:00:12. > :00:16.We are following the lives of young animals around the world. We are
:00:16. > :00:21.bringing you their individual stories of survival throughout the
:00:21. > :00:27.month a May. A critical month as they are at their most vulnerable.
:00:27. > :00:37.Join us as we follow their dramas every step of the way. This is
:00:37. > :00:47.
:00:48. > :00:53.Planet Earth Live. Hello and welcome to Kenya. Already
:00:53. > :00:57.in the seerdz we have had surprises, upsets and revelations as we follow
:00:57. > :01:02.the fortunes of the young animals and their families here and across
:01:02. > :01:08.the world. We have picked a tumultuous time in the animal cycle,
:01:08. > :01:13.but every year is different, 2012 is proving no exception. Whatever
:01:13. > :01:20.happens next, we will keep you updated.
:01:20. > :01:26.We have reports flooding in 24/7 from around the world.
:01:26. > :01:31.Our camera teams and experts are following the action as the events
:01:31. > :01:36.unfold. Tonight, flooded rivers continue to put our elephant babies
:01:36. > :01:40.in danger. Moja and his mum are pushed from pillar to post to avoid
:01:40. > :01:45.unwanted attention. Gremlin moves up the pecking order
:01:45. > :01:52.when a new baby arrives. Right here and around the clock on
:01:52. > :01:59.our website you can follow the latest twists and turns in our
:01:59. > :02:02.animals' lives as the nature enlightens our screens.
:02:02. > :02:08.Hello and welcome to the North Woods of Minnesota. It is a
:02:08. > :02:15.glorious spring day here. The temperatures are 26 Celsius. They
:02:15. > :02:19.call this the state of 10,000Lakes, but for us, importantly, it is the
:02:19. > :02:24.land of 25,000 black bears. This is a unique location. It is the only
:02:24. > :02:29.place in the world where you can get upclose and personal to wild
:02:29. > :02:33.black bears. Today we have the latest news on the little black
:02:34. > :02:38.bear cub, Sybil. We've been worried she is not growing quickly, but the
:02:38. > :02:44.improving weather seems to be good news for her it is a difficult time
:02:44. > :02:51.for black bear June. She is getting ready to find a new mate and has to
:02:51. > :02:56.force her year lings, Aspen and Aster out of the group. The latest
:02:56. > :03:01.on the migration of the whales up the Pacific coast. A perilous
:03:01. > :03:08.journey, there are killer whales along the route. Now, let's ping
:03:08. > :03:13.8,000 miles south of here to Richard and the team in Africa.
:03:13. > :03:18.Hello and welcome once again with me here in the African Savannah.
:03:18. > :03:23.The Masai Mara in Kenya, to be precise, where for the past three
:03:23. > :03:27.weeks we have been following the lives of Moja and his mum as they
:03:27. > :03:31.struggle for survival. They have become stars in their own right,
:03:31. > :03:35.but let's not detract that the struggle for survival is very, very
:03:35. > :03:39.real. They are out there now, looking for food, trying to stay
:03:39. > :03:45.out of the way of their enemies. This is a picture of them that we
:03:45. > :03:50.have now. It is getting harder to find them as Moja's mum is making
:03:50. > :03:54.her way across the terrain, keeping low. She is very good at that,
:03:54. > :03:58.after all, she is a lion. More on the show. There is more to tell.
:03:59. > :04:02.Meanwhile, in Samburu, we have another team. They have been living
:04:02. > :04:08.and working with the elephants. They are telling us their story. It
:04:08. > :04:12.is different there. Here for the lions, the raining season is tough
:04:12. > :04:17.times, but for the elephants it trigger a baby boom. There have
:04:17. > :04:22.been something like 50 calves born in the area. That is staggering,
:04:22. > :04:27.and the calves are dependant on their mothers for a long time. They
:04:27. > :04:32.are vulnerable. Lions hunt them, they can die from exhaustion, even
:04:32. > :04:39.exposure to the sun. During the dry season, the river is the only
:04:39. > :04:46.source of water in Samburu. Elephants dig deep wells in a
:04:46. > :04:50.riverbed to reach fresh water. It is the lifeblood of the reserve,
:04:50. > :05:00.but when the rains come, it is transformed from creator to
:05:00. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:08.destroyer. The thousand and or so elephants
:05:08. > :05:15.that range through Samburu have to cross the river in their constant
:05:15. > :05:20.search for food. But for the class of 2012, the new-
:05:20. > :05:25.borne born calves, the river poses a new and terrible danger. David
:05:25. > :05:29.Daballen from Save the Elephants has seen countless young calves
:05:29. > :05:34.struggle with the threat of this in the centre of their world.
:05:34. > :05:38.They have to learn how to swim. How to go around the kurents and stuff
:05:38. > :05:44.like that. So in the rainy season when the
:05:44. > :05:48.river is at its highest and if you don't know what you are doing, its
:05:48. > :05:53.most dangerous, there are calves having to make the crossing. So
:05:53. > :05:58.this becomes an occasion, where the elephants, they need the resource,
:05:58. > :06:03.the experience of the elders? They need that knowledge? Absolutely.
:06:03. > :06:07.That is when the elephants need the elder females, they act like a bank
:06:07. > :06:14.of knowledge. They know when to cross, where to cross and which
:06:14. > :06:21.areas are really dipping in this dense area. This river can be very
:06:21. > :06:27.challenging. It is not just us being sentimental
:06:27. > :06:32.when we say this that strongly. The lead is essential in the complex
:06:32. > :06:37.elephant societies. They need the wise matriarchs they will help
:06:37. > :06:43.guide the families in search of food and drink. They are essential.
:06:43. > :06:48.The tragedy is that it is the wiser and older elephants that are hunted
:06:48. > :06:52.and killed by poachers. More and more young families are finding
:06:52. > :06:58.themselves without the resource, without that guidance and
:06:58. > :07:02.experience. Often, then when the mother has
:07:02. > :07:06.gone they make the wrong decision, and when there are young calves in
:07:06. > :07:09.the family that can prove fatal. The crew are by the river, filming
:07:09. > :07:15.the elephants waiting to cross. There's been a lot of rain. The
:07:15. > :07:21.river is high. Crocodiles lurk in the shallows.
:07:21. > :07:26.They will take an elephant calf. The mood is tense, but the need to
:07:26. > :07:35.feed on the opposite bank drives them on.
:07:35. > :07:39.The matriarch of the Rivers Herd goes first.
:07:40. > :07:45.She assetss the danger and starts to navigate her family through the
:07:45. > :07:51.torrent. With no new-born calves in her family, it is a risk that she
:07:51. > :07:55.knows she can take it is a struggle, but everyone make it is across.
:07:55. > :07:59.Following closely behind is another herd the Lakes. Badly hit by
:07:59. > :08:07.poaching, they have no older females with them.
:08:07. > :08:17.The young mums have three very small calves, only weeks old.
:08:17. > :08:17.
:08:17. > :08:27.They decide to cross... The kofls are tiny. Their feet cannot touch
:08:27. > :08:42.
:08:42. > :08:48.This is really, really bad. Tiny babies.
:08:48. > :08:58.Yeah, this could abdisaster, actually.
:08:58. > :09:08.-- could be a disaster, actually. This is the problem of not having
:09:08. > :09:09.
:09:09. > :09:19.proper leadership in the families. They are really, really struggling.
:09:19. > :09:22.
:09:22. > :09:32.Oh, my God! One has gone! See that? Oh, God. This is so painful
:09:32. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:47.watching this happening. Oh, my goodness.
:09:47. > :09:55.They eare now in the deepest most dangerous section of of the river.
:09:55. > :10:05.-- they are now in the deepest, most dangerous section of the river.
:10:05. > :10:26.
:10:26. > :10:32.The mothers loose their footing. Look, I know it is agony to watch,
:10:32. > :10:36.but all I will say is don't despair right now. Our camera crews filming
:10:36. > :10:41.that thought they were lost. They stopped filming and jumped up to
:10:41. > :10:45.drive as far as they could downstream. What they saw then
:10:46. > :10:50.amazed them. That is all that I will say. We will pick up that
:10:50. > :10:55.story later on. Meanwhile it is worth remembering why that happened
:10:55. > :11:00.in the first place. The Lake herd have been hit hard by poachers. If
:11:00. > :11:04.they had an elder, it is possible she would not have made the
:11:04. > :11:10.crossing with calves as young as that. We will have more on that
:11:10. > :11:14.later. Now let's move on. We have seen how it is very important for
:11:14. > :11:19.the animals, the mammals especially to retain the contact with their
:11:19. > :11:23.mothers. In the case of elephants, a young elephant stays with his
:11:23. > :11:27.mother for eight to ten years. It is a similar situation with the
:11:27. > :11:32.bears. It is one year for the year lings
:11:32. > :11:36.here. Welcome back to Minnesota. We are surrounded by lakes and forest.
:11:36. > :11:41.That makes the perfect bear habitat. Our little black bear cubs are very
:11:41. > :11:46.much with their mothers and learning to forage and to climb. We
:11:46. > :11:51.are following the story of Juliet and her three little one, Sam,
:11:51. > :12:01.Sophie and Sybil. We are worried about Sybil. She is smaller than
:12:01. > :12:01.
:12:01. > :12:06.the rest, she is not interacting with the other siblings, but the
:12:06. > :12:11.advent of spring could have turned things around. Sybil is the runt of
:12:11. > :12:17.the litter. A few weeks ago, it was not looking good for her. We were
:12:17. > :12:21.all worried. But now things are looking up for
:12:21. > :12:28.our little cub, Sybil. She's giving as good as she gets
:12:28. > :12:34.from her siblings, Sam and Sophie. In fact, now she's riding high and
:12:35. > :12:41.is a real team player in the family. All of Juliet's cubs are getting
:12:41. > :12:44.more confident every day. They are now developing their
:12:44. > :12:54.essential climbing skills and have learned how to control falling out
:12:54. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:07.of trees for a safe landing. It looks like fun, but tree-
:13:07. > :13:13.climbing a is an essential skill for the little black bears. It is
:13:13. > :13:18.how they escape danger. There are predators in the woods, there are
:13:18. > :13:22.coyotes and wolves. If you watch the little cubs the tree skills are
:13:22. > :13:27.improving. They are making controlled jumps, rather than
:13:27. > :13:31.simply falling, but tree-climbing, sadly, does not always mean that
:13:31. > :13:36.they escape danger. We have mentioned the weather and how hot
:13:36. > :13:41.it is here, about 26 Celsius. The spring here is hotting up. This
:13:41. > :13:45.mean there is is a new danger for the black bear cubs, forest fires.
:13:45. > :13:50.There have been nearly 800 forest fires already in Minnesota. There
:13:50. > :13:55.are seven fires burning right now as we are live. We caught this one
:13:55. > :14:00.while we were out filming. 5,000 acres are lost every year to fire.
:14:00. > :14:05.The winds that we are experiencing today do not help either. They
:14:05. > :14:08.literally drive the fires through the forests. That means here that
:14:08. > :14:12.the Forestry Commission are always on a state of alert. They are
:14:12. > :14:15.training and on hand to train almost every day. This is a
:14:15. > :14:20.helicopter training exercise that we caught. The forestry department
:14:20. > :14:24.has five of these helicopters on standby. They take on 2,000 gallons
:14:25. > :14:32.of water from the lakes and drop them on to the fires.
:14:33. > :14:38.Today in Ely we are on a high-risk alert state. So something else for
:14:39. > :14:42.our little black bear cubs to watch out for. More dangers are lurking
:14:42. > :14:52.for the toque macaques in Sri Lanka. They are always on high alert.
:14:52. > :15:03.
:15:03. > :15:09.We're following Gremlin. A ten week-old toque macaque growing up
:15:09. > :15:12.in amongst the ancient ruins of a city in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately
:15:12. > :15:18.for Gremlin, in the hierarchal world of toque macaque society, she
:15:18. > :15:24.is pretty much the lowest of the low. Learning lifes lessons at the
:15:24. > :15:31.school of hard knocks. Gavin is following every faltering
:15:31. > :15:37.step in her young life. She's no longer the tiny naked baby she was
:15:37. > :15:43.when he first met her. She is coming on leaps and bounds. Her
:15:43. > :15:51.position in the troop pecking order has changed too.
:15:51. > :15:59.There is a new arrival on the scene... It's another day with the
:15:59. > :16:04.troop and we have really exciting news. Poppin, the oldest female in
:16:04. > :16:14.the group has had her baby. He is called Little Richard. He is
:16:14. > :16:24.only a few hours' old. Naturally Gremlin is keen to say hello. As
:16:24. > :16:25.
:16:25. > :16:31.the official lowest-ranking adult, Gremlin comes in now as the lowest
:16:31. > :16:35.of the low. Gremlin has moved up a rung on the social ladder. Like all
:16:35. > :16:42.little females, Gremlin love as baby, but she is still a baby
:16:42. > :16:49.herself and has a lot to learn. She has started saying her first words.
:16:49. > :16:59.She's learning what to eat. And now she's working hard on
:16:59. > :17:27.
:17:27. > :17:33.Toque macaques are one of the mostagile monkeys, able to leap 30
:17:33. > :17:43.feet from tree-to-tree. The adults make it look easy, 60 feet up in
:17:43. > :17:50.
:17:50. > :18:00.the air. They have had years to perfect
:18:00. > :18:10.
:18:10. > :18:16.their high-wire skills. Gremlin will need two hard years in
:18:16. > :18:21.this jungle gym before she can match their agility.
:18:21. > :18:26.These skills are essential to keep up with the rest of the family.
:18:26. > :18:30.They are travelling miles every day, foraging and patrolling their
:18:30. > :18:35.territory, but she will also need them to get herself out of any
:18:35. > :18:45.trouble. She may need to do this sooner than she thinks, trouble is
:18:45. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:56.almost certainly on its way. The figure -- figs are ripe on the tree
:18:56. > :19:01.on the border of the two groups of monkeys. It is led by Bad Eye.
:19:01. > :19:06.There is bad blood between the two rival gangs. They have been both
:19:06. > :19:11.keeping a careful eye on the ripeness of the figs. They are just
:19:11. > :19:17.on the edge of being perfect. Both sides think it is their tree. A
:19:17. > :19:23.fight looks to be inevitable. When it kicks off, Gremlin will have to
:19:23. > :19:33.beagile and fast to get out of the way of Bad Eye and his slumdogs. If
:19:33. > :19:33.
:19:33. > :19:39.she is left behind... They will show no mercy.
:19:39. > :19:45.A quick note if I could to our younger viewer, Little Richard was
:19:45. > :19:49.a pop singer many years ago. There is no connection to me. We are
:19:49. > :19:54.keeping an eye on Gremlin and her family and update you. Meanwhile,
:19:54. > :19:59.welcome back to Kenya. It is a lovely eve.ing. Over on the camera
:19:59. > :20:03.we can see an elephant out there on the thermal camera. That is good as
:20:03. > :20:09.elephants are what we are talking about right now. If you were
:20:09. > :20:16.watching earlier on you don't need reminders to what you saw. It was
:20:16. > :20:19.burnt into my mind, it probably is burnt into yours. We saw a disaster
:20:19. > :20:24.unfolding. Three young mums crossing the river with three young
:20:24. > :20:29.calves, but the river is up. It is the rainy season. The river was
:20:29. > :20:39.raging. The family was swept away. David Daballen and the camera crew
:20:39. > :20:43.
:20:43. > :20:52.The three mothers make it to the other side, but the babies are
:20:52. > :21:00.still in the grip of the current. The calves are exhausted. They're
:21:00. > :21:06.struggling to keep their trunks above the water.
:21:06. > :21:11.One of them make it is to the edge. This is the most dangerous time.
:21:11. > :21:17.There are huge crocodiles nearby. There are huge crocodiles nearby.
:21:17. > :21:23.They are hungry. Let's go.
:21:23. > :21:28.Those poor females. This is one of the groups that has been destroyed.
:21:28. > :21:38.It would be awful if they lose another baby.
:21:38. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:50.The other one is here! Wow! There are two babies actually here. Wow!
:21:50. > :21:57.
:21:57. > :22:02.They are really tough. The females are coming down.
:22:02. > :22:11.I hope they will save them. They will get tired. If a crock grabs
:22:11. > :22:17.them, that is it. -- croc. Come on, females, get in
:22:17. > :22:27.and save the babies. They are making such a noise. I
:22:27. > :22:32.
:22:32. > :22:38.hope that the croc does not get them.
:22:38. > :22:48.OK. One baby is out. The other one will come out soon.
:22:48. > :22:52.
:22:52. > :23:01.Oh! Oh, man that is such a relief. That is so joyful to see all of
:23:01. > :23:11.them again coming back together. I can't really remember having such
:23:11. > :23:13.
:23:13. > :23:23.a tense time in my life with all the experiences that I have.
:23:23. > :23:24.
:23:24. > :23:33.Oh, poor things. Oh! They are really crying.
:23:33. > :23:38.Oh! They are really crying. They've just had a nightmare.
:23:39. > :23:44.Such a astonishing drama. Let's not forget that's real. That stuff is
:23:44. > :23:48.happening around us right now. Warren Samuels, the cameraman
:23:48. > :23:52.filming that, we met him the other day. He said it was the most
:23:52. > :23:59.emotional thing of 20 years of filming wildlife. All he wanted to
:23:59. > :24:07.do was jump in. Who can blame him? Elephants, they are the most like
:24:07. > :24:12.us, more than any other animal that I can think of right now. To see
:24:12. > :24:16.that young family going through such an experience was truly
:24:16. > :24:22.heartbreaking. Now, the thing about the elephants
:24:22. > :24:32.in Samburu, they range a huge area. It is difficult to follow them.
:24:32. > :24:33.
:24:33. > :24:37.But there is a young calf who has so far been most accommodating.
:24:37. > :24:44.Very few people have ever witnessed the birth of an elephant, but the
:24:44. > :24:52.crew were lucky enough to come across the next best thing.
:24:52. > :24:56.A tiny new-born, just a few hours old.
:24:56. > :25:01.Named Maya by our Twitter and Facebook followers, it is
:25:01. > :25:09.incredible to think she was inside mum a few moments before.
:25:09. > :25:16.At only nine years old, Zadi is a young mother. Maya is very small as
:25:16. > :25:23.a result. She weighs about 13ston, which is 80 kilograms. Like a human
:25:23. > :25:29.baby, her brain is not yet fully developed. She is completely
:25:29. > :25:35.dependant on her mother. Maya may be small, but must drink up to 11
:25:35. > :25:40.litres of milk every day. Zadi's herd has been devastated by
:25:40. > :25:45.poaching. She does not have any guidance from older females but she
:25:45. > :25:54.is doing her best to protect and nurture Maya. Next time we report
:25:54. > :26:01.on the ups and the downs of Maya's first if you few days as she meets
:26:01. > :26:05.the herds and experiments with unusual play mates.
:26:05. > :26:10.Warren Samuels will be following Maya every day. He reports so far
:26:10. > :26:15.that the family have been wise and remaining in the safety of the
:26:15. > :26:20.reserve. That is good news. Now, let's move on to the lions. We have
:26:20. > :26:26.the crews here in the Masai Mara following the fortune it is of the
:26:26. > :26:31.lives of Moja and his mum. They are here in no man's land. Surrounded
:26:32. > :26:36.by prides. We have watched since we arrived the prey becoming more
:26:36. > :26:41.scarce. We knew that times would be tough in May. Now it is getting
:26:41. > :26:51.tougher. Moja and his mum are fugitives.
:26:51. > :26:59.
:26:59. > :27:09.She spends her days hunting, keeping her cub hidden from rival
:27:09. > :27:12.
:27:12. > :27:22.She's so desperate for food, she's straying in other families'
:27:22. > :27:27.
:27:27. > :27:37.territories. Lionesss from the Paradise Pride
:27:37. > :27:49.
:27:49. > :27:57.know she is there, they want her Food is scarce for everyone and
:27:57. > :28:03.these females are not about to share.
:28:03. > :28:12.Moja's mum is outnumbered. If she wants to eat, she needs to look
:28:12. > :28:21.elsewhere. But lionesss are not the only
:28:21. > :28:31.danger. Hungry males also patrol the
:28:31. > :28:34.
:28:34. > :28:39.Savannah. Two of them are dangerously close.
:28:39. > :28:49.If they find Moja they will kill him so that they can mate with his
:28:49. > :28:54.
:28:54. > :29:04.mother. They walk the plains.
:29:04. > :29:04.
:29:04. > :29:11.Always looking over their shoulders. Always looking for the next meal.
:29:11. > :29:17.So this is it. Since we got here we have spoken about tough times for
:29:17. > :29:22.lions and now those time really are here. As the food is more scarce,
:29:22. > :29:27.the lions are forced to wander further afield in search of prey.
:29:27. > :29:33.Things are getting worse out there. I went to talk to Sophie, to see
:29:33. > :29:40.what she thought about the situation for Moja and his mum.
:29:40. > :29:45.See where the camera is? She is an inch below. Moja is behind her.
:29:45. > :29:51.Oh, look at him! So the last few days have been about moving about?
:29:51. > :29:57.Yes. She's been skirting around. There have been other lions coming
:29:57. > :30:02.back into their territories. Reasserting their power and being
:30:02. > :30:08.visible. Every time we see here, he is is skull king off somewhere, as
:30:08. > :30:13.she is trespassing. The other day we had two male lions. They came
:30:13. > :30:17.right up and through. She saw them and went off. Every time she sees
:30:17. > :30:23.them she has to change tack. She does not want it meet them, they
:30:23. > :30:29.will nick her food or harm Moja. It is not her territory. For a lion
:30:29. > :30:35.there is a blurring of territory. She is growling at him a lot.
:30:35. > :30:41.Why? Because she is hungry. We had her recorded as eating about five
:30:41. > :30:47.days ago. What is your feel being them now?
:30:47. > :30:52.Is she in trouble, do you think? did I feel a pang of anxiety.
:30:52. > :30:56.Seriously. I thought that the warthogs will not replenish
:30:56. > :31:01.themselves. There is nothing left to eat. It is tricky for her.
:31:02. > :31:07.So, this, right now, is the most testing time for Moja. It is some
:31:07. > :31:14.comfort to know on his side he has his mum and she has proven to be a
:31:14. > :31:19.tough, resourceful, courageous lioness. Let's hope she can keep
:31:19. > :31:26.him safe out there and for the forthcoming weeks. Let's have a
:31:26. > :31:32.look at what is coming up: Still to come on the show, the polar bear
:31:33. > :31:37.cubs, Mickey and Luka are on thin ice. Julia has the latest on the
:31:37. > :31:44.epic grey whale migration and the lion cubs having a very different
:31:44. > :31:49.upbringing to Moja. Welcome back! May brings dramatic
:31:49. > :31:53.challenges and changes to the bears here in the North Woods of
:31:53. > :32:01.Minnesota. I have a new sound for you to listen to. Have a listen,
:32:01. > :32:06.what do you think it is? Do you think it sounds like geese? Ducks?
:32:06. > :32:09.No. Surprisingly, that is the sound of two males fighting. Male bears.
:32:09. > :32:16.That's right. The males are moving into the woods. They are on the
:32:16. > :32:19.prowl. They are looking for a mate. The ladies are receptive, they are
:32:20. > :32:25.scent marking, leaving their calling cards if you will. I wanted
:32:25. > :32:32.to know more about this. So I went on a scent-marking masterclass with
:32:32. > :32:39.the man who knows all about this. Dr Lynn, our bear man.
:32:39. > :32:45.The number one for marking scent is a good tree rub. You stand up and
:32:45. > :32:50.rub against the tree with your neck and shoulders. Then they like to
:32:50. > :32:57.turn around and they bite... Then they walk away, looking for
:32:57. > :33:04.something to urinate on as we go. So over this, unioniate on it as
:33:04. > :33:13.you go. This little one too? Yep.
:33:13. > :33:18.Am I marking well? You're doing a great job! Good. It's my first time
:33:18. > :33:23.you know! Another way that the bears mark is what we call the
:33:23. > :33:27.cowboy walk. They are down like this, they spread their legs far
:33:28. > :33:37.apart and grind each one into the ground as they go.
:33:37. > :33:45.Sometimes they are urinating as they go.
:33:45. > :33:50.I don't have to do that, though, do I? No, in the necessarily.
:33:50. > :33:57.I'm finding my inner bear. They are always interested in other
:33:57. > :34:01.bear's scents. So they will sniff this and not just sniffing it, but
:34:01. > :34:10.opening up their mouth to draw in the scent. Anything with another
:34:10. > :34:20.bear's path, they can pick it up. Up, perfect! It is not easy to
:34:20. > :34:21.
:34:21. > :34:27.sniff and open your mouth without snorting! So, do you think I'll cut
:34:27. > :34:37.it as a bear? You're a natural! It's a hard life. It is non-stop,
:34:37. > :34:42.bear life. Well, I knew that was not pretty.
:34:42. > :34:49.That is all done to attract the males, the big Boyce. It is vital,
:34:49. > :34:57.the whole scent-marking business. Imagine the scene, you have a 250
:34:57. > :35:04.pound female, and she is mating with a 450-pound male bear. That is
:35:04. > :35:13.about 200 kilos. Now, let's up the an terbgs a bit. Look at Big Harry.
:35:13. > :35:17.He weighs in at 600 pounds. That is about 43 stone, 270 kilos.
:35:17. > :35:23.Picture the scene if you will. In order for mum to mate, the first
:35:23. > :35:27.thing she has to do is break up with her year ling cubs. This is a
:35:27. > :35:33.traumatic time of year. It is traumatic for both of them, the
:35:33. > :35:37.mother and the cub. It is fiscal. It is where the mum has to reject
:35:37. > :35:45.her year lings from the family group. What you see now is Aspen
:35:45. > :35:52.and his moment of break-up with June, his mother. There he is being
:35:52. > :35:57.shunned. Then that bond is broken forever. June is left with Aster,
:35:57. > :36:02.the female year ling, she should be doing family break-up with Aster,
:36:02. > :36:06.but the problem with June is that she is not very good at the whole
:36:06. > :36:11.break-up thing. I heard something else had happened deep in the woods.
:36:11. > :36:21.I pulled on my gators to find out what was going on with June and her
:36:21. > :36:22.
:36:22. > :36:26.family. Look at what expert tree climbers
:36:26. > :36:36.they are. Even when you think they are getting large. I'm happy that
:36:36. > :36:39.
:36:39. > :36:49.the family break-up was not forever! Lynn is off again.
:36:49. > :36:50.
:36:50. > :37:00.It is very bogy. -- boggy.
:37:00. > :37:02.
:37:02. > :37:05.Oh, look... That's Aspen? Yes. So, he is really back for the
:37:05. > :37:11.mother bonding. Look! Playing. He is properly back
:37:11. > :37:14.into the fold. This is not the scene we were expecting to see?
:37:14. > :37:19.Absolutely not. Look at them, they are play-
:37:19. > :37:24.fighting, they are gelled again as a family unit. So the family break-
:37:24. > :37:30.up in this instance for June was not for real? No, as you get close
:37:30. > :37:33.to family break-up, the year lings become more independent, but they
:37:33. > :37:37.are different personalities. Aspen is one that is more independent,
:37:37. > :37:41.but he is back with her. Now we see that he is really trying to bond
:37:41. > :37:46.and to become a part of the family again.
:37:46. > :37:50.And June, obviously, is the kind of mother that just can't say goodbye!
:37:50. > :37:55.Yeah, right! This is a pattern for her.
:37:56. > :38:02.Yeah, she has done this before. Look at that, my goodness sakes.
:38:02. > :38:12.What does that mean? We have wondered about that for years. We
:38:12. > :38:21.have narrowed it down, we think it is just a form of bonding! We can
:38:21. > :38:26.see here that Aster is interested in the camera. Max, our cameraman...
:38:26. > :38:31.She has had a good old bite at the microphone. The perils of filming
:38:31. > :38:36.with wild animals. Max, don't put your hand in there!
:38:36. > :38:41.Let her have it. There we go.
:38:41. > :38:47.I don't think we are going to get that back.
:38:47. > :38:53.I have said it before, but seeing them like this, so playful, so
:38:53. > :38:58.juvenile, I can't believe that it is that time. The family break up,
:38:58. > :39:03.tomorrow or the day after, who knows with June, but it is soon.
:39:03. > :39:08.Yes, we can't predict when they are going to leave. They are nursing,
:39:08. > :39:13.grooming, playing, right up to the end.
:39:13. > :39:18.They are settling down now. It is a good time for us to leave to check
:39:18. > :39:22.out another bear. OK. We'll leave them to their
:39:22. > :39:27.family time. A rare and difficult situation for June. She is torn
:39:27. > :39:32.between her instincts to mate and her mothering instincts to be a
:39:32. > :39:35.mother. She is very confused Richard, poor June.
:39:35. > :39:41.That will be an interesting insurance claim for the camera.
:39:41. > :39:45.Welcome back to the Masai Mara in Kenya. Down here it is all about
:39:45. > :39:53.the lions, up in the north it is all about the elephants.
:39:53. > :39:58.But now back to the elephants. Later, but we have asked you for a
:39:58. > :40:03.name for Moja's mum for the Mara Predator Project. The Mara Predator
:40:03. > :40:08.Project finds out more about and conserves the lions of the Masai
:40:08. > :40:14.Mara. Naming the lions is very important as part of identifying,
:40:14. > :40:18.so they like a choice. Boy, did you suggest names. Tens of thousands of
:40:18. > :40:27.them flooded in to Facebook and Twitter. The Mara Predator Project
:40:27. > :40:31.found a choice. They have gone for it here it is Nyota. Which means in
:40:31. > :40:36.Swahili "star" thank you to everyone who suggested that.
:40:36. > :40:42.We have been captured by the flight of Moja and Nyota. Because they are
:40:42. > :40:52.alone out there just the two of them. That is not how it works for
:40:52. > :40:52.
:40:52. > :41:00.the lions normally. Moja explore his world alone.
:41:00. > :41:06.With little game around, hunting pack tis is limited and not all
:41:06. > :41:14.that effective. -- practise is limited and not all
:41:14. > :41:18.that effective. The only thing it achieves is annoying his mum. With
:41:18. > :41:28.no brothers or sisters, he is missing out on the opportunity to
:41:28. > :41:32.build up his strength. And to learn how to ablion.
:41:32. > :41:38.Lions are the most social cats. It make it is so poignant when you
:41:38. > :41:43.watch little Moja playing on his own. Especially when you now how it
:41:43. > :41:50.is for lion cubs in a pride with lots of brothers and sisters to
:41:50. > :41:54.play with. Ten miles to the north, there is a whole bunch of lions for
:41:54. > :41:58.whom their life is a very different experience. It is time for us to
:41:58. > :42:08.meet the Acacia Pride. There are eight cubs in the family, but don't
:42:08. > :42:15.
:42:15. > :42:24.be fooled by the cute faces. These guys are as tough as they come.
:42:24. > :42:30.Any cubs showing weakness is arch easy target.
:42:31. > :42:40.-- is an easy target. They are not afraid to spar with the big girls.
:42:41. > :42:43.
:42:43. > :42:47.These are mums who will put them firmly in their place.
:42:47. > :42:57.When a huge buffalo crosses the family's path, it's time to watch
:42:57. > :43:33.
:43:33. > :43:39.Today, it's just target practise, but these cubs aren't afraid to get
:43:39. > :43:43.in the mix. If you've ever doubted me when I
:43:43. > :43:49.said how tough buffalo are, now you have seen for yourself. They are
:43:49. > :43:53.really, really tough. Now, Moja, it is looking a bit doom and gloom
:43:53. > :44:00.right now. There is no food left, he is on his own, but he has two
:44:00. > :44:05.things in his favour, firstly his mum, Nyota. She is a tough lion and
:44:05. > :44:12.an amazing hunter. It turns out that the genes on his father's side
:44:12. > :44:17.are very good. We are researching the heck out of this. We are pretty
:44:17. > :44:21.sure he is directly descended from this guy. He is Notch. Trust me,
:44:21. > :44:26.I'm not exaggerating when I say that this lion is a legend. He is
:44:26. > :44:31.believed by many to be the finest lion ever to stalk these plains. We
:44:31. > :44:36.know he is called Notch, you can see the notch on his nose, that is
:44:36. > :44:40.who he is. Give us a little bit of time to get this nailed down and to
:44:40. > :44:46.be absolutely certain. We will bring the full story on Sunday's
:44:46. > :44:51.show. Get your goose bumps ready, it will be amazing.
:44:51. > :44:58.Now, over the spring, Gordon Buchannan has been living with,
:44:58. > :45:06.well, amongst others, two of this year's young polar bear cubs. Born
:45:06. > :45:10.under the Arctic snow in the Arctic island of Svalbard.
:45:10. > :45:15.Meet Mickey and Luka. They've been holed up with their
:45:15. > :45:19.mum in a snow den since they were born, three months ago. This is
:45:19. > :45:27.their first time in the great outdoors.
:45:27. > :45:31.Their mum, Lyra, has not eaten since she entered the den. If she
:45:31. > :45:35.does not hunt soon, her milk will dry up and the cubs will die. What
:45:35. > :45:44.the family don't know yet is that this is going to be the toughest
:45:44. > :45:50.year ever for polar bears. I've come here to Svalbard in
:45:50. > :45:54.Norway to follow their story. The problems facing Mickey and Luka
:45:54. > :46:02.and their mother here are all around me.
:46:02. > :46:07.Normally, you would be able to travel across this bay on a skidoo.
:46:07. > :46:11.It should be thick ice. There is absolutely no sea ice here. No boat
:46:11. > :46:17.in living memory has been able to sail these waters at this time of
:46:17. > :46:21.year, but today my boat is powering through a sea of broken ice to Edge
:46:21. > :46:27.Island, where I'm hoping to see Mickey and Luka. As we near the
:46:27. > :46:31.island, I spot a bear with cubs, but these cubs are older than
:46:31. > :46:41.Mickey and Luka. Travelling through this landscape to actually see
:46:41. > :46:43.
:46:43. > :46:49.them... It is out of this world. This is a mother with two cubs from
:46:49. > :46:54.last year. She's done incredibly well to keep both of them alive.
:46:54. > :46:58.This female is clearly hungry. She comes right up to the boat.
:46:58. > :47:02.I must smell good. I don't think you can get away from the fact that
:47:03. > :47:12.life out here is tough. I think this year is going to be tougher
:47:13. > :47:13.
:47:13. > :47:18.than ever for the polar bears. All the polar bears here have a
:47:18. > :47:22.hard few months ahead. Especially the younger cubs like Mickey and
:47:22. > :47:27.Luka. The sea ice is their mother's
:47:27. > :47:34.hunting ground. She must eat soon if she is to continue to suckle
:47:34. > :47:39.them. Mickey and Luka's lives are on the
:47:40. > :47:46.line. I've been set the task of getting
:47:46. > :47:56.to know these polar bears. And that's no many feat in these
:47:56. > :47:58.
:47:58. > :48:05.cold, harsh conditions. When I first see Mickey and Luka
:48:05. > :48:15.they are still at the den. Oh, that snow looks quite fresh. Or it's
:48:15. > :48:17.
:48:17. > :48:27.been recently excavated. It does. Look! Look! The face of a baby
:48:27. > :48:33.
:48:33. > :48:39.polar bear. Fantastic. I didn't have to wait too long.
:48:39. > :48:43.Liar rar uses the few days outside of the den to check that the cubs
:48:43. > :48:48.will be strong enough to follow her when she goes off to hunt.
:48:48. > :48:52.Thinking about it from the mother's perspective, she's been literally
:48:52. > :49:00.starving herself. All of her resources have been going into
:49:00. > :49:06.nurturing the point to the cubs, so that they can leave the den and
:49:06. > :49:11.journey on the ice. There are many dangers. There are
:49:11. > :49:17.rogue males in search of an easy snack, but they can't risk waiting
:49:17. > :49:21.much longer. It's so peaceful and serene up here. The den represents
:49:21. > :49:30.safety and security. All of the real dangers for these polar bears
:49:30. > :49:39.lay ahead of them. If Mickey and Luka are to survive
:49:39. > :49:45.then liara -- Lyra needs to drag them away from the sanctuary of the
:49:45. > :49:49.den, a journey of a lifetime, a journey to find food.
:49:49. > :49:54.Beautiful stuff from Gordon. It seems that the spring is causing
:49:54. > :49:59.much bigger problems for the polar bears than for the black bears in
:49:59. > :50:07.Minnesota. At least here in the North Woods the cubs have food it
:50:07. > :50:13.is a very different situation for Mickey and Luka. Already born into
:50:13. > :50:22.a barren and emptiness, 2012 will be dealing them a difficult hand.
:50:22. > :50:27.The mother is going to try to find them a traditional pre y of seals.
:50:27. > :50:34.The seals come up to the surface to breathe through the holes that is
:50:34. > :50:38.where the polar bears lie in wait. Mickey and Luka have to learn the
:50:38. > :50:42.essential hunting skills, just like the black bears. They have to learn
:50:42. > :50:51.to forage, but with the sea ice melting, this could be a lesson
:50:51. > :50:55.that they lose out on. If that is so, they could go hungry. The
:50:55. > :51:03.mother must find food if her little cup cubs are to survive. Of all of
:51:03. > :51:07.the baby animals featured in Planet Earth Live, essentially, our little
:51:07. > :51:13.polar bear cubs face the biggest fight for their lives. We will
:51:13. > :51:16.follow that story again on Sunday. Right, now it is time to catch up
:51:16. > :51:23.with the grey whale migration. We are following the grey whale
:51:23. > :51:29.migration and their cubs, up the spaifbg coast on the 5,000 mile
:51:29. > :51:33.journey. Killer whales are omni present. However, we have not seen
:51:33. > :51:38.a killer whale since May 3rd. That is unusual. There are a few
:51:38. > :51:43.theories. One of them is that the incredible humpback whale
:51:43. > :51:47.intervention you remember from last week, well, since then, there have
:51:47. > :51:52.been over 200 humpback whales in the bay. They are there feeding on
:51:52. > :52:01.krill. The presence of the humpbacks may be deterring the
:52:01. > :52:07.killer Wales -- whales from hunting in the bay. There they are
:52:07. > :52:16.breaching and tail-slapping. It may be keeping the killer whales from
:52:16. > :52:26.Monterey Bay, but unfortunately, you cannot keep them away from
:52:26. > :52:33.these grey whales all of the time. They are very strong and graceful.
:52:33. > :52:39.We have had some sightings, there is news of a killer whale attempted
:52:39. > :52:44.attack in the Monterey Bay area. This is a deep-water marine canyon
:52:44. > :52:48.more than a mile deep. The killer whales use this to their advantage.
:52:48. > :52:52.They tried it on one particular grey, but failed. What the grey
:52:52. > :52:57.whale mother did was to circumnavigate around the deep
:52:57. > :53:02.water canyon and rather than crossing those deep waters she
:53:02. > :53:08.hugged the shoreline, moving in to shallower waters. It is a longer
:53:08. > :53:13.route, but it is a route that paid off for our particular grey. A
:53:13. > :53:19.clever grey, a very clever grey in this case. We do know, however,
:53:19. > :53:22.that a third of our grey whale calves do not make it. A third do
:53:22. > :53:27.not make it to their final destination. These shots are from
:53:27. > :53:34.yesterday. That, you can see is a lone grey
:53:34. > :53:38.whale. That's a female, an adult. She is travelling alone north of
:53:38. > :53:43.the bay. As she is travelling north, unfortunately, we can only assume
:53:43. > :53:49.the worst, that her calf did not make it. We are to continue
:53:49. > :53:53.following this epic migration. It really is an ongoing struggle. Such
:53:53. > :53:58.a saga, Richard? Julia, the footage from your teams in America is
:53:58. > :54:02.amazing. It is testimony to the dedication of the camera teams that
:54:02. > :54:06.we have posted around the world. Each bringing you intimate moments
:54:06. > :54:11.into the lives of our young animals and their families, but there is a
:54:11. > :54:17.team who has taken the whole up close and personal thing to a new
:54:17. > :54:21.level. There is now a special report from Toby Strong and his
:54:21. > :54:27.meerkat team working in the Kalahari.
:54:28. > :54:33.Swift's family have allowed our camera crew close enough to capture
:54:33. > :54:38.every intimate moment. I've been lucky enough to film with
:54:38. > :54:44.guerrillas, bears, none of them have ever sat on my head... I guess
:54:44. > :54:53.that's a good thing. Crucially, the filming does not
:54:54. > :54:59.interfere with their natural behaviour.
:54:59. > :55:07.The meerkats here have been studied for over two decades. It means that
:55:07. > :55:12.they are completely used to humans. Having had lots of contact with
:55:12. > :55:19.scientists studying them over the years, they see our crew as part of
:55:19. > :55:26.the landscape. Swift is taking shade in the shadow of our
:55:26. > :55:34.director's buttocks! That is some substantial shade there! The
:55:34. > :55:41.meerkats are naturally curious, if they weren't, they would never find
:55:41. > :55:47.the prey that lies buried in the sand. While they give us great
:55:47. > :55:54.stories a tall cameraman makes a perfect advantage point to scan for
:55:54. > :55:58.predators. Will you keep still up there, please?! Well, they all seem
:55:59. > :56:04.happy. I have time to show you two bits of footage that I would love
:56:04. > :56:08.you to see. First of all, this. We were out looking for buffalo. We
:56:08. > :56:12.came across this fight between two big bulls. Their fights are violent.
:56:12. > :56:16.They have been known to kill one another. They clash and try to gore
:56:16. > :56:20.each other. It really is violent. The dominant bull is probably the
:56:20. > :56:27.one with the thickest horns. The winner of the fight is the one that
:56:27. > :56:33.goes on to stay with the herd, to mate and protect the calves, the
:56:33. > :56:40.lone one is the terrible ones that you meet on the Savannah, all alone,
:56:40. > :56:46.full of bitterness and regret. Now, this is a far more symbolic sort of
:56:46. > :56:50.afar, these guys will lock horns and spire. Once they have
:56:50. > :56:57.established who is the strongest, the winner claims the herd and the
:56:57. > :57:02.fight is over. So a very different, a more gentle fight. Those are two
:57:02. > :57:06.of the things that we spotted out there in the Masai Mara. There are
:57:06. > :57:11.crews out there all day, gathering footage like that I thought you
:57:11. > :57:17.might like to see it! On Sunday we are tracking down the male bears
:57:18. > :57:24.moving in to mate in the territory and the latest news on the June,
:57:24. > :57:28.Aspen, Aster family break-up. Will they break-up? And the big news
:57:28. > :57:33.that is in right now, is that ten miles away a forest fire is raging.
:57:33. > :57:37.It has erupted. That is exactly where one of our black bear
:57:37. > :57:42.families is living. We will have the latest on that when we see you
:57:42. > :57:47.on Sunday. Well, it has been another action-
:57:47. > :57:50.packed show. There is so much to see all around the world. Let's
:57:50. > :57:57.have a look at what is coming up on Sunday.
:57:57. > :58:06.We learn more of Moja's past and what it means for his future.
:58:06. > :58:13.What does the arrival of adult males mean for the bear mums? That
:58:13. > :58:20.is about it for Planet Earth Live, tonight. I have to say this the --
:58:20. > :58:27.is the first time we have been live on air if in the mass yie Mara and