Episode 5 Animal Park

There are currently two separate prides here,

and two separate enclosures.

But all that is about to change,

because construction is under way

on a brand-new lion enclosure out in the woods,

and the area is so big, it will mean that all these lions

and both prides will be able to live in the same space

and be able to come and go as they please, 24 hours a day.

This is a huge moment - final checks are being made to the fences

and the keepers are bracing themselves as these lions

prepare to go into their new home for the first time.

It's been a jam-packed series...

Full of animal antics, getting you closer than ever before.

And today is no exception,

when Ben becomes a tree for a long line of lorikeets.

-Have I got something on my head?

-I'm afraid so.

Kate gets extremely close to some creepy crawlies.

I'm worried I've lost some.

You suddenly have one crawling up the back of your shirt...

And we find out how the early visitors

got a closer encounter than anyone bargained for.

Somebody on the left would say,

"Oh, we've seen the sea lion," rush over, and the boat would tilt.

But first... Lions have always played a massive part

in the safari experience ever since the park first opened to the public

50 years ago.

The lions are really, really important to the park.

It's the first animals we had in '66 when it opened,

that's what we're famous for.

Back then, keeping lions in a large, semi-wild group was new,

ground-breaking and dangerous.

And now, half a century later,

the team are about to embark on another pioneering venture.

Come, lions, come on!

At the moment,

the lions have naturally split into two different prides.

Good lions.

Come on.

At the end of every day,

both prides are brought in from the open enclosure of Lion Country.

On duty this evening is senior keeper Caleb.

What we're doing now... As they come in,

we tend to try and shut them in so they can't run back out,

and we then put them in groups of four.

While one pride remains in the house overnight,

the other stays in the outside paddock with access to the shelter.

So, currently we have the 13 that have been shut in with access

to the majority of the house.

And then the others have access to the paddock

and a small part of the house.

To keep things fair, every few days the prides are swapped over.

But all that's about to change...

..because the park is creating a new super-enclosure,

big enough for all the lions,

with houses open to paddocks at night.

The main reason we're doing this is for the lions' welfare,

it's to give them a better life so they can stay out all night.

We try and do everything as natural as possible.

Because, in fact, lions are semi-nocturnal - in the wild,

most of their hunting and social behaviour happens at night.

It's really important for the lions to out at night because that's what they naturally do.

Giving the lions free access to their outdoor space at night

is extremely rare and not without risk.

If this works and turns out really good,

you'll probably find that other parks will follow.

This densely wooded area will have plenty of space

for the lions to climb and explore.

But, for it to work, the forestry team must remove

a rotten tree that could come down and onto the fence.

The work is causing disruption across the whole carnivore section,

partly because of all the tractors.

The big cats associate tractors with food because that's how they're fed.

Just the sound of a tractor gets them excited.

And not just the lions, the tigers too.

It's a bit unsafe to get the tigers out into their enclosure

while we're doing this.

We're working in an area behind their section - they're very

interested in what we're doing, especially with tractors.

So we're going to have to keep them in their paddock until we're done.

But the tigers are hungry.

We've got the paddock here,

so we'll chuck the meat over before they go out and they'll feed.

At the heart of this whole redevelopment is the fence.

At a cost of £500,000, the park is erecting

two and a half kilometres of state-of-the-art lion-proof fencing,

standing a whopping five metres high.

Built by a specialist set of fencing contractors,

they know it's not just the height that matters.

We're laying some matting on the floor just to prevent

any risk of the lions burrowing underneath.

These guys are used to high security jobs.

We've got to make sure nothing can get out.

God forbid anything was to, but this is to ensure they don't.

And seeing the lions here is keeping the contractors on their toes.

It's feeding time and they're all running around

and, yeah, that's a bit frightening.

It's a first for the park.

We'll be back to find out just why these lions need such a big fence.

50 years ago, it was all about the lions,

but they've since been joined by a host of other animals.

I'm here with my old friend Darren Beasley...

-Hi, Ben.

-..and some lorikeets.

Look, they are desperate for this. They are beautiful.

Aren't they wonderful?

These are called rainbow lorikeets and it looks like somebody

has painted them every colour of the rainbow.

Lorikeets have brushed tongues, so they eat nectar,

so we supply them a little bit of nectar here.

And this really is all about the people who come to visit Longleat

getting a close, immersive experience

with this magnificent wildlife.

Absolutely. You're quite right. Lord Bath said,

"Bring them into the safari park and trap the people in their cars."

Well, now we're taking all the barriers down and you come in

this huge aviary and the birds come and go as they please.

But for us as a keeper as well, it's wonderful,

because what I'm doing now, secretly, is I'm looking at toes...

-Like a health check?

-Absolutely.

Because they get so close.

What other things do we need to look for? Hello.

When we have them here, we're looking from good feather condition.

We're looking for toes - are there any nicks or...?

They can nip, they are parrots,

they can bite each other.

And also, you can feel the weight.

It's an absolutely great way for us to get close.

If this was a free-flight aviary without us coming in,

you'd have to peer through the mesh,

you just wouldn't be able to get close.

-Have I got something on my head?

-I'm afraid so.

Is there something on my head? I can't tell, it feels...

So where are these guys actually from originally?

The lorikeets come from Australasia and south-east Asia.

These are actually...

We call them rainbow lorikeets but they're actually a particular type

of rainbow lorikeet called Swainson's lorikeet.

And what about this noise they're making?

If you live where these guys come from,

it's a pretty vast expanse of space.

They've got to talk to each other so they need to be loud.

You know, Darren, I had forgotten

how ridiculous and wonderful your job is.

You're like the real-life Dr Doolittle, you know.

-I'm a lucky, lucky man.

-You really are.

Well, Darren, thank you very much, it's been amazing to meet

your lorikeets. Who knows, maybe they'll be here in another 50 years.

Half Mile Lake is a strange old place.

It's currently home to hippos from Africa, sea lions

from the Pacific Ocean, and a gorilla named Nico

who lives on the island in the middle.

But it began its life in the 18th century as an ornamental lake.

It must have seemed like a pretty brave, if not crazy plan,

to fill this spot with wild animals when the safari park

was first set up by the Sixth Marquess of Bath.

His grandson Lord Weymouth knows just how wacky an idea it was.

I think it was courageous,

I think it had incredible foresight.

It was slightly batty.

Lord Bath's plan was to fill the lake with hippos and sea lions

and let primates roam around on the island in the middle.

Oh, yes, we've improved the hippo reserve here.

We now have three hippos.

The two big ones are called Arnold and Manfred

and the little one called Frida.

And they really are the most engaging beasts.

They flop about in the water and the public can feed them from the boat

when they go round and see them.

When I first started years ago, we did boat trips round the lake,

similar to what we're doing now, but the boats were a lot smaller,

they were old lifeboats.

They'd rock from side to side with sea lions jumping on the boats

and hippos in the lakes, and going round the island

was a little bit more scary than it is now.

Two people who remember fondly what it was like back then

are Rose Long and her daughter, Helen.

The boats were a lot more rocky than they are now.

They have nice flat bottoms and they're nice and stable now

and they certainly weren't when I was little

and they had sort of dragon-boat heads on the front of them.

Somebody on the left would say, "Oh, we've seen the sea lion,"

rush over, and the boat would tilt.

So it was a bit of an experience going on the boat then.

But rickety old boats weren't the only thing visitors

had to look out for - it was the animals, too.

And then over here, in this island,

there's a whole family of chimpanzees.

They're great big savage animals - quite frankly, if you went

on the island, they'd tear you limb from limb.

I'm scared to death of them.

But really, it was the hippos they should have been most afraid of.

They may look placid, but in Africa these two-tonne herbivores

contribute to more human deaths than any other large animal,

even lions.

You see, a hippo is extremely territorial,

and simply won't tolerate anyone who strays too close,

a fact that the current Lord Bath probably hadn't heard of

when he bought a new sailing dinghy.

Here's his version of events from 2004.

I was bullied into getting a boat by my children.

That's not quite true.

I think I got it in my head and they were saying it was a ridiculous thing to have.

But anyway, having got it, I better try it on the lake.

Ian Turner was a junior keeper at the time

and he couldn't believe his eyes.

I mean, literally, I just came along the top road

and I could see a sailing boat out on the lake.

First instinct was I couldn't believe anybody would go

onto a lake with a boat like that with hippos in.

And it turned out to be the now Lord Bath.

So I went out there and the boat had a will of its own

and kept on going towards the island.

And trying to tack it and make the boat move in the direction I wanted,

I didn't seem to be very good at that

and it just went closer and closer and closer.

So I said to the boats, "You have to tell him to get off."

They said, "We can't, it's Lord Bath's son."

I said, "It doesn't really matter who it is,

"cos if the hippos which were in the lake get near the boat,

"they'll sink it and he'll be sunk."

Lord Bath was escorted back to dry land by one of the pleasure boats

and he never tried sailing on the lake again.

And today, 50 years later, Half Mile Lake is every bit as exciting,

and still the only place in the world where hippos,

sea lions and gorillas peacefully live side-by-side.

Well, almost.

Having worked at the park for so many years means that we've

been witness to sad events like the loss of Samba the gorilla,

but also happy and exciting ones

like the arrival of lion cubs and the new tigers.

We've even seen Lord Bath jump out of a plane.

But one of the most dramatic stories we witnessed happened ten years ago

and that starred Imogen the giraffe.

In 2006, after several years of trying,

Imogen finally fell pregnant,

and when it was her time to give birth, keeper Bev Evans was there.

It's really exciting.

We came in and she was actually starting to go into labour,

but obviously with that came the complications, so from really

exciting to really worrying in quite a short space of time actually.

When Imogen's labour went on for more than a day,

it was clear to Andy Hayton,

the keeper in charge of the giraffes, that something was wrong.

Sunday morning, the vet came out, looked at her and the decision

was taken we would probably have to pull the calf,

the calf was obviously badly presented.

We thought possibly it could have been a breach birth or the head

was tilted back so she just couldn't physically push out.

In order to help, they had no choice but to put her under anaesthetic.

But resident vet Duncan Williams knew how risky that could be.

Anaesthetic-wise, I think giraffes probably are the most dangerous.

Literature reports are basically one in three anaesthetics with giraffes

ended in fatalities.

But if they didn't do something,

Imogen and the calf would surely die.

The last thing you want to do is knock out a giraffe,

and even worse is knock out a giraffe that's got a baby inside.

So, you know, it was a last resort, we hadn't got any choice

in the matter. We'd waited till the last minute

and it was just fingers crossed from now on.

A whole team of vets and staff was urgently summoned.

Nothing like this had ever been done here before,

so Ian and the team filmed the whole procedure.

The first step was to anaesthetise Imogen.

Andy was dreading what would happen next.

When they go, sometimes what they'll do

is force themselves into a corner and try and prop themselves up

and then what can happen is they'll actually flip themselves straight

back over where they just can't fight any more and they're just

out on their feet almost and they just collapse.

The big worry for us is if she goes over straight backwards,

she could break her spine.

The box is lined out with large bales of hay

to soften it as much as we can do.

The straw on the floor was also piled up to cushion the impact.

She survived the fall, but the risk wasn't over.

I think the big problem is...

A massive animal, when they fall down,

you've got the risk of regurgitation of stomach contents...

The contents can go up the oesophagus

and get swallowed into the lungs.

So, as quickly as possible, an air tube was inserted all the way down

that long throat to the top of the lungs.

Responsible for that was Pamela Murison, an anaesthetist

from Bristol University's veterinary school.

They're so big.

I'm used to anaesthetising large animals, but you know in the back

of your mind all the time that it is such a risky procedure.

With Imogen anaesthetised, Duncan could start his examination.

He had to find out what state the calf was in.

The ropes were essential for everyone's safety and it took

a lot of hands to hold them secure.

You know, there's 30-odd people - if the giraffe kicks,

somebody's going to end up seriously injured or even worse.

Duncan's internal examination revealed some sad news -

the calf inside was already dead.

It may have been dead for some time.

Bev Evans had been looking forward to having

a new baby in the giraffe house.

It was quite sad to lose the calf.

The vets and everybody couldn't do anything about that.

We couldn't have done anything so there's no point

worrying too much about that.

Yeah, it's such a shame we lost him, this little boy.

Now, all their efforts were concentrated

just on trying to save Imogen.

They had to get the dead calf out,

but there was a complication.

There was no way that it was going to come out just simply

because everything had closed down again.

We did quite a major pull on it

and it just wasn't shifting, unfortunately.

Duncan and the team had to come up with a new plan and fast,

because Imogen's life was balanced on a knife-edge.

Jean Johansson has been shadowing keepers...

Eloise, wait for me.

..and getting to meet the park's most amazing species.

-All right?

-I'm trying not to scream.

Finding out what they love...

Oh, this is great.

How lovely.

..and how best to care for them.

Today, it's the turn of the park's lemurs.

Right, I've got rosemary, thyme and mint in here,

everything you asked for - but what are we going to do with it?

Here in Lemur Walkthrough,

-we like to test our lemurs and we like to mix things up.

-OK.

And this is specifically for our white-fronted brown lemurs

that we have in here with our ringtails.

There they are. Who are these two?

This is Ida, our female, and this is Brau.

-If you want, this is a bit of mint, we'll see what she likes to do.

-OK.

So she's away with it? Oh, she's rubbing herself with it!

-Yeah, it's good insect repellent.

-OK.

This is Brau, her partner, so she likes to make herself smell nice.

That's pretty unusual.

Now this one likes eating it more than rubbing it all over his body.

Yeah, Brau is very much food-orientated,

he loves eating the buttercups in here as well.

-But it's good for digestion, good fibre in there as well.

-Excellent.

So he's rubbing as well but, yeah, he will eat it also.

-So these are white-fronted brown lemurs.

-Yes.

I don't know anything about them.

Where do they come from? Are they from Madagascar as well?

Yep, they are as well. They're a bit more timid as you've seen

being in here - the ringtails are very much in-your-face...

Yes, they are, they like the limelight.

The browns are a bit more timid, in the wild they would be more

90% in the trees and 10% maybe on the ground,

whereas ringtails are more 50-50.

They would be found in the northern part of Madagascar

but they might come into contact meeting over territories.

But they're much more... They'll sit back and let the world pass by.

Brau, he has a bit of romance going on

-with some of the boys like Watson.

-Really?!

You find them playing together, eating together, grooming,

and then you've got Ida, who's 22,

so she's our eldest lemur here in the Walkthrough.

And does that make her the kind of leader of the pack because she's 22?

They are very much separate, so the ringtails have their family group

and the browns have their pair.

But, you know, when it comes to it

she'll keep them in line if she has to.

So, at the ripe old age of 22, how long do you think she'll live?

In the wild, ringtails and browns, probably about 18 years.

In captivity would probably be... They can go into their mid-20s.

However, some people say that browns can go into their 30s.

That would be great, wouldn't it?

But, in my heart, Ida's going to live forever,

so we'll wait and see how old she gets.

She's full of energy and she's lovely.

She's got a special place in many of the keepers here, in their hearts,

and we will take care of her for as many years as she gives us here.

Now, one of the things I love about filming Animal Park

is that I get to handle some really weird and wonderful creatures.

First of all, tell me about these amazing bugs.

-This is a giant, spiny stick insect...

-Yeah.

..and, hopefully, today, we're going to sex them.

-Not all of them, hopefully, because we got quite a lot...

-Right.

..but were going to use, hopefully, admitted your kit to work out

which ones are boys and which ones are girls.

And why is it important for you to sex them?

-Breeding, obviously, breeding purposes.

-Yep.

-Eventually, we are going to have too many stick insects...

-Right.

-..so, obviously, eventually, we may have to separate boys and girls.

-OK.

Obviously, we don't want to be completely overrun

-with these beautiful creatures.

-They ARE beautiful!

Where would you find these?

If you wanted to stumble across one of these in the wild,

where would you have to go?

-These guys are from New Guinea.

-Are they?

-Yeah, New Guinea spiny...

There is something about New Guinea wildlife that just...

-It just has knobs on, doesn't it?

-Yeah, definitely, without a doubt.

So, hopefully we're going to use one of your cameras to work out...

Well, let's try and do that. Do you want to try mine first?

So, we've got this lens that can do macro close-ups,

-so we're going to use this monitor here, aren't we, John?

-Yep.

This to see... You are a very active!

So, which part of the insect

does Jamie need to try and get a good shot of

to find out what sex it is?

Just to make things that little bit more interesting,

-there is actually two parts that we need to look at.

-Right.

-So, you've got the base of the tail...

-Yeah.

-..and also at the back of the legs, so, the two back legs...

-Yeah.

..the boys have a certain part there which the girls do not have.

Ooh, they cling on -

they've got these wonderful hooks on their feet...

Yeah, don't worry about dropping them.

I mean, I can already see the tail in that shot...

-Yeah.

-..so, I can tell that that is a girl.

Well, we should have known that, shouldn't we?

-Because you're beautiful.

-I've got two boys here.

I'm worried I've lost some - I feel like they've...

I'm a bit worried that I'll get home tonight, and...

You'll suddenly have one crawling up the back of your shirt.

I won't be overly popular in my household if that happens.

-Right, so I've got two boys here.

-OK.

-So, if you look on your one,

-you see the base of the tail has got almost like a big spike.

-Yes.

-Whereas the boys...

-Oh, no spike at all.

-..don't have that.

So, that lovely spike right there, that shows it's a girl.

Now, what's the bit on the legs that makes this a female,

-and yours a male?

-So, just underneath,

I don't know if you can see, he's got a really mean set of...

almost like hooks on the back legs.

-Oh, yes, it has.

-Almost like great big barbs.

-It looks like a rose thorn, almost, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

In fact, in parts of New Guinea,

-fishermen would actually use those as fishing hooks.

-Really?!

They'd actually take them - not so good for the stick insects,

-but obviously that's man.

-So, my lovely girl

-doesn't have those barbs.

-No.

-No, nor she does.

So, the bit on the end, there, is called the ovipositor.

-Now, I know what that means.

-Go on, then.

-I did Latin A-level, John.

-Oh, OK.

-Don't do me down. So, ovipositor is - "ovi" is "eggs"...

-Mm-hm.

-..and so that's where she is depositing her eggs from,

-would that be right?

-Very good, very good.

They are absolutely wonderful.

Well, John, I'm glad we were able to be a little bit useful -

although it seems you didn't really need a big fancy camera,

-you just got us here under false pretences...

-Yeah, yeah...!

-..didn't you?

-Possibly.

Over in Lion Country,

The new super-sized enclosure is now almost ready,

and, as moving day approaches, tensions are building.

I think we're all excited by it.

I'm a little bit nervous of what's going to happen

when we do finally opened the gate and get the lions running through...

but it is really exciting. We've never tried it before.

The new fence may look like overkill to some,

but senior keeper Caleb

is all too aware of these cats' ability to climb.

Today, the carnivore team have got something special for Simba's pride.

They've got a box of hooves and hides, which the lions love...

and they're hanging them up in awkward places

to give the lions a real workout.

So, we've got a climbing frame here

with a big structure on top so we can hang stuff on either side.

I'm feeling really excited.

Now to find out what these lions are capable of.

Here come the lions. So, you've got Simba charging first.

Hopefully he's going to jump up, with Nala,

and they're going to try and bring down the hide.

He can see Simba using his strength, and the girls,

to pull it and drag it.

SIMBA RUMBLES

And what he's doing is, he's making vocalisations

to signify that it's his, and the others can't get it.

One of his sisters have gone up along the top of the log,

and she's trying to attack it from the top side,

because she knows it's less dangerous

than being right next to Simba.

Something out of the ordinary like this

brings out the lions' natural instincts.

There are some easy pieces out there, as you can see,

some just laid there, but they choose to go for the bigger pieces,

the ones where they can assert more dominance.

You can see why they've been pruning branches

that overhang the fences in the new lion enclosure.

Such powerful climbers would be up and over in a flash.

When we do things like this,

you can appreciate how strong they are in, how high they can jump,

how long they can hang and how they can use their muscles, as well.

If the new enclosure works out,

it's going to give the lions an opportunity

to show even more natural behaviour.

My passion in life is to show people what carnivores are capable of,

cos I can't imagine a world without carnivores,

because they're a symbol of strength, power, family...

And, not to forget, they're also natural-born killers,

so, encouraging their wild behaviour could be a dangerous thing to do...

..but the new lion enclosure is almost ready,

and the keepers are set for taking that risk.

We're going back to 2006,

and one of the most dramatic scenes to ever hit the giraffery.

A female giraffe named Imogen had lost her calf,

but failed to give birth to it naturally.

If left untreated, she would almost certainly die.

So, with Imogen in real danger,

there was only one way left to try to save her life.

Andy knew there was little chance of success.

We're going to attempt a Caesarean, just to give her go.

You know, we can't just decide we're going to put her down

and quit here, you know? We've got to...

Like I say, it's...

Even if it doesn't come out,

the right decision, or the right outcome, that we want,

you got to at least try it, so...

we're going to attempt a Caesarean now and see how we go.

This was the first Caesarean ever performed on me giraffe at the park.

Duncan Williams was the vet in charge of the team.

We do Caesareans in cattle all the time,

and the actual operation itself is very much similar to do it in a cow.

But, I mean, it is different.

I've never done anything like that in a giraffe at all.

No.

Imogen had already been under anaesthetic for well over two hours.

For a giraffe, that's a very long time.

Deputy head warden Ian Turner was losing hope.

Never seen a Caesarean on a giraffe.

And literally, if the giraffe survived, it would be a miracle.

You know, at the stitches, were talking, like,

that sort of size stitching,

and she's got two lots of internal stitching,

plus the external stitching.

She's now been under for four hours-plus.

You know, it's going to be touch-and-go

whether she actually survives this operation anyhow.

The stitches had to be very strong,

because the team needed to get Imogen up on her feet

as soon as possible.

The moment of truth would be when they tried to revive her.

Once we'd finished all the operation,

Duncan had stitched it all back up, he'd got all the stitches done,

he cleaned the wound up, he gave it all the antibiotics and stuff,

they give it a revival.

What we do is...Andy, Ryan, a couple of others, stayed in there,

and we moved out with just Ryan and Andy in there,

and sit on its... What you do is, you sit on its neck,

you wait for it to come round, and at the last minute,

once it's up, you get off its neck, and it sits up.

It was an anxious time for Pam, the veterinary anaesthetist.

For me, particularly, I find that period very nerve-racking,

because beyond...

We've got very little control of how she gets up,

and she could easily injure herself.

They were expecting Imogen to at least try to stand up

as soon as she came round - but something was wrong,

because lying down is unnatural to a giraffe.

It's dangerous, because they're known just to give up

and lose the will to live.

-PAM:

-The longer the anaesthetic,

the more likely you are to have some of the other problems

associated with anaesthesia in large animals -

for example, there is pressure on the muscles,

which have been lying in an awkward position

with 600 kilos of giraffe lying on top of certain areas.

-DUNCAN:

-It's one of those difficult sort of situations -

it's, how much do you intervene?

Do you let her do it herself, and...?

I think I was worried that you don't do enough,

and if something bad happens, you know,

you're going to be blaming yourself.

But, a few minutes later,

Imogen found the strength to sit up...

..and then, finally, to try to stand.

The big step is, she didn't die in the operation.

The next big step is, she got up, or woke up, and got up,

and if we can slowly get her eating again...

and it is just tiny, tiny little steps all the way.

If she makes it through tonight,

tomorrow and then days on after that,

if she gets to two weeks, then we can kind of breathe out.

Imogen did survive the days that followed,

and, just one month later, she was well enough to go out with the herd.

In fact, Imogen made a complete recovery

and lived many more years at the park,

during which time she had a healthy baby boy called Henry...

..and another, called Kaiser.

At the end of each day, the park's four white rhino,

helped by a tractor,

begin their journey back to the rhino house, ready to go to bed.

Jean is back with Tina and Luke to help tuck them in for the night.

-Look, here they come, I see one coming round the corner.

-Yeah!

They've all come down together!

Yeah, you've got Unjarnu right at the back, there, our bull,

he's just, you know, pottering at the back,

and these are our girls coming down.

-Wow!

-Come on, rhinos!

-They are huge. How much do they weigh?!

Let's just say you wouldn't want them to stand on your foot.

I have to say, I've got two rhinos running towards me at the moment,

it's a little bit unnerving.

In the summer months, all four rhino can stay out,

with access to the house...

Ebun, come on, lovely. Come on, lovely!

..but on wetter nights such as today, Ebun, the youngest rhino,

is brought in to keep her warm and dry.

-In you come.

-Good girl, Ebun!

Where will she sleep, on the floor?

I see a few mats, there, at the back.

Rhinos themselves, they're not sort of cosy, comfortable animals.

They don't need a big feather pillow or anything like that,

they're really hardy - but what we do is,

we provide these mats that you see at the back,

just to make sure they don't get any pressure sores,

or anything like that - and, you know,

it's a nice warm surface between the cold concrete on the floor.

She's got some logs, and everything, around,

so she can scratch all night, which they love to do.

-I did notice some piles of poo...

-Yes.

..already in there before they came in. What's that about?

-Our rhinos have middens.

-A midden?

A midden! Yeah, as you see, in all the different patterns,

we have different piles of poo, they're referred to as middens,

and we have them up in a new area, where they spend the day,

and they use them where they defecate,

-and basically mark their territory.

-Right, OK.

For us, personally, as a keeper,

it's a brilliant way of trying to keep their pens inside tidy -

instead of coming in in the morning and finding lots of piles of poo,

they just poo in one place, and it makes it a little bit easier for us.

Wait a minute - so, not only are they trained for bedtime,

they're potty trained, as well?

-In a sense, yes.

-Smart rhinos!

Amazing to see a rhino up close like this - am I safe to touch?

Yes, absolutely fine - obviously,

-just watch where she's pointing us, but, no...

-Wow!

..she's a really good, well-tempered rhino.

Now, I've heard that she loves having her belly rubbed,

-so, if I go into here, is that OK, is that safe?

-Yeah, it's fine.

Very soft under here, not what you'd expect from a rhino at all.

People think they're quite, you know, rough and tough -

and they are, but, as you can see,

they also have their sensitive side, as well.

Yeah, really sensitive to just touch,

because she seems to be really enjoying this, and I mean...

-Yeah!

-It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

They love the contact, they absolutely love it.

Now, that is how you put a rhino to bed. I'm really proud of that!

Good girl!

The new super-sized enclosure is now ready,

in the day has finally come for the big lion move.

We've all been preparing it for, like, six months now,

and we haven't slept, we've been so excited,

and we don't know what's going to happen.

OK, good morning, everybody.

Time for a final briefing.

Hopefully the food will help keep them calm.

Extra keepers have been drafted in to help.

We have a plan. Playing it by ear, to a certain extent.

The mission today is to move half of the lions

through a new fenced corridor, or race,

joining their old enclosure with the new area.

The teams take up their positions.

Caleb and Eloise are putting out the lions' favourite treats

in the new territory as a kind of house-warming present.

These are hide strips.

We're going to chuck them all around this section

in areas that we want the lions to explore.

It's just going to make it a positive experience.

Of course, they will, like, rip that apart in two seconds.

Meanwhile, in the old lion enclosure,

section manager Amy is in charge.

I can't really put it into words, what...such a big day this is,

getting them over there, and the fact that...the race,

and just making sure that works.

Amy has a squadron of safari trucks

ready to usher the lions down the race.

This will be new territory for the lions,

and no-one knows how they'll react.

The worst case scenario today

would be for the lions not to want to come across,

or to be too scared to come across the first.

With everyone in position, it's zero hour.

The lions are released from the paddock into their old enclosure.

Down in the new area, the feed wagon is driving up and down.

The lions know that sound.

It's got their attention.

Amy and the others slowly start to shepherd them

towards the top of the race.

Is it's a tense wait to see if the lions will go in.

We've got one at the top of the race.

The lions are running through the race.

So, we have some of the braver individuals -

so, the two big lionesses,

we have Little Jas and Jazeera leading the race,

and then I can see Simba, one of the males, coming through.

But just when things looked to be going well, the last lion,

a young male called Notch, bolts.

Notch is the last one, he's a bit wary.

He wants to follow, but he's a bit like, "I don't know!"

As the bold ones take their first steps into the new territory,

Notch isn't ready to leave the old neighbourhood.

He's a bit wary of the others -

he's one of the youngest in this group, anyway,

so, yeah, he's not quite as confident as the rest of them.

Notch could scupper the whole move.

He's calling them, he's trying to get them to come back.

A lion pride is a family, and they don't like to leave one behind...

..so, now, they're all retreating back up the race...

..and the big lion move is back to square one.

To have any hope at all, something will have to be done about Notch.

We can give him as much time as he needs,

but if he doesn't, last resort, we will dart him.

The keepers have planned for every possibility.

Ryan is standing by in case they need to take extreme measures.

Our gold standard was to have the 15 lions just move across together,

but, you know, this is working with animals.

Nothing generally works exactly to plan.

Ryan has a dart gun ready.

If Notch won't move,

they'll have to tranquilise him and carry him through...

These are semi-wild animals. You can't just...

Just because that's what we would like them to do,

doesn't necessarily mean that that's what they want to do.

..but putting an animal under anaesthetic is a risky move.

So, the team have one last trick up their sleeve.

We've sent the feed wagon through,

and they're hopefully going to go across,

drive round the feeder in the old way,

and to make Notch realise everything's all good,

and then, hopefully,

Luke is will be able to drive back through this way,

and bring Notch through

with the feed wagon and a band of his friends.

If all the others are chasing the feed wagon, Notch might join in.

Notch is starting to trot behind us, so that's good news.

Notch is at the back there.

But, as the feed wagon goes down the race,

Notch has a moment of doubt...

Come on, Notch.

..until, finally, he takes the plunge.

And I can see Notch!

So, we have Notch in there, as well.

He's joined the group and he's coming through.

With the pride all together,

they're now ready to start exploring their great new territory.

We're literally witnessing exactly what a pride would do in the wild

if they took over a new area.

They're walking the boundary, so that's a good start,

to assess how big it is, and where it goes,

and they're scent-marking as they go.

The big lion move has been a roaring success.

This is a dream come true, it's the best thing.

Best day of my career, 100%.

Now, I know we weren't here on the day the park opened

for the very first time, but it's been a few years, hasn't it is?

It sometimes feels that way!

-You haven't aged at all, Kate.

-You old charmer!

But, over the years, we've had some extraordinary encounters,

met some amazing animals and, of course, made some wonderful friends.

We really, really have.

Now, the park opened to allow people to see animals

from all over the world, but it also has another important role.

It's played its part in the understanding and conservation

of many of our planet's endangered species.

It really has - and let's hope that the extraordinary animals here

continue to delight and inspire us all for another 50 years.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.