00:00Deep within the dense rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a mysterious creature is roaming its habitat.
00:07Its name sends shivers down the spines of locals and explorers alike.
00:11I'm talking about Beely Apes.
00:14These legendary giants of the jungle have become the protagonists of many tales and legends, as well as numerous speculations.
00:21Imagine a chimpanzee.
00:23Now make it bigger, almost the size of a human when standing on its two.
00:27Make it wider and stronger.
00:29It nests on the ground in trees like gorillas and feasts on fierce beasts like leopards.
00:34That's a Beely Ape.
00:36Through generations, locals have been whispering about Beely Apes to each other.
00:40There are stories of them roaming the jungles on their two feet, vanishing into thin air when encountered by a human but leaving massive footprints behind.
00:49People claim that they have heard the creatures howling at the moon.
00:52They also state that the beasts are immune to poisonous darts.
00:55Locals call them the ones which beat the tree and the one which kills the lion.
01:00Local communities view them as guardians of the forest, possessing ancient wisdom passed down through the ages.
01:07About two decades ago, scientists and researchers got intrigued by what was going on in those rainforests and what those creatures were.
01:15A group of researchers went to study them and here's what they found out.
01:19Remember that the locals say that Beely Apes avoid humans.
01:24That's true, but not exactly.
01:28Turns out that Beely Apes live in the part of the forest that is close to where humans live and really prefer to avoid people.
01:35Adult males are more afraid of people than females.
01:38But as you go deeper into the forest, you see Beelys that have never seen people before.
01:44Those have no fear and they even show interest in their guests.
01:48They walk around you with curiosity or even come face to face with you and stare at you before moving away.
01:55The apes don't show any aggression.
01:57Much like other chimpanzees, Beely Apes live in social groups of 10 to 100 members.
02:03Every troop has a leader, a dominant alpha male.
02:06How do they determine the leader?
02:08Usually it's just the biggest male, so it's simple here.
02:11The leader makes decisions and protects the group.
02:14But he also has the highest rank and gets priority access to everything, like food or mates.
02:19There are even more rankings.
02:21Females have their own ranks.
02:23And more dominant apes have influence over others.
02:26They really are bigger than an average chimpanzee.
02:29And early in life, they have a grey coat.
02:32Their diet is also similar to that of chimpanzees.
02:35This means that about 90% of their diet is plants and fruits.
02:39Only 6% is animal products.
02:41And the remaining 4% are insects.
02:44In some instances, they act more like gorillas.
02:47For example, these fearless creatures don't only nest on trees, but on the ground as well.
02:52They make their nests themselves, moving branches and samplings into central bowls.
02:57Researchers are still baffled by this fact because the ground isn't safe,
03:01with all those leopards, lions and buffaloes roaming around.
03:04Maybe those creatures are as fierce as the local tales say.
03:09But here's a thing.
03:10The apes that live close to humans avoid nesting on the ground
03:14and are also way quieter, trying to avoid hunters.
03:18By the way, the nests of chimpanzees are cleaner than our beds.
03:22Those guys build a new nest every single night to keep bugs and whatever else out.
03:28Their creative abilities don't end with making nests.
03:31Billy apes actively use tools too.
03:34They have been observed using sticks or branches as tools to probe termite mounds
03:39or extract honey from beehives.
03:41There are several types of tools, and all have a particular purpose.
03:45The tools used to harvest driver ants are the largest ever found in Africa.
03:49This shows that these creatures have quite impressive cognitive abilities
03:53and problem-solving skills.
03:55Also, social learning.
03:58If one chimpanzee figures something out and that works,
04:01the others will observe, learn, and adopt the same strategy.
04:05Not every animal is capable of that.
04:07So that's what we know.
04:09When the research group came back,
04:11one of the members published a report in a magazine.
04:14Their faces are much flatter than those of chimpanzees.
04:17They turn gray early in life.
04:19They have a distinct howl that gets louder during the full moon.
04:23Those must be a new species unknown to scientists,
04:26a hybrid of the gorilla and the chimpanzee.
04:29Well, that's quite a scientific discovery.
04:32The researcher gave many interviews to famous channels and magazines.
04:36But then it was discovered that the researchers had a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology.
04:41So some experts in the field turned skeptical about her report.
04:46Phyllis did show some unique behavior that's not typical to chimpanzees.
04:51But that was mostly limited to nesting on the ground.
04:54So, are they a new species or not?
04:58The other members of the research group came forward
05:00after comparing Billy's DNA to the DNA of chimpanzees.
05:04They announced that the two samples of DNA were the same.
05:07They confirmed that the mysterious Billy apes were the same species as chimpanzees.
05:12Even more than that, they weren't even mutants or hybrids.
05:16Yes, they were a tiny bit bigger.
05:18And they would go gray earlier.
05:20But take humans.
05:21Some are taller.
05:22Some are shorter.
05:23Some are wider.
05:24Some get gray hairs earlier.
05:26And we all have different skin and hair and eye color.
05:28But just because I'm blonde and have an average height,
05:31and my neighbor is tall and has dark hair,
05:34doesn't make us different species.
05:37So, that was the argument of the other scientists from the research group.
05:42So, the whole speculation of Billy apes being a new species unknown to science was nothing.
05:48The claim that Belus howl at the moon was also debunked by another researcher from the group.
05:55The story is not new.
05:56There were other instances of such wrong calls.
05:59But there were also the opposite cases.
06:01When two species were believed to be the same, but turned out to be different.
06:06For example, Sumatran orangutan and Bornean orangutan were thought to be the same species for a while.
06:13But in the late 1990s, scientists established that the two were different.
06:18Both look alike.
06:19And both have that typical shaggy reddish fur.
06:22But Sumatran orangutans have longer hair and have closer social bonds with their community.
06:28Bornean orangutans are the ones who would go down to the ground more often.
06:32Both of the species are endangered, with just a bit over 100,000 Bornean orangutans left,
06:37and just 14,000 Sumatrans.
06:40As recently as 2017, a new, third species of orangutan was announced.
06:45The Tapanuli orangutan.
06:47There are just about 800 of those left in the world.
06:50And it's the most endangered species of all apes.
06:54Let's throw in a couple of facts about apes.
06:56Wild chimpanzees only live in Africa, and only in 21 countries of all.
07:01That's also the homeland of humans.
07:03Yes, millions of years ago, the first humans evolved in Africa.
07:07Chimpanzees are actually humans' closest living relatives.
07:11A human and a chimpanzee share an impressive 98.8% of the DNA.
07:16Humans, chimps, and bonobos share the same ancestor from 7 million years back.
07:21That's a very distant relative, but it explains why we're so alike.
07:25Seriously, we are.
07:27Chimps can catch human diseases, and scientists believe that they can develop Alzheimer's.
07:32Also, chimps have distinctive personality types similar to humans.
07:36They display varied degrees of the five major personality traits.
07:40Extroversion, openness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness.
07:46Chimpanzees are also known for fighting over territories with other groups.
07:50As I told you, they also learn from each other, not just about tools, but stuff like fashion, too.
07:56In Zambia, a chimpanzee once stuck a stalk of grass behind her ear.
08:01And other female chimpanzees did the same thing after her.
08:04Also, the language.
08:06They won't be able to speak English, of course.
08:08But one chimpanzee that lives in captivity has picked up American Sign Language.
08:13Now it can do more than 350 signs to communicate with the caretakers.
08:18The chimp even passed this knowledge down to her adopted son.
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