Eugene races against time to rescue a chimpanzee called Josephine from a run-down printing factory in Angola before her current owners carry out their threat to euthanize her.

At Chimp Eden, Eugene waits for the results of blood tests on Sampa and Tony, the two young chimps that he had to leave in Angola; Sally, the young female that inspired Eugene to start Chimp Eden, is proving tough to integrate with the other chimps.

Every day Eugene takes his life in his hands to go into Chimp Eden's kindergarten, where all the youngest chimps are placed in the custody of 43-year-old Jao; he acts like a grandfather to babies, but Jao is also unpredictable.