Guardians of the Wild (2017) s02e03 Episode Script

1
NARRATOR: Kasanka National Park
in Zambia is a jewel in Africa's
crown.
It's home to a very
special species of baboon,
newly discovered
and little known.
Meet Madonna.
She's a Kinda baboon, and
the first female of her kind
ever to be studied from birth.
Madonna may just hold the key
to understanding the Kindas'
intimate friendships.
The male-female relationships
are stronger than the
female-female relationships,
which is absolutely something I
did not think I would discover.
NARRATOR: Behind these
unusual alliances lies a mating
game like no other.
It's a world of intimacy,
love triangles, and dangerous
liaisons.
Where the choices Madonna makes
may reveal the mysteries
of these unique primates.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Madonna
is five and a half years old.
She's high-ranking and
headstrong, but she has yet to
reproduce.
The quest for her first
mate is allowing scientists
to observe the
fascinating relationships
that develop between
Kinda females and males.
Those relationships hold the
secrets of their unique mating
strategy.
Through the summer, Madonna
came into season for the first
time in her life,
and was trying to attract the
attention of the males in the
troop.
MARLEY: She's
showing him the swelling.
It's a signal. She's
trying to attract him.
NARRATOR: Following displays
of her sexual swelling, it
seemed that Madonna
had settled on the second
highest-ranking, or beta male,
Simon.
But now, as she approaches
the peak of her fertility,
she's opening up
the competition.
Primatologist Anna Weyher,
her second-in-command, Rachel
Sassoon,
and Zambian scouts
Marley and Kennedy,
are the pioneers in
this Kinda research.
[SCREECHING]
Baboons have a reputation for
violence, aggression and bad
tempers.
But no one told this lot.
[BABOONS CHATTERING]
Up until a few years ago,
these Kinda baboons were
believed to be
a sub-species of yellow baboons.
But following genetic
testing, it's been discovered
that they're a completely
different species.
And it's not just their
DNA that sets them apart.
They demonstrate
unique behaviour,
social organisation
and mating strategies.
For the last six years, the
team has been detailing
the most intimate
moments of these monkeys.
It seems now after
studying them, that it's crazy
that they could have ever
thought to be yellow baboons.
They just have a different
way of doing things that works
for them,
that still continues
to grow the group,
that keeps everyone
in their place,
allows them to feed, travel,
reproduce, all of those things,
but in a different way.
NARRATOR: Anna is hoping that
further observations of Madonna
and the troop
will disclose more about the
Kindas' unusual mating strategy.
The team will follow them
from the dry heat of the winter
into the stormy spring
of the wet season.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Kasanka lies just 30 kilometres
from the rich tropical forest
of the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
It's home to a variety of
swamps, forests and grassland
plains,
which are transformed by
rain into a verdant paradise.
Kasanka is the destination
for one of the largest
migrations on Earth.
Ten million straw-coloured
fruit bats come here to feast
on the abundance
of forest fruit.
But for Madonna and the
troop of Kinda baboons,
it's not just the
environment that's changed.
Two weeks ago, two new adult
males arrived from a
neighbouring troop,
and Madonna, who's
still to settle on a mate,
appears to be interested
in the new males.
The team has christened
the males Alfie and Leonard.
Alfie is much more
shy than Leonard.
Leonard is more
integrated into the troop.
NARRATOR: While
Alfie remains on the fringe,
Leonard displays confidence
and is showing interest in some
of the females.
Madonna has recently
reached adulthood,
and is ready to
have her first infant.
But whom will she
choose to be the father?
Will it be caring
Simon, the beta male?
Newly-arrived Leonard, with
ambitions to increase his
status?
Or shy and retiring Alfie?
For the researchers, it's an
incredible opportunity to
discover the nuances
of male-female
relationships as they develop.
It's 5:00 a.m.
These Kindas rise early,
and so do the researchers.
The humans start
with a cup of tea.
It sets me off for the day.
Two is best but one is enough.
As long as I've got one,
I'm fine, but I must have one.
NARRATOR: The Kindas have
been awake since before dawn.
Last night they chose to
roost in the swampy Mushitu
forest close to camp.
With the waterberry
trees fruiting,
they're having breakfast in bed.
These berries
are full of vitamins,
and Anna has discovered
they're a staple of the Kinda's
wet season diet.
Madonna and the
troop are tucking in.
There is a lot of food
stuff they feed in Kasanka.
They like the waterberries
because they are sweet.
NARRATOR: The baboons can't get
enough of these tiny fruits,
storing them in their cheek
pouches, to be eaten on the
move.
ANNA: She's stuffing her face.
MARLEY: Her cheek
pouches, yeah, are full.
She's enjoying them.
[ANNA LAUGHING]
NARRATOR: The rains give
rise to an abundance of fruit,
and it makes the Kindas choosy.
They'll only select
the very ripest berries.
In their pursuit of perfection,
these baboons are
constantly on the go.
A couple of plump masuku,
with their spicy orange flesh,
and it's on to the next.
The researchers note down the
details of the feeding habits.
It will help build up a picture
of the baboons' yearly diet.
But what they're most
intrigued about right now
is what Madonna can teach them
about male-female
Kinda relationships.
Madonna is being shadowed.
The second-ranking male,
Simon, isn't letting her out of
his sights.
Simon has shown interest in
Madonna since she became
sexually mature
and seems intent
on mating with her.
ANNA: Madonna has gotten up,
so Simon has to get up too and
follow her.
He's having to stay very close.
NARRATOR: Anna has learnt that
this maintaining of close
proximity
is one of the Kinda's
fundamental mating strategies.
The behaviour may be subtle,
compared to other baboons, but
in Kinda society
this spatial awareness is a
clear signal there's sexual
interest.
Simon is also sending a
message to the other males
that Madonna is
earmarked for him,
and right now this is
more important than ever.
Since the arrival of the new
males, Leonard and Alfie,
there's been an
interesting reaction.
Simon, he's just
chasing Madonna around
because she now has even that
many more males to kind of shop
around with,
and so he's just
constantly focusing on her.
NARRATOR: If Simon can secure
Madonna for himself, she will be
his seventh female
and help him to maintain
his standing as beta male.
Alpha male Garfunkel is also
displaying specific behaviour
as a result of having two
new males in the troop.
ANNA: Garfunkel seems
a little stressed by it.
He's very much guarding the
females that he needs to guard
right now,
and he's keeping on them.
Two of Garfunkel's females
have large posterior swellings,
indicating that they're
at their most fertile.
Garfunkel has his hands full,
trying to both guard and mate at
the same time.
But multi-task he must, because
Leonard, the new confident male,
is proving quite the Lothario.
Leonard is trying to form
friendships with some of the
females.
They may not be in season
now, but Leonard's ensuring that
he's in the running
when they are.
The other new male, Alfie, is
adopting a rather different
mating strategy.
He's playing the long game
and waiting for females to come
to him.
At the moment, it's not working.
RACHEL: Look at Leonard,
he's getting in there.
Because Alfie is new, he's
actually behaving as most new
males do,
he's staying at the back,
he's staying on the periphery,
he won't initiate any
interaction with any females.
Leonard is, erm That's
not how they behave usually.
He's maybe a
little too confident,
and at some point,
Simon and Garfunkel,
they will put him in his place.
NARRATOR: Madonna instinctively
knows that new males
means an influx of new genetics,
which is essential
for the troop's health.
Out of Simon's sight, she's
been having brief encounters
with Leonard.
But when they start to make
their intentions clear in
public,
Simon is having none of it.
These peaceful primates have
accepted Leonard and Alfie, but
in other baboon species,
the arrival of a new male or
two would be far from passive.
[SCREECHING]
ANNA: In yellow baboons, a
young male will immigrate into a
group.
He's young, he's strong, he's
going to try to rise at the top
of the dominance hierarchy,
so there's a lot of fighting
when they first come in, you
know,
a lot of aggression between
males, cos males don't want
that.
And what we've seen with the
Kindas is every time a new male
comes in,
he starts at the bottom of the
hierarchy, we have not seen one
male come in
who has taken over
a high-ranking status.
NARRATOR: The way the Kindas
organise their hierarchy allows
the alpha
to maintain his position
for several years.
He'll also stay faithful to
a small group of females,
a trait only found
in Kinda baboons.
It's early afternoon.
Family time.
[CHATTERING]
Since Anna started
the study here in 2010,
there have been many
newborns in the troop.
[CHATTERING]
The 6-month-olds are
now masters of climbing.
But three months ago, they
were much less dextrous.
Baboons start to gain locomotion
skills at one month old.
By six months, they're adept
at a whole manner of acrobatics.
It's changing so
fast, yeah. Yeah.
They grow up too fast.
ANNA: See his head? MARLEY: Yeah,
you see the head. He's peeping.
He's totally brown now.
Now he's riding
jockey-style. Yeah.
ANNA: OK. Well, yeah.
ANNA: Learned a lot,
huh? MARLEY: Yeah.
MARLEY: Yeah, he likes dorsal.
ANNA: Not all of them always
learn to ride like that, do
they?
MARLEY: Uh, no.
ANNA: Kind of sitting
back on Mom, but, like, up.
NARRATOR: For the first six
weeks, all infants are carried
ventral,
holding on under
their mothers' bellies.
After that, the more adventurous
climb up their mothers' legs
to travel in the
dorsal position.
And if they're really confident,
they'll sit up like a jockey.
The youngest member of the
troop, born just two months ago,
is already exploring the
world from this advantageous
vantage point.
[SCREECHING AND CHATTERING]
As evening approaches, the
Kindas make their way into the
researchers' camp,
which lies in the middle
of their home range.
I can see some here travelling
across right in front of me.
ANNA: So this year in August
we actually had a fire here.
And because of that,
there's lots of fresh grass,
so they're picking
up the fresh grass.
There's some roots to dig, so
it's quite It's quite a lush
place at the moment
for them to come.
There's termite mounds that
they're pulling off to get the
termites.
NARRATOR: Termites are one of
the baboons' favourite feasts.
They're packed
with protein and fat.
But despite their best efforts,
there are none here today.
Madonna and the troop
eat as much as they can
in this wet season
time of plenty,
gorging on a mixed
diet of flora and insects.
As usual, Alfie is dining alone.
But Lothario Leonard is
continuing to make alliances
with a couple of females.
Some of Leonard's efforts
have been quite vocal,
and Marley has been
inspired to learn the lingo.
Males they do, like
[GRUNTING] after mating,
so they make a sexual grunt.
[GRUNTING]
For females, sometimes they make
a strange sound after mating.
Like [CACKLING]
Yeah, something like that.
Yeah, so, I'm learning baboon.
NARRATOR: Madonna
shows interest in Leonard,
and more than ever, Simon is
keeping her under close
surveillance.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[SCREECHING]
ANNA: So, I can
hear thunder coming.
Almost every afternoon
we get a rainstorm,
and that can affect
the baboons' behaviour,
but also our ability to find
and watch the baboons.
They won't likely move far
before they decide to sleep,
so they could sleep
just very close to us.
[SCREECHING]
NARRATOR: As the baboons head
off to find a roosting place,
Kasanka's migrant straw-coloured
bats are starting to stir.
[BATS SCREECHING]
The baboons and the bats
share the same taste in fruit.
These winged mammals
will travel up to 65 kilometres,
feeding on the ripest
waterberries and masuku.
They'll consume half
their body weight in fruit
before returning to the
Mushitu forest at dawn.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[RAIN FALLING]
The rainy season
is now in full swing,
which makes life difficult
for Anna and her team.
They're probably all sitting in
khaya, huddled up in the rain.
NARRATOR: Sometimes it's just
not possible to follow the
baboons.
Instead, they can catch up on
inputting the scientific data,
building up a biological
picture of these Kindas,
their diet, their
patterns of behaviour
and the development of the
female-male relationships.
As the rain clears once
again, the team is back in
pursuit of Madonna and the
troop.
We're going out to
look for the baboons,
we lost them
yesterday afternoon,
so we've lost them
for about 24 hours.
And we had a big
rain in between,
so we think they got
stuck somewhere.
So what we'll be doing is
looking for prints on the road,
mostly,
to see if they've crossed
over one way or the other.
And also feeding signs
and things like that.
NARRATOR: The Kindas could be
anywhere in their 14-square-km
range.
Sometimes we don't find them,
what we normally
do is go for the food
at that particular
time they are feeding.
They wouldn't have gone in the
Mushito cos it would be wet, right?
But they would
go into the plain?
NARRATOR: Anna is always
concerned when they lose track
of the Kindas.
Poaching activity in Kasanka,
although illegal, is still
prevalent.
Baboons are popular bush
meat in nearby villages.
Back in the dry season, when the
park was more easily accessible,
the team regularly stumbled
across the evidence of this
illicit activity.
Up until the late 1980s,
poaching was so rife here
that a new management
strategy was adopted,
as an emergency
measure to save the wildlife.
[GAGS]
MARLEY: I think it was shot.
NARRATOR: Working in the
park is a dangerous business.
Both Kennedy and Marley
are armed at all times.
ANNA: There's a lot of
poaching activity in Kasanka,
and we come across lots of
evidence of it, erm, by snares,
poaching camps,
hearing gun shots, even
running into poachers sometimes.
It's devastating. [STAMMERS]
It breaks my heart, it's hard.
NARRATOR: Finding clues that
the baboons are OK is always a
relief.
This looks wet.
Looks like after the
rains this morning.
ANNA: OK, so it's still fresh.
NARRATOR: Like detectives,
Marley and Kennedy follow the
tracks and signs
through the forest, out
onto the grassland plain,
where they eventually
spot some Kindas.
[BABOONS CHATTERING]
NARRATOR: There's no sign of
Madonna, but two juvenile males
are burning off some
adolescent energy.
[SCREECHING]
But they were born in
the same year, yeah? Yes.
So they know each other well,
they're good friends. Yeah.
MARLEY: Yeah, friends, yeah.
NARRATOR: These spirited
males have grown up together
and have become experts at
the game "rough and tumble."
But their friendship
won't stay like this forever.
Unlike females, who stay
with the troop all their lives,
males leave after puberty.
Sexual maturity between
the age of six and nine
will eventually spur them to
venture off in search of mates.
Just like Leonard and Alfie,
they'll enter a troop as
low-ranking males and work their
way up.
But for now, life
is pretty simple.
It's just one big playground.
MARLEY: I think they had a
lot energy food ANNA: Yeah.
Like masuku, the
waterberries and Insects.
Insects. Yeah.
[SCREECHING]
NARRATOR: The juveniles lead the
research team to the woodland.
Madonna and the rest
of the troop are safe
and enjoying a
spot of fine dining.
In the wet season,
the abundance of food
allows the Kindas to spend
more time being social.
Grooming is a daily pastime,
and Simon is giving Madonna
some special attention.
RACHEL: So, I write down any
kind of interaction that we see
throughout the day
and the reason why we do that is
because it can give us an idea
of who's interacting with who,
and the kind of
relationships they have.
Most of the time the
relationships are between
related individuals,
like brothers and sisters,
and mothers and infants, their
juveniles.
It's interesting to see if
these relationships occur
every day or how
often they occur.
NARRATOR: Typically in primates,
same-sex individuals
use grooming
to solidify bonds
and affirm hierarchies.
But here, it's the relationships
between the males and females
that are proving so fascinating.
Anna has been watching
Madonna and Simon closely.
ANNA: The males and the females,
they form strong, strong bonds.
In other baboons, we see females
are the most closely bonded.
Here we see, actually, the
male-female relationships
are stronger than the
female-female relationships,
which is absolutely something I
did not think I would discover.
NARRATOR: In some
other baboon species,
the male only shows interest in
a female when she's in season.
But in Kindas, the male
is attentive year-round
and is the initiator and
maintainer of the relationship.
This behaviour is at the
heart of what sets the Kindas'
mating strategy apart.
Simon has seven
females to attend to,
but at the moment he's
focusing on Madonna.
With her hormones elevated,
and the close proximity
of the two new
males hanging around,
Madonna is rarely sitting still,
much to Simon's frustration.
Anna's team is on a constant
learning curve with these
Kindas,
uncovering the secrets of
this newly identified species.
It's clear that
Kindas are unique,
and Anna is keen to
protect these animals
by working with the
local communities.
[CHILDREN SINGING]
Thank you so much for
coming to Kasanka today.
NARRATOR: Every week, local
school children are invited into
the park,
for some extracurricular
wildlife lessons.
ANNA: We are the first to study
them, so we collect information
on the baboons.
So here are some
baboons of ours.
Each of them has
their own personality.
ANNA: It's really important that
we give the kids these lessons.
Because it teaches them about
the animals that live so near to
them.
It gives them a chance to see
the animals that we're asking
them to try and conserve.
ANNA: So here are
some juveniles playing.
[GIGGLING]
ANNA: What I hope to achieve
by working with the young
children
You know, if they can really see
what the park has to offer for
them,
hopefully we can have some
impact against the poaching.
ANNA: The biggest way that
the monkeys die is leopards.
Eagles for the small ones,
but mostly from
humans, from poaching.
Now you will go explore Kasanka.
Look out for the kolwe.
Thank you so much.
[CLAPPING]
NARRATOR: Anna hopes the
children will take their new
knowledge about the Kindas
and the threat they
face from humans,
and spread the word
back in their communities.
In the grasslands, Madonna
and the troop have struck gold.
Termites.
After the rains at
night, the termites fly out
of their termite mounds
to shed off their wings.
They dig their holes and
hide themselves there,
so baboons dig the
holes and eat them.
They taste very nice,
like peanut butter,
and they are protein
and they make them full
more than any other food.
[BIRDS SQUAWKING]
NARRATOR: As usual, Madonna
is being shadowed by Simon.
By following these
male-female interactions,
the team is starting
to understand
the nuances of the
Kindas' mating strategies.
How they use close proximity
to show interest and fend off
competitors.
And how the deep bonds
they develop can last for years.
The team has also uncovered
another, softer side of the male
Kindas.
RACHEL: It's lovely to see the
males taking such an interest
in infants that they
believe to be their own.
Within other primate species,
this is practically unheard of.
Other baboon species do it,
but Kindas It's very high,
a lot of paternal care
and interest in their babies
and a lot of interaction,
touching and carrying, and
vocalisations.
It's lovely to watch.
NARRATOR: The team believes
that a display of good fathering
skills
is attractive to the females.
Simon does display very
specific Kinda behaviours
that we've been
seeing over the years.
He's a good role model
in the sense of being
caring with females
and caring for infants.
He's a very gentle character.
The little ones feel really
comfortable around him.
NARRATOR: Simon's paternal
skills have caught Madonna's
attention.
And he's letting her
hold one of his infants.
This has earned
him brownie points
and they affirm
their relationship.
[BABOONS SHRIEKING AND GRUNTING]
But Madonna is
keeping her options open.
She's starting to swell, and
in the coming weeks she'll be at
her most fertile.
Although Alfie has been
somewhat of a wallflower,
he's also managed to
catch Madonna's eye.
ANNA: Her behaviour
is quite interesting
because she has been bouncing
around to different males.
I think she's just not quite
decided who she wants to be
with,
although Simon very
clearly wants to be with her,
and so she's doing a form of
female choice and maybe a little
teasing.
NARRATOR: Madonna
is hedging her bets.
When she's not maintaining
her relationship with Simon,
she's trying to
get close to Alfie.
Alfie is interested,
but he's also wary.
He doesn't want to upset
an approaching Simon.
Madonna must ensure her
advances are more clandestine,
if she's to get Alfie
to mate with her.
Anna has learnt that
promiscuity is quite common in
Kinda females.
Whilst males work hard
to maintain a close
relationship with just a few,
some of the females have been
seen having sneaky mating
sessions
with lots of different males.
It could be a means of
ensuring infant protection,
as several males will believe
the offspring to be theirs.
For the team, trying to build up
an accurate biological
picture of the troop,
this promiscuity
poses a problem.
We really want to look
at, specifically, fathers,
paternity. Who is the
father? Because obviously we
know the mother
because the infant
is with the mother,
but we would really like to
know who the fathers are.
Genetics will tell us.
NARRATOR: The team has been
collecting faecal samples for
six years.
It's a vital element of the
research necessary for genetic
testing.
Perfect. Right to the line.
NARRATOR: Contained in the
baboon's faeces is a wealth of
data,
including their DNA.
From this, each baboon
can be clearly identified
and it can be determined for
sure which male has fathered
which infant.
The first lot of faecal
samples are being packed,
to be sent off to a
laboratory in the USA.
Definitely there will be
some surprises for sure,
just from the behaviour we see.
Sneak copulation,
new males coming in.
It will bring a new A whole
new idea of what's going on,
sort of like opening
that Oscar envelope
and, "This is who is who."
NARRATOR: The results will
feed back into the research,
helping to further understand
the relatedness of the troop,
its unusual dynamics, and
its unique mating behaviours.
The baboon's faeces have
never been so precious to anyone
but the dung beetles.
Back in the love triangle,
Alfie is still playing
hard-to-get with Madonna,
and no matter how hard she
tries, she just can't get him
alone.
Simon is keeping tabs on her.
MARLEY: I think he's
trying to find Madonna.
NARRATOR: His presence is
once again causing Alfie to move
away.
MARLEY: She's also
checking for Simon.
Oh, he's coming.
NARRATOR: Relations between
Madonna and Simon are becoming
strained.
She rejects his attempt to mate.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
The rains are threatening again.
It's going to be another
long night of hunkering down.
Over the last week, millions
more straw-coloured fruit bats
have continued to fly from the
Central African rainforest belt
into Kasanka National Park.
Numbers are now reaching
their peak of 10 million,
but, in this time of plenty,
there's still stacks of food to
go around.
Madonna will soon
be coming into season,
and she can't ignore her
instincts urging her to select a
mate.
She appears to
be a little broody.
She's intrigued by the
youngest member of the troop
and wants to get close.
Okay, so Ella's still there.
MARLEY: Madonna approaching her.
"Let me see your baby!
Let me see your baby!"
NARRATOR: The baby's
mother is highly protective.
By grooming, Madonna
assures her she's no threat.
As her fertile period
comes ever closer,
Madonna's interest
in Alfie is intensifying.
She's trying different
approaches to get him to mate
with her.
She tantalises him with a really
good view of her swelling.
But Simon's having none of it,
and heads in to reassert
his position by her side.
Madonna, however,
has other plans.
She's choosing Alfie.
Alfie hasn't proved
himself yet as a father,
nor is he as
high-ranking as Simon.
But he has something else to
offer Madonna and her first
infant.
He brings diversity
to the gene pool.
Once in the bushes, it's
clear that Aflie's "slowly,
slowly" mating strategy has paid
off.
ANNA: Oh, oh, there he goes.
Nice.
NARRATOR: Madonna's
decision-making and behaviour
is proving revelatory
for the team.
They're starting to
understand how female-male
friendships develop,
how the exercising
of female choice
and the instinctive
drive for new genes
all come into play in the
Kinda's unique mating game.
I hope that this troop will
provide us with some answers
as to how Kinda baboons
fit into the science,
compared to all other baboon
species, cos they are very
different,
and I also hope that, in terms
of just our specific troop,
that they thrive, they
continue to thrive,
and that we will see even more
interesting behaviour as they
grow up.
Kinda baboons have
never been studied.
Primates live for a long time.
Baboons live for a long time.
Having six years
of data is great.
We've learned a lot, but they
obviously have a different
mating strategy.
Following them for
many more years,
we'll get even a better picture
of what Kinda baboons are like.
The hope and the
want of us, of Kasanka,
is that this will be a long-term
running project for years to
come.
[BABOONS CHATTERING]
NARRATOR: Anna's dream is that
the research will continue here
throughout Madonna's life,
following her and the
troop every step of the way,
from Madonna's first birth,
through to her last and beyond.