1 00:00:32,700 --> 00:00:36,200 In the great Tree of Life, 2 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,900 one branch of the mammals has a particular fascination for us, for we belong to it. 3 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:45,480 Primates. 4 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,380 Primate hands provide a firm grip. 5 00:00:57,380 --> 00:01:02,080 And forward facing eyes accurately assess distance. 6 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,180 Both are crucial for a lifestyle that began in the trees. 7 00:01:18,790 --> 00:01:24,390 Intelligence among primates can excel that of all other animals. 8 00:01:30,690 --> 00:01:33,590 Primates can solve difficult problems... 9 00:01:35,390 --> 00:01:37,890 ..develop thoughts and ideas... 10 00:01:40,290 --> 00:01:43,390 ..and build long-lasting relationships. 11 00:01:46,190 --> 00:01:52,190 But most importantly, primates remember what they learn during their lives. 12 00:01:54,390 --> 00:02:02,390 This film reveals how intelligence helps our closest relatives to tackle the many challenges of life. 13 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,200 There are more than 350 primate species on Earth. 14 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:47,800 Since they first appeared over 65 million years ago, 15 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:53,100 these clever animals have become adapted to an extraordinary range of habitats. 16 00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:02,000 The Awash region of southern Ethiopia. 17 00:03:06,900 --> 00:03:10,400 A harsh, remote scrubland. 18 00:03:16,310 --> 00:03:20,410 But primates have learned how to make it their home. 19 00:03:32,110 --> 00:03:37,510 Hamadryas baboons are waking up from a night spent high on the cliffs. 20 00:03:41,910 --> 00:03:49,110 These monkeys live in groups up to four hundred strong, with no single leader. 21 00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:56,810 Theirs is a very complex society, made up of dozens of small harems, each governed by a male. 22 00:03:59,510 --> 00:04:03,910 Every morning they leave the safety of the cliffs to find food. 23 00:04:14,220 --> 00:04:17,320 Top-ranking males lead the way. 24 00:04:19,420 --> 00:04:24,220 They can be very severe with their females if there is the slightest misdemeanour. 25 00:04:41,820 --> 00:04:48,220 Despite their individual strength, hamadryas baboons prefer to travel as a troop. 26 00:04:48,220 --> 00:04:50,320 It's safer that way. 27 00:05:02,430 --> 00:05:07,230 On this particular morning, something stops them in their tracks. 28 00:05:15,830 --> 00:05:20,530 Another troop is using these cliffs as a barracks. 29 00:05:30,630 --> 00:05:34,030 More than a thousand baboons can overnight here. 30 00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:37,130 And a rival faction is heading directly their way. 31 00:06:07,340 --> 00:06:11,940 In the chaos of warfare, males settle old scores. 32 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:22,940 This is also their best chance of stealing females. 33 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:57,640 When the fighting is over, the harems reform. 34 00:07:02,650 --> 00:07:08,050 Lead males punish any of their females who had dared to stray. 35 00:07:20,650 --> 00:07:25,650 Strict discipline is essential if order is to be maintained. 36 00:07:36,850 --> 00:07:40,050 It's a harsh social system 37 00:07:40,050 --> 00:07:45,350 but it works for hamadryas baboons here on these arid plains. 38 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,460 In other parts of the world, primates have had to organise 39 00:07:57,460 --> 00:08:02,860 their societies in a different way to cope with different challenges. 40 00:08:07,260 --> 00:08:11,160 Mid-winter in the Japanese Alps. 41 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:20,860 The Kamicoche Valley is the haunt of the most northerly-dwelling monkeys. 42 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:34,660 To live here you must be able to survive temperatures which plunge to minus 20 centigrade. 43 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,460 The Japanese macaque. 44 00:08:58,670 --> 00:09:05,770 Dense thick layers of fur help to insulate these snow moneys in this testing environment. 45 00:09:10,670 --> 00:09:13,670 But they still feel the cold. 46 00:09:21,370 --> 00:09:24,470 At this time of the year food is scarce. 47 00:09:28,570 --> 00:09:32,270 But macaques are adaptable and clever. 48 00:09:38,070 --> 00:09:44,270 The troop has learnt that this river stays ice-free the year round. 49 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,480 This female knows it's a good place to gather insect larvae 50 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,880 from under the rocks, using her versatile hands and nimble fingers. 51 00:10:05,580 --> 00:10:10,380 In winter, this troop spends most of its time searching for food. 52 00:10:16,580 --> 00:10:20,780 The same underground forces that prevent this river from freezing 53 00:10:20,780 --> 00:10:23,580 bring great comfort to others. 54 00:10:29,580 --> 00:10:33,380 The Japanese Alps were built by volcanoes. 55 00:10:33,380 --> 00:10:37,280 Many of them are still active. 56 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:44,180 And in a region called Hell's Valley, some snow monkeys have found the perfect winter resort. 57 00:10:51,090 --> 00:10:54,090 A thermal spa, 58 00:10:54,090 --> 00:10:57,790 where the water temperature is a blissful 41 degrees centigrade. 59 00:11:20,490 --> 00:11:24,790 Everyone wants in, but primates being primates, 60 00:11:24,790 --> 00:11:27,890 there are pool-side politics. 61 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:41,000 This is an exclusive members-only club. 62 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:48,100 Only the highest-ranking females and infants are allowed in. 63 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:57,500 Everyone obeys this male, who guards the pool and vets the entrants. 64 00:12:08,500 --> 00:12:14,500 These youngsters, born of the right bloodline, don't know how privileged they are. 65 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,500 Lower ranking individuals are literally left out in the cold. 66 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,600 Japanese macaque society is very divided. 67 00:12:38,610 --> 00:12:41,810 There are those that have. 68 00:12:41,810 --> 00:12:44,710 And those that have not. 69 00:12:53,410 --> 00:13:00,810 And that is a harsh division, because the sixty degrees that separate the steaming water 70 00:13:00,810 --> 00:13:03,310 from the freezing surroundings 71 00:13:03,310 --> 00:13:07,210 can make the difference between life and death. 72 00:13:16,510 --> 00:13:20,510 But by far the majority of primate species 73 00:13:20,510 --> 00:13:23,610 live in warm tropical forests. 74 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,520 Among them are the largest of all. 75 00:13:40,420 --> 00:13:45,520 Gorillas live in stable family groups with just a single leader, 76 00:13:47,620 --> 00:13:49,920 a silverback male. 77 00:13:59,420 --> 00:14:04,420 This one, here in the Congo basin, is the guardian of his family 78 00:14:04,420 --> 00:14:07,620 which includes five females and their infants. 79 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,820 He has the responsibility of protecting them from the dangers 80 00:14:20,820 --> 00:14:24,020 that abound on the forest floor where they feed. 81 00:14:32,130 --> 00:14:38,930 To sustain his huge size, he must consume up to thirty kilos a day. 82 00:14:41,130 --> 00:14:48,330 It's mostly plant food, but western gorillas also enjoy a sprinkling of termites. 83 00:14:53,230 --> 00:14:59,130 The youngsters need to eat far less than their father, so they've got time on their hands. 84 00:15:05,130 --> 00:15:09,730 They like to play for the same reasons we do...for fun. 85 00:15:09,730 --> 00:15:12,630 And it helps build long-lasting relationships. 86 00:15:14,530 --> 00:15:18,130 Their protector keeps a watchful eye on them. 87 00:15:27,540 --> 00:15:29,940 But then... 88 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,840 ..it's time for his siesta. 89 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:52,740 Something shatters the peace. 90 00:16:00,140 --> 00:16:03,140 This silverback's territory is one of the best. 91 00:16:03,140 --> 00:16:06,640 But it has borders with at least eight other gorilla groups. 92 00:16:20,850 --> 00:16:26,850 The sound of chest-beating travels more than a mile through the tangled under-storey. 93 00:16:36,750 --> 00:16:39,750 It's a territorial drum-beat. 94 00:16:43,450 --> 00:16:46,950 Everyone must know who is boss around here. 95 00:17:01,050 --> 00:17:05,550 Other smaller primates are rather more secretive. 96 00:17:07,250 --> 00:17:12,250 One of the most unusual is found in Sulawesi, Indonesia. 97 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:22,860 It lives among the aerial roots of this strangler fig. 98 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:35,460 Its ancestors were daytime hunters, but they found that there was less 99 00:17:35,460 --> 00:17:39,160 competition if they looked for food in the twilight. 100 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,960 Now they only stir after dark. 101 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,060 Nonetheless there's a lot of insect food around. 102 00:18:21,570 --> 00:18:23,770 The spectral tarsier. 103 00:18:31,070 --> 00:18:34,570 Tarsiers are the only totally carnivorous primates on Earth. 104 00:18:38,870 --> 00:18:42,470 They've hardly changed in 45 million years. 105 00:18:45,070 --> 00:18:48,570 Their huge eyes can see in even the faintest light. 106 00:18:53,670 --> 00:18:59,570 These eye-balls are so wide they can't swivel in their sockets - 107 00:18:59,570 --> 00:19:03,070 tarsiers have to rotate their heads. 108 00:19:04,870 --> 00:19:09,370 Their mobile ears can detect the faintest sounds. 109 00:19:11,980 --> 00:19:16,480 And their powerful legs enable them to jump 40 times their own length. 110 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,880 The family group fans out to hunt. 111 00:19:31,980 --> 00:19:34,380 Prey is not hard to find. 112 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,080 But the tarsiers must be watchful. 113 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:10,580 For a primate just five inches tall, life in the forest is full of danger. 114 00:20:14,190 --> 00:20:17,590 - The male sounds the alarm. - CHIRPING 115 00:20:26,490 --> 00:20:29,290 And everyone retreats. 116 00:20:56,390 --> 00:21:02,490 Back in their family tree, the senior male and female send out piercing calls. 117 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:11,100 These calls guide any stragglers home, 118 00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:14,700 and there they renew the family bonds. 119 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,400 Good communication is one of the hallmarks of primate society. 120 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,700 Few communicate more musically than lar gibbons 121 00:21:36,700 --> 00:21:39,600 in the forests of Thailand. 122 00:21:56,500 --> 00:22:00,400 Their songs carry for many miles across the canopy, 123 00:22:00,410 --> 00:22:04,310 proclaiming that this piece of forest is theirs. 124 00:22:35,710 --> 00:22:41,910 Most primates have excellent colour vision, and colour too can be used in communication. 125 00:22:46,710 --> 00:22:50,210 Adult Phayre's leaf monkeys might seem rather drab. 126 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,820 But not so their newborn. 127 00:23:05,020 --> 00:23:08,420 Bright orange fur makes the babies very conspicuous, 128 00:23:08,420 --> 00:23:12,420 so the adults can easily keep an eye on them. 129 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:23,420 Close friends and relatives are eager to help the mother with baby-sitting. 130 00:23:23,420 --> 00:23:26,820 It's a good chance for the younger ones to practice parenting. 131 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,220 As a result, a baby is never left on its own for long. 132 00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:48,920 When it's a few months old and more independent, 133 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,920 it will turn the colour of its mother and blend in with the group. 134 00:23:59,530 --> 00:24:03,130 But until then, it can't be ignored. 135 00:24:17,930 --> 00:24:24,030 Smell is of particular importance to the primates that live in Madagascar - 136 00:24:24,030 --> 00:24:25,830 the lemurs. 137 00:24:28,230 --> 00:24:31,930 They have pointed snouts and wet noses. 138 00:24:35,230 --> 00:24:38,130 These are ringtail lemurs. 139 00:24:50,540 --> 00:24:56,440 The males have sharp pads on their wrists with which they scratch the trunks of young trees. 140 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:07,440 Glands on their wrists impregnate the cut bark with a pungent smell that acts as a territorial marker. 141 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,640 Females make smelly marks in their own way. 142 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:21,040 This one's scent carries another signal as well as the territorial one. 143 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:25,640 It tells males that she's coming in to heat. 144 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:35,440 But she will only be sexually receptive for 24 hours or less. 145 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,340 So tensions run high among the males. 146 00:26:06,850 --> 00:26:09,850 Amid the commotion, some males sneak off. 147 00:26:13,150 --> 00:26:20,150 They have anointed their tails with scent and waft it towards her in an attempt to persuade her to mate. 148 00:26:20,150 --> 00:26:22,950 She's ready... 149 00:26:22,950 --> 00:26:24,850 but fussy. 150 00:26:35,250 --> 00:26:41,050 This male adds more of his wrist gland perfume to his tail. 151 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:54,460 It seems to work, for they leave the party together. 152 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,860 And he wafts his way to victory. 153 00:27:29,660 --> 00:27:34,060 A willingness to mate is a relatively straightforward message. 154 00:27:37,060 --> 00:27:41,560 But primates are capable of much more complex communication. 155 00:27:47,770 --> 00:27:51,470 It starts between a mother and her baby. 156 00:27:54,970 --> 00:27:58,370 The rainforests of Sumatra. 157 00:28:07,670 --> 00:28:11,270 This female orang-utan is forty-two years old. 158 00:28:11,270 --> 00:28:16,070 Her third child, a six year old daughter, is still with her. 159 00:28:21,970 --> 00:28:26,370 Orangs look after their children for longer than any other primate... 160 00:28:26,370 --> 00:28:28,670 except ourselves. 161 00:28:28,670 --> 00:28:32,270 It will take her nine years to teach her youngster 162 00:28:32,270 --> 00:28:36,770 everything she needs to know about this complex tree-top world. 163 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,680 She must learn how to collect ants and termites. 164 00:28:54,380 --> 00:28:59,080 How to identify at least 200 kinds of edible plants... 165 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,080 and how to avoid the poisonous ones. 166 00:29:05,380 --> 00:29:08,480 And how to judge when fruit, like this durian, 167 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,880 has ripened to perfection. 168 00:29:26,780 --> 00:29:31,680 Her child must be able to judge which branches can carry her weight. 169 00:29:39,290 --> 00:29:43,190 And which insect nests are safe to raid. 170 00:30:04,490 --> 00:30:10,190 Building up a complete guide to the foods of the forest is a long process. 171 00:30:30,500 --> 00:30:34,100 Her lessons, of course, aren't limited to food. 172 00:30:34,100 --> 00:30:38,700 There are other crucial skills she must learn if she is to survive in the tree tops. 173 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:46,500 Building a secure nest in which to spend the night, for example, takes years of practice. 174 00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:54,300 And this is, of course, a rainforest. 175 00:30:54,300 --> 00:30:56,600 THUNDER RUMBLES 176 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:03,200 So all orangs must learn how to make a shelter early in their lives. 177 00:31:26,610 --> 00:31:33,910 It rains almost every day, so this six year old has already had plenty of practice. 178 00:31:45,210 --> 00:31:49,510 She might live to be fifty years old and if she too becomes a mother, 179 00:31:49,510 --> 00:31:54,110 she'll pass on all this expertise to her own children. 180 00:32:04,810 --> 00:32:09,310 Remembering your lessons is a vital part of primate life. 181 00:32:19,110 --> 00:32:22,510 It's not just learning how to exploit your environment. 182 00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:28,320 Just as important is knowing when to do so. 183 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,320 This is Africa's Cape peninsula. 184 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,720 It's the furthest south that monkeys have managed to settle. 185 00:32:53,620 --> 00:32:58,920 There's a wide range of plant food here, but because the soil is so poor in nutrients, 186 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:03,920 Chacma baboons find it difficult to get the range of sustenance they need, 187 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,220 however much they eat. 188 00:33:17,830 --> 00:33:23,530 So they have had to become quite adventurous in what they will tackle. 189 00:33:31,930 --> 00:33:36,330 The waters around the Cape are among the richest in the world. 190 00:33:48,030 --> 00:33:52,530 And the wily baboons have become tidal experts. 191 00:34:06,230 --> 00:34:12,930 If you rely on the tides to expose your food, you have to work to fairly tight schedules. 192 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:37,140 Every two weeks, on the lowest spring tide, there's a chance to collect something really special. 193 00:35:00,140 --> 00:35:05,040 What they've been waiting for is hidden among the fronds of seaweed. 194 00:35:17,550 --> 00:35:19,050 Shark eggs. 195 00:35:43,650 --> 00:35:47,950 Each one is only a tiny mouthful, but there are lots of them 196 00:35:47,950 --> 00:35:50,850 and they're so nutritious it's worth the trouble. 197 00:35:56,350 --> 00:35:58,550 But the baboons can't stay long... 198 00:35:58,550 --> 00:36:01,150 the tide is turning. 199 00:36:05,150 --> 00:36:10,950 So now they switch their attention to the main course of the day... mussels. 200 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:19,460 This delicacy is exposed every day, by every tide. 201 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:30,460 Baboons have powerful jaws and huge canines... 202 00:36:30,460 --> 00:36:32,560 ideal for cracking shells. 203 00:36:38,260 --> 00:36:42,560 Timing is an essential skill if you are to harvest 204 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:48,060 all the food that becomes available at one time or another around a coast. 205 00:36:57,260 --> 00:37:04,260 Some foods, however, are only available to those who have skilful hands and sharp intelligence. 206 00:37:06,670 --> 00:37:10,470 On the coast of Costa Rica, among the mangroves, 207 00:37:10,470 --> 00:37:14,770 live some of the most intelligent monkeys in the whole of the Americas. 208 00:37:19,470 --> 00:37:23,470 White-faced capuchins. 209 00:37:23,470 --> 00:37:27,470 They too have learnt to work the tides. 210 00:37:31,070 --> 00:37:34,170 They are after clams. 211 00:37:37,070 --> 00:37:43,170 But capuchins are quite small and don't have the brawn to open such shellfish. 212 00:37:46,770 --> 00:37:50,170 But they do have the brain, 213 00:37:50,170 --> 00:37:54,270 and they've devised an ingenious way to solve the problem. 214 00:37:56,170 --> 00:37:59,570 They hammer the clams. 215 00:38:05,980 --> 00:38:09,780 They are not trying to crack the shells, all this pounding 216 00:38:09,780 --> 00:38:15,880 and rolling has another purpose, to tire the muscle with which the clam is holding itself shut. 217 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,880 Eventually the clam can hold out no longer, 218 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,580 and the capuchin gets its reward. 219 00:39:19,790 --> 00:39:24,590 Trial and error may have been sufficient to solve this particular problem. 220 00:39:32,590 --> 00:39:38,090 But one of their cousins in Brazil has taken things a step further. 221 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:06,900 Brown-tufted capuchins combine manual dexterity with considerable intelligence. 222 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:16,000 And they have learned to use tools, hammer stones with which to open palm nuts. 223 00:40:19,500 --> 00:40:23,300 Some of the stones are nearly half the weight of the monkey. 224 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:38,600 Without a tool, opening these nuts would be an impossible task. 225 00:40:40,900 --> 00:40:46,400 Tool-using was a major breakthrough in primate evolution. 226 00:40:55,810 --> 00:41:03,610 And nowhere is it more convincingly displayed than here in the forest of Bossou in Guinea, West Africa. 227 00:41:06,610 --> 00:41:09,410 PANTING AND WHOOPING 228 00:41:39,810 --> 00:41:48,010 Chimpanzees in this small community of thirteen individuals use tools in a variety of ways. 229 00:42:00,420 --> 00:42:06,220 The most delicate is the way they use a twig or leaf stem 230 00:42:06,220 --> 00:42:07,720 to dip for ants. 231 00:42:56,730 --> 00:43:01,230 Some of their skills are unique to this particular group. 232 00:43:05,630 --> 00:43:09,830 One of these involves stripping a palm leaf frond 233 00:43:09,830 --> 00:43:15,230 and using it like a pestle to mash up the nutritious palm heart. 234 00:43:34,430 --> 00:43:37,430 This four-year old is learning fast. 235 00:43:37,430 --> 00:43:39,230 She needs to. 236 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,640 If chimpanzees haven't learned particular skills by the age of 8, 237 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:45,840 they never seem able to acquire them. 238 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:58,240 The most impressive skill of all, which involves nimble fingers, 239 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:04,240 hand-eye coordination and intelligence, is nut cracking. 240 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:23,640 Chimpanzees have gone a stage further than capuchins. 241 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:29,540 They have learned how to carefully position the nut on an anvil and to judge how much force to use 242 00:44:29,540 --> 00:44:34,840 in order to crack the shell but not smash the kernel to pieces. 243 00:44:36,650 --> 00:44:41,450 Their use of tools is both efficient and precise. 244 00:44:48,950 --> 00:44:55,250 This eleven year old female has an anvil, but can't find a hammer. 245 00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:12,750 She approaches a male to see if he will lend her his. 246 00:45:28,650 --> 00:45:31,550 He obliges. 247 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:39,460 Chimpanzees can show great kindness 248 00:45:39,460 --> 00:45:41,360 and compassion. 249 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:52,960 Sharing. 250 00:45:57,460 --> 00:45:59,060 Experimenting. 251 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:03,660 Empathy. 252 00:46:07,260 --> 00:46:08,560 Planning. 253 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:15,260 Intelligence. 254 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,860 Teaching, and learning. 255 00:46:34,570 --> 00:46:39,570 Behaviour so characteristic of us higher primates. 256 00:46:47,470 --> 00:46:53,870 We are the most inventive and innovative of all primates. 257 00:46:53,870 --> 00:46:59,270 Just one branch of a large and extended family. 258 00:47:00,770 --> 00:47:03,770 A family which has refined the ability 259 00:47:03,770 --> 00:47:08,770 to develop and pass on individual learning to the next generation. 260 00:47:23,570 --> 00:47:29,970 A family which is built on strong bonds between mother and baby. 261 00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,980 A family with which we share so much. 262 00:48:27,590 --> 00:48:30,490 To film the very best primate behaviour, 263 00:48:30,490 --> 00:48:35,190 the Life team had to use all their primate ingenuity and adaptability. 264 00:48:47,990 --> 00:48:54,590 And in doing so, they discovered an extraordinary affinity with our extended family. 265 00:48:59,290 --> 00:49:06,590 Especially with a great ape with who we share almost 99% of our genes, 266 00:49:06,590 --> 00:49:09,090 the Chimpanzee. 267 00:49:09,090 --> 00:49:15,090 He was completely asleep just then, so you just, just rocking to the side as if he might just fall off 268 00:49:15,090 --> 00:49:21,290 the branch, you could see his lips were twitching like he was in a deep dream, that was really beautiful. 269 00:49:32,300 --> 00:49:36,200 Chimpanzees are our closest relatives. 270 00:49:38,300 --> 00:49:44,900 Justine Evans spent almost a month with them in the forest of Guinea to film their use of tools. 271 00:49:46,100 --> 00:49:48,300 The chimps have disappeared off down there, 272 00:49:48,300 --> 00:49:52,700 they're gonna cross over into another area of forest and hopefully start using some tools. 273 00:49:52,700 --> 00:49:56,500 Go and use tools, that's what we're here for. 274 00:49:58,300 --> 00:50:01,900 Chimpanzees have to accept you. 275 00:50:01,900 --> 00:50:06,400 If they don't want to be filmed, they'll simply disappear. 276 00:50:09,500 --> 00:50:15,000 Justine needed the expert guidance of Tatyana Humle, a primatologist 277 00:50:15,010 --> 00:50:18,610 who's spent more than ten years studying these individuals. 278 00:50:18,610 --> 00:50:25,510 So when we see them always keep calm and don't stare straight into the eyes. 279 00:50:25,510 --> 00:50:28,710 Have you ever had problems with them coming right up being aggressive? 280 00:50:28,710 --> 00:50:32,110 No, never, never. I mean it's pretty rare, so... 281 00:50:32,110 --> 00:50:36,210 I don't know what to expect cos I've never seen them in the wild before so it's a first for me. 282 00:50:36,210 --> 00:50:42,610 So just always stay, stay calm and if one of them walks by really close, just ignore them. 283 00:50:42,610 --> 00:50:46,010 One particular young male might throw sticks, 284 00:50:46,010 --> 00:50:48,810 ignore him as well, it's like he's like a kid 285 00:50:48,810 --> 00:50:52,710 and he just wants attention so he'll just keep doing it. 286 00:50:52,710 --> 00:50:59,310 We've got to put these face masks on in case we pass on any infectious diseases. 287 00:50:59,310 --> 00:51:03,310 Quite a few chimps have died in the past from respiratory diseases 288 00:51:03,310 --> 00:51:06,110 in other study sites, so it's very important. 289 00:51:17,020 --> 00:51:21,520 Justine was finding her way with the chimps. 290 00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:24,320 But it would take time. 291 00:51:28,720 --> 00:51:31,720 It's never easy anticipating their behaviour. 292 00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:36,220 I'm trying to get ready really quickly because we're expecting 293 00:51:36,220 --> 00:51:39,120 some chimps to come down the path straight ahead of me. 294 00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:43,520 It'd be lovely if they'd merge out into this clearing, 295 00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:46,320 cos it's really difficult to see through all this foliage. 296 00:51:48,720 --> 00:51:52,120 Tatyana and her team were invaluable, 297 00:51:52,120 --> 00:51:56,620 they introduced Justine to the chimps' different habits and characters. 298 00:52:10,130 --> 00:52:17,730 Soon the natural inquisitiveness of the chimps overcame any worries they might have had of Justine. 299 00:52:22,330 --> 00:52:27,730 In fact, they seemed fascinated by her, and the tools of her trade. 300 00:52:33,130 --> 00:52:39,030 But it was their use of tools that Justine was here to film. 301 00:52:41,130 --> 00:52:44,230 And this was her first good opportunity. 302 00:52:48,830 --> 00:52:52,830 As I filmed them fishing for ants I was amazed by their dexterity. 303 00:52:54,330 --> 00:52:59,730 But holding focus in such low light really tested my own coordination to the limit. 304 00:53:13,640 --> 00:53:15,740 Now she's moving away. 305 00:53:15,740 --> 00:53:17,840 She's moving. 306 00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:22,240 It's been all go today, it's not over yet, 307 00:53:22,240 --> 00:53:24,440 if we can get out of here into an open, 308 00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:28,540 more open area we'll actually have enough light to film by 309 00:53:28,540 --> 00:53:31,640 cos the sun's still up, but I don't know. 310 00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:38,440 Although Justine's main goal was to film tool use, 311 00:53:38,440 --> 00:53:42,140 there was another piece of behaviour she really wanted to capture. 312 00:53:49,140 --> 00:53:56,540 Buttress root drumming had never been filmed here before but she was always just a bit too late. 313 00:53:56,540 --> 00:53:59,540 Back at yet another buttress in the hope that we might 314 00:53:59,540 --> 00:54:02,940 get some sort of buttress drumming, but it's started raining 315 00:54:02,950 --> 00:54:05,350 which is an absolute pain. 316 00:54:08,150 --> 00:54:11,150 It's a waiting game. 317 00:54:14,350 --> 00:54:19,050 Just staking out a couple of really big trees that have got very large buttress roots 318 00:54:19,050 --> 00:54:22,650 in the hope that a male will come down and drum on them. 319 00:54:22,650 --> 00:54:26,950 The drumming always happens somewhere else, and apparently, 320 00:54:26,950 --> 00:54:30,050 it's usually the males that sort of sneak off to go and do it, 321 00:54:30,050 --> 00:54:33,050 it feels like a bit of a long shot at the moment. 322 00:54:33,050 --> 00:54:35,950 I've have to have some patience. 323 00:54:38,050 --> 00:54:42,750 The thing about chimps is that, like most primates, you can't always predict 324 00:54:42,750 --> 00:54:47,450 what they're going to do, when they're going to do it, or where. 325 00:54:50,350 --> 00:54:54,250 You've just got to keep with them. 326 00:54:56,860 --> 00:55:02,160 A different type of sound brought Justine back to her main mission. 327 00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:13,360 Nut cracking. 328 00:55:20,260 --> 00:55:24,560 This was the key sequence Justine was here to film. 329 00:55:33,160 --> 00:55:37,860 Filming the chimps using tools made me realise just how close to them we are. 330 00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:50,260 I felt so similar to them. 331 00:55:59,170 --> 00:56:02,370 By the end of our filming trip I was able to recognise 332 00:56:02,370 --> 00:56:07,770 most of the individuals in the group and had begun to understand their different personalities. 333 00:56:36,170 --> 00:56:38,870 For me, the most poignant moment of all 334 00:56:38,870 --> 00:56:43,470 was when the male the scientist called Clay lent a female his tools. 335 00:56:52,780 --> 00:56:55,280 I know that primates are very social animals 336 00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:58,580 but seeing this act of generosity was something that I'll never forget. 337 00:57:15,380 --> 00:57:20,780 Just before we left, the chimpanzees finally put on the display that I'd been hoping for. 338 00:57:58,990 --> 00:58:01,190 In the great Tree of Life, 339 00:58:01,190 --> 00:58:05,990 we and chimpanzees went our separate ways about six million years ago, 340 00:58:05,990 --> 00:58:10,290 but they remain our closest living relatives.