Episode
Nature: Chimpanzees: an Unnatural History
Overview
In 1959, the United States Air Force captured dozens of baby chimpanzees in Africa, transporting them to Alamogordo, New Mexico where they and their offspring were enlisted into in the space program. NATURE's "Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History" explores the lives of these chimpanzees who were forced to endure a grueling life as the ultimate human stand-ins.
Details
- Series
- Nature
- Season
- Season 25
- Episode
- Episode 1
- Air date
- 2006-10-24
- Runtime
- 53 min
Episode context
Chimpanzees: an Unnatural History is Episode 1 in Season 25 of Nature. It aired on 2006-10-24. The runtime is 53 min.
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More episodes from this season
Episode 3: Christmas in Yellowstone
NATURE presents a breathtaking look at wintertime deep within Yellowstone, America's first national park.
Episode 4: The Best of 'Nature': 25 Years
Lynn Sherr hosts a collection of clips highlighting memorable moments from the program's first 25 years. Also: a tribute to the series' creator and host George Page, who died in 2006. Included: hatchling sea turtles on a Caribbean beach; barnacle goslings in the Arctic; a wildebeest defending her calf from wild dogs on the Serengeti; crocodiles attacking gazelles; chimpanzees saved from medical testing; a reunion of two elephants after 25 years apart.
Episode 5: Rhinoceros
With NATURE’S Rhinoceros, wildlife filmmaker Nigel Marven brings you face-to-face with the world’s five species of rhino, each struggling, with varying degrees of success, for their continued survival. For some rhinos, the future may rely on breeding programs, such as at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, where Sumatran rhinoceros Emi is now nearing the end of her third successful pregnancy, having already given birth to Andalas and Suci, the only two Sumatran rhinos ever to be born in captivity.
Episode 6: Unforgettable Elephants
The longest chain of mountains on the planet lies along the western edge of South America like an immense dragon - its tail falling into the freezing Antarctic Ocean, its head breathing fire 5,000 miles north. The Andes, home to the highest points outside the Himalayas, are remarkable not only for their volcanoes and their jagged peaks, the spines of the dragon's back; the niches they shelter are a world of extremes and hidden secrets. NATURE journeys the length of the Andes, passing through deserts and cloud forests, across glaciers and fjords, encountering the amazing creatures that call these habitats home: penguins and hummingbirds, pumas and flamingos, a deer only 12 inches tall, a tree-dwelling bear and much more.
Episode 7: Supersize Crocs
More than 15 years ago, Martyn Colbeck began to document the lives of African elephants. He has grown close to elephant matriarch, Echo, and her close-knit family.
Episode 8: Raptor Force
Take flight on an exhilarating ride with elite winged predators. Humans have had a unique relationship with raptors, nature’s aerial killing machines, for more than four thousand years, first through the ancient sport of falconry, and, more recently, as scientists and engineers have turned to these mighty birds for inspiration for the latest in aircraft design.
Episode 9: Andes: The Dragon’s Back
With glaciers marking its tip, active volcanoes running along its spine, snow-capped peaks rising high above its range, both wet and dry tropical rainforests within its interior, and desert, lowland savanna and alpine tundra in between, the Andes is an extraordinary world of diverse terrain, extreme temperatures and multifarious wildlife.
Episode 10: Voyage of the Lonely Turtle
Along her 9,000-mile voyage to nest, our loggerhead tour guide encounters hammerhead sharks, deep ocean tempests, and fishing nets.
Episode 11: Dogs That Changed The World: The Rise of the Dog
Exploring how the domestication of dogs might have taken place, including the theory of biologist Raymond Coppinger that it was the animals themselves — and human trash — that inspired the transformation. The genetic analysis of Peter Savolainen of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has placed the origins of domesticated dogs — and those of the first dog — in East Asia.
Episode 12: Dogs That Changed The World: Dogs by Design
This episode details the explosion of the basic working dog types into the roughly 400 breeds known today; explores concerns about today’s competitive breeding and its effect on dogs’ health and well-being; and outlines dogs’ potential role in medical care for human beings.