Chimp Babies
Duration: 1 x 52'
Play Trailer Play Screener Contact Sales Collection: AnimalThis fascinating documentary follows the forgotten baby chimps of Africa as they grow up and fight to survive.
With special access and filmed in Sierra Leone, Chimp Babies features world-renowned chimpanzee expert Dr Jane Goodall, whose lifelong work is behind much of 72 what we know about our closest living relatives today.
In Sierra Leone, West Africa, it is illegal to kill, capture and trade chimpanzees. But in a country ravaged by 95% deforestation, civil war and Ebola, they are of little priority. There were over 20,000 chimps here in the 1970’s, there are now as few as 5,500. Pressured by human encroachment, killed for their meat and traded as pets, the remaining forest is still home to the hunted.
In a world exclusive we reveal the secret struggles of chimpanzees in a war zone…. Granted special access, Chimp Babies reveals chimp life on this side of Africa in intimate, sometimes harrowing and occasionally humorous detail.
Deep in the rainforest at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the only one of its kind in Sierra Leone, the race is on to bring rescued chimps back from the brink. From the moment desperately sick orphan Jackie is rescued, we follow her round-the-clock baby steps to recovery in the care of dedicated human mum, Mama Posseh.
There will be ups and downs, confidence and insecurity, fights and frolics and sulks and squabbles, as they strive to reach their ultimate goal – to live in a semi-wild forest as fully functional troops once again.
Chimp Babies is a unique and uplifting insight into one of our closest living relatives. A warming story told through the evolving lives of individual chimp characters fighting to survive.
For National Geographic
