Episode 3 Roar

Today, what's the best way to eat corn on the cob?

The gorillas have some ideas, but how do you eat yours?

Hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Johny.

I'm Rani. This ravenous rabble are the black-and-white ruffed lemurs.

When feeding, these guys hold on by the feet and hang upside down.

Their very long tail is used for balance when up in the trees.

If you look at their fingers and toes, their nails are very flat.

That helps them grip on to objects and groom other lemurs.

You're going to be glued to today's show, so let's get on with it.

Coming up on Roar,

what happens when Roar Ranger Oscar makes friends with the giraffes?

It's no tall tale!

Find out why we're building sand castles for the Indian desert cats.

And the Javan langurs love hard-boiled eggs.

But afterwards, you don't want to be standing downwind.

Whenever you eat corn on the cob,

in my opinion, there's only one way to do it - like this.

Hmm! But what if you're a gorilla?

I've come here to meet gorilla keeper Emily Clark

who's devised a corny experiment.

We've got a box of corn on the cob here, also known as maize.

-It's got that outer layer still on.

-I've never seen it like that.

When you buy it in the supermarket, it's just like this.

We'll give it to the gorillas with this layer on.

-Why not take it all off?

-We want to make them work a bit for their food.

When we let the gorillas out, they should peel the layer back.

-It makes them work harder.

-I can't wait to see 'em go for these.

-Shall we distribute some out over the enclosure?

-That would be great.

-We're ready when you are. You can let Kifu's out.

-'They're on their way.'

OK, yeah, here they come.

Is that the silverback that's come out first?

Yeah, that's Kifu, the silverback in this group.

He's the dominant male.

He has come out first to see what we've put out for him.

-Oh, he's got four!

-He's got four already!

I wonder if he'll share it with the rest of the group?

Would they eat the whole thing? Is the middle part digestible?

Yeah, it's a bit like in humans.

The next day, we find a few reminders of what they've had the day before.

So there's remnants of corn in their poo, essentially?

It depends. If they chew through the tough husk on the outside,

they digest it a little bit easier.

We've got this guy here. He's eating it a bit like a human...

No, he's not. He's just crunching through the whole thing!

Would they come across corn in their natural habitat?

Not corn on the cob, but in the wild, they have quite a varied diet.

Lots of different plants.

-Kouillou here is eating his corn just like a human would.

-Yeah.

He's eating the kernels, the good stuff, and throwing the rest away.

-They've got quite dexterous fingers then?

-Yeah, very dexterous.

You can see he's peeled off all the outside layers.

There he goes, dropping all the bits he's not so interested in.

So what else do they do with their hands? Do they build things?

-I'm surprised how delicate they are.

-They're very, very clever.

We give them lots of enrichment, so they're very dexterous

and they can use their fingers to manipulate different objects.

Often we give them honey pots as well and they have to use a stick

and get it into the honey pot to retrieve the substance we've put in.

I'm surprised. I thought they'd just munch the whole thing.

-Have they got sharp enough teeth to eat the whole thing?

-Yeah.

They've got very powerful jaws.

They've got large canines. They could just bite through the whole thing.

But that's just how they enjoy eating it really.

This has been a really good experiment.

They've all gone for the corn and all eaten it in different ways,

but mostly just like a human would eat corn on the cob.

We've cobbled together an excellent experiment.

The keepers who look after the big cats are a pretty wild bunch.

There's head honcho Rich Barnes,

along with courageous Chris,

macho Mark

and rugged Rob.

So does that mean you have to be a roughty-toughty bloke to work here?

I don't think so.

Hi, I'm Jess, the new big cat keeper.

Jess started doing voluntary work at her local wild animal park

when she was just 14.

Now she's 20 and this is her first job as a professional keeper.

Being a big cat keeper is the best job in the world.

Hunting dogs are brilliant. They're really colourful and excitable.

I also get to look after these amazing Barbary lions.

As well as big cats, I get to look after snakes and spiders,

so this is definitely my dream job.

Jess might be having a great time with the animals,

but can she handle pressure?

Now I've got some questions for her in a special Ask The NEW Keeper.

It is quite hard being an animal keeper. You've got to be fit.

Every day, you're lifting 20 kilos of meat,

so it took a lot of time building up muscle, but I'm a bit stronger.

Feeding the cats is brilliant cos these guys are so soft with us,

then when that meat's around, they're a completely different animal.

It's satisfying to see them tuck into their grub

and take it to their favourite spot.

Probably strimming.

This park is fantastic for the animals, the enclosures are so big,

but they take a lot of maintaining.

Probably one of the worst jobs.

If I had to pick a favourite, not letting Solly hear, of course,

it would probably be the Siberian tigers up at the top of the park.

I don't think he's impressed!

So when she's not feeding, mucking out or helping the vet,

Jess can usually be found up with the tigers.

There's nothing like this. It's fantastic.

So watch out for Jess, the big cat keeper, later in the series.

Our Roar Ranger today is Oscar.

He's from Kent and he's raring to be a wild animal keeper.

I'm very, very excited about what you've got in store for me.

Every animal here needs to be looked after in a different way,

but at least Oscar's got some experience

because at home he helps to care for the family dog named Scooby.

I'm really excited. I may be touching some animals.

I might just be lucky and get to hold one.

"Oscar, today you're a giraffe and rhino keeper.

"Let's go on safari."

I hope I'll enjoy it.

Giraffe and rhino. Oscar will be working in The African Experience

where both those animals share the enclosure.

'One, two, three, four!'

The tallest animal here is the giraffe.

They grow as high as a double-decker bus.

And they weigh about 50 times more than Oscar.

-Hi, I'm Oscar.

-Hi, I'm Nick, the deputy head of rhinos and giraffes.

-Today, we'll be feeding some giraffes and rhinos.

-OK.

So get on board and we'll get going.

The trailer isn't very stylish, but it beats walking.

Giraffes come from Africa

where they're found right from the bottom edge of the Sahara Desert

all the way down to almost the southern tip.

The first job for Oscar and Nick is to pick up some food.

We'll make up a couple of feeds.

So what do giraffes like to eat?

-What are these?

-They're swede. You have those with your Sunday dinner.

Perhaps you don't, but some people do.

Also on the menu, there's carrots,

browse pellets made from tree leaves and more.

-And then they get this stuff down here.

-Horse manure?

It's not horse manure, it's chopped-up lucerne.

Lucerne is a plant related to peas and beans,

but people don't eat it except as seedlings

and then it's called alfalfa sprouts.

Oscar's almost finished.

He's doing all right.

He's certainly lively enough which is what you want for this job.

Now the good part - time to find the animals.

We are entering The African Experience.

The African Experience is a 150-acre safari park

where rhino mingle with wildebeest, along with antelope and zebra.

And, of course, giraffe. You could hardly miss them!

-They're massive.

-You've got to be very quiet.

-OK?

-Ssh!

I didn't say anything.

Oscar was hoping for an animal he could hold,

but if he's very quiet, maybe he can touch these.

They're quite gentle, but you're new, so you have to be careful.

If you come to the park, don't try to touch any of the animals.

It's only OK for Oscar because he's here with an experienced keeper.

Now here's a strange fact.

Despite their length, giraffes have only got seven bones in their necks,

which is the same number of bones as you and I have.

And a giraffe's tongue is rough like a cat's,

so that they can strip the bark off twigs and branches.

But now with them all fed, it's time to move on.

This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I never thought I'd get to stroke a giraffe ever.

I never thought I'd be able to meet a giraffe, let alone touch one.

See ya! That was the biggest experience I could ever have.

Ever!

But it's not over yet. There are some hungry rhino out here too.

We'll catch up with Oscar later to see how he gets on with them.

It's great being at the seaside. Actually, I'm not at the seaside.

I'm inside the Indian desert cat enclosure with Jim Vassey.

-So, life's not all bad, eh, Jim?

-No.

I've come down for feeding time with a difference,

but all I seem to be doing is building sand castles.

There is a little difference with it this time.

In actual fact, his feed's in here.

-So you've hidden the meat inside the sand?

-Yeah.

-I'll top this up.

Who have we got in here? I'll scoop some sand in.

-This is the male desert cat, Gunter.

-How old?

He's about seven or eight.

He's very ickle as well, which is quite surprising.

-He looks a lot like a domestic cat.

-Well, they are.

All domestic cats in the area where they come from,

-this is the ancestor of them.

-Wow!

Yours looks very neat. Mine looks great. Let's put them down.

-What do you mean, yours looks great?

-Ready to tip them out?

I want to see what he does. He's so competitive!

-Let's flip them over.

-One, two, three!

I'm scared mine isn't going to work. Yeah, beautiful!

We've actually come right over and he's moving away. Is he quite shy?

Yeah. He knows there's food. He can smell the food.

-He can really smell that food inside the sand?

-Oh, yeah.

A lot of his prey are rodents.

They live in burrows, so he has to dig them out.

-He knows what he's looking for.

-There he goes.

-Go for mine, yes!

That's maybe because he can smell your scent...

Oh, instantly got it! Just knocked the top of the sand castle off!

-Where has he gone with that food?

-In the tunnel. There he goes.

He'll have a burrow where he'll feel safe.

-Is that what they do?

-Yeah.

We also give him... There he goes back in the tunnel again.

He's gone in the tunnel, come out, gone back in and come out again?

He's trying to find a safe place to eat his food in quiet.

It's absolutely brilliant to see, Jim.

I've got to say you obviously smell

because he's smelled out your meat and has avoided mine completely.

Here's the little fella. So he's had his feed in his box.

-I love the way he's licking his lips.

-Yeah, he enjoyed that one.

Would it be fair to say

-eight out of ten Indian cats prefer rats in the sand?

-Yeah.

Yeah. Let's see if he's going to go for the other one.

You know we see all the big cats stalk for their food?

-Do these little fellas do the same thing?

-Very similar.

-He's coming in.

-He seems to be going low for it.

-He's sniffing it out.

-Here he goes.

-OK, a little sniff. Oh, he's spotted it!

-Yeah, here he goes.

-Well done, you!

-He's just making sure there's nothing else in there.

-And he's away.

-That's fantastic!

There you go. Off he's gone with his seconds. What do you think, Jim?

-Has it been a success?

-Yes, the idea of the sand castle has worked well.

I think it was brilliant. Shame he went for your one first!

He got mine in the end, hopefully without too much sand in his teeth!

-Shall we get out of here and let him enjoy it?

-Yeah, let's go.

-Come on.

What do you get if you cross a hippo and a helicopter?

I don't know. What do you get if you cross a hippo and a helicopter?

-A hippo-copter!

-That's hilarious.

BOING-BOING-BOING

-What sound does a cow make when it cries?

-I don't know.

Moo-hoo!

THEY GIGGLE

BOING-BOING-BOING

What do you call a cow with a crown on its head?

A dairy queen. Ta-da!

GIGGLING

Back up in The African Experience,

Oscar and Nick have food prepared for another big animal.

-Do you have any idea where the rhino could be?

-No.

Well, up here we might just spot it.

There, I see it. It's there!

Weighing in at more than an average car,

the black rhino is one of the heaviest animals on the planet.

These big bruisers are the bosses out here,

especially when there's food involved.

Black rhino come from Africa, but there's not many left.

In fact, the species is critically endangered

as there's now only about 3,500 left in the entire continent.

Back on the trailer, Oscar's struggling with some giant veg,

trying to break it into rhino bite-size bits.

I'll just try a parsnip.

-I'll never get that.

-I don't think you'll snap that parsnip.

The biggest black rhino here is named Manyara

and he weighs over two tonnes.

Every day, he eats about Oscar's body weight in fruit and veg.

It's impossible! How can you snap these?

I'll put some spinach leaves down there.

Oscar, we've done the rhinos and the giraffe. Did you have a good time?

-I had a brilliant time.

-What was your best moment?

Stroking the giraffes. It was the first time I'd seen and touched one.

I was very, very lucky. Bye!

Don't forget your spinach!

The rhinos and giraffes seem very happy with today's lunch

and I think our Roar Ranger enjoyed it too.

I still don't believe that I actually stroked that giraffe.

I still can't believe it. That's absolutely once in a lifetime!

Absolutely brilliant day!

Mealtimes on the primates section are always hectic,

but when you've got nine mouths to feed, you've got your work cut out.

-Polly, who are these guys?

-This is our resident group of Javan langurs.

We've got six adults and three youngsters all waiting for breakfast!

Some are black and some are this ginger colour. Why is that?

The colour difference is nothing to do with male or female.

-This is just a natural occurrence.

-So what have we got here?

This is a typical breakfast with a lot of cauliflower and green beans,

root veg and some apple. The speciality of today is the eggs.

I've never seen a monkey eat an egg. Do you think they'll like it?

-They love eggs.

-Have you tried it out before?

-They get these twice a week.

OK, and why eggs for monkeys?

This is a really important source of protein for them.

And it brings them down to the front for me to check them individually.

I've got to say when I have vegetables like this and eggs,

I get wind sometimes.

-Do these guys trump?

-Very heavily.

-Do they?

-Yeah. Girls as well.

Should we keep our distance? Maybe it's a good thing we're outside.

-I think so.

-Shall we feed them then?

-OK, eggs first then.

-OK, eggs first.

-That's for the youngsters, the half size.

-He wants a big, whole one.

-Which ones are the youngsters?

They'll come towards the end.

-So the adults get to snack first?

-Yeah.

-And...she wants an egg.

-They're not interested. They're picky!

-Have they got good taste palates?

-Yes, they can smell the eggs.

She wants a whole one.

They won't have the veg, but they'll have the treats, their eggs.

-Can I feed this...?

-Yeah.

-Is this an adult?

-Yes.

-She's a bit of an old lady.

-How old is she?

-She's getting on for about 15 years old.

-This is the youngster?

-Yeah.

Don't be scared. Come on.

-Wow, see the adults!

-Yeah.

-They want to get there first.

They're the dominant ones.

Do they get their fill first and let the youngsters come in afterwards?

-Yes, always.

-OK, let's give them some more.

No more eggs for you.

He's just not bothered!

Come on. Let's see...

Right, OK.

Polly, you mentioned that you give them these treats,

so you can check if they're healthy. How do you do that?

They come straight up for the egg. Whilst they're eating the egg,

I can check them over for any scratches, marks,

check their eyes, check their tails in case they've had any fights.

You can sometimes see nicks in the tail.

-Make sure no clumps of fur have been pulled out.

-Oh, wow!

It's unlikely, but just to make sure.

-Do they fight quite often?

-Not really, actually.

Sometimes the two boys in this group will sort out their dominance.

-They seem pretty contented now, so shall we leave them to it?

-OK.

Eggs-cellent!

Calling all gamers!

Have you checked out the Roar game yet?

It's on the CBBC website.

We've just added a new area called Ice World

and we've brought out a fresh set of cheat codes.

The one for today is "frost3".

So even if you're a veteran gamer, there's something new.

Give it a go, get gaming, get Roaring!

Now we're heading up to the primates section to catch up

with the baby De Brazza monkey who still hasn't been given a name.

When she was born, the vet did an emergency operation to get her out.

After that, her mum Bamboo was too poorly to look after her

and the keepers, led by Simon Jeffery, had to take over the job.

The trouble is she could grow up with the idea that she's a person

or maybe a basset hound!

Or even a soft toy. Anything except a monkey!

The baby is spending her days in a separate room in the De Brazza house

where she can see her family and they can see her.

Mum does seem to recognise baby. She does communicate with it.

She's not that interested in keeping it, which is one of the problems,

but she will come across and look through the window at her.

But the one who is most interested is big sister Ludo.

Simon put them together to see how they'd get on.

We weren't around, so he shot this for us.

Here we are, sister and baby.

The sisters were fine, but now baby's ready for the next step.

Simon's taking her to meet the whole family out in the big enclosure.

The question is, how will they react?

Go up there.

The first one over is big sister Ludo.

As you can see, she is interested in her there.

We want some contact, but not bad contact.

That's good. Nothing really bad has happened there.

If the parents don't come down, that's fine too.

As long as Ludo is giving her a bit of attention, that's always nice.

It makes her more relaxed around other monkeys.

Oh, coming to me instead of your teddy, eh?

She wants to pick her up, but obviously doesn't know how.

Doing a little bit of grooming, which is nice.

This is the sort of stuff that you want to see.

But I think that's the end of the session, really.

We're going to take her out now and I think that will be it.

Are you going to come back in?

Next time we'll come without the teddy bear.

We'll be back to see what happens to baby monkey later in the series.

Hopefully, the next time we meet, she'll have a name.

It's nearly the end of the show.

But first we'll pay a visit to hoofstock keeper Barry Higgs

and his five beautiful bison.

-Hiya, Baz.

-Hi.

-Nice to see you. Your guys are just grazing away.

-Are they fussy eaters?

-Not particularly.

They're herbivores, so they spend most of their time just grazing,

eating browse, feeding obviously on what we feed out which is cabbages,

ungulate nuts, cattle feed.

If you put some nice grilled chicken in there, they'd surely have it?

They wouldn't touch it. They've got too many nice things to eat out here.

They spend 50% of the day grazing.

There's some little fellas there, but at the back is one big geezer.

-Is that Bransk?

-Yeah, he's the big guy at the far side.

He's the alpha male, the big guy.

If the little ones play with the browse, does he swipe it off them?

He's normally got a nice bit of browse himself by that time.

He'll be first to the food and he'll push the others away,

pick the best bit and he'll be happy for a while.

How long does it take for them to grow into full adults?

They'll be pretty much full-grown at five, six years of age.

They're just over a year now and there is quite a difference in size.

-They've got a fair bit of growing to do yet.

-And a fair bit of eating!

Thank you for letting us pop down here today.

If that's left you hungry for more, why not feast your eyes on this?

'Next time on Roar, the vet and her team have got to act fast

'when a tiger needs an operation.

'We'll be trying to discover why these monkeys always look so grumpy.

'And I'll be facing my fear...'

Oh! Oh-oh!

'..when I meet Sophie, the eight-legged fiend.'

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2010

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