Monkeys mourn robot baby in groundbreaking new BBC show

Monkeys have been shown to mourn a robot baby they accepted as one of their own.

In a new BBC show, Spy In The Wild, the monkeys gather around the artificial creature and appear to go into a state of grief.

They gather around the baby, hush their chatter and hug each other in what appears to be a show of grief.

In what is perhaps a good show for those who are missing Planet Earth, the producers hide cameras in lifelike robots to give a first-person view of how animals behave in the wild.

The show aims to give an insight into the secret lives of animals.

The cameras manage to capture animal behaviours that appear to demonstrate grief, friendship and even empathy with other species.

Viewers will even see what it is like to be a baby crocodile travelling down a river in the jaws of its mother.

Real-life animals interacted with the artificial creatures in ways which shocked the producers.

John Downer, the executive producer, said: "We began to see that the cameras were not only recording, they were sometimes eliciting behaviour in a way that made you think.

"You were having that connection between the spy creature and the animal that you never get with any kind of filming, and so things would develop that you didn't expect."

A camera concealed in the likeness of a prairie dog was able to mimic the movements of animals in the pack, gaining their trust, and so was able to capture their habit of "kissing" each other.

The scientists who studied the animals had previously predicted the robot would be ripped apart in minutes; but the realistic movements it achieved meant the dogs trusted it.

Other cameras used in the show include a walking crocodile, several mobile tortoises and a female orangutan.

This article was originally published by the Daily Telegraph