Episode 4

Download Subtitles

Transcript

0:00:02 > 0:00:04BOTH: We are Dr Chris and Dr Xand van Tulleken.

0:00:04 > 0:00:07- And we're tracking down the most awesome...- incredible...

0:00:07 > 0:00:11BOTH: ..living things in the universe!

0:00:21 > 0:00:24BOTH: Come with us and discover unbelievable things

0:00:24 > 0:00:27that will blow your mind!

0:00:28 > 0:00:33Blow Your Mind will bring you top experts in unbelievable stuff

0:00:33 > 0:00:35from icebergs to elephants,

0:00:35 > 0:00:37spaceships to sharks,

0:00:37 > 0:00:41and this week it's all about amazing animals.

0:00:41 > 0:00:44So hold on to your brains, here's what's coming up!

0:00:44 > 0:00:47Today we meet animals that do more than talk to each other.

0:00:47 > 0:00:50There's chimps that tell little white lies,

0:00:50 > 0:00:52elephants that get upset,

0:00:52 > 0:00:54and dolphins that ask for help.

0:00:56 > 0:01:01OK, Chris, I'm going to administer a lie-detector test to you. Ready?

0:01:01 > 0:01:03- Yes.- First question - what is your full name?

0:01:03 > 0:01:06- Christoffer Randolpho van Tulleken. - Amazingly, that is true.

0:01:06 > 0:01:09Second - what is the most mind-blowing show on TV?

0:01:09 > 0:01:11Blow Your Mind on CBBC.

0:01:11 > 0:01:14Exactly right. Third question - how old are you?

0:01:14 > 0:01:15I am 15 years old.

0:01:15 > 0:01:17Chris, I'm your identical twin brother,

0:01:17 > 0:01:19you can't expect me to believe that.

0:01:19 > 0:01:22- OK, well, don't tell everyone how old I am.- OK.

0:01:22 > 0:01:24Look, I can spot a lie from my twin brother,

0:01:24 > 0:01:26but there are some amazing animals

0:01:26 > 0:01:29that have learned to lie just like us humans.

0:01:29 > 0:01:31How do I know you're not lying about that?

0:01:31 > 0:01:34I'll prove it. Check out what happened when Chris Packham

0:01:34 > 0:01:37visited our nearest animal relative, the chimpanzee.

0:01:38 > 0:01:41Chimps, like humans, understand they can benefit

0:01:41 > 0:01:45from situations where they know something the others don't.

0:01:45 > 0:01:48It means chimps can get one up on their friends.

0:01:49 > 0:01:54Chris Packham is off to the Yerkes primate centre in Atlanta, USA,

0:01:54 > 0:01:57to meet some cheeky chimps who like to lie each other.

0:01:57 > 0:02:01Chimp expert Frans de Waal calls it chimpanzee politics.

0:02:03 > 0:02:06He and his team have set up an ingenious experiment to show

0:02:06 > 0:02:08how a weaker, low-ranking animal

0:02:08 > 0:02:12can trick a stronger, more dominant high-ranking member

0:02:12 > 0:02:14of the same group.

0:02:19 > 0:02:22What we do here is we hide food.

0:02:22 > 0:02:24One knows where the food is hidden,

0:02:24 > 0:02:27the other doesn't know where the food is hidden.

0:02:27 > 0:02:29Then we see how they manipulate the relationship in order to get

0:02:29 > 0:02:31- the food. - So, how do you do that?

0:02:31 > 0:02:34You show an animal food, then hide it in the enclosure, I take it.

0:02:34 > 0:02:37We show a low-ranking female where food is hidden,

0:02:37 > 0:02:40then we release her together with a high-ranking female

0:02:40 > 0:02:42who doesn't know anything.

0:02:43 > 0:02:45Then the low-ranking one can wait

0:02:45 > 0:02:48until the other one is gone or distracted,

0:02:48 > 0:02:54she can also mislead the other one - lead her in a wrong direction -

0:02:54 > 0:02:58in order to get the food in time.

0:02:58 > 0:03:00Today we're testing Missy and Rita.

0:03:00 > 0:03:03Rita, the stronger, more dominant chimp comes out first.

0:03:03 > 0:03:07If she knew where the banana was, she'd just help herself.

0:03:07 > 0:03:10But only Missy, the weaker or subordinate female,

0:03:10 > 0:03:12saw the banana being hidden under the red tube.

0:03:14 > 0:03:18Missy's also aware that Rita has no idea where the banana is.

0:03:18 > 0:03:20In other words, she realises

0:03:20 > 0:03:24Rita has a different understanding of the situation they are in.

0:03:29 > 0:03:32Missy notices Rita is getting close to the food,

0:03:32 > 0:03:34so she tries to act "I'm not bothered"

0:03:34 > 0:03:37so that Rita won't suspect the food is hidden there.

0:03:40 > 0:03:44Rita now wanders off - "That's good, off you go, nothing to see."

0:03:44 > 0:03:46And when she's far enough away...

0:03:46 > 0:03:47Missy goes for the banana!

0:03:49 > 0:03:51She successfully tricked Rita.

0:03:56 > 0:03:58Frans has observed this behaviour in chimps,

0:03:58 > 0:04:00but it is not common in other animals.

0:04:03 > 0:04:05That kind of deception is not so typical.

0:04:05 > 0:04:07I think dolphins are probably capable of it,

0:04:07 > 0:04:09and maybe elephants.

0:04:09 > 0:04:13But you need a large brain, I think, to do this kind of thing.

0:04:13 > 0:04:14So, that's amazing.

0:04:14 > 0:04:19Missy pretending she didn't know anything about the banana until Rita was out of sight,

0:04:19 > 0:04:21and then she went and got it. Clever girl.

0:04:21 > 0:04:25Well, I don't think you'd fool ME the way Missy fooled Rita.

0:04:25 > 0:04:27Well, actually, Xand, the joke's on you!

0:04:27 > 0:04:30Because this squashed, mouldy, overripe, half-eaten banana

0:04:30 > 0:04:34has been hidden behind the set the entire series,

0:04:34 > 0:04:36and now I get to eat it!

0:04:36 > 0:04:38Is this guy really my twin brother?!

0:04:41 > 0:04:42But living in a social group

0:04:42 > 0:04:44is not just about trickery and lies.

0:04:45 > 0:04:49Frans also wanted to test if animals had a sense of right and wrong,

0:04:49 > 0:04:51and see how they would react

0:04:51 > 0:04:54if they thought they were being treated unfairly.

0:04:55 > 0:04:56Normally, you would think

0:04:56 > 0:04:59the only thing an animal should care about

0:04:59 > 0:05:02is what do I get for my task - I work, I get rewards.

0:05:02 > 0:05:05But no - they compare it with what the other one is getting.

0:05:07 > 0:05:10Frans began the fairness test with a capuchin monkey.

0:05:13 > 0:05:17These small, clever animals are kept in large enclosures,

0:05:17 > 0:05:21but for the short duration of the test, they are brought into a lab.

0:05:25 > 0:05:29Each monkey carries out a simple task

0:05:29 > 0:05:33and when both get a reward of cucumber, everyone's happy.

0:05:35 > 0:05:37But watch what happens

0:05:37 > 0:05:40when the one on the right receives a grape instead.

0:05:47 > 0:05:49Grapes are so much better than cucumber,

0:05:49 > 0:05:53and the one that gets cucumber gets really emotionally upset

0:05:53 > 0:05:55that the other one is getting grapes.

0:06:03 > 0:06:05In chimpanzees, things go actually a little bit further,

0:06:05 > 0:06:08and it gets very close to human sense of fairness in that

0:06:08 > 0:06:11the one who gets grapes also gets upset sometimes,

0:06:11 > 0:06:15and sometimes waits till the other one ALSO gets a grape.

0:06:15 > 0:06:18So it's very close to the human sense of fairness.

0:06:18 > 0:06:20So, the one that is getting the better reward

0:06:20 > 0:06:24refuses to take the reward until the other animal is being similarly...

0:06:24 > 0:06:26- Yeah, yeah.- ..rewarded with the good stuff?

0:06:26 > 0:06:28Yeah. That's in chimpanzees.

0:06:28 > 0:06:30It's never been found in another animal,

0:06:30 > 0:06:32but the chimpanzee goes much further

0:06:32 > 0:06:34in that they care about reward division,

0:06:34 > 0:06:37even if they are on the better end of the scale.

0:06:37 > 0:06:40So, if one chimp is given a grape and the other isn't,

0:06:40 > 0:06:43- they BOTH get annoyed, because they don't think it's fair.- Exactly.

0:06:43 > 0:06:48- It's like if I was given a nice piece of chocolate cake...- Wow!

0:06:48 > 0:06:51..and then I gave you a nasty bowl of yucky colds beans.

0:06:51 > 0:06:55- Hey, that's not fair!- Exactly. So I'd refuse to eat my chocolate cake,

0:06:55 > 0:06:58until you ALSO had a nice piece of chocolate cake.

0:07:00 > 0:07:01Wow. How did you do that?

0:07:01 > 0:07:04Now, there are other animals that also have emotional reactions

0:07:04 > 0:07:08to things - check out these amazing elephants.

0:07:08 > 0:07:10Oh.

0:07:15 > 0:07:20Chris Packham is back at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

0:07:20 > 0:07:23The elephants here in Kenya show an emotional reaction

0:07:23 > 0:07:26that's nearly impossible to believe.

0:07:26 > 0:07:27It's moving and sad,

0:07:27 > 0:07:30but also completely extraordinary.

0:07:30 > 0:07:34The elephants appear to get upset when they think other elephants -

0:07:34 > 0:07:36even elephants they don't know - have died.

0:07:38 > 0:07:44If we put this skull down in between the two jawbones.

0:07:44 > 0:07:46To capture this reaction, Chris and Karen McComb

0:07:46 > 0:07:50are creating a miniature elephant graveyard.

0:07:50 > 0:07:53They're putting some old elephant bones found in this area

0:07:53 > 0:07:56in the path of an approaching herd.

0:07:56 > 0:07:58Now all they do is observe.

0:08:02 > 0:08:03Stop here a minute.

0:08:07 > 0:08:11- CHRIS:- Looks like they might be interested, Karen.- Yep.

0:08:11 > 0:08:14I think we've definitely got the beginnings of a reaction.

0:08:14 > 0:08:20The male is swinging his trunk towards the skulls and the jawbones.

0:08:20 > 0:08:23Some of the younger females are starting to respond as well.

0:08:23 > 0:08:26They've picked up the whiff of the skulls.

0:08:26 > 0:08:29Is this the skull of an animal they know?

0:08:29 > 0:08:31Coincidently, there are bones...

0:08:31 > 0:08:35There is a jawbone of a female they would have definitely...

0:08:35 > 0:08:40Some of this family would have definitely come across in real life.

0:08:40 > 0:08:42- They're going towards it now, look. - Yeah, wow.

0:08:44 > 0:08:47'A few animals, including chimpanzees,

0:08:47 > 0:08:51'will be curious towards the corpse of a companion -

0:08:51 > 0:08:53'touching and investigating the body.

0:08:54 > 0:08:59'But only elephants take an interest in the skulls and bones

0:08:59 > 0:09:02'of their own kind long after death.

0:09:03 > 0:09:06But maybe the elephants aren't upset, maybe they're just curious

0:09:06 > 0:09:08about new objects that appear in their way.

0:09:08 > 0:09:11Well, let's take a closer look.

0:09:11 > 0:09:14Now we're really starting to get reaction.

0:09:14 > 0:09:19We've got the females clustering in around the skull,

0:09:19 > 0:09:23touching the jawbones - all the trunks are coming in at once.

0:09:23 > 0:09:26Stretching in all at the same time, yeah.

0:09:27 > 0:09:30See the ends of the trunks are moist?

0:09:30 > 0:09:33That is enhancing the scent they're getting.

0:09:48 > 0:09:51It's a very intensely social thing,

0:09:51 > 0:09:53this approaching the skulls.

0:09:53 > 0:09:56They're not just going up as single individuals,

0:09:56 > 0:09:58they're coming round as a group -

0:09:58 > 0:10:01the matriarch in the core of the group,

0:10:01 > 0:10:05and everyone is together, reaching in their trunks

0:10:05 > 0:10:07and feeling the skulls.

0:10:07 > 0:10:12Just to qualify - you have tried this with inanimate objects,

0:10:12 > 0:10:14and other skulls.

0:10:14 > 0:10:16In the sense that they're not responding to any object

0:10:16 > 0:10:18that we put in their path?

0:10:18 > 0:10:22- Or responding to our scent, either? - No. No way. No way.

0:10:22 > 0:10:27They're specifically giving these responses to elephant skulls and ivory.

0:10:27 > 0:10:30They pick out the long dead remains of their own species

0:10:30 > 0:10:33and show it this intense interest.

0:10:36 > 0:10:39You wouldn't see that in any other species, except for humans.

0:10:47 > 0:10:50It would be amazing to know what was going on in their heads

0:10:50 > 0:10:51when they do that.

0:10:51 > 0:10:53"Penny for your thoughts."

0:10:53 > 0:10:56Penny?! I'd offer millions!

0:11:02 > 0:11:04Reluctantly, the young male turns away

0:11:04 > 0:11:07and goes off to follow the rest of the family.

0:11:15 > 0:11:17Those elephants seemed genuinely moved investigating

0:11:17 > 0:11:19the bones of the dead.

0:11:19 > 0:11:22What's really interesting for these researchers

0:11:22 > 0:11:25is that the elephants do seem to understand the idea of death.

0:11:25 > 0:11:27Those bones mean that an elephant has died

0:11:27 > 0:11:30and, just like humans would, they get upset.

0:11:30 > 0:11:33It makes me think about elephants in a completely different way.

0:11:33 > 0:11:36There are other animals, too, that also have human-style emotions.

0:11:36 > 0:11:40This bit of footage from Hawaii really is mind-blowing.

0:11:42 > 0:11:46- CHRIS:- In early 2013, a remarkable incident was filmed off Hawaii.

0:11:52 > 0:11:57A male dolphin had got fishing line and a hook caught on its body.

0:11:59 > 0:12:01Without anything being done,

0:12:01 > 0:12:03he might well have died.

0:12:05 > 0:12:09But the dolphin swims into a group of divers.

0:12:12 > 0:12:14Now, think about it.

0:12:14 > 0:12:18This animal must know that he's in danger.

0:12:18 > 0:12:22Might he also realise that the humans,

0:12:22 > 0:12:27instead of harming him, could actually help him?

0:12:27 > 0:12:32In other words, could this dolphin be taking a calculated risk

0:12:32 > 0:12:35that these people will show pity for his plight?

0:12:39 > 0:12:42It's a very difficult question to answer,

0:12:42 > 0:12:46but the good news is that the dolphin survived.

0:12:46 > 0:12:49Perhaps an extraordinary example

0:12:49 > 0:12:52of empathy crossing the species barrier.

0:12:54 > 0:12:56That was totally mind-blowing.

0:12:56 > 0:12:59Yeah. It's incredible to think that that dolphin realised

0:12:59 > 0:13:01he was in danger and needed help

0:13:01 > 0:13:02and chose to approach humans,

0:13:02 > 0:13:05hoping that they would help them rather than attack him.

0:13:05 > 0:13:08So, we've seen in both dolphins and elephants

0:13:08 > 0:13:11not just human behaviours, but human emotions. It's incredible.

0:13:11 > 0:13:15Next time there is even more amazing stuff coming up.

0:13:15 > 0:13:18We'll meet a pooch with an incredible superpower.

0:13:18 > 0:13:21And a real live dog that can... tell the time...?!

0:13:21 > 0:13:23So, join us next time to...