'Gorillas are one of the most powerful animals on earth.
GROWLING
'Capable of explosive aggression.
'They are the real King Kong.'
WHISPERS: That goes right through you.
'But I want to discover their true nature.
'Are they capable of compassion,
'sophisticated relationships
'and even love?'
That is one of THE most delightful images.
Mother and baby gorilla.
'My name's Gordon Buchanan.
'I'm a wildlife cameraman.
'I'm heading deep into the heart of the Congo...
'..to film the rare and mysterious Grauer's gorilla,
'the largest primate on the planet.'
HOOTING
WHISPERS: That is seriously impressive.
'This is one of the most dangerous places in Africa.
'So few people have ever seen these giants.'
It is my deep desire
to find a family group of gorillas,
build up some kind of relationship
and really reveal gorilla family life like never before.
'I'm putting myself on the front line.
'To learn their language.
'To try and gain their trust.
'In the hope of revealing a new understanding of gorilla family life
'that will transform the way we see them.'
I have wanted to spend time with gorillas in the wild
for as long as I can remember.
And despite the fact that I've been a wildlife cameraman for over 25 years,
I've been around the world a couple of times,
I have never ever had the opportunity until now.
'My destination is the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
'It's a huge country.
'Two thirds the size of Western Europe.
'It's been plagued by civil war for decades.
'A conflict which has claimed the lives of millions of people.
'It's still a challenging part of the world to visit.
'But now, with a lull in hostilities,
'I've a chance to film these seldom-seen gorillas.
'I'm going to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park,
'one of the last refuges of the giant Grauer's gorilla.
'Few people have ever filmed here.
'But one programme from the 1970s sticks in the memory.'
Watching this film, that's what made me want to...to see gorillas.
It just looked so amazing.
HOOTING
I remember a famous scene and it stuck with me.
GROWLING
Oh, my goodness! Look... Oh, wow!
That...is unbelievable.
Look at the size of that gorilla.
Yeah, it's quite sobering, actually, now that I'm here.
And to contemplate that that might be
an encounter that I have in the near future.
'After a restless night, I'm up early.
'With me is chief park guide, Lambert.
'I'm trying to get some tips on gorilla communication.'
So, when the juveniles are up and they beat their chest,
it's not an aggressive thing?
Not aggressive, happy to see people.
Happy to see people. With the silverbacks, it's a low...?
GORDON GROWLS GENTLY
See, that kind of sounds a bit threatening,
- but that keeps them calm? - Yes.
OK. I'll work on that.
GORDON GROWLS
'Ahead of us lies miles of dense tropical forest.
'Lambert is hoping to introduce me to a group he knows well.
'It's led by a 30-year-old male called Chimanuka,
'who has a fearsome reputation for defending his family.
'After an hour, we hear the unmistakable sound of gorillas.'
HOOTING
'It's critical we don't expose the gorillas
'to any infectious diseases we might be carrying.
'Even a simple cold could prove fatal.'
I've got this mask.
Germs and bacteria that we can carry
can get transferred to the gorillas, and vice versa.
So whenever I'm with the gorillas, I always have to have this on.
Don't want to be sneezing all over them. I'm ready.
'Knowing a large, potentially aggressive male is nearby
'is thrilling, but scary.
'In this dense vegetation, I could bump into him without warning.'
WHISPERS: Just through there. Oh, he's gone!
Just the briefest glimpse of a huge face. It looked like a male.
But he just took one look at me and then...moved off.
'It looks like a younger gorilla.
'But I want to find the rest of the family.'
WHISPERS: Well, hello.
I feel like I have to pinch myself,
to be sitting this close to four or five gorillas.
They are real. They are real.
'There are 25 in this family.
'And I'm soon spotting gorillas everywhere.'
Whoa!
GORDON CHUCKLES
WHISPERS: You know, filming wildlife is never easy.
CHEST-BEATING Oh!
This is Chimanuka.
OK, let me just... Maybe I spoke too soon.
The big silverback just...kind of charged in.
'Chimanuka is the biggest male in the group.
'He's not as tall as me, but he's three times heavier
'and several times stronger.'
Chimanuka is the head of this family. He's a big silverback male.
And if I am going to be working with this group, with this family,
it's really him that is going to be the one I've got to keep happy.
'I need to watch my step.
'Silverbacks often react aggressively to anything they see as a threat.
BARKING
CHEST-BEATING
'Barking and beating their chest is a way of issuing a warning.
'If it's ignored, then a silverback may well charge.
GORILLA GROWLS
'My heart's pounding, but I've got to play it cool.
'This parade-past is designed to intimidate me
'by showing off his size and strength.'
Gosh, that is...quite a threatening approach there.
Wow!
You get a real idea of how big Chimanuka is
when he breaks free of all that foliage
and you can see him in all his glory.
He is immense.
My heart is beating a little bit faster than it was before.
OK, there he goes.
OK. Chimanuka has left the building.
And everyone's just starting to follow him.
'As the family slips away, I'm faced with a decision.'
Can you see him?
'I need to spend as much time with them as I can
'if I'm going to form a bond.'
You see Chimanuka?
'But push too hard and I could provoke a charge.
'I take a risk and decide to follow them.
'The Congo rainforests are some of the oldest in the world.
'They are places of beauty.
'And home to some unique species found nowhere else.
'Including these Grauer's gorillas,
'a seldom-seen relative of the mountain gorilla.
'There are thought to be only a few thousand left in the wild.
'Lambert introduces me to the newest addition to Chimanuka's family.'
WHISPERS: Nine months old? It's tiny.
Is it a boy or a girl?
A little male.
That is one of the most delightful images
you could see anywhere in the world.
Mother and baby gorilla.
It's just stunning. Look at them!
'Mwira is the youngest of Chimanuka's 18 children,
'and the most vulnerable.
'This is a critical stage in his development.
'Baby gorillas often struggle to make it to their first birthday.
'They depend on their mother's milk until they're three.
'Gradually, baby Mwira will learn to eat forest food
'by watching his mother and by trial and error.'
Mwira hasn't got the technique quite right
of stripping that peel from the vine.
However, his mother is just a pro.
She pulls the vine through her mouth,
using these sharp teeth to strip it off and it all curls back
and she's left with this big wad of curly vine peel.
And then she starts chomping away on it.
Of course, these things take practice.
'It'll be 15 years before baby Mwira is the same size as his father.
'In the meantime, it's Chimanuka's job to protect him
'and the rest of the family.'
WHISPERS: Whoa!
Chimanuka's obviously wondering what's going on.
'He's still suspicious of me,
'so he places his 200-kilo body between us.
'It's time to take the hint and leave the family in peace.'
That is an incredibly promising start. That's an understatement.
Filming wildlife, spending time observing wildlife
in a wild situation is never easy, but...
..dare I say it, I'm incredibly excited
about the coming days and weeks with this family of gorillas.
Because if I can work with them
and I can win their trust,
it is going to allow them to share their story with me,
which is an incredibly exciting prospect.
'Telling their story is one of the main reasons I'm here.
'Grauer's gorillas have struggled during the last 20 years.
'Successive civil wars in the DRC
'caused a dramatic increase in poaching
'and destruction of their forest home.
'The park authorities hope my filming
'will encourage more people to come here.
'The best hope for these gorillas lies in carefully-managed tourism.
'If people pay to see them,
'then it should provide the necessary resources to protect them.
'Next morning, I'm off to catch up with Chimanuka and the family.
'Gaining his trust will take patience and determination.
'Just finding them is a challenge.'
It is painstaking, getting through this.
Everything snags on every single liana.
I trip over every single root.
And I'm trying to do all of this quietly and...and quickly.
It's a farce.
'After an hour, we catch up with the family.
'And I'm braced for more aggression from the silverback Chimanuka.'
WHISPERS: Wow!
'But as I focus my camera, I see something completely unexpected.'
WHISPERS: What an enormous beast!
Definitely a different atmosphere today.
'Chimanuka's hanging out with one of the youngsters.
'It reveals a completely different side to his personality.'
Marhale? How old is Marhale?
'In almost every other species I've filmed,
'it's the mother who does all the parenting.
'Looks like Grauer's gorillas might be different.'
Father and son. Huh!
So, where's...where's Marhale's mother?
And so, this, um...Marhale's an orphan?
So, how old was Marhale when he was orphaned?
- One year? - Yes.
- It's amazing he survived. - Yes.
'Marhale's mother died during a fight
'between Chimanuka and a rival silverback.
'And he's only survived because his father looked after him.
'Female gorillas don't adopt orphans.
'Now the two are inseparable.'
Yeah, he might be an orphan, he might have lost his mother,
but his father...seems to be doing a very good job of that.
'Chimanuka's tender touch really makes me warm to him.
'But Marhale's story makes me worry for the future of the family.
'The guides tell me that the rival male
'who caused this tragedy is still a huge threat.'
GROWLING
WHISPERS: There was another silverback calling.
CHEST-BEATING
I heard it again.
'This provocation often forces Chimanuka into a show of strength.'
We've got this silverback chest-beating in the distance.
What he's saying is, "I'm big, I'm strong, I'm over here".
'Chimanuka already has a large family,
'so he has nothing to gain and everything to lose from a fight.'
WHISPERS: Goodness me!
Wow!
GORDON EXHALES
HOOTING
'The whole family are clearly aware of the threat.
'Anyone could get caught in the crossfire...even me!'
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
WHISPERS: That's the most severe reaction I've had from him.
I don't like that.
'Chimanuka has every reason to be on edge.
'At 30, he's old for a silverback.
'His successor might well kill his children.
'It's a terrible prospect.
'Time to leave the family in peace and head back to camp.
'My instincts tell me I need to give Chimanuka and his family a break.
'So instead, I want to meet the silverback
'that's been threatening him, Mugaruka.
'He's no ordinary rival.
'The bad blood between him and Chimanuka goes very deep.'
I'm on my way in to hopefully find a big,
lone silverback called Mugaruka.
Mugaruka is Chimanuka's brother.
And despite the fact that they're brothers, they do not get along.
Because Chimanuka took Mugaruka's entire family,
stole all of his females.
And he poses a big threat to our family
because he's always going to be looking for a way
to regain his throne, take back his family.
And he's not far in here.
'After several hours, Lambert and his expert trackers lead me to Mugaruka.
'I'm quite nervous as I get close.
'Mugaruka was responsible for the death of Marhale's mother.
'He's unpredictable.'
WHISPERS: He's just less than 15 metres from the path.
Hello, Mugaruka.
'Looking into those eyes, I know I'm dealing with
'a very different character than Chimanuka.'
WHISPERS: This is a big, fully-grown silverback male
who's been ousted by his brother.
'Mugaruka's females deserted him for Chimanuka.
'So for the last 15 years, he's nursed a grudge.'
WHISPERS: When you look at his face, that's what's on his mind.
No silverback wants to be on his own.
They want to hold on to their title,
hold on to their family as long as possible.
'Mugaruka wants to regain his throne.
'Every few months, his resentment boils over.'
WHISPERS: There's a big wound, maybe about five-inches long,
on Mugaruka's belly, just below the ribcage.
And that was caused in a fight with Chimanuka a couple of months ago.
HOOTING
That goes right through you.
HOOTING
It's easy to go from feeling completely relaxed and comfortable
and nonchalant around these gorillas.
When a gorilla comes that close, every movement that they make,
every sound that they make, rocks you inside.
A kind of primal fear that human beings have.
GROWLING
We should be scared of animals that are bigger than us.
'Mugaruka is shadowing Chimanuka's family.
'Having met him, I'm worried for the youngsters.
'If he were to overthrow Chimanuka,
'he could kill baby Mwira and the orphan, Marhale.
'The threat from Mugaruka hangs over this family.
'Picking up Chimanuka's track, I find he's heading deeper into the forest.
'When I catch up with him, I'm in for a treat.
'Chimanuka weighs over 200 kilos,
'but that doesn't stop him from scouring the tree tops
'for fresh fruit and vines.'
WHISPERS: I'm finding this hard to believe,
but Chimanuka...is up this tree.
I just cannot believe a gorilla of that size would climb a tree.
There's a small one here.
'Following Chimanuka's every move is the orphan Marhale.'
What a tough life Marhale has had.
And that's because he was deprived of his mother's milk at one year old.
We can only be grateful for the fact that Chimanuka is a great father.
They're both up there in the tree. It's very sweet.
'One of the reasons Marhale sticks close to his father
'is that that's the only way he'll learn what to eat.'
WHISPERS: Come on.
'Grauer's gorillas eat a wide variety of vegetation and fruit,
'and sometimes even insects.'
Whoa!
'Marhale has a lot to learn from his dad.'
WHISPERS: Chimanuka's seen some leaves that he wants to get at
and there's no way he could climb out on to that branch,
it's just way too thin.
But one way of getting to them
is using the vines to pull the branch closer to him.
I think he's thinking, "If I pull the vines, the branch might break
"and the leaves will come to me."
You were right, old boy.
GORDON CHUCKLES
They're pretty smart.
'Chimanuka's role as a single dad is highly unusual.
'Indeed, it's the only recorded case
'of it happening with Grauer's gorillas.
'I've got to hand it to him, he's an incredible father.
'But if anything happens to Chimanuka,
'Marhale will struggle to survive.
'I want to stay close in case Mugaruka reappears.
'So I decide to do something unprecedented.'
WHISPERS: It is 4:45 in the evening.
And all those daytime sounds of the forest are starting to go.
It feels like the end of the day.
And my plan is to spend the whole night in the forest,
as close to the gorillas as they'll allow.
'Few people have camped out with gorillas
'and no-one has ever filmed them at night.'
WHISPERS: What I want to find out is how they spend the night.
Do some of them sleep on the ground?
Are they going to sleep up in these trees?
That's great. That's what I want to do.
I want to be able to be amongst the gorillas
and watch them behaving naturally.
'Chimanuka's too heavy to sleep up in a tree.
'Mwira and his mother settle close to him.
'And, as the light fades, Marhale the orphan sidles over, too.
'This is where they all feel safest.
'But the rest of the family are high up in the canopy,
'taking advantage of the supply of fresh bedding.'
WHISPERS: The gorilla selects a nice thick tree
and then it can use all those leaves to fold in
and give itself a nice comfortable bed.
It does seem that the nest-building is very much
something you can hear, rather than something you can see.
BRANCHES CRACK
'To reveal what's going on in the darkness
'requires the latest in thermal-imaging cameras.
'The gorillas weave branches and leaves together
'so that the nest will carry their weight.
'They have to be pretty good at it
'because some of the nests are way up in the trees.
'This gorilla must be 15 metres up.
'I hope it doesn't roll out of bed in the middle of the night.'
WHISPERS: You know, that is the thing about these gorillas.
So little is known about them.
So to be here in the forest with them at this time of day,
we are seeing something that is very, very special.
It's amazing. Some are on the ground nesting,
there's others up in the tree,
but the whole family is in this radius,
spreading out from Chimanuka.
It kind of really makes me think
that I should find somewhere to sleep myself.
CRACK!
WHISPERS: Ideally, I could snuggle up right next to Chimanuka.
GORDON CHUCKLES
Not going to do that.
'I'm going to sleep out with the gorillas,
'something few people have done.
'I set up my bivouac a short distance away.
'They'll still know I'm here,
'but by giving them a little bit of space,
'I hope it'll help them accept my presence.'
WHISPERS: It's 5:15 in the morning.
I can't say I've slept particularly well.
I don't quite know how the gorillas do it.
Lying on the ground without mosquito nets, like I was.
There's kind of bugs crawling all over me.
Maybe that's why they climb up into the trees.
What I want to do is catch the gorillas before they wake up.
Um...before they start kind of moving...moving out.
'The family's enjoying a lie-in and seem oblivious to my presence.
'Sleeping out with them may have won some confidence.'
CHEST-BEATING
WHISPERS: It's lovely. You hear all these chest-beats
coming from little areas around the forest,
the floor, up in the trees.
And that's everyone's way of saying good morning.
Letting everyone else know where they are.
CHEST-BEATING
'Mwira is giving his mum a hard time.
'I expect he's hungry.
'Breakfast seems to be on everyone's mind.'
WHISPERS: I suppose what I'm always looking for from this family
is...is acceptance of some sort.
And I definitely feel that this morning,
I've got that more than ever before.
'That sense of approval is reinforced as Mwira's mum edges by.'
WHISPERS: Mwira, hello.
'Mwira's spent most of his nine months clinging to his mother.
'Although he's now learnt to walk,
'he'll continue hitching a ride until he's two.
'Chimanuka's enjoying some vine peel...
'..and Marhale's doing his best to copy.
'He's completely dependent on Dad for his survival.
'This father-and-son time will go a long way
'to shaping his character.
'And maybe one day, he, too,
'will become a strong, but caring silverback.
'Chimanuka's breakfast is interrupted.'
CHEST-BEATING
'Those chest beats aren't coming from a member of his family.'
WHISPERS: Just been hearing chest-beats of a silverback
and it's not Chimanuka. Chimanuka is still fairly close.
A little bit further away, but not that far,
is another silverback beating his chest.
'Is it Mugaruka?'
GENTLE HOOTING
'Chimanuka calls his family together.
'First to respond are the orphan Marhale,
'and baby Mwira and his mother.
'They're the most vulnerable if there's a fight.'
WHISPERS: Whether they'll actually try and avoid each other,
or whether it'll come to some kind of confrontation, who knows?
But, yeah, when two silverbacks meet,
it's not handshakes and a good morning.
It always leads to aggression.
'Chimanuka gets the family on the move,
'but he'll have to stand up to this silverback sooner or later.
'Although his rival hasn't broken cover,
'Chimanuka reassures the family with a show of strength.
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
'Pumped up and angry, he lashes out at us, too.
'At least Chimanuka's display has had the desired effect.
'There's no sound from the other silverback
'and the family seem reassured.
'But Mugaruka is still out there somewhere.'
WHISPERS: Ah! How quickly the peace can change.
GORDON EXHALES
I just didn't know where Chimanuka was.
'It's been an eventful and tiring few days, so I'm heading back to camp.'
I'm about halfway through my trip.
I've found a family that I can stay with,
that I can track through the forest.
But what I really want to learn about
are the complexities of gorilla family life.
When I think about the females, they're not bound to any family.
They can leave whenever they want.
If they feel that their silverback can't offer the protection they need,
the door is open, they can go.
So for Chimanuka, if he doesn't actually face up to this
territorial challenge, he could lose his family, anyway.
It doesn't have to come to some huge, epic battle
between these kind of titans of the forest,
If the females lose faith in him, they'll leave.
'I'm starting to appreciate just how sophisticated Grauer's gorillas are.
'But if I'm really going to understand them,
'I need to make the most of my remaining days here.'
THUNDERCLAP
This is really quite rubbish, this weather.
On a day like this, I'm quite glad that I'm not a gorilla.
Um...I wonder what they're doing?
'I want to see if there's been any fallout from yesterday's big bust-up.
'But in this downpour, I suspect the gorillas
'will have just hunkered down.'
WHISPERS: It seems like the gorillas enjoy the rain as much as I do.
It's bad enough being in a tent and getting slightly damp,
but all these gorillas are out here in the forest
trying to find shelter where they can
and every one of them looks drenched to the bone.
'Their fur is designed to keep them warm in this mountain environment,
'but it's not very waterproof.
'When they move, the rain seeps through to their skin.
'It's no wonder they look so miserable.
'Except for Chimanuka, who's on good form.'
WHISPERS: What are you playing at?
That's, um...showing off, I think, more than anything else.
Just...definitely showing off.
Big gorillas and...
..big gorillas and small trees don't mix.
GORDON LAUGHS
'An adult Grauer's gorilla like Chimanuka
'will eat around 30 kilograms of vegetation every day.
'It's one of the reasons their bellies are so large.
'They need big intestines to be able to digest all that plant matter.'
WHISPERS: No more rain. Time to try and dry off.
What gorillas do, once it's been raining, if they get very wet,
they'll find somewhere that they can lie out in the sun
and just spread themselves out and let their fur dry.
And I think that's what this gorilla is doing.
He's doing his stomach. I wonder if he's going to do his back?
'I haven't heard any chest beats today,
'so I suspect the other silverback has retreated.
'Harmony has been restored.
'Despite his responsibilities as leader,
'Chimanuka still makes time to play with the orphan Marhale.
'He's quite an inspiration.'
Well, I look at Chimanuka, he's a doting father.
And as a father myself, I can't help but empathise with him.
Understand a lot of what... what motivates him.
Like me, he cares a great deal about his children.
And it's something... quite something to watch.
You know, to see a huge animal be so nurturing and tender
and caring for the tiniest of his children.
And in many ways, I kind of aspire to be more like him.
I just...I love that this...
GORDON CHUCKLES
..enormous...scary animal
has got a very, very soft centre.
'I just hope that Chimanuka's big heart isn't his Achilles heel.
'Mugaruka's sure to take advantage of any weakness he detects.'
WHISPERS: Oh, yeah, there he is.
'The park guides have spotted him in one of the local tea plantations.'
It just shows you how confident he is,
that he's in full view of 10 people, he doesn't care.
'The locals give him a wide berth.
'And frankly, I can understand why.'
WHISPERS: They have a savage side to them.
There's a violence in gorillas that's a necessity.
To make it as a silverback,
you have to at times be violent,
you have to be prepared to fight.
At times, you have to be prepared to kill.
'Calm though he appears, Mugaruka is a gorilla on a mission.
'And he doesn't take kindly to people who get in his way.'
GRUNTING
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
'With a brooding Mugaruka on the warpath,
'I'm keen to check on Chimanuka and the family.
'They've left the forest and are camping out in a swamp.'
WHISPERS: I'm stuck. Come on!
'I'm sure the gorillas are getting wet feet, too.'
WHISPERS: Here she is.
'Although there does seem to be someone who's doing just fine.'
WHISPERS: Look at Mwira. There isn't a wet hair on his body.
That's because he's spending the entire time on his mother's back.
Look at the state of my boots. Maybe that's a good way forward.
'The swamp has a plentiful supply of delicious reeds to munch on,
'but that's not the only benefit to being here.'
WHISPERS: We've got Mwira,
who looks as if he's made an escape from his mum.
'The soft mat of vegetation makes it like a kid's playground.'
GENTLE HOOTING
GORDON CHUCKLES
WHISPERS: I love it when Mwira leaves his mother.
Look, he's climbing up in the tree.
'This is a perfect place for a young gorilla
'to test out his climbing skills.'
WHISPERS: We've got one of the juveniles here
and then in the background, there you go...Mwira.
You'll find that this infant
is never more than a few metres' away from his mum.
And at the moment, three metres away, up a tree.
That's scary stuff for a baby gorilla.
Oh, there he goes. Oh, back down.
'Mwira's not the only youngster enjoying this playground.
'My focus on the youngest seems to have put Chimanuka on edge.'
WHISPERS: Here he comes.
'He knows that Mwira and Marhale
'are the most vulnerable members of the family.
'It's quite touching that he's so protective of them.
'I just wish he'd stop viewing me as a threat.'
WHISPERS: In a situation like this, when Chimanuka's feeling nervous,
he's even more likely to stay close to the gorillas
that really need the most security.
And that is the youngest.
'The orphan Marhale and baby Mwira
'are the family members most at risk
'if Chimanuka were deposed by another silverback.
'Driven on by his desire to avoid a confrontation,
'Chimanuka's covered a lot of ground in the last few days.
'But his route is leading the family towards
'another source of danger, a road.
'It might look like just a dirt track, but this is a major highway.
'And it's a formidable obstacle to Chimanuka's progress.'
Chimanuka and his family are just less than 20 metres off the road,
and he wants to cross.
The trouble is, this road is...is...
it might just be a track, but it's very busy.
You've got park vehicles coming through, you've got
trucks loaded up with charcoal.
And that's why Chimanuka is just so tense about crossing the road.
If it was just him, it'd be fine.
So he's just waiting nervously
for a quiet time to cross with his whole family.
I feel for him.
'After 20 minutes, we take matters into our own hands
'and Lambert stops the traffic.'
WHISPERS: Look at this! Oh, my gosh!
Now, there you go, that's confidence for you.
'With Chimanuka in charge,
'the orphan Marhale is confident enough to venture out.'
WHISPERS: Whoa! Oh, fantastic!
Oh, my gosh, look at this!
The whole family!
'Mwira and his mother are almost the last ones to break cover
'and scamper over.'
WHISPERS: Absolute confidence. Look!
'With all the youngsters across safely,
'Chimanuka can stop being the lollipop man.'
The boss, showing...us
that despite there's a road running through,
this is still his jungle. Huh!
I love it!
'It's a great relief to see the whole family across the road in safety.
'And their reward is a feast of fresh fruit.'
WHISPERS: So every gorilla, from the oldest down to the very youngest,
is up there in the tree, feeding.
'It's a measure of Chimanuka's phenomenal memory
'that he's been able to navigate his way here
'just as the fruit is ripening.'
WHISPERS: It's so nice to see them all together.
'This area is more densely forested
'than the sections we've been in before.
'It's criss-crossed with gorilla trails.
'So there are clearly other families around.
'And Mugaruka's arrival just adds to the numbers.'
WHISPERS: Here he comes.
Oh, my word! Right down on to the road.
Amazing. He didn't even...
I thought maybe he'd stop, be a bit reluctant,
but across he came, metres from me.
To see him out in the open like this,
you see how big he is. Amazing!
'But Mugaruka seems to have abandoned Chimanuka's trail.
'Instead, he veers off towards the park boundary.'
WHISPERS: I think he's gone.
'But for how long?'
GORDON WHISTLES A TUNE
'I've been following the family for over two weeks now.
'I wonder if Chimanuka's starting to warm to me?'
WHISPERS: I haven't been this close to Chimanuka for a few days.
'He's more relaxed than I've ever seen him.
'He doesn't even bother with his usual intimidating walk-past.'
WHISPERS: It just looked like Chimanuka made a decision.
"I'm really tired." And he rolled over, head down.
I think that might be a sign that he's going to have a nap.
'It feels like I've finally gained Chimanuka's trust.
'And that seems to give the rest of the family permission
'to come and check me out.
'But in my haste to take full advantage of the situation,
'I make a schoolboy error.'
WHISPERS: That's mine, pal.
No, no, no, no.
Don't even think about it.
'I've been here long enough that my backpack
'shouldn't be carrying any foreign germs, but this isn't ideal.'
WHISPERS: There's a procession coming through to check out my bag.
GORDON CHUCKLES
OK, that's the number one rule of the jungle.
Never take off your backpack.
Hey, fella.
'The gorillas soon forget about my bag.
'But at last, I've made an impression.
'After nearly three weeks, I seem to have been accepted by the family.'
WHISPERS: It's an incredible moment.
I started off at the edge of the group, as an outsider looking in.
And we've got Chimanuka up there, a couple down there.
I feel I'm right at the centre of this gorilla family.
Which is exactly where I want to be.
'I'm so pleased.
'With a couple of days left, I've achieved my goal.
'To integrate myself into a gorilla family.
'And even they seem keen to celebrate.
'Seeing Chimanuka with the orphan Marhale
'snuggled up for comfort is very moving.
'And offers a real insight into gorilla family life.'
What fascinates me is the role the father plays in gorilla society.
The role that Chimanuka plays in his family.
There are so many different animals, they get together,
some just get together to mate and the father's never seen again.
But for Chimanuka, this is a lifelong commitment.
That you have your family and every waking moment of every single day
is about looking after that family.
'That's been the biggest surprise for me.
'Just how important fathers are in the social world of gorillas.'
As a gorilla, you've got to be big, you've got to be strong,
you've got to be intelligent,
but you've got to be charismatic, as well.
Because none of those females,
none of Chimanuka's wives are kind of handcuffed.
They can leave at any time that they want.
He has to kind of conduct himself
in a way that they want to stay with him.
That they know that he is just the best gorilla
in the whole darned forest.
'And this is something the youngsters of the family
'take full advantage of.
'But being king of this forest means you can never really relax.
'It's early morning.
'Lambert and I are out looking for the family.
'We are in for a shock.'
WHISPERS: Oh, it's Mugaruka? OK.
OK. The fact that he is here very, very close
could well mean that he's kind of trying to just look for an in...
HOOTING
..trying to figure out if there's any kind of weakness
in Chimanuka's defences.
CHEST-BEATING
'I can hear Chimanuka chest-beating, but it's not putting Mugaruka off.'
CHEST-BEATING
WHISPERS: It's quite a tense time, to kind of just imagine
what's going on in the minds of these two silverback gorillas.
I think if Chimanuka was to show any sign of weakness, to show any fear,
that would maybe kind of... would embolden Mugaruka.
So it's kind of a standoff between these two giants.
'With Mugaruka close on his tail,
'Chimanuka keeps the family moving.
'And it becomes more and more difficult to keep track of them.
'I've given the rangers a camera
'to make sure that we don't miss anything.'
CHEST-BEATING
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
'Having circled each other for some time,
'Chimanuka and Mugaruka are now metres apart.'
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
'This is a clear threat to Chimanuka and his family.'
CHEST-BEATING
AGGRESSIVE HOOTING
CHEST-BEATING
GROWLING
ROARING
CHEST-BEATING
FRANTIC HOOTING
'It looks like Chimanuka has seen off Mugaruka.
'But at what cost?'
HOOTING
'The family have scattered.
'Chimanuka has been injured.
'And it'll be some time before the full repercussions become apparent.
'I won't see my gorilla family for another couple of months.
'Will Chimanuka be overthrown and lose everything?
'The fate of orphan Marhale,
'baby Mwira
'and the whole family hangs in the balance.'