Episode 35 Roar

-Yeah!

-Today, we've got a special rip-roaring edition

packed with our top moments and favourite clips

from the series so far.

Hello, and welcome to an extra-special episode of Roar.

-I'm Rani.

-And I'm Johny. Today we'll be looking back

at some of the highlights of our past few months here,

cos unfortunately today is the last episode in the current series.

Don't look glum, because we're going to be looking back

at some of our very special favourite moments.

We've got the cutest to the scariest to the smelliest to the funniest.

We've got it all, you know? Let's get on with it.

Get ready for the heart-warming story of Tigs the baby meerkat.

There's the fateful day when Johny faced his fear...

Oh! Oh-ho!

And Rani lost her bottle.

-RANI SQUEALS

-It's up my leg!

We'll find out just what it takes to be a Roar Ranger -

enthusiasm, hard work or sheer courage?

Flipping 'eck, they're big.

Oh, no!

And I'll be going right back to the beginning,

to my very first appearance on Roar.

Oh, boy, that stinks!

Right, when you're working with wild animals,

always expect the unexpected. The next drama is never far away.

That's never more true than when it comes to the babies

as their survival is sometimes a real struggle.

There's been one new arrival this year

whose plight has captured all our heart-strings.

I'm talking about the baby meerkat, Tigs.

If you missed that story the first time round, sit back and go "aww!"

The story began with an emergency

when a new-born meerkat pup fell dangerously ill.

If she didn't get medical attention in the vet's hospital,

she was going to die.

So the keeper in charge, Rich Barnes,

had no choice but to take her away from Mum.

It was a tough call, but then Rich is a tough guy.

He has to be, because he's also the boss of the big-cat section.

But maybe rufty-tufty Rich isn't such a hard case after all...

Because, as the baby recovered in the vet's hospital,

it was Rich who spent the most time looking after her.

In fact, he was absolutely devoted.

HE MAKES KISSING NOISES

Hello.

Are you ready for some food?

I'm not really a big softie at all.

Don't let anyone ever see this, all right?

But then, this baby would turn anyone into a softie.

OK, this is Tigs,

a little baby meerkat.

Three weeks old today, aren't you?

Eh?

Yeah, she's doing really well now.

She actually looks like a little meerkat now. Don't you?

Eh? Look like a little meerkat? Yes.

And these are kind of OK noises, kind of content and just,

"Oh, what's that? What's that?"

And when she's hungry, she proper squawks like a bird.

Yes...

Sadly, Tigs will never be able to return to live with her own family.

Like many animals, meerkats will reject a baby

once it's been gone for more than a day or so.

In fact, if Tigs was put back with her family,

they would probably kill her.

So, it was up to Rich to become her foster parent.

I feed her every two to four hours,

so every three hours-ish, roughly.

It's not an exact science.

They'll let you know as and when they want feeding.

Last little bit. Come on.

It's just a matter of feeding throughout the day and night,

round the clock, hence the reason why I'm a little bit tired and cranky.

But, you know, it's worth it if we can get them to survive.

She's doing really well now.

She's just starting to be quite a lot of fun now, so it's quite good.

Tigs was spending her days at the hospital

but her nights at home with Rich, and later on with other keepers.

But as she grew bigger and bolder,

this became more and more of a problem.

-Hey, hey, hey, hey!

-MEERKATS CHATTER

We'll see what happened then a little later on.

Squawk! Squawk!

Wheeeee!

We love nothing more than when fans of the show, AKA you guys at home,

get to come to the parks and get hands-on with some of the animals.

Yes, this series we've had some of our best Roar Rangers ever.

They've helped get stuck in with the feeding, the cleaning

and even keeping the animals entertained.

It's not just the animals that have been kept entertained.

-We have as well. Let's check out some Roar Rangers best bits.

-Yeah!

The series kicked off with brother and sister double act,

Kelly and William.

They must've been born lucky

because they got one of the cutest creatures around, the red pandas.

She's here already.

So if you want to take a piece of fruit in your hand...

Aw!

Aw! That's so good for her to take it out my hand.

I didn't think I'd ever get this close.

Squawk, squawk!

But being a Roar Ranger isn't just about petting cute animals.

Oscar, for instance, soon discovered

that the job has a downside, which is a shame,

because until he met keeper Matt Crittenden,

he'd really been enjoying his day.

I'm just going to spoil that for you.

There we go, Oscar, inside the baboon house.

-Have a good sniff.

-Urgh!

-What do you reckon?

-It stinks.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

It's a bit like your mum not cleaning your bedroom out.

-I've heard your bedroom's a bit like that. Is this right?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-You do that on the floor in your bedroom?

-No!

-Dear, oh, dear.

-I don't do that!

-Right, first thing I want you do

is brush all that off the shelf onto the floor.

Oh, no, I hope that's not what I think it is...

Eugh, that's gross!

There's poo on the camera.

There IS poo on the camera...

The baboons would probably laugh too if they could.

HUMAN LAUGHTER SOUND

Having a sense of humour is important for a Roar Ranger,

but so are nerves of steel.

Just see how Hyatt handles his first-ever snake.

Is it poisonous?

-No, she's not poisonous, this one.

-It looks poisonous.

-So do you think you're up to the job of holding this for me?

-Yeah.

There you go. Take the tail end first.

Hold your arms out. See what I'm doing, holding my hands out flat.

And then... That's it.

And just support as much as you can.

It looks scary!

Argh, no!

Is she going up your sleeve?!

Don't worry about her. She's all right.

It made me feel like she was going to bite my armpit!

Hyatt wasn't frightened, but now, how did Johny and I do

when WE came face to face with our worst nightmares?

There are only two things in life that scare me...

a right telling-off from my mum,

and Rani first thing in the morning before she gets her make-up done.

Oh, now, that's just cheeky. Hang on. Did you just say

-there are only two things that scare you?

-Yeah, just two things.

Are you sure, Johny? Just two things?

Rani, I'm completely fearless!

OK, Johny, I think we know differently, don't we, yeah?

Remember this?

As well as looking after Tigs the baby meerkat,

Rich Barnes is also the keeper in charge

of the most terrifying creatures in the park.

So, really, since being little I've been scared of spiders.

There's not really much to be scared of with spiders like this.

Yeah, well, most of our reaction to them is unfounded.

Is she venomous at all?

OK. Well, she does have venom, yeah.

All spiders have a certain amount of venom.

Hers isn't particularly dangerous towards us.

-Can you see the fangs on the underside?

-Yeah, I can.

-Look at those fangs.

-They're not particularly large.

They're not big, but you wouldn't want them sinking into your hand.

-It'd hurt a little bit.

-Right, shall I give it a go, Rich?

Just put your hand out and I'll just let her walk on,

and if you don't like it at any point, just say

and I'll let her walk straight off again.

The best way to do it to start with

is just to hold a hand out and let her walk across,

straight onto mine again, so you know you've done it.

-OK.

-If you want her back, I'm happy to put her back on your hand.

-Oh, God!

-In your own time.

-OK, OK.

There's no point rushing you to do it either.

If you don't want to do it, then you'll be more nervous about it,

-whereas if you're happy and ready, we'll just let he walk across.

-Go on.

Let's give it a go.

Just a quick one, yeah? Just on my hand.

Just let her walk across, and then, once she's walked across,

-I'll take her back off.

-Wow!

That's actually not that bad at all.

-The best way to describe it is...

-She's really gentle.

She is, she's quite sure-footed as well.

-Feels a bit like pipe-cleaners, the end of her legs.

-Yeah, it does.

-Let's have another go.

-There you go.

You know what this is a bit like? A roller-coaster.

-At first you don't want to go on it.

-Then once you go on it,

-you want to go on it again and again.

-Yeah, yeah! Wow!

Ooh! Ooh! I'm so brave! I'm Johny!

OK, so maybe I'm not the biggest fan of spiders in the world,

but at least I held one... in the end.

Anyway, you're no big, brave TV presenter yourself, Rani.

I think you'll find that I've held snakes, I've held spiders,

I've even held a Madagascan hissing cockroach, so in your face!

-Rani, three words for you.

-Go on, then.

Anyone for cricket? Roll tape.

Like loads of people, I get shivers when I think of insects like locusts

and crickets jumping all over me.

But if you're a cat, it's a dream come true and a delicious snack.

Well, if you can catch them. I've come to meet keeper, Steve

- hiya, Steve - to see what he's got planned for the ocelots.

And there's the little fella now.

-How is Jan?

-He's all right. He's an old lad now but he's still going.

He is an old lad but we've got a certain treat for him today.

What is it? I'm dreading it. I don't want to know, really.

-You'll be fine, Rani.

-OK.

-If I'm not scared of it, then...

Warn me first what is in the bag.

We're just going to give him some...

-..locusts.

-Oh! Oh, it's jumped! Sorry, it's jumped.

It hasn't gone on me. It's on the floor. Do we need to pick that up?

He can go. It's fine.

You're really not too fussed by these, are you?

I am not that au fait with the locusts.

OK, so you're putting them inside the wicker basket.

-What's with the wicker basket?

-It's just a novel object

for him to play around with. The chances are if he figures out

there's something in there for him, he'll knock it around a bit

and eventually these little locusts will hop free.

Brilliant! So it'll just be something fun,

and with the locusts, it's a bit of a tasty snack.

Yep. In the wild, ocelots eat everything they come across, really.

Any small mammals, birds, reptiles, but insects as well, so...

ARGH! It's on my leg! Oh!

Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just had a little scare.

Sorry, I'm so sorry!

-What do cats eat for breakfast?

-I don't know.

Mice Krispies!

LIKE A MONKEY: Ooo-ooo-oooh-waaah-aaah!

-What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?

-I don't know.

Cliff.

RA-A-A-A-A-R-R-R!

-What's the strongest fish in the sea?

-I don't know.

A mussel.

Stop it, you're killing me!

As Tigs the baby meerkat grew up,

Rich Barnes got some of the other keepers to help look after her,

like Jess Ottoway.

She's about four months old

and doesn't like to stay still so much any more.

She's eating everything in sight,

including every tiny little bit of dirt and people's fingers,

They're always tasty. Ow!

Stop it!

Tigs was certainly growing fast,

probably because she ate like a horse.

She thinks someone's going to steal her food, I think.

She's getting more aggressive with us around her food anyway.

I think she thinks we're going to steal it

so she has to eat it really, really quickly. Stop it!

Oi! Ooh! Ooh, stop it, you'll make yourself sick again.

The danger of hand-rearing little animals

is that they can start to think that they're little humans. But not Tigs.

She soon developed lots of classic meerkat mannerisms.

It's brilliant that she's acting like a meerkat should.

She definitely doesn't think she's a human.

She definitely thinks she's a meerkat.

She just thinks that us humans are a giant play toy for her.

Some people have guard dogs and things, but we have a guard meerkat.

SHE LAUGHS Don't we?

Hey, hey, hey!

And that brings us up to date.

Sorry, but we'll all have to wait till the next series of Roar

to find out what happens to Tigs the baby meerkat.

If you're running your own animal park on the Roar game,

you'll know what to do with this...

That's the final cheat code for the series, but don't forget,

keep looking after your animals

and just see how many visitors come to your park.

-Now, just compare that...

-ARGH!

with Lucy, one of the keenest Roar Rangers we've ever seen.

Raaaaaa!

I'm up for it all right. I don't care

if I have to clean out poo or anything. It's just like my hamster.

She's got small poo. It's just bigger poo for bigger animals.

Just as well she's up for anything

because she got the dholes, a kind of wild dog from India.

They go round in packs and they're big meat eaters.

-Jim Vassey is the keeper in charge of them.

-Are you squeamish?

-Not very.

-Are you a vegetarian?

-No.

No? Good, cos the dogs aren't.

First we need to go and pick up the bones from their last feed, yeah?

-Yeah.

-That's why you've got the gloves.

-Yeah.

Right, then. If you'd like to step inside.

And here's the brave part, because Lucy went in

while the dholes were still there.

I'm excited.

Of course Jim's a very experienced keeper

and he knew what he was doing.

Now you're actually inside their hunting ground, as it were.

-They're all looking at us.

-Yeah, there's plenty of eyes on us.

-You can see there's one over there, look, watching us.

-Yeah!

They need to have eyes on us when they're out hunting.

-They might eat us otherwise.

-Well, you maybe. Not me.

-No!

I'm old and tough.

Right, we need to pick up all these red bones up now.

There you are. See, that's what your rib cage looks like.

So, even blood-stained bones didn't worry Lucy.

As well as getting to grips with the disgusting,

our Roar Rangers often have to tackle the downright odd,

as Sam found out when he went to help keeper Ingrid

in the gorilla enclosure.

We're going to smear honey all over the windows.

So first, open your honey.

-I think you have to unscrew it.

-Oh, right, has it got a...?

Oh, yeah.

Not just a pretty face, are you?

Right, OK.

You put your hands out, then just smear it on the window there.

Finger painting.

The idea of smearing honey on the windows

is that when the gorillas come over to lick it off,

the keepers get a really close look at them as a quick health check.

Whoa!

Oh, whoa!

I've never seen gorillas this close before.

It's pretty cool but I got mucky with honey all over my hands,

and I was attracting bees and it was getting annoying,

so I'll go and wash it all off.

But in this series, we had one Roar Ranger

-who had a different approach...

-There, there's Wilma.

Flipping 'eck, they're big.

He showed that you can like animals without wanting to get hands-on.

-Are you sure you don't want to feed them any?

-I'm sure!

Good girl. Come on, then.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

That Roar Ranger was Jake from Barnsley.

-Hi, guys.

-Which one's that?

-Wilma?

-This is Wilma coming out first, and there's Tommy.

Jake is a tae kwon do black belt, but of course that won't keep

-a hungry tapir at bay.

-That's it.

Just stand still, don't run away.

They're checking us out to make sure that we haven't got the food,

then they'll go looking for it.

My hands are empty. Look, empty hands.

-They just don't know where it is.

-Do you mind if I go back there?

If we go the other side of the fence, we can watch them from there.

-Would you be more comfortable with that?

-Yes, I would.

-You don't want to touch one, then?

-No.

At the end of the day, being keen on animals

doesn't mean you have to get up close and personal.

You can just as easily enjoy them from the other side of the fence.

Or by watching them on Roar.

Ooh, Rani, is that you?

That's disgusting! Honestly, what...?

No, Johny, that's not me. I think you'll find it's that.

-FLIES BUZZING

-Wow.

Now, that is a lot of poo.

When I started Roar, I didn't realise

how much mucking out I'd be doing,

and the worst was definitely the python clean.

All right, Johny, I've done my fair share of poo cleaning out as well.

-Not a lot.

-I think you mean ocelot, and those guys stink.

Lucky this isn't Smellovision, in fact. Remember these?

Hey, shall we take a seat?

I do love the ocelots, even though I'm not so keen

on the locusts they snack on or the smell they make.

Have a look.

What is that, Mark?

Well, that's the remains of last week's dinner, pretty much.

I have to say we all know the ocelots' pee smells,

but in this it smells even worse. It's really pungent, isn't it?

So do ocelots tend to wee in the same place, then?

Yeah, many of the cats seem to. Of course, they go round scent-marking

and letting the other cats know that that's their home, if you like.

Also, with us cleaning out his little toilet-style box thing...

Hang on! Wait a minute.

It actually smells even worse. It's really, really pungent...

Just as I thought. Rani didn't actually do the dirty work herself.

You want to see disgusting, take a look at this.

It was my first appearance on Roar and they sent me to help

with the biggest snake I've ever seen.

-Hello, Ben.

-Johny.

-How are you?

-Not too bad.

He is absolutely massive. Who have we got here?

This is Chain, our Burmese python.

I've got my gloves, I'm ready for action.

-They'll be no use to you at all.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Why?

You have to put your hand down there,

feel for the plug at the bottom in between the large snake,

and drain the pool.

So why am I doing this, Ben?

Basically, as you can see, he's made a mess of his pool

and we need to clean it.

He's massive. He won't bite me, will he?

I'll make sure he doesn't bite you.

-Oh, no!

-Right, I'll look after the head end.

Right, OK.

The plug is right between his body, right down the bottom of the pond,

so get on your hands and knees...

Oh, he's huge!

How often do you do this kind of thing, Ben?

Is he used to this?

We do it a couple of times a week, so he knows what's going on.

The only thing is we haven't fed him for a couple of weeks now.

-You've got to be kidding!

-You could be the next grub.

No, don't say that! Just tell me you're kidding.

-No, I'm not kidding.

-You haven't fed him for a while?

-Yeah.

It'll be all right. Go on, get your hand in there. Go on.

No pressure, then. Oh, look, this water's filthy! Oh!

Right, OK, I'm down.

Oh, there's loads of little bits of... What's that?

-Oh, what's that?!

-That's a bit of wee.

-That's wee?

-Yeah, it comes out very gloopy, then dries very quickly.

Looks like a piece of papier mache. Ugh!

Try eating it.

No way! That stinks! Oh!

Right, so...

Pull as hard as you possibly can.

There you go.

Oh! Oh!

Well, Ben, I think we've got a bit more work to do in here,

but I'm so glad this big lad here, Chain,

hasn't thrown a his-s-s-sy fit. He's a good lad, isn't he?

-You're bad.

-Sorry!

Let's get on with it.

Oh, come on, then, Chain.

What did the policeman say when a spider crawled up his top?

You're under a vest!

Miaow, miaow!

What do you call it when a cat bites?

I don't know.

Catnip! BOTH: Miaow!

R-O-A-R-R-R-R!

What did the confused bee say?

To bee or not to bee!

Here on Roar, we always do our best to keep you up to date

with all the babies born across the parks,

and this series, there have been quite a few.

We know they're all cute, but which one is the cutest?

To get an answer to this vital question,

we got the Ask The Keeper kids

to vote for their favourite from our shortlist of four.

And each cute candidate has a keeper to make their case.

The baby elephant is loved by Liz,

Simon is battling for the de Brazza,

Barry reckons it's got to be the tapir,

and Jess is backing...

you've guessed it... Tigs the baby meerkat.

So let the cute contest commence

with the biggest baby in the place.

Etana is the most cutest animal in the park, I think,

cos she's so playful, so cheeky.

She's just adorable. Because she's a big baby

because she's an elephant, there's more of her to be cute, I suppose.

Always acting the fool, trying to get away with things

because she's the smallest out of the whole of the herd.

Tapirs and other things like that, they can't compare, really,

to a baby elephant. What more could you ask for?

That's a matter of opinion.

Just ask Barry.

I don't think there's any comparison at all. He's in a different league.

Elephants... Well, they're lovely, but this chap is just number one.

Baby tapir should be the cutest animal in the park because...

Just look at him. Words can't describe.

He's got stripes, he's got spots, a great personality,

he's into everything,

he lets you give him a nice little scratch and he's just adorable.

I think most definitely he is the cutest in the park.

Then there's the youngster who needs no introduction.

This is Tigs, our four-month-old baby meerkat.

She was hand-reared with us

and I definitely think she's one of the park's cutest animals.

You can see from this that Tigs is definitely really feisty,

but when she was little, she was always really sweet

and just kind of slept all the time and only woke up to be fed.

Now she's constantly awake

and constantly wants to bite people. Don't you?

But Tigs wasn't the only baby who had to be hand-reared this series.

Up in the primates section,

Simon Jeffrey had to become a foster parent to a baby de Brazza monkey.

He looked after her day and night, with some help from his pet dogs.

She's a little bigger now,

but Simon still reckons

she's got the edge on those other babies.

This monkey likes doing everything cute. Look at it.

It's a cute little monkey.

She plays with you, she jumps on you, she tickles.

Look, tickle!

And spin!

If you look down at her and look at that face,

there's only one word for her and that's cute.

She is just the cutest animal in the world.

We're not denying it. This baby has always been

a particular favourite of the Roar crew,

but what do the judges think?

We put it to a panel made up of 24 of the Ask The Keeper kids.

Which would they decide was the cutest baby?

Tigs the meerkat, Etana the elephant,

the little Brazilian tapir or the baby de Brazza monkey?

-I think the cutest one is the meerkat.

-Baby elephant.

-The de Brazza.

-The baby meerkat.

Let's cut to the chase.

When the votes were finally counted, a clear winner emerged.

With 13 out of 24, the winner was...

Tigs the baby meerkat!

But, hey, cute is a matter of opinion.

Who would you have voted for?

We hope you've all enjoyed looking back

at the highlights of this series. Unfortunately time's up today.

This is the last programme in the current series of Roar.

I've got to say I have had an amazing time.

How about you? Enjoyed it?

It's been absolute quality. I've learned so much,

from how to identify a gorilla

to how much a colobus monkey eats each week.

-Can I tell you a little secret?

-Go on, then.

Before the show, I didn't even know what a colobus monkey was.

You see, Johny, you've learned something AND had a good time.

I hope you guys have enjoyed it too.

We'll be back later this year with a brand new series of Roar,

-but until then, it's goodbye!

-Ta-ta!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media

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