Episode 25 Roar

It's a boiling hot day in the parks, and some animals are heading

for the pool, while others are enjoying a picnic,

and a few are just... well, sunbathing!

-Argh!

-Hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Rani.

And I'm Johny, and today we're down at the bachelor gorilla enclosure

-putting our green fingers to the test.

-We certainly are.

We're actually planting a whole range of plants

that have been donated by visitors to the park.

That's right. And this is pampas.

We've also got of lavender, all of which, when it gets a little bigger,

will provide shade, shelter and a place to hide.

Well, knowing those gorillas, they'll probably munch it all away.

What - after all our hard work?

They'd better not or they'll have me to contend with. Grrr!

I will warn you,

one silverback is as strong as eight men, so good luck, muscles!

OK, well, I'll send you instead then.

Join us later, find out how the gorillas get on

and what they think of our plants, but let's get on with today's show.

We'll find out why a giraffe's front legs are longer than the back ones.

What reason could there possibly be

to smear a perfectly clean rhino with gooey, sticky mud?

And our Roar Rangers are very excited

when they find out which animal they'll be working with.

All the keepers down at the hoofstock section are delighted,

because there's going to be a new arrival in the bongo house.

One of our female bongos is expecting another baby any minute now,

so we've been observing her every morning, checking she's OK.

But we're hoping it should be any day soon.

Eastern or mountain bongos come from the forests of Kenya in East Africa.

Bongo are famously shy and elusive,

but nowadays they're also endangered,

so it's vital that these beautiful antelopes

are bred in captivity, and any pregnancy is very good news.

This is Libby. As you can see she's got a big belly.

She's been here probably just over a year now. We had a few problems

when she first came. She was very nervous - all the other girls

had to get used to her, and the male of course, and she was very shy,

and the male was a bit funny towards her.

Ever since we got over that hurdle, she's been really, really good.

The group have accepted her quite nicely.

But Libby isn't the only pregnant bongo this year, or even the first.

Rowena had a little baby about four weeks ago now.

She's doing really well. We were a bit worried to begin with.

She had a few problems, and we did think we would lose her,

so fingers crossed nothing like that will happen

and we'll have two new babies.

But first, Libby has to have that baby.

The only thing we are worried about is she is a first-time mum,

but when we see more signs that she might be about to give birth

we'll separate her off, so she hasn't got any worries,

and we'll just keep close observation.

And rest assured, when the news breaks, we'll be there.

Look out for Libby again later in the show.

We're back at the bachelor gorilla enclosure to see what Oundi

and Oudiki make of the lavender, pampas and wild grass we planted.

That's right. We're here with head keeper Phil.

Phil, they're in there at the minute having some breakfast,

but what do you think they'll do when they see our plants?

Well, there's a possibility

they may just rip them up and throw them around.

-No!

-Some of them they may eat, especially the lavender,

cos they have tried that and they quite like it.

They've completely ignored the plants so far.

Do they normally notice new things?

Generally, but at the moment their priority's breakfast.

They've got to fill their bellies.

And so you reckon that when they see it,

they'll eat it and smash it all up, but why don't we just

put some food in there? Why did we plant plants?

Well, ideally, we put plants in there to...

It kind of enlivens the enclosure up a bit, you know, varies it a bit.

Especially with this pampas. It grows quite big,

so it'll sort of make things a little bit more interesting.

We could hide food IN that if it grows, provided they pull it out.

Just generally makes the enclosure look a bit different.

So the ideal situation would be

for Oundi and Oudiki to ignore our plants for now -

because they were of course donated very kindly

by visitors to the park.

He's completely ignoring our plants,

but he is going on these tubes. Is there food in there?

Yeah, there's some seeds and a bit of cabbage,

and he's helping himself.

Would you ever think of planting things like cabbages

so they could have a snack when you're not around?

We haven't done, but they wouldn't just eat one or two -

they'd just eat the lot.

-Really?

-They'd just eat it till it's gone.

They can be quite greedy, can they?

-So best not to plant them then, or we'll have tubby gorillas.

-Yeah.

Lavender's got a lovely smell. Are the gorillas attracted to that?

Gorillas' sense of smell is probably slightly more refined than ours.

We can't smell it from here, so they'd have to get pretty close

to smell it, and when they smell they pick a thing up

or go down to it and sniff it right up to their faces.

We can see a gorilla there, I'm not sure if that's Oundi...

-Yeah, that's Oundi.

-Is he smelling the grass?

No, he's actually... he's actually eating some of the food.

There's a little line of seeds there,

and it's easier for him to pick them up in his mouth

than it is with his fingers.

-I mean, they are very dextrous anyway.

-Yeah.

But it's just easier. It's quicker.

You know what, I hope they don't eat our plants that we've planted.

And I hope you get the desired effects.

If you need any more help you know who to call... Rani.

Today's Roar Rangers are twins James and Emily from Essex.

-BOTH:

-We're Roar Rangers, we're Roar Rangers!

This talented twosome can dance in perfect harmony -

but which will be the best Roar Ranger?

She ain't going to be good at shovelling up the poo.

Cos she ain't strong enough.

Hey, that's fighting talk, that is!

With hundreds of different animals in the park,

our Roar Rangers could be looking after any one of them...

-Where is it?

-..but what will it be?

-Found it.

-You found it? Great.

I'll open it.

-Yeah!

-Whoo-hoo!

But can they agree on what a snow leopard actually looks like?

It's a kind of leopard, same as a leopard, but it's just in white.

And...black.

-Same as a tiger.

-But with spots, though.

Well, James has got it spot on.

Snow leopards are distinguished by

their beautiful pale coats with dark spots,

which helps to camouflage them in their natural habitat

high up in the frozen mountains of Central Asia.

Sadly there may be no more than 5,000 of them left in the wild,

making them an endangered species.

-Hello. You're my Roar Rangers, are you?

-Yes.

-I'm Emily.

-And I'm James.

I'm Ben, I look after the snow leopards.

-Shall we go and see her?

-Yeah.

Snow leopards are naturally very elusive, and much quieter

than other big cats like lions and tigers, because they don't roar.

They can mew, hiss and growl...

SNOW LEOPARD GROWLS

..but they never, ever roar.

-Look, there she is.

-Oh - steady.

Marta's quietly checking out her new visitors.

She's really cute. They're lovely creatures.

She's looking at me.

It's really fun actually, cos you can see all her spots.

-Are they endangered?

-Yeah, they're very endangered.

-People kill them for their skins.

-That's cruel.

-It's very cruel.

Just for their skin.

With so few surviving in the wild, it's essential

to breed them in captivity.

Apart from when they come together to mate,

snow leopards are used to living alone,

but Ben works hard to keep Marta occupied.

Basically, we're going to do some scent enrichment,

to see if that entertains her a little bit.

-Shall we go off and do that?

-That'll be fun!

Most cats have a fantastic sense of smell,

and just love checking out new aromas.

The keepers have used many things in the past, including animal skins,

but Ben's trying something a bit different today.

Well, basically we've got some scents here, and herbs.

We've got some Savanna tea, pepper,

and some bedding out of an ocelot.

Can you smell that?

Ohhh!

Let's have a ranger replay on that!

I feel like I want to be sick.

-It's horrible, isn't it?

-Oh, that stinks!

The ocelot is famously the stinkiest cat in the park,

and its bedding absolutely reeks.

But what us humans find revolting can be a heavenly smell to a cat.

What we're going to do is pick a scent each

-and see which one she likes the most.

-I reckon she'd like that.

-The pepper?

-Oi, that's mine!

-Er, I'll go for...Savanna tea.

-OK.

Well, I'm going to go for the ocelot pee.

That's that decided, then. Or is it?

-You can have it if you want.

-Yeah, I will.

-There you go.

-I think that's cheating!

-I'll have the pepper now!

-I'll have the pepper.

-What shall I have...?

I'M going to go for the Savanna tea.

At last!

-So, what we're going to do...

-Can I swap it?

-If you want.

-Thank you!

-I think I'm being done out here!

So, after all those swaps, who ended up with what for Marta?

I've got ocelot bedding.

I was left with pepper.

I've got Savanna tea.

It's time to bag it all up.

Each scent is put into a hessian sack,

which is then bulked out with shredded paper.

That should be enough.

It's a safe material,

in case snow leopard Marta decides to rip into them.

-Right, shall we go and see which one she likes, then?

-Yeah.

-So that's the ocelot's up there. Where do you want yours?

-Up there.

And...reach up!

-There it is.

-Rightio.

Putting the bag up high is a clever idea,

as these powerful pussycats are keen jumpers.

Their short front legs and large paws

are really good for walking on snow,

but their long back legs give them power

to leap and climb.

They can even jump up to six metres high - that's four times

their own body length - and it's their unusually long furry tail

which helps to keep them balanced.

But there might be an even cleverer place to put a bag than up high.

I'm going to cheat. I'm going to put mine right by the slide.

So it's the first one she smells when she comes through.

Right, let's get out of here.

Marta's being kept in the enclosure next door,

and she's keen to know what they've been up to.

-I'll have to take the lock out.

-Can we both do it together?

-Yeah.

Take this out. Got to make sure she doesn't try and open it.

Right, just open it very slowly. MARTA GROWLS

Come on, girly. Hey...

Oh, are you grumpy? Yeah, she's grumpy.

This is Marta.

She's going to eat you.

She just wants to go through the slides, find our bags.

Do you want to slowly open it, cos it makes a lot of noise

and you don't want to scare her.

Pull it backwards...

I'm too scared, just in case I'll frighten her.

There you go...

-And she's through.

-She's smelling yours!

So, she smelled Ben's pepper first, but will she go on to prefer

James' pongy ocelot bedding or Emily's Savanna tea?

Go over there! Go over there!

No, ignore that, go over there!

-Emily, mine is going to win.

-No, mine is.

No, mine.

Looks like she's yawning and none of us are going to win.

True.

But she smelt mine, so I win!

No! No, she just went near it.

-She just went near it.

-She sniffed it, come on!

I'm sure she'll have a little wander round later,

give them a smell and maybe rip the odd one apart.

And sure enough, a few hours later when everybody's back was turned,

crafty Marta demolished Emily's bag of Savanna tea.

I won the snow leopard competition, and my bag won it.

I won, I won. Na-na-na-na-na!

Hold on, didn't Ben win?

But anyway, how did our Roar Rangers find the day

as snow leopard keepers?

It was wonderful seeing the leopard right up close.

Being near something you've always wanted to see

feels really amazing so you feel special.

It's just been the bestest day of my life.

-Why do cats like other cats to make noise?

-I don't know.

Because it's MIAOW-SIC to their ears.

HE IMITATES A MONKEY

-What's as big as an elephant, but weighs nothing?

-I don't know.

An elephant's shadow.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETING

Roar! Quack-quack-quack!

Roar! Quack-quack-quack!

-Why won't oysters share?

-I don't know.

Because they're SHELLFISH.

ALL: Boo!

Helen's in a hurry, and she's got good reason

to squeeze every last ounce of speed from the delivery truck.

We're just heading up to the bongo house.

We've had some really good news. Our female bongo Libby has given birth.

The baby was born sometime during the night,

and by the time the keepers came in he was already standing.

Now the vet, Jane Hopper, has stopped by to take a look.

I've just seen Libby the bongo's new baby.

Apparently he's a boy - I could see that he's very large.

I think Libby has been quite lucky delivering him normally.

He is very big and also it was her first calf -

first deliveries can also be more difficult because it is the first.

But everything has gone well,

and hopefully she'll do well and I'll check on her tomorrow.

In the meantime, Helen will keep an eye on both mum AND her giant calf.

The baby is absolutely huge.

It's certainly the biggest bongo kid that I've ever seen.

It's really nice for this section to have a new baby.

Rowena's just had a baby a few months ago,

and hopefully this one'll join them soon.

Mum staring at me. She knows I'm here,

and she's actually putting her head down a little bit

so maybe we should just move on.

Well, we'll come back when Helen lets the big baby boy

out to play with the others for the very first time.

With the sun beating down like this out on the African Experience,

you could easily imagine

that you're actually on safari in Africa.

There are loads of interesting animals roaming around up here,

but keeper Clare has promised to tell me some amazing facts

about one species in particular.

The mammals with the longest necks in the world -

giraffes.

-They're extraordinary, aren't they?

-They certainly are, yeah.

They're amazing. Tell me something about their necks.

They must be very strong and very kind of, I guess, agile as well

cos they can reach low down and high up in the trees.

Yeah, they can reach all the best browse at the top

which some animals can't,

and they can get right into the bushes,

pick the nice green leaves and nice browse from in there as well.

Clare, you don't see this often,

but this one's sort of splaying its legs to try and get to the ground.

Yes, when they're going to drink water

or take something from the ground, they'll

put their legs at a 45 degree angle because their front legs

are 10% longer than their back legs,

and obviously with the length of the neck

they have to position themselves to get their head to the ground.

So they're bending down to have their food,

but I understand it's a little bit different out in the wild.

Yeah, they're very vulnerable when they bend down to drink water.

Say a group of giraffes - one'll drink while the rest watch out

for predators, such as lions.

I can't imagine a lion could take one of those down. They're massive.

No, they generally won't hunt them,

but obviously when they go down to drink that's the only time the lion

knows they're vulnerable so will try and get them. Their calves, though,

are quite vulnerable because they can't really defend themselves.

So will the calves usually stick with their mum and dad?

Yeah, they'll stick right by the mother.

So does it not make them dizzy

if they're putting their neck all the way down and then up again...

It must make them pretty dizzy.

They have special valves in the jugular vein in their neck,

so when they bend down the blood gets slowed down.

And they've also got blood vessels above their brain to also

-slow the blood flow into the brain.

-So they've got a special brain.

They've got pretty special big hearts as well, haven't they?

Yeah, they do.

-Huge hearts, yeah.

-How big would you say a giraffe's heart is?

Are we talking kind of that big, do you reckon?

-I think it's about two foot wide, so...

-Two foot wide, for the heart.

-So you're talking about that by that.

-Yeah, it's...

That is pretty big. Amazing animals.

So do they use their necks

for anything else other than, eating food and drinking?

The male giraffes actually use it to fight, so they wrap their necks

round each other like this,

and then the strongest one will generally win

and then they'll get to mate the females.

What happens to the one that loses -

-is it left with a broken neck? That sounds vicious!

-No, not usually, no.

Clare, how long would you say the average giraffe's neck is?

-It's about 1.8 metres long.

-1.8, so that's...

You're talking about six foot which is about the same size as me.

-That's impressive, isn't it?

-Yeah.

They've got so many special adaptations to help them survive,

so thank you for letting us get close to them. What a wicked animal!

The competition's hotting up to attract the most visitors

to your own wildlife park in the Roar online game.

So, type in today's cheat code, rain10, and make sure that

your animals are getting all the food and treats they deserve.

Happy gaming!

It's usually hot out in Africa, which is where rhinos come from,

so they're used to sunny days like today.

But they still enjoy a dip in the pool, just like we do,

and all the rhinos here use mud wallows.

If one dries out, though, the keepers make use of the full ones,

and Kiera's invited me to come down and help her.

Whose enclosure is this, and where are they?

This is Quinto's, but he's locked out at the moment.

Oh, I was expecting him to run in and go, "Yay! Wallow!"

and big mud bomb on me.

OK. So we're now gathering mud, I see, into a bucket. Why?

-Well, Quinto already has this wallow so he uses this daily.

-Right.

But across the road, Arusha has a wallow

but it hasn't rained for so long that the wallow's dry.

So we're just going to put some mud into this bucket for her.

I guess you want me to get my hands dirty.

-Of course, we've still got to fill it.

-Yeah.

Watch me get my hands dirty. Look at that!

I'm joking, I'll get in here, get some mud for Arusha, you say?

-It's lovely and cool.

-Really cool.

Because it's absolutely boiling today,

but the mud stays cool, so she's going to love this, isn't she?

Now, do you do this often for her?

When we've got time it's nice to give the rhinos who don't have a wallow

to give them a bit of a mud pack.

They love the attention as well. So it's really good for her.

Now, Kiera, I've come down, I've got my hands dirty.

-Can I actually help you give Arusha the mud bath?

-Of course you can.

Well, let's get our mud and let's get out of here!

OK, we've got our big bucket of mud, and we've got Arusha here

who looks like she's patiently waiting to be slathered in the mud.

Now is there a way I should be doing this not to scare her off?

Well, she's quite chilled out.

Just kind of gently put it on her... on her forehead. Go in front of me.

Hello, darling.

-Good girl, Rush!

-Now, the mud is lovely and cool,

but I have to admit, Arusha, your skin is very, very dry.

Is that her skin or is it lots of dry, cracked mud?

It's lots of dry, cracked mud. Her skin underneath is quite dry anyway,

so the more mud we put on it, the more, like, nice mud pack it will be.

So we mentioned about it protecting from the sun,

especially on days like today where it's absolutely scorchio,

but does it work like a moisturiser as well and soften the skin?

Yeah, well, it just acts like a barrier between her skin and, like,

the elements outside. You can see the mud is quite thick,

so no sun's going to get through.

Also, parasites - there's lots of horseflies around.

They can't get through that layer and bite her skin,

so she's quite well protected.

Because some of the rhinos before have had

really bad little bites and they end up bleeding.

-Yeah.

-So, with tough guys like this, does it hurt them?

I don't think it hurts them, it irritates them more,

but it's just nice to

cover them in this and it doesn't bother them so much.

The weather's just suddenly changed, hasn't it?

Yeah, so now it's really good for them.

It gets rid all of the old skin when it dries and falls off.

It just gets rid of all the old horrible skin.

Well, we've got a whole load of rhino to cover with mud,

so I think you should get cracking and I should get out of here.

Cool, cool.

It's a week now since the big baby bongo was born, and Helen's decided

that the weather's perfect for him to have his first adventure.

Today we're going to let Libby and her new kid go in with

the other bongo. This will be the first time

we've let them in all together, so it'll be nice.

We've got three youngsters in there at the moment.

Two of a similar age, so it'll be really nice.

All right then, Libs, are you going to meet the girlies?

Libby doesn't look too sure. Helen will have to persuade them to leave.

What's this? Ooh, Libs...!

They've been kept away from the others for a week,

and it looks as though Libby was enjoying the peace and quiet.

Libs, good girl. Come on, then!

At first, they show no sign of going anywhere -

but then Libby makes a move.

-And the baby doesn't want to be left behind.

-All right, then.

But what will the little bongo make of the big wide world outside?

The other youngster comes straight over,

while Libby heads off for the freshest grass

at the other end of the paddock.

So, when the baby looks for her, he can't see his mother anywhere.

Are you going to go back to your mum?

Luckily, Helen's here to point him in the right direction.

Steady, then...

Good lad. Are you going to go and see your mum?

That's it.

We've been out here about 15 minutes now, and they're all quite calm

and just grazing now, and the little 'uns look so nice together.

They're sort of communicating with noises and sort of playing,

so it's really nice. They look really good.

The next big step for the baby will be to meet his dad, Rath.

We'll leave Rath separate for a couple of weeks.

There is a fence in between his paddock and this paddock,

so that's a good introduction for them.

So we'll give it two weeks, and then let him through to meet his new boy.

Well, Helen's clearly pleased with how today's gone.

We'll catch up with her big bouncing baby bongo later in the series.

Well, we've come to the end of another Roar,

but we've just enough time to see head of carnivores Jim Vassey

and find out more about these guys.

-They're amazing.

-Oh, Jim, I've got to say,

last year we saw these guys - little tiny cubs...

They're looking massive now!

-How old are they?

-Yeah, they're 10 months old now.

10 months. That's very impressive.

And to grow so quickly, I guess they must need a lot of food.

How often do you feed them?

We feed them twice a week here.

So it's not as much as people would expect, but they eat a lot

at each sitting.

There's Dad there, look.

-He will eat 30 kilos easily in one sitting.

-In one sitting!

The cubs are a bit smaller, so they'll probably get

about 30 kilos for the week. So it's about 15 kilos per food.

And so when you feed these guys... Oh, look at them just rolling round.

-Big stretch there!

-They're so chilled out.

Dad eats double the amount.

So do you have to get Dad to go away somewhere, will he steal their food?

No - when we feed them he's always first in.

So he'll come in, grab his bit, which will be the biggest bit,

and he'll wander off and

-maybe even hide it and come back for another bit.

-Cheeky!

Sometimes he'll take it in the shed you won't see him again

-the rest of the day.

-But he leaves stuff for the little ones.

When will the little ones be able to compete with their dad

for food, and how do you expect them to develop?

Well, within the next 12 months they're going to double in size.

-Double?

-Double in size.

-Oh, man!

-That is unbelievable.

Now, I've got to point out this little fella down here,

just lazing around...

Now, we talk about tigers being lazy.

What DO they do when they're not being fed?

-You know, what do they do for the rest of the time?

-Sleep.

Sounds like a perfect life, doesn't it? Eat and sleep, Johny!

Definitely. I reckon we should feed them now.

I do think so, so then they can have a nap!

And you check out what's on the next episode of Roar.

Here, kitty-kitty!

There's great excitement down in the De Brazza enclosure -

but while the adults are enjoying a feeding frenzy, we get to meet

the extremely cute new baby.

There's an emergency in the carnivore section.

An elderly serval needs an operation,

so they have to put her to sleep. But will she ever wake up again?

And I'm very conscious of the wolf pack closing in

-while we make improvements to their enclosure.

-Don't miss it!

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