Animals overcome their first great hurdle, surviving infancy. Flightless barnacle goose chicks face their greatest challenge at the start of their lives. In order to find food they must leap 400 feet down a cliff, from the ledge where they hatched.
In the journey towards adulthood, a moment comes for all animals when they must strike out on their own. With their parents absent they must learn to survive in a dangerous world. Every small success may mean the difference between life and death.
Animals must find somewhere to live, a place that provides shelter from the elements and a refuge from enemies. Good homes are rare and competition can be intense, finding a home is one thing, but defending it is quite another.
Sir David Attenborough examines how animals try to gain a position of power in their worlds. The most powerful have the best access to food and water, and they are also the most attractive to the opposite sex.
Sir David Attenborough looks at the techniques that animals use in their attempts to win a mate. The competition to breed has created both the most extraordinary beauty and the most violent battles seen in nature.
Animals attempt to rear their offspring. This takes extraordinary commitment, and a parent may even need to risk its own life for its offspring. A female turtle hauls herself up the beach to lay her eggs in a safe place above the tide line.