Born in China Page #3

he's come to the right place...

because on this sunny afternoon...

the Lost Boys have invited him...

to play an ancient

traditional monkey game...

called Let's Break Branches.

(SCREECHING)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

This is exactly

what TaoTao needs right now.

Some of their shenanigans, however,

go a little too far for Tao Tao.

Like stealing a baby...

for kicks?

But hey...

it's not like it's his sister.

Being mischievous troublemakers...

is exhausting work.

For TaoTao, though,

life with the Lost Boys seems...

pretty sweet.

Until...

Goshawks are virtually

the only natural predators

these monkeys have.

And they're always on the lookout

for abandoned babies.

(SQUEALS)

(MONKEY SQUEALS)

(CALLING)

In the blink of an eye,

Tao Tee's world is turned upside down.

(GOSHAWK SCREECHES)

That came out of nowhere.

Why wasn't anyone

keeping an eye out?

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

It's a harsh dose of reality for Tao Tao.

That easily could have

been his little sister.

(THUNDER CRASHING)

(BIRDS SQUAWKING)

The summer winds,

carrying the warm scent

of fresh pastures...

have led the chiru

to their sacred destination...

Zhuonai Lake.

And the real purpose

of their heroic journey...

now reveals itself.

The whole fantastic, continuous cycle...

that is chiru existence...

is built on

this first moment of bonding...

between a mother and her baby...

sharing each other's scent.

Miraculously, baby chiru

are able to walk...

within 30 minutes of being born.

It's that "standing still"

part that's so difficult.

Within a few days,

they can run like their mothers.

As mothers and their calves

learn to identify each other by smell...

they're forming the essential,

unbreakable connections...

that bind the herd together

and allow it to survive

its return migration.

Sometimes, it takes a while...

for calves to figure out

whose smell is whose...

and they are gently encouraged

to keep sniffing.

The chiru will stay here

until the calves are capable...

of making their long return journey.

Then their pendulum

will swing back toward home...

where they'll be reunited

with the males they left behind.

(BLEATING)

(BIRDS WARBLING)

Up in the mountains of Sichuan...

the turn of seasons unfurls...

in a breathtaking kaleidoscope of color.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

(WATER TRICKLING)

(MEIMEI WHIMPERING)

Ya Ya and her baby have finally

emerged from their den of solitude.

It's time for MeiMei to meet the world.

(WHIMPERING)

"Well, the baby's been fed...

"and cuddled...

"and put to bed."

"Time for lunch."

(LEAVES RUSTLING)

Pandas in the wild

eat almost nothing but bamboo.

Up to 40 pounds per day.

40...

pounds...

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