BBC - The Human Animal (1994) Part 3 The Human Zoo

Join zoologist Desmond Morris in this fascinating documentary series as he goes out into the field and studies, in its natural habitat, the most interesting and odd animal of all humans. Six-part series shows that, however much we may think we have evolved from our animal ancestors, our instincts and behaviour are still rooted in our animal past. By denying this inheritance we are in danger of destroying everything we have strived so hard to create. Despite the different skin colours, beliefs and rituals to be found in the 5000 million human beings alive today, we actually all share an almost identical genetic heritage. In this portrait of the human species, Desmond Morris takes us right to the centre of human existence and explores all aspects of human life and behaviour. From the way we rear our young to the common use of certain facial gestures, Morris covers a fascinating variety of subjects how our hunting instincts have been channelled into an extraordinary range of sporting activities; how the modern art world can trace its roots back to an early primate picking up a stone resembling a face; how different courtship rituals across the world reflect the universal emotion of love. Desmond Morris also looks at some of the damaging consequences that can be seen when we try to deny our animal heritage how territorial fights erupt when the tribal systems within our overcrowded cities break down, and how human relationships disintegrate when natural social or sexual patterns change.

Part 3 The Human Zoo

Continuing his fascinating study of the human species, Desmond Morris explores the evolutionary and psychological implications of modern city-living, a kind of environment to which our genes have not yet had time to adapt. In the process, and despite seemingly vast cultural differences, Morris reveals a very odd species replete with arbitrary beliefs, rituals and traditions that work as mechanisms of social cohesion and group identity.

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