As I am sure I have stated previously on this blog (if not elsewhere) when I was younger, I wanted to be a primatologist. My large collection of plush orangutans and gorillas as a child are a testament to this. I felt a close affinity as a child to chimpanzees and other primates, recognising their human-like nature, and complex social structures. However, I quickly realised that the only place I could reliably see them within Great Britain was in zoos, so I fell down the rabbit hole of herpetology instead. I personally think it was for the better. However, whenever I see a documentary series about great apes or primates, it catches my eye due to the love I had for them as a child. So when I saw Chimp Empire had just dropped on Netflix, I was more than happy to give it a watch! Narrated by Mahershala Ali, the series delves deep into the social structures, behavior, and emotions of these fascinating primates.

The series is broken down into four episodes, following two troops of chimpanzees in the Ngogo of the Kibale National Park, Uganda – where a long-running project monitoring the chimps has been undertaken. Just as Jane Goodall’s research conducted in the Gombe National Park, each of the chimps at Ngogo has a name. As a scientist, I would rather people step away from doing this, but with chimps and their near-human nature, I guess it is a lot harder than for a frog or a beetle. This also helps to connect the audience with the animals, although I question how well balanced this anthropomorphism is within this series.

One of the standout features of Chimp Empire is the incredible footage of chimpanzees captured by the camera crew. The close-up shots of chimp behavior and interactions are simply stunning and provide a rare glimpse into the daily lives of these incredible animals. This is especially true given the chase scenes, where everything is in focus and perfectly framed. This demonstrate the skills of the camera operators, especially seeing as some posts on social media have speculated that the series is CGI. I’d recommend it to anyone who wishes to know more about chimpanzees or their habitats, just be wary of the false-jeopardy and other embellished story-telling techniques throughout.

If you liked this post and enjoy reading this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon where you will also gain access to exclusive content.