Raising young in the complex world of jungles takes ingenuity. Parents must become masters of their environment, learning to exploit all opportunities if they are to secure the future of the next generation.

In remote Bhutan a pair of rufous necked hornbills have a lifelong partnership built on trust and dedication – the mother is imprisoned for a hundred days inside a tree, relying on her male to support his family. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, a plucky pug-nosed frog shares his home with a huge venomous tarantula. This unlikely duo makes a great team – the tarantula acts as a live in bodyguard, and the diminutive frog stays home to keep their shared home clean. In Jamaica, an ingenious crab mother works tirelessly to raise her brood of minuscule crablets. With scientific precision, she uses what is available in the forest to create the perfect conditions for her nursery pool.

Elsewhere some jungle parents need space to roam – and some are forced to adapt when their habitat changes around them. “Crinkle”, a cassowary father in Australia, navigates his chicks through new dangers in the oldest rainforest in the world. In the Amazon, forest fires force a tapir mother to seek a new territory where she can find vital life-giving minerals, and in China white-headed langurs cling on at the edge of existence. Their limestone pinnacles are surrounded by farmland, and they need to fight for what’s left to ensure a safe place for their young.

Remarkably, in all of our jungles, new science shows ancient ‘mother trees’ providing not only for their own offspring, but also for countless other rainforest families, from the tops of the canopy right down into the leaf litter. Their influence may be the key to all of our survival.

Filming locations and species:

• Rufous necked hornbill: Zhemgang region, Bhutan
• Pug-nosed frog: Kitulgala, Sri Lanka
• Fringed ornamental Tiger Spider: Kitulgala Sri Lanka
• Bromeliad Crab: Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Cassowary: Daintree, Queensland, Australia
• Tapir: Cristalino, Brazil
• White-headed langur: Guangxi Province, China
• Orangutan: Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia

Filming feats:

• Rufous necked hornbill: The first time a Rufous necked hornbill chick rearing in a nest has been filmed for a documentary.
• Tapir: This is the first time the nighttime behaviours around clay licks have been filmed using thermal imaging.