Nature's Nurseries

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All of the species of this planet have developed their own special strategy to raise their offspring. Some species lay eggs en masse and leave them to themselves, such as some of our native fish. Others rely on an only child, which they care for with a lot of sacrifice, such as the Golden eagle. But there are countless other ways of bringing up the descendants. The field hamster digs tunnels into the ground to hide its newborns from predators. Others, raise their offspring in the family unit, there the life of the "adults" is rehearsed. Some dragonflies hide their eggs underwater. In addition to the austounding and fascinating strategies in nature, the viewer gains a fundamental insight: It doesn't matter whether a species has only one or a few or even a thousand "kids": At the end of the life of the parent-animals, on average only two specimens of the offspring remain. If there are fewer, the species dies out. If there are more, the result is overpopulation.