Walking With the Great Apes is a comprehensive, engaging 6 part series that explores the current status of and challenges facing the world’s largest remaining primates in the wild.
Walking in the footsteps of Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, young biologist Holly Carroll travels with an experienced film crew to the remote jungles and rainforests of Africa and Indonesia to study these highly intelligent animals in their increasingly threatened natural habitats.
In the series, she meets with Goodall, as well as a variety of other dedicated people now working to study and protect the great apes. Her travels also bring her face-to-face with the poachers, animal smugglers and loggers who put the survival of the world’s apes at risk. The tragedy facing most of the remaining apes is that they live in lands of never-ending turmoil, countries in the grip of corrupt or violent governments, as well as other social and environmental challenges.
Each of the episodes explores in depth a different primate, including their habits, personalities, and challenges. The first episode provides an overview of all five types of primates and the threats they face. Close contact and interactions with these great apes shows how they differ from other primates, and highlights their often-surprising levels of intelligence.
"Very highly recommended. This is a beautiful series of intimate portraits and journeys through spectacular scenery to get to know the highly intelligent and curious great apes in their remote habitats in troubled African and Asian countries."
"Highly Recommended. The filmmakers pack a lot into this series resulting in the ideal educational film. The episodes are short, visually appealing, balanced, and fact-filled. Episode 1 serves as a great introduction to primate ecology and conservation and is appropriate to most ages."
"Entertaining and informative — also simultaneously sad and hopeful — gives viewers a sense of what needs to be done and what can be done to save these majestic animals from their extended kin, us."
"An extraordinary series, taking the viewer on an adventurous journey to visit our zoological next of kin – the great apes of Africa and Southeast Asia. Along the way, we meet some of the best known scientists and conservationists who have dedicated (and in some cases given) their lives to the cause, and witness thrilling encounters with the apes themselves."
"Showcases bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans in highly entertaining nuggets. The series is packed with interesting facts, and will inspire viewers to help conserve our majestic cousins."