Monkey Thieves

Caught this series on TV last week. This series have it all, power-play, charisma, leadership, mischief, friendship, camaraderie and survival. The funny thing is the major players are "monkeys". The similarities are  uncanny......

Monkey Thieves is an action-packed series on National Geographic Channel dramatising the ultimate urban monkeys. It tells the story of the Galta gang, a sixty-strong troop of rhesus macaques who live in a beautiful Hindu Temple on the outskirts of Jaipur, in northwestern India. They enjoy a highly privileged status – revered by the local people as descendents of Hanuman, the monkey God. The series joins this charismatic troop of monkeys, lead by alpha male Tarak and alpha female Rani as they find their peaceful temple lifestyle interrupted by an ever-worsening drought. Shortage of food forces the monkeys to venture deep into the Pink City where they are forced to steal to survive. They get up to plenty of mischief, encounter other hostile monkey troops and must try to steer clear of the dreaded ‘monkey-catcher’.

This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the Galta Gang has been so successful that their numbers have burgeoned to over one hundred individuals. When this happens, macaque troops undergo a process called fission: the group splits into two. This is because the territory can no longer support such a massive troop.

The matrilineal lines are sustained in the top half mother troop, but in the splinter group we see a big change in structure as previously middle-rankers like Bippin, Yash and Tito are suddenly accelerated to the heady heights of leadership potential. Follow the Jaipur monkeys as the groups are forced to divide, friendships challenged and the hard times felt by all in Monkey Thieves.

...from 1 monkey to another