Following on from a hugely successful first series Going Ape is back. Catch up with the frontline rescue workers as they continue their struggle to save orphaned apes at the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund (CWAF), West Africa. Each new chimp reveals their own story, as they overcome physical and psychological scars in an attempt to join their new family of apes.

Going Ape charts every courageous step in the complex social relationships that make primate life so similar to humans and provide the keys to returning these orphaned and displaced apes to the wild. The human characters include Sheri Speede, Rachel Hogan and Babs Tafon, who continue to dedicate their lives to chimps in need. As well as telling the amazing stories of the apes at the reserve Going Ape also goes behind the scenes of the terrible Bushmeat trade following traffickers from Cameroon to the European markets via Heathrow as they try to sell their illegal wares around the world.

PROGRAMME ONE
We catch up on the fate of some of the apes from series one. Shufai the gorilla came into The Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund  peppered with shotgun pellets and it was touch and go whether he would make it. Manager Rachel Hogan was with him 24/7 to try and save the traumatised youngster.

Gah the chimp was confiscated from a man who dealt in animals and drugs. Gah had fallen from a tree when his mother was killed and was paralysed from the waist down. He’s being cared for at the Limbe Wildlife Centre where vet Felix Lankester is determined that one day, Gah will walk again.

Nino the chimp was brutally attacked by another male. Vet Sheri Speede performed emergency surgery and athough she saves his life, Nino loses an eye and is left with an open would on his head. Sheri calls on the expertise of a UK based plastic surgeon to find out how the wound can be covered. But working in Cameroon is tough and without proper medical facilities, Sheri is forced to set up a makeshift operating theatre in a kitchen to carry out the delicate procedure.

PROGRAMME TWO
Felix has to act fast to avert disaster as two powerful male chimps escape from their enclosures. With the public milling about the Wildlife Limbe Centre, Felix knows that unless he can dart the animals, somebody is going to seriously injured or even killed. The chase is on!

Sheri Speede ventures into the heart of the jungle on a rescue mission to find a young chimpanzee abandoned at a remote logging station. She’s not sure whether they will find the chimp alive or dead.
Rachel Hogan has been caring for baby gorilla Pikin who came to the sanctuary in The Mefou National Park after hunters butchered her mother and family for bush meat. After months of care and rehabilitation, Pikin is over the trauma and turning into a bit of a handful! Rachel decides that it’s time to introduce her to some other young gorillas in the hope that they will adopt Pikin into the family group.

PROGRAMME THREE
For months the primate rescue centres have been trying to confiscate a chimp being kept illegally as a pet. Finally the official paperwork comes through and the rescue mission is on! Vet technician Babs is in charge of the rescue and is appalled by the condition of the chimp they find chained to a tree.

Vet Felix Lankester receives a shipment of 500 African Grey parrots destined to be smuggled out of Cameroon to supply the pet trade in the West. Hunters put glue on tree branches to catch the flocks as they land to roost at night and many of the birds are still covered with glue. The birds are crammed into cages so Felix and his team need to get them out in order to give emergency treatment to the weakest birds Some of the parrots have already perished but Felix is hopeful that others will be fit enough to return to the rainforest.

At the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund, orphaned chimp Daniel is finding it tough fitting in with the rest of the infant group. Without his mum to protect him, he’s being bullied by the other chimps and is turning to comfort eating in his distress. It’s a worrying time for the staff as they struggle to help him fit in.

PROGRAMME FOUR
There’s drama in the forest for Rachel Hogan as 2 escaped chimps threaten a nearby village. It’s not the first time they have been out and the older female has been known to attack so it’s crucial that they’re caught as soon as possible. A team of trackers head for the forest while Rachel and Talila go to warn the villagers.

Tilly is an eight month old orphaned chimp. She has been in the care of volunteer Sandy Jones since being taken from her mother who was slaughtered for bushmeat.. But just as Tilly accepts Sandy as her surrogate mum, Sandy has to return to the UK so Tilly is faced with finding a new mum. It’s a tough time for Tilly.

In Limbe, vet Felix Lankester is investigating a spate of chimp attacks on Mount Cameroon. Three people have been badly wounded and a baby killed. Throughout Africa an ever expanding population means that people are encroaching more and more into jungle areas. The local people were farming cocoa and the attacks occurred where the coca plantation meets the forest. The locals want something done about it and Felix has to persuade them not to try and kill the animals.

PROGRAMME FIVE
Johnny, a young male chimp at the Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Centre has a delicate problem. During a bout of boisterous playfighting, he’s split his penis. Vet Sheri Speede knows that if he’s ever to be considered for release in the future, he needs to be able to reproduce so she has to operate immediately. But Johnny is not a model patient and removes his dressing and catheter. It’s now a waiting game to see whether the operation has worked.

In the Mefou National Park Rachel Hogan rescues a tiny Talapoin monkey whose mother has been shot by hunters. Talapoins are one of the smallest monkeys in Africa and her tiny body is peppered with gunshot. Volunteer Robin Huffman becomes her surrogate mum, tending to her wounds and helping her recover form her ordeal. Robin names her Yoda and it’s not long before Yoda is ready to join two other orphaned monkeys.

Chimpanzee Pitchou is in a bit of a fix. She’s managed to get herself stuck at the very top of a 45 metre high tree. Rachel Hogan has to come up with a plan to help get Pitchou down. But being in the middle of a rainforest, it’s not straightforward.

PROGRAMME SIX
Word comes into the Limbe Wildlife Centre that a baby gorilla has been confiscated from hunters and is in desperate need of a surrogate mum. Vet Felix Lankester knows that time is not on their side as the baby gorilla could go downhill and die very quickly.

Together with volunteer Sandy Jones who will be the infant’s new surrogate mum, he makes the 6 hour drive to Yaounde where the infant is being held. From this point on Sandy will spend 24/7 with the baby for at least a year. The baby looks in reasonable health but overnight she develops cold like symptoms -it’s a worrying time
In Cameroon the charity Erudef campaign to stop people from hunting endangered apes. Charity representative, Paul Tendem is on a mission into the heart of the forest to meet a village that have a strong tradition in hunting bush meat. The village is not accessible by car so Paul and his team will have to carry everything they need for their presentation 2000 m up a mountain. He’s hoping that by showing how similar apes are to humans, they might think twice about killing them but the presentation leads to a spilt in opinions amongst the villagers and a heated debate ensues.

There’s chaos in the Mefou National Park. Two Putty Nosed monkeys have escaped from their enclosure and are ransacking houses in the local village. Keeper Franklin Tafon tries to catch them but the monkeys are too quick and disappear off into the forest. As night closes, there’s still no sign of the animals. Franklin is worried he knows that they could be in danger of being trapped in snares or shot by hunters.

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