Monkey Business (12/34)

Monkey Business (12/34)

They don't have many friends, the baboons of South Africa. Since their habitat is constantly shrinking, these monkeys, who are so similar to humans in many respects, are coming into the cities and villages with increasing frequency. The gangs are much feared for they pilfer and plunder everything that is not nailed down. They steal schoolchildren's sandwiches, damage tourists' cars, devastate front gardens. They are deliberately run over, poisoned, shot dead. As a result many baboons are orphaned, often when they are only a few days old, and are unable to survive without the close relationship to their mothers. This was Rambo's fate. He was only a few weeks old and living with his clan on the banks of the Olifants River when someone shot his mother. Rambo was lucky. An animal lover found him and took him to Rita. For 50 years this 83-year-old German lady has been devoting her life to injured and orphaned baboons and has established a Baboon Rehabilitation Center on the borders of the Kruger National Park. Here Rambo was reared by a "human foster mother". He spent day and night with her, even sleeping in her bed. After this Rambo joined a group of other orphaned baboons. Rambo is now five years old and lives with his clan in the Center - behind bars. Yet Rita has great plans for Rambo and his family. The eleven baboons are now old enough to return to freedom. Yet the new freedom in the wild holds many surprises for Rambo, not only positive ones...

30 min. English version