NARRATOR:
In Kasanka National Park
in Zambia
lives a troop of baboons
like no other.
They are Kinda baboons,
a species only recently
identified and still
little-understood.
Living alongside them are
four dedicated researchers
whose mission
is to uncover the secrets
of these remarkable monkeys.
This is a real-life
soap opera
with its ups and downs...
Heroes, villains.
And love stories.
And the team is with its
characters every step of
the way.
(CHITTERING)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
(CHITTERING)
Powerfully built with
long dog-like snouts and
large formidable teeth,
baboons are often thought
of as aggressive.
They are some of the
largest and most
ill-tempered monkeys
in the world.
(AGGRESSIVELY CHITTERING)
The five most well-known
species, including these
yellow baboons,
are spread across Africa
and Arabia.
Their brawls are
notoriously vicious.
But in Kasanka National
Park in central Zambia,
there’s a sixth species,
the Kinda baboon.
Until a few years ago, it was
thought to be a subspecies
of the yellow baboon.
It’s now been
classified as a species in
its own right
and, as such, is almost
completely unstudied.
Kinda baboons are more
slender than their yellow
cousins
and have flatter faces.
They are also furrier and
their hair has a distinctive
soft, silky texture.
But it’s their
chilled-out behavior
that really sets them apart.
Males seem to have
abandoned aggression
for an altogether more
affable approach to life.
Far more interested in
friendship than fighting,
they buck the baboon trend.
Kindas really do seem to
be kinder.
But much about these
peace-loving primates is
still a mystery.
American biologist,
Anna Weyher, is determined
to change that.
She’s spent the last six years
getting to know
one particular troop
of Kinda baboons.
              In the beginning,
I was doing things...
Pretending I was eating grass,
not paying attention,
I would groom my fleas
by myself.
So they didn’t think
I was looking at them
directly,
but acting sort of like them,
doing similar things,
just to gain their trust,
and for them to see how,
um...
I was not that different
from them.
          Looking at
fur patterns, body shapes,
and mannerisms,
has helped
Anna and her team
identify over 60 members
of a troop.
But to make
studying them easier,
individuals need names.
      I decided that
I would name them
after musicians.
When a mother, say Ella,
every infant she gives birth
to, the name will start
with an "E".
So Ella has Elvis.
Ella has Elton.
Ella has Eminem.
All named after musicians.
NARRATOR:
These musical monkeys all
have distinct personalities.
Garfunkel is a grumpy and
uneasy alpha male.
His second-in-command,
Simon, is more laid-back.
Among the females,
taciturn Ella is outranked
by headstrong Madonna.
Even the newest additions to
the troop are already
displaying different
characteristics.
Baby Eminem is bold and
curious.
Little Israel is more
cautious and reserved.
By living alongside them
Anna and her team hope to
understand more about how
these characters are
connected to each other,
and why they behave the
way they do.
Life in Kinda Camp
starts early.
It’s 20 past 5:00 and
the sun has only just
crept above the horizon.
Baboons get up before dawn
and are already looking
for breakfast by sunrise.
The team needs to move
quickly if they’re to
catch up.
ANNA: These are just fresh
tracks from now, yeah?
MAN: Yes.
ANNA: You can tell that
they’re fresh.
OK, so. We’re going
that way. All right.
          Fresh tracks tell
them in which direction
the baboons are moving.
Anna finds the troop’s
genial deputy leader.
ANNA: This is Simon.
He’s our second-ranking male.
NARRATOR:
His easygoing nature
has made him something of a
favorite with the team.
      He’s a little bit
lazy sometimes.
He will sit at the base
of a tree
where one of his female
friends will be up
eating, right now,
it’s Madonna,
and wait as she
messily drops pods.
That way, he doesn’t
have to climb the tree.
          Simon and Madonna
are spending a lot more
time together
and Anna is keen
to keep tabs on them.
      He’s very diligent
about being near his females
and grooming them.
Madonna is swelling right now.
So by sitting at the base of
the tree where she’s feeding,
he can make sure
when she comes down
that he’s with her.
NARRATOR:
The pink sexual swelling
around the buttocks
signals a female
will soon be
in estrus
and ready for mating.
Simon needs to stay close
to Madonna to make sure
he’s first to mate
with her when the time comes.
Anna has discovered that,
unlike other baboons,
Kindas form long-term
male-female
relationships.
By watching Simon
and Madonna,
she can see just
how these connections
begin.
But the baboons have
something else to offer
Anna’s project...
um, he’s just taking a rest
but often times when
they sit on, um,
trees or logs like this,
it’s a good chance to get
a fecal sample.
         Fecal-sampling,
that’s "poo-collecting"
  to the uninitiated,
is an important aspect
of the team’s work.
Each sample contains a
wealth of genetic information.
ANNA: We see an
individual we know
drop a sample for us,
we can then go pick it up
and we put it in a certain
solution that preserves
the DNA.
I take it all back
to the United States
where I then...
We’re able to do the
proper analysis and see
who’s related to whom.
          Anna’s dream is
to one day build
a genetic database
of this baboon troop,
a full family tree.
Along with her
behavioral observations,
she’s gaining unprecedented
insight into the lives
of Kinda baboons.
She needs several samples
from each member of the troop.
And in the dense bush you
sometimes need eagle eyes
to spot when a baboon
does the business.
Yes. Marley, Kennedy.
Got a fecal sample.
MAN: Oh, great.
NARRATOR:
Nice and fresh.
And a positive ID.
The researchers must be 100%
sure they know
which individual provides each
sample.
ANNA: Just a small,
tiny bit of it is all we need.
It’s super important
because it gives us the
actual wider picture
of what the things
that we think are happening
in the group
from watching the behavior.
Now we can do
non-invasive sampling
and get genetics from this.
I don’t have to draw
blood from my animal,
I just can take a tiny
bit of it and put it in
a tube.
Take it back home
and get it tested.
Oh, perfect.
Right to the line.
     It’s easy to see
whose mom is who.
Infants don’t let go of
their mothers’ bellies for
the first two weeks of life,
and continue to be carried
and cuddled by them for
six or eight months.
(CHITTERING)
Identifying dads is a bit
trickier.
      We have so many ideas
and thoughts of who is
the dad of which infant
from behavior, but you know,
it can go wrong.
We can have assumptions
that can be quite different
from what’s actually
going on...
There might be, um,
some sneaky mating on the
side that we haven’t seen.
          Anna’s great
poo collection will
eventually give them
definitive answers to
those nagging paternity
questions.
Anna has recruited
Scottish primatologist
Rachel Sassoon
to help her run the
Kinda baboon study.
Both rely on the skills
of local scout Marley who
over the past five years
has developed superhuman
abilities to identify
each baboon on sight.
When I first started,
it was Marley that told me
all the individuals.
Who was who
and what to look out for.
        I see what others
don’t see.
Baboons, they are like humans.
They have markings,
others have big eyes,
others have round ears.
There are a lot of things
to identify baboons.
They are totally different
from each other.
NARRATOR:
Marley and fellow field
researcher Kennedy
are well-known locally
for their work on the project.
We call, Marley and Kennedy,
             kolwe
          is "baboon" in
Bemba.
And that’s what they call
Marley and Kennedy.
Marley also says to me,
and he’s said it many times,
"One day I will learn baboon
and then I will know what they
are saying to each other."
NARRATOR:
Every day the team spends
dawn till dusk with the troop
as they feed, groom
and play.
They know these baboons
like friends.
But there are some new
faces to get acquainted with.
It’s September, the peak
of the birthing season
for Kinda baboons.
Even Kinda babies are
different, many are born
with a bright
white natal coat.
They’re black in other
baboon species.
Their white hair is very
conspicuous which Anna
believes
makes them
irresistible to other
baboons.
It’s an adaptation thought to
elicit more cuddles.
Eminem, one of this year’s
newborns, is now
three weeks old.
His mom, Ella,
sits with another female.
Baboon troops have a
hierarchy.
Ella and this female
are both in the middle.
Kinda baboons will often
let others of similar ranks
play with their babies.
Young female Rihanna, on
the right,
is keen to join in.
But she ranks much lower
than Ella and her friend,
and is not welcome
Kinda society avoids
violent confrontation,
but they still have a
strict pecking order.
The snub is subtle but
distinct.
By observing these
understated interactions
the team
is beginning to unlock
the baboons’ secret lives.
Hierarchy is everything.
Females born in to the
troop remain for their
whole lives.
They receive their rank
at birth and it never changes.
But males move between
troops and can improve
their social status.
This is Kennedy.
He’s our lowest-ranking male,
mating male,
and he’s here sitting
in the shade,
quite apart from
the rest of the group,
but still, he can see
what’s going on.
Er, it gives him
a chance to...
Be with the group but he’s not
quite completely accepted
in yet.
NARRATOR:
Newcomers like Kennedy
start at the bottom of
the ladder.
      Males come from
other groups when immature.
And then they join groups
where they’re not related
to any of the females.
We have no idea what group
he came from.
He just showed up one day.
          In Kinda society
males need patience.
It could take months for
Kennedy to be fully
accepted into the troop.
(CHITTERING)
For now, as a low ranker,
and without friends or
females,
Kennedy must groom
himself.
It’s getting late in the day.
Sunset is only an hour away
and the baboons are starting
to think about finding a safe
place to spend the night.
This acacia is not
an ideal roost tree.
The small leaves offer
little cover
and leave anything in
the branches exposed.
But it does have
one advantage.
Acacia trees have sweet sap,
a bit like maple syrup.
By biting the bark,
the baboons get a nutritious
snack before bedtime.
The acacia is next door
to a large ebony tree
with dense cover,
much safer
for spending the night.
But this is the time leopards
begin to hunt.
Dropping to the ground
leaves them vulnerable
to attack
so the baboons
take a shortcut.
Mum, Ella, must get baby
Eminem safely across the gap.
He holds on tight.
Simon watches as the
rest of troop cross.
Anna’s research has shown
that of all baboon species,
Kindas are the most at home
in the trees.
(CHITTERING)
It’s another trait that sets
them apart from their cousins.
But some have spent
too long drinking acacia sap.
ANNA: They were late
to come into their roosts.
So it’s dark now and
they can’t see one another.
           Their vision is
much like ours and making the
jump when you can’t see
is a whole different
ball game.
ANNA: The sound
we’re hearing, it’s Fleet.
He’s too scared to jump
without Freda, his mom.
      Mom Freda has
already crossed.
Juvenile Fleet now has
to make the jump in the dark,
without his mom’s guidance.
ANNA: This is quite
stressful to watch.
(FLEET SCREECHES)
He’s made it.
 NARRATOR:
Next morning the team’s
at the roost site before dawn.
Kasanka can get cold at this
time of year.
It’s only 46 degrees
when the baboons wake up.
Kinda have longer hair than
their yellow baboon cousins.
But they also have another
way of getting warmed up
for the day ahead.
(MARLEY SPEAKING)
          Play not only helps
them to warm up but builds
their important social bonds.
Seeing who plays with whom
is another clue to Kinda
baboon cohesiveness.
(CHITTERING PLAYFULLY)
Once they’re warmed up the
troop is soon off foraging.
As the team tries to catch up,
they’re in for a shock.
For some, baboons represent
not family but food.
Kasanka is surrounded by
villages.
So people, they come here
to hunt.
To hunt baboons with the dogs.
Sometimes baboons are being
caught in wire snares.
They were eating eggs,
but it’s not hot at all.
(MARLEY SPEAKING)
ANNA: OK.
ANNA: Any other signs?
Should we check for
some snares?
          Marley finds a
sinister sign that confirms
this is a poacher’s camp.
          The puku skull has
been left as a marker to help
poachers
find their way back
to their camp.
Papa inform.
Papa inform.
We have come across
a new campsite for
poachers, over.
          Marley and Kennedy
are armed, and as well as
studying the baboons,
they are here
to help protect them.
Had some really hard
experiences with, you know,
a male that we had...
I had in the beginning
disappeared, and um...
He was poached
and it was very, very
distressing.
Very upsetting.
We all find that quite hard.
          With the poaching
camp reported to the National
Park authorities,
the team can
continue its search
for the troop.
They don’t have to go far.
Thankfully the whole family
is accounted for.
What the baboons seemed
to have done yesterday,
is moved out of their core
range, which is
a much safer area for them.
In the woodland
we’re in today
there’s always a lot of
poaching activity.
          It’s the height
of the dry season
in central Zambia,
the baboons’ toughest time
of year.
Food is scarce and the troop
is forced to expand its range
to gather enough to eat.
That can take them
closer to villages.
Closer to danger.
ANNA: I find it
extremely frustrating
that the poachers are here
and the baboons have to
come here.
It’s such an unsafe area but,
you know, they have to
risk it to continue to feed.
          For now Simon,
Madonna and the rest
of the troop seem safe
but the team will
be on red-alert.
The large grass plains that
border Kasanka’s woodlands
are dotted with oases of trees
filled with nutritious
seed pods.
They’re a good protein source
at this time of year,
but first, the baboons have
to get to them.
Keeping everyone
in sight is important.
Baboons’ close-set eyes give
them good binocular vision,
perfect for seeing each other
from a distance.
But in the long grass
it’s not so easy when
you’re only two feet tall.
The Kinda have a strategy
to cope.
It might look amusing
but this spy-hopping
behavior
helps them stay safe.
Getting separated from the
troop is bad news and jumping
like this is a great way
to keep an eye on everyone.
Safely across, Simon and
the rest of the troop enjoy
a feast.
The pods are as tough
as old leather.
But with their huge canine
teeth and powerful jaws
the troop can get
through hundreds in a day.
Just like hamsters,
Kinda baboons can store food
inside cheek pouches
which hold as much
as their stomachs.
The Kinda supersize their
takeout meals whenever
they get the chance.
As the day heats up feeding
gives way to grooming.
It’s a good way to remove
parasites and keep fur clean,
but grooming also plays
a far more important role.
It’s one of the key ways
baboons maintain hierarchy
and grow new friendships.
Being allowed to groom someone
of a higher social status
is quite an honor.
Simon is only interested
in grooming
one troop member...
Madonna.
But she’s keeping him
at arm’s length.
She’s coming into season.
ANNA: Her swelling is...
Is much larger.
He’s having to stay
very close.
          He needs
to make sure other males
don’t make any
unwanted advances.
      It’s very stressful
for the male when a female’s
swelling
because he has to always
move when she moves.
Now Madonna’s gotten up
so Simon has to get up too
and follow her.
It takes a lot of energy.
Get less time to feed.
           Simon’s behavior
is subtle, but with thousands
         of hours of
observations under her belt,
Anna can read his most nuanced
body language.
His proximity to Madonna
is a signal to all the other
males in the troop
that Madonna
is earmarked for him.
Spending so much time
with this peaceful group
of primates
in their wilderness home
can be idyllic.
But sometimes they’re reminded
of the harsh realities
of the wild.
Smelling something that’s dead
or something that’s rotting,
like rotting flesh, um...
Ugh.
(COUGHS)
Oh, no! Oh, goodness.
NARRATOR:
It’s a rare type of antelope.
Marley, is it natural?
Is there a snare?
You think it was shot?
Could it have been from...
How many days old?
Should be
two to three days.
Same as the poaching camp
we found today.
   MARLEY: I think so, yeah.
(ANNA SCOFFS)
          It seems
the sitatunga was only
wounded
by the poacher’s bullet
and so escaped
the cooking pot.
But its injuries
were too severe.
       It’s so sad.
They’re such beautiful
animals.
And just, sometimes we catch
them here at the edge
of the swamp.
I had such a close encounter
once when I was with the
baboons.
MARLEY: Stupid poachers.
          It’s a stark
reminder of the dangers all
wild animals face here.
ANNA: We’ll go back
to radio, yeah? OK.
      This is... Yeah,
exactly the reality
of poaching.
Sometimes it feels like
a war we’ll never win.
This is part of the reason
why we do what we do.
Um... But.
When they succeed,
it can feel really
disheartening.
           The next day,
Marley and Kennedy follow the
troop to the edge of a swamp.
This marshland full of
papyrus plants is the only
water source left
for the baboons during
the dry season.
Juicy shoots are an
easy snack,
and with a little more effort
there are also nutritious
bulbs in the ground.
Simon is still keeping
a watchful eye on Madonna.
Her swelling is even more
pronounced and she’s almost
ready to mate.
Simon follows her into
the trees, but it seems
Madonna has eyes
for a new man...
Kennedy, the low-ranking male,
who has recently
joined the troop.
Madonna, it seems,
is quite the tease.
She sits above Kennedy
to give him a good view
of her swelling.
(MARLEY SPEAKING)
Kennedy knows the rules.
Madonna is Simon’s female.
But the prospect of mating
with a stranger
is attractive to Madonna.
(MARLEY SPEAKING)
She instinctively knows
that it will mix up the gene
pool and is a good way
to ensure a strong
and healthy offspring.
(MARLEY SPEAKING)
Kennedy is stuck
in an awkward love triangle.
 NARRATOR:
Moving towards his rival,
making Kennedy back off,
is Simon’s way of telling him,
"Don’t get any ideas."
In other baboon species
this would be an aggressive
display of dominance.
Teeth would be bared
and fur would fly.
But among kindly Kindas,
the interaction is much
more polite.
Madonna’s flirting goes on.
Simon gently shoos off
Kennedy for a second time.
(CHITTERING)
Madonna is proving to be
high maintenance.
But her priority is to secure
the best dad for her
next baby.
This season there have
been seven new additions
to the troop.
Each baby inherits
its mother’s rank...
But it takes a while to work
out your place in the world.
Older youngsters play
to socialize and learn
the skills needed
for baboon life.
At only nine months old,
they are already accomplished
acrobats.
New babies like to play with
these older youngsters to
learn the tricks of the trade.
(CHITTERING)
But it’s not always easy.
They’re only four weeks old
but already Eminem and Israel
are beginning to strike out
on their own.
Their mothers Ella and Indigo
are now giving them
more freedom to explore.
Israel is the more cautious
of the two and hangs back,
but Eminem is getting
bolder by the hour...
(CHITTERING)
He’s 20 feet up
and still climbing.
His little hands and feet
aren’t used to gripping
branches so tightly
for so long.
Eminem hits the ground.
His mom’s rapid reaction
shows it’s serious.
It’s a dry time.
So where he landed,
it’s very hard.
An infant at that age...
I’ve never seen that.
NARRATOR:
Shaken, the whole troop
vanishes into the thickets.
Unable to pick up their trail,
Anna and Marley will have an
anxious wait till morning
to find out if Eminem is OK.
As soon as it’s light
they’re back out searching
for baby Eminem.
ANNA: Oh, there.
They’re coming out.
 NARRATOR:
The troop hasn’t moved
far this morning,
which could
be a sign that something’s
wrong.
ANNA: I want to see
Eminem.
           With so many
baboons on the road, it’s hard
to see who’s who.
ANNA: Oh, yeah?
Oh, thank goodness.
(ANNA CHUCKLES)
He’s fine.
He’s bouncing around.
Playing with other infants.
I thought Ella might be
a bit nervous after the fall
yesterday, but...
They seem OK.
          Baby baboons
are resilient
but there’s a lot to learn.
Hopefully Eminem’s fall
has knocked some sense
into him.
Crisis over, normal service
resumes and Anna and Marley
start to analyze
who’s socializing with whom.
 ANNA: We’ve got Tina.
MARLEY: Mmm-hmm, yeah.
ANNA: That’s awesome.
ANNA: OK.
           Kinda baboons are an
easygoing lot but they do
occasionally get fired up.
(SQUAWKING)
These calls only
mean one thing...
Predator.
It’s the babies’ cue to
scurry straight back to mom.
With a wingspan of over
eight feet and talons
as big as man’s hand,
the martial eagle
is a Kinda killer.
ANNA: All the babies are
back with their moms,
that’s for sure.
               MARLEY: Yeah.
ANNA: The alarm call worked.
       NARRATOR:
Snuggled up against their
   moms’ pale tummies,
the babies’ conspicuous
white fur turns
into camouflage.
This drill has been another
lesson for Eminem
and the rest
of the youngsters.
Listen to the troop
and trust your elders.
It could save your life.
Further along the road
Rachel waits patiently.
We’ve got Rihanna here,
she’s eating a monkey orange.
And this is Guns just here.
He approached her.
Very friendly, these two.
I think that they...
Could even be cousins.
Maybe their mothers
were sisters.
But what has actually happened
is that Iggy,
who was here earlier,
he’s the same age
as these two.
He actually...
He’s pooed,
and I want to collect it,
so I’m waiting for these
two to move so I can
collect it.
Because if I go towards them,
I will displace them,
and that behavior
is unnatural.
It’s not natural.
The whole point of our
research is to observe them
and try and not disturb them
as much as possible.
Rihanna’s moved
but he’s just right in
front of Guns in the road.
(CHUCKLES) When he moves,
I can go and get it.
Until then, I cannot.
At long last...
It’s just here.
So we take the fecal matter
from the outside.
That’s about all you need.
I always get very excited
by poo.
          It’s another
important sample
for the collection.
The team settles back into
the rhythm at Kinda camp.
Up at dawn and spending
the day moving gently through
the bush following the troop.
Anna is still shadowing
Simon and Madonna.
Interloper Kennedy
is nowhere to be seen.
Madonna seems to have chosen
familiarity over the exotic
charms of a stranger,
but the course of true love
never did run smooth.
Madonna’s younger brother,
two-and-a-half-year-old Mitch,
sits close by.
And when Simon decides
the time is right...
(SCREAMING)
Mitch screams in distress.
It’s off-putting to say
the least.
This is very unusual
in the normally docile
Kinda baboons,
and not something
the team has seen before.
(SCREECHING LOUDLY)
Little Mitch is too young
to be in competition
with Simon,
so it’s not an aggressive
show of dominance.
It seems he’s mistaken
Simon’s amorous advances
for an attack.
Mitch is being protective
of his older sister.
This is new behavior
not recorded in Kinda baboons
before.
It’s an exciting discovery
for the team.
But increasingly
frustrating for Simon.
Strangers are in the park.
Fire spreads fast
in the tinder-dry grasslands.
But these fire-starters
are no threat.
They’re paid specialists...
Using fire as a tool
to protect wildlife.
It’s actually very beneficial
to the baboons.
It hasn’t rained
for several months.
It’s hot, there’s not a lot
of food.
They’re having to dig, um,
use a lot of energy
everyday just to get
enough food.
After the fire comes
across within, you know,
a few days
flowers blossom,
fresh grass roots come up.
          In addition
to stimulating
new plant growth,
controlled burning is also a
way of keeping a step ahead
of the poachers.
ANNA: If it’s not burned now,
then a poacher can light a
fire later in the dry season
and it would just destroy
all of the wildlife here
in the park.
          Anna and her team
have reached a milestone
in their research.
This is the 500th
fecal sample
they’ve collected
since the project began
six years ago.
Thousands of hours of patient
collecting are building a
treasure trove
of baboon genetics.
We really opened a whole
different understanding of
what is going on
that we can’t answer
without the genetics.
They’re key.
It’s going to be
absolutely illuminating.
          Baboons live
a long time, up to 30 years,
and Anna wants her work here
to be a long-term study.
This is just the beginning.
Simon and Madonna have
finally found some time
together away from the troop.
She’s accepted his advances
and allows him to groom her.
It’s strong confirmation
of their continuing
relationship.
      Adult males
and females are having
these very strong bonds
lasting over several years.
The males are initiating
and maintaining these
relationships.
          At last the time
is right for Simon.
There’s no younger sibling
around to interrupt,
and Madonna is finally
ready to mate.
Madonna grooms Simon.
It’s a sure sign of the bond
they’ve now formed.
By observing interactions
like this Anna and her team
have built up
an amazing understanding
of the complexities
of these baboons’ lives.
They seem to stick
with the same females
for multiple years
and multiple births,
and that’s quite, quite
different from other
baboons.
          Madonna has made
a good choice.
Simon is a good father,
proven to give time
to his families.
This hands-on approach
to fatherhood is fundamental
to Kinda baboon society.
        Male baboons,
they protect their family.
Makes sure his
offsprings are safe.
How they grow up
their babies...
The way they stay with
families.
How they interact with
other members.
It’s good.
It’s quite similar
like humans.
NARRATOR:
These amiable baboons
stand apart from the rest.
Long-lasting relationships,
devoted fathers,
and a peaceful way of life
all help make Kinda baboons
who they are.
