Episode 15 Roar

'Today on Roar, we meet seven pallas cat kittens

'fighting against a deadly disease.

'Will they survive?'

-Welcome to Roar. I'm Johny.

-And I'm Rani.

And just behind us over there are two of hoofstock's newest additions.

Baby elands.

At two weeks, it's essential that they're up and about with the herd

for their survival in the wild.

Speaking of wild, we've got a great show. Let's get on with it.

'Coming up, two new housemates arrive for Tao the sifaka.

'Before keeper Simon can go ahead with the risky mixing,

'he's got to catch the loopy lemurs.

'Gorillas going to the gym?

'Find out how strong these muscly apes really are.

'And discover if this tapir has a weight problem

'as he steps on the scales.'

He's put on nearly 15 kilos in three weeks.

-Which is good.

-That's a lot!

'One of our favourite characters is Little Man, the feisty pallas cat.

'We followed him as he battled the deadly disease toxoplasmosis.

'Pallas cats often catch this as kittens and most can't fight it.

'But Little Man did, with the help of deputy head keeper

'turned surrogate mum, Ben, who hand reared him.

'Thanks to round-the-clock care from dedicated keepers,

'this miracle moggy survived and went on to become a big Little Man,

'with an even bigger attitude.'

He's turning back to his wild roots. He's no longer the hand-raised cat.

He come up and sees me but I don't dare stroke him.

He'd try to bite my hand.

'Previously on Roar, we saw Little Man get a partner.

'Now there's been some fantastic news.

'Seven adorable pallas kittens have been born.

'They don't come much sweeter than these balls of grey fluff.'

She's just had some kittens. We've seen seven.

They're three weeks old and they're doing very well.

'These babies are good news for the survival of the species.

'In their native Russia and northern Asia, numbers are in decline.

'Keepers are not celebrating yet.

'Pallas cats are incredibly difficult to breed in captivity

'because survival rates are low.'

All the kittens seem to suffer from toxoplasmosis

that gets passed from parents.

They're extremely susceptible to it, which is horrendous.

'Sadly, nine out of ten pallas kittens are killed by toxoplasmosis

'in their first few months.'

It's highly likely that they'll get toxoplasmosis.

Hopefully, at this stage, they haven't got it,

which means they might be able to work through childhood.

Once they become active and young adults,

they should have immunity to it.

It's just getting them through that first six to nine months.

'The next few months are critical.

'Having been through it with Little Man, Ben and the cat keepers

'know that this deadly disease could strike without warning.'

Anything could happen.

They could look fit today and you could find two dead tomorrow.

'The kittens face a dangerous few months.

'All the keepers can do is be alert for any early symptoms of disease.

'We'll be back later to see how these cute kitties are progressing.'

'Some of the park's liveliest animals are the lemurs.

'In the wild, they can be seen jumping through the trees

'and pogoing across forest floors, constantly changing direction.

'There are two new lemurs on the park - and they're quick.

'So, how on Earth do you catch them?'

At the primates section, head keeper Simon has an important job he needs a hand with.

Hiya. What's this important job?

We've got to catch these new lemurs we've had come in.

-Have you ever had these in the park?

-We've never had ring tailed. No.

Will they be all right mixing with the sifakas?

Yeah. The sifaka's another type of lemur.

We know they've been mixed at other parks.

We're hopeful that this will work.

We don't have any female sifakas to go in with these two males.

The idea is to try a different lemur

so they at least have one they can communicate with,

just have a pal in their room.

Where are these guys from?

Originally from Madagascar, the only place in the world to find lemurs.

What do you have to think about when you mix the lemurs together?

Where do you start?

It's not as difficult as it sounds.

I've tried mixing animals in hundreds of ways.

You can't write down, "This works every time."

But we're going to catch them up, put them into the Sky Kennel,

then let them straight out to the sifaka and see what happens.

Lemurs aren't particularly violent.

You can break them up if there is a fight.

We'll see what happens.

What are we going to use to catch them with?

A net, not very stressful for them cos it is so quick.

-You get them straight into the box.

-And the net won't hurt them.

-No.

It's a soft net. It's just so quick and easy.

-What do you want me to do?

-We've got this box we want to get them into.

Your job is to shut the door once I put them in there

so they don't get out again.

OK, go on, then. I'll leave you to get the lemurs, then.

You've got to be in certain places to get them.

They do seem nervous. I guess that's because they've just arrived.

They're so fast.

You've got one.

He's safe and sound. He hasn't been hurt.

-This looks stressful but it's not.

-Right.

It's for their own good, as well. They're getting a bigger enclosure.

Almost, Simon.

There you go!

-Oh!

-There you go.

That was quite a chase. They're in there. They look calm now.

Pretty chilled-out. Not hurt at all.

Very quick, very easy. Now we can take these to the sifakas.

Brilliant. Let's do it, Simon. Shall I get this side?

Join us later to see how this mix goes.

Time for Ask The Keeper.

We're going to ask questions about a very hairy individual.

I'm not talking keeper Brian Hammer.

I'm talking about a very cute baby gorilla.

-Are you ready with your questions?

-Yes!

-Brian's looking scared!

Ask your first question.

Gorillas being related to us,

how smart are they and are they as smart as chimpanzees?

Pretty clever. They don't apply intelligence as well as chimpanzees.

They do use tools like chimpanzees.

Yeah, they're pretty clever.

How many babies can a female have?

Very occasionally, they have twins, but normally one baby at a time.

Where and how do baby gorillas like to sleep?

When they're first born they stay with their mum all the time.

-They sleep against her tummy.

-How long will they stay there for?

They maintain contact with their mum till they're four or five months old

then start venturing off, but still stay very close to Mum

for two or three years.

You've got a baby brother.

-He's only eight weeks old? Does he stay close to your mum?

-Yes.

Soon he'll be walking, stealing all your toys. Then there'll be trouble.

-How long is a gorilla's lifespan?

-It's the same as people. It varies.

Some gorillas live into their 30s, others to their 50s.

Generally, females live longer.

A male might be late 30s, female late 40s.

The oldest gorilla I heard of got to 54.

-Do you think Brian's answered your questions well?

-Yeah.

I think we need to put a bit of pressure on Mr Hammer.

Brian, just excuse us for a second. Guys, come in here.

THEY ALL WHISPER

-Do you think Brian can answer this question?

-Yeah.

-You do?

-No!

-Oh, we've got mixed responses!

Mr Hammer, we have a question for you.

We don't want to make it too tough. We think it's pretty easy.

So, if a gorilla was to go to the gym and lift some weights,

how much do you think he could lift in kilos?

That's a very tricky question. Gorillas are a lot stronger than us.

I've heard a lot of people have different ideas.

Maybe a gorilla's two or three times as strong as an Olympic weightlifter.

Two or three times as strong as your average person, anyway.

So, I don't know.

Bench press, maybe 300 kilos? I don't know.

Stephanie's happy! You're very close, actually, Brian.

We figured out it would be about 272 kilos.

So it's pretty good, wasn't it?

Maybe our Brian's got gorillas that go to his gym!

Thumbs up or thumbs down for that "gor-illing" for Brian?

What do you think Brian deserves? Ooh! That's harsh, Stephanie.

I'm going to make up for Stephanie. Thank you very much, Brian.

That's mean!

What do you get if you cross a porcupine with a balloon?

Pop!

Baa! Baa! Baa!

What kind of animal is good at maths without practice?

A cheetah!

Miaow! Miaow! Miaow!

What do you call a fish with no eye?

Fsh!

Right, here we are, Simon.

Earlier on, myself and head keeper Simon had the task

of transporting these ring tailed lemurs to the sifakas.

We're ready to see how they mix. What do we do now?

-Do you want to grab that end?

-Yeah. OK.

-Am I allowed to go in with you?

-Yeah.

But not into the actual bedroom. Come into the corridor.

Good luck, Simon.

-Right. Got that end?

-Yeah.

Hello, Tao. As you can see, very curious.

I can't believe how different they look to these lemurs.

Oh, yeah. Lemurs can look very different.

There's 150-odd species of lemur.

Anything from lemurs this big to these guys, which are quite big.

-Is their temperament different?

-Not really.

-Lemurs have a good temperament. All lemurs are quite nice.

-Right.

Let's get these into here.

I hope you're going to be good with your new housemates.

You go back out into the corridor.

No problem.

-We'll see inside, initially, before we let them out.

-Good luck.

-They're not sure about each other!

-Let them calm down, see each other.

They're not coming across to chase Tao.

He's in the corner, a bit unsure of what's going on.

He's not looking too bad.

How long does it usually take to mix animals together like this?

Months, years or a couple of days?

Anything from two or three hours up to two to three months.

It can go on and on, really.

I've mixed animals that have been happy after an hour

and ones that haven't been happy for weeks and weeks.

How do you think it's going?

They're sticking together, the ring tailed lemurs.

-The sifaka seems a bit more relaxed.

-There's nothing bad happening here.

He's just looking at them.

They're sitting there, seeing their new surroundings.

We'll give them a while before we let them out.

Touch wood, it's going quite well.

Good luck with it, Simon. Hopefully, they'll mix and be one big happy family.

'Back with the seven pallas kittens the park were keeping an eye on.

'The keepers' fears have come true.

'Three of Little Man's kittens are terribly ill with toxoplasmosis.

'The situation is critical and Jane the vet has rushed over to help.'

The keeper found three kittens lying in the enclosure, not responsive.

Domestic cats catch toxoplasmosis and it doesn't affect them.

In pallas cats it's nearly always fatal. We don't know why.

'Jane has to work very quickly to give the kittens the best chance.'

We're going to take the temperature. I'll grab the first one.

'If they have a high temperature, it means they are very ill indeed.'

-39.

-You haven't got a temperature, which is good.

'Encouraged by their low temperatures,

'Jane gives the kittens antibiotics to help them fight the infection.

'It's also important that they keep drinking,

'so she gives them a syringe of liquid.'

One is weaker than the other two, but they're all pretty weak.

They're making the odd growl, but they're wild animals.

They should be scratching us.

'To avoid these kittens infecting the rest of the litter,

'they're moved to a separate intensive care area.'

That's all we can do. The keepers will check on them regularly.

I think we'll be lucky if any of them survive the night.

'The keepers and Jane have done all they can for now.

'We'll come back later to find out how they're getting on.'

You, too, can own your very own wildlife park.

Go to the website and log onto the Roar game.

It's bursting with animals waiting for you to look after them.

To unlock treats, food and animals, we give you a cheat code every show.

Today, it's:

You'll love it!

'Last series, we met and fell in love with

'one of the most fantastic babies we've seen,

'this little tubby tapir.

'We watched him grow and were there for all his key moments -

'from meeting his dad, to eating solid food, to venturing outside.

'He's now three months old and look how big the little fellow has got!

'He's still suckling from Mum but also eating solids.

'Joel and Helen are going to weigh him

'to make sure he's growing at a healthy rate.

'First on the scales, Mum and Dad.'

Right, guys. I'm here to help.

-Who's this?

-Wilma, the mum.

-Is this the scale?

Yeah. This wooden board is connected to a read-out there.

This looks really easy!

We've had to do it a few times now.

-We had to train them using food to get them to stand on it.

-282.

282. That's about normal for Wilma.

-How often do you weigh her?

-We try once a week.

Just to keep tabs on their health.

It's particularly important for the baby.

He's at an important stage in his life

where he's suckling and eating food.

We have to know he's eating enough and gaining weight at a good rate.

All right, Tommy!

Before the slice of bread, and after, if you're like me!

He's 175.5 kilos.

That's about normal for Tommy, probably a couple of kilos out.

That's about right.

Now the little one. Has baby...? Has baby got a name yet?

-Yeah. He's called Diego.

-Diego!

And he was 35 kilos last time, about three weeks ago.

We'd like to see a bit of a weight gain.

He's quite tentative coming out.

There's a gap which he doesn't like.

You should have a sign, "Please mind the gap."

He's used to Mum being on it, so he's OK.

Come on, Diego.

Just with a bit of bread, he comes round.

-It's quite easy to train these guys. They're very friendly.

-49.5 kilos.

-Wow!

-Is that good?

It means he's definitely put on weight.

Nearly 15 kilos in three weeks, which is good.

-Five kilos a week.

-That's a lot!

'That's the same weight as 36 cans of baked beans he's put on

'in three weeks.'

He looks good. He doesn't look overweight.

He's in very good condition.

He looks scruffy cos he's been in the pond.

That's great. He's being really active and changing every day.

15 kilos in three weeks.

-It won't be long before he's as heavy as Mum and Dad.

-That's right.

At a year old, he'll be two-thirds grown.

He'll probably be the same size as Tommy.

-He won't be far off at this rate.

-He's looking amazing.

It's fantastic to see he is gaining weight.

But how are we gonna get that mud out of his fur?

-That's for his mum to deal with.

-All right, Mum! Your turn!

'Back at the intensive care area of the pallas cat enclosure,

'it's the next morning.

'Jim has come to check on the three desperately ill kittens.

'Another two have fallen ill with toxoplasmosis.'

It's heartbreaking,

but one of those things we were expecting to a degree.

I'll go and check them and see if they'll take some food.

'Yesterday, Jane gave three kittens emergency treatment.

'Jim is hoping there's some improvement.'

For all I know, fingers crossed they haven't, one or two could have died.

There they are, look.

They're all breathing, so that's one good thing.

Let's have a quick look at you.

How are you feeling, sweetheart?

Are you all right?

He's looking a little worse for wear but they're still alive.

That's the main thing.

Just check them all.

How are you doing?

You're a little bit worse for wear, ain't you?

They're weak, but still with us.

'The kittens are still very ill so it's vital they eat.'

I'm going to give them meat. It's got medication on it.

Straight away! Dive in there, my boy!

LAUGHS That's what we like to see.

Do you want that piece of meat? Yes!

That's a good sign.

They need this amount of meat every day to try and build some strength.

They are a bit skinny.

They're weak, but they're eating.

'The keepers on the cat section are very worried.

'They can only wait and see if the babies pull through.'

It is heartbreaking.

But we'll do whatever we need to do to get them through.

OK, kids. We'll see you later.

'In the enclosure, the remaining pallas kittens are thriving.

'Jim is monitoring them for signs of illness.'

There's one.

Here comes the second one.

Looking good. I'm happy with them.

Yeah, I shall leave them to it.

'It's a great relief that these two are full of life and appear healthy.

'We'll keep our eye on this pair and update you on the rest of them

'later in the series.

We couldn't leave without seeing these two amazing Barbary lions.

-And their amazing keeper! Hiya, Jess.

-Hi.

This is like something out of a movie. Who have we got here?

We've got two brothers. Milo and Moonlight.

Milo's here, pacing around.

-Is that OK? Is he OK?

-He's perfectly fine.

There are different things going on with all of us here.

He normally associates us with food. He's just hungry.

He usually associates you as BEING food or serving food?

If he associated me with being food, I wouldn't be here.

-He knows we bring him food.

-We talked about two brothers.

Is it usual or normal for two males to live together in the wild?

You can see males in the wild.

Not much is known about Barbary lions. They are extinct in the wild.

-African lions, you can see up to five males in a pride.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-These guys are happy, then?

-Yeah. These guys love each other.

You said they love each other. I noticed a scar on one of them.

-Do they have brotherly fights much?

-Definitely.

It's like the last chocolate bar at home.

Whenever there's food, they act like brothers and squabble.

Although Moonlight's bigger, Milo is always first to the food.

Two brothers, but will they be wanting to start their own families?

Because they are Barbary lions, they're very important.

We hope that they will go to another park.

We don't have space to breed them but hopefully they'll go together.

They're a good team. Moonlight is more confident when Milo's around.

Hopefully, they'll go to a female in another park.

He's standing to attention, trying to tell us to get out of here!

Why don't you guys check out what's on the next episode of Roar?

'Keepers are planning to mix two animals with the shortest tempers.

'What could possibly go wrong?

'And find out what is making our twin Roar rangers laugh so much.'

LAUGHING

'Plus, dinner is served!

'Surely Johny's not eating them. That's all on the next Roar.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd