Stream now with KPBS Passport on KPBS+ / Watch Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2
Award-winning wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet has held a deep spiritual connection with gorillas since he was a child. Witness as he is given the opportunity of a lifetime, to document a grueling but vital mission to habituate a notoriously protective 500-pound silverback, in NATURE "Silverback."
This observational documentary chronicles a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas from extinction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Djenguet (NATURE "My Congo") joins the park rangers of Kahuzi-Bienga National Park to get close to a wild gorilla troop and document them for three months.
With less than 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas left in the wild, the rangers’ goal is to create vital income from tourism by habituating a family of 23 gorillas, led by a silverback called Mpungwe, so tourists can safely observe them in the forest. The revenue will not only fund the care and protection of the eastern lowland gorillas but also support the local community in efforts to reduce poaching, deforestation and the spread of disease.
The habituation process is dangerous and unpredictable as the silverback’s role is to protect his family from perceived threats. NATURE "Silverback" marks the first time this process has been captured on film and leads Djenguet to wrestle with the dilemma of doing whatever it takes to preserve the subspecies, even at the cost of agitating the silverback. It’s an emotional journey that reveals Djenguet's unresolved feelings about traditional masculinity and his own upbringing.
Watch On Your Schedule: NATURE "Silverback" is available to stream with KPBS Passport on KPBS+, a new free streaming video app designed for ease and enjoyment everywhere you watch including Roku, smart TVs and mobile devices. It’s locally curated for San Diego by the KPBS programming team. With a clean and intuitive design, discovering and enjoying KPBS and PBS content on-demand has never been easier.
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Credits: An Off the Fence production for BBC in co-production with France Télévisions in association with Featuristic Films and The WNET Group. The documentary is directed, filmed and edited by Miles Blayden-Ryall. Presented and filmed by Vianet Djenguet. For Off the Fence, Andrew Zikking and Guy Gilbert are Executive Producers. For NATURE, Fred Kaufman is Executive Producer, Bill Murphy is Series Producer and Janet Hess is Series Editor. NATURE is a production of The WNET Group.
