The Mountain Viscacha inhabits the high mountain steppes of the Altiplano in the Andes. In this barren landscape, where it rarely rains and temperatures drop far below freezing at night, the mother still finds enough weed and seeds to feed itself and her cub. In about a month it will be old enough to search for food by itself.

The name ‚Silvered Lutung‘ doesn‘t seem to apply to the baby of this monkey family. After birth, it wears  a shining orange fur and it is light-skinned in its face and on its hands. But within a few days the skin will turn dark. And in 3 to 5 months also the shiny orange fur will vanish. Then it will look like its parents.

After birth, the baby of the 3 finger sloth clings to the belly of its mother where it will stay for the first few weeks of its young live. It remains with its mother in the safety of the of the tree tops. The mother will only get to the ground when in need to defecate. This is the only time where the baby is endangered.

Around noon the seal mum gave birth to her pup. The last phase of the birth took more than two hours until the umbilical cord between mum and pup was finally torn. After nosing each other and suckling for the first time, both are exhausted from the strenuousness of the birth. Now, closely cuddled together, they take a short afternoon nap to regenerate.

In the first few months of its young live, the foal of the plains zebra always stays side by side with its mum. After the birth, it has memorized the scent and the voice of the mare and recognizes it now even when both wander in large herds with other zebras. The foal knows that as long as it stays close to its mum, predators and hunger need not to be feared.

The piglets of a group of wild boars got tired of romping around and have now snuggled up to each other in a big pile. Their fur is not as dense as that of the adult animals, therefore it protects little from the cold and the humidity of the forest ground. The position, on which each piglet may lie, is determined by the ranking, which is carried out in their first few weeks by small fights and scramble.

In the morning, the hyena mum appears in front of her burrow to check for her puppies, which have spent the night in the safeness of the den. It will take a few weeks more, before these young savages will be old enough to leave the den permanently. But now, at the first sound of their mother, they all get out of the darkness of their hide and welcome their mum wildly frolicking.

The donkeys that inhabit wide areas of the Atacama aren‘t really wild donkeys. Most of them are descendants from the livestock, formerly kept for farming and in the mining industry. At the end of the 20th century their tasks were taken over by machinery and the donkeys were simply set free. These donkeys did reproduce and today they live in large numbers nearly all over the Atacama.

Just a few hours old, the calf of the moose is still too weak to stand on its legs for a longer time. This is a dangerous period for the calf, as it is an easy prey for wolves and bears as long as it can‘t walk enduringly. Only the constant presence of the mother moose, which persistently pushes her calf to stand up, offers protection. No wolf and no bear would carelessly try to get close to the calf, as long as the mother moose is around.

At sunrise the lion cub has laid down in the shade of the bushes. Here, in the shelter of its pride, it will spend the hot hours of the day. While the adults of the pack were hunting during the night, the cub was playing with its siblings and explored the surrounding areas under the supervision of an aunt. Tired of last night’s activities, it is now resting to be ready for continuing the discovery of its world with the next sunset.

Just two weeks old, the elephant calf follows its mum on every step. With its weight of about 100kg and its shoulder height of about 90cm, it is hardly a mite. Nevertheless, it is permanently in danger during these first weeks. The elephant cow and the herd protect the calf from predators like lions and hyenas. But also the sun above the savannah is a threat to the calf. Beside the risk of dehydration, the sensitive skin of the small elephant tends to get sunburn.

While the adult Humboldt penguins are hunting for food for their offspring, the chicks stay on the beach and gather in small groups to wait for their parents return. These kindergartens provide protection against Skuas and other predators. When the parents return, adults and their chicks will discover each other by the sound of their voices. However, sometimes the chicks from other parents try to snatch some food from any adults, which mostly ends in an ungentle rebuff.

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