Episode 9 Animal Park


Episode 9

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The meerkats are some of the most popular animals here at Longleat,

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but following their story has been a heartbreaking experience.

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There have been many glorious births but also tragically many deaths here at Meerkat Mountain.

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Everyone has their fingers crossed as their journey continues today.

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Coming up on today's Animal Park,

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head of section Mark Tye is feeling the pressure of 900 mouths that need feeding.

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Animals don't wait for anybody.

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They expect their food on time, at the right time and in the right way.

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And just when there's cause for celebration, tragedy strikes Meerkat Mountain.

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But first, it's straight down to the new area, where an unbelievable scene is about to unfold.

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Right now, the whole safari park has just gone on to red alert.

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One of their animals is on the loose and of course, an escape is the keeper's worst nightmare.

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Kate and I have just rushed down because we've had an urgent message from deputy head warden Ian Turner

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that Darcy the bongo has escaped from his enclosure.

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He crossed, remarkably, a cattle grid and he's now between the entrance to the park

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and the main entrance, where the cars come in to the safari park.

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There's a tiger enclosure just down there with the tigers out, so what the keepers are now trying to do,

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you can see that people are standing around here, they're trying to shut the tigers back into their house

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so that they can drive Darcy down this safe route here and back into the park, not over a cattle grid.

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If he crosses a cattle grid again he could break a leg,

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so it's a very delicate, very calm operation,

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although it doesn't feel very calm sitting here at the moment.

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The tigers must be driven out of their enclosure and down into their house.

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Not because they could get at Darcy, but because there's a chance HE might see THEM through the fence.

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And if he did, who knows where he'd be when he eventually stopped running?

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-Tigers in.

-Oh, that's tigers in. OK.

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The tigers are in, we've just heard Ian on the radio.

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Kevin is out with Darcy now. What's the plan?

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I think it's just changed.

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We're going to try and walk her through this wooded bit

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and then take the fence down the other side.

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He's just got a bucket of food there.

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-The problem of course as well is the safari park is still open so we've got cars coming through.

-Absolutely.

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It looks like Kevin isn't having a great deal of luck with his bananas.

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It would work with most animals.

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I don't know what plan that was, whether it was A, B, C or D.

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So he'll happily cross cattle grids but he won't go on tarmac.

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He won't go on tarmac.

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Even though he's walked across it once, if anything spooks him,

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because they're very easily spooked, he just takes off - it's a broken leg.

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It's extraordinary that he managed to cross it at all.

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I mean, they're lethal things, even for us to try and cross one.

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The next plan of action is they're going to try

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and slowly walk it towards the car because it's so quiet.

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They're hoping that it'll just walk across nice and peacefully.

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They've just got to watch the vehicles so they don't get spooked.

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Crossing the road near the gate means Kevin can use the fence to help block Darcy from turning away.

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But it does mean taking him perilously close to that cattle grid.

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It's a very tense moment and we'll be back shortly to see what happens.

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Meerkat Mountain is one of the most dangerous places in the park.

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The collective name for a gang of meerkats is a mob,

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which is quite appropriate after all the violence and tragedy that's happened here in recent times.

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-Hi, guys.

-Darren Beasley is the keeper in charge.

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His mission has always been to get them to breed, but before that could ever happen,

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the mob had to become a settled and stable family group.

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We've been trying to get the meerkat balance right

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and it's been a real trial for all the keepers down here.

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We brought in some new blood.

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We brought some from two collections, some girls and a single boy, a breeding male.

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And it was a nightmare. There was fighting, there was squabbling.

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In the end, I'm afraid, very sadly there was a murder.

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There was a fatality and they fought so bad that they killed each other.

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Meerkats come from the barren deserts of southern Africa,

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a landscape so harsh that the only rule is kill or be killed.

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But after that murder, the mob did settle down.

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An alpha male and female emerged as leaders and finally they began to breed.

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Three pups from their first litter have survived and are now four months old.

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It's taken years and tears and heartache along the way, but we're there.

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Once there's an established alpha couple, there's no reason why they shouldn't just keep breeding.

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A mob can easily have over 30 family members

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but at Meerkat Mountain, it seems that tragedy is never far away.

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When the next litter came, there were two pups,

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but one soon died and the other was abandoned by her parents.

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So keeper John Reynolds took on the labour intensive and emotionally charged task of hand rearing.

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He looked after the baby for five weeks and then the time came to try to reintegrate her into the mob.

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I think she's ready to go back in with them now.

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She's old enough now, she's strong enough, she's healthy enough,

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she really needs to be back with her own kind. It's good for her.

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I can't teach her to dig in the ground, I can't teach her how to stand up on two legs,

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I can't teach her how to be a meerkat.

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Don't need that any more.

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This is the moment of truth.

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Will the mob accept the baby back or kill her as an intruder?

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So far, this is looking good.

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I'm thrilled what's happened here. It's gone better than I imagined.

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They've taken to her like she was never gone.

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It really is absolutely incredible.

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But sadly, this early success was short-lived.

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Nobody knows why or how it happened,

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but a few days later, John's little baby was found dead.

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But this wasn't the last drama on Meerkat Mountain, because the alpha female is now pregnant again

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and we'll be back soon to see what happens when the next litter of pups comes along.

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Back at the bongo breakout, everyone's being quiet and gentle

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so that Darcy won't get spooked and charge off.

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The keepers are concerned not just because he weighs more than two sumo wrestlers

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and has pointy horns over half a metre long,

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but also if he tried to run over the cattle grid, he'd almost certainly break a leg.

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Well, it looks like the keepers have now successfully got Darcy the bongo

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to the other side of the road and they've now got one of the workmen

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to start taking down part of the fence so that they can then persuade him

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to go through the woods and back in on the other side.

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The park's head warden Keith Harris has rushed down to deal with the emergency.

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So, Keith, this is proving to be much more complicated

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than actually it first looked. What's happening now?

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The way we wanted to go through the undergrowth is very, very thick,

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so he keeps looking to come back the easy way.

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So we're just going to alter some more fencing, take a bit more fencing and then we can bring him out,

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take him through a fence in the corner and then back out the fence the other side.

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So essentially you're going to weave him back out here, back over and then out on the other side.

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-That's it.

-Easier said than done.

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At the moment, as I say, he's being quiet

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-and we don't mind if it takes an hour, if it takes two, it takes two.

-It's just about patience.

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We've got the rest of the day, to be honest. Because he's not upset,

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He'll probably go down and fill his belly, anyway.

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It's action stations still.

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The fence is being brought down, but the truth is the bongo

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is still on the loose and it could run across the cattle grid at any time.

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We'll keep you updated with the progress a little bit later.

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Whether there's a bongo on the loose or monkeys making mischief,

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keeping the safari park running smoothly seven days a week,

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52 weeks a year is a massive logistical operation.

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There are over 100 members of staff responsible for everything

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from caring for the animals to maintaining the grounds.

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But of all the jobs, one of the most important is just keeping the animals well-fed.

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With 900 animals in the park, there's a lot of mouths to feed,

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about 90 species. It's a big operation.

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Mark Tye is the keeper in charge of looking after

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all the lake animals, but he's also responsible for supplying food to the entire safari park.

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We have to make sure it's all done and ordered and delivered on time.

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Animals don't wait for anybody. They expect their food on time, at the right time

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and in the right way,

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so we just have to make sure that we're all on the ball and we all get it sorted every day.

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Hardly a day goes by without a food delivery of some sort.

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With so many different species, each with their own dietary requirement,

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lake animals keeper Michelle Stevens also has a lot on her plate.

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This is the feed store. This is where it all happens.

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This is where we make all feed up for the whole safari park and we distribute it out to everyone.

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It's important to keep the pantry organised.

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Dog biscuits and whole maize, which are given to the monkeys.

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Bran, in this one, which is given to the giraffe.

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We've got some primate pellets. This is very good specialist diet for the monkeys and our gorilla as well.

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This is something called cattle crunch, what some of the hoof stock have as well.

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This is the fruit and vegetables.

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The monkeys in particular are obviously big fruit eaters.

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We get a lot of boxes of apples and oranges a year just for those alone.

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In this bin here, we've got the flamingo food.

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Specialist diet for the flamingos. It's got a colouring agent

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in it which keeps the flamingos nice and pink.

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In the wild, flamingos go pink because

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of a natural substance in their food, but here they need that supplement.

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These are linseed lozenges. This is what we give to the giraffe.

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This is a supplementary diet.

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We have chinchilla pellets.

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The other major thing is the fish delivery,

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which is important to me for my animals, the sea lions and pelicans.

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We get this every six to eight weeks.

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It's a fair amount. It keeps us going for a little while.

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Also here, I've got some salt licks and some copper licks.

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This is given to the hoof stock, just a bit of a vitamin boost for them really.

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We've actually got large mixed nuts, things like walnuts.

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The parrots absolutely love these in Pets Corner. It's a treat they get.

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And that's basically the whole feed room.

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Every year between them, the animals consume 44 tons of meat...

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..13 tons of fish...

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..42 tons of high-fibre food,

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8,000 bales of hay, 3,600 apples, 29,000 oranges,

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23,000 bananas, 21,000 cabbages and 1,500 lettuces

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plus a whole host of other fruit, vegetables, nuts, maize, bran, corn, biscuits

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and some very juicy bugs.

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First thing every morning, Mark loads up his van and heads off round the park.

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All the sections are keen that they get their food as early as they can,

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so obviously we've got to get in early and get it all delivered as quick as possible.

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-Anything else you need?

-That's all.

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That's all, all right. Cheers, then.

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People expect their food to arrive every morning

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and sometimes they don't appreciate what it takes to get it there.

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There's a lot of work that goes into making sure all this food is delivered on time.

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It's quite a big job really to make sure that we don't forget anything,

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because if we do then it's on our heads be it, you know.

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We'll be back with Mark and Michelle later

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to discover who's the greediest feeder

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and to find out some of the strange things that animals eat.

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Back up in the park, the operation to rescue Darcy the escaped bongo has reached a critical stage.

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We've been allowed out of the Land Rover,

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although Keith has given us specific instructions

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that if anything goes wrong, we've got to head straight back.

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Just in front of this Land Rover here, you can see that Kevin Bibbs, the deputy head of section

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who looks after the bongos,

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is managing to lead Darcy through the gap that they've opened up in the fence.

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This is the crucial point now.

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If they can get him through here,

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he's almost back in the enclosure where he belongs.

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But most importantly,

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they won't need to worry about him bolting over the cattle grid.

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Go on, Darcy.

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It's really nerve-racking, isn't it?

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Once they've got him through on that side,

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they then have to attract him back out on the other side.

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There he goes, he's through the gap.

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And now he'll come through

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back into the enclosure. Keith, that seemed like a great success.

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What can you do about this?

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This is an animal that clearly hasn't bonded with the other three bongos

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and he seems to be able to get over cattle grids -

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your main device for keeping the hoofed animals in the park.

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-You're going to have to come up with a plan, aren't you?

-We are.

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With him bonding, things like that take time and bongos in the wild

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are quite solitary so it's not unusual that they walk off on their own.

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But he's back out almost safely away now

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and you just have a bit of fencing to repair and a bit of a mystery to solve as to how he got out.

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Seriously, we'll put all the fencing back, get everything sorted out.

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We'll slowly feed him on down to the house.

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He's undamaged. He's not hurt, so that's the main thing. His health is good.

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He's quite relaxed, the boys are feeding him and pushing him on home.

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It may look easy, but it's not.

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It's a little bit more awkward than what people think.

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Everybody has done what they should do.

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A well-oiled machine.

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-That's it, yes.

-Brilliant, Keith. Thank you very much indeed.

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We're going to let Darcy get settled and we'll catch up with him a little bit later in the programme.

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It's not obvious, but Meerkat Mountain is hollow.

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Underneath is the mob's indoor pen.

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This is where the pregnant alpha female has been hiding out and the keeper in charge, Darren Beasley,

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-has just made a rather exciting discovery.

-Can you hear the noise?

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One, two, three, four, five.

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Five brand-new babies and Mum has been brilliant.

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She's been nursing them so they've had their colostrum, they've had their first milk.

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Hopefully this is going to boost our numbers again.

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That's what we want. We'll leave them in peace now.

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In the wild, it would be very unusual for all five to survive.

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We always have this problem with any baby animal.

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We get all excited on day one,

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but it's just the beginning of Mum and Dad's real hard work,

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so the thing with the meerkats if they get it right like we know these guys can,

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is that the older brothers and sisters will help out, but in warm weather,

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they'll be out and they'll be like little teddy bear miniature meerkats very soon

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and it's looking excellent, absolutely ten out of ten.

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But Darren knows only too well that when there's good news

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on Meerkat Mountain, bad news is often not far behind.

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We'll be back very soon.

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Pets Corner is home to a huge array of animals,

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from the sweet to the not so sweet, but hidden behind the scenes is one rather special creature.

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-I've joined keeper Bev Allen with this very impressive African land snail.

-Yes, that's right.

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He's absolutely enormous.

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He is. He's the biggest land snail we have here at Longleat and he lives

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with five other snails in a glass tank and he's called Geoff.

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-Geoff.

-Geoff the snail.

-Is Geoff fully grown?

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We think he's about fully-grown now.

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They can get to about 15 to 20 centimetres long, which is about eight inches long.

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Wow, we're probably talking almost twice his size.

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Yes, he's about eight years old now.

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He used to be someone's pet and he's just arrived to us.

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But I understand you think there's been a bit of a problem in his diet in earlier times.

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We think he might have had a lack of calcium in his diet.

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The reason for this is because the shell's quite long and thin and so what we've done since

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he's been here is to give him lots more calcium in the diet to strengthen the shell out, really.

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So that if he's in his tank, if he moves around it's not going to damage

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the shell, so more calcium means the shell will be a lot stronger.

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Obviously when you're feeding snails out of their natural environment,

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you have to make sure that you give them

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exactly the same minerals they would have in the wild.

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Yes, so we have to supplement their diet.

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We give them cuttlefish and also a special supplement we sprinkle on their food and it helps

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to get calcium into their diet, to make that shell nice and strong for them.

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He's the most extraordinary creature and there'll be plenty more like him coming up on today's programme.

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Here's what's still to come.

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We're going back to Meerkat Mountain to find out if all five babies survive.

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Down in Pets Corner, the otters are shocked by some unexpected arrivals.

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And Jamie Oliver's got nothing to beat Alexa's secret recipe.

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Just ask the ferrets.

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There are about 900 animals at Longleat and most of them are fussy eaters.

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The job of supplying food to the whole safari park

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falls on the shoulders of Mark Tye and his team.

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The making up of the feeds and stuff

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is probably not my most enjoyable part of my job.

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It's a job that's got to be done.

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First thing every morning, the food is distributed to all the different sections of the safari park,

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then the keepers in each section make up the meals for each of their animals.

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And food at Longleat can be served in any number of ways.

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It can be dropped from the back of a tractor, thrown off the side of a boat,

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trailed out of the door of a car, hidden up the tree,

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dangled from a tree, stuffed in a tree or sprinkled on the ground.

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Carefully chopped, hand-fed, bottle-fed, spoon-fed

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and even sometimes, just for a change, served up on a plate.

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Down in Pets Corner, head of section Darren Beasley and his team

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have got food preparation down to a fine art.

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We've got more animals in Pets Corner than the rest of the park.

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They may be small but they all have their own dietary requirements.

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We have so many animals, so many hungry animals all the time, it's a never-ending cycle.

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Morning, guys! Breakfast.

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Everything from exotic fruit, from papaya and mango,

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all the way down to whole chickens and things like that.

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It's an incredible amount of food.

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You've got to remember how many animals are in that enclosure, what time they need their food,

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how they need it presented, do they need multivitamins sprinkled on it,

0:22:100:22:14

do they like it chopped lengthways or in segments? This is just skimming the surface.

0:22:140:22:18

We tease the guys up in the lion reserve.

0:22:180:22:21

They do the most dangerous job on the whole park,

0:22:210:22:23

but they drive a tractor around and chuck meat out. What's the skill in that?

0:22:230:22:27

Today, in addition to the regular order, keeper Alexa Fairbairn

0:22:270:22:32

has asked Mark for some special ingredients for the ferrets.

0:22:320:22:35

We get requests, get things that they don't normally

0:22:350:22:39

have on an everyday basis. The ferrets, for example.

0:22:390:22:43

So we've gone off and had to go round the

0:22:430:22:45

supermarkets and shops, looking for the necessary things they require.

0:22:450:22:50

See how much he weighs.

0:22:500:22:52

'A few months ago we did have a problem with them,

0:22:520:22:54

where a mystery illness

0:22:540:22:56

'swept in, basically, and a few of them did get very poorly,

0:22:560:22:59

so we requested from Mark'

0:22:590:23:01

to bring down

0:23:010:23:02

a few different treats for them,

0:23:020:23:04

just to build them up that little bit more,

0:23:040:23:07

and hopefully they'll like it.

0:23:070:23:08

Back in the kitchen, Alexa has her recipe for today's special,

0:23:080:23:13

ferret food cordon bleu.

0:23:130:23:15

Simply take one finely-chopped cucumber.

0:23:150:23:19

Toss in a spattering of raisins.

0:23:200:23:24

Two spoonfuls of creamy peanut butter.

0:23:250:23:29

They love peanut butter. But it does have to be the smooth variety.

0:23:290:23:32

Anything with the chunks can get lodged in their digestive systems.

0:23:320:23:36

Gently squeeze on some delicious multivitamin paste.

0:23:360:23:40

Add a generous dollop of succulent dog food, stir briskly,

0:23:420:23:47

and then, the finishing touch -

0:23:470:23:50

drench with aromatic cod-liver oil.

0:23:500:23:53

This isn't just ferret food,

0:23:530:23:56

this is special dietary-supplement ferret food!

0:23:560:24:00

And there we go.

0:24:010:24:03

That's all very well, but will they like it?

0:24:030:24:06

There, boys. This is brilliant to see.

0:24:060:24:10

A lot of them are tucking in, particularly some of the older ones,

0:24:100:24:13

which is brilliant.

0:24:130:24:15

They obviously like it.

0:24:150:24:17

We'll weigh them every couple of weeks, particularly the older ones,

0:24:170:24:20

like little Angus. We'll keep weighing him

0:24:200:24:22

just to make sure he's OK.

0:24:220:24:24

We'll try out another recipe in a couple of weeks,

0:24:240:24:27

see how they get on with

0:24:270:24:28

that one as well, then pick out their favourites,

0:24:280:24:31

and maybe try and make it into a more regular thing.

0:24:310:24:33

But the ferrets aren't the only ones with special requests.

0:24:330:24:37

The keepers always try to give the animals just what they want,

0:24:370:24:41

whether that's hot potatoes to keep the monkeys warm in the winter,

0:24:410:24:46

-or blackcurrant squash.

-Nice?

0:24:460:24:48

Dates and natural yogurt for Nico the gorilla.

0:24:500:24:53

His medicine has to be disguised. The only way

0:24:530:24:56

we've found to get him to take it every day is mix it with yoghurt.

0:24:560:25:01

But out of Longleat's 90 species, who has the largest appetite of all?

0:25:010:25:07

In fact, there's no mystery.

0:25:070:25:09

The biggest eater is the biggest animal.

0:25:090:25:11

Winston the bull rhino weighs

0:25:110:25:13

two and a half tonnes, and every day

0:25:130:25:16

he consumes 25 kilos of hay and up to four and a half kilos

0:25:160:25:21

of high-fibre pellets.

0:25:210:25:24

But while Winston eats the most food, he's not the greediest.

0:25:240:25:28

In fact, that title goes to one of the smallest animals here,

0:25:280:25:31

the Egyptian fruit bats.

0:25:310:25:33

Every day, each of them will eat their own body weight in fruit.

0:25:330:25:37

That's like me eating 100 pineapples

0:25:380:25:40

or 600 bananas, or even 1,000 plums, each day.

0:25:400:25:46

Down in the otter enclosure, for over 30 years the keepers

0:25:560:26:00

have waited for the pitter-patter of tiny paws, but sadly,

0:26:000:26:05

none have come.

0:26:050:26:06

Then, earlier this season, to everyone's delight,

0:26:060:26:09

Rosie produced her first litter, and baby fever hit town.

0:26:090:26:14

Months later, there were more celebrations when a second litter

0:26:140:26:18

arrived, and we've just heard

0:26:180:26:20

there's even more news,

0:26:200:26:22

so Ben's heading down to meet keeper Rob Savin.

0:26:220:26:26

Morning, Rob. Tell me what's happened.

0:26:260:26:29

It's brilliant stuff, we've got two new additions to the big family.

0:26:290:26:32

The big family is huge already!

0:26:320:26:35

Huge already, yes. Eight already, and now an extra two little ones.

0:26:350:26:39

-Really recent? When was this?

-Only just under two weeks ago.

0:26:390:26:42

-Incredible.

-They're small at the minute.

0:26:420:26:45

Shall we have a look at them?

0:26:450:26:46

-They're inside?

-Yes, I check every morning.

0:26:460:26:48

What we have to do first of all, if I give you a pair of these,

0:26:480:26:51

I'll let you go on in and do it.

0:26:510:26:53

-We're OK going close to them?

-You should be.

0:26:530:26:55

What I like to do every morning is,

0:26:550:26:57

while I can get the others out, the adults out, and

0:26:570:27:00

give them a bit of grub, they'll come out for that.

0:27:000:27:02

I just lock them out very briefly so I can go in and give it a clean,

0:27:020:27:06

because I don't want to go in for too long.

0:27:060:27:08

I go in and give it a clean and check that they're all right.

0:27:080:27:11

These gloves are so that I don't put my smell anywhere near them?

0:27:110:27:15

Yeah, absolutely. If you just rummage your hands gently into the straw,

0:27:150:27:18

you'll get a bit of the otters'

0:27:180:27:20

smell on them so that they know it's nothing to worry about.

0:27:200:27:23

Because they can't see at the moment.

0:27:230:27:25

They're pretty helpless for a while.

0:27:250:27:27

Just get in there, have a little check.

0:27:270:27:30

Probably somewhere at the back. I'll let you go on in.

0:27:300:27:34

Rummage your hands first of all in the straw.

0:27:340:27:37

-Just gently step in.

-Just over here somewhere?

0:27:370:27:39

Just have a little rummage around, very gently move some of the straw.

0:27:390:27:42

Have you found them? There you go.

0:27:420:27:44

I can see them over in the corner there. They're absolutely tiny.

0:27:440:27:48

They are at the moment.

0:27:480:27:49

I've just seen some movement, that's probably what you're looking for.

0:27:490:27:53

They're both all right at the moment.

0:27:530:27:55

They have been so far, so fingers crossed.

0:27:550:27:58

-I don't want to disturb them.

-It's early days at the moment.

0:27:580:28:01

Shall I put this back on them now?

0:28:010:28:04

Yeah, just gently cover them back over,

0:28:040:28:06

and we'll let mum back in and she can come and have a smell.

0:28:060:28:09

And that's what you'll do, check that they're OK,

0:28:090:28:11

there's no problems?

0:28:110:28:13

Literally, that's it at the moment.

0:28:130:28:14

They're doing everything on their own.

0:28:140:28:17

The first time when we had the babies in the past, I was like

0:28:170:28:20

a worried father, trying to get involved, "Should I intervene

0:28:200:28:23

"in some way?", but they're perfectly capable of sorting themselves out.

0:28:230:28:27

How long will they be suckling from Rosie?

0:28:270:28:31

It's around 40 days, but to be honest, the first time

0:28:310:28:34

she had pups, almost two years ago now, everything was by the book.

0:28:340:28:38

It was eyes open 40 days, start eating solids around the same sort of

0:28:380:28:42

time, outside at the appropriate time, about six or seven weeks.

0:28:420:28:45

But last year it was a bit different.

0:28:450:28:47

She was bringing them out after about two weeks, and we were thinking,

0:28:470:28:51

"What are they doing so early?," and worrying,

0:28:510:28:54

but there's no need to worry - it happened before.

0:28:540:28:56

Are you confident they'll interact with the others?

0:28:560:28:59

I think they'll be fine.

0:28:590:29:00

The initial thing when they do get a little bit bigger,

0:29:000:29:03

when they do start eating the solid food,

0:29:030:29:06

I'm just going to have to make sure they're getting a fair share

0:29:060:29:09

and the original big pups aren't

0:29:090:29:11

getting greedy and taking it from them, but they should all be helping,

0:29:110:29:15

the whole family should help.

0:29:150:29:16

-Fantastic. Well, congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

0:29:160:29:19

Thank you for letting me see them.

0:29:190:29:21

At Meerkat Mountain, the five new babies are now six weeks old,

0:29:320:29:36

and it's a very special day for them and their keeper, John Reynolds.

0:29:360:29:40

It's a lovely day today, so we've decided that

0:29:400:29:42

we're going to let the meerkats out.

0:29:420:29:44

We have let them out in the past,

0:29:440:29:46

but this is the first full day they've been out.

0:29:460:29:48

It's very rare for them to have five, and to be honest we didn't really

0:29:480:29:52

expect all of them to survive, and we've got the results now.

0:29:520:29:56

We've got all five still living, and absolutely incredible.

0:29:560:30:00

And now, here they come.

0:30:010:30:04

Meerkats don't start to get their adult markings until

0:30:050:30:08

they're three months old.

0:30:080:30:10

But they're born with those black patches around their eyes,

0:30:100:30:14

which makes them look like little gangsters.

0:30:140:30:17

There's a large enclosure to be explored,

0:30:190:30:22

and plenty of mischief to get up to.

0:30:220:30:25

Already, their personalities are starting to show through.

0:30:390:30:43

Some are more adventurous than others,

0:30:430:30:46

and at the end of the day, they're all exhausted and ready to go back

0:30:460:30:50

in their house under the mountain.

0:30:500:30:53

Eagle-eyed John has been watching them closely and has spotted that

0:30:530:30:57

one has a minor injury.

0:30:570:30:59

They've been bounding around,

0:30:590:31:01

having a whale of a time, but unfortunately one of them has

0:31:010:31:04

hurt his eye or something.

0:31:040:31:06

It's got caught on a stick or something outside,

0:31:060:31:08

possibly been fighting, so it's gone a bit sore so we're going to

0:31:080:31:12

put some medication on it.

0:31:120:31:14

If there's any infections, it will clear any infections, but also

0:31:140:31:17

just for our peace of mind, really.

0:31:170:31:19

Meerkats identify each other mainly by smell, so John makes sure he gets

0:31:190:31:25

the mob's scent on his hands before he administers the eye drops.

0:31:250:31:29

Come on, here we go.

0:31:290:31:31

Here he is. You don't really want to pick them up unless

0:31:320:31:35

we absolutely have to,

0:31:350:31:36

but we're trying to step in there before anything happens.

0:31:360:31:40

You all right?

0:31:470:31:48

Over the next few days, John keeps a close eye on them.

0:31:510:31:55

By watching their parents, the babies quickly learn to

0:31:550:31:59

eat bugs and fruit,

0:31:590:32:00

the staples of a meerkat diet.

0:32:000:32:02

And because there are five brothers and sisters, there's a lot of rough

0:32:020:32:06

-and tumble at dinner-time.

-From a young age,

0:32:060:32:09

the babies will fight amongst themselves - they want more food,

0:32:090:32:12

they want to be the strongest,

0:32:120:32:14

and in the wild it's survival of the fittest.

0:32:140:32:17

In the barren deserts where they come from, food is very scarce, and

0:32:170:32:22

an extra mouthful can be the difference between life and death.

0:32:220:32:25

Meerkat Mountain is a much safer place to grow up, but it's not

0:32:250:32:30

completely without hazards.

0:32:300:32:32

One's had a fall and is limping.

0:32:320:32:35

Although John's concerned, he knows it could be

0:32:350:32:38

more dangerous to intervene.

0:32:380:32:40

We'll keep a close eye on it

0:32:400:32:41

for now, and in the next couple of days make sure it's all right.

0:32:410:32:45

We'll do it from a distance at first.

0:32:450:32:47

We don't want to go in there and pick it up every day.

0:32:470:32:49

It will stress it out, it'll stress the mum out. We don't

0:32:490:32:53

really want that, so we'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

0:32:530:32:56

So far, there's only been a couple

0:32:560:32:58

of minor injuries, but these little ones still have a long way to go.

0:32:580:33:04

We'll be back later to see if they all survive.

0:33:040:33:07

Roaming across the safari park are a variety of different antelope.

0:33:150:33:18

Since Darcy the bongo is now thankfully safe back in his

0:33:180:33:22

enclosure, it means I can head off

0:33:220:33:24

in search of the notoriously shy black buck family.

0:33:240:33:28

Once hunted almost to extinction,

0:33:280:33:31

getting close to these rare creatures is near impossible.

0:33:310:33:35

So I've joined head of section Tim Yeo to entice them over

0:33:350:33:40

with a little food.

0:33:400:33:41

We're creeping about a little bit because we've come here

0:33:410:33:45

to see the black buck.

0:33:450:33:47

There's a beautiful family, just over there.

0:33:470:33:50

But they're very, very shy, so Tim

0:33:500:33:52

and I went out and fed them a little bit earlier, snuck back in here,

0:33:520:33:56

and now we're watching them,

0:33:560:33:58

-although the buffalo have slightly scuppered our plans.

-They have,

0:33:580:34:02

-as they often do!

-They're looking quite calm.

0:34:020:34:05

It's a much bigger herd than it was last year.

0:34:050:34:08

-Yes.

-I noticed just as we were looking over there that there's

0:34:080:34:12

one that looks very much smaller than the rest. How old is that one?

0:34:120:34:16

That little kid there is about two months old now.

0:34:160:34:19

We're not quite sure whether a boy or girl at the moment.

0:34:190:34:24

Black buck, where are they from?

0:34:240:34:26

Some years ago, you would have found them very widely populated in India.

0:34:260:34:31

-Right.

-But I think, because of hunting, and poaching

0:34:310:34:36

more so, I think now you'd probably have to go to northern Nepal, really.

0:34:360:34:40

I was going to ask you about the name, because black buck

0:34:400:34:43

seems a little odd.

0:34:430:34:44

You've got one quite dark brown, chocolaty-coloured, clearly a male,

0:34:440:34:49

with the big horns, but the rest of them are sort of beige.

0:34:490:34:52

Shouldn't they be called beige buck, really?!

0:34:520:34:55

Yes, it's an interesting one, because even adult males, if they haven't

0:34:550:35:00

quite reached sexual maturity, they will retain that beigey colour.

0:35:000:35:06

Oh, really? So it's only the dominant male in the herd that

0:35:060:35:09

will get that lovely, dark, chocolaty colour.

0:35:090:35:13

Exactly, and that apparently is due to the testosterone level.

0:35:130:35:18

As that rises, he gets this lovely, dark coat.

0:35:180:35:22

It can also change back.

0:35:220:35:24

They're incredibly swift, aren't they? Look at the little one.

0:35:240:35:28

That's fantastic.

0:35:280:35:30

Really elegant animals.

0:35:300:35:32

They would have been hunted, many years ago, by cheetah.

0:35:320:35:36

They apparently can achieve speeds of about 110 kilometres per hour.

0:35:360:35:43

That's extraordinary!

0:35:430:35:45

That leaping is a very good defence mechanism, isn't it?

0:35:450:35:49

-It breaks up the line of concentration.

-Quite.

0:35:490:35:53

Oh, they're giving us a great show, this is fantastic.

0:35:530:35:56

Do you ever have problems with the males fighting?

0:35:560:35:59

That will certainly happen,

0:35:590:36:01

particularly as a young male comes up through the group,

0:36:010:36:05

and when he feels that he's strong enough to take on the herd male,

0:36:050:36:08

then we would certainly get fighting.

0:36:080:36:11

It's severe fighting, it's pretty nasty.

0:36:110:36:14

So if this little young one does prove to be a male,

0:36:140:36:17

will you then need to think about maybe splitting

0:36:170:36:20

the herd up or moving him away

0:36:200:36:22

so that you don't have this big clash between father and son?

0:36:220:36:26

That certainly is an issue.

0:36:260:36:29

We'll have some time before that is necessary.

0:36:290:36:33

Well, it's just been wonderful to see them, Tim.

0:36:330:36:36

They are the most difficult things to film at Longleat,

0:36:360:36:39

but they've given us a great show.

0:36:390:36:41

Thank you very much indeed, and thank you, black buck.

0:36:410:36:43

At Meerkat Mountain, the mob are in mourning.

0:37:050:37:08

Although all five babies survived for two months,

0:37:080:37:11

and seemed to be doing well, there's now been some very bad news.

0:37:110:37:16

A few days ago, Darren Beasley

0:37:160:37:18

arrived to find that the baby with the poorly eye

0:37:180:37:21

had died in the night.

0:37:210:37:23

If that wasn't bad enough, the next day

0:37:240:37:27

he discovered another of the pups had succumbed to a mystery ailment.

0:37:270:37:32

One minute everybody's really elated and really happy

0:37:320:37:35

and we're raising the roof

0:37:350:37:37

cos we've got babies, and the next minute it's all very sad

0:37:370:37:40

because nature can be so cruel and heartless,

0:37:400:37:43

and we've lost a couple of babies, which is really quite sad.

0:37:430:37:47

It's yet another blow for meerkat keeper John Reynolds.

0:37:470:37:51

It was a shock to begin with. We were absolutely

0:37:510:37:56

devastated, but we've got used to the fact that they've gone.

0:37:560:38:01

We've got to get on with it and focus on

0:38:010:38:03

the three that are here.

0:38:030:38:04

John doesn't have time to dwell on these sad events,

0:38:040:38:08

because right now they're expecting a special visitor.

0:38:080:38:11

Lord Bath himself has come down from the great house

0:38:160:38:20

to meet the meerkat pups.

0:38:200:38:22

He's concerned to find there's now only three.

0:38:220:38:25

Can you be sure it's not the parents killing them?

0:38:250:38:30

We don't think so, because if it was,

0:38:300:38:32

there would be bite marks and blood.

0:38:320:38:35

We'll keep a close eye on the rest of these ones and hope for the best.

0:38:350:38:39

Yes. Hello!

0:38:390:38:41

Now they've got this far... Which is what, three months old?

0:38:430:38:47

Two months old, nearly, eight weeks.

0:38:470:38:49

How good are the chances they'll reach adult?

0:38:490:38:52

In a month or so, they'll be more or less self-sufficient.

0:38:520:38:55

Hopefully, they'll all survive, the rest of them.

0:38:550:38:58

Hello! Do they nip?

0:38:580:39:01

You wouldn't ever put your hand underneath and pick up?

0:39:010:39:04

Er, no, not without gauntlets. For a very, very good reason.

0:39:040:39:08

I think I'm liable to a surreptitious attack from behind!

0:39:080:39:13

Of course, the meerkats aren't really little gangsters or bandits,

0:39:180:39:22

despite the names that John's suggested for the three little ones.

0:39:220:39:26

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

0:39:260:39:28

It's just that they look so mischievous,

0:39:290:39:31

and, despite all the tragedies, there's something about the mob

0:39:310:39:35

that people can identify with.

0:39:350:39:38

We can relate to them, cos they're a family,

0:39:380:39:40

everybody looking after each other.

0:39:400:39:42

I could spend hours in here.

0:39:420:39:43

If I didn't have a real job to do, earn my pennies, I just sit in here

0:39:430:39:48

for hours and watch and enjoy this.

0:39:480:39:50

It's nice. It's nice to have things

0:39:500:39:52

to be proud of, and I'm really proud of this, really am.

0:39:520:39:56

Earlier today, Darcy, the new bongo to the safari park,

0:40:130:40:17

tried to exit Longleat.

0:40:170:40:18

Yes, a whole group of keepers had to work very closely together to try

0:40:180:40:23

and coax him back into the safari park and into safety.

0:40:230:40:27

You may think that is Darcy.

0:40:270:40:29

But oh no, he has been confined to quarters,

0:40:290:40:32

and deputy head warden Ian Turner is here.

0:40:320:40:35

Ian, the operation seemed to go extremely well.

0:40:350:40:38

It was actually very calm and very ordered.

0:40:380:40:41

Yeah, one of the lucky things is, he's quiet.

0:40:410:40:43

That's one of the good things.

0:40:430:40:44

The hiccup is, because he's quiet,

0:40:440:40:46

he caused the problem he caused, by walking across a cattle grid.

0:40:460:40:50

One of the problems was that Darcy

0:40:500:40:52

likes to keep himself to himself and away from the other bongo.

0:40:520:40:55

Behind us is evidence they rather like him. Is that so?

0:40:550:40:59

They know something's happened.

0:40:590:41:01

Today he's been on a bit of a journey,

0:41:010:41:03

so they've just come to see what's going on.

0:41:030:41:06

What's going to be the plan?

0:41:060:41:08

Because clearly he can't stay shut in here forever?

0:41:080:41:12

Well the plan is, we'll just keep him in a little bit longer

0:41:130:41:17

so he gets a little bit used to them,

0:41:170:41:18

and we'll maybe try and mix one of them inside, which we did before.

0:41:180:41:22

They got on quite well.

0:41:220:41:23

As soon as they came outside, he just wandered off on his own.

0:41:230:41:26

-Right.

-He doesn't seem to mix well very, do you?

0:41:260:41:29

Ian, you've been here for...

0:41:290:41:32

We won't say how many years,

0:41:320:41:34

but you must have had animals breaching fences in the past?

0:41:340:41:38

How do you think the whole exercise earlier went?

0:41:380:41:41

Lovely. I mean, he was a bit of a pain when we got him back in

0:41:410:41:44

and walked him towards the house.

0:41:440:41:46

As soon as we got him towards here, he ran off again,

0:41:460:41:49

straight towards the cattle grid,

0:41:490:41:51

but we managed to stop him in time again, and got him in a trailer.

0:41:510:41:55

We put him in a trailer, didn't we?

0:41:550:41:57

One of the things we'll have to do is sort out the cattle grid,

0:41:570:42:00

cos that one is broken.

0:42:000:42:01

So that wants fixing. Maybe we'll have to do some fencing at the side.

0:42:010:42:05

One of the things they don't like is walking on concrete.

0:42:050:42:08

-Ah!

-Which is why we wanted to get him out of the paddock

0:42:080:42:11

as early as we can, and back into the open.

0:42:110:42:13

While we've been talking,

0:42:130:42:15

another bongo has also come up to check on Darcy!

0:42:150:42:18

They can all be reassured that he's fine.

0:42:180:42:20

They can, and so can we. He's looking fantastic, Ian.

0:42:200:42:23

I'm glad everything went well.

0:42:230:42:25

Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's programme,

0:42:250:42:28

but here's what's coming up on the next Animal Park.

0:42:280:42:31

Last year, the pregnant sea lions defended their territory against

0:42:320:42:35

the keepers, but it's birthing time again, and another fight is brewing.

0:42:350:42:41

They've decided now they want my bridge.

0:42:410:42:44

So, I'm not having it, I will win!

0:42:440:42:47

We're up with the giraffes to see

0:42:470:42:50

the other part of their body that's very long.

0:42:500:42:53

And we turn back the clock over 50 years to a time when being

0:42:530:42:57

a visitor at Longleat was quite a different experience.

0:42:570:43:01

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:43:090:43:11

E-mail [email protected]

0:43:110:43:13

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