Original subtitles

The family is one of the most powerful forces in nature.

Family life is full of wonder,

beauty

and drama.

For the past four years we've been following

some of the most celebrated and endangered species on Earth.

We followed the fortune of some, here on the planes of Zimbabwe

to the jungles of India,

from the edge of the Sahara

to the frozen wastes of Antarctica.

We join each family at a crucial moment in their lives

when they're battling against the odds

fighting for survival

against the elements

and against rivals.

We have got closer and filmed in greater length

and in more detail than we've ever tried to do before.

In our modern world,

ensuring the survival of the next generation

is becoming ever more difficult.

For these families, to win against the odds

will be their greatest challenge.

This is Dynasties.

Senegal, West Africa.

Home to a remarkable group of chimpanzees.

It gets so hot and dry here,

it's the very limit of where they can survive.

This territory is ruled by one strong and determined leader.

An alpha male known as David.

His rule gets him the best of everything.

But he can trust no one.

He is surrounded by rivals prepared to kill him for his crown.

This is a story

of power, politics

and the fight for survival.

David's torn ears are testament

to the many battles he's fought and won

to protect his status and his family.

He has ruled over his troupe for three years.

Leaders here don't usually hold power for much longer than this.

And now, as the dry season begins,

David's rivals are gathering again.

The successful alpha males normally have many allies to support them.

But David is alone.

He has never been more vulnerable.

In the dry season these huge mounds of earth are magnets

for all 32 chimps in the group.

The mounds are full of food,

rich in fat and protein.

Termites.

These chimps have learnt to use grass stems as tools

to fish out the insects.

As leader, David gets his pick of the feeding spots.

But he is vary, as he must feed alongside old enemies.

He has two particularly ambitious rivals.

David's toes begin to twitch,

a nervous tic he can't conceal.

This is Jumpkin,

who has long sought the top spot.

And this, Luther,

a tempestuous younger male

with an aggresive streak.

The troupe is together for the first time in months,

and jostling for good feeding spots can easily lead to clashes.

It's vital that David keeps order and defuses the situation.

All eyes are on him.

His display shows he is in control.

But in chimp society

strength alone is not enough.

David must be political to hold onto power.

He needs to make an ally.

This is K. L.

He's strong, but gray-bearded and past the age

where he would challenge for the role of alpha.

David makes an approach.

Grooming builds bonds of friendship,

buying support and giving benefits in return.

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

Only time will tell if this new alliance will pay off.

Temperatures soar.

It's already 40 degrees.

The arid land might seem one giant sandpit for the infants,

but for the adults

existing tensions are starting to surface.

And David has his eye on Jumpkin.

Jumpkin attacks an elderly female,

it's a display of his aspirations for power.

David can't tolerate this,

but K. L. steps in.

And gives Jumpkin a sharp lesson.

It's swiftly followed by one from David himself.

With a final huge lunge at his rival,

Jumpkin comes crashing down.

Together, David and K. L. are now a force to be reckoned with.

Fires destroy three quarters of the group's territory.

Much of their food and shelter has gone.

And with temperatures continuing to rise,

water is becoming perilously scarce.

The group must stick together to survive.

Gathering in a dried-out river bed, they use knowledge

passed down from generation to generation.

A hidden water source under the parched earth.

For David there is more than just draught to worry about.

He can't avoid his rivals.

K. L. is proving to be a loyal ally to David

and David is going to need him more than ever.

By rare coincidence, three of the seven females

have become sexually receptive.

Their swellings attract the attention of all the males.

The females will try to mate with as many males as possible.

David must control them all

to ensure that he is the one who mates.

But some of the group, like Luther, have other ideas.

All the other males see this could be their chance.

There has never been a more important moment

for David to assert his power.

He makes the first move.

His rivals respond with their own display of strength

and start to close ranks.

David and K. L. seem to be outnumbered.

Everything turns to chaos.

at some point during the night,

the younger males turned on David.

The females and their infants come to his side

to support him and tend to his wounds.

They can't stay here,

they and their young need water.

The whole group move on to the nearest water hole.

Even K. L. has to leave David behind.

It's a six-mile trek (10 km) to the next source of water.

David is left for dead.

there is now a power-vacuum at the top

and Luther sees an opportunity.

Creating fear within the group is one way to become leader.

He tries to intimidate the group

but a bid for leadership is never instant.

He'll have to keep this up for many days.

Friendless and wounded,

David somehow musters the energy to search for food.

The has to rejoin the group

before he's exiled for good.

But first he must regain strength.

Time is running out.

Remarkably, one week after the attack,

David makes the long journey to find the group.

Luther, meanwhile, has ramped up his bid for leadership.

David has almost made it

but he is in no fit state to fight.

Luther spots David's approach.

And readies himself for battle.

David's only chance against Luther

is to make himself look as strong as possible.

Intimidated, Luther has to run.

Without a blow being struck,

David is back.

David is finally reunited with his comrade, K. L.

Grooming each other reaffirms their bonds of friendship.

For David, returning is only half the battle.

Exhausted and fragile, he's only hanging onto his leadership

by a thread.

Luther appears defeated.

With a submissive gesture,

he seeks forgiveness from David.

But David is unwilling to accept.

Over the following weeks, Luther finds himself sidelined.

The other males now gather round David.

And Luther has no choice but to step in line.

David has his group around him once more,

but he doesn't show them how weakened he really is.

His injuries haven't healed

and the males could turn on him again

at any moment.

For now, he seems to be fooling them all.

He's buying himself time to regain his strength

before another female comes into season

when he will face competition once again.

At last, rain-filled clouds bring an end to the draught.

David's territory is transformed.

There is water everywhere

and a glut of food.

The pressure on the group is lifted.

Everyone can relax a little

after months of hardship.

David's strength appears to be returning.

His displays in front of the group become ever more assertive.

But in truth he remains weaker

than he lets on to the others.

Whenever possible he disappears to gather extra food.

He gorges on everything he can find,

fruit,

leaves,

even ants.

He's almost back to full health

but that alone might still not be enough for him to hold onto power.

Soon, another female will be ready to mate.

Last time one ally was not enough for David.

He tries a new strategy.

He starts grooming other males.

First one

then another.

Slowly over weeks,

he surrounds himself with a band of allies.

An army of elders,

experienced fighter,

but too old to steal his crown.

Now he must wait and see if he's done enough

to prevent a recurrence of dissent in the ranks.

Sure enough, a female has come into season.

Her swelling doesn't go unnoticed.

The last time David was vulnerable.

This time he has allies

prepared to charge ahead and clear his path.

Displaying his strength

reminds rivals to stay away.

If David has fully secured his position as alpha,

he will be the one who mates with the female.

She catches his eye.

With a number of allies positioned throughout the group,

None of his rivals dare to challenge him.

This is David's time when to mate.

Nine months later

a new baby boy.

David's reward for maintaining power.

His rule and the future of his dynasty is secure.

By being alpha, David will have sired twice as many offspring

as any other member of the group,

and one day one of his sons

might just have what it takes to be a future leader.

David has become the most powerful

longest reigning alpha this group has ever seen,

but there will always be another dry season

and there'll always be rivals waiting for their chance.

The Dynasties crew spent two years

capturing the story of these chimpanzees.

This is how every day begins

walking over one and a half a thousand miles (2400 km).

You know it's steep when the chimps're being careful.

carrying around 80 kilos each day.

In some of the hottest temperatures on earth.

It's got to be 46-47 degrees right now.

I think it's fair to say we're filming blazing fire

when it's 40 degrees.

Wasn't probably my best idea.

It's crazy.

It's the second time we've had to run away from bees this morning.

I've been stung, as you might be able to tell,

it's swollen up a little bit.

Oh my God!

- Has stuck a bit? -It's pretty stuck.

But the hardest challenge of all

is understanding of the complextities of the lives of these chimps.

This is only possible thanks to scientist Jill Pruetz

and her team who've been studying this troup

for nearly 20 years.

One of the reasons I think I like to have people see the families of chimps

that it is almost like a soap opera.

There really is this... this social group that is

not that different from humans.

So you have, you know, that relationships change

and you have different personalities.

Jill's insights helped the team to get to know

all the different characters she has given names to

over the years,

but right from the start one chimp named David

grabs everyone's attention.

We've only been here a few days, but immediately David stood out.

He's really recognizable.

He's a bit of a game-player, but also he's often on his own.

He's very, very carismatic, he's got a real kind of swagger,

he reminds me of Marlon Brando, actually, he's got this real, kind of presence to him.

David's one of my favourite chimps, I may be a little biased.

I think he's quite clever.

I think I have him as a very strong, you know,

a strong-willed chimp, a very dominant chimp.

and he was very ambitious, when he first became a young adult,

and he rose up the hierarchy really quickly for his age

so he became alpha actually when he was a teenager.

constantly having to fend off challenges

from other younger males,

it just goes to show it is tough being alpha,

it's tough being at the top.

After following David for so many months,

he seems almost like family to the crew.

So when he's violently attacked

it's a real shock.

Coming out this morning it's sort of heart-breaking to see this

thimp that was so powerful.

Oh, it doesn't look good. He's covered with flies.

He's looking really bad, actually.

And he's a frail old man, suddenly.

Like he's ready to die, almost.

The following day their concerns deepen.

We arrived at five o'clock this morning

we've not been able to find any of the chimps,

we've no idea what condition David's in

and he's in a bad way already. He needs some luck.

Sort of worried about him and his state.

I just really hope he's OK.

We're still looking.

They check the remote camera of the water hole

where they hope David might have gone to drink.

So I've just gone from the beginning

and it looks like David hasn't been to drink yet.

Michel's just found some tracks.

How he finds these thing I don't know,

but there's a chance we might catch up with him.

Good sign. Let's go.

Luckily, the tracks do indeed lead to David.

We've been really worried with the extent of his injuries,

we didn't know if he was alive, or if he wass ever coming back.

He came right back in and maintained the alpha status.

David has been alpha for almost double

what we've seen with the other alphas.

He's been challanged a few times, but he's been able to hold on.

We saw him not only nearly lose his position

in the hierarchy, but we saw him nearly lose his life.

The injuries he sustained in the last coup

would have been enough to kill me.

David has been able to overcome the many challenges

that come from within,

but there's a greater threat that he and his group face.

In Senegal, right now,

the main threat to chimpanzees

is the gold rush, which just obliterates huge areas.

Less than a decade ago, the prices of gold rose

and people have intensified gold mining,

so that it really has increased

the number of people here.

Chimps here have lived alongside people for thousands of years.

David's group has so far adapted to life alongside humans

in a remarkable way,

but with such demand for these minerals

and ever more people searching for gold in this region,

habitat destruction and poaching is inevitable.

Yeah, there are not that many chimpanzees left,

the west-African chimp here in Senegal

and in west Africa in general

has been upgraded to critically endangered

because so many have been lost.

In Senegal, the number of chimpanzees is now just in the hundreds.

In the last 25 years,

80% of western chimpanzees

have disappeared and in the future,

studies like Jill's will become increasingly important

to help conservationists

and local governments

protect the surviving chimpanzees

not only in Senegal but across the whole of Africa.

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