Planet Earth Live (2012) s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
For wild baby animals, this is the most critical time in their young lives.
Right aRos the planet, May is their make or break month.
Over the next three weeks, we are going to be following some of their stories as they struggle for survival.
In Africa, Moja the lion cub and his mum are desperately looking for food.
In North America, bear cubs Herbie and Fern face the prospect of freezing to death when a sudden snow fall catches them out.
And in Sri Lanka, baby macaquee gremlin is growing up in a tough society.
Hello and welcome to Planet Earth Live.
It has begun at last.
Let me formally welcome you to the Masai Mara, magnificent.
It's also night.
I'm coming to you, as the name suggests, live from the heart of Kenya right now.
Planet Earth Live is truly a global event.
Julia Bradley is 8,000 miles away where this critical month is affecting the lives of a very different cast of baby animals.
It's 1.
50 here in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and home to about 25,000 black bears.
That's why I'm here.
It's one of North America's last great wildernesss.
This is how Planet Earth Live the series is going to work.
Right around the globe, May is a critical time in the natural world.
We've sent teams of experts out across the plan Tote capture the drama of this incredible time of year Across the planet to.
In the nor them hemisphere, it's spring.
Baby animals take their first tentative steps.
As well as our black bears, Herbie and Fern, we'll follow the fortunes of mickey and Luca, newly emerged polar bears.
In the tropics, May brings the end of the rain aye season.
The rains in Africa and Asia have triggered a baby elephant bonanza in Kenya.
But for our lion cubs, times are hard.
May brings big challenges for other young animals.
Young giant otters in Peru, tiny meerkat pups in South Africa.
And a family of macaques in Sri Lanka.
In California, this time of year marks the start of the perilous grey whale migration and changes the life of a very special sea otter pup.
We'll be following their stories in this, the most important month for baby animals in the natural world.
We genuinely have no idea what their fate will be.
These are real animals, real lives in real time.
You will be able to follow them every step of the way right here and on the web where you will get The very latest news as it comes in.
So, over the next three weeks, this tent is going to be my home and I would like you to join me here live in the heart of what is one of the wildest places on the planet, the Masai Mara.
I've begun the whole thing with hat hair - my mistake.
I'm going to be following the lives of the predator that really has put The mums hunt together, bringing back meat for all the family.
But not all cubs are this lucky.
This is Moja.
His name means one in civil war hily or loner.
He has no problems or sisters, he and his mother are outcasts, they are alone and Moja is facing starvation right now.
He's in real trouble.
We have no idea what the future holds for him.
All we can say right now, as we begin Planet Earth Live is that we know the odds are stacked heavily against him.
Moja is only five months old so he's a bit like a toddler really.
His mother's milk gives him a bit of comfort, but we won't survive without solids.
It's up to his mum to make sure he gets them.
As a single parent, she's having a hard time keeping him going.
At this time of year, there is very little prey.
That really brings us to the very reason of why we are here at this time of year and genuinely just before we went live somebody reported and in fact we saw a buffalo over there.
There may be a hippo over there.
Anything may happen.
The fact is though, those are one of the few animals still remaining here and big prey like that to a single mother like Moja's mum really represent one heck of a challenge.
As far as she's concerned, the cupboard is bare right now.
In the dry season, there are more wild animals walking across these Plains than anywhere else on earth.
But we're here in the middle of the rainy season.
The wildebeest are on their way, but right now, they're 200 mails to the south.
This is the hardest time of year to be a lion 200 miles to the south.
If the adults have it tough, the cubs have it even tougher.
Straightaway I think if we are going to get an idea of Moja's situation, we should take a proper look at him with some films we've made.
Let's take a look at the little fella.
You can see just how lonely he is, first of all.
That actually is a problem straightaway.
You don't have to see an expert to see he's one vulnerable little lion.
You can see ribs and hips and even lying down is hard work.
He's in serious need of a good meal.
Right now, his mum needs to be out hunting for him to bring him the solid food he so desperately needs.
And the good news is, she seems to be one heck of a mum.
She has been out hunting for him, which is what we wanted to see.
So we are going to show you some film of that.
We have with us, for this whole exercise for the next three weeks, some of the best cameramen and women in the world so we can show you some astonishing stuff.
Take a lack at this.
Apology for the loss of That, to be honest, is one of many such hunts we hope to be able to bring you.
I wanted to just show off some of the camera work.
It was absolutely magnificent.
The problem is, what happens next, I have to say.
If you are a parent, you may be a bit skwee mish because, well, it gets a little tricky.
You may be shifting in your seat, but this is what happened.
Trust me, she is a good mum, really a good mum.
Here is what I'm going on about.
She's caught - and that's good - but she's eating it.
All of it.
That's because she really is Moja's only chance.
She needs to keep herself fit and well so she can feed him.
She's not being a bad mum.
She will take that back to him in the form of milk.
If you have cats at home by the way and see what is about to happen right now and you think, my cat does that, mine do that and I have six.
That milk will be comforting but not enough to keep him alive.
Straightaway, a bit of drama with Moja.
The point of this exercise is, he's out there right now in the Moja's situation is desperate.
Mum heads off again to try and find something to eat.
This time, Moja decides to follow her.
It's a very risky strategy.
Moja is weak with hunger and following her is putting his life in danger.
He's not safe out on the open plains.
But it's make or break time for this little lion.
He's literally starving to death.
It's a very brave decision, but is it the right one? In the rainy season, the grass grows tall and mum makes full use A passing elephant calf has nothing A good sized warthog is much more Apology for the loss of To get his strength back, he needs to feed for at least a few hours.
These hyenas are hungry too and they want a piece of the action.
On her own, going head-to-head with hyenas is potentially deadly.
His Mum faces a terrible dilemma.
Moja needs to eat and eat well.
With Night falling, will she flee or And moments like this are exactly what the show is going to be all about, real life animals making life-and-death decisions right now.
So did she make the decision? I'll leave you with a cliff hanger, we'll find out later on because right now we are going to cross a third of the way around the globe To Julia Bradbury in Minnesota.
Welcome back to the Northwoods of Minnesota 16 miles south of the Canadian border, 8,000 miles away from Richard and this is really bear country.
The cubs are about three-and-a-half months old.
Over the next few weeks, you will get to know the bear families very, very well.
Bear families like yule yet and her three little ones.
Shs the hand some Juliet, a favourite of mine, this is her with her three cubs, Sam, Sybil and Sophie.
She's an experienced parent, this is her fourth litter and they are healthy and suckling well.
Let's meet her baby trio team.
Sam is a male little cub, he's adventurous, boisterous and look, he's just that little bit accident prone as Welch oops.
There we go.
Sophie is much more laid back.
This is his sister, the one underneath Sam.
Yes, he can be quite annoying, but don't worry, she gives as good as she gets.
Feisty little one that one.
And finally, this fare faced cutey is Sybil, the smallest and most fragile but certainly has a lot of spirit.
We have been a part of the cubs' lives from the beginning for months.
We have had cameras in their dens.
Look at this.
This is the Den Cam from not so long ago.
What I want you to do particularly Is listen to the noises that emerge Even in the den, the cubs are communicating with their mother, each little cry means something different, can you roll over so I can suckle you, you are sitting on me mum or I'm hungry mum.
We'll learn so much about bear noises over the next few weeks.
A month hag here, things went a little bit wrong for the bears and it's all down to the weather which turned on its head and that caused chaos.
Normally Minnesota should be under a foot of snow at this time of year.
But with the early arrival of Spring, it looks like this.
The melting snow flooded Juliet's den.
She was forced to evacuate and move her cubs above ground a full month Before they were ready to face the outside world.
Juliet had to find a safe place for them and created a day bed underneath a large red pine Apology for the loss of With the weather warming up, it It was now that Juliet's experience really paid off.
She knew she had to keep her cubs dry and warm during the snowstorm.
She literally licked the snow flakes off their I can hear your hearts melting at home at the sight of the cubs.
Take a listen again to that noise, the humming noise of the cubs.
That is the sound of a content cub.
You will normally hear that when a cub is suckling.
Juliet is an experienced mum, caring and attentive and aware and experience out here can make all the difference between life-and-death.
Jewel is a first time mum.
She's got two little cubs, Herbie and Fern and her lack of experience is not working out well for Herbie and Fern.
Herbie is shaking up in the tree.
He shouldn't be really up on a tree, he should be on a day bed warm.
Herbie and Fern have been put in real danger inadvertently by their mum.
Find out how they fare later on.
We have a Den Cam and Hammond cam.
There he is, just there.
Thank you.
We take the trouble to link up live all around the globe and you have an odd pop at me.
See you in a bit, Julia.
We are live all around the globe right now.
Julia's there in Minnesota.
We might have saved a few quid on the globe, that's not an expensive special effect.
That's me in the Masai Mara and that's Sri Lanka.
No expense spared there, I made that myself.
Gavin is following the macaques in Sri Lanka, one in particular.
Meet Gremlin.
She's a nine week old toque macaque.
She's very cute but very fragile.
Macaque society has a strict pecking order.
Gremlin's mum is near the very bottom of the pile, making Gremlin pretty much the lowest of the low in a dangerous world.
Apart from the squabbles within the troop, there are large and country Reptiles living in the forest.
Hunting dogs are a problem too.
Tiny babies like Gremlin would be a welcome meal.
If that wasn't enough, this busy road cuts right through the territory.
So it's no surprise that one in three babies will die before reaching their first birthday.
I really hope Gremlin isn't that one.
To survive, young Gremlin is going To have to learn fast and keep her What I love is that they play out their daily dramas against this beautiful backdrop of this ancient Ruined city.
It's a good time of year and they've got six newborn babies in this troupe.
They all look very similar, even to the trained eye.
What singles Gremlin out to me is that she's often on her own away from mum and has a distinctive white tip on her tail.
Gremlin's mother is your typical working mum.
Hard at work foraging during the day to feed herself and to produce enough milk for Gremlin.
Gremlin just gets under her feet.
So for this little monkey, learning life's lessons will have to be done the hard way.
On her own.
Luckily, she's a confident young monkey, happy to venture away from the safety of her mother's arms.
Happy to shadow the infants, you can see her working out what she should be doing to fit into this society.
May in Sri Lanka is seriously hot.
Today, the temperature's well into the 30s.
Gremlin needs to learn how to cool For the older macaques, a mere Puddle won't do and confidence It's going to be a while before Gremlin tries these stunts.
Now, after all that paddling around, she's worked up quite an appetite.
Being the adventurous type, she's She's got a year to a year-and-a-half before she's fully weaned and until then, milk will always be best.
At last, she's reunited with mum.
She gets the cuddle and milk she needs.
Gremlin's life down the bottom of the pecking order is always going to be precarious.
For tonight, she's back in the safety of her mother's arms.
Come on, tell me your face isn't doing this.
They are gorgeous! I must mention, by the way, because you will have noticed it's the rainy season here in Kenya and it's started in a big way.
It's really, really seriously rain, but we'll carry on as long as we can, I'm sure we couldn't have any problems.
Now, I've had it explained to me that it's late to talk to Gavin right now because he's two-and-a half hours ahead of us in Kenya which mean he's four-and-a-half hours of you in the UK, being live around the UK is very, very complicated.
Gavin's in bed, so I spoke to him earlier on.
Gavin, your heart has to go out to Gremlin, but life at the bottom of the heap was never going to be easy.
Realistically, what do you think our chances of survival are? Think Gremlin's chances are high.
She's a feisty little monkey and her mum is looking after her, so I think she's got a good chance of surviving.
Did you know as soon as you clapped eyes on her that she was going to be a major character for you to follow? The honesty is, a lot of monkeys look very similar and she stood out initially just because of that white tail, but she's turned out to be one of the pluckiest little youngsters.
On the issue of looks, Gavin, you spend a lot of time following these and we are looking forward to finding out more, but they've got a face really only a mother could love, I'm being polite?! I've actually got a picture of you as a baby here, Richard.
I think they're great looking little babies.
Great looking babies.
I know they look like Gremlins, but no, I love 'em! We wish little Gremlin the very best.
You've filmed here quite a lot haven't you? Yes, I've been to the Masai Mara countless times, I'm jealous you are there but I'm also pleased to be here in Sri Lanka with the monkey group.
Yeah, it's been raining here mostly.
Thank you very much though, we look forward to talking to you later in the week.
We wish you all the very best and the best to little Gremlin.
Sorry about being rude about her face, I was just being silly, she didn't hear! You are back with me live and getting wet here in rainy Kenya in the rain aye season in the Masai Mara.
I wanted to talk to you about some of the kit because we've brought some clever stuff, including thermal imaging cameras.
This is a new generation of them.
We've got one over there being manned by Sue right now.
We can show you some of the images we have got from earlier on.
Oh, this is us, lack, that's me with my torch and that's, I don't know who they are! That's the crew, bless them, yeah, all right.
We've all been on telly, that's nice.
Actually, it's not just for that, much as we enjoy it, it's very useful.
We have had some great shots already.
This is a buff foe that we saw.
This was today, I believe, as we were live.
This is a rogue male buffalo just now buffalo.
They are one of the most dangerous things you will find in after ach.
Usually they are old males that are dominant males find in Africa.
We can use to it spot dangers out there.
Sue, can you pan left to we can have a look and see if there's anything out there presenting a danger to us? We are in no danger at all.
Panning out there to the left.
That's a guard.
That's my car and a fire.
I think we are all right.
Look, there they are! There's the buffalos right now.
That's Don't worryer we'll be OK.
If anything nasty happens, I'll throw Pat, the cameraman in front of them.
It does illustrate the point, because there are times of year when you will pan that camera across this wilderness at this time and it will just be alive with so much life here on the Masai Mara.
Right now there isn't.
If you are a single lioness such as Moja's mum, things like elephants, buffalo, hippo, they really are going to be too tricky.
It's a very difficult time to be a lion on the Masai Mara right now.
Here is Moja.
He's an only child of a single mother and they are casts from their pride.
Moja was finally getting some solid food but hyenas were threatening to steal the first food he'd eaten with a week.
His mum was left with an agonising decision, either fight and allow Moja to have a good meal or should she decide to play it safe, abandon the kill.
It's agony.
The kind of decision we are going to be watching over the next few weeks and the crews were up very early to go out and see what had happened.
This is what they found.
First impressions didn't look good, just as they were entering Moja and her mum's territory, they found a den and warthog bones stripped bare.
There's nothing much beft for Moja there.
The thing is, Moja really needed to eat if he was going to get what he needed right now.
No idea if he got anything like enough.
I saddled up and went to see for myself and took along with me possibly the very pest person to be Jackson Looseyia has lived alongside the lions for his entire Let's get up.
We were both very relieved to see our struggling cub alive and well.
Luckily for Moja, his mum made the right decision giving up her kill to protect him.
She's going to need to hunt again soon to provide her with the meat He's missing out on.
But here, this is easier said than done.
This state is basically bare.
Territory now, there are pockets that are just survivable through these tough times, this month, this specific time when there's a few bits of things left, apart from This! It's abundant.
It's no-man's-land.
It's both the safest place for her to be and the worst place because, Well True.
Absolutely true.
It really is just unimaginibly tough.
Jackson's join med here in the tent, I suspect not just to shelter from the rain.
You don't mess about with your rainy season here, do you, that is some rain going on.
Their situation is terrible isn't it? Exactly.
It's bucketing, as you can see how much water is coming out of this tent.
Really, Moja and his mother are cold out there.
It's horribly difficult.
I want to get some geography on this.
I have a map over here.
It's not a geography lesson, it's interesting.
This is Moja, the patch of land here, no man's-land because there's no prey that stays there during the rainy season.
These are the other prides, each of these dominating this territory, the pride is handed down to the female lion.
That's theirs.
If Moja and his mum were to stray into these areas, they would not get a warm welcome? Indeed, they are in great danger, if you think about how much is surrounding them.
Moja is in great danger if he meets some of the big pride.
It will be bad.
Our crews are going out daily, hourly, to keep on eye on what is happening.
We'll update you for any encounters.
We are not just following lions, another of Kenya's iconic animals, elephants, for whom this year means something very different, they are having a great time.
It's led to a babyboom in fact.
One to have crews has taken off 200 miles north to Samburu to Have a look.
Grace and Sky are two of Kenya's newest elephant arrivals.
Their home, Samburu National Reserve, has been transformed by life-giving rain.
Food and water are plentiful.
Elephants are pouring into the park to make the most of this bonanza.
Grace and Sky's mums are relaxed and catching up with old friends.
Grace and Sky may be having the time of their lives, but there are It is just dazzling watching those guys in the field, I could watch them all day, running about learning to be an elephant.
I think I'd be better than being an elephant than they are right now because they have a long way to go.
In this easier time, fun times for the elephants, there are dangers facing them.
Lions.
I guess this is the other side of the lion's story, just like in the Masai Mara, they are hungry and if they are lucky enough to live in a pride, they can take an elephant calf.
Grace and Sky are part of a big family with sisters, cousins, aunts and grandmothers watching over them through this most vulnerable period in their young lives.
That protection is everything to an elephant.
That's how they work.
Their experience is passed down from generation to generation.
It's a different experience for another bunch of elephants who are a very small herd, one in particular Emily is a young, inexperienced mother without access to that information and that experience and help.
They are in fact without a leader as well right now which means the whole herd is pretty much in total disarray.
Emily's calf is just three days old.
Just like a human baby, he relies entirely on his mother.
He needs to stop often to rest and suckle.
But his family have to keep moving to feed.
It's nearly 40 degrees in the sun.
He's at serious risk of dehydration.
Sun stroke is another killer.
He needs shade badly.
But Emily is a first time mum and has no-one to guide her through the first few confusing days of motherhood.
Emily's doing her best.
But her best migt not be enough to keep her calf alive might not be enough to keep her calf alive.
Just a reminder, these are real life dramas happening in the world right now.
We'll bring you more on that and many, many more.
We can now cross to Julia once more in North America.
Thank you.
Let's hope Emily and her calf have luck on their side.
Planet Earth Live is of course a global programme.
I meat a grey whale calf who's about to set off on a perilous 5,000 mile journey.
I have my first face-to-face encounter with a black bear.
And Richard joins the fight against elephant poaching in Samburu.
One, two, three Welcome back to bear country.
This really is the ultimate bear habitat.
We are surrounded by these Prenn did white and red pine trees.
This is a red pine, not the black bear's favourite climbing tree because look how easily the bark comes off.
Mama bears don't generally teach cubs to climb on the red pine.
So Jewel is a bear that might well make that mistake.
She's a first time mum.
Inadvertently, she's putting her cubs Herbie and Fern in mortal danger, she just doesn't know how to react with certain situations, snow being one of those situations.
Jewel had her cubs up a tree and they were visibly cold and Shivering while she stayed down on The cubs don't have the benefit of a thick winter coat like their mother.
Their tiny size left them Extremely vulnerable in the biting Jewel eventually returned to the Base of the tree and calls her cubs Once on the ground, we expected to see Jewel comfort and warm her cubs up.
But instead, she moved off again, leaving them struggling to keep up as they battled through the As darkness fell, the crew had to leave, as the temperatures dropped to minus ten.
And there was a real sense that remight not see the cubs alive again.
That we might not see the cubs alive again.
Heart-breaking images.
We all genuinely thought that Herbie and Fern would not make it through the night.
Remember, they're just three months old.
Their fur hasn't developed properly yet, it's still fluffy and not very insulating and they're meant to be in the warmth, safety and comfort of their dens.
So imagine the crew's amazement and joy when the following morning this is what they saw.
Despite the bitingly cold temperatures of the previous night, Jewel had somehow managed to work out that she needed to keep Herbie and Fern warm if they were to survive.
It turned out that Jewel had wandered off to find a good place to shelter her cubs.
She'd led them to safety and was now keeping them warm with her body heat.
Thankfully, the cubs seemed happy and content once more and are I don't know about you, I could just watch those kinds of scenes all day.
How lucky that I'm here 230 three weeks three weeks.
That was Herbie and Fern.
Let's see how they are this week.
They are doing a bit of climbing practice.
Mum, Jewel, is watching on.
Lackadaisical in her approach there.
Paying a bit of attention now, or is she just having a bit of a nap? Never really sure with Jewel.
She's learning as we are.
The nice thing about Herbie and Fern is that, as brother and sister, they get on very well.
Looking forward to getting to know those two a little better as the weeks go on.
We are watching young animals across the globe on Planet Earth, including grey whale calfs in Mexico.
The grey whale calves have begun their massive migration from the warm water nursery lagoons of Mexico up the coast towards Arctic waters.
Along the way, they're going to battle hunger, fatigue, all sorts of other things, including these, killer whales.
Cameer whales intent on separating mothers from their calves.
I went to Mexico about three weeks ago hoping to see a grey whale calf before she set off on this epic I've seen whales in the wild before, but I've never been close enough to touch one.
And the prospect is so exciting.
I'm shaking a little bit.
There we go.
Hello! There are an estimated 500 grey whale mums here, each with a newborn calf in what is effectively a giant nursery.
Holy moley, this is bizarre.
Look.
We've got whale soup in front of us unfolding.
Flippers and heads, dorsal ridges just twisting in the A little bit fishy.
Nothing too bad.
I'm prepared to live with that.
The experience of a lifetime.
Thank you.
That's a definite hello! Lovely to meet you too.
How incredible to touch.
Soft, soft skin and covered in scratches and whale lice and barnacles.
Hello, beautiful.
Nice barnacles.
This baby is only about four weeks old, but she's incredibly friendly and her mum is actually lifting her so that she can get a betterlike at me.
We are eye ball to eye ball.
Hello, beautiful, beautiful creature.
Hello Better look at me.
I can't think of another instance in the wild where an adult mother would encourage her young to go towards humans.
It just wouldn't happen.
You wouldn't find it with bears.
And so strange and wonderful.
Now, it's just showing off.
We've made true friends here.
It's an overwhelming feeling.
They're communicating with one another, they are communicating with us.
And when you look in the eye of a grey Whale, it's so soulful and peaceful.
It's just absolutely incredible.
There is something so special about these sea giants, I don't think I'll ever surpass that moment when I looked a grey whale calf and her mother in the eye.
We'll follow their journey, the 5,000 mile migration.
Come over to my map.
This is the route.
This is Mexico where I went to have my encounter with a grey whale calf and this is their entire journey.
This is the Bering Sea, the Arctic waters.
If they make it there and back, that's 10,000 miles.
These mammals are incredible, it's the biggest mammal migration in the world.
10,000 miles in one year.
They estimate that in a grey while's lifetime of 50 years, they might make up to 500,000 miles, that's around the world 20 times.
We've got spotters all along this route.
This is Monterey Bay in California and we've got a team there who sent through news to me only yesterday, not just news, I've got pictures for you from yesterday, of killer whales.
So the killer whales are moving in on that area.
These are the pictures fresh in from yesterday.
Look at that.
You can even see the coast Ryan in the background.
Very exciting.
Of course, we'll be waiting with baited breath to see what happens.
They move in pods of about seven or eight.
Their intention is to separate the mothers from the calves.
We've also got spotters in Kenya.
I understand that they've spotted a Hammond.
That's right, it's a Hammond.
They have, they have! Half a million miles for the grey whales, that is staggering.
The killer whales send a chill down your spine, they are so single-purposed.
I would also like to say, I was where Julia was not that long ago filming, ideally grey whiles that, 's whey went to see, not one, none.
I think Bradbury it was the anorak what they came to see.
Welcome back to Kenya.
Julia's having her lunch right now, Gavin's tucked up in bed and I'm here in the Masai Mara in the rainy season hoping I'm not about to be charged by a rogue bull buffalo.
Good.
Back to the action here.
Elephants, 200 miles to the north in Samburu.
Last time we saw Emily and her calf, the calf was weak and exposed, kept getting left out in the baking heat because he's inexperienced and was struggling to keep up with his young mum.
This herd is tiny, only a few young inexperienced around.
There are no elders to guide her.
That is what she needs.
That's how they learn all the time, elephant to elephant.
I have to tell you, the situation got a lot worse.
Monitoring all the elephants in Samburu is David and his team from Save the Elephants.
For him, every baby holds hope for the species and right now, he's very worried about Emily's calf.
We are looking for a young baby and we found the rest of the group but No sign of the baby.
So I'm a Emily's with the herd, but she's alone and her calf is nowhere to be seen.
David knows just how many threats there are to baby elephants in small, vulnerable herds like Emily's.
I suspect it could have been lions.
We have two massive males in this pack who're very specialised in killing young baby elephants.
We have seen their tracks around this area.
The team find a group of very full lay-ons in the salt scrub where It's part of nature for elephants to lose a baby.
But, this will be quite emotional for poor Emily to lose her first calf which was only A few days old.
Elephants have very complex emotions.
They respond to death just like us.
For Emily, she'll be mourning for the calf she Just lost.
Just a mile or so away, Grace and Sky are oblivious of the dangers around them.
They're protected by a barricade of trunks and legs.
Older family members constantly touch and reassure the babies, keeping them from trouble and helping them along.
And they have a herd leader who's Prepared to fight to the death for It was difficult.
To be fair, we knew this kind of thing could, probably would happen.
The lions are struggling too so I guess you could say on which side you view it from.
Grace and Sky are safe in their extended family.
Life is good on the whole for them but there is a danger facing them and I'm sorry, ashamed to have to tell you, that that danger comes from us.
In the last three years, one in four elephants in Samburu was killed.
Most of them at the hand of poachers, the illegal Ivory trade being at its worst for many years.
But there is hope.
David and his team are on the frontline of this fight.
It really makes me very sad.
What is wrong with people, you know, why are we doing this to wild animals who have no problem with us? It's a big day for David.
Grace and Sky's family are known to wander outside the safety of the park where poachers lie in wait.
I'm joining him and his team as they take desperate measures to try to protect them.
The plan is to put a radio tracking device on Sky and Grace's herd leader, but to do that, she has to Be sedated.
I can feel the tension.
Yes, everyone will be trying to protect this lion.
Lions could pop out of the bush.
This is a tense Moment for all of us.
Wow.
That's Suddenly around that Corner and there they are.
That's it.
It's a race against time.
She could go down at any moment and we have to be there to make sure Four minutes now.
She can't be far.
No, she's down.
Down, yes.
OK, This is about making noise to get the herd away from this elephant.
The moment the other females see a female down, all they want to do is protect her.
We are attacking her, as far as they are concerned.
We find her in one of the worst possible positions.
Her legs slipped in the mud and she's on her front crushing her lungs.
She could easily suffocate.
We've got to move fast.
The vet immediately checks That she's OK.
She's fine.
She's I'm given a vital job, keeping her The whole purpose of these big ears of course is to cool.
That's what they're for.
Very thin skin which means the vains radiate heat out because they are close to the surface.
The veins.
The skin feels rough and hard, as you would expect, and hot.
You get the impression the heat doesn't all come from the sun, some of it's from her.
One, two, Three.
Again.
OK, lift.
Well done.
A good position.
If you could help me here.
With the radio collar securely attached, it's time to bring her round.
We have three minutes and we'll see movement.
The Apology for the loss of It was stressful, I know.
These guys make that calculated judgment, the stress of that experience is more than offset by the value of having that transmitted collar on her.
She'll range way beyond Samburu Park.
The moment she does, she's in mortal danger and I think having that information, that database, is probably the most valuable tool in protecting her, her family, her offspring, her future.
Do you feel relieved? Very Much Indeed.
So Relieved.
Because I Wasn't Sure What Is Going To Happen.
She's a bit groggy but unharm and she heads off to rejoin her family.
This tracking device will enable David to watch over Grace and Sky and the rest of the herd to try to protect them from poachers.
I'm going to say it again, David and his team hate sedating elephants but fitting the collars are the best chance they stand of surviving against the poachers.
I don't know about you, but I'm probably not alone in thinking that Ivory poaching was like one of those Victorian diseases that had gone away completely but it turns out it hasn't, it's actually as prevalent as it was before.
The good news from Samburu is they are all up and well and fine and I'll be flying up north tomorrow to have a look at that myself.
I'll bring you that on Wednesday.
Julia, I have to tell you, that was one of THE most stressful things I've ever done in my life, I'm not exaggerating.
I'm certain that it was, Richard.
The thing is, we are in such a privileged position at the moment, aren't we, to have this proximity to wild animals, to get so close.
We are hear in bear country, the country is literally branded with bears, there are bear mugs and T-shirts and all sors, yet if you came here as a tourist, you are very unlikely to have an encounter with a bear.
I'm learning so much about the animals in such close quarters.
It's astonishing.
Being close to the elephant, helping keep her ear cool and seeing how it works as a radiator.
It was astonishing.
I'll check up and find out more later in the week.
Can't wait for that.
We are in this privileged situation in Minnesota because we have access to the black bears at an extraordinary level.
That's all thanks to one man Dr Rogers, he's a biologist.
He had a PhD in bears.
Around here, he's actually just known as the Bearman.
He really is quite extraordinary and he took me for my first nose to-nose encounter.
Trust me, you knead a big animal to match this nose, trust me, he took me for my first nose to have nose encounter With Juliet and we checked up on her three cubs as well.
I'm sorry, bear, I rushed up upon you.
You might be a little bit brave to get in here.
Never get between a mother and a cubs.
But it Takes more than a mother black bear to scare her.
Or maybe it takes more to scare you because you have been doing this for 45 years.
They're up there for sure, yes? For sure.
It's interesting.
Sorry, bear, what do you want? To you wonder what we are here for? I think this is the only place we can come in the world and see a mother with cubs like this and trust us.
Wild bear, remember this is a wild Bear? Yes.
Hello Mrs Bear.
Nothing Where are those cubs? They must be pretty high? I hope they come down.
With the cubs nowhere to be seen, We took our cue from mum and sat down to wait.
After 45 minutes, we heard scratchings in the tree above Juliet and the first of her cubs made they are way down to join mum.
Here we go.
Here we go.
I've never So vulnerable.
I can't believe I'm actually sitting here just a few Feet away from this adorable, He's feeding.
Someone else to join the party.
Is he the right size for his age, or Should he be bigger? He's doing OK.
Starting to nurse.
That's the sound Of nursing? Yes, that's the sound They do look like little humans when they stand on their hind legs? Yes.
It's actually like watching a That really was an emotional experience for me.
Perhaps it's because I'm a first time mum but the bears seem so toddler and human-like to me.
You will have also seen in the film the moment Ben Juliet moved towards us quite quickly.
That's called a bluster, that was my first bluster experience.
Although it looks like she was being aggressive, that's the bear's way of expressing her nervousness, not quite sure what's going on, so just makes a little warning noise, all the air coming out of her nose and she's making sure that you stand well back which of course I did.
I was very pleased that Dr Lynn was in front of me.
Hammond, if you were here, I'd put you in front of me as well, a sort of a double layer.
Julia, I don't know how many times I could have been told that the bluster wasn't a real attack, I still would have decided to be somewhere else at that moment.
I've come back out into the rain, that's the driving force out of all our stories here.
This has come down many the course of this show.
It really does fall very, very quickly.
But it is beautiful here in the Mara.
We have some pictures to show you.
Glorious.
Even though it's raining torrentially, this rain makes it, not only hard for the lions, but for the camera crews and wildlife spotters who've been out looking for them as well.
To be honest, we have been stuck in the rain, battling through rain.
There have been some adventurous missions and we'll be doing more before the end of the smo Show in three weeks' time.
This is my car.
We have already had rain up to there.
If it continues falling for the rest of the evening, tnts will be getting washed away.
We'll still be here on Wednesday though Tents.
There's a buffalo over there.
Can we have a look? Two buffalo.
Right now live in Kenya you are looking at them.
They don't mind the rain.
We'll just stay quiet for now.
No buffalo in Minnesota, just bears all around us.
We have got four camera crew here in North America filming pretty much around-the clock across the continent.
We know that there was a black bear standing just about there, 200 yards aWay, some of our black bears have GPS collars on them which send a signal back to us every hour so we can get precise locations.
A lot of people saying I was too emotional about the cubs there.
Just look at this.
Look at the cub.
There we go.
Standing on its hind leg.
I've got a little boy who's nine months old, he's not that coordinated but does look a bit like that.
I'm sure you agree with me.
So we know there was a bear a couple of hundred yards away there.
We also know that these are in the area.
Listen to this.
They are timber wolves.
Top predator in the woods.
We have heard them here.
So imagine wolves stumbling across lost black bear cub.
That is a situation that you don't want but an inexperienced mum could inadvertently put her black bear cub in that situation.
On Wednesday, we'll be following the top predators.
We have a camera trap.
This is Max, one of the most experienced cameramen setting up a camera trap there.
We hope to catch any motions of any wolves and anything else here in the Northwoods of Minnesota.
On Wednesday, we'll update you with everything and of course more beautiful black bear cubs.
More news just in from Kenya, as well as the buffalo which I can now hear, we have heard from the spotters that Moja has been found, he's OK, looking thin but hanging on in there.
We have, I think you will agree, brought you some incredible stories already, but there are so many many more baub animals' lives we'll be following during this critical month baby animals' lives we'll be following during this critical month.
We'll meet Mickey and Luka getting their first view of the outside world.
Otter cubs live life on the run from some caiman.
Our teams are stationed around the world getting as close as possible to the action.
And that is pretty much it.
We shall of course be bringing you more news on Moja.
We'll update you on the whales and have more antics from Julia's bear cubs.
Right aRos the planet, May is their make or break month.
Over the next three weeks, we are going to be following some of their stories as they struggle for survival.
In Africa, Moja the lion cub and his mum are desperately looking for food.
In North America, bear cubs Herbie and Fern face the prospect of freezing to death when a sudden snow fall catches them out.
And in Sri Lanka, baby macaquee gremlin is growing up in a tough society.
Hello and welcome to Planet Earth Live.
It has begun at last.
Let me formally welcome you to the Masai Mara, magnificent.
It's also night.
I'm coming to you, as the name suggests, live from the heart of Kenya right now.
Planet Earth Live is truly a global event.
Julia Bradley is 8,000 miles away where this critical month is affecting the lives of a very different cast of baby animals.
It's 1.
50 here in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and home to about 25,000 black bears.
That's why I'm here.
It's one of North America's last great wildernesss.
This is how Planet Earth Live the series is going to work.
Right around the globe, May is a critical time in the natural world.
We've sent teams of experts out across the plan Tote capture the drama of this incredible time of year Across the planet to.
In the nor them hemisphere, it's spring.
Baby animals take their first tentative steps.
As well as our black bears, Herbie and Fern, we'll follow the fortunes of mickey and Luca, newly emerged polar bears.
In the tropics, May brings the end of the rain aye season.
The rains in Africa and Asia have triggered a baby elephant bonanza in Kenya.
But for our lion cubs, times are hard.
May brings big challenges for other young animals.
Young giant otters in Peru, tiny meerkat pups in South Africa.
And a family of macaques in Sri Lanka.
In California, this time of year marks the start of the perilous grey whale migration and changes the life of a very special sea otter pup.
We'll be following their stories in this, the most important month for baby animals in the natural world.
We genuinely have no idea what their fate will be.
These are real animals, real lives in real time.
You will be able to follow them every step of the way right here and on the web where you will get The very latest news as it comes in.
So, over the next three weeks, this tent is going to be my home and I would like you to join me here live in the heart of what is one of the wildest places on the planet, the Masai Mara.
I've begun the whole thing with hat hair - my mistake.
I'm going to be following the lives of the predator that really has put The mums hunt together, bringing back meat for all the family.
But not all cubs are this lucky.
This is Moja.
His name means one in civil war hily or loner.
He has no problems or sisters, he and his mother are outcasts, they are alone and Moja is facing starvation right now.
He's in real trouble.
We have no idea what the future holds for him.
All we can say right now, as we begin Planet Earth Live is that we know the odds are stacked heavily against him.
Moja is only five months old so he's a bit like a toddler really.
His mother's milk gives him a bit of comfort, but we won't survive without solids.
It's up to his mum to make sure he gets them.
As a single parent, she's having a hard time keeping him going.
At this time of year, there is very little prey.
That really brings us to the very reason of why we are here at this time of year and genuinely just before we went live somebody reported and in fact we saw a buffalo over there.
There may be a hippo over there.
Anything may happen.
The fact is though, those are one of the few animals still remaining here and big prey like that to a single mother like Moja's mum really represent one heck of a challenge.
As far as she's concerned, the cupboard is bare right now.
In the dry season, there are more wild animals walking across these Plains than anywhere else on earth.
But we're here in the middle of the rainy season.
The wildebeest are on their way, but right now, they're 200 mails to the south.
This is the hardest time of year to be a lion 200 miles to the south.
If the adults have it tough, the cubs have it even tougher.
Straightaway I think if we are going to get an idea of Moja's situation, we should take a proper look at him with some films we've made.
Let's take a look at the little fella.
You can see just how lonely he is, first of all.
That actually is a problem straightaway.
You don't have to see an expert to see he's one vulnerable little lion.
You can see ribs and hips and even lying down is hard work.
He's in serious need of a good meal.
Right now, his mum needs to be out hunting for him to bring him the solid food he so desperately needs.
And the good news is, she seems to be one heck of a mum.
She has been out hunting for him, which is what we wanted to see.
So we are going to show you some film of that.
We have with us, for this whole exercise for the next three weeks, some of the best cameramen and women in the world so we can show you some astonishing stuff.
Take a lack at this.
Apology for the loss of That, to be honest, is one of many such hunts we hope to be able to bring you.
I wanted to just show off some of the camera work.
It was absolutely magnificent.
The problem is, what happens next, I have to say.
If you are a parent, you may be a bit skwee mish because, well, it gets a little tricky.
You may be shifting in your seat, but this is what happened.
Trust me, she is a good mum, really a good mum.
Here is what I'm going on about.
She's caught - and that's good - but she's eating it.
All of it.
That's because she really is Moja's only chance.
She needs to keep herself fit and well so she can feed him.
She's not being a bad mum.
She will take that back to him in the form of milk.
If you have cats at home by the way and see what is about to happen right now and you think, my cat does that, mine do that and I have six.
That milk will be comforting but not enough to keep him alive.
Straightaway, a bit of drama with Moja.
The point of this exercise is, he's out there right now in the Moja's situation is desperate.
Mum heads off again to try and find something to eat.
This time, Moja decides to follow her.
It's a very risky strategy.
Moja is weak with hunger and following her is putting his life in danger.
He's not safe out on the open plains.
But it's make or break time for this little lion.
He's literally starving to death.
It's a very brave decision, but is it the right one? In the rainy season, the grass grows tall and mum makes full use A passing elephant calf has nothing A good sized warthog is much more Apology for the loss of To get his strength back, he needs to feed for at least a few hours.
These hyenas are hungry too and they want a piece of the action.
On her own, going head-to-head with hyenas is potentially deadly.
His Mum faces a terrible dilemma.
Moja needs to eat and eat well.
With Night falling, will she flee or And moments like this are exactly what the show is going to be all about, real life animals making life-and-death decisions right now.
So did she make the decision? I'll leave you with a cliff hanger, we'll find out later on because right now we are going to cross a third of the way around the globe To Julia Bradbury in Minnesota.
Welcome back to the Northwoods of Minnesota 16 miles south of the Canadian border, 8,000 miles away from Richard and this is really bear country.
The cubs are about three-and-a-half months old.
Over the next few weeks, you will get to know the bear families very, very well.
Bear families like yule yet and her three little ones.
Shs the hand some Juliet, a favourite of mine, this is her with her three cubs, Sam, Sybil and Sophie.
She's an experienced parent, this is her fourth litter and they are healthy and suckling well.
Let's meet her baby trio team.
Sam is a male little cub, he's adventurous, boisterous and look, he's just that little bit accident prone as Welch oops.
There we go.
Sophie is much more laid back.
This is his sister, the one underneath Sam.
Yes, he can be quite annoying, but don't worry, she gives as good as she gets.
Feisty little one that one.
And finally, this fare faced cutey is Sybil, the smallest and most fragile but certainly has a lot of spirit.
We have been a part of the cubs' lives from the beginning for months.
We have had cameras in their dens.
Look at this.
This is the Den Cam from not so long ago.
What I want you to do particularly Is listen to the noises that emerge Even in the den, the cubs are communicating with their mother, each little cry means something different, can you roll over so I can suckle you, you are sitting on me mum or I'm hungry mum.
We'll learn so much about bear noises over the next few weeks.
A month hag here, things went a little bit wrong for the bears and it's all down to the weather which turned on its head and that caused chaos.
Normally Minnesota should be under a foot of snow at this time of year.
But with the early arrival of Spring, it looks like this.
The melting snow flooded Juliet's den.
She was forced to evacuate and move her cubs above ground a full month Before they were ready to face the outside world.
Juliet had to find a safe place for them and created a day bed underneath a large red pine Apology for the loss of With the weather warming up, it It was now that Juliet's experience really paid off.
She knew she had to keep her cubs dry and warm during the snowstorm.
She literally licked the snow flakes off their I can hear your hearts melting at home at the sight of the cubs.
Take a listen again to that noise, the humming noise of the cubs.
That is the sound of a content cub.
You will normally hear that when a cub is suckling.
Juliet is an experienced mum, caring and attentive and aware and experience out here can make all the difference between life-and-death.
Jewel is a first time mum.
She's got two little cubs, Herbie and Fern and her lack of experience is not working out well for Herbie and Fern.
Herbie is shaking up in the tree.
He shouldn't be really up on a tree, he should be on a day bed warm.
Herbie and Fern have been put in real danger inadvertently by their mum.
Find out how they fare later on.
We have a Den Cam and Hammond cam.
There he is, just there.
Thank you.
We take the trouble to link up live all around the globe and you have an odd pop at me.
See you in a bit, Julia.
We are live all around the globe right now.
Julia's there in Minnesota.
We might have saved a few quid on the globe, that's not an expensive special effect.
That's me in the Masai Mara and that's Sri Lanka.
No expense spared there, I made that myself.
Gavin is following the macaques in Sri Lanka, one in particular.
Meet Gremlin.
She's a nine week old toque macaque.
She's very cute but very fragile.
Macaque society has a strict pecking order.
Gremlin's mum is near the very bottom of the pile, making Gremlin pretty much the lowest of the low in a dangerous world.
Apart from the squabbles within the troop, there are large and country Reptiles living in the forest.
Hunting dogs are a problem too.
Tiny babies like Gremlin would be a welcome meal.
If that wasn't enough, this busy road cuts right through the territory.
So it's no surprise that one in three babies will die before reaching their first birthday.
I really hope Gremlin isn't that one.
To survive, young Gremlin is going To have to learn fast and keep her What I love is that they play out their daily dramas against this beautiful backdrop of this ancient Ruined city.
It's a good time of year and they've got six newborn babies in this troupe.
They all look very similar, even to the trained eye.
What singles Gremlin out to me is that she's often on her own away from mum and has a distinctive white tip on her tail.
Gremlin's mother is your typical working mum.
Hard at work foraging during the day to feed herself and to produce enough milk for Gremlin.
Gremlin just gets under her feet.
So for this little monkey, learning life's lessons will have to be done the hard way.
On her own.
Luckily, she's a confident young monkey, happy to venture away from the safety of her mother's arms.
Happy to shadow the infants, you can see her working out what she should be doing to fit into this society.
May in Sri Lanka is seriously hot.
Today, the temperature's well into the 30s.
Gremlin needs to learn how to cool For the older macaques, a mere Puddle won't do and confidence It's going to be a while before Gremlin tries these stunts.
Now, after all that paddling around, she's worked up quite an appetite.
Being the adventurous type, she's She's got a year to a year-and-a-half before she's fully weaned and until then, milk will always be best.
At last, she's reunited with mum.
She gets the cuddle and milk she needs.
Gremlin's life down the bottom of the pecking order is always going to be precarious.
For tonight, she's back in the safety of her mother's arms.
Come on, tell me your face isn't doing this.
They are gorgeous! I must mention, by the way, because you will have noticed it's the rainy season here in Kenya and it's started in a big way.
It's really, really seriously rain, but we'll carry on as long as we can, I'm sure we couldn't have any problems.
Now, I've had it explained to me that it's late to talk to Gavin right now because he's two-and-a half hours ahead of us in Kenya which mean he's four-and-a-half hours of you in the UK, being live around the UK is very, very complicated.
Gavin's in bed, so I spoke to him earlier on.
Gavin, your heart has to go out to Gremlin, but life at the bottom of the heap was never going to be easy.
Realistically, what do you think our chances of survival are? Think Gremlin's chances are high.
She's a feisty little monkey and her mum is looking after her, so I think she's got a good chance of surviving.
Did you know as soon as you clapped eyes on her that she was going to be a major character for you to follow? The honesty is, a lot of monkeys look very similar and she stood out initially just because of that white tail, but she's turned out to be one of the pluckiest little youngsters.
On the issue of looks, Gavin, you spend a lot of time following these and we are looking forward to finding out more, but they've got a face really only a mother could love, I'm being polite?! I've actually got a picture of you as a baby here, Richard.
I think they're great looking little babies.
Great looking babies.
I know they look like Gremlins, but no, I love 'em! We wish little Gremlin the very best.
You've filmed here quite a lot haven't you? Yes, I've been to the Masai Mara countless times, I'm jealous you are there but I'm also pleased to be here in Sri Lanka with the monkey group.
Yeah, it's been raining here mostly.
Thank you very much though, we look forward to talking to you later in the week.
We wish you all the very best and the best to little Gremlin.
Sorry about being rude about her face, I was just being silly, she didn't hear! You are back with me live and getting wet here in rainy Kenya in the rain aye season in the Masai Mara.
I wanted to talk to you about some of the kit because we've brought some clever stuff, including thermal imaging cameras.
This is a new generation of them.
We've got one over there being manned by Sue right now.
We can show you some of the images we have got from earlier on.
Oh, this is us, lack, that's me with my torch and that's, I don't know who they are! That's the crew, bless them, yeah, all right.
We've all been on telly, that's nice.
Actually, it's not just for that, much as we enjoy it, it's very useful.
We have had some great shots already.
This is a buff foe that we saw.
This was today, I believe, as we were live.
This is a rogue male buffalo just now buffalo.
They are one of the most dangerous things you will find in after ach.
Usually they are old males that are dominant males find in Africa.
We can use to it spot dangers out there.
Sue, can you pan left to we can have a look and see if there's anything out there presenting a danger to us? We are in no danger at all.
Panning out there to the left.
That's a guard.
That's my car and a fire.
I think we are all right.
Look, there they are! There's the buffalos right now.
That's Don't worryer we'll be OK.
If anything nasty happens, I'll throw Pat, the cameraman in front of them.
It does illustrate the point, because there are times of year when you will pan that camera across this wilderness at this time and it will just be alive with so much life here on the Masai Mara.
Right now there isn't.
If you are a single lioness such as Moja's mum, things like elephants, buffalo, hippo, they really are going to be too tricky.
It's a very difficult time to be a lion on the Masai Mara right now.
Here is Moja.
He's an only child of a single mother and they are casts from their pride.
Moja was finally getting some solid food but hyenas were threatening to steal the first food he'd eaten with a week.
His mum was left with an agonising decision, either fight and allow Moja to have a good meal or should she decide to play it safe, abandon the kill.
It's agony.
The kind of decision we are going to be watching over the next few weeks and the crews were up very early to go out and see what had happened.
This is what they found.
First impressions didn't look good, just as they were entering Moja and her mum's territory, they found a den and warthog bones stripped bare.
There's nothing much beft for Moja there.
The thing is, Moja really needed to eat if he was going to get what he needed right now.
No idea if he got anything like enough.
I saddled up and went to see for myself and took along with me possibly the very pest person to be Jackson Looseyia has lived alongside the lions for his entire Let's get up.
We were both very relieved to see our struggling cub alive and well.
Luckily for Moja, his mum made the right decision giving up her kill to protect him.
She's going to need to hunt again soon to provide her with the meat He's missing out on.
But here, this is easier said than done.
This state is basically bare.
Territory now, there are pockets that are just survivable through these tough times, this month, this specific time when there's a few bits of things left, apart from This! It's abundant.
It's no-man's-land.
It's both the safest place for her to be and the worst place because, Well True.
Absolutely true.
It really is just unimaginibly tough.
Jackson's join med here in the tent, I suspect not just to shelter from the rain.
You don't mess about with your rainy season here, do you, that is some rain going on.
Their situation is terrible isn't it? Exactly.
It's bucketing, as you can see how much water is coming out of this tent.
Really, Moja and his mother are cold out there.
It's horribly difficult.
I want to get some geography on this.
I have a map over here.
It's not a geography lesson, it's interesting.
This is Moja, the patch of land here, no man's-land because there's no prey that stays there during the rainy season.
These are the other prides, each of these dominating this territory, the pride is handed down to the female lion.
That's theirs.
If Moja and his mum were to stray into these areas, they would not get a warm welcome? Indeed, they are in great danger, if you think about how much is surrounding them.
Moja is in great danger if he meets some of the big pride.
It will be bad.
Our crews are going out daily, hourly, to keep on eye on what is happening.
We'll update you for any encounters.
We are not just following lions, another of Kenya's iconic animals, elephants, for whom this year means something very different, they are having a great time.
It's led to a babyboom in fact.
One to have crews has taken off 200 miles north to Samburu to Have a look.
Grace and Sky are two of Kenya's newest elephant arrivals.
Their home, Samburu National Reserve, has been transformed by life-giving rain.
Food and water are plentiful.
Elephants are pouring into the park to make the most of this bonanza.
Grace and Sky's mums are relaxed and catching up with old friends.
Grace and Sky may be having the time of their lives, but there are It is just dazzling watching those guys in the field, I could watch them all day, running about learning to be an elephant.
I think I'd be better than being an elephant than they are right now because they have a long way to go.
In this easier time, fun times for the elephants, there are dangers facing them.
Lions.
I guess this is the other side of the lion's story, just like in the Masai Mara, they are hungry and if they are lucky enough to live in a pride, they can take an elephant calf.
Grace and Sky are part of a big family with sisters, cousins, aunts and grandmothers watching over them through this most vulnerable period in their young lives.
That protection is everything to an elephant.
That's how they work.
Their experience is passed down from generation to generation.
It's a different experience for another bunch of elephants who are a very small herd, one in particular Emily is a young, inexperienced mother without access to that information and that experience and help.
They are in fact without a leader as well right now which means the whole herd is pretty much in total disarray.
Emily's calf is just three days old.
Just like a human baby, he relies entirely on his mother.
He needs to stop often to rest and suckle.
But his family have to keep moving to feed.
It's nearly 40 degrees in the sun.
He's at serious risk of dehydration.
Sun stroke is another killer.
He needs shade badly.
But Emily is a first time mum and has no-one to guide her through the first few confusing days of motherhood.
Emily's doing her best.
But her best migt not be enough to keep her calf alive might not be enough to keep her calf alive.
Just a reminder, these are real life dramas happening in the world right now.
We'll bring you more on that and many, many more.
We can now cross to Julia once more in North America.
Thank you.
Let's hope Emily and her calf have luck on their side.
Planet Earth Live is of course a global programme.
I meat a grey whale calf who's about to set off on a perilous 5,000 mile journey.
I have my first face-to-face encounter with a black bear.
And Richard joins the fight against elephant poaching in Samburu.
One, two, three Welcome back to bear country.
This really is the ultimate bear habitat.
We are surrounded by these Prenn did white and red pine trees.
This is a red pine, not the black bear's favourite climbing tree because look how easily the bark comes off.
Mama bears don't generally teach cubs to climb on the red pine.
So Jewel is a bear that might well make that mistake.
She's a first time mum.
Inadvertently, she's putting her cubs Herbie and Fern in mortal danger, she just doesn't know how to react with certain situations, snow being one of those situations.
Jewel had her cubs up a tree and they were visibly cold and Shivering while she stayed down on The cubs don't have the benefit of a thick winter coat like their mother.
Their tiny size left them Extremely vulnerable in the biting Jewel eventually returned to the Base of the tree and calls her cubs Once on the ground, we expected to see Jewel comfort and warm her cubs up.
But instead, she moved off again, leaving them struggling to keep up as they battled through the As darkness fell, the crew had to leave, as the temperatures dropped to minus ten.
And there was a real sense that remight not see the cubs alive again.
That we might not see the cubs alive again.
Heart-breaking images.
We all genuinely thought that Herbie and Fern would not make it through the night.
Remember, they're just three months old.
Their fur hasn't developed properly yet, it's still fluffy and not very insulating and they're meant to be in the warmth, safety and comfort of their dens.
So imagine the crew's amazement and joy when the following morning this is what they saw.
Despite the bitingly cold temperatures of the previous night, Jewel had somehow managed to work out that she needed to keep Herbie and Fern warm if they were to survive.
It turned out that Jewel had wandered off to find a good place to shelter her cubs.
She'd led them to safety and was now keeping them warm with her body heat.
Thankfully, the cubs seemed happy and content once more and are I don't know about you, I could just watch those kinds of scenes all day.
How lucky that I'm here 230 three weeks three weeks.
That was Herbie and Fern.
Let's see how they are this week.
They are doing a bit of climbing practice.
Mum, Jewel, is watching on.
Lackadaisical in her approach there.
Paying a bit of attention now, or is she just having a bit of a nap? Never really sure with Jewel.
She's learning as we are.
The nice thing about Herbie and Fern is that, as brother and sister, they get on very well.
Looking forward to getting to know those two a little better as the weeks go on.
We are watching young animals across the globe on Planet Earth, including grey whale calfs in Mexico.
The grey whale calves have begun their massive migration from the warm water nursery lagoons of Mexico up the coast towards Arctic waters.
Along the way, they're going to battle hunger, fatigue, all sorts of other things, including these, killer whales.
Cameer whales intent on separating mothers from their calves.
I went to Mexico about three weeks ago hoping to see a grey whale calf before she set off on this epic I've seen whales in the wild before, but I've never been close enough to touch one.
And the prospect is so exciting.
I'm shaking a little bit.
There we go.
Hello! There are an estimated 500 grey whale mums here, each with a newborn calf in what is effectively a giant nursery.
Holy moley, this is bizarre.
Look.
We've got whale soup in front of us unfolding.
Flippers and heads, dorsal ridges just twisting in the A little bit fishy.
Nothing too bad.
I'm prepared to live with that.
The experience of a lifetime.
Thank you.
That's a definite hello! Lovely to meet you too.
How incredible to touch.
Soft, soft skin and covered in scratches and whale lice and barnacles.
Hello, beautiful.
Nice barnacles.
This baby is only about four weeks old, but she's incredibly friendly and her mum is actually lifting her so that she can get a betterlike at me.
We are eye ball to eye ball.
Hello, beautiful, beautiful creature.
Hello Better look at me.
I can't think of another instance in the wild where an adult mother would encourage her young to go towards humans.
It just wouldn't happen.
You wouldn't find it with bears.
And so strange and wonderful.
Now, it's just showing off.
We've made true friends here.
It's an overwhelming feeling.
They're communicating with one another, they are communicating with us.
And when you look in the eye of a grey Whale, it's so soulful and peaceful.
It's just absolutely incredible.
There is something so special about these sea giants, I don't think I'll ever surpass that moment when I looked a grey whale calf and her mother in the eye.
We'll follow their journey, the 5,000 mile migration.
Come over to my map.
This is the route.
This is Mexico where I went to have my encounter with a grey whale calf and this is their entire journey.
This is the Bering Sea, the Arctic waters.
If they make it there and back, that's 10,000 miles.
These mammals are incredible, it's the biggest mammal migration in the world.
10,000 miles in one year.
They estimate that in a grey while's lifetime of 50 years, they might make up to 500,000 miles, that's around the world 20 times.
We've got spotters all along this route.
This is Monterey Bay in California and we've got a team there who sent through news to me only yesterday, not just news, I've got pictures for you from yesterday, of killer whales.
So the killer whales are moving in on that area.
These are the pictures fresh in from yesterday.
Look at that.
You can even see the coast Ryan in the background.
Very exciting.
Of course, we'll be waiting with baited breath to see what happens.
They move in pods of about seven or eight.
Their intention is to separate the mothers from the calves.
We've also got spotters in Kenya.
I understand that they've spotted a Hammond.
That's right, it's a Hammond.
They have, they have! Half a million miles for the grey whales, that is staggering.
The killer whales send a chill down your spine, they are so single-purposed.
I would also like to say, I was where Julia was not that long ago filming, ideally grey whiles that, 's whey went to see, not one, none.
I think Bradbury it was the anorak what they came to see.
Welcome back to Kenya.
Julia's having her lunch right now, Gavin's tucked up in bed and I'm here in the Masai Mara in the rainy season hoping I'm not about to be charged by a rogue bull buffalo.
Good.
Back to the action here.
Elephants, 200 miles to the north in Samburu.
Last time we saw Emily and her calf, the calf was weak and exposed, kept getting left out in the baking heat because he's inexperienced and was struggling to keep up with his young mum.
This herd is tiny, only a few young inexperienced around.
There are no elders to guide her.
That is what she needs.
That's how they learn all the time, elephant to elephant.
I have to tell you, the situation got a lot worse.
Monitoring all the elephants in Samburu is David and his team from Save the Elephants.
For him, every baby holds hope for the species and right now, he's very worried about Emily's calf.
We are looking for a young baby and we found the rest of the group but No sign of the baby.
So I'm a Emily's with the herd, but she's alone and her calf is nowhere to be seen.
David knows just how many threats there are to baby elephants in small, vulnerable herds like Emily's.
I suspect it could have been lions.
We have two massive males in this pack who're very specialised in killing young baby elephants.
We have seen their tracks around this area.
The team find a group of very full lay-ons in the salt scrub where It's part of nature for elephants to lose a baby.
But, this will be quite emotional for poor Emily to lose her first calf which was only A few days old.
Elephants have very complex emotions.
They respond to death just like us.
For Emily, she'll be mourning for the calf she Just lost.
Just a mile or so away, Grace and Sky are oblivious of the dangers around them.
They're protected by a barricade of trunks and legs.
Older family members constantly touch and reassure the babies, keeping them from trouble and helping them along.
And they have a herd leader who's Prepared to fight to the death for It was difficult.
To be fair, we knew this kind of thing could, probably would happen.
The lions are struggling too so I guess you could say on which side you view it from.
Grace and Sky are safe in their extended family.
Life is good on the whole for them but there is a danger facing them and I'm sorry, ashamed to have to tell you, that that danger comes from us.
In the last three years, one in four elephants in Samburu was killed.
Most of them at the hand of poachers, the illegal Ivory trade being at its worst for many years.
But there is hope.
David and his team are on the frontline of this fight.
It really makes me very sad.
What is wrong with people, you know, why are we doing this to wild animals who have no problem with us? It's a big day for David.
Grace and Sky's family are known to wander outside the safety of the park where poachers lie in wait.
I'm joining him and his team as they take desperate measures to try to protect them.
The plan is to put a radio tracking device on Sky and Grace's herd leader, but to do that, she has to Be sedated.
I can feel the tension.
Yes, everyone will be trying to protect this lion.
Lions could pop out of the bush.
This is a tense Moment for all of us.
Wow.
That's Suddenly around that Corner and there they are.
That's it.
It's a race against time.
She could go down at any moment and we have to be there to make sure Four minutes now.
She can't be far.
No, she's down.
Down, yes.
OK, This is about making noise to get the herd away from this elephant.
The moment the other females see a female down, all they want to do is protect her.
We are attacking her, as far as they are concerned.
We find her in one of the worst possible positions.
Her legs slipped in the mud and she's on her front crushing her lungs.
She could easily suffocate.
We've got to move fast.
The vet immediately checks That she's OK.
She's fine.
She's I'm given a vital job, keeping her The whole purpose of these big ears of course is to cool.
That's what they're for.
Very thin skin which means the vains radiate heat out because they are close to the surface.
The veins.
The skin feels rough and hard, as you would expect, and hot.
You get the impression the heat doesn't all come from the sun, some of it's from her.
One, two, Three.
Again.
OK, lift.
Well done.
A good position.
If you could help me here.
With the radio collar securely attached, it's time to bring her round.
We have three minutes and we'll see movement.
The Apology for the loss of It was stressful, I know.
These guys make that calculated judgment, the stress of that experience is more than offset by the value of having that transmitted collar on her.
She'll range way beyond Samburu Park.
The moment she does, she's in mortal danger and I think having that information, that database, is probably the most valuable tool in protecting her, her family, her offspring, her future.
Do you feel relieved? Very Much Indeed.
So Relieved.
Because I Wasn't Sure What Is Going To Happen.
She's a bit groggy but unharm and she heads off to rejoin her family.
This tracking device will enable David to watch over Grace and Sky and the rest of the herd to try to protect them from poachers.
I'm going to say it again, David and his team hate sedating elephants but fitting the collars are the best chance they stand of surviving against the poachers.
I don't know about you, but I'm probably not alone in thinking that Ivory poaching was like one of those Victorian diseases that had gone away completely but it turns out it hasn't, it's actually as prevalent as it was before.
The good news from Samburu is they are all up and well and fine and I'll be flying up north tomorrow to have a look at that myself.
I'll bring you that on Wednesday.
Julia, I have to tell you, that was one of THE most stressful things I've ever done in my life, I'm not exaggerating.
I'm certain that it was, Richard.
The thing is, we are in such a privileged position at the moment, aren't we, to have this proximity to wild animals, to get so close.
We are hear in bear country, the country is literally branded with bears, there are bear mugs and T-shirts and all sors, yet if you came here as a tourist, you are very unlikely to have an encounter with a bear.
I'm learning so much about the animals in such close quarters.
It's astonishing.
Being close to the elephant, helping keep her ear cool and seeing how it works as a radiator.
It was astonishing.
I'll check up and find out more later in the week.
Can't wait for that.
We are in this privileged situation in Minnesota because we have access to the black bears at an extraordinary level.
That's all thanks to one man Dr Rogers, he's a biologist.
He had a PhD in bears.
Around here, he's actually just known as the Bearman.
He really is quite extraordinary and he took me for my first nose to-nose encounter.
Trust me, you knead a big animal to match this nose, trust me, he took me for my first nose to have nose encounter With Juliet and we checked up on her three cubs as well.
I'm sorry, bear, I rushed up upon you.
You might be a little bit brave to get in here.
Never get between a mother and a cubs.
But it Takes more than a mother black bear to scare her.
Or maybe it takes more to scare you because you have been doing this for 45 years.
They're up there for sure, yes? For sure.
It's interesting.
Sorry, bear, what do you want? To you wonder what we are here for? I think this is the only place we can come in the world and see a mother with cubs like this and trust us.
Wild bear, remember this is a wild Bear? Yes.
Hello Mrs Bear.
Nothing Where are those cubs? They must be pretty high? I hope they come down.
With the cubs nowhere to be seen, We took our cue from mum and sat down to wait.
After 45 minutes, we heard scratchings in the tree above Juliet and the first of her cubs made they are way down to join mum.
Here we go.
Here we go.
I've never So vulnerable.
I can't believe I'm actually sitting here just a few Feet away from this adorable, He's feeding.
Someone else to join the party.
Is he the right size for his age, or Should he be bigger? He's doing OK.
Starting to nurse.
That's the sound Of nursing? Yes, that's the sound They do look like little humans when they stand on their hind legs? Yes.
It's actually like watching a That really was an emotional experience for me.
Perhaps it's because I'm a first time mum but the bears seem so toddler and human-like to me.
You will have also seen in the film the moment Ben Juliet moved towards us quite quickly.
That's called a bluster, that was my first bluster experience.
Although it looks like she was being aggressive, that's the bear's way of expressing her nervousness, not quite sure what's going on, so just makes a little warning noise, all the air coming out of her nose and she's making sure that you stand well back which of course I did.
I was very pleased that Dr Lynn was in front of me.
Hammond, if you were here, I'd put you in front of me as well, a sort of a double layer.
Julia, I don't know how many times I could have been told that the bluster wasn't a real attack, I still would have decided to be somewhere else at that moment.
I've come back out into the rain, that's the driving force out of all our stories here.
This has come down many the course of this show.
It really does fall very, very quickly.
But it is beautiful here in the Mara.
We have some pictures to show you.
Glorious.
Even though it's raining torrentially, this rain makes it, not only hard for the lions, but for the camera crews and wildlife spotters who've been out looking for them as well.
To be honest, we have been stuck in the rain, battling through rain.
There have been some adventurous missions and we'll be doing more before the end of the smo Show in three weeks' time.
This is my car.
We have already had rain up to there.
If it continues falling for the rest of the evening, tnts will be getting washed away.
We'll still be here on Wednesday though Tents.
There's a buffalo over there.
Can we have a look? Two buffalo.
Right now live in Kenya you are looking at them.
They don't mind the rain.
We'll just stay quiet for now.
No buffalo in Minnesota, just bears all around us.
We have got four camera crew here in North America filming pretty much around-the clock across the continent.
We know that there was a black bear standing just about there, 200 yards aWay, some of our black bears have GPS collars on them which send a signal back to us every hour so we can get precise locations.
A lot of people saying I was too emotional about the cubs there.
Just look at this.
Look at the cub.
There we go.
Standing on its hind leg.
I've got a little boy who's nine months old, he's not that coordinated but does look a bit like that.
I'm sure you agree with me.
So we know there was a bear a couple of hundred yards away there.
We also know that these are in the area.
Listen to this.
They are timber wolves.
Top predator in the woods.
We have heard them here.
So imagine wolves stumbling across lost black bear cub.
That is a situation that you don't want but an inexperienced mum could inadvertently put her black bear cub in that situation.
On Wednesday, we'll be following the top predators.
We have a camera trap.
This is Max, one of the most experienced cameramen setting up a camera trap there.
We hope to catch any motions of any wolves and anything else here in the Northwoods of Minnesota.
On Wednesday, we'll update you with everything and of course more beautiful black bear cubs.
More news just in from Kenya, as well as the buffalo which I can now hear, we have heard from the spotters that Moja has been found, he's OK, looking thin but hanging on in there.
We have, I think you will agree, brought you some incredible stories already, but there are so many many more baub animals' lives we'll be following during this critical month baby animals' lives we'll be following during this critical month.
We'll meet Mickey and Luka getting their first view of the outside world.
Otter cubs live life on the run from some caiman.
Our teams are stationed around the world getting as close as possible to the action.
And that is pretty much it.
We shall of course be bringing you more news on Moja.
We'll update you on the whales and have more antics from Julia's bear cubs.