Nature Calls to Mothers Everywhere

Nature Calls to Mothers Everywhere

LONDON, March 1/PRNewswire/ --

- ATTN. Feature Editors

- With Pictures

- Wildlife Presenter Aids Recovery of Orphaned Animals

Today, sees the start of Lyndal's Lifeline - the perfect family viewing
for Mother's Day. It's not just human babies that depend on their mothers for
the essentials in life. Nearly all species of animal rely on their mother in
their early years, whether it's learning the essential skills for survival,
or receiving the comfort of a mother's love.

Get ready to go on a journey around the world with wildlife presenter
Lyndal Davies as she visits six animal projects, ranging from a chimp
sanctuary in war-torn Sierra Leone to an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka.
Each sanctuary receives a donation of US$10,000 from the Animal Planet
Lifeline Fund. Viewers can then choose which of the six receives an
additional US$10,000 Lifeline Bonus - becoming the first ever Animal Planet
Lifeline Project.

Presenter Lyndal Davies says: "The world's animals are in big
trouble, and we need to start helping them now. That's why Lyndal's Lifeline
is such a fantastic project. For the first time, we're making a wildlife
series that takes money straight to where it's needed. It's incredible the
difference the Lifeline US$10,000 can make.

Most of the animals featured in the series are orphans whose
mother has been killed. For example, baby animals are particularly valuable
for the illegal pet trade and you often have to kill the mother to capture
the youngster. But if a baby has no Mum it doesn't learn the skills it needs
to survive in the wild and, of course, it misses its mother's love.

Humans can never replace an animal's natural mother, but the
sanctuaries we've been working at try to give orphaned animals the best life
possible. And it's a wonderful sight when you see an orphan go back to the
wild. In the end, that's what it's all about."

The series begins tonight at 6pm with Koala Crisis. Lyndal
visits her home town of Brisbane, Australia, and works at the Koala Hospital.
The koala's forest home is being cut down at a rate of ten household blocks a
minute. Koalas have to travel further and further to find food - and that
means crossing busy roads and encountering dogs in gardens. Every day,
injured koalas arrive at the Hospital. Our US$10,000 donation goes towards
buying protected land for the koalas of Queensland.

To show your support, you can choose which of the six Lyndal's
Lifeline projects receives an additional US$10,000 Lifeline Bonus and becomes
the first ever Animal Planet Lifeline Project. You can also log onto
www.animalplanet.co.uk/lifeline to make a further donation... so get voting!

Profits from text and interactive TV voting will go to the
viewer's chosen cause - so, even if your favourite doesn't win the bonus, it
will still benefit from your support.

Don't forget to tune into Lyndal's Lifeline on Animal Planet
every Sunday at 6pm starting tonight.

Quirky facts about animals & their mothers:

1. Pregnancy for female elephants lasts 20-22 months - over
twice as long as a human!

2. Elephants stay with their mothers on average for 16 years -
about the same amount of time that human children rely on their parents.

3. A young female chimp learns how to be a mother by watching
her own mother raise her and her siblings.

4. Young chimps stay with their mother for about seven years.

5. Once a female koala has conceived, it takes just 35 days
before the birth of the baby.

6. A koala father plays no part in bringing up baby.

7. Koala babies, like those of all marsupials, are called
'joeys'.

8. Helpless at birth, sun bear cubs develop quickly and within
a month or two are able to forage for food with their mother.

9. Sun bear cub survival is dependent on the skill of their
mother in protecting them and teaching them the basics of what to eat; where
and how to get it; and how to cope with the dangers of their environment.

10. Baby badgers stay with their mother for an initial two
months and then for only two months more to learn to fend for themselves.

11. To begin with, badger cubs follow their mother when she
goes searching for food. They soon learn what's good to eat, and how to find
food for themselves. When they are 15 weeks old, the cubs are quite happy to
go foraging alone.

Lyndal's Lifeline Transmission
Koala Crisis Sunday 6 March, 6pm (Monday 11 April, 7pm)
Chimps Under Fire Sunday 13 March, 6pm (Tuesday 12 April, 7pm)
Elephant Alert Sunday 20 March, 6pm (Wednesday 13 April, 7pm)
World's Busiest Wildlife Hospital Sunday 27 March, 6pm (Thursday 14
April, 7pm)
Flight To Freedom Sunday 3 April, 6pm (Friday 15 April, 7pm)
Battle For The Bears Sunday 10 April, 6pm (Saturday 16 April, 7pm)
All episodes will then be shown from 12 noon until 6pm on Sunday 17
April.
Animal Planet - Sky channel 570, Telewest channel 215,
NTL Digital channel 503

Notes to editors:

Two high resolution images to accompany this release are available to the
media free of charge at www.newscast.co.uk (+44-207-608-1000)

For further information about Lyndal's Lifeline, the following
materials are available:

- Press Release
- Episode Synopses
- Question & Answers with Lyndal Davies
- Diary Extracts
- Images
- VHS Copies

The Promotions Factory
Nick Goodmaker, nick@promotionsfactory.co.uk
Lucy Plosker, lucy@promotionsfactory.co.uk

Source: Animal Planet

Nick Goodmaker, +44-207-580-6200, nick@promotionsfactory.co.uk. Lucy Plosker, +44-207-580-6200, lucy@promotionsfactory.co.uk

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