 > 0:58:01that we can feel something of what others go through.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:23 > 0:58:26Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk