It’s time for some monkey business

Primates’ family lives, survival strategies and more are explored in a new series.

PRIMATES

Watching lar gibbons travelling at breakneck speed through the treetops, backflipping off branches and leaping distances that make for heart-in-mouth moments, not only left me in complete awe of these animals but also the nifty camerawork needed to capture such footage (all is revealed in the behind-thescenes section at the end of episode two).

But, as we discover, these daredevil, parkour-style skills are not innate and need to be learnt and honed from an early age. “Trial and error is risky. Few gibbons escape without broken bones,” says narrator Chris Packham, as we witness a youngster’s less-than-steady progress.

This is just one of the many impressive primates packed into this three-part series – with hundreds of species around the world, there are plenty of diverse characters for us to meet. Focussing on everything from little-known drills to wide-eyed bushbabies, Primates flits across the globe, stopping off in Brazil, China, Madagascar and myriad other locations – albeit fleetingly in some cases.

We may be used to seeing certain species in the limelight more often than others – mountain gorillas have graced our screens on numerous occasions – but the behaviour highlighted here might be new or even surprising to some viewers. Silverback alpha males, often portrayed as aggressively defending their claim to the top spot, are shown to be gentle, tolerant parents – juveniles think nothing of using one such silverback as a climbing frame and trampoline. “The latest research shows that…caring fathers raise up to five times as many infants,” says Chris, explaining that their softer side can make them irresistible to females.

Interesting behaviour and group dynamics, new discoveries and fascinating biology are brought to light within each episode – did you know a spider monkey has a palm-like pad on its prehensile tail, to help it gain a decent grip?

But personally, it’s still the gibbons, with their comical Stretch Armstrong limbs and the gleeful abandon they seem to possess as they hurl themselves around their habitat, that really steal the show. Angharad Moran