As calves growing up in Africa, the elephants survived the slaughter of their families. Now, facing another death sentence, they are loaded onto a 747 headed for Florida. [Audio version]

At Lowry Park, a keeper stays through the night with the elephants, watching for clues into how they’re adjusting to their first days in captivity. Others fight to save an abandoned baby manatee, bottle-feeding him in their arms. [Audio version]

The queen of the zoo spurns another suitor, even as her endangered species approaches extinction. The king, old and vulnerable after an upbringing among humans, clings to his throne. [Audio version]

On a rain-drenched river, experts pursue one of Lowry Park’s most beloved manatees as he swims toward freedom. At the zoo, in an elaborate display of technology, specialists from Berlin attempt to impregnate a female elephant. [Audio version]

Two Sumatran tigers circle in a potentially lethal mating dance.
Lowry Park’s CEO — the true alpha — maps the zoo’s future. [Audio version]

Alpha humans, in tuxes and gowns, slip through the zoo after dark for a late-night encounter with the elephants. Lowry Park goes into overdrive for the grand unveiling of a continent. [Audio version]

A handful of Lowry Park’s creatures journey to Manhattan to appear on late-night TV. A keeper wades into the Panamanian jungle in search of an endangered species. Back at the zoo, the staff is caught off guard by a momentous birth. [Audio version]

An exodus of keepers raises questions about Lowry Park’s direction. A coup is attempted against the king. [Audio version]

An overlooked detail leads to one of the worst days in Lowry Park’s history. The staff looks for answers. Back in Africa, so does the family that lives among the elephants of Swaziland. [Audio version]