Sloth Bear Mom Protects Cubs From Leopard Love Nature
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 Bibi and her cubs must now spend 10 hours a day looking for food.
00:04 Twice as long as normal.
00:09 In the macaque troop, hunger makes tempers flare.
00:15 One male pushes his luck too far.
00:27 As with the youngsters, male macaque adults vie for dominance.
00:32 They must fight over and over for their position in the hierarchy.
00:36 The higher up they are, the better their access to the dwindling food supplies.
00:42 So despite risk of injury, winning this fight could be vital to the male's survival.
00:56 As quickly as it started, the fight is over.
00:59 This male has secured his right to the limited rations.
01:05 A new hierarchy is in place. For now.
01:09 And no one has been seriously injured.
01:13 Back in the clearing, grooming calms the whole troop and cements the change in leadership.
01:22 Soothing relationships between individuals will help the whole troop cooperate during these increasingly lean times.
01:29 When times are tough, predators are always on the lookout for an easy opportunity.
01:40 But others are on the lookout too.
01:44 The macaques have seen the danger and protest loudly.
01:50 Their piercing alarm calls warn the troop and other animals nearby.
01:56 It's a leopard.
01:59 They normally hunt by night.
02:02 But the prolonged drought is making everybody desperate.
02:06 Even in the relative safety of their cave, BB's cubs are nervous.
02:16 Leopards and tigers are the only predators large enough to prey on the family.
02:20 But the leopard would be foolish to take on a full-grown mother bear.
02:26 At around 80 pounds, it's less than half BB's weight and would likely suffer serious injury if it got anywhere near BB's slashing claws.
02:37 The cubs are a different matter.
02:42 So BB stands guard.
02:46 Sloth bears normally come out at night.
02:48 But to keep them away from the usually nocturnal leopards, BB specifically chooses to take her cubs out during the day.
02:57 This change in behavior is particularly important now.
03:03 At 10 months old, the cubs have grown to 90 pounds and are too big for BB to carry them both to safety.
03:12 If they need to escape, they'll have to run for themselves.
03:16 A leopard in broad daylight, however, is conspicuous.
03:21 And there are too many eyes around the clearing for him to be a real threat.
03:28 But he'll be back.
03:33 Waiting for the animals here to grow weaker as the monsoon failure.
03:41 The monsoon failure drags on.
03:43 And he's not the only danger in the clearing.
03:51 Two male sloth bears have arrived, looking for any food they can find.
03:59 At 300 pounds, males weigh about a third more than females like BB.
04:10 With power and aggression to match.
04:13 This could be disastrous for BB and her cubs.
04:17 Male sloth bears are known to kill infants to try to bring their mothers back into oestrus.
04:23 The cubs are right to be anxious about these imposing new bears on their home turf.
04:39 BB can sense tension in the air.
04:42 She keeps her cubs at a safe distance.
04:48 And a good thing too.
04:51 With their sharp claws and large canine teeth, spats like this can turn deadly at the best of times.
05:05 With drought forcing hungry and stressed animals into ever smaller areas, more fights will break out.
05:12 It's now late July.
05:19 And the rains are more than two months late.
05:23 It's crunch time for BB.
05:26 And she's not the only one.
05:31 It's crunch time for BB.
05:34 Even in a good year, a third of all sloth bear cubs won't survive.
05:39 And this is not a good year.
05:43 But things are about to change.
05:49 The feast that follows the famine is here.
05:53 And not a moment too soon.
05:58 Groundwater appears, flowing in streams across the rocks.
06:02 Pools transform the clearing once again into a life-saving oasis.
06:11 It brings in bears and other animals from all across the area.
06:19 Where the cubs were once at risk from other bears, now it's different.
06:25 With so much food and water to be had, even the males now tolerate each other.
06:38 And the sloth bears are not the only ones to suffer.
06:45 They also tolerate each other.
06:48 For BB, the arrival of the monsoon marks a victory.
07:07 She has ensured her cubs have survived the toughest season she's ever known.
07:14 [Music]
07:22 She has taught them vital life lessons.
07:26 Which bears to avoid and when.
07:29 Which animals to steer clear of.
07:32 And most of all, where to find food when the going gets tough.
07:39 BB will look after her cubs for another nine months, until the start of the next monsoon.
07:45 But with her guidance, the cubs have had the best possible start to life.
07:51 And the best preparation for when they leave her and set out on their own.
07:58 [Music]
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