Winter grips the park, and the chimps make snowballs in the icy weather. But one of the park’s best loved primates is extremely ill, and Jeremy is very worried about Charlie. As Charlie’s condition goes downhill and the big freeze sets in, Jeremy keeps an all-night vigil. But will Charlie make it through the night?

Episode 5

Jim Cronin

Ralf Little

Alison Cronin

Jeremy Keeling

Episode 6

Episode 4

Alison and Jeremy are on a mission to rescue feisty capuchin monkeys from Spain. Their ex-pat owners are returning to the UK and can’t look after Babe and Amy any longer, so they’ve appealed to Monkey World for help. Back at the sanctuary, keeper Mike is on babysitting duty for the park’s newest arrival, a baby woolly monkey. And nursery chimp Bryan falls in love…with his own reflection.

Episode 1

Alison and Jeremy arrive home with two new capuchin monkeys from Spain, but one of them makes a bid for freedom. Something’s wrong with one of Britain’s best known chimps, Trudy, but it’s all a bit of a mystery. And Debbie’s capuchin group take on a lunch snack…that bites back.

Episode 2

The UK pet trade strikes again. Alison and Jeremy head to a derelict farm to prevent Samantha, the squirrel monkey, from being put down. Young chimp Ben needs to settle into a new group, but will he hold his nerve when he comes face to face with alpha male Hananya? And when it comes to football, the Bachelor chimps are in a league of their own

Episode 3

Samantha the squirrel monkey gets the all-clear from the park’s vet, and the chance to meet others of her own kind. There’s a disaster at the new orang-utan nursery when builders try to fit the huge new windows, and baby woolly monkey Diego meets one of his family, for the very first time.

In a Vietnam special, Alison travels to Monkey World’s sister sanctuary, Dao Tien, the site of pioneering rescue and rehabilitation work with golden-cheeked gibbons. Director, Marina calls in human doctors for ground-breaking eye surgery on a gibbon Mika. And, there’s trouble when the team try to rescue a rare silvered langur monkey.

Snow and ice keep most of the primates indoors, and hot jacket potatoes and flu jabs for the chimps keep the winter chills away. But over at the woolly monkey house, an unexplained accident means a desperate fight for life, for baby Raúl.

Episode 7

Something’s wrong with Trudy, one of the park’s most famous chimps, and Alison goes to great lengths to help her. But will the experts be able to diagnose her condition? Marcel the marmoset demonstrates small monkeys can be as clever as the larger apes, and baby woolly Diego graduates to join the grown ups.

Episode 8

Alison heads to Belfast to pick up Kaiyah, the ring-tailed lemur who took over a family home. Spanish capuchins Babe and Amy try to make new friends with those of their own kind, and there’s a cracking lesson in wild behaviour for the park’s Chilean capuchin girls.

Episode 9

Alison, Jeremy and the team feel like new parents! It’s babies all round for the park’s endangered primates. Jeremy confirms orang-utan Hsiao-Quai is definitely pregnant; the team suspect woolly Yarima is too, and golden-cheeked gibbon Peanut presents her new born… clinging on tight.

Episode 10

A dental day at the park reveals more than just fillings for chimps Busta and Mickey. New Spanish capuchins Babe and Amy take on dominant female Debbie, and in the crèche the baby orang-utans hit the sack.

Episode 11

Kaiyah the ring-tailed lemur from Belfast, gets a family visit. And there’s great excitement in Hananya’s group with ice lollies for all, but will low ranking chimp Arfur get his share? And there’s high tension in the operating theatre when park vet Mike, tries to repair a deep leg wound on young chimp Pip.

Episode 12

Chimp Ben is moving to join the park’s Bachelor Boys, but will his old pals Seamus and Turkish Çarli remember him, and will he find acceptance in his new home? Down at the capuchin house, their rehabilitation is going well, but can the keepers persuade the former Chilean lab monkeys to climb like they would in the wild?

Episode 13

Rare cotton-top tamarins from Colombia are seized by police in a raid on a farm, and Alison agrees to re-home this new species at the park. But are Uncas and Alice really a breeding pair? And over in the rowdy Boys, chimp Ben is making friends…but is about to meet Bachelor big boss, Butch.

Episode 14

Kaiyah the ring-tailed lemur, heads to Malagasy to meet the park’s male lemurs for the first time. She also needs to get used to a large enclosure after spending her young life as a pet, but an injury prevents her progress. The Primate Car Staff think they’ve solved the mystery of golden-cheeked Peanut’s little baby, and chimp Ben finally settles in with his new Bachelor troop.

Episode 15

Golden-cheeked gibbon Peanut needs an operation on her torn lip, but she’s got a baby on board – will she hang onto mum? Kaiyah’s rehabilitation began as soon as she arrived at the park – Alison believes every primate can be given the keys back to their lives. And with buckets, jelly and suds provided, the chimps have a bachelor party.

Episode 16

Vet Mike tailors a designer jacket for capuchin Bruce and Hananya’s chimp group have a wild bedtime, but will they remember how to nest build? Marina is visiting from Vietnam and checks on the progress of the golden-cheeked gibbons, and baby Tia Nang shows mum she’s a big girl now.

Episode 17

Alison’s undercover on the trail of a chimp, worked as a photographer’s prop on the beaches of Turkey. Her secret filming adds to the evidence collected over the years by concerned tourists. Alison turns to her Dorset MP for help, but can they persuade officials at the Turkish Embassy in London to put an end to the abuse, and rescue Çadi?

Episode 18

The world’s oldest woolly monkey, Xuzy, is having a down day, but the ever-energetic chimps are enjoying being out in the rain and nothing seems to dampen their spirits! There’s still concern over chimp Trudy, but at the orang-utans there’s great excitement over Hsiao-Quai’s very special early delivery.

Episode 19

Alison, Jeremy, and the team become anxious after orang-utan Hsiao-Quai gives birth, but despite a rain storm and the cold, she refuses to bring the baby indoors. And there’s cause for celebration as the new orang-utan nursery opens at last!

Episode 20

Monkey Life was created in 2006 and has continuously documented the work of Dr. Alison Cronin, MBE and her team at Monkey World; Ape Rescue Centre.

Filmed at Monkey World in Dorset, Monkey Life follows the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected primates. Many have mental as well as physical problems so the Primate Care Staff treat their individual needs until they can be reintegrated with primates of their own kind. The primates at the park range from apes, who were taken from the wild as babies and used as photographers props on Spanish beaches to monkeys, many of which were rescued from the UK pet trade.

With unparalleled access Monkey World's dedicated team are filmed dealing with medical emergencies, primate moves, births and sometimes heart-breaking decisions. We follow Dr. Alison Cronin, MBE around the globe as she continues the park's mission to rescue abused primates. Monkey Life documents the daily life and drama of the world’s largest primate rescue centre.

Episode 5

Seasons18

Season 4 Episodes20

Cast4

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