Humans aren’t the only ones who take extraordinary steps to protect, nurture and raise their young. The animal kingdom is replete with stories of mothers that sacrifice equally, impart all their life’s learning and experiences with their younglings playing a crucial role in bringing warmth in the wild world. This Mother’s Day, Animal Planet brings its viewers a day full of amazing stories that put spotlight on some of the outstanding animal mothers going the extra mile for their young.
Mother’s Day Special will air on Animal Planet on Sunday, May 8 from 12 noon to 8 pm.
Watch gripping tales of love, devotion and ultimate sacrifice in motherhood. Amarobia Spider mom sacrifices her life to be often eaten by her newborns. Koalas feed on poisonous eucalyptus leaves and builds up tolerance in her babies by feeding them her own faeces. Orangutan moms nurse their offspring until they reach the age or 6 or 7.
Explore the trials and triumphs of motherhood on the wild side. How do mother hyenas survive, thrive and care for their young? How Bengal tigress provides for young cubs and trains them to hunt for the Sambar and Chital deer that share their home? How territorial issues cause tensions between wild-wives of Savannah – hyena Lauren and lion Dorothy? Witness how a young lioness in Kenya sets aside her predatory instincts to adopt a baby oryx antelope and mother it with infinite tenderness for 16 days. Savour some of the most intimate and extraordinary mother-child moments of the planet’s most amazing creatures in the following episodes – Natural Wild Mothers and Babies, Mama Hyena, Heart of a Lioness and Wildwives of Savannah Lane, amongst others.
Some of the episodes in the Mother’s Day Special include:
Heart of a Lioness
There are some places on earth where legends come alive. An inversion of nature baffles the scientific world when a young lioness in Samburu Reserve, Kenya, sets aside her predatory instincts to adopt a baby oryx antelope and mother it with infinite tenderness for 16 days. Foregoing her most basic needs she proved both a compassionate and wise protector.
Mama Hyena
Hyenas have been given an unfairly negative reputation in folklore and popular media, because of their ungraceful, even grotesque, physical features. Despite their notoriety, spotted hyenas are truly a curiosity of nature. Intelligent creatures, they follow a sophisticated social system that is not immediately obvious to the untrained eye.
Wildwives of Savannah Lane
Revisit the protagonists from Queens of the Savannah: Victoria who raised her four baby cheetahs alone, Laura who had to fend for her two lion cubs and hippopotamus Cathy. And watch how territorial issues cause tensions between hyena Lauren and lion Dorothy. Can they co-exist without creating conflict?