Growing Up...

Growing Up... is a series that airs on Animal Planet, a cable and satellite television network co-owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. and BBC Worldwide. Each episode is an hour long and follows the life (usually the first year) of a wild animal growing up in captivity.

Description

The show has always featured mammals as the animal or animals being taken care of. The episodes typically include one animal, two or more animals from the same litter, or two or more animals taken care of at the same facility that were either born in captivity or rescued from the wild. The animals that have been born in captivity either stay in their current facility or are moved to another facility while the animals that are rescued may or may not be released back into the wild.

The first episode to air was Growing Up Grizzly, which aired as a TV movie in 2001, co-starring Bart the Bear 2 (then known as "Little Bart") and hosted by Brad Pitt. Growing Up Lion then aired in 2003. The program became a regular series starting in May 2004, when the rest of the episodes began to air on a weekly basis.

Recurring events

Recurring events in the series include:

Some time being dedicated to the gestation period of the mother.
Animal being rescued from dangerous situation, adandoment, or being orphaned.
Diseases, infections, illnesses, or other health problems in the animal's life.
The animal's transition from milk to solid food.
The animal being introduced or reintroduced to other animals of its own kind or species.
The caretaker's interactions with the animal(s).
The animal's first birthday celebration.
The animal's interaction with enrichment toys.

Episode guide

Episode title	Animal(s)	Number of animals	Animal name(s)	Description	Main location
Growing Up Marsupial	Spotted quoll; Tasmanian devil; wombat	Four	White Tip (spotted quoll), Rosie (wombat), Marrawah, Milabena (Tasmanian devils)	Three lucky people take on the challenging but rewarding job of hand-rearing Trowunna Wildlife Park's abandoned or orphaned babies. A spotted quoll, two Tasmanian devils, and a wombat are totally reliant on their new human 'moms' for nurturing and love.	Trowunna Wildlife Park
Growing Up Lion	African lion	Four	Rex, Sheba, Amy (who is a male), and Leo	At the prestigious Wild Animal Orphanage near San Antonio, four lion cubs are rescued and raised with loving care. The lion cubs face their share of challenges, from serious illness to natural disasters.	Wild Animal Orphanage
Growing Up Tiger	Siberian tiger	Two	Sarge and Lily	At the Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge in Texas, meet the founders of this home for more than 30 great cats that have been abused, neglected or displaced. Witness the birth of two tiger cubs and follow their incredible first year.	Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge
Growing Up Elephant	African elephant	One	Maximus (Max)	His keepers describe Maximus as cocky and quick to learn. Witness the miraculous birth and a year of baby elephant's firsts, as Maximus goes from a 300-pound baby to an 11,000-pound giant.
Growing Up Cheetah	Cheetah	Four	Cayla, Cane, Cieren and Corbin	Four cheetah cubs, born at South Africa's Cango Wildlife Ranch's Cheetah Breeding Centre, are raised by a rancher and her Labrador Retriever. As they become adventuresome adolescents, their keeper must send some of her charges to other breeding programs.	Cango Wildlife Ranch
Growing Up Wolf	Timber wolf	Six	Growly Pants and Truck	Caretakers at Minnesota's Wildlife Science Center hand-raise six lively grey timber wolf pups. Pack dynamics are evident as the pups bond with human caregivers, domestic dogs acting as surrogate mothers, and the alpha female who will lead their pack.	Wildlife Science Center
Growing Up Clouded Leopard	Clouded leopard	Two	Ming and Mei	Professional surrogate mother Sara Bratcher raises Ming and Mei, a pair of clouded leopard cubs, in her home. After three months, the siblings will be transferred to the Asian rainforest and clouded leopard breeding program at the Nashville Zoo.	Nashville Zoo
Growing Up Black Bear	American black bear	One	Charlie	Rescued from Internet auction by the Minnesota Wildlife Science Center, Charlie the bear cub learns to live in the wild. Caretakers distance themselves from the cuddly ball of fluff to allow him to follow his natural instinct to hibernate.	Wildlife Science Center
Growing Up Orangutan	Bornean orangutan	Two	Sakia and Luka	Two traumatized baby orangutans are brought to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation where Lone Drøscher Nielsen will become mother to the pair. She devotes her life to teaching these endangered primates how to survive in the wild.	Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
Growing Up Rhino	White rhinoceros; black rhinoceros	Two	Tunza (white rhino - To Treat With Care in Zulu) and Tandi (black rhino - Hope in Zulu)	Orphaned baby rhinos Tunza and Tandi grow up in the safety of Pretoria's Wildcare Africa Trust. Tunza takes his first mud bath while caregivers go to great lengths to save Tandi when she contracts a mysterious illness.	Wildcare Africa Trust
Growing Up Penguin	Humboldt penguin	One	Bonita (Beautiful in Spanish)	It's nesting season for the Humboldt penguins at the Oregon Zoo and eggs abound. Join zookeepers Shawn and Rick as they help an endangered penguin chick begin her incredible journey into adulthood.	Oregon Zoo
Growing Up Zebra	Plains zebra	Three	Cassidy, Shadow, and Sky	SanWild Animal Sanctuary founder Louise Joubert raises three baby zebras. Cassidy, a badly injured foal, grows into a mischievous rascal. He and his two cohorts, Shadow and Sky, experience joys, adventures, and adversity in their journey back to the wild.	SanWild Animal Sanctuary
Growing Up Baboon	Chacma baboon	Four	Stu, Marina, Susie, and Morris	Visit South Africa's only wildlife sanctuary dedicated to the care of Chacma baboons. Four orphans are cared for by a team of volunteers. But their release back into the wild is threatened by politics, farmers, epidemics, and an unrelenting drought.	C.A.R.E.
Growing Up Lynx	Siberian lynx	One	Kisa (Kitty in Russian)	Watch Kisa, a Siberian lynx, as this precocious kitten grows up into a healthy and rambunctious cat, forges friendships with some unlikely animal counterparts and embarks on a journey to become one of San Diego Zoo's most recognizable animals.	San Diego Zoo
Growing Up Polar Bear	Polar bear	One	Inukshuk	When hunters killed a polar bear and one of her cubs, the future looked bleak for the surviving cub. Follow the story of Inukshuk and the dedicated team of Toronto Zoo curators who care for this charismatic young cub during the first year of his life.	Toronto Zoo
Growing Up Grizzly	Grizzly bear	Two	Little Bart and Honey-Bump	Brad Pitt takes viewers on a journey to the foot of the Rocky Mountains in northern Utah, home of the Seus family, to follow Honey-Bump and Little Bart through the first year of their life, as they grow and discover the wonders of the world around them — their first swim in the river, their first drive into town for ice cream, and their first time on a movie set of Dr. Dolittle 2.
Growing Up Grizzly 2	Grizzly bear	Two	Little Bart and Honey-Bump	Jennifer Aniston hosts this special event and brings viewers up-to-date on the world's most famous grizzly bear cubs, Bart and Honey-Bump. Learn everything about these amazing grizzlies, and the human family they are a part of.
Growing Up Sitka Deer	Sitka deer	Two	Jewelie and Jade	After her mother was killed, a tiny two-day-old Sitka deer is rescued and brought to an Alaskan wildlife reserve. Named 'Jewelie', the little fawn must rely on human caregivers to brave the harsh Arctic elements and perhaps return to the wild.	Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Growing Up Walrus	Walrus	One	Nereus	An orphaned baby walrus finds a new home thousands of miles away from the Alaskan beach where it is found. Named Nereus, the baby gets round the clock care from his human keepers at the Indianapolis Zoo.	Indianapolis Zoo
Growing Up Black Leopard	Black leopard	One	Eddy	Join host Edie Falco as she takes us on an incredible journey following the first year in the life of a rare African black leopard named Eddy.	The Wild Animal Sanctuary
Growing Up Seal	Harbor seal; ringed seal	Four	Jonro, Swinglee, Ceve, and Butcher	Stranded baby seals get a second chance at life at the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward, Alaska. Dedicated staff nurse a starving baby ringed seal back to health. A rigorous training program prepares the rescued seals for their return to the wild.	Alaska Sealife Center
Growing Up Camel	Dromedary camel	One	Patsy (inspired by the nickname of the American football team, the Patriots)	Meet Patsy, a baby camel born on Super Bowl Sunday at a family-owned zoo. Too weak to nurse and facing starvation, she must be hand-raised in order to survive. Her caregiver does everything possible to enable Patsy to one day reunite with her mother. This story is talked about in the David Sedaris book When You Are Engulfed in Flames.
Growing Up Giraffe	Rothschild giraffe	One	Kulula	Join Tasha de Vasconcelos as she takes viewers to Safari West in California, where a young giraffe is born and gets orphaned when an illness kills her mother Lady. Keepers Kim and Sheri fill Kulula the giraffe's tragic life with hope and devotion as they prepare her to join the sanctuary's herd.	Safari West
Growing Up Moose	Moose	Five	Mush, Anyes, Kapon, Bucky, and Anne	The moose is the largest deer on the planet and has few predators in the wild. However, a baby moose is a very different story. Follow the story of Mush as the staff at St Felicien Zoo give her the care and love she needs to survive in captivity.	St Felicien Zoo
Growing Up Hyena	Spotted hyena	Several	Homer, Bongo, Tika (means "hyena" in African tribe languages)	The hyena is often relegated to the role of skulking scavenger - always the villain and never the hero. But one man, Kevin Richardson, is committed to showing the world that hyenas are intelligent, strong and fearless predators - to be respected and not maligned.	Lion Park
Growing Up Gorilla	Western lowland gorilla	One	Nona	Follow the story of Nona, a baby gorilla orphaned at one month of age. She is nurtured to health at Mefou National Park by Rachel Hogan who for the last decade has dedicated her life to saving Africa's dwindling population of wild gorillas.	Mefou National Park
Growing Up Giant Panda	Giant panda	One	Jing Jing	A panda breeding center brings up a little baby panda. The caretaker's friend also has a baby.

DVD releases

Arctic

Growing Up Polar Bear
Growing Up Seal
Growing Up Walrus
Growing Up Penguin

Wildcats

Growing Up Lion
Growing Up Tiger
Growing Up Cheetah
Growing Up Black Leopard

Wilderness

Growing Up Wolf
Growing Up Sitka Deer
Growing Up Black Bear
Growing Up Moose

Safari

Growing Up Zebra
Growing Up Giraffe
Growing Up Hyena
Growing Up Rhino

Primates

Growing Up Orangutan
Growing Up Gorilla
Growing Up Baboon

References

List of Episodes
Episode Descriptions

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