Episode 31 Roar

Today on Roar -

the clouded leopards are some of the best climbers in the world,

so just how will the keepers catch them?

Hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Rani.

I'm Johny and here we've got the park's two pancake tortoises.

They might be flat as a pancake but their shell is also flexible and soft

and that means, in times of danger, they can fit into crevices.

And because of this lighter shell, they can move faster

than a tortoise with a heavier shell.

These guys could be the fastest tortoises in the world.

I still think these guys will slow us down, so let's get on with the show.

What do you think?

Coming up, I get an amazing opportunity to get up close

to one of the rarest captive creatures in the country.

That's amazing. What a beautiful, beautiful animal.

Find out why a gelada baboon needs teeth this big

when all they eat is grass.

And we catch up with one of the cutest newborns on the park -

the baby De Brazza monkey.

But first,

today is a big day on the cat section.

Deputy head-keeper Ben and the rest of the team

are swapping three of their clouded leopards

for a trio from a park overseas.

It's important to bring in new animals

so they can continue their very successful breeding programme.

We've had around 40 cloudies, in the past nine years, born here

so, yeah, one of the best breeders in the world.

Cloudies, as their keepers call them, are from the tropical rainforests

of China and South East Asia.

But their forest homes are being cut down by man

and this beautiful cat is becoming more and more endangered.

The park is one the world leaders in breeding the species.

They've even sent some back to the wild.

We have already sent a pair to Cambodia to see how they get along,

then, eventually, hopefully,

their cubs will be released back into the wild.

In order to keep this amazing programme going,

the keepers want to breed more clouded leopards,

which is why today's cat swap is such great news.

But before the new animals arrive, the other three have to be caught.

And that's not going to be easy!

They're quite used to us going in to clean

but when it comes to catching them, they know something's happening

cos we have to use more people.

They're much better climbers than us.

They spend all their time off the ground

and we're not good climbers.

It takes a couple of us to cover areas

to make sure they don't come back up.

They know there's something different happening

and it does tend to work them up a bit.

To catch a cloudie, the keepers climb to the top of the enclosure,

which puts them at a great disadvantage to these agile cats,

who are adapted to living up in the trees.

The most dangerous part is us catching them.

If they get too worked up, they get stressed

and don't think about their actions before they do it.

The worst case scenario, they could fall from a branch or something

and break a leg or damage themselves in some way.

Catching them will be risky, but will the keepers manage to do it

without anyone getting hurt?

The park is home to many endangered animals.

One of these is the brown hyena.

There are less than 10,000 left in the wild in southern Africa,

and only a few in captivity.

These animals are extremely elusive

and can be tough to spot, especially as they're shy of people

and only come out at night.

Today, I'm getting an amazing opportunity to get up close

to one of these very rare beasts.

I am proper excited but I've got to keep my voice down -

I'm about to meet one of the park's impressive new arrivals,

the amazing hyena.

I'm here with head-keeper Rich, who will introduce me.

-You all right?

-All right.

Why have I got to keep my voice down?

He's in this bit here and I don't want to make him too nervous.

If we stay quiet and head over...

I've never seen a hyena before. This'll be amazing.

Got a bit of a snack for him.

-This is Martez.

-My gosh!

-He might be a bit nervous.

-Oh, my goodness!

Just crouch down for him so he doesn't feel too threatened.

OK, OK.

-There you go.

-That's amazing.

What a beautiful, beautiful animal. It's massive, as well.

In cartoons, hyenas are usually depicted as little evil terrors,

scrawny things, but he's massive!

He is. We want to change people's perceptions of hyenas.

We often get visitors thinking the wild dogs we have are hyenas

because they hear the noise and think they're laughing hyenas.

This is a totally different kind of thing to a wild dog.

They're nothing like dogs - they're more closely related to cats.

-Really? That's amazing.

-Their actual habits and demeanour

is a lot less worse than it's made out to be.

-What will they hunt?

-These guys don't hunt anything.

They're pretty much totally scavengers.

They're the largest animals that derives

most of its diet from scavenging.

Dare I say it? He's huge but he's got a soft-looking face.

-Very cute, actually.

-Yeah.

-He's amazing. Why is he on his own?

Unfortunately, his girlfriend or his wife didn't take too kindly to him

after he'd mated with her. A few months later, she gave birth,

they appeared to be getting on fine up until that point.

We found him collapsed in the enclosure with a lot of wounds,

inflicted by her, around his neck.

She probably got hold of him and savaged him because she had the cubs

and didn't want him near.

Martez is dad to four adorable hyena cubs.

Hyenas are usually solitary animals

but him and his mate had always lived peacefully together.

However, when the babies were born,

Mum became very protective and got aggressive.

She bit Martez, so the keepers have moved him to a separate enclosure

where they, and the vet, can keep a close eye on him.

How's he getting on now? His wounds sound very serious.

Yeah, initially, you can see around the back of his neck,

it's all shaved and has started to grow back.

Normally they have a lovely golden mane, not dissimilar to a lion's

but smaller.

Unfortunately, he doesn't look as glorious as he used to

because we had to shave it to get to the wounds

and clean him up and give him the treatment.

It's just started to grow back.

-He still looks quite amazing.

-Now his missus has attacked him,

what does the future hold for him?

This is just a holding area, his inside area,

with the outside just behind me.

Hopefully, he'll only be in here for a short time.

We've got another enclosure which is close to the main hyena facility.

We'll run a tunnel from the other enclosure to where the female is

and let them choose when he goes in there.

He can go in, mate and have access back out to another enclosure.

Then we'll keep them separate overall

so she can raise offspring and be a clan.

-But when he wants, he can still see his family.

-Exactly.

It's a happy ending!

Good luck with it all. Thanks for letting us get so close

to what is one of the most amazing creatures on the park.

RANI SCREAMS

It's time for Ask The Keeper and it's all about monkey mania.

Today we're asking about the gelada baboons.

This lot have been swotting up on loads of questions.

And they'll be asking them to primate keeper Jo Marden. Oh, yeah!

-Feeling strong, Jo?

-Little bit, yep.

-Confident.

-A little bit strong. All right, guys. Who's first?

What do they eat?

Gelada baboons are mainly grazers, so all they eat is grass.

Which is hairiest? The male or female?

Our male's probably the hairiest - he has a long cape to keep him dry.

If they eat grass, why've they really big teeth?

-Ooh, good question!

-Good question, yeah.

The females don't have as big teeth as the males.

As they only eat grass, they don't need big incisors.

It's mainly for if they see predators of if they're fighting,

for display reasons, really.

If you saw those teeth, I'm sure you wouldn't pick a fight!

-Do they get along or do they fight?

-As with most couples,

they get on now and then.

They do like each other - they've been together for two years.

They do fall out. He's dominant over her so he rules the roost.

Do they have any babies?

We haven't got babies here at the moment.

Obviously, geladas DO have babies.

She's a bit too old now so we'll give her a rest.

Do they ever get bored of just eating grass?

RANI LAUGHS

-I think

-I

-would get bored of just eating grass!

From where they come from, that's the only thing they can get - grass.

They eat flower buds, bark off our trees occasionally.

If they find the odd bug in the grass, they'll eat that.

We supplement them with stuff so they don't get bored.

What do you supplement them with?

Their favourite is the onion family. They like leeks, spring onions.

We give them lots of root vegetables and greens.

Nothing too high in calories - they tend to get overweight sometimes.

I think these questions have been easy.

I think we should come up with our Killer Question.

You wait there. Guys.

Come on in.

We need a hard one... Think she might get that...

Any other ideas? RANI LAUGHS

She'll never get that!

Yeah? Let's go for it!

OK, Jo, we've done our research

and we've picked this question because we think it's the toughest.

Male gelada baboons - how many would it take

to weigh the same as a double-decker bus?

Answer!

It's a mean, mean question!

I'd say...

-700.

-You would say...

That's my final answer.

Right, Jo. A double-decker bus weighs around eight tonnes.

A male gelada baboon weighs around 16kg, so we've done the maths.

It would take 500 gelada baboons

to weigh the same as a double-decker bus

and they've all to buy a ticket to use it!

That's why it's called the Killer Question.

Well done, anyway, for trying.

OK, guys, how has Jo done? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Jo, from me, it's a...

It's a thumbs up.

You did really well. Thanks very much.

Join us next time, when we'll put more questions to another keeper.

-What snakes are found on cars?

-I don't know.

Windscreen vipers!

THEY LAUGH

SHE CLUCKS LIKE A CHICKEN

What medicine would you give an ill ant?

Ant-ibiotics.

Rooooaaaaar!

-Why did the lizard go on a diet?

-I don't know.

He weight too much for his scales!

THEY LAUGH

THEY LAUGH

Babies are born in the park all the time

but nowhere more so than on the primate section.

I've popped down to meet keeper Adam and some mini monkeys.

-Isn't that right?

-Yep.

-Who've we got here?

-Anubis up here.

-He's the youngster in the group.

-These are the De Brazza monkeys?

-Yep. He's about 4½ months old.

-He's so cute! What's he doing?

Probably a display - he's trying to show us who's boss!

That's hilarious. Already, at this age, he's communicating aggression

-or his standing within the group.

-Yeah.

Being male, he'll probably be slightly more aggressive overall.

He's still young so it's a bit of a laugh rather than being serious yet.

But, yeah, he's getting a lot bolder than he was.

He's up to the mesh, having a look at what's going on.

-He's doing really well.

-Is this Mum?

-Yep, just keeping an eye.

Can she be quite protective over him?

Yeah. He can do a small shriek if he's anxious, scared.

She'll come over and grab him, take him away to make sure he's OK.

Is she still breastfeeding him?

Absolutely, yeah. That can go on... It can be a few more months, easy.

He is eating solid food now.

What kind of things will you feed him?

We give him everything we give the normal guys.

We've got a bit here.

Just a small amount we can try. Some pepper and some peach.

-If we give some to Mum, will she give some to...

-No.

Absolutely not.

Let's try that out.

It's amazing how bold he is, he's come right to the front.

There are others in front of him

and I want to try and get some food to him.

The others will try and take it.

-What would happen if I went round here?

-Give it a go.

-I think Mum will be quick.

-He's here!

He looked like he didn't want to take it from me.

He looks nervous to take it off me.

He's quite bold when you're this side of the mesh,

but when you get too close he's not sure.

He's having a look at you.

Thank you for letting us get close to the baby De Brazza monkey.

The cat team are swapping three clouded leopards

with a trio from a park overseas as part of their breeding programme.

First, they need to catch them.

Rather than sedating the leopards,

they'll use a net to get them into their crates.

Jane the vet is here to make sure everything goes to plan.

It's nice for the leopards not to be sedated,

they've got a long journey ahead of them.

Jim and his team are very good, very happy not to have to sedate them

but we're still checking that everything goes smoothly.

The first cat is a three-year-old female called Kutai.

And she is hiding at the top of the enclosure.

To capture, the keepers have to climb high in the enclosure.

The keepers hope that if they climb up, she will come down

and go into her overnight shed,

where it will be easier to catch her.

This is the most dangerous bit for cat and keeper.

One slip and it's a long fall.

But their plan seems to be working, as Kutai moves towards the ground.

Time for Jim and his big net.

This is the safest way to catch the animal, without causing it any harm.

We've got her into the smaller shut-off, she's more confined,

it gives you more opportunity to catch her with a net.

Makes it so much easier.

Easier it may be,

but three-year-old Kutai is quick and feisty.

The last thing Jim wants to do is hurt her or get her stressed.

But he is an expert and it's soon over.

She's caught unharmed.

Got her.

That went very well.

That was the first leopard.

We gave her some treatment against parasites and a worming injection.

Check the microchip number, check it's the right leopard

and she went into her box. Fingers crossed for a safe journey.

-Nice one, boys.

-One down, two to go.

The second cat is one-year-old Mal.

That's the boy.

All right, big fella.

Good boy.

On the floor.

Luckily for the keepers, he's easily caught.

Two down, one to go.

It's gone pretty smoothly, which surprises us.

The last one is another male.

He gives the keepers the run around for quite a while.

No, don't! Oh.

Come on, boy.

But eventually he hides in his shed,

and from there they get him into the net.

A little bit more.

Three cats caught without too much stress.

Now they are ready to leave the park for their new home.

We thought it would be a relief once they were in their crate.

We've left them alone, they can settle.

That's the nice part, to be honest.

The hardest part is getting them in the crate.

It's sad to see them go. This is just the start for us,

basically on Friday, in three days' time,

we have three arrive from the Dubai park,

which will help our breeding programme,

we're going to get ready for that as well.

Sort the enclosures out. The work doesn't stop.

The keepers say goodbye to these beautiful cats,

and now have to wait and see

what their new clouded leopards are going to be like.

How is your Roar online animal park getting on?

Here's the moment you've been waiting for, today's G-code is...

Type that into the game on the CBBC website

and see what it unlocks.

Happy gaming.

I've come down to the Brazilian tapir enclosure

to meet up with the head-keeper.

He's asked me to bring my bucket and spade,

so I guess we're going on a day trip.

-Where are we going?

-I'm taking you to the tapir paddock.

-That's where we are already.

-Sorry about that.

What are you planning on doing? Let's crack on.

We're going to make a sandcastle. I've started already.

I've got some sand with some fruit in it.

Put some more sand in it and then some more fruit

and we'll make a big sandcastle,

which, hopefully, Iris, one of our Brazilian tapirs,

will enjoy foraging through to get the tasty bits out.

Being Brazilian tapirs, do they spend a lot of time on the beach,

eating their lunch?

Not that often, but they've been known to forage through sand...

-Really?

-..on the banks of rivers and the coast and that sort of thing.

-Do you want to do the honours?

-No, you go ahead.

So if it doesn't work, it's my fault! It's dead heavy.

I'm going to need a hand.

-Oh-h!

-Ready?

-I've never made one of these before.

Right, hang on. Finishing touches.

Reveal.

Oh-h! And hang on.

Not quite a cherry on the top, but just something to get her over.

Here comes Iris now. Barry's leading her up here.

Is she nervous of us? Is that why we've taken a step back?

A little bit. Iris is strange,

sometimes she's very confident and inquisitive,

other times she can be very shy and wary,

so we're just stepping back to make sure she's OK with us being here.

She's gone straight over to the sandcastle.

We placed some fruit on the top,

just to draw her in.

Do you think she'll be willing to demolish the sandcastle

to find the rest of the fruit or are tapirs quite lazy?

I think she'll be quite willing to demolish it,

whether or not she eats the fruit inside because of the sand.

She's never really had sand before, so this is a new experience for her.

I think she'll be tempted to try and eat it,

but as you can see, she's a little bit wary, she's lost interest.

Oh, look at her, she's coming over.

She's having a sniff at the camera -

see that nose in action.

-Can we come over and say hello?

-Yeah.

Will she mind that I've got sand on my hands?

No, she loves being scratched.

Just give a little itch, like this.

Are you all right?

It always amazes me, tapirs, because they looks like they're cuddly,

and they're just not, are they?

-They're quite rough and tough, aren't they?

-They're solid animals.

The hair is quite coarse, but they do love a scratch,

they love being cuddled

and they roll over like dogs when you hit the right spot.

She's loving her scratch here, but not too interested in our sandcastle.

Can we give her a helping hand? If I was to accidentally go... Oops!

-Oh, no, look at that.

-What's happened to my sandcastle?

-What's happened?

-She hasn't noticed.

We'll give it another knock over, so she can get some tasty treats.

Maybe next time she'll be more inclined to knock it down.

Yeah, I think so, definitely.

Well, Iris, thanks for letting us come to your beach party.

We'll see you again soon.

It's an exciting time on the cat section,

as the three new clouded leopards have just arrived

after their long journey from a park overseas.

There are two females and one male.

Head-keeper Jim can't wait to meet them.

Yeah, they've finally arrived. Not too bad, all things considered -

the long flight they've had,

but we can have a good look now and see what they look like.

This is the male, who's called Neptune.

Let's have a look before we bring him in. ..Good boy.

Neptune is going straight into an enclosure

with an older female called Neeha.

Good boy.

Neeha has had kittens before so hopefully she'll breed again,

this time with Neptune.

The two girls are going into the enclosure next door.

Their names are Earth and Saturn.

Saturn.

Yeah, Saturn's come out, Chris.

All in all, they look pretty good,

considering what they've been through.

There she goes,

climbing up quite nicely... Oh!

..then fell!

Steady, girl.

Looking absolutely stunning.

Two beautiful females.

Doesn't matter how many times you see a clouded leopard,

always stunning to see.

Such an amazing cat.

They'll enjoy themselves here, I'm sure.

Jim's very happy with the new girls, but what about Neptune?

Hello, boy. How are you doing?

Unfortunately, he's still in his box -

a bit more wary than the females but he's having a look.

He might well stay in there all night until he feels brave enough.

I might go away and come back a bit later, just to check on him.

Good boy.

This swap could mean more kittens born

and with the population of clouded leopards declining in the wild,

this is very important.

Jim is extremely happy.

They live up to expectation. They're absolutely-beautiful-looking cats

and we've been waiting a long time, so, fingers crossed,

everything goes to plan

and within the next 12-18 months, hopefully they'll breed and give us

new bloodlines that we desperately need. At the end of the day,

it's to keep the species alive and stop it from becoming extinct

and that's our aim.

The cat team will be keeping a careful watch over the new arrivals

and hope to hear the patter of baby cloudie paws in the near future.

'Out on the safari area,

'head-keeper Bob has been worried about a new baby antelope.

'The red lechwe was born white instead of red

'and the keepers were concerned it might be rejected by the herd,

'but it seems to be doing well, so we popped out here to check up on it.'

OK, it nearly is the end of the show but before we leave you today,

we've heard keeper Bob has got a very rare antelope he'd like to show us.

-Hi, Bob.

-Hello.

-I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

-I just see a happy-looking herd of red lechwe.

-Yeah.

-Ah! But one of them is not red.

-That's right. One of them is white.

-What's going on there, then?

-We've got a white red lechwe.

You've got a white... How did that happen?

-How have you got a white lechwe?

-It's one of those genetic things.

Sometimes it happens. It's unusual for us. It's not unknown.

We haven't had one here before, but obviously we've got one now.

So the herd are cool with her even though she's different?

Yes, that was my worry when we first discovered it,

that the mum would abandon it and not suckle it

and the herd would bully it, but as you can see, it's doing fine.

It's almost weaned now, so no troubles.

It's great that it's here with you guys, it's safe,

but what would have happened to it in the wild?

Unfortunately, I'm 99.9% certain

that probably before it was two or three days old,

-something would have come along and gobbled it up.

-Really?

-Cos it stands out so much?

-Yes, the adults are camouflaged,

and the thing is with lechwe, the babies are born,

Mum knows where they are, that will sit up in the grass

for two or three weeks while Mum looks after it -

normally if it doesn't move, it's out of sight, but if it's white,

it sticks out like a sore thumb.

It's good to see it safe in the park. Thank you.

As we stay and watch this beautiful rare white antelope,

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

One of the rarest and shiest cats in the world has had kittens,

but the keepers need to check them to make sure they're fit and healthy.

Plus, just how strong a stomach do you need to be an ele-keeper?

That's disgusting. Absolutely.

It stinks.

And we saw him being born - watch his first steps and his first dip,

but what's happened to the baby tapir's stripes?

Surely all that swimming hasn't washed them off?

Don't miss it.

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