Episode 14 Roar

On today's Roar, the hunting skills of the lions

are put to the ultimate test as they are let loose

on a couple of unsuspecting zebra.

But they don't look like they're going to put up much of a fight.

Hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Rani.

And I'm Johny, and we've got a great show lined up for you today.

-But first, me and Rani have to finish off our housework.

-We really do.

We have to do one of the most unpleasant jobs

at the park, but it is very important.

It's cleaning out the eles' paddock.

One single elephant can produce about 90 kilograms of poo every single day.

-Ugh!

-That is a lot of stuff.

And with 14 eles, that's about two of these

every single day.

They've got their work cut out.

We should finish off and find some place to put this.

Do you know where the toilet is? Do you reckon this lot will flush?

Coming up... Which do you think would win in a race -

an elephant or a rhino?

Stay tuned to find out.

Johny takes his life and a spider into his own hands.

-Forget about her. Am

-I

-in any danger?

Not really. She hasn't bitten anyone for a couple of weeks.

And the week-old baby tapir gets to meet his dad,

but the keepers are close by as Tommy could decide to attack.

The zebra is a magnificent creature.

Graceful, elegant and agile.

It roams the park carefree, drinking, feeding and caring for its young.

But, of course, these aren't real.

We made them earlier.

Jess, what's the plan?

Well, these are hopefully going to stimulate

our Barbary lions' instincts.

In the wild, the zebras don't have such a relaxed time.

They are a prey animal,

which means they always need to watch their backs.

A pride of lions would need to eat something the size of a zebra

at least every few days.

At the park, the lions don't hunt live animals,

so the zebras are safe.

But our models should show how they still have their killer instincts.

How are they going to work?

Why are the lions going to come over to them?

Probably cos it's something new in their enclosure

and they're a bit curious about it.

They'll most likely think there's food in there and try to attack it.

It'll give them something to do.

-Is there any food in here?

-There's no food in here.

Sometimes we do put food in stuff like this, but this time

it's just empty, but they should still get the same reaction.

Do they work on eyesight? If they see black and white, they may think,

"Ah, zebra!" Or do they mainly go on smell?

They'll normally go on smell. They do have good eyesight,

but they wouldn't necessarily recognise the coloration as prey,

cos they don't encounter zebra here in the park.

-They're just interested cos something new's in their enclosure?

-Yeah.

-So, can I have a quick look?

-Yeah, course.

Wow! They are big. So, who have we got here, then?

We have Jabir, our male and Layla, our female.

LION GROWLS Listen to that noise.

-They mean business, don't they?

-Definitely.

When they make that noise, what does it mean?

Cos we're here, they're a bit... We're in their space

and they're just kind of warning us that they are powerful

-and this is their area and their territory.

-Whoa!

Yes, they are definitely powerful. She's not happy right now, is she?

No, these two are our grumpiest lions that we've got

and whenever us keepers are here,

they'll always roar and growl at us.

-Let's get them in here but first, let's get us out.

-Definitely.

And we'll return when it's time for the lions to hunt.

Earlier in the series, we followed the keepers

as they waited and waited for Wilma the tapir to give birth.

Finally, a baby boy arrived

and we managed to get some shots on our special cameras

when he was just moments old and even drinking his mum's milk.

Everyone stayed away during those precious first hours and days,

so that he could bond with his mother.

He is now a week old and we've got a real Roar exclusive,

as Joel, the head of hoofstock,

has agreed to let us join him on morning feed

to meet the baby properly.

She's in bed at the moment but will get up once she realises

we've got a few treats for her and baby will probably follow.

Tapirs can weigh up to 300 kilos and are immensely powerful.

If Wilma felt her baby was threatened, she could attack Joel.

to put her at ease, he makes friendly noises

and has found that clicks and whistles work best.

JOEL WHISTLES

It just lets them know I'm here

and gives them a bit of warning so they don't jump.

There's a good girl, Wilms.

Wilma comes steadily out. She appears quite relaxed.

JOEL WHISTLES

And, moments later, here comes the baby.

Yeah, he's just taking in all the smells.

He's doing really well. He's growing very well.

He's filled out, so he's obviously suckling very well.

So it all looks good.

The spots and stripes on baby tapirs are for camouflage.

In the wild, it would help them hide from predators.

They usually fade by the time they are a year old.

It's been four long years since there was a baby tapir at the park,

so this is the first time that Helen has had to care for one.

Yeah, he's really soft. He's gorgeous.

He's really inquisitive at the moment.

He's come up and he was licking us this morning. He's lovely.

He's just testing things out at the moment.

It's the way most animals explore, by touch,

and by biting and licking and that kind of thing.

His teeth are already starting to come through.

He's also starting to develop that distinctive long trunk-like nose.

Tapirs use them for much more than just smelling.

They can use it like a hand to grab things and put them in their mouths.

He's got plenty of movement. He is prehensile.

He can't really do much with it at the moment,

but, as he grows up,

he will use it to help him feed and explore things.

But little does he know the challenge that is just around the corner -

meeting his father, Tommy.

He's been kept away so far

as there is a chance he may attack Wilma or the baby,

but to keep this family together, the introduction must happen soon.

Dad's still quite young himself at the moment

and he's quite an excitable little fella.

So we are going to mix them together all indoors first

to sort of limit the risk of anything happening outdoors,

so we can easily separate them if need be.

Joel has now waited as long as he can.

Unfortunately, they will have to step away

to give the introduction the best chance of working.

But how Tommy will react to the precious baby

is completely out of their control.

# Bonkers! #

What is the cow capital of USA?

"Moo" York.

MOOING

Why did the rabbit go to the doctors'?

I don't know.

Because it felt jumpy.

What do you call a cow in the Arctic?

An Eski-moo!

MOOING

Back now to the lion enclosure.

Right, Jess, we're out here safe and sound

and the lions are ready to go in and try and get our home-made zebra.

Are you ready to release them?

Yeah, definitely. I think they are ready.

If they were real zebras, what would the lions do?

Well, their instinct in the wild would be...

to go for the smaller and the weaker.

So we may see this but most likely, here,

they'll just go for whichever one is closest.

-Ready to release them?

-Yep.

-I'm quite nervous. On your call.

OK.

So who are they going for?

They did, they went for the little one first.

-Who's this?

-This is Layla that's gone for the little one.

Jabir's just got the leftovers, like normal.

And she went straight for the neck. Is that what they'd do in the wild?

Yeah, definitely. They'd go for the stranglehold.

It's definitely what she'd do in the wild.

Do they have any specific strategy they use to hunt?

These guys wouldn't work together naturally. It'd be females

that work together, and they'd work in a pride - as a group.

One would stalk and push the zebra out,

then another would come across and cut them up.

They'd grab a strangulation hold,

and the others would try and bring it down.

They'd all put their full force into bringing that animal down.

Would it usually be females who'd hunt?

It would always be females that hunt.

The male would just get whatever he wanted at the end.

They're making light work of that.

What do the males do? Do they do anything apart from be lazy?

Not really. Laze around, sleep, bask in the sun,

then just come and get the rewards that the females have got.

When they hunt, would they eat their food straightaway

or would they mess around with it first?

They would actually kind of gorge themselves as quickly as possible.

Lions don't have any other predators

that would necessarily steal their prey,

but the females would quite happily eat it.

They have to eat it quickly before the males take their share.

They've pretty much left the big one for now.

They're still tearing apart this poor little fella here.

Do they only pick on things that are smaller than them?

No, they can go for quite large prey.

They can even bring down elephant calves. Because they work

in such a tight team, they can take large prey.

Elephant calves? We're talking something about that big?

-Yeah, around about that big.

-Wow! I'd have no chance.

-Definitely not.

I certainly wouldn't want to be these zebras.

But that was amazing, Jess. Thanks for inviting us.

-That's all right.

-Don't mess with the lions!

# We are the now generation

# We are the generation now. #

It's time now for Ask The Keeper.

And as you can see, we have four very clever folk here,

and they are ready to put their questions

-to the one, the only, Ciara Walsh. Hi, Ciara.

-Hello.

-Come over, guys.

Should we feed them first?

-What's good for you, Ciara?

-We'll feed them first.

That way, they can start munching while we ask the questions.

Go on, Jay.

A little sniff.

These guys are really hungry.

Where are their back teeth?

Their back teeth... I'll show you.

-Open your mouth. Can you see inside?

-Are they sharp?

They're molars, so they're quite flat.

-He's got a huge tongue as well.

-RANI GASPS

-Here we go.

-You're so lovely!

How fast do they run?

They run about 28 miles an hour.

-28 to 35 miles an hour - really, really fast.

-That is fast, isn't it?

You don't want to be in front of one of them when they are running.

Anyone else?

-Everyone else take a slice of bread.

-Last one. There's one each.

How much do they weigh when they're fully grown?

When they're fully grown, about a tonne to 1½ tonnes.

That's for a male rhino.

-That's as big as they'll get.

-How big is their poo?

Their poo, it's about this big.

Hers, cos she's so small, it's about this big.

What do they use their tail for?

Their tail's just to flick flies off their backs.

I'm amazed they can even feel a fly cos their skin's really tough.

Yeah.

We've had tons of questions so far, Ciara.

You haven't done badly,

but we have a Killer Question for you.

Give us a second,

cos we've got to decide which one to use on you.

Guys, come on in.

Come on in.

OK, we had a few ideas before about the killer question.

Think that'll work? All right then, Ciara.

We have a Killer Question for you.

We know the answer, but do you?

If a rhino was to have a race with an elephant, who would win?

I have to say I don't know that

because I don't know how fast an elephant can run.

But, just on the weight,

I would say a rhino could probably run a little bit faster,

just cos it's got less weight to carry.

Ciara, you know your rhinos.

They actually are faster. We know - you mentioned it earlier as well -

rhinos can run up to 35 miles an hour,

where elephants - a little bit heavier -

can only run up to 25 miles an hour.

Well done, you.

-Good guess.

-You taught me something.

I didn't know how fast elephants could run. Thank you.

It's only fair - you've taught us a lot today.

What do you think, guys? Thumbs-up for Ciara or thumbs down?

Thumbs up all round. Well done, you.

-Thanks very much for your rhino info.

-Thank you.

And we'll see you next time on Ask The Keeper.

At the tapir house,

Joel and the keepers have a nerve-racking task to perform.

The gorgeous new baby is now a week old

and has been living just with his mum, Wilma.

But it's important that they are joined by the father, Tommy.

These animals have complex relationships

and Tommy may see the tiny baby as a threat and attack him.

The damage he could cause would certainly be fatal.

-JOEL:

-There's a number of things that we need to be wary of.

Tommy's reaction to the calf. Obviously, we don't want aggression.

Also, we don't want Wilma to be aggressive to Tommy.

She feels, obviously, quite protective over the calf

and if Tommy had a bad reaction, she would probably take it out on Tommy.

The introduction is happening in the house,

but half a ton of fighting tapirs

could be very dangerous for the baby.

In spite of the risk, it's vital to get this family together.

Tapirs are endangered,

and Tommy and Wilma are an important breeding pair.

In time, there should be more babies.

We're going to open the dividing door and see what happens.

The introduction has a greater chance of working

if they are left alone.

We have to really observe this from the outside

because if there was any trouble,

we wouldn't really want to be between them when it happened.

They're obviously very big, powerful animals.

Tommy approaches the doorway to their bedroom,

but Wilma and the baby stay inside firmly.

He's had a look. He knows she's in there.

She knows that he's out here.

Wilma emerges.

But will she welcome him or attack him?

This is looking good.

She wasn't afraid of him.

Wasn't worried he was going to do anything to the calf,

so she obviously feels comfortable and relaxed.

Tommy's not hassling her too much - he's leaving her be,

so yeah, it all looks good.

But the biggest test is still to come.

How will Tommy react to his son?

After an anxious moment,

Tommy decides to celebrate fatherhood with a carrot.

He doesn't seem bothered by the little one at all.

I know, obviously, they're not kind of, you know,

running around together and greeting each other,

but this is comfortable. They both feel comfortable where they are.

Wilma's not squealing at him or running around.

It's very rewarding that everything's gone OK with the calf.

This is really, really good and, if this continues,

I don't see any reason why they shouldn't live together happily.

The introduction's been a huge success,

which is a great sign for the future.

And the little one wants to stay close by,

even if he does take the most awkward route to follow his family.

Have you checked out the new-look Roar game

on the CBBC website yet?

This year, we've added some new stuff,

including an new enclosure called Ice World,

where you can look after penguins and seals.

Existing gamers will be able to keep their old parks

but there's new features for you to enjoy.

We'll be giving out new cheat codes on every programme.

Today's is on the screen now. Happy gaming.

Drills are one of one of the most endangered of Africa's primates.

It's believed there are just 2,000 left in the wild,

with fewer than 100 in captivity.

The parks are one of the few collections to have them.

Gorbi, the big male drill, is the leader of this troupe.

In the wild, they would use his bright bum

to follow him through the jungle.

At the park, the numbers are increasing,

and when we left them last series, Gorbi had just fathered a new baby.

Well, now Rani has gone down to get the latest.

-Hiya there.

-Hello.

-Now, where is this little baby drill?

She is over there, having a little feed on Mum.

-Can't see her at the minute. There she is.

-She's got SO big.

She has grown so much.

She's six months old now.

-Wow! And still suckling, then?

-She's still suckling,

although she does eat quite a bit of solid food now.

She only runs to Mum for feeds

and a bit of reassurance if something scares her.

-These are siblings to little lady here.

-Yeah.

-Has she got a name?

-She's called Khari.

-That's quite nice.

How's she getting on with her brothers and sisters?

They have such fun playing. You should see them

running around, tearing round the enclosure,

causing mum and dad so much grief.

-Now, Khari's ran away from Mum.

-Yeah, she's at the back.

We've got one of the other brothers and sisters going in for a cuddle.

This is the year before last's baby.

She isn't Mum's main focus at the minute. When Khari's running round,

Yola runs in there quickly for a cuddle from Mum

before new baby comes down.

She has to share her time between them all.

Mum still nurtures them and gives them a cuddle?

-Yes. She is an amazing mum.

-Lovely, isn't it?

-I

-still like a cuddle off my mum.

-We all like a cuddle.

Will Khari stay in here for good?

Hopefully, one day, we're hoping

we might potentially be able to send them back to the wild.

That will be in the distant future,

but they will definitely stay together as a family.

You talk about going back to the wild.

Is it right you were lucky enough to go out to Africa?

I did. I got sent to Nigeria for just over three weeks, to go to

a rescue, rehabilitation and breeding centre for drills,

called Pandrillus.

It's the world-renowned place for drills.

Some of it was a bit sad - to go out there

and see all of the deforestation.

You got to see a good side as well, didn't you,

-going to the rehabilitation centre.

-I did.

They're all in big, big troupes. The biggest troupe's 103 drills.

-103?!

-103 drills.

-And you've got - what? - seven in here?

103 was the biggest and 40 was the smallest group,

and they're all in as natural enclosures

as they could possibly recreate out there.

-The future's looking bright for the drill.

-It certainly is.

The future IS looking bright for the drills

and the future's even brighter for Gorby's bum. Take a look!

The primate keepers aren't the only ones with a new addition.

Earlier in the series,

we joined Ben as he fed the 15-strong pack of dholes.

But there were some new mouths to feed.

We've had some good news. We've had a litter of pups.

It looks like there's four in the litter.

They're six or seven weeks, so they're getting quite old.

Dholes are an endangered wild dog found in India,

south-east Asia and southern China.

We were lucky enough to be on hand

to see one of the newborn pups take its first steps

out of the den and into the enclosure.

Then, he was taken back to safety by one of the adults.

The pups have now spent a few weeks getting bolder and exploring,

but unfortunately, when any animal at the park gets to a certain age,

one procedure is inevitable.

They're now nine weeks old

and we're going to catch up with them as they get their jabs.

We come here this morning to vaccinate them,

which is, obviously, always a bit of fun.

Jim - and Kerry, the vet's assistant - will do the job today.

There they are.

The pups have been split up from the rest of the pack,

so they need to work quickly.

But this must be done.

This is a vaccination against parvovirus.

Parvovirus is a virus that can affect all dogs,

particularly puppies.

These guys are just over nine weeks old, so they're slightly bigger than

they'd normally be for their first vaccine,

which can be a challenge, but Jim's up to that.

They may just be nine weeks old but they've never been handled,

and are already wild and dangerous.

Well the theory is I shall go in the shed,

catch one and then pass it out for Kerry to vaccinate.

Jim bravely grabs the pup by the scruff of the neck.

This is a loose bits of skin that the parents use

to carry the pups around.

It's the safest way to pick them up.

They're in excellent condition, aren't they?

As you can see, they're little needles.

Even at this age, you wouldn't want them biting you.

That's the vaccine going in.

Right, sweetheart. All right. All right.

While they're handling the pups, they are doing some other jobs too.

Next is a microchip, which is like a permanent passport

so the keepers can keep track of each one.

Brave puppy!

Then a worming treatment.

Eat it. It's yummy, yummy, yummy!

I'm just going to stick the puppy in a bag, so we can get a weight on it.

We're not being cruel.

They'll sit quietly in there and they won't move too much.

It enables us to get a more accurate weight.

-Four.

-Four? Crumbs!

And finally a drug to guard against fleas.

Yeah. Beautiful little thing.

Yeah, this one's in great condition. They all are, actually.

This one's ordeal is over.

In you go.

There's a good boy. Off you go. Yeah, gone.

He's off to rejoin the pack.

There are still three more to do,

but Jim's pleased with how the pups are getting bigger and stronger.

They are fit and healthy, so that's good.

I look forward to four weeks' time,

when they're much bigger and get their second vaccinations.

Unlucky for Jim,

these pups will double in size in the next four weeks.

So we'll make sure we're there to see it too.

It almost is the end of the show and Johny, have I got a treat for you?

Thanks. It's about time I got rewarded

for all my hard work on the show. Let me guess what you've got me.

-That video game I wanted?

-Nope.

-You're going to take me out for dinner, aren't you?

-No.

Johny, you wouldn't even guess, so don't even bother trying any more.

In fact, the man who is going to hand you over his surprise

is head keeper here, Rich Barnes. Hi, Rich.

-Hello.

-Have you got it for Johny?

I have. Rani thought you'd quite like this as a surprise.

Gosh, wow! What a surprise, guys(!)

-Isn't he gorgeous?

-It's massive and hairy. Who have we got here?

This is Sophie. She's one of our Chile Rose spiders here at the park.

Now, Rich, Johny isn't an expert.

You can tell he doesn't keep spiders. Is he holding it correctly?

As long as you don't move too fast or pull your hands apart,

cos they've got little hooks on the end of the legs.

If you pull your hands apart, they might get caught,

and there's a chance they could drop. If they drop,

the exoskeleton, which is on the outside,

would crack like an egg. So they're quite fragile.

Make sure you hold your hands quite steady. Move quite slowly.

-Forget about her. Am

-I

-in any danger?

-Not really. She hasn't bitten anyone for a couple of weeks.

-What?!

-Don't say that!

-No, she's never bitten anyone.

She's pretty steady. They've got venom, but don't use it.

They really rarely bite people, this type of tarantula,

so yeah, you're quite safe.

Thank you for letting me get so close

but I'd like to give her back now if that's OK, Rich.

And while I calm my nerves,

why don't you lot check out what's coming up on the next Roar?

One of the keepers takes us to meet some furry new arrivals.

They're definitely cute, but what are they?

The newest baby debrazza monkey can't stop hugging her mum.

And our Roar Rangers have never even heard of a tapir,

but instantly hit it off.

I think I've made a really good friend now.

All that and more on the next Roar.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]