Original subtitles

(GENTLE UPBEAT MUSIC)

NARRATOR: When it comes to true friendship,

shape, size, or even species is irrelevant.

Respect, trust, and understanding

can be found in the most surprising places...

..creating incredible connections that change our lives.

Hello, hello, hello.

From cuddly companions...

Hi, Cosima.

How are you today?

Come. Good boy.

..to comfort in times of need.

(KISSES LIPS)

(GOOSE HONKS)

And eager playmates.

Do you wanna go play? (GOOSE HONKS)

The bond of friendship is universal.

(CRICKETS CHIRP) (BIRDS CHIRP)

On the outskirts of New Orleans, USA...

Wake up, Neuty.

..one animal, normally seen in the city's wetlands...

Come on, Neuts.

..has taken up residence in Denny Lacoste's home.

(RODENT CHIRPS)

Meet Neuty the Nutria.

(RODENT CHIRPS)

Going to work, hm?

Going back to work today?

Here. (RODENT CHIRPS)

There you go. He loves his milk bones.

(RODENT CHEWS)

Neuty is a 10-ilogram semiaquatic rodent

native to South America.

(RODENT CHIRPS)

I get up, I get dressed,

I could leave my house in five minutes without opening my eyes.

With him, I've gotta get him up,

he's got a pee pad in the bathroom, I gotta clean that up,

I gotta give him a little snack.

So he is extra work for me,

but I don't mind it. He's cool.

(RODENT CHIRPS)

Every morning, Denny heads off to work...

(RODENT CHIRPS) Hello.

..with Neuty at his side.

It's getting hotter, man.

It's sunny today, huh?

A lot of commercial fishermen live in this area.

I grew up, like, two blocks away,

been here my whole life.

(GENTLE PIANO MUSIC)

I have a seafood place, Dennis' Seafood,

about 10 minutes from here.

That's what we do.

Neuty came into Denny's life three years ago.

I was driving to work.

It was early, probably 7:15 in the morning,

I saw a mama nutria up ahead of me,

crossing with about 8 or 10 little pups.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

I stopped my truck.

Well, here comes a car, passed me,

the car didn't see them.

It ran over most of them.

He was just sitting there, crying.

I just stopped my truck, picked him up, and I went to work.

He didn't try to bite me. He was calm.

His little paw was bleeding.

And I held him all day that day,

from 7:30 that morning til I got home.

That's good, Neuts?

If Denny hadn't picked Neuty up off the road,

it's unlikely he would have survived on his own.

He as so cute and loving, you know?

He just got bigger and bigger.

He knew, from day one, he knew we saved him,

I really think he did.

He was just a little fluffy ball,

constantly wanting to be held.

He's still like that to this day.

Once Denny had hand-reared Neuty,

he was too accustomed to people to go back to the wild.

Neuty does go everywhere with me

because we don't want to leave him home all day, inside.

And I don't wanna leave him outside all day.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) And at work,

Neuty is quite the employee of the month...

How y'all doing?

Hey Neuty.

Way to go, man.

..even if he doesn't get much work done.

There you are, Neut. That'll cool you down.

That's his place to chill.

Denny doesn't get to relax,

but he does regularly check in on Neuty.

They have oil glands, so they'll scratch all over.

That's why he looks so shiny.

The water repels.

He does the same routine,

he'll get his head, his belly, his side.

As a reward for his hard work,

Neuty gets a special treat.

Ice cream cone? (RODENT CHIRPS)

..and he's the centre of attention.

Hey, how you doing?

Neuty's come to get an ice cream.

(CHATTER, LAUGHTER AND COOING)

He'll bite me if he wants to get down.

He needs a plain ice cream cone with some ice.

On a hot day, some plain ice helps Neuty cool down.

Neuty gets lots of love from his community.

But in the USA,

nutria are far from welcome.

They are classified as an invasive species,

condemned for destroying native wetland areas.

It was bad news when the authorities learnt about Denny's houseguest.

They kinda just showed up, like, "We've come to get the nutria."

I'm like, "What do you mean?"

They said it's illegal to have a wild animal.

They said they were gonna bring him to the zoo, which...

you might as just kill him

because he would never make it in a zoo.

Luckily, Neuty had a lot of local support.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

With the help of the state senator and Neuty's social media fans,

he was saved.

They asked that I get some special permit to keep Neuty.

I think I might be the only person to have this permit.

Now on the right side of the law,

Neuty can get back to being a local celebrity.

Hey, Neauty!

Oh, perfect.

(LAUGHS) Thank y'all so much.

Neuty lives an action-packed life,

and it's time for his next stop.

Right, Neuts. Going to your momma's hair salon.

Today Myra's gotta get her hair done,

so I'm gonna bring Neuty to the salon.

Every time Myra goes there, they're like,

"Oh, my god, you need to bring Neuty"

so I'm gonna surprise them today.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

(BELL RINGS)

Look who I've got. Whoa. Oh, hi.

Can I have a look?

Neuty's come to see you.

Hey, he's visiting, girls.

Hi, my boy.

Even though you seen them every day right around in the canals,

it ain't too often you get to pat them

and see how friendly he is. (RODENT CHIRPS)

Most people wanna hold him, or pet him, or touch him.

How old is he?

He's gonna be three in December. Really? Wow.Yeah.

What does he eat?

Vegetables, fruits.

We have watermelon. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, he loves watermelon. I'll grab some.

I'll get some more. You want a piece of watermelon?

That's so delicious. (LAUGHTER)

They've got a description like they're dirty as they swim in canals

but they're really clean animals, like a cat.

Nutrias don't have no smell, don't carry rabies,

they're always grooming.

If you see Neuty, he's constantly grooming himself. Constantly.

Come on then. (RODENT CHIRPS)

Let's go. We gotta go home.

Tell everybody "Bye."

Bye, Neuty. See you later.

Bye. (LAUGHTER)

After a lot of socialising,

it's Denny and Neuty's favourite part of the day

and favourite place...

I know you like it out here, huh? (RODENT CHIRPS)

I know, I know.

Come on, come on, come on.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

..Lake Pontchartrain.

Look how pretty it is.

Birds, look at the seagulls.

You'd love to go get in that water, wouldn't you, huh?

You'd love to go get in that water, huh?

(RODENT CHIRPS)

Yeah, we like you.

We love you, huh? You're happy too.

I've got a special connection with him.

Yeah, like, he talks to me a lot.

I know he trusts me.

He's spoiled, very loving, and cuddly.

He knows he's safe with me.

If something scares him,

the wind blows over a garbage can or there's a loud noise,

he runs to me.

Yeah, he knows...

He knows I'm gonna keep him safe.

Rough day? Long day?

You sure met a lot of people.

Go home and go to bed, huh?

Go home and go to bed, what do you say, hm?

I love you too. I know, I love you.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

As in human relationships,

some animal friends

require a little extra patience and understanding.

It's early morning in Limpopo, South Africa.

Claire Lamond is waking up.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Claire didn't intend to share her bed with a wild cat...

Good morning.

..and this cat, a Serval,

is known to be solitary and antisocial.

But animals don't always do what's expected.

(SERVAL PURS)

Claire and Jasper are an inseparable pair.

Jasper is fun, he is loyal.

Are you ready to go outside, Jasper?

Enjoy.

He is naughty.

He knows exactly how to get what he wants,

and I always do exactly what he wants,

so it's probably my own fault.

What Jasper wants this morning is playtime.

(UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES)

When he is playing with a hose,

he loses his mind over the water.

He's just so fun to be around.

Have you ever seen a cat that loves water like this?

Whoo.

Are we getting these balls?

Jasper's days are full of fun.

But his unusual living situation is the result of a rough start in life.

He was born at a zoo,

but all was not well.

Jasper was 244 grams when I first met him,

and he was less than 24 hours old.

His siblings had passed away,

and it left him the lone serval.

They weren't sure if the mum was going to take care of him,

so they brought him to me to see if I could help him.

To make matters worse,

Jasper had sustained a head injury, causing his brain to swell.

24 hours passed, and he started to have seizures.

For the first week of his life, he would turn in a little circle

and you could see there was something not quite right.

But after one week, it stopped.

Claire was there for Jasper from the very beginning.

(POIGNANT MUSIC) Everything's OK.

(LAUGHS GENTLY)

Once the swelling went down,

it became clear that the injury had left a mark on him.

He definitely has some cerebral damage

from the brain injury,

which we still see evidence of today.

He also had a broken tail, which caused nerve damage,

which now causes a lot of anxiety,

and he has communication difficulties as well.

Come on, then! (JASPER SQUEAKS)

And that's why he's such a special little serval,

that's what makes him stand out,

what makes him different from all the rest.

The head injury left Jasper's ears sitting closer together than normal.

Jasper has such a unique look,

with his ears standing on top of his head.

He looks like a bunny.

He always looks shocked or surprised.

When they're so small, you have to keep them safe,

in isolation, in quarantine,

so I was the only face he saw,

and our bond formed,

every single day, it was stronger and stronger.

Recovered from his physical illness,

Jasper's mental health issues lingered.

We used to bring him outside

and let anybody take him out for walks.

One day, he suddenly became scared of being outside,

which is actually why he also ended up in my house.

He refused to go outside if there's anybody outside.

Jasper's world may be quite small,

but under Claire's care, it's where he feels safe and secure.

He has a lot of issues,

special needs that mean he has to stay in my care

for the rest of his life.

This behaviour is a little bit of nerve damage,

which exacerbates the anxiety.

That's why he's spinning.

Do you wanna come here and I'll help you?

Having known him all his life,

Claire's an expert on how to help Jasper.

When Jasper's nerve damage hurts,

you can see some twitching along his spine and his tail,

it's flicking.

It usually increases the anxiety

because he doesn't understand why there's some pain.

Hey,

it's OK.

Ah, what is it? It's OK.

Jasper, are you hungry?

Waiting, waiting. This is your medicine.

Move your head.

Good boy, well done.

Wah! There you go.

Jasper is on anti-anxiety medicine every morning and every night,

as well as medicine for nerve pain.

Whilst waiting for the medication to take effect...

Jazzy?

..Claire tries to keep him distracted.

Come here.

I used to work with kids with special needs.

Jasper.

It feels like Jasper was meant to be my friend,

and that I was meant to be his.

Come on, come on, come on.

Because I understand Jasper like no one can.

Here you go.

Jasper. Good boy.

With my background,

I just understand him, I get him.

And he gets me.

What do you see?

Jazzy?

Although Claire is more than happy

to give Jasper as much love and support as he needs,

she'd like him to have friends of his own kind too.

We try to help him be friends with the other cats.

We had him with a caracal,

but, because of Jasper's special needs,

he didn't understand the body language of the caracal.

Jasper suddenly decided that caracals were the scariest thing

he's ever met in his life.

I thought he would never be friends with anything except me...

..until he met Tammy.

Say hi, Tammy.

Tammy was a little stray cat.

It took a year and a half before she would let us even touch her herself,

but then she saw Jasper.

Instead of being scared of Jasper,

she just walked straight up to him and said "Hi."

"Hi, friend."

Jasper was so surprised. He didn't really know what to do.

Say, "Hello"

Every time she saw him in the morning,

she would rush over to greet him.

Over time, he just accepted that this little cat is now his friend.

She's now officially a house cat,

and she's officially Jasper's second best friend.

I go out to work during the day,

I'm not home all the time,

so it's so nice for both of them to have company.

Claire works in a sanctuary where she, Jasper and Tammy live.

Jasper, Tammy, I love you guys.

I'll see you in a little while.

My role here is to look after

all of the different cats, the big cats.

I have to make sure that they are fed,

that their enclosures are clean, that they are healthy and happy,

that they're stimulated.

I'm so lucky to literally be able to open my gate

and walk out to work.

But Claire is more than a short walk

from the place she originally called home.

I grew up in Scotland,

and I always wanted to work with animals when I grew up.

In 2011, I found a post on Facebook

with volunteering opportunities with big cats in South Africa,

and I said, "Wow, I want to do that."

Claire sent in an application.

Good morning. (CHEETAH PURRS)

..and landed her dream job.

(GROWLS)

It's not a 9-to-5 job in an office.

It is 24/7, it is hard, it is busy,

but it's so rewarding.

Good morning.

Satisfied all the other animals are happy and well...

..Claire returns home with a little shopping.

Jazzy, I'm home.

(WHISTLES) Jazzy.

Do you wanna see what I got?

He makes me smile every single day.

Even a coconut, Jasper. Can you believe it?

Hang on, hang on. You've gotta wait for me to unpack.

Even when he's being naughty, even when he steals coconuts from the shopping...

Jasper!

Bring that back.

..you can't really be cross with him.

He looks at you with those funny ears,

and those bright little eyes, and you have to smile at him.

You definitely cannot leave anything laying around.

Jasper.

Can I have the vegetables?

Bring them back!

This is what happens every time we go shopping.

(LAUGHS) Jasper, bring those back.

You lost a mushroom, Jasper.

I could stop him, but it's kind of funny.

He's not a typical serval,

so the rules that would apply to having a normal serval do not apply

because of his special needs.

Cats don't eat coconuts, Jasper.

Jasper's disabilities mean he may not understand

what it means to be a wild serval.

It's only enhanced his and Claire's relationship.

Jasper knows me.

Jaspers knows when he needs to make me laugh.

You're doing such a good job killing that coconut.

Oh, wow.

He just understands me. And I understand him.

That's what makes us best of friends.

I love Jasper.

Jasper has absolutely changed my life.

Jasper is my grounding.

I come home to Jasper every single night,

and no matter how hard the day is,

no matter how sad things can be sometimes,

when you work with animals, I come home to Jasper.

It's the perfect way to end every day.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

In the heart of the English countryside,

is the Hornbeam Wood Hedgehog Sanctuary.

Home to an animal once common,

now struggling to survive in the modern world.

Helping them has become the life's work of Martin Maylin.

OK, this is the hogs hospital,

this is the first place all hedgehogs come to

when they're rescued.

We rescue sick and injured hedgehogs and baby orphaned hoglets.

Of all the hedgehogs Martin cares for here,

one has a special place in his heart.

Terry is a blind, disabled hedgehog,

and this is where he has a permanent residence.

Terry arrived four months ago.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal,

but blind Terry can't tell if it's day or night.

He is out all the time,

so I actually see Terry moreso than any other hedgehog we have here.

When he was rescued,

he was found wandering around a main road, basically.

Bumping into things.

The person who rescued Terry

tried to find somewhere where Terry could have a semi-wild life...

..but in a safe place.

I can see Terry's out already.

Usual of Terry, out during the day.

He's not the prettiest of hedgehogs,

but he is very healthy.

When they lose their eyesight,

it's very dangerous for them to be out

because they can't see what they're doing.

They're bumping into cars on roads, things like that.

And they won't survive very long.

Martin has been caring for hedgehogs for eight years.

But the story of his love for animals started at a young age.

I grew up on a smallholding...

..and we had an animal sanctuary close to us where we lived.

I was able to go and volunteer as a child.

So I got involved at a young age to rescue wildlife.

One of the first animals that I rescued was a hedgehog,

so I think there is an attachment to that as a child.

Martin left wildlife behind for a successful career in banking.

Then everything changed.

I ended up becoming ill.

And they found a tumour

which was cancerous.

I didn't know for years how long I had to live.

And then, at the end of the period, they told me

"The cancer's gone. You're fine."

So it was a pretty big moment.

Being told that your life could suddenly stop unexpectedly

basically means you understand

the limited time you have on this planet.

So it's good to make the most of that time.

By chance, the animal sanctuary he loved as a child went on sale.

Martin bought it

and began his new life here as a hedgehog rehabilitator.

I basically dedicated my life from that point forward

"That's it... I'm gonna be looking after hedgehogs."

Every day I enjoy what I do,

which I never used to do when I was working in the city.

Give you your dinner.

We're in summertime now,

so it's becoming a busy time for hedgehog rescues.

Usually, this time of the year, we'll have baby orphaned hoglets.

Hedgehog numbers have been in decline for the past few decades,

but Martin is determined to help change that.

The idea of rescuing hedgehogs is to help their populations increase

and ensure that they don't go extinct.

Most residents of Hornbeam Wood will return to the wild,

but Terry, and a few others, would not survive if released.

For these special hedgehogs, Martin has made private gardens.

We have up to eight dedicated wild gardens

for permanent resident hedgehogs.

I will feed them every three or four days,

but they have a lot of space,

so they fend for themselves, feeding and foraging.

Martin feels his garden will be a safe and comfortable home

for his friend.

(BOUCY MUSIC)

Now, it's the big day.

The garden is ready and Terry can move in.

Hello, Terry.

I can see you're out again.

Let's just open this up.

So, let's give you a weight check to see what's going on.

Get you into your new garden.

Just weighing him. He's 860 grams, which is a good weight.

But Terry's very active and very hard to keep still.

So, what we'll do is we'll move him over to his new garden,

which he'll be much happier in.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

His new home will offer Terry the next best thing to living wild.

The likelihood is that Terry will survive longer

than most hedgehogs would.

He'll have a very happy, long life, being cared for.

He'll have the freedom

to move around in his own private garden.

OK, Terry.

You ready for your big release?

Helping hedgehogs is fulfilling.

It makes me happy.

I wake up looking forward to what I'm gonna be doing.

You have saved something

which, more than likely, wouldn't have survived.

It brings a lot of happiness to me, yeah.

Martin can rest easy knowing that Terry is safe and secure.

And he can still enjoy stopping by to spend some time with him.

See you soon. Take it easy.

Friends can make new surroundings feel like home.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

In Louisiana, USA...

..when eight-year-old Abby Lehman gets up,

the first thing she does is say good morning

to her friend out in the backyard.

Good morning, Gumbo. Did you sleep good?

Gumbo is a Chinese goose...

(GOOSE HONKS)

Gumbo, what are you doing?

...who lives with Abby, her dad, and mum, Tabitha.

(GOOSE HONKS)

So, Gumbo The Goose came about a year ago now.

Um...

She adopted us, I guess.

Do you want some breakfast? (GOOSE HONKS)

Is that a yes?

She came into our house, literally into our garage,

and tried to get into the house.

My husband was trying to shoo her out of the garage.

She was not having it though. She was not leaving.

She made it clear that she was here to stay.

Yeah, you do?

(GOOSE HONKS) OK.

We thought maybe she was somebody's pet,

so we looked on our neighbourhood Facebook group first

to see if anybody lost their pet goose

and nobody did.

First, we're gonna put some of these, like...

Um...

A few cups of this, like, seed.

There's probably some sunflower seeds,

some... probably corn,

not cooked corn,

and there's a little bit of other types of stuff.

Abby insisted on trying to hug her.

We didn't think that you could hug a goose,

but Gumbo has been her best friend since.

The hug sealed the deal.

Gumbo was here to stay.

Now, we need grass.

The next day, when Gumbo didn't want to leave,

and nobody had claimed her,

I think reality started to hit that we now have a goose.

We did not know how to look after a goose.

We did all the googling to try to figure out what she needed.

We didn't find out until she started laying eggs that she was a girl.

Abby and Gumbo quickly got to know each other.

Abilene is a very sweet and funny girl.

She believes she can talk to animals,

so she really gets along good with animals.

She talks by honks and we can, like,

tell, kinda, what she's trying to say

'cause she makes sounds that sound like

a "Yes" or a "No" or a... (SQUAWKS)

Like a "Uh-uh." Like a "Thank you."

(IMITATES HONK)

(GOOSE HONKS)

Looking after the new family member

was a learning curve for all.

When we got her, we tried to give her, like,

normal bird feed

but not for geese.

But she didn't even eat it.

We tried giving her crackers, she didn't eat it.

Tried giving her bread, she didn't eat it.

She only likes this green stuff.

Abby really enjoyed taking care of Gumbo.

We gave her some water,

and Abby thought it'd be good idea to put some grass in

'cause she eats grass and weeds,

and she really seemed to enjoy that.

So, I think that was their first real bonding moment,

Abby learning what she would really like,

and, you know, how to take care of her properly.

With breakfast prepared, it's time to tuck in.

Gumbo, do you want your breakfast?

It's the most delicious grass water...

I think she just likes to be with us.

..with a side of delicious food!

She is very protective of her family.

(LAUGHS) Yeah!

She has a honk that is...

Sounds like an alarm for when other people come around.

So, she lets us know when there's people in the yard or..

you know, somebody new comes up.

(LAUGHS)

Gumbo has the run of the family's backyard.

We left the gate open, let her go on her own,

and she never left.

We can leave her in the front yard,

and she'll come right back to the back.

This is her place now.

(GOOSE HONKS)

Oh, now you're grumpy.

There is a very unique connection between Gumbo and Abby.

Sometimes, he'll come outside and sit on the ground and cuddle her,

that's all she wants to do.

She's cuddling me by putting her neck down.

Not one to miss out on anything...

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

..Gumbo likes to join in

with whatever Abby and her parents are doing.

Let's go park, Gumbs. (GOOSE HONKS)

Come on. Come on, Gumbo.

(GOOSE HONKS)

She really likes to take her around the neighbourhood

and show her off to the neighbours.

Abby really likes to make people smile,

and you can always get a smile when they find out we have a goose.

(GOOSE HONKS) (LAUGHS) Yeah!

That should feel good!

I think whenever people hear we have a goose, they always say:

"I thought geese attacked people."

And she likes to spread the message that all geese aren't mean

like we had originally thought.

Gumbo!

Abby's dad works in the US Coastguard,

meaning the family move around a lot.

They've only just recently located to this new neighbourhood.

Gumbo came at a really hard time for Abby.

She was very supportive in that way.

(GOOSE HONKS) (LAUGHS)

I think it was a big help

because she missed her old school and her old friends.

I love my goose.

Our new neighbourhood, it's very different than our last one.

She got to meet a lot more people

than she probably would have a lot faster.

So, she definitely made her like our new location

a lot better, a lot faster.

Do you wanna go play? (GOOSE HONKS)

Abby and Gumbo enjoy hanging out in the local playpark.

OK, let's play.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Like all great friends, they have lots in common...

like a love for the slide.

One day, Abby picked her up

and carried her onto the playground equipment, and...

all of a sudden, Gumbo goes down the slide.

(LAUGHS) Yeah!

She goes down it quite a bit.

Soon, the pair are all played out.

You hot? (GOOSE HONKS)

In need of a cool down,

there's only one thing for it.

She wants to be in the pool every single day,

so, of course, when Gumbo came around,

it's in her yard now.

Gumbo will follow us around in the pool.

Come on in!

Oh! She wanted to go before she was even in.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah!

(UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES)

At the end of the day,

before Tabitha packs Abby off to bed...

..Abby makes sure Gumbo is tucked into hers.

Ready for bed? (SOFT HONKING)

Abby loves to read Gumbo a bedtime story.

"Dress him up in his PJs... (GOOSE HONKS)

"..and when he starts to giggle..."

If Gumbo could sleep in her bed with her,

she would definitely let her.

She wants her to be with her all the time.

You just wanna look at the book?

OK, you wanna try to read it yourself?

They're pretty inseparable.

If she could take her to school, she absolutely would.

"Give me a kiss goodnight each for the ear and paw.

"Sweet dreams, Little Lion."

Gumbo has changed Abby's life.

She does not want to leave.

Abby also does not want her to leave.

(GOOSE HONKS)

I do love how happy it makes her to be a goose mum, basically.

Have a goose as a best friend.

(CRICKETS CHIRP)

Goodnight, Gumbo.

I hope you sleep well.

See you in the morning! (GOOSE HONKS)

In challenging times...

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

..new friendships can help shape who we are.

Morning, Cosima.

In South Africa, Belinda Harvenher is checking on an injured friend.

Hello, hello, hello!

Hi!

Hi, Cosima.

How are you today?

Huh? Did you sleep well?

Cosima is a four-year-old vervet monkey.

She's currently in the recovery ward with a broken wrist.

It's so nice to see you this morning!

Hm?

Belinda has been caring for Cosima since she was a tiny baby.

(SOFT MUSIC)

She arrived as a little two-week-old orphan.

Her mum was hit by a car,

and she had to be pulled off her dead mummy's body.

Motor vehicle accidents happen quite often...

where the mum gets hit

and protects her baby so well that the baby survives,

but her life is gone.

Cosima was rescued

and brought here to the Bambelela rehabilitation centre.

When Cosima came in here,

she was screaming for two-three days, non-stop.

She has a blind eye.

We think that has to do with when she was hit, as well, by the car.

Belinda looked after the orphaned Cosima

and the two developed a close emotional bond.

It's totally incredible the connection we have with one another

that she can trust me so much to tickle her belly.

Yeah, Cosima. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or to look at her teeth, or to look at her arm.

The Bambelela centre takes in orphaned or injured monkeys

and helps them get back to a natural life in the wild.

A lot of monkeys come in being abused,

being treated really badly by people.

I had a rough childhood growing up, um...

bullied a lot in school.

I feel like I have a same history,

like some of these monkeys.

I try everything in my power

to make it better for these monkeys,

and to give them a second chance.

It's all about love, it's all about caring,

it's all about affection,

and they can read all that in your body language as well,

that you care, that you love them and that you will protect them.

Hey, Pixie.

When Cosima arrived, she started off in the kindergarten

with the other orphaned vervet monkeys.

You seem hungry.

Babies spend the first weeks of their life

clinging to their mother.

The moment we were walking to the cage with the formula milk,

they're all on top of you,

they wanna have the milk, they just go crazy,

'cause they know you're coming to give them some food.

Surrogate mum, Belinda, steps up to meet their every need.

They are just like humans.

They each have their own personality.

They cry with you, they laugh with you,

they're angry with you.

This is why I fell so deeply in love with this species.

This is, for me, the best place to be, ever.

I would not change this job for anything else.

This makes me happy, this makes my day,

just spending it with the monkeys.

From here, they make their way to a much larger, wilder enclosure,

where they learn to be independent from humans

and bond further with each other.

Cosima will join them shortly.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

So, in here is where they can become a family.

They have to learn to cope without us.

It's hoped that, in here,

Cosima will from a troop with the others,

and start a family of her own,

before they're ready to head into the jungle together.

Hopefully, this baby season,

she'll have a little one of her own,

which she can then proudly raise and do a good job with.

But before Cosima can become one of the troop,

she needs to be back to full strength.

To ensure she's on track,

Belinda takes her for regular medical check-ups.

Say, "Hello, Chantelle." Hello, Cosima!

(CHUCKLES) We're here for a check-up.

Let me see your arm quickly, please.

It's all healed so nicely.

She is ready to go back to a troop now.

Amazing. Are you ready to go back, Cosima?

She's on course to join the troop...

and live with her own kind.

Belinda will have to take a step back.

Are you ready to go back?

Building a bond with a vervet is something special.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

But breaking that bond is even harder.

Belinda's hard work to re-wild Cosima and the other vervets

looks set to be a success.

As a friend, the best thing I can possibly do for her

is let her join her family.

I'm super happy, but I'm also extremely sad

'cause there's a possibility of never seeing her again.

But before Cosima returns to the troop,

the pair get to spend a bit more time together.

So, she's showing that she cares and she loves me.

That's part of a monkey's communication.

When they interact with a person,

it's through grooming,

and apparently she's finding some...

things in my hair which I didn't know about.

When I just arrived here,

I was a very broken down teenager.

I never knew what I was really put on earth for.

And the moment I'm with monkeys, I know exactly why I'm here.

I wouldn't be surprised if I was a vervet

in my previous life, who knows?

Cosima made me who I am today and...

I will forever stand up for vervets till the day I cannot anymore.

I will fight for them as far and as wide as I can.

(WAVES WASH GENTLY)

Quiet encounters with wildlife can offer a sense of peace.

Even in the darkest of times.

Moments with wildlife,

they're so valuable for your mental health...

because when you get those moments where time stops,

then it just drains away any stress in your life.

(CALMING MUSIC)

It's incredibly good for your soul

and really helps you deal with

the stress and strain of normal life.

I'm an adult man

who has found something

that makes you feel like a child on Christmas Eve.

Dive enthusiast, Ben Burville,

is headed to the Farne Islands off the North East coast of England.

They are the Galapagos of the North, really, in terms of wildlife.

You've got thousands and thousands of birds there,

guillemots, puffins, razorbills.

(BIRDS SQUAWK)

But also, most importantly for me,

it's home to a resident population of seals.

(SEALS BARK)

Every day that I'm going diving, it's full of anticipation...

and that's a joy.

The beauty of it is you never really know what you're gonna see.

It's always exciting.

Well, my normal day job is incredibly stressful.

I'm a GP, I work eight sessions, which is full time,

in Amble, a coastal town in Northumberland.

So, there's patients every 10-12 minutes.

It's pretty non-stop, really.

Ben first came across the seals

on a dive trip to the Farne Islands 20 years go.

(POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES)

He now swims with them at every opportunity.

It's easy to take these things for granted, isn't it?

When you're looking up at that.

I really love the challenge of diving in the North Sea.

In the current, in the cold,

It's quite a challenging environment at times.

It's October, and the weather isn't looking great.

But, after a long week at work, it doesn't put Ben off.

The real thing is what the weather does

to where the seals are gonna be.

They wanna be out the wind and they wanna be out the swell.

It might bother us...

but it won't bother the seals.

Ben relies on friend and skipper, Micky,

to take him out, whatever the weather.

Good morning, Ben. Good to see you.

How you doing? Excellent. Always good to get out.

Let's get inside. Got a brew here.

I was in the water from a young age,

and the boatman will know that as soon as I can get in the water,

I'll be in the water.

18 years, your life's been in my hands.

It has. I trust you 100%.

(LAUGHS)

(UPBEAT FOLK MUSIC)

Grey seals are the most abundant seals

around the UK coast.

We're very lucky here to have 40% of the world's population.

The feelings that I have before I go in the water,

it's one of completely overwhelming peace and calm.

(CALMING MUSIC) (WAVES WASH GENTLY)

As soon as you jump off the boat,

you're entering another world.

It's full of anticipation, and that's a joy,

you never really know what you're going to encounter.

Often they will glide in from quite a distance away,

and you can see them coming through the gloom.

I never, ever, use food or bait of any kind.

I can look into the eyes of a seal

and have an idea about how it's gonna behave.

I'm being slow in my movements.

They're not seeing you as a threat, being very gentle,

so they're in control.

When a seal holds your hand

and it gives your hand a little squeeze,

and you squeeze its hand back,

there's a connection

and time stops completely,

and that's magical.

(CALMING MUSIC CONTINUES)

(SEAGULLS SQUAWK)

Over the last 20 years,

I will have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours underwater.

It's about building trust with these animals...

..to a point where they feel at ease with you.

The whiskers of the seals are so sensitive that they pick up on

the trail left behind the water movements from the fins,

just like a wake on a boat.

Often, you won't even know they're there.

Incredible streamlined predators, really,

that, you know, have the ability to move at high speed,

dive to over 300 metres,

hold their breath for over 20 minutes.

We've just come through, you know, a COVID pandemic...

..which takes its toll on everyone.

I was the COVID lead for Northumberland, and so...

Just give me two seconds. PRODUCER: Yeah.

I, uh... Hoo!

Don't know why I get emotional on that one, but that's...

(SIGHS)

Sorry, guys.

COVIDs just... too many dead people, man.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

I think for lots of other people,

wildlife during the pandemic was really, really important.

I think it's probably what kept me relatively sane.

Happiness isn't somewhere you get to in your life

as a destination, it's really, sort of,

moments that you have along the path of your life...

and there are certain times that stick in my head

as being those moments.

I remember a young female seal.

I could feel her snuggling into my neck,

her whiskers tickling my face.

When I sorta glanced, I could see that her eyes were closed.

And, um... I think my eyes closed at the same time.

Sometimes they can be surprising.

I think that they probably understand

the concept of games to a degree.

They'll use their claws, which are a little bit like bears' claws,

or their teeth,

and they'll very delicately grab my hood

and start to pull my hood back off my face.

What really makes me laugh is when they're removing my mask.

And they can do this with incredible dexterity.

They'll take away the little tiny mask strap at the side

and start to flood it.

(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)

The seals can be really gentle to each other,

and I think just trying to take that into your life...

kindness, it is important in life,

and I see that in my day-to-day job.

I will talk to people about mindfulness.

Sometimes just stabilising your thoughts in the moment

can sort of ground you.

(POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES)

For me, I've found a place where I can find lots of those moments

because when you're underwater and there's a 250 kg seal

in front of you, looking in your eyes,

then time simply stops.

Then, also, you have companionship with an animal...

..and I'm incredibly fortunate to have.

If I could bottle up the feeling you have

when you're with an animal and it's interacting with you,

then I would be a millionaire.

(CALMING MUSIC)

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