BBC's New Wildlife Show 'Baby Chimp Rescue' Looks Amazing

Love BBC One's Serengeti and all things David Attenborough?

Well, a brand new three-part natural history series commissioned by BBC Two, Baby Chimp Rescue, could be your new favourite TV programme.

Made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the programme will follow the lives of husband-and-wife wildlife vets Jimmy Desmond and Jenny, who care for a group of adorable orphaned baby chimpanzees.

Cuteness. Overload.

The Desmonds' home for rescued chimps began when they saved two chimpanzee orphans from the illegal pet trade. Today, the couple have 21 mischievous chimps monkeying around their home.

If that wasn't enough, the chimp babies share the compound with several adopted dogs, who have welcomed the chimpanzees into their pack. It's like 101 Dalmations meets The Jungle Book IRL.

Like humans, chimps experience a wide range of emotions, are highly intelligent and even have a sense of humour. Incredibly, they share around 98.6% of human DNA.

This means that the baby chimps form ultra-close bonds with their mothers during their early years.

Jimmy, Jenny and the team of caregivers provide a safe space and care system to help the babies recover from trauma. Many lost their mothers before learning key skills and will never be able to return to the wild.

The wider, worrying picture is that chimpanzee numbers have plummeted in West Africa in the last 25 years, to the extent that they are now classified as a critically endangered species.

Why? Wild chimpanzee mothers are often killed for bush meat, while their babies are traded illegally as expensive pets.

The programme will show the Desmonds battling challenges like financial worries and lack of space. Their big dream is to move the chimps to a 100-acre forest surrounded by mangroves.

Meanwhile, Evolutionary biologist and conservationist, Professor Ben Garrod, helps at the home by teaching the chimps to climb, forage for food and recognise danger.

Jo Shinner, Executive Producer for BBC Studios Natural History Unit says: "These orphan chimps are all suffering PTSD. The care and love lavished on them by the Desmonds is an extraordinary thing.

"This story of our times has captivating and irresistible characters, both chimp and human, set against a wider picture of wildlife crisis."