Original subtitles

You and I belong to an extraordinary family.

A family of hundreds of bizarre

colourful

and characterful animals

I don't think I've seen anything quite like this in my whole life.

Who lead fascinating and dramatic lives

all over the world

We, that is monkeys, lemurs and apes

are all primates.

And I want to introduce you

to this amazing animal family.

To meet some relatives

you never even knew you had.

The Democratic Republic of Congo.

The only place in the world

where you can find some very special members

of our primate family.

In the bucket? No!

This little bundle of energy is Bombo

and he's a bonobo

a rare and very special type of ape.

Bonobos, along with chimpanzees, are our closest cousins.

Now it's not normal for humans to wash bonobos

but his story is not a normal one.

He lost his father, his mother his entire family

were Killed by hunters and sold as meat.

Bombo was alone in the world

with no family to care for him.

And family is hugely important

it's a defining feature of all primates.

Yeah he doesn't like being washed.

Bombo's future was bleak.

Thankfully now Bombo has a second chance.

Bombo now has a new family

and a new start here at Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary.

A family that will give him the best possible chance of survival.

These wonderful ladies are known as the Mamas,

and they've got the enviable task

of looking after this boisterous rabble.

Just like we play with our own babies

it's their job to engage and play with the orphans

and it's a full time job.

In the wild, physical contact and play

are a vital preparation for adult life.

Here the mamas are their adopted family

teaching them the do's,

and the don'ts of being a bonobo.

I've studied animals all my life

but I've never met such a rowdy bunch as this.

For us primates, being part of a family is what life's all about.

It's about security, support and shared goals.

It's about friends and foes

knowing who to trust and who to avoid.

But living in families isn't always easy.

Family life is as varied,

challenging, and rewarding

for other primates as it is for us.

Primate families aren't always what you'd expect.

In the far-flung forests of Peru

lives a secretive little monkey

as small as a squirrel.

with a very modern take

on childcare.

This is a female emperor tamarin,

scientist have named her RC, short for Radio Collar.

Tamarins almost always have twins, which is rare in primates.

And they can be quite a handful.

But RC has some help.

It looks like dad to the rescue.

This is Purple Beads.

The beads help scientists know which tamarin is which.

He's on his way to look after the twins.

To take the pressure off RC.

But this family isn't as straightforward as it first seems.

This is Red Beads.

He also seems to want to help out.

And a third male, No Beads.

He too wants to lend a hand with the twins.

All three males take a turn with the twins.

They make a great team.

With all this help RC has some time to herself.

Without the twins slowing her down

she's a much better hunter, and can feed to her heart's content.

But how has RC managed to string along all three males?

She's played a rather cunning trick on them.

Four months ago she mated with each of them.

Now she's had the twins they're all a little confused.

No one seems to know who's the real father.

But as long as there's a chance it's them

they all play their part in raising the twins.

With the three ‘dads' helping out RC has the best chance

of raising the twins successfully.

All primates invest huge amounts

of time and energy into looking after and raising their babies.

We care for our young for far longer than most other animals.

Only with the support of a family

can they grow up so slowly.

Beautiful.

And you are just adorable.

This is Drusilla and she's a sifaka

and she's got her two month old son Pilot with her.

He's wrapped around her back here.

We love our children, we want to protect and care for them

we'd do anything for them.

I remember when my Amy was first born

I would have fought a bear to save her

and it's just the same for the rest of the primate family

they're equally obsessed with their young.

The need to protect and care

for their young shapes primate families

and can have surprising consequences.

These are rather soggy looking silvery lutungs, from Malaysia.

Like many primates, their strategy for success

is to live in large extended families.

Plenty of hands to guard their territory

and help raise the next generation.

But these lutungs have a very special way

of keeping their offspring safe.

Their babies are born bright ginger.

They stick out like a sore thumb.

Now you might think it would be better to keep them hidden

camouflaged and out of harm's way?

But standing out in the crowd can have its advantages.

When danger approaches the whole family can instantly

spot the baby and protect it.

Predators are a constant concern for many primates.

They're a threat to young and adults alike.

Living in big groups can mean safety in numbers.

But that's not always enough.

The African savannah is a dangerous place to live.

Out here many predators would target an unwary monkey.

They all attack in different ways

so the monkeys here

need different responses to avoid

being eaten.

One clever monkey has come up with a system

to stay one step ahead of the predators.

I'm hoping I can show you how.

These guys are vervet monkeys

and in a minute I'm going to predict

exactly what they're going to do next.

All I need is a loudspeaker, a length of cable

and one of these.

In just a moment they're all going to stand up on their hind legs

and look very nervous.

Look at that.

Well that was pretty clear. They all stood stretched up on their hind legs

looked around and ran off.

They did just what I predicted.

Once the vervets have regrouped, I'll show you

my next trick.

If it works they should react in a different way.

I predict what they're going to do is

in a split second they're going to run for cover

or head up the nearest tree. Let's see.

Look at that.

That was instantaneous.

They were gone in a fraction of a second and up the nearest tree.

Exactly as I predicted. So what's actually going on here?

Well, let me give you a little bit of background.

Just as we can shout a warning to each other

about what kind of danger is threatening us

the vervets warn each other exactly what the threat is

and so how to react.

Vervet monkeys have a number of distinct calls

in response to different threats.

Each call prompts a specific response

by the rest of the troop.

That's why I was able to predict exactly

how they were going to behave earlier.

The first call was the alarm for snake.

Instantly they all knew what the threat was

standing bolt upright to try and

spot the sneaky serpent.

The second call was

for bird of prey.

They all dashed for cover.

Look at that.

Hiding in the densest bushes.

The best place to avoid a swooping attack.

Vervets also have alarms for leopard

baboon and even human.

It's a remarkably sophisticated way of working together

to protect everyone in the group.

In West Africa the same early warning system

has resulted in an unlikely alliance between two different monkeys.

These green monkeys, close cousins of the vervets

also use alarm calls

to warn each other about different threats.

Watching them from above

is a monkey from a separate branch of the family

Western red colobus.

The green monkeys hold an unusual attraction for the colobus.

They have an ulterior motive.

A green monkey calls snake!

Both monkeys try to spot it, then scatter to safety.

The red colobus seem to know what the green's alarm call means

and react in the same way.

Now it looks like the two have become firm friends.

With no sign of danger they're able to sit back

and enjoy each other's company.

These monkeys take their alarm calls very seriously

and rightly so.

Being able to understand what your friends are saying

could one day save your life

but there's another more sinister side to all this.

Living in groups and being able

to communicate with each other

has meant other primates have turned

from the hunted to the hunters.

This is incredible.

Well I never thought I would witness this.

I'm standing less than 5 feet

from a group of six wild chimpanzees

and one infant and they're eating a colobus.

And they are literally tearing this monkey apart.

I've never seen anything quite so incredible in my life.

Chimpanzees live in large and well organised groups.

These communities are made up of lots of smaller families

all working together for the good of everyone.

Most of the time chimpanzees eat leaves and fruit

but meat is most highly prized.

The only way that they're able to get

such a high value food resource as this is by working as a team.

Across Africa all chimpanzees

hunt in a similar way.

They are planned, calculated attacks

where every team member has a role.

Silence descends.

The chimps pause, listening for their prey.

The target, a monkey troop with infants.

A hunt begins.

A hunter climbs directly beneath the prey.

Others push ahead.

The monkeys get spooked, they scatter.

On either side chimps will block their escape.

Driving them forward.

It's a trap.

They've forced them right into the arms of the most experienced hunter.

It's over and the chimps have their prize.

Chimpanzee hunts end in a Kill

three times more often than lion hunts.

Only by working as a team

can they be so ruthlessly efficient.

Meat is highly nutritious, an incredibly valuable food.

By joining forces the community can provide for each other.

Giving their young a great start in life.

Living in families has huge benefits.

Youngsters are cared for for longer

and grow up surrounded and protected.

Primates work together

to keep each other safe.

Look at that!

Or join forces for the good of the group.

But there's also a down side to living in groups.

Something every primate has to face.

And it can make an individual's life a misery.

Since the 60s these ingenious monkeys, Japanese macaques

have enjoyed the benefits of these natural thermal pools.

With all this bathing in hot springs

these monkeys have become global superstars.

They're probably the most photographed monkeys in the whole world.

But it's not the stress-free, chilled out lifestyle

it might appear.

Despite what it seems, it's a tough life being a snow monkey.

Sure, there's a luxuriant hot tub to while away

the long cold winter days

but round every corner there's another monkey

out to ruin your day.

Not all monkeys are created equal.

They're born into societies governed

governed by a strict order of rank. The haves and the have nots.

Aristocracy, high class, middle class and low class.

When temperatures drop this exclusive spa can get very overcrowded.

That's when your place on the social adder really becomes important.

When the spa is full to bursting

pool-side politics become important

and that results in low rankers being shown the door

quite literally left out in the cold.

For this little monkey there's no guarantee

of a place in the warmth.

Whether you're born into high society

or the lowest of the low

your rank affects every aspect of your life.

Fortunately there are ways to change your lot.

Impress those around you, and sneak up the pecking order.

The first skill to master is something for which

monkeys are famous.

Everybody knows monkeys love to groom each other

and that in this instance includes me.

The practical reason for it is to rid each other's fur

of ticks and lice and other parasites, which hopefully

they're not finding too many of right now.

However the social function, how they gain

advantage from grooming, is actually a lot more interesting.

Being groomed helps keep

you healthy.

But monkeys do it far more than is strictly necessary.

They'll take time out just to pamper one another.

But there's always something in it for the

groomer, as well as the groomed.

Grooming's become a way to win favour

to manipulate and influence others.

A currency exchanged for food, tolerance

and even for mating.

It's a way to ease tension

or curry favour with someone important.

If you're a low ranker you can groom your way up the ladder.

Grooming is the oil that lubricates monkey life.

So what do you do when grooming isn't really an option?

A ruined Mayan city, in the depths of the Mexican jungle.

Home to a family of spider monkeys.

Spider monkeys are South America's ultimate tree top acrobats.

Their whole body is perfectly evolved for a life in the trees.

Long gangly legs and arms, a metre long tail that can grip as tight as a fist.

Their hands are like hooks, with long, curved and strong fingers.

But no thumbs.

Their ancestors used to have thumbs, but they got in the way

SO over generations they've all but disappeared.

Now all that remains is a small lump, making their hands ideal

for charging around the canopy.

But it's bad news when it comes to grooming.

Spider monkeys are hopeless at it.

So instead they've come up with an endearing alternative.

Hugging.

Cuddles, embraces: physical contact is their currency.

Hugging makes friends in high places

wins a chance to play with the babies

and eases those tense, awkward moments.

In small families physical contact

like hugs and grooming helps make

your way in the world.

It's the glue that binds primate societies together

and builds relationships.

But how do you stay in touch when

your group is much, much larger?

The highlands of Ethiopia.

There is nowhere else on the planet where you can see

monkeys in such vast numbers.

These magnificent monkeys are geladas. They live in some

of the largest groups of any primate

vast herds of up to a thousand at a time.

Geladas are unique to these mountains.

There are more monkeys per square mile

here than anywhere else.

There are simply too many geladas for

grooming to keep them all connected.

To make matters worse their diet is made up

almost entirely from grass

and they need to eat a lot.

Their hands are constantly picking away at the shoots.

So geladas have come up with a handy

or, rather, hand-less alternative.

To stay in touch, geladas ‘talk' to each other.

They're constantly mumbling and murmuring away.

So far, scientists have recognized over 30 distinct calls.

This is the incredible sound of hundreds

upon hundreds of geladas chatting away.

It's just an extraordinary noise.

So eerily human.

This constant chit chat helps reaffirm bonds

and let's everybody know what's happening in the troop.

Essentially they're gossiping

and as we humans know that's a very good

way to keep up relationships.

One monkey has the strangest way of all

to make friends and influence others

and it's found surprisingly close to home.

The Rock of Gibraltar.

A world famous landmark

with some unexpected residents.

Barbary macaques.

About 200 or so live here.

And technically they're British.

The only wild monkeys in all of Europe.

These are some of the most political monkeys in the world.

They're constantly making friends

forming alliances

back stabbing

and falling out.

There's never a dull moment in a macaque troop.

So how can one individual monkey make their mark

and impress those around them?

Meet Vincent.

Vincent's a mid ranker.

Middle management.

But he's got ambition. He wants

to go places.

This is Aristotle. He leads this mob.

He's the monkey Vincent's out to impress.

Vincent has got an ‘unusual' way to suck up to the boss.

Vince has stolen a baby from its mother.

Vincent wants a promotion, and he hopes the baby is the perfect 'in'.

He shuffles over to Aristotle, and offers up the baby.

Their teeth chatter in an excited frenzy.

No one really knows why

but with the baby Vincent can get closer to the boss

a chance to bond and prove himself.

That's just how it works with Barbary macaques.

Grab a baby.

Offer it up to the other males.

And everyone's happy.

Except perhaps the baby.

It might seem a little strange. But somehow it's become their way

of working up the pecking order.

For now Vince is left holding the baby.

And it appears childcare is not his forte.

Perhaps it's time Vince went and found the little one's mum.

With luck one day Vincent will rule the rock.

It will be him the others are out to impress, but that's

when his troubles will really begin.

Once you reach the top of the troop and become

the dominant animal, the next challenge

is to stay at the top.

One monkey does this through sheer brute force.

Hamadryas Baboons.

The males are arguably the roughest

and most aggressive of all monkeys.

Found in the arid, desolate scrublands of North Africa and Arabia.

Hamadryas keep harems of

anxious females in check

through regular bouts of violence.

For them it's a frightening existence.

For the males it's simple.

They want as many females as possible

so they're always looking to add to their harem.

The males go on raiding missions to steal wives

from others.

For the females it pays to stay loyal

even to a violent male.

They literally hide behind

their man as a fight kicks off.

Hamadryas baboons rule with an iron fist.

But of course fighting is dangerous, it takes its toll.

A much better option is to signal your strength to others

without having to resort to violence.

Primate males often look very different to the females

and many use visual displays to avoid contact.

The silverback gorilla.

Their hair turns grey with age and maturity

they're the definition of a dominant male.

The more vivid the red patch on a gelada's chest the more virile he is.

The louder a howler monkey can call, the bigger territory he rules.

Male orangutans display with swellings around their faces

called flanges.

And the brighter a mandrill's nose the more powerful he is.

All these different characteristics mean the same thing.

‘I'm the boss, so don't mess with me'.

But there is one display that's hard to take seriously.

You really can't miss a proboscis monkey's nose.

It can grow up to 13 centimetres long.

As a dominant male you need to protect your family

especially the kids and the males use their large nose

to resonate their alarm calls.

Put simply, the bigger your nose, the louder your call

and as a result the size of your nose also

indicates your status, your rank in society.

What's more the females seem to like it.

For them, the bigger the better.

Making them not just one of the weirdest monkeys

but one of strangest looking animals on the planet.

In the vast majority of primate families

the males are in charge.

But sometimes it's the girls who rule the roost.

A troop of lemurs

behind enemy lines.

They feed nervously.

They're ring-tailed lemurs, the most

female dominant of all primates.

This is Tsara, she's their leader.

Not only is she responsible for the rest of the troop

she's also a mother of twins.

It's the enemy, they've been caught.

Tsara leads the retreat as they're chased back to the safety

of their own territory.

They're home.

Ring-tailed families revolve around the females.

They run the show, and are very firmly in charge.

Tsara must juggle being a tough boss and a caring mum.

She also needs to ensure her troop has enough to eat.

But it's the end of the dry season and food is scarce.

At this time of year ring-tails rely on tamarinds

a rich fruit that ripens just when everything else is dying off.

But Tsara's territory has few tamarind trees.

Once again she must lead her troop into danger.

It's a risky mission. If caught, the

enemy will target the most vulnerable, Tsara's twins.

They feed while they can, nervously watching

listening.

The troop scatter.

Tsara's singled out and attacked.

She escapes and this time her troop fights back.

The females lead the counter attack.

Charging into battle, their babies clinging on for dear life.

The enemy has overpowered them.

Tsara and her troop are pushed back again.

They've lost the battle.

Hopefully soon the rains will come, but till then

Tsara will have to risk further raiding missions.

Whether it's males or females in charge

primate society can often be violent.

But it doesn't have to be like this.

There is another way.

There is one member of our family

that doesn't have the same problems

with violence and aggression.

For them love not war is the name of the game.

Along with chimpanzees they just happen to be our closest relative.

Like little Bombo these are bonobos.

Found only here in the forests south of

Africa's Congo river.

They belong to our branch of the family tree.

Bonobos, chimps and humans

are more closely related to each other

than they are to any other ape.

Bonobos are peaceful, considerate and caring.

Most fascinating of all is the rather

unusual way they maintain their bonds.

Watching bonobos like this, you quickly start to see something

and in fact it's something it would be very hard to ignore.

Bonobos have an awful lot of sex.

Sex for bonobos means so

much more than just reproduction.

It's for forming friendships.

Making up after a fight.

Or simply saying hello.

They're the only primate that uses sex in this way.

Sex for bonobos is casual, it's quick and after a while it just begins

look like any other social interaction like a hug or a handshake.

But it binds them, it calms them down

the intimacy makes it hard to be angry for long.

Within the troop there's harmony, not conflict.

Who's dominant, who's high ranking

just doesn't seem as important to a bonobo.

It's the older females, the matriarchs

who everyone looks up to.

But because of their experience and knowledge

rather than because of brute force.

Bonobos are perhaps the ultimate example of social harmony

in all animals. The perfect primate family.

For me they prove that being nice to each other

can make the world a friendlier, happier place.

Watching bonobos you can't help but feel the connection

it's so obvious how close we are.

Now you might think that they could learn from us, but the reality

the truth of the matter is that we could learn a lot from them.

Families are at the heart of primate life in a way that few other animals can match.

And managing complex relationships has

shaped not just our bodies

but also our minds.

That is incredible.

It's made us intelligent. The bigger your troop

the smarter you need to be to keep ahead of the competition.

There's no doubt that humans are the smartest primates of all

but just how clever are the rest of the family?

In the next programme we'll see just how

ingenuous our relatives can be.

And explore their complex thoughts and emotions.

Hah, who's that?

And I'll be going to school with Dora here.

Perhaps we humans aren't quite as clever as we think we are.