Meet the Family Monkey Planet

You and I belong to an extraordinary family.

A family of hundreds of bizarre,

colourful

and characterful animals...

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

..who lead fascinating

and dramatic lives,

all over the world.

We - that is monkeys,

lemurs

and apes -

are all primates.

And I want to introduce you to this amazing animal family.

To meet some relatives you never even knew you had.

The jungles of Borneo are home

to some of the most unusual primates on the planet.

Strange monkeys.

Poisonous lorises.

And our closest cousins - the great apes.

Orangutans normally spend their lives high in the tree tops.

But there is one community

that's unlike any other group of wild apes on Earth.

They've begun to behave in a way that's almost human.

This has got to be about one of the most bizarre things

I've ever experienced.

These aren't captive animals trained to do tricks.

They're free-living orangutans,

who've adopted an unusual way of life.

And of all the orangutans here, Siswi is the most unusual.

Aahhh! Thanks, Siswi(!)

This has got to be the cleanest orangutan in the whole of Borneo!

Siswi and I are two of roughly 400 species

of primate in the world,

and although we all look very different,

we share certain features that make us part

of one of the most extraordinary families on Earth.

It's one of these shared features - our intelligence -

that helps explain this curious behaviour.

Here orangutans and humans share the same forest.

They've watched us.

And begun to experiment with what they've seen.

This may look a bit bizarre,

but it actually shows how smart she is.

She's seen humans here every morning, washing,

and she's basically doing exactly the same.

We also share a similar face.

Our eyes face forwards.

This gives us the ability to judge distances perfectly.

And there's one more similarity.

Critically, we have this amazing hand with a thumb that can fold over

and that is probably the most defining characteristic

of any primate.

Intelligence, binocular vision and a dexterous hand

allow these orangutans to behave so much like us.

They are the three things we all have in common.

But that certainly doesn't mean all primates look similar.

The tarsier is 400 times smaller than an orangutan.

It also has forward-facing eyes,

a dextrous hand,

and intelligence,

but it uses them in a completely different way.

This tennis ball-sized gremlin is a spring-loaded ambush predator.

Long back legs can propel it up to 40 times its body length.

Its huge eyes are bigger than its stomach,

and gather every scrap of light.

They're too large to move in their sockets,

but the tarsier can swivel its head through almost 360 degrees.

And when it can't see its prey, it uses ultrasonic hearing.

Those satellite-dish ears pinpoint rustles that we humans cannot hear.

Evolution has moulded the tarsier into a ruthlessly efficient hunter.

The most carnivorous of all primates.

We humans have got some pretty bizarre cousins,

but primates don't just live in jungles like the tarsier

or the orangutan.

In fact, we've got relatives right across the planet,

and some of them have managed to scrape a living

in the most unexpected of places.

Away from the tropics,

life is very different indeed.

Japanese macaques live further north than any other monkey.

Right on the edge of what is possible.

Here, temperatures can hit minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The secret to surviving when the temperature's this low

is to have lots of layers -

layers are really important because they trap warm air

next to your skin.

With a thermal camera, I can show you just how much heat you lose

without those protective layers.

The first thing to go are my feet,

they're feeling very, very cold now.

Only five minutes later, my core temperature is dangerously low.

Eventually I would enter a coma from which I would never wake up.

To live in a sub-zero world you have to be built for it.

These snow monkeys have two distinct layers of fur

that trap warm air next to their skin.

While their short tails and stumpy ears reduce the chance of frostbite.

Food is extremely hard to come by and the monkeys lose almost

a quarter of their body weight throughout the winter.

Snow monkeys might be built for the cold,

but as the temperatures plummet after dark,

they have to find other ways to keep warm,

and they do this in a rather remarkable way.

For a small monkey, thick fur isn't enough to stay warm

in these sub-zero conditions.

For the first time ever, we have a privileged insight

into how these incredible monkeys stay alive.

As they climb the trees one monkey is joined by another,

then another

and another.

A single monkey would freeze to death out here,

but by huddling, the macaques form a giant super-monkey -

one so big that it creates a microclimate of its own.

As a baby settles down for the night

the intense glow of heat shows just how toasty

it must be at the heart of the huddle.

Throughout the night, the monkeys take it in turns in the hotspot.

Dawn, and the snow monkeys are snuggled up tighter than ever.

We've all been there, wrapped up in a warm duvet

on a cold, chilly morning.

And thanks to that huddle,

these resourceful monkeys have beaten the elements.

Well, it was pretty cold last night,

and if I, or indeed most other primates,

had been out here on their own, we would have perished hours ago.

In the extremes of the primate world,

it's teamwork like this

that makes the difference between life and death.

The spiny forest of Madagascar is at the other extreme -

one of the hottest and driest forests on Earth.

The temperatures here can exceed 40 degrees,

and it doesn't rain for months on end.

The few plants that grow here are protected by rapier-like thorns.

But sifakas spend their lives

in this forest of spines.

These adrenaline junkies risk life and limb every day.

Their binocular vision allows them

to pick landing spots with unerring accuracy.

And long back legs can catapult them

nine metres in a single leap.

Though how they avoid getting cut to pieces is still a mystery.

The prize for these hardy lemurs is lots of succulent leaves,

full of precious water -

quenching their thirst

in the blistering heat.

Heat is just one problem for the most southerly monkey in the world.

Chacma baboons

live in the raw, exposed South African Cape.

SHORT GRUNTING SOUNDS

Here there's virtually no protection from the elements.

Battered by winds,

they scratch a living under the intense glare of the midday sun.

These baboons have a hard life.

By midday, it's blisteringly hot

and they have to spend hours roaming to find enough food,

but their real problem is finding somewhere safe to sleep.

MAKES NO SOUND

At night, leopards roam these plains

and with very few trees to hide in,

the troop are exposed to the biggest danger of all -

being eaten.

To avoid this, their choice of dormitory

is one of the most bizarre in the primate world.

Here it is. Look.

This small hole is the entrance to a cave.

It's incredibly rare for any primate to use a cave,

so while the baboons are out hunting for food,

I'm going to get some kit on

and go down and see what their sleeping accommodation is all about.

This is a high security location.

There are bees at the entrance

and an eight-metre vertical drop.

Well, everywhere you look

there's evidence of habitual use of this cave by baboons.

There's bones everywhere, remains...

There's dung - some of it not so old, I can tell you!

Some pretty fresh stuff.

I'm now 100 metres underground

and it hasn't been easy for me,

but for the baboons it must be 10 times harder,

because they have to do it in complete darkness.

BABOONS GROWL AND "BARK"

As night falls, the baboons are clearly on edge.

"BARKS"

"BARKING" CONTINUES

With the threat of an attack a very real possibility,

the cave is an inviting prospect.

An old rope left by bat researchers makes their descent easier.

In the pitch black, the baboons can't see a thing,

but our cameras reveal how they cope in this secret world.

LOW "MURMURING"

MONKEYS CHATTER

The first thing they do is call to each other

to work out where everyone is.

Effectively blindfolded

they feel their way through the inky blackness.

MONKEYS GRUNT

Amazingly, like you and I know our way around our house at night,

the adults appear to have a mental map

of the entire 100-metre cave system.

GRUNTING

But when you can't see who's around you, it's easy to get spooked.

SCREECHING

GRUNTING AND CHATTERING

Spending your night underground might seem like an odd thing to do,

but early man did exactly the same.

THEY CHATTER AND SQUEAL

Putting the kids to bed is never easy.

And a cave like this provides plenty of space for some... private time.

And eventually a safe and peaceful night's sleep.

Apart from the obvious security benefits,

getting the right sort of sleep could have other advantages.

REM sleep, the state where you dream, allows a complex brain

to repair and revitalise.

And it's that much easier when you're safe underground.

It's thought that sleeping in a cave could sharpen the mind.

Which for the baboons would make life on the edge of Africa

that much easier to deal with.

Over the last 55 million years, primates have branched out

across the globe, but the family's roots are deep within the jungle.

It is really amazing up here.

I mean, if you think about it,

it makes sense making your home up in the trees.

For one thing, all your enemies, things that would eat you,

are on the forest floor generally, 30 metres below you,

and there's just all kinds of things to eat up here,

lots of food and fruit.

Tropical forests are home to the greatest

diversity of primates on earth.

In fact, over 90% of all primates live in forests.

But it's definitely not as easy up here as it looks.

HE GROANS WITH EFFORT

I mean, this is very difficult.

For an animal my size who shouldn't really be up trees,

this is actually very alarming.

We humans may have lost our head for heights,

but other primates have made the most of life

in a vertical world.

There are some incredible ways to move through the forest,

but the true gymnasts of the canopy have got to be the gibbons.

Their highly specialised arms allow them to fly through

the tree tops at breakneck speed.

But in Thailand, not all gibbons have had the chance to do that.

Six month old Sherpa has never set foot outside a cage.

But today, he and his family are being released into the wild.

They're pioneers, returning to a forest where gibbons were

hunted to extinction 30 years ago.

And on a day like this, the big wide world is tantalisingly close.

Sherpa's dad is the first out, and his mum follows.

But for Sherpa, it's a bit more daunting.

A little bit of reassurance,

and it's time to make a huge leap of faith.

A quick hug and, after a lifetime in captivity,

our young explorer is free.

Unlike a wild gibbon, Sherpa has no experience

and a bit too much enthusiasm.

MAKES HIGH, PIERCING NOISE

These thorny branches are rattan.

Sherpa is learning a painful, but very valuable lesson.

When you're a young gibbon, practice makes perfect.

By watching his parents, he'll soon pick up all the skills he needs.

In terms of sheer acrobatics,

there's nothing to touch a wild gibbon.

That powerful brain makes hundreds of life-saving decisions

in the blink of an eye.

And a ball and socket joint in their wrists gives them flexibility

to slingshot through the canopy.

HOOTING NOISE

SHORT CALLING SOUNDS

BIRDS CHIRP

The huge range of environments that primates live in

have shaped how they look and behave.

But their diversity is also driven by what they eat.

The Semien Mountains of Ethiopia are home to one of the world's

most vegetarian primates.

Geladas.

After a cold night in the mountains, dawn is a welcome relief.

I love this row here, at the edge of the cliff, who are just

warming up in the sun. They're really putting their heads back

and exposing their chests.

Once they've warmed up, geladas need a hearty breakfast.

But as far as the eye can see,

there's only one thing to eat for every single meal.

Grass.

Grass is extremely low in calories,

so these hardy mountaineers have to eat huge amounts.

MONKEY COUGHS

Your average monkey feeds for about four hours a day,

whereas your average gelada has to feed for up to 10 hours a day.

If I was to suddenly adopt the grass-only gelada diet, I'd have to

chew down 17 kilograms of grass every day.

Geladas are built to make the most of their vegetarian diet.

Of all the primates, geladas have one of the most useful thumbs,

and they use it in a pincer-like movement

to pick only the most nutritious shoots and seeds.

Abrasive teeth grind up the coarse leaves just like a cow.

And built-in cushions make the long hours sitting a bit more bearable.

Geladas need to eat all day long simply to survive.

But for the smallest monkey in the world,

it's less about the quantity of food, and more about its quality.

Pygmy marmosets weigh no more than an apple.

Here in Ecuador, catching dinner can be hard work,

but luckily, marmosets have a reliable back up.

And to make the most of it, they have a unique set of tools.

Claws, rather than fingernails, give them extra grip.

And their chisel-like teeth cut neat holes in the tough tree bark.

But it's not the bark they're after.

It's the sugar-rich sap underneath.

Packed with energy and essential minerals,

sap makes up 75% of their diet.

What's really incredible is the scale of their ambition.

A tree like this may have several hundred holes.

Food production on an industrial scale.

Marmosets harvest their crop wisely,

they never take too much and only allow the holes

to close up when the yield drops.

10,000 year ago, farming was the basis of our civilisation.

But deep in the Amazon, these industrious little monkeys

were already enjoying a civilized way of life.

The more specialised your diet, the stranger you can look.

And in a leafy corner of the United States, science is

unravelling the feeding habits of the strangest primate of all.

Well, it's a little after sunrise, but behind this door

it's about sunset, and the animal in here is just waking up.

RUSTLING

LOUD SNIFFING

Look at this.

This is about the strangest animal I've ever seen.

If you didn't know what it was and had to describe it,

you'd say it had the ears of a bat, the teeth of a rodent,

the hands of an alien.

It's got a bushy, squirrel-like tail, and yet it's in the same group

of animals as you and I, it's almost hard to believe.

This almost mythical creature is from Madagascar.

MAKES SHORT LIP-SMACKING SOUNDS

She's an aye-aye called Ardrey.

That is so cute.

I hate to use the word cute, but they are cute.

I think I'm in love with this animal.

Aye-ayes spend the night hunting for grubs that live

deep inside decaying branches.

To work out where the grubs are hidden,

they use that strange looking hand.

Tapping the wood at up to 10 times a second.

There she goes, she's tapping now.

I can hear it.

That's the most specialised primate hand in the whole world.

Like sonar, the sound penetrates the depths of the branch,

and a coded message is echoed back to those super-sensitive ears.

When she finds a hollow spot, she starts to dig.

These incredibly sharp front teeth, the incisors, which unusually

for primates continue to grow,

and they rip the wood apart to get access to the cavity

which might contain an insect larvae.

The hearing is very acute so they can hear the larva inside.

But it's her probe-like middle finger that has

to find the grub.

And the latest science is now revealing just how incredible

this unique digit is.

AYE-AYE SNUFFLES

This camera is so sensitive, it picks up

on tiny changes in temperature, like the breath on my moustache.

And it highlights something rather unexpected.

Unlike her other fingers, Ardrey's feeding finger is stone cold.

It has virtually no blood flow to it at all.

But as she starts foraging,

blood rushes to thousands of nerve endings in her fingertip,

making it incredibly sensitive.

And in a specially constructed log,

we can get a look at that ET-like finger at work.

A unique knuckle, much like our shoulder joint,

means her finger can move in any direction.

And it's now so sensitive that like a blind person reads brail,

she can detect the slightest movement.

That is one of the most remarkable tools in the whole animal kingdom

and it allows the aye-aye to carve out a niche

so specific that in terms of finding food, it's in a league of its own.

The aye-aye is the ultimate specialist.

But when it comes to finding food, the world is

full of possibilities.

You just need to spot an opportunity...

..and make the most of it.

Primate ingenuity means there are no

bounds to their gastronomic ambition.

For olive baboons,

the savannahs around Lake Bogoria in Kenya are a land of plenty.

Insect grubs hidden in flamingo dung provide a welcome protein boost.

Some, however, are far more ambitious.

Timing is everything.

Once one baboon has worked it out, the whole troop soon catches on.

Hunting live prey requires ambition...

..speed...

..and coordination.

For a hungry primate, meat is the ultimate food of all.

Primate diversity is shaped by home and diet.

And, I think, by one more thing.

They're social animals, they live in families,

and as we all know, good communication skills

are essential for a harmonious family life.

And this need to communicate has also

influenced how they look and behave.

It's hard to believe that these chilled out monkeys

are the loudest on the planet.

But there is one way to spur them into action.

Right, the whole monkey troop is right here in this tree.

There's females, there's young ones,

but the one I want you to watch is the alpha male right here.

Watch what happens.

HE MAKES MONKEY NOISES

MONKEY ROARS

ROARING CONTINUES

That is very impressive.

That monkey can produce 90 decibels, which is enough to...

MONKEY ROARS

..well, drown me out.

MONKEY ROARS

The howler monkey's roar is a call to arms.

MONKEY ROARS

A reply to my rather poor impersonation of a rival.

MONKEY ROARS

The male's calls soon sets off the entire troop.

MONKEYS ROAR

The clever thing is that by calling together,

they make their group seem much bigger than it actually is

and the bigger the call, the louder the noise,

the more terrifying it is.

The secret to the sheer volume of a howler's roar

is in the design of its unusual throat.

When a howler monkey calls,

it flares out its lips like a natural loud-hailer

and it drops its jaw.

The throat contains an enormous hollow bone that reverberates

like a gong, giving the voice an amazing amount of extra clout.

MONKEYS ROAR

All this noise sends a message to neighbouring troops -

keep off our patch or there'll be trouble.

MONKEYS ROAR

The pitch of their voice is as important as the volume.

Higher frequencies are easily scattered,

but low roars punch through the forest for up to a mile.

ECHOING ROARS SPREAD

It's this mosaic of sound that sets clear-cut home ranges

across the entire forest.

Shouting at your neighbours may seem like a waste of energy,

but by howling every day,

families can avoid coming into

contact with each other, and when they do, disagreements are easily

settled at arm's length, and that is a great way to keep the peace.

While a howler monkey's world is shaped by sound,

other primates communicate in a much more visual way.

Mandrills live in the dark and impenetrable

forests of Gabon in West Africa.

And here, vision plays a key role in finding a mate.

It's thought that female mandrills spend

most of the year in large all-girl groups.

But in the breeding season, their peace is shattered.

Male mandrills are a very different animal.

These huge beasts dwarf the females, three times their size.

They're the largest monkeys on the planet, and the most colourful.

Those vibrant hues are a display of strength and power.

The big brutes pitch up to fight for the girls.

When two males catch each other's eye, it's a standoff.

MONKEYS CHATTER

An actual fight is a high-risk strategy -

it could mean injury or death.

Every single muscle twitch has a meaning.

It's all over.

A grimace is a sign of submission.

The battle has been avoided.

And the loser lives to fight another day.

The victor is one step closer to becoming king.

And after a bout like this,

a surge in testosterone will make a male's colours even more vivid.

After weeks of posturing,

the healthiest male becomes the most colourful.

And the object of all the females' desire.

The single most colourful male will mate with over three

quarters of the group.

He'll have their undivided attention for at least a couple of months.

Proof if ever you need it that in the mandrill mating game,

looks really matter.

The challenges of where we live, what we eat and

how we live together have shaped our incredible animal family.

But the world is changing.

In the 21st century, the ultimate challenge

to any monkey is living alongside the most

successful primate of all...

..humans.

But even the urban jungle is a land of opportunity

for those who are smart enough to exploit it.

For the resident rhesus macaques, a market-side pitch like this is what

life's all about.

They may not be the prettiest, or look the most remarkable,

but macaques are the most successful monkeys on the planet.

They're adaptable, devious and they work together as a team.

In their search for food, hungry macaques have swapped jungle vines

for power lines.

Gangs leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

They're smart enough to spot the tiniest of opportunities.

First up, the brave ones scope out the joint.

Lookouts are posted to watch for trouble...

and once the coast is clear, it's a free-for-all.

These opportunistic criminals

ransack a house in a matter of minutes.

And at the slightest hint of trouble...

..they make their escape.

Thanks to their agile bodies, and adaptable minds,

macaques can beat us humans at our own game.

To these incredible monkeys,

the urban jungle is just one big playground.

We primates are truly remarkable.

Not only are we physically adaptable,

we're also smart and can work as a team.

And that's a winning combination that allows us to survive,

even thrive in an ever-changing world.

Join me next time when we delve

into the sociable world of the primate family.

And it's not as harmonious as you might think.

You need to make friends.

Avoid your enemies.

Look at that!

And find your place on the social ladder.