NARRATOR: All mammals need care
and attention when they're babies.
But what happens when mom isn't around
to provide that care?
Sometimes, a surrogate family plays that supporting role,
and can help take a baby animal to the next stage of life.
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(Birds chirping)
This is Tina.
She's a 10-month-old wombat.
Since she was 3 months old,
she's been at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
in Tasmania, Australia.
GRAHAM: Her mother was hit and killed by a car
and someone pulled over
and checked the pouch of the mother
and found Tina when she was quite small
and came into our care after that.
NARRATOR: Wombats are distant relatives
of the better known marsupials, kangaroos.
Their evolution diverged more than 40 million years ago.
When Tina arrived at the sanctuary
without a mother to provide a pouch,
her caregivers had to be creative.
GRAHAM: We provide a makeshift pouch,
especially for the younger wombats
for the first year or so.
Until they start to live underground
at about a year and a half of age.
That's done by a inside-out pillowcase
into a blanket or a large beanie,
something that'll insulate their body heat,
and once they get in there and it smells like them
and it's nice and dark and quiet and warm,
they think they're back in mom's pouch.
NARRATOR: In the wild,
the wombats would normally nurse until they're about a year old.
Here, Tina is bottle-fed with a special formula
designed to suit her stage of life.
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At the Sanctuary, these young wombats
start to prepare for the real world.
Grass, roots and shrubs of all kinds
become a much bigger part of Tina's diet,
just like they are for wild wombats.
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Like all wombats,
Tina's equipped with some very handy physical traits
to help cope with eating tough plants.
GRAHAM: They have teeth that are hollow
and grow back throughout their lives.
They're the largest burrowing marsupial
and largest burrowing mammal on the planet.
They're just a unique animal.
NARRATOR: Wombat burrows are architectural feats
that can be up to 65 feet long.
They're often a series of interconnected tunnels
that have multiple entrances and exits.
GRAHAM: Tina's dug herself a few really cool burrows
with really nice strong ceilings,
rocks and other logs and objects at the roof of the entrance,
which is a great instinct that she's showing.
She's not digging them straight down
where the rain's going to go,
they go into the side of a mound of dirt,
which is fantastic.
NARRATOR: Wombats are built for digging.
They have powerful front legs and strong claws
that help them dig through almost anything.
And they have a rather unusual way of keeping
unwanted visitors out of their burrows.
GRAHAM: Tina and all wombats have a cartilage plate
on their rear end.
It usually is about half an inch thick
and can be quite large.
So they use this as a doorstop.
So if they're threatened by a predator,
they can run back to the entrance of their burrow,
not run inside and hide
'cause they could be followed inside,
they'll block it off.
And it's not many nerves in this part of the body
so if they're bitten by a predator,
it doesn't really cause them any harm.
NARRATOR: What comes out of a wombat's rear end
is also a bit unusual.
GRAHAM: They have unique poos or scats,
it's not circular like with most marsupials,
it is square.
That's important because they are territorial
and solitary,
so they do this as a square so it'll stay in place.
Other wombats will see it, and being a square,
they can even stack it up like a little pyramid
and that makes it more obvious to other wombats as well.
Researchers know bits and pieces.
No one's been able to explain 100% why it's square.
NARRATOR: Tina just keeps going about her business,
whatever that might be!
As cute and cuddly as she is now,
Tina will be considered an adult by the time she's 2 years old.
She could be up to 3 feet long, and weigh as much as 60 pounds.
Her personality will also undergo a dramatic change.
In the wild they turn and get very aggressive and solitary
and they don't like to hang out with their mother anymore.
Tina's biological urge to be alone
makes her a perfect animal to release back into the wild.
GRAHAM: So while a lot of other species are released
and they still have that instinct
of humans provide food and comfort,
wombats lose that and don't like us.
And because they lose that
and they have all their right burrowing
and defense instincts, they do very well,
and some research has found that
they have a 96% chance of survival on release,
which is very, very good for us to know
that when we're sending them out there.
NARRATOR: It's a potential happy ending for this friendly--
well, friendly for now at least, wombat.
(♪♪♪)
Clouded leopards have a reputation
for being elusive and shy.
And yet these two cubs seem anything but.
That might be because 5-month-old sisters
Faith and Hope,
born at the Nashville Zoo in Tennessee,
are in a new habitat.
Their instinct to explore has taken hold.
Their long tails, their pretty camouflage,
and their non-stop movement
make these rare cubs a mesmerizing pair to watch.
RICE: One of the things that makes clouded leopards so unique
is that, first off,
a lot of people have never heard of them.
But they are one of the most beautiful cats.
And they're very charismatic.
NARRATOR: At their tender age,
most cubs would still be with their mother.
Although their mom lives at the zoo,
clouded leopards can sometimes be aggressive
towards their offspring.
So, these two have a foster family instead.
RICE: We hand raise most of our clouded leopard cubs
here at the zoo
because we lose about half of the cubs that are born
if they're left with their mothers naturally.
So we hand raise them
and the mortality drops down to near nothing.
NARRATOR: Clouded leopards are endangered in the wild.
But estimates of their population vary
because these cats can be so hard to find.
One thing is indisputable, they're natural born climbers.
Whether it's in their native Southeast Asia
or here in Nashville.
RICE: As soon as they can, they start to climb.
It's not very graceful at first,
but it doesn't take them long
till they're very adept climbers.
NARRATOR: It makes sense,
since clouded leopards are an arboreal species,
meaning they live in the treetops.
As a result,
the animals have adapted over time in important ways.
First is that super long tail.
RICE: Clouded leopards have one of the most
magnificent tails of any cat.
They use these tails for balance mostly,
kind of like a tightrope walker would do when they carry a pole.
NARRATOR: Those short, stubby little legs play a role too.
RICE: Those give them a low center of gravity
which makes climbing a lot easier.
In addition to that, they have really large feet
with very sharp claws which, again, help with the climbing.
NARRATOR: And there's one other secret tool they possess.
RICE: Clouded Leopards have a special joint
in their back feet,
which enables them to climb head first down a tree.
It enables their feet to turn and hold on backwards.
NARRATOR: These flexible ankle joints make them arboreal acrobats...
...sometimes.
Faith and Hope are trying
everything on for size in their new home.
Splashing at their watering hole.
Jumping and pouncing.
And then pouncing some more.
It's all play now,
but that behavior mimics how they would hunt in the wild.
They're well equipped to do so.
RICE: Clouded leopards have the largest canine teeth
in proportion to their body size.
Meaning that their teeth are bigger in their skull
than a tiger's are in their skull.
A clouded leopard male could have
a canine tooth that is anywhere
from 2-1/2 to maybe 3 inches long,
which is a very, very long canine tooth.
NARRATOR: When they were born,
Faith and Hope were 3 inches long,
the same size as that tooth.
Now several months older,
they're filling out quite nicely.
Those spots of theirs will change over time, too.
RICE: As the cats grow,
it's almost as if their bodies elongate
and then those spots elongate along with 'em
giving them that clouded effect.
NARRATOR: When they're fully mature,
these girls will weigh as much as 30 or 35 pounds each.
And by the age of two,
Faith and Hope will be ready to have cubs of their own.
For this endangered species, that's promising news.
RICE: We don't know a whole lot about
clouded leopard behavior in the wild.
There've been so few of them studied.
They're very elusive, they're extremely hard to find.
And most of what we know about them
we're learning from zoos.
NARRATOR: For example,
researchers have determined that clouded leopards
are not leopards at all,
but instead belong to the same group of big cats
that includes lions and jaguars.
Hope and Faith might help researchers unlock
other secrets about their species in the future.
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But for now, they're just having fun!
(♪♪♪)
They're not tiny, helpless newborns.
But by polar bear standards,
brothers Eli and York are still infants.
They were born in the Arctic, but were facing a grim future.
That is, until the Assiniboine Zoo
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, stepped in to save them.
ENRIGHT: What happened is their mom was accidentally injured
and ultimately died of her injuries.
These two cubs were around
11 months of age at the time,
so they were not old enough to survive on their own,
so we went up north and we brought the bears down.
NARRATOR: Eli and York will never have a mother to guide them.
But, after only a month of being at the zoo,
they seem to be finding their way.
ENRIGHT: They rely on one another quite a bit.
We've always had twins or two that came together
and they lean on one another,
they get comfort from one another.
While they wouldn't be able to survive
without mom in the wild,
they are able to do quite well on their own here in the zoo.
NARRATOR: There are other signs that the cubs are doing well.
They're gaining weight
at a healthy rate of 1 pound a day.
And while the zoo is home to several rescued polar bears,
these are the first males in their care.
It will give staff a window into male development.
While female adult bears might weigh around 600 pounds
the males are on a whole different scale.
ENRIGHT: What really sets the males apart is
these little bears that are born this tiny
eventually get to be 1,200, 1,300 pound bears,
which is absolutely huge.
So we watch these male bears grow
and it's just phenomenal.
NARRATOR: In the wild,
Eli and York would become fully-grown adults
at around 7 years of age.
In captivity,
they'll reach this size by the time they're 4 or 5.
That's because in the wild, they'd have to hunt
and might go without eating for a while,
but here the cubs will never go without food.
Their diet is rich with the vitamins,
minerals, fats and proteins they need to thrive.
With snacks stuffed in their toys,
getting to the "chow" provides a bit of a challenge,
but also gives the cubs a chance to play.
(♪♪♪)
But it's much harder work to find food in the Arctic.
Polar bears will swim in the open ocean
in search of prey.
Big paddle-like front paws
and partially webbed toes make them great swimmers.
A layer of fat and their thick, oily skin
protects them in cold, Arctic waters.
Polar bears occasionally hunt young walrus and small whales,
but their diet is almost exclusively seals.
ENRIGHT: Polar bears are highly evolved to eat seals.
At the zoo, our polar bears get ground meat sort of diet
and whole fish.
NARRATOR: In the wild,
Eli and York's exceptional sense of smell
would help them hunt.
Scientists believe polar bears can smell a seal
from several miles away.
Polar bears also have amazing patience.
In the winter months,
wild bears stake out breathing holes in the sea ice,
waiting until seals poke their heads out.
ENRIGHT: That's the time of year
that they're really geared up to eat a lot of seals
and put on a lot of weight
to get them through the summer months
when they're not eating and not able to find any food.
So during that summer time bears--
polar bears in particular they slow down.
They rest, they relax, they conserve their energy.
(♪♪♪)
NARRATOR: Eli and York's laid-back style might be because
their bodies are getting used to the local temperatures.
ENRIGHT: These bears came from much further north
and while Winnipeg is certainly a cold area,
right now we're well below zero already,
these bears were in an environment
that's sub-Arctic.
So those polar bears are just chilling out,
trying to get rid of a little bit of extra heat
because it's a little bit warmer than they're used to.
NARRATOR: Eli and York are getting comfortable
in their new environment,
and once they're bigger they will meet other bears.
ENRIGHT: Polar bears in the wild are solitary
but they do spend time interacting with one another.
Even if it's simply smelling
that another polar bear has been in the area
or at times playing with one another.
Here in the zoo we find that they really do
enjoy each other's company.
They play, they interact
and they don't have to compete over anything.
They really tend to get along quite well.
NARRATOR: This is Gemma,
a tiny eastern quoll in a polka-dot coat.
She arrived at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
in Tasmania, Australia,
after being orphaned at just 2 months of age.
Eastern quolls used to live throughout Australia.
But these marsupials became extinct on the mainland
in the early 1960s.
Now they're only found on Tasmania.
Despite Gemma's youth,
she's already been given an important mission in life.
Gemma will help reintroduce
eastern quolls to mainland Australia
for the first time in more than 50 years.
But all that lies in the future.
Right now, she's still a baby.
And she needs plenty of attention from her keepers
at the Sanctuary.
IRONS: Gemma, so she's one that came into us
after being injured in the wild.
One of the most astonishing things about all marsupials
is how small they are when they're born
and eastern quolls really take this to a whole new level.
So if we're looking at their size,
you're looking at sort of 1.5 grains of rice
potentially in size,
so you're looking at this tiny thing
literally about this big.
NARRATOR: Now that Gemma is 4 months old, she's bigger and stronger,
and she's taking her first steps towards independence.
She's being weaned off baby formula
and she's starting to eat like a wild adult quoll.
IRONS: Our quolls get a real variety of food
ranging from different sorts of meats,
from chicken to fish to even some wallaby
and things that they'd find in the wild.
NARRATOR: Full-grown eastern quolls are fierce nocturnal predators
with strong jaws and excellent night vision.
Although at 2-feet long they're still tiny and cute.
Adult eastern quolls
are about the size of a small cat
and eat anything from fruit and eggs,
to insects and reptiles.
Those prominent polka dots
are actually night-time camouflage
that help them blend in with their background.
These mini marsupials are one of the top predators
in their native habitat.
The only one bigger is the Tasmanian Devil.
Quolls are in the same family as Tasmanian Devils,
and are more distantly related
to the now-extinct Tasmanian Tiger.
Like Tasmanian tigers,
competition from invasive species
led to the Eastern Quoll's extinction on the mainland
in the 1960s.
The main culprits were feral cats.
IRONS: Feral cats ate all the same things
that a quoll does and they're much more efficient at hunting,
much more efficient at finding the food
and will quite happily take out a quoll
if they feel that they need to.
NARRATOR: But now that feral cat populations are under control,
eastern quolls have a chance to thrive.
Their return should help control insect, reptile
and rabbit populations.
The Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
is headquarters for the breeding program
where 40 eastern quolls are being bred
for eventual release.
The plan is to limit their interaction with humans
so that they're as wild as possible.
They will soon be reintroduced to the mainland
at Booderee National Park.
Little Gemma is already too used to people
to be released into the wild,
but she's still vital to the program's success.
IRONS: Her genetics, being from a wild background,
could be really important to that breeding program,
and being hand raised from such a young age,
she hasn't got as good a chance of survival
as what she could give back to her species
going into this program.
NARRATOR: Many invasive animals have had a negative effect
on species endemic to Australia.
But eastern quolls are ready to make a potential comeback.
Gemma could play a major role in returning her species
to its historical range.
IRONS: An animal left only on an island is always at threat
of plummeting in number very quickly
so we must try and keep their numbers high now
before it becomes a situation of trying to fix it
when they're too low.
NARRATOR: If everything goes according to plan,
there will soon be a healthy eastern quoll population
on the Australian mainland.
And Gemma will be the matriarch of the pioneers.
These baby animals faced a future without a mom.
But, luckily,
they had others who stepped in to nurture and support them.
Human caregivers can do wonders.
And sometimes, a sibling goes a long way
in providing a little bit of love.
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