LOOKING SHARP
THE deafening explosion of a shotgun is followed by a thud as a small black monkey falls out of the tree and onto the floor.
Hunter Bosco is delighted - his catch means his tribe will eat tonight - and the distraught baby primate that is screaming and clinging to its dead mother's back will only provide more meat for the stew.
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This is a normal day in the lives of the pygmy tribe, who live a secret existence in the rain forests of the Congo.
The tribe - a group native to Central Africa - are distinguished by their sawed-off teeth, and live on a diet of hand-caught caterpillars and monkeys.
They believe in witchcraft, and even blame the death of a young mum on rumours she'd had sex with her brother-in-law, who had cursed her after the act.
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Numbers of pygmy people - who typically are around 4ft 11 due to salt deficiency and diet and live in mud huts - are falling, with less than 500,000 worldwide.
In a new three-part Channel 4 documentary, filmmaker Livia Simoka gets unprecedented access to the 250-strong Congolese Mbendjele BaYaka tribe.
Monkey brains for breakfast
The daily routine for the tribe - which is headed up by leaders Mama and Papa - usually starts with a trip to the well before breakfast.
Traditionally, the women forage for bugs to eat while the men hunt- and in the jungle, everything is on the menu.
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Yvon, Mama's son, comes back with a small black monkey he's killed with a shotgun, throwing its body on a fire first to burn the hair off.
"Will you eat everything?" Livia asks, clearly upset by the violent scenes in front of her.
"Yes we cook everything even the organs and the head," Mama replies.
In graphic scenes, the family can then be seen preparing their kill for dinner, using a machete to chop the off the monkey's head and bum.
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The tribe keep the organs for dinner where they will make a monkey stew, but put the rest aside to eat the next day.
"It smells really smoky - what I imagine a human would smell like," Livia comments.
Hunter Yvon gets to enjoy the biggest delicacy - the brains.
A side of caterpillars
As the monkey and its baby are cooked up, the tribe's women forage around the village for side dishes.
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Caterpillars are a local delicacy, and the women bring them back to camp to be carefully prepared.
"This is where the poo comes out," Mama says, showing Livia how to remove the slimy green excrement from inside their bodies as she prepares them for dinner.
Sharpening and chiselling teeth
Within the community, sharpened teeth are considered beautiful, with one villager commenting: "If you have your teeth sharpened a man will want to flirt with you."
To achieve this look, women have their teeth chiselled with blades and then filed down into points.
One of the tribe's women, Angelique, prepares for her chiselling ceremony during the show.
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"I'm excited to get my teeth sharpened like my sister. When I smile all the men will want me," she says, gleefully.
Angelique lies on the floor with her limbs held down by villagers and bites on a stick while one of the elders uses a sharp knife and file to sand them into points.
Edmond says: "I've done it on many people, even children."
Witchcraft and murder
Despite a lack of modern technology and 9-5 jobs, it quickly becomes apparent to Livia that life in the rainforest comes with the same issues of Western life - including family feuds and difficult relationships.
Tribe leaders Mama and Papa's daughter Akaya is married - but the pair are struggling to deal with the pressure of their families not getting on.
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Akaya's family is grieving after her sister died during childbirth along with her baby.
Akaya says: "When we lost my sister I decided I would live at home - that I would stay and look after mum. But now my husband's mother wants him to find another woman."
Shockingly, her husband Kengule claims he has been accused of using witchcraft - which the tribe use to try and make sense of unexplained death - to kill Akaya's sister.
He says: "For a while my wife and I had a good marriage. But then my wife's family accused me of sorcery. They say I killed my wife's sister, but when did they ever see me use sorcery?"
Kengule says: "I don't know why everyone hates me so much. What have I done wrong?" "I heard your family spreading rumours saying I had sex with your sister and that's why she died." Kengule says, finally addressing the accusations.
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As a result of their increasing feud, the two families agree to meet up to air their grievances in a meeting known as a Mosambo.
Mama and the rest of the tribe deny spreading the rumours, but by the end of the meeting, the marriage is seemingly over, leaving Akaya in tears.
"I can't live with Kengule now because it feels like our mothers don't want us to be together," she sobs.
Watch Extreme Tribe: The Last Pygmies tonight (Monday 8 July), 9pm, Channel 4.
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