♪
NARRATOR: One family...
countless faces.
♪
Monkeys...
[Ape chattering]
apes...
lemurs.
[Lemurs chattering]
[Indistinct conversations
in distance]
They've conquered the world...
working together.
♪
Every triumph is shared...
and every drama, too.
♪
Family is everything...
♪
For the primates.
[Primates chattering]
♪
[Animals chattering]
NARRATOR: The
forests of Southeast Asia
are home to world-class
animal acrobats.
♪
♪
These are lar gibbons.
[Animals chattering]
Each small family
defends a huge territory.
♪
They must cover
big distances quickly.
So gibbons move like
nothing else on Earth.
They brachiate...
swinging from branch to branch,
and it's this technique
that gives them their speed.
Gibbons' arms are twice
as long as their legs.
So their bodies
act as a pendulum,
with enough momentum to
clear a gap of over 30 feet.
♪
But with a 100-foot drop
below, every leap takes nerve.
Confidence like
this must be learned.
This youngster is
just 10 months old...
By gibbon standards, a toddler.
She was born with all the
tools she needs for the high life...
but learning how to
use them takes practice.
♪
♪
Trial and error
like this is risky.
Few gibbons escape
without broken bones.
♪
♪
But lessons are shared.
♪
Gibbons, like all
primates, learn...
♪
From one another.
From family, friends...
playmates.
[Gibbons chattering]
♪
Play is the best
form of practice,
and the more they play,
the faster their skills develop.
♪
♪
Young primates stand
the best chance in life
in the security of a family.
[Gibbons chattering]
Across the world, family power
has been the key
to primates' success.
♪
From snowcapped mountains...
♪
To dusty backstreets...
♪
Uncharted jungles...
♪
And the open savanna...
♪
Social living has been
the making of primates.
[Creatures chattering]
But it's not to
say that family life
is without its challenges.
Exhausting, even.
[Monkeys snoring]
♪
In Malaysia, these
dozing dusky leaf monkeys
are a close-knit family group.
One dominant male oversees
eight females...
and their young.
[Monkeys chattering]
Lots of them.
♪
♪
[Leaves rustling]
One female is
keeping her distance.
But she's not hiding.
She's just given birth...
to an infant that
really stands out.
Mom must never
lose sight of the baby,
and that's why he's been
born with a color she can't miss.
And there are others
who find his bright orange
fur equally eye-catching...
His aunts and cousins.
They all want to
cuddle with the newborn.
♪
♪
Here, the babysitting
becomes strangely competitive.
♪
♪
It might seem a bit
rough on the baby,
but his mother is tolerant.
It all helps to establish the
troop's bond with the newborn,
making it all the more
likely they'll protect him.
That's just as well,
because in the jungle,
you're never far from danger.
[Monkey screeching]
An alarm call.
It's a python.
Mom quickly locates
her orange infant...
and he's soon safe in her arms.
♪
But the troop isn't finished.
[Monkeys squawking]
♪
[Snake hisses]
[Monkey squawks]
[Snake hisses]
As long as the snake
remains in their territory,
it's a threat, especially
to the youngest.
That's one snake that won't...
stick around.
[Birds chirping]
Putting up with your
family takes patience...
but you can rely on them
when it really matters.
♪
Dawn in the Amazon basin.
[Monkeys chattering]
These white-cheeked
spider monkeys...
are canopy specialists.
They almost never
leave the treetops.
They have everything
they need up here.
Almost everything.
♪
Families share their knowledge.
This female elder knows
exactly where to go.
Only a spider monkey can reach
every opportunity
this jungle offers.
♪
And that's thanks
to an extra limb.
♪
A tail.
It's as strong as an arm,
but a lot more flexible.
Their many-limbed,
spidery appearance
gives them their name...
♪
And grants them access to
the most unexpected places.
This tributary of the
Amazon is in flood,
bursting at the seams.
The currents are strong
enough to uproot trees
and wash away any
who stray too close.
But they also bring opportunity.
Aquatic plants... a feast
quite unlike anything to
be found in the canopy.
[Monkeys chattering]
Now her tail is a safety rope.
It's flexible and can
support all her weight.
It even seems to
have a mind of its own.
And it has a pattern
of grooves for grip,
like the palm of a hand.
♪
♪
It's thought the extra
nutrients in these plants
make it worth the risk.
♪
And this elder female
has led the way.
Her troop has followed...
♪
To benefit from her
experience and wisdom.
♪
♪
Soon, everyone is munching away.
♪
♪
Here, family knowledge
is shared, remembered,
and even passed on
between the generations.
♪
Primate groups come
in all shapes and sizes...
and for all sorts of reasons.
♪
Here, on Ethiopia's
open Highlands,
geladas form herds...
The biggest groups of all...
Because where
there's nowhere to hide,
there's safety in numbers.
♪
On the edge of the
world's largest desert...
[Baboons barking]
Hamadryas baboons band together
to defend scant
resources from rivals.
[Baboons barking and shrieking]
♪
When two groups clash,
it pays to have
numbers on your side.
♪
[Birds chirping]
♪
But in the dry Chaco
forest of Argentina...
a rarely seen primate
does things differently.
Owl monkeys live with
just their nuclear family...
Parents and kids.
And uniquely, for a monkey,
they're usually active at night.
♪
But on cold winter days,
they adjust their schedule
for some time in the sun...
♪
Feasting on the blooms
of the lapacho tree.
By primate standards,
this is a peaceful existence.
♪
And that's because Mom and Dad
are one of the most
faithful pairs in nature.
They stick together
because their rarest
resource is each other.
And the kids stick around, too,
on hand to assist their parents
with raising the youngest.
Owl monkeys are unusual.
But even more rare is a
primate who prefers to go it alone.
[Birds chirping]
As night falls in Sri Lanka...
a solitary, rarely seen
creature is stirring.
♪
♪
This pint-sized primate
that would fit in the
palm of your hand
is a gray slender loris.
♪
♪
Active only at night, a loris
is wide-eyed and stealthy...
even when she's
just hunting fruit.
♪
A solitary life should mean
she doesn't have to share.
♪
But there are challenges, too.
This loris is a single mother.
She has twins
who, unfortunately,
are just too big to bring along.
So the youngsters are
parked in dense vegetation,
where they're
expected to sit tight
and wait for her return.
♪
But tonight one of the infants
is not where she left him.
♪
♪
This little loris has
slipped from his roost,
and now he's in trouble.
[Loris chattering]
At only five weeks old,
he's little bigger
than a golf ball.
♪
But already, he's well-equipped.
♪
He's one of few
primates with night vision,
thanks to a special,
reflective layer of cells,
the tapetum, in
his oversized eyes.
While most young primates
take months, or even years,
to fully find their feet,
this baby loris already
climbs with confidence.
♪
And he was born
with a vise-like grip.
[Loris chattering]
His Mother can hear him.
[Loris chattering]
♪
Reunited at last.
♪
A loris must grow up fast.
Its childhood is one of
the shortest of any primate.
In less than four months' time,
he and his twin
will strike out alone.
But even then, Mom
won't abandon them.
She will let them
share her territory,
ensuring they
have what they need
in the early days
of independence.
In this cabruca
forest of Brazil,
towering trees crawl
with small-scale life.
[Birds chirping]
♪
And this miniature world has
its very own miniature,
squirrel-sized monkey.
♪
A golden-headed lion tamarin.
He's a dad...
with a small but
demanding family.
♪
♪
He's been tracked
via a radio collar,
so scientists know
one thing for sure...
He is devoted.
♪
Despite that, today it seems...
he's forgotten something.
[Tamarins chattering]
His daughter.
♪
For a tiny tamarin mother,
pregnancy and
birth take a huge toll.
So the lion's share of
childcare falls to her partner.
♪
He leads everyone to the
day's first stop: breakfast.
♪
A tamarin day is
a fast and furious
and often rather
destructive hunt for food.
♪
These bromeliads are full...
of bite-size morsels.
[Frog croaking]
♪
♪
They'll stay just long enough
for everyone
to get their fill...
because tamarins
are bite-size, too,
and it's dangerous to
stay in one place for long.
Time to move.
♪
Everyone follows.
Well, almost everyone.
♪
[Tamarin calls]
♪
This is how a tamarin Dad is
destined to spend his days...
whether the family is eating...
♪
Grooming...
or just playing.
♪
It's he who shoulders the
burden of responsibility.
[Tamarin chattering]
♪
In truth, his daughter
is plenty big enough
to keep up with the family...
but she'd much
rather hitch a ride
from her long-suffering dad.
♪
Amongst the ring-tailed
lemurs of Madagascar...
females rule.
These leaders
juggle childcare...
[Lemurs chattering]
with territorial warfare.
If they must,
they'll go into battle
with baby on board.
♪
In primate life, those
at the top stand out.
Even in the deep shade
of the West African jungle...
the only thing more colorful
than a dominant male
mandrill's backside...
is his face.
Mandrills' bright colors
signify health and dominance.
♪
[Mandrills chattering]
From the extraordinary nose
of Borneo's proboscis monkey...
to the oversized
canines of a drill...
or the huge cheeks of a
dominant male orangutan,
these physical features
mark out those at the top...
but also expose them to
politics and backstabbing.
[Langurs grunting]
In India's desert
state of Rajasthan...
a single, battle-scarred
male Hanuman langur...
watches over his troop.
[Langurs grunting]
youngsters rely on him
to keep the peace
and keep rivals at bay.
♪
His offspring are growing up
in the safety of his protection.
♪
But these bachelors
have banded together
in the hope of deposing him
and taking the troop by force.
[Langurs grunting]
[Langur barks]
The large harem is
an attractive target.
If they succeed, they
will k*ll his infants.
♪
[Langurs grunting]
♪
Teeth grinding is a
display of defiance.
He's not going
down without a fight.
♪
[Langur grinding teeth]
Challenge accepted.
♪
[Langurs chattering]
[Male langur grunts]
Attack is the best
form of defense.
♪
♪
♪
[Langur grunts]
He's seen off his
rivals by intimidation.
[Langur grunting]
[Birds chirping]
And his offspring are safe...
For the time being, at least.
[Langurs chattering]
A leader's dominance
is under constant threat.
Eventually, everyone
must step aside.
In Morocco's cedar forests,
winter brings short days...
for the world's most
isolated monkey.
♪
Barbary macaques'
morning commute is short...
but steep.
♪
♪
[Macaques chattering]
Playtime is not wasted.
These antics mask
political jostling.
The playmates are
testing one another,
establishing status...
and forging alliances...
That secret weapon
in primate society.
♪
But one macaque
watches from the sidelines.
♪
He's a male in his final years.
♪
Known here by researchers
for his battle-scarred nose...
and by the fact,
he's usually alone.
♪
His status and
importance has waned.
♪
But he was once
second in command
of this troop of 40.
To climb the ranks,
he was ruthless.
In his youth,
he, too, jostled for position...
made allies, and enemies, too...
to secure his role in the
top ranks of this group.
♪
But those days
are behind him now.
[Wind whistling]
These Barbary
macaques are marooned,
six and a half thousand feet up,
in Morocco's Atlas mountains...
where they endure some of
the biggest climatic extremes
of any primate.
In just hours, the temperature
can fall by nearly 90 degrees.
The lives of the young
and the old are at risk.
[Wind whistling]
♪
♪
♪
[Macaques chattering]
At dusk, the group
starts to form huddles,
teaming up to fend off the cold.
♪
They provide
warmth to each other,
helping them all to
survive until morning.
The old male, however, is alone.
♪
[Wind whistling]
Until he's joined by
some unlikely friends.
He's found a new
role in the group.
Caring for young,
who are not his own.
And it's paid off.
♪
Male Barbary macaques
lip-smack as a greeting,
forming lasting,
grandfather-like relationships
with youngsters.
And now, together,
they all stand a better
chance of surviving the night.
They can endure the
extremes of the mountain winter,
thanks to cooperation.
Working together is at
the heart of the success
of this entire animal family.
[Animals chattering]
A family whose story
has a new chapter.
♪
In 1997, scientists
embarked upon an
expedition to a lost world...
A remote plateau
in northern Sumatra.
♪
this is Batang Toru.
♪
♪
After weeks of searching,
they caught a glimpse...
[Leaves rustling]
of this.
♪
A new species of primate...
A great ape.
♪
A Tapanuli orangutan.
[Orangutan grunting]
They are smaller, and
have paler, thicker fur
than their lowland cousins.
Scientists believe
these are adaptations
for living at altitude.
But like all orangutans,
the bond between an
infant and its mother
is one of the
strongest and longest
in the natural world.
[Orangutan grunting]
♪
A mom is everything
to her youngster...
even a bridge
when she needs one.
At this high elevation,
it seems that these orangutans
need a greater variety
of plant foods to survive.
♪
All of which this
infant has to learn.
♪
♪
At three years old, she's
just starting to explore
the world beyond
her mother's reach.
♪
It will take five years
before she's ready
to head off alone.
But her world is
changing, and fast.
♪
When the Tapanuli
orangutan was named in 2017,
it became the newest,
and in the same moment,
most endangered
great ape on Earth.
[Orangutan chattering]
There are only 800 individuals.
♪
Their lost world is
no longer a secret.
In fact, it's under
immediate threat
from logging, mining,
and hydropower projects.
♪
The Tapanuli orangutan
was isolated, hidden,
for nearly 700,000 years.
It's now thought that
within a generation,
they could be gone.
♪
And across the world,
this is becoming
a familiar story.
lemurs are endangered.
♪
The Barbary macaques'
home is shrinking fast
in the face of rapid
climate change.
♪
India's lion-tailed
macaques' forests
are now adrift in a
sea of agriculture.
♪
Today over half of all primate
species are under threat.
♪
And the future of them all
is in the hands
of one primate...
Us.
Next time...
meet the people making
ground-breaking discoveries.
CAT: Right there...
MAN: Over. [Beep]
NARRATOR: revealing
the secret lives...
RUSS: Wow.
NARRATOR: and safeguarding
our closest relatives.
JO: It's very risky.
RUSS: Our number-one
objective is zero extinctions.
♪
♪
♪
♪
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register