Chimp Empire: A Fascinating Look at Our Primate Cousins. What Nature Shows Do You Love?

Cafe Society
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I have always loved science documentaries, especially those that explore the natural world. I grew up watching Jacques Cousteau and Wild Kingdom in the 60s, and I was fascinated by the National Geographic books and articles by the legendary primatologist Dame Jane Goodall (now 89 years old).

I am amazed by the high quality and accuracy of many modern nature documentaries. Of course, Sir David Attenborough’s series are all superb. I also recently enjoyed Life on Our Planet, narrated by Morgan Freeman.

But I was truly impressed by Chimp Empire, which follows the lives of three rival groups of chimpanzees in the Ngogo rainforest of Uganda. The filmmakers and scientists spent over 25 years studying and filming the Ngogo chimps, the largest group of chimpanzees ever known. The series reveals the complex social and political dynamics of our closest living relatives (we share more than 98% of our DNA with chimps). It also offers insights into the origins of human behavior.

And the cinematography is breathtaking.

Some nature documentaries are guilty of over-anthropomorphizing animals, but this isn’t the case with Chimp Empire. I believe the filmakers hit the nail on the head. It’s not fiction—it’s real.

Goodall was criticized for giving her chimps names (instead of numbers, which some thought was more scientific), but she was right to do so. Chimps have very distinct personalities, as diverse as humans, and they deserve unique names. Maybe some other species do, too, like orcas, octopuses, and orangutans.

I highly recommend Chimp Empire. What are some of your favorite nature documentaries, and why?

But, I must say, Chimp Empire makes me wonder if our planet would be better off if we humans never left the trees.

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I’m not 100% convinced that having human camera operators running around with the chimps had absolutely no effect on their behaviour, but I thought it was a fascinating series.

I also liked Netflix’s “Island of the Sea Wolves” (and eagles and otters and bears).

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Certainly that can’t be totally avoided when filming animals, but, like Goodall, and other serious scientists, the Chimp Empire crew appear to have spent enough time (25 years) and effort habituating the chimps to their presence and their behavior was therefore minimally affected by their presence.

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I was also fascinated by this series.

Jackson died a true hero of the Central Ngogo Chimp Empire.

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That he did.

I still sorry for Pork Pie. He didn’t take “you snooze, you lose” to heart.