Nature · Season 45 · Episode 4

“HumanLike: The Chimps of Fongoli”

Airs Thursday 12 November 2026

On the southern edge of the Sahara in Fongoli, Senegal, lives a group of remarkable chimpanzees that could hold clues to how we became human. The Fongoli chimps live at the very limits where chimps can survive, having adapted to the extreme heat and dryness of the savanna woodlands. For years, these chimps were elusive ghosts, rarely seen. NATURE traces the remarkable 25-year story of how American anthropologist Jill Pruetz and local chimp expert Dondo Johnny Kante got so close to the Fongoli chimps to uncover unique behavior

S45 E4 discussion