Subjects: Life Science

Man is not the only social animal. At the beginning of 2001, Franz de Waal published his work on a group of chimpanzees in the Arnhem zoo, in the Netherlands. He showed the existence of elaborate and subtle rites which, according to him, revealed a political organization. This fueled the foundation of an argument much debated in today’s scientific world. Man would therefore no longer stand as the only “political animal” as defined by Aristotle. Schemes, coalitions, and mediation are all aspects of chimpanzee behavior. Long before man took hold of the political domain, nature had provided other animal species with a whole array of political stratagems, from the most cunning to the most egalitarian: polyergus ants have been practicing slavery for millions of years, hamadryas baboons have a right of veto and deer on the Isle of Rum have established their own democracy. Biologists have even realized that some traits of character used by politicians to fulfill their ambitions (and reach their goals) can be found in other animal species. Domination, alliance-building, seduction and manipulation are forms of intelligence no longer monopolized by man. Barriers continue to fall as discoveries on animal societies throughout the world progress.

Recent discoveries have shown that hundreds of animal species use tools. New Caledonia crows, for instance, use twigs to remove insect larvae from their galleries; sea otters use flat stones to break open urchin shells or earshells; tailor ants weave leaves together with the threads secreted by the specie’s larvae. Until recently, it was believed that the human tool was different from the animal tool which is neither transmitted nor accumulated. Several long-term studies on animal populations have proven quite the contrary. The animal tool can be cultural, some chimpanzee populations for instance have their own technical traditions: they crack nuts with stones. Supported by these observations, this comprehensive documentary will be structured around three central questions: how does the tool-using animal transform the world? And by extension the others? And how does the tool transform the animal’s behaviour?

As children we learn more about life through playing games than we do in any other way. It is the ability to play that enables us to develop into well co-ordinated, adaptable, highly social individuals. But we are not alone, animals play also. For many years this animal play was thought to be somehow ‘different’ to human play, but this is proving not to be the case. Why do animals indulge in play, what are the functions of these energy draining and often dangerous activities? This interdisciplinary programme will explore the reasons that play is so important to development: by describing social, locomotor and object play behavior in animal as diverse as reptiles, birds and mammals, it will find out the benefits it does provide. Finally it will look at the shocking evidence of what happens to young animals who are prevented from playing. In a startling parallel to humans, animal deprived of play, develop into dysfunctional adults, and even serial killers.

The study of animal behavior leaves little room for emotional-related explanations. Feelings in animals tend to be presented as functional explanations of behavior in a given situation. The notion of emotion has been completely overlooked, especially in the sixties, at the peak of animal experimentation, since it was easier to deny animal feelings like sadness or suffering, to guiltlessly carry out all sorts of tests. Recognizing the existence of animal feelings implies moral obligations. Things however are changing… and many scientists who study animal behavior are paying more and more attention to emotions. But how could it be otherwise? To better understand a behavior we need to compare it to an already seen already and understood situation. And what could better help us understand a specific behavior than our own experience, our own behavior and our own emotions.

In the 1950s, rhesus macaques living on the island of Koshima in Japan started to wash the sweet potatoes researchers gave them to eat. This observation could have remained anecdotal if the Japanese primatologists had not given this innovation the name of: “preculture”. Culture, always considered as a distinctive feature of the human race was being put into question. The study of the most evolved primates, our cousins the chimpanzees and bonobos, has since then enabled us to give a more precise definition of animal culture: habits acquired through a learning process leading to distinct traditions in different animal communities. Progressively other species have joined the culture club: elephants, dolphins, killer whales and even ravens…Through precise examples and never before seen footage, this documentary fuels the old debat of “nature versus culture” and sheds new light on the paradoxical question:”Is culture natural?”.

“Give me this, I will give you that”. This universal definition of trade finds an equivalent in nature in a phenomenon call mutualism. Shaped by evolution, it describes all long or short term exchanges and cooperation between animals to survive. It turns the traditional host-parasite relationship in a beneficial alliance for both partners. To describe mutualism, this fascinating and well-documented episode travels from the cold ocean dephts to the heat of summer corn fields where unexpected couples have formed : manta rays and remoras, sea cucumbers and shrimps or else butterflies and ants got married for better or for worst.

According to recent scientific research, more than 450 different kinds of animals engage in homosexual activity. St Thomas Productions has taken this research, and combined it with never-before- seen film footage, to produce this compelling and groundbreaking documentary. Animal Homosexuality explores the various ways homosexuality is expressed in the animal kingdom through courtships, affection, sex, pair-bonding and parenting. A covert revolution has been taking place in nature, and has gone unnoticed until now. With the help of scientific research, international stock footage and location shoots all over the world, Saint Thomas re-examines and revises the fundamental paradigms of nature.