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00:00 There's a rush of excitement over at the macaques.
00:02 Dominant female Lisa has hidden herself away
00:06 to get some privacy.
00:07 She's going in to labor.
00:10 - Most primates, they'll give birth at night,
00:16 but Lisa, our dominant female,
00:20 literally around about midday, it was about 12 o'clock,
00:23 she gave birth to a healthy little baby.
00:25 - Both the animals and keepers
00:29 wait for a glimpse of the group's first baby in two years.
00:32 - New babies are massively important
00:36 to any primate social structure,
00:39 so it's a massively exciting thing.
00:41 It's what it's all about, really.
00:42 - After an hour, Lisa is ready to introduce
00:47 her newborn to the family.
00:49 (gentle music)
00:52 - It's quite a privilege to be able to see that.
01:06 It's quite rare, so it's fascinating
01:09 to be able to watch the whole group's reaction to that.
01:13 (gentle music)
01:16 It was just amazing and such a privilege to watch.
01:26 - It's been five days since Sulawesi macaque Lisa
01:38 gave birth to baby Han.
01:42 Looking after him is a full-time job,
01:44 as it is for any mom.
01:46 - All primates, ourselves included,
01:49 they will caretake the offspring and breastfeed
01:51 up until the point where they can begin weaning.
01:55 They'll carry that baby with them at all times.
01:58 - There are plenty of relatives keen to help Lisa out.
02:03 - Family is also important,
02:06 so the group plays an integral role
02:08 in making sure that those babies are safe
02:09 and looked after also.
02:11 If a baby's there, everybody's fascinated
02:13 and everybody wants to meet that new arrival.
02:16 - It's a bit like people where you have everyone
02:19 come round to your house in the space of two days,
02:21 but obviously they're in an enclosure
02:22 and they can't shut the door and go,
02:24 thank God no one's coming round anymore.
02:25 We're not inviting anyone else round.
02:27 They're not delicate with them at all.
02:30 They pull on their arms, they pull on their legs.
02:32 They just, they're so inquisitive
02:34 when they find a new baby.
02:39 - But there's one macaque who isn't queuing up to help out.
02:43 Dad Mamasa.
02:44 - Mamasa's, he's a good dad, as in he did his role
02:51 and he looks after the group,
02:52 but I wouldn't say he was a massively involved dad.
02:55 He's definitely not gonna be changing nappies
02:57 and cleaning bombs.
02:58 - With an absent father and overbearing in-laws,
03:07 Lisa doesn't know where to turn.
03:09 Two weeks after giving birth,
03:19 and macaque mum Lisa and her baby, Han,
03:21 are still finding themselves the centre of attention.
03:25 - The baby arriving into a group
03:27 is just such an absolutely fascinating thing.
03:31 And sometimes people can get a little bit over-excited.
03:36 - The group's lower-ranking females
03:39 all want to be seen with the new baby
03:41 to raise their status in the hierarchy.
03:44 But mum isn't willing to let go.
03:47 - Lisa's quite a feisty character
03:49 because of where her position is with the group.
03:51 If she's not happy, she'll vocalise.
03:54 She doesn't want that attention.
03:56 (barking)
03:58 - With tempers rising,
04:11 Lisa needs a rest and a babysitter she can trust.
04:15 Beaker is Lisa's son.
04:22 Generally, male macaques have the specific role
04:25 of defending territory and obviously mating the females.
04:30 Traditionally, they're not that bothered about babies.
04:34 But Beaker's fascinated with the new arrival
04:36 and he's spending quite a lot of time around his mum.
04:38 - With mum struggling,
04:42 Beaker decides he's the man for the job.
04:50 - It was a bit of a surprise that Lisa was so readily,
04:53 "Yeah, okay, I've got a babysitter."
04:55 To physically caretake them as much as Beaker,
05:01 that's pretty unusual.
05:02 Because Lisa and Beaker are so close,
05:06 she's gonna be very comfortable
05:08 with relinquishing a little bit of that responsibility.
05:11 Having said that, if he stepped out of line,
05:13 he'd know all about it.
05:19 - Beaker's babysitting services
05:21 mean Lisa can finally get some rest.
05:24 (thud)
05:27 (thud)
05:29 (thud)
05:31 (thud)
05:33 (thud)
05:37 (thud)
05:41 (thud)