He's best known for his love of creepy-crawlies, but this week 'cuddly' George McGavin returns to our screens in search of primates, in three-part documentary series Monkey Planet. “The series is a celebration of the animal group to which we belong” says George.
George McGavin in Japan
George and the Monkey Planet team visited 11 countries from Borneo to Ethiopia and Japan to film a diverse range of species in their natural habitats, but sometimes just finding them proved to be the biggest challenge. “It’s very rare you turn up and things just happen, we spent a lot of time tracking the animals down and some are hellish to film – they’re so quick. At other times, we couldn’t find them at all. One frustrating day we waited seven hours. We’d planted honey in a tree log and were trying to lure in a chimpanzee, but he never came. To top it off we got drenched in a torrential shower.”
"Primates are intelligent and resourceful animals but many species are threatened from hunting and habitat loss. I can only hope that we have the intelligence to see that they are an important part of the planet's biodiversity and have the resourcefulness to make sure that they survive.”
To celebrate this new TV series I've put together a collection of some of my own primate images. We are part of a remarkable family and George and Monkey Planet will show you why.
Male Proboscis monkey, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams) The monkey is also known as orang belanda which means "Dutchman" in Malay, as Indonesians remarked that the Dutch colonisers often had similarly large bellies and noses.
Female proboscis monkey with child, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams)
Black Howler Monkey, Brazil (Photo: Paul Williams)
Bonnet Macaques, Hampi, India. At the ancient temples of Hampi my camera was drawing constant attention from the macaques who tried to grab it. I noticed this scene in a corner where two mothers were feeding their young, I thought it the perfect scene, placing the monkeys in their temple environment. (Photo: Paul Williams)
Spectral Tarsiers in a tree, Northern Sulawesi. Resembling a cross between a gremlin and a tiny koala, the spectral tarsier emerges before dusk and spends the night jumping from tree to tree on the hunt for food. The local guides in Tangkoko nature reserve, assured me that this tree was home to a family of tarsiers. We arrived before dawn and waited - not long after it started to get light the tarsiers returned from a night of hunting. I was able to get this shot before they headed inside the tree to sleep. (Photo: Paul Williams)
Japanese Macaque, Japan (Photo: Paul Williams)
Young Japanese Macaque, Japan (Photo: Paul Williams)
Rescued Javan Slow Loris in a holding cage, Jakarta, Indonesia. This slow loris had just been rescued from illegal trade in Jakarta. I could see despair in his eyes but I knew that he would soon be released back to the wild. (Photo: Paul Williams)
Red leaf monkey, Danum Valley, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams). It was a momentary hug and the cheeky little monkey stuck out his tongue at just the right time for me to get the shot.
Lion-tailed macaque sitting on a roof, South India. (Photo: Paul Williams)
Lion-tailed macaques grooming on a specially built bridge. These bamboo bridges connect fragmented forest near a village in the Malnad region of Shimoga district, South India. (Photo: Paul Williams).
Dusky Leaf Monkey, Ipoh, Malaysia (Photo: Paul Williams)
Long-Tailed Macaque with a young baby, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams)
Long Tailed Macaque, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams)
I was visiting Danum Valley in Boneo when I saw this pig tailed macaque from my car. I stopped and watched as, oblivious to my presence, it carefully picked at the fig fruit it was holding. (Photo: Paul Williams)
Hanuman Langur, Western Ghats, India (Photo: Paul Williams)
Hanuman Langurs, Sri Lanka (Photo: Paul Williams)
The Sumatran orangutan is endemic to the island of Sumatra, Indonesia where its population has decreased by 86% over the past 100 years. The most recent estimate (Wich et al, 2008) is that less than 6624 Sumatran orangutan still survive in the wild - this is decreasing every year. The loss of forest cover is the main cause of this decline. Between 1985 and 1997 61% of the forest in Sumatra was lost due to logging, infrastructure development, internal migration, and plantation development. The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered and is listed as one of the twenty-five most endangered primates in the world (IUCN, 2006). (Photo: Paul Williams)
Orangutan and child, Bukit Luwang, Sumatra (Photo: Paul Williams)
Male crested black macaque at an old camp fire, Tangkoko, Sulawesi (Photo: Paul Williams)
Female crested black macaque with a child, Tangkoko, Sulawesi (Photo: Paul Williams)
Lar Gibbon, Sumatra (Photo: Paul Williams)
Silver Leaf Monkey, Bako NP, Borneo (Photo: Paul Williams)
Human, Cambodia (Photo: Paul Williams)