Episode 12 Roar

Today, for the first time ever with the giraffes on Roar,

we've captured the miracle of birth in broad daylight.

It's staggering footage.

Hello!

..and welcome to Roar! I'm Rani.

And I'm Johny. And this show-off here is Archie.

Lucky all he can say is "Hello" or I think we'd be out of a job!

You're right. We better get on with the show before he learns more!

Coming up today:

everyone knows that wolves eat meat,

but what about fish?

I'll be wading in to find out.

It's us...

ALL: Rrrrraaaar!

..against the keeper.

Rrrraaaaar!

The team want answers about the camels.

And we'll be going all touchy-feely with a giant tarantula.

Furry friend, or eight-legged creep?

You decide.

ARCHIE: Hello!

But first, we're going to the giraffes

because we've something very special to show you.

This year the giraffes are set for a baby boom.

About half the females are pregnant.

But so far only one has been born.

Imogen gave birth to little Kaiser.

Earlier in the series we showed you this footage,

the very first shots of him, when he was just a few hours old.

Since then, Kaiser has been doing brilliantly,

and by the time he was one week old he was belting around the park

and kicking up a storm.

The mum due to give birth next was Becky.

Giraffes almost always give birth at night

up in the house,

and can get very nervous and upset if anyone is around.

So the keeper in charge of them, Andy Hayton,

is very careful about letting anyone in.

Normally when we're indoors, it's... We don't go in,

into the giraffe house, a great deal.

We'll maybe go and check them every hour, hour and a half,

and just make sure they are progressing through,

and just get on with it.

So we very rarely film what goes on.

In fact, our crew has never been allowed in to film a giraffe birth.

We'd almost given up hope of seeing such a rare event.

Until today.

Because early this morning Andy spotted something very unusual.

Becky had started to give birth, outside, in daylight.

What's more, Andy had a camera with him.

So he was able to capture this amazing footage

of the miracle of birth.

You can obviously see two legs, head,

shoulders, so this calf is well on its way now.

You can just see Becky rocking back.

There.

She's just trying to push. She's pushing now.

She's really trying to heave the calf out.

She knows that a few good heaves and that thing is on its way.

Any baby being born can be a bit gruesome.

So if you're feeling squeamish, look away.

There you go.

One big heave and you're there.

The baby drops almost two metres to the ground,

followed by the amniotic sac,

and liquids that have been protecting it inside the womb.

It's quite a drop.

You see when that calf comes out, it's a long way for the calf to go.

That kind of acts like a smack on the baby's bum,

it makes sure that the chord breaks,

you know, as they fall and hit the ground,

and they're pretty rubbery when they're first born anyway.

So it doesn't hurt them at all.

As soon as the baby is out the first priority for any giraffe mum

is to clean up the calf and the surrounding area.

She's cleaning up bits of the sac,

and grubbiness all around on the floor,

she's licking all that up and cleaning it.

It sounds pretty disgusting but it's what they naturally do.

Because of predators.

Animals in the wild,

there's lions and jackals, predators about,

that would smell this a mile off.

Meanwhile, the baby has already begun to try and stand up.

This is about four minutes.

This calf has been born for four minutes

and it's trying to get to its feet.

It's survival.

You get to your feet, you can move,

and run away from anything that's trying to eat you.

But that's not so easy for a newborn giraffe.

It's like learning to walk on stilts.

Giraffes are just the most badly designed thing ever!

They've got great big, gangly, out of control legs.

And when it's steady, it can go get some milk from Mum.

The baby has taken just 15 minutes to get the hang of standing up.

More or less!

This has been really good, to film this,

and be able to let other people see it.

To see a calf being born is a pretty privileged thing to be able to see.

It's a really nice record

of this calf being born.

And wobbling around.

It's great.

The birth couldn't have gone any better for Becky and her new baby.

But now the real trouble is about to start.

Because although Becky is a great mum,

she has a bad habit that comes from loving her babies too much.

And six years ago, that led to the death of her third calf.

So this baby could be in grave danger.

See what happens later on.

Now, this is not a fashion statement!

This is purely so I can stay dry in the wolf pond.

But the big question is,

why am I in here, and Gemma out there?!

Gemma, why have you sent me into the pond with a bucket of fish,

and you're nice, warm, and dry?!

The idea is to scatter some fish around

so the wolves can come along and find them and eat them.

And the other reason is,

I don't like fish.

Ha-ha! You do know I'm a vegetarian?

I'm not that keen on fish either!

All right, so I've just got to scatter the fish around?

OK. Another question, where are the wolves?

Are we safe?

We are safe. Bob's there, keeping guard for us.

We should be fine.

All right. Bob, give us a wave!

There you go. We're all safe.

But it's not much of a pond,

is this somewhere the wolves come, hang out?

Would you normally put their food in here?

Yep, we have done before, they do come over,

cos it's something different for them.

And we think of wolves as big hunters,

going after the meat.

Are they really going to go for a bit of fish?

They do, in the wild, occasionally.

If they're in the right places. They'll go to shallow waters

and try and find fish there.

It's quite good for them. They like the goodness.

What wolves are we talking about and where is their natural habitat?

Generally, it's wolves that live in Alaska.

They are looking for the migrating salmon

as they move into shallow waters to spawn again.

So it will be various types of wolves in that area, really.

OK. That's all done.

Now, Bob's keeping a lookout there.

Is the idea that I'm going to stay in this pond whilst the wolves come?

Because I'm pretty scared.

It's probably better if we go and sit in our trucks

and just let them do their natural thing.

I like your thinking. Join us later

from the safety of the Land Rover, and hopefully the wolves

will come in here for a spot of fishing.

Right, help me out!

WOLVES HOWL

What did the pony say when he had a cold?

I don't know, what did the pony say when he had a cold?

I'm just a little "horse".

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!

Why can't a dalmation hide from its mum?

Because it's already been spotted.

What do you get if you cross a T-Rex and a chicken?

A Tyrannosaurus Pecks!

We have come to the new area of the park

to meet with Corinne for Ask the Keeper!

Today the topic is the amazing Bactrian camel.

We're hoping that Corinne doesn't get the hump with our questions!

You ready for some tough questions?

Who's going first? Calum.

Do they keep water in their humps?

Afraid not, Calum, no. That's a common misconception.

What their humps are actually made of is fat.

And what they'll do, in times of drought, they'll metabolise,

and use that fat up,

and that then is how they get the water.

Why do they have such long eyelashes?

If you've ever been out and about

when there's a bit of dirt in the air,

it's really painful if it gets into your eyes.

These guys come from somewhere where there's a lot of sand and dust,

they've got these beautiful long eyelashes, two layers as well,

that mean that all the dust and stuff doesn't get into their eyes,

so they can see properly.

Confident start, Corinne, you really know your stuff.

Raise the stakes a little bit. Jodie, have you got a question?

-Where do camels come from?

Mongolia and China.

There's only about a thousand of these guys left in the wild.

So they're pretty rare. You're lucky to see them.

Why are they so endangered?

They don't come from that big a geographic area.

So it's probably down to us encroaching on their land.

A lot have actually been taken into captivity,

so they're used to transport goods, so they're not technically wild.

How big are camels when they are born?

They are mostly leg when they come out.

But they'd probably be about a quarter of the size

of a fully grown camel.

So, still quite impressive.

How can camels walk along sand without sinking?

If you have a look at their feet,

they've got massive pads on.

These are really good, not like our feet,

when you have trouble running on the beach,

these act as shock absorbers

and make a massive surface area, so they find it much easier

walking on uneven surfaces.

What do they eat?

Good demonstration here.

Camels are herbivores.

They are vegetarians, so they'll eat leaves,

grass, anything like that. Generally anything green.

How much do they weigh?

A maximum of 800 kilograms.

Probably about 600 to 800 kilograms

is the weight of one of these guys.

So, I weight about 60, 65.

So, ten of me! That's about how much one of these guys weighs.

Corinne, we've pretty much thrown everything we've got at you.

Almost everything.

Apart from...the Killer Question!

C'mon, guys.

WHISPERING AND GIGGLING

C'mon then! Grrr!

High fives all around, we're going to get you, Corinne! Are you ready?

Ready as you'll ever be!

Right, here we go with the Killer Question.

I've heard that Bactrian camels

do quite an interesting growl, but I've never heard one.

So can you do an impression?

Oh, Johny, this is going to be tough!

Rrrrraaaaar!

That sounded more like a lion!

Is that really the kind of noise they make?

OK, it's undecided whether you got that Killer Question right!

But marks for trying, for effort, definitely!

Guys, you are the judges,

a thumbs up or thumbs down for Corinne?

-Thumbs up all round.

-Thank you, guys!

But you're not getting away with it either.

I want to hear your best growls. 1, 2, 3... Rrrraaar!

By the way, in case you're wondering,

here's what a camel roar really sounds like.

LOW, RUMBLING BELLOW

Becky's new baby is now one day old.

It's doing really well so far.

But Andy is worried because of Mum.

Our big concern now is Becky.

She's got this horrible habit.

She licks their ears, and she'll lick and lick them until she actually...

They'll lose the tips of their ears.

No-one knows why Becky licks her babies' ears.

But you can see the result.

One of her daughters, Gertrude,

now has the tip of one ear missing.

And another, Diane, is missing both.

Experience has taught the keepers that the worst thing

is to leave Becky and her baby alone together.

Normally we give the calves a week up at the paddock.

Not going out, and just get them going.

This little one is going out today. It's a day old, less than a day old,

and it's run out with the group. So we'll see if that helps

and stops the situation.

And Becky is less interested in her baby's ears

while they're both out mixing with all the other animals.

But the dangerous time will be in the night.

Andy's called in safari park vet Duncan Williams

to see what can be done.

The trouble we've got with her is this ear-licking thing.

-Has she started that yet?

-Yeah. Almost immediately.

I just don't understand it.

She seems to be getting even more into it than ever.

She's almost biting the ears now.

But you don't see her do it in the day.

This ear licking is more serious than it sounds.

Diane and Gertrude survived with tatty ears,

but there was another baby who didn't.

Her name was Evelyn.

The ear licking led to chapping and sores.

The sores became infected and the infection got out of control.

Evelyn got such a bad infection

that we couldn't save her.

She got blood poisoning and died from the infection

caused by Becky licking her ears.

We have to watch this one like a hawk, really,

and try and prevent absolutely any damage.

The team will do everything they can,

but it's not going to be easy.

We've tried all sorts of things to prevent this.

We've tried putting foul-tasting stuff on the ears

but it just doesn't work - she licks it off any way.

The best thing is prevention by separation and suchlike.

We'll just have to do that.

But separating mother and such a young baby will be very upsetting

and stressful for both. So that's the last resort.

But if Becky starts damaging her baby's ears,

the keepers would have no other option.

Let's just hope it doesn't come to that.

Earlier on, I waded into the wolf pond to place some fishy treats.

The wolves are now approaching,

so it'll be interesting to see whether they're willing

to paddle on in and get themselves a nice snack.

Gemma, can wolves swim? Are they in danger of drowning in there?

They can swim. It'll be similar to our domestic dogs

with the doggie paddle.

It wouldn't be anything too extreme, but they certainly can swim.

They seem to be loving the fish, they're all going for it.

But our fish are static, they're lying there. In the wild,

how would they manage to catch wriggling, swimming fish?

It wouldn't be an easy job.

They would go to shallow waters where it would be easier for them.

They would go into the waters and grab one of the fish,

go in with their heads, pick it out of the water, take it to the shore.

From then on, they would eat it there.

They're actually really enjoying it. I feel quite proud now.

I felt a bit silly before, going in with my waders.

But seeing them eat it, it gives you a sense of achievement.

It's something different for them.

Do you often try different foods for them?

Yeah, we do. We have a range of food and a range of ways of ways

of giving them to the wolves, just for a bit of enrichment, really.

It's really good fun to see what bits they like, what they don't like,

what they'll go for, what they won't go for, things like that.

Sometimes it's trial and error.

They're quite good with each other, as well.

I kind of imagine, with wolves, hunting for meat,

they'd be a lot more competitive for the food that was available.

-Is that not the case?

-It is, yeah.

When they get big bits of meat that they're all fighting over,

when it's in a small area, then they will get very competitive.

Sometimes it looks quite vicious and quite scary.

But at the moment, they seem a bit more relaxed. That's probably

because it's a bit more spread out

so there's less for them to fight over.

They seem to be really enjoying it here. I think we should probably

throw out some more fish.

And the good thing is, Gemma,

they didn't even have to look silly and wear waders like me.

-Next time, it'll be your turn!

-OK.

Would you keep a bison in your bedroom?

How about a lion in the lounge?

Hmm, could be fun. But probably not a good idea.

But you can have a whole park full of animals

in the comfort of your own home.

Just go to the Roar game on the CBBC website and get stuck in.

Right now, though, make a note of this - fog13.

That's today's cheat code.

And if you don't know what to do with it yet,

you'll find out when you get your animal park up and running.

Happy gaming.

Looking good!

Personal hygiene is very important,

it keeps your skin and hair clean and healthy, and most importantly...

HE SNIFFS

..it stops you from stinking.

But rhinos need to keep clean too.

I'm here with keeper Adie to find out Njanu's beauty routine.

-You all right, Adrian?

-I'm all right, thank you, Johny.

What are you doing to Njanu, then?

Just brushing him down. It gives us a chance to look him over,

and it does his skin good to have a good old brush.

Get some of this old mud off and some of the loose skin

-that the mud will take off with it.

-Can I give you a hand?

-You certainly can, I have a brush for you.

-Thank you.

I'll turn him around for you.

OK.

Good boy. Get around.

Come here.

-That is...

-Good boy, steady.

That is incredible, Adrian. Do you think he likes getting cleaned?

He's doing this because he wants to,

there's no other reason he's doing it.

He enjoys it and he wants to do it.

OK, let me get stuck in.

A really good stiff brush.

He doesn't mind, it's a thick skin

so just really get in there with the brush.

It's like you're giving him a good itch as well as cleaning him.

Yeah.

The mud acts like a mud pack.

Then it sticks to the skin, we give it a good stiff brush

-and it lifts all that dry skin off with it.

-Right, OK.

We're talking about dry skin, is his skin quite thick?

His skin's very thick, up to 2.5cm in places.

Check this out. As I'm brushing it, look at all that that's coming off.

Wow! Clouds of dust coming off.

-That's a good job.

-Are they quite mucky animals, usually?

-Do they roll around in this stuff?

-They do love to roll in the mud.

Rhinos can't sweat, so the mud helps to cool them.

It also keeps the parasites off them, the flies.

Adrian, thanks for this.

I reckon Njanu's ready for his adoring public.

He's looking beautiful.

Good boy.

After Becky gave birth,

everyone was worried that she might start licking the new baby's ears,

a habit that has caused permanent damage to her older daughters,

Diane and Gertrude,

and led to the death of poor Evelyn.

The keepers were ready to take the extreme measure of separating

Becky and her baby if things started to look bad.

But now, the baby is a fortnight old.

They've found out it's a girl, she's been named Kate,

and both she and her mum are doing really well together.

Like all the keepers, Ryan Hockley has been watching them closely.

We're at two weeks now.

So far, so good. Obviously I don't want to tempt fate,

but at the moment, we've not seen any signs of damage on her calf's ears.

We take each day as it comes with this thing. And like I say,

we've got no signs of damage. So, at the moment, things are good.

Normally when a giraffe is born here,

the mum and her new baby are kept together, but away from the others.

This time, Becky and Kate were mixed in with the group

right from the start.

And it seems to have worked.

With so much to distract her,

Becky has hardly touched little Kate's ears.

We haven't been separating them as yet

because we haven't got any need to.

We've got a plan, we've got a box prepared,

so the second we see any signs of damage on those ears,

we'll have her in and take it from there, really.

Although it's going really well so far,

Ryan and the other keepers are always on their guard.

We're not out of the woods yet, not by a long stretch.

With this sort of problem,

any day in the next several days, weeks or even months,

Becky could start over-licking or chewing on the ears, in fact.

So we'll keep our fingers crossed

and hope that this calf is different from the last couple.

So far, so good.

But, like the keepers, we'll be keeping an eye on developments

with Becky and little Kate.

Look out for news later in the series.

It's almost the end of the show, but before we go we've just got time

to meet keeper Gemma in one of the animal adventure buildings.

We're going to see if we can get a new angle

on our eight-legged friends.

Hiya, Gem.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-What are you guys up to

with the creepy-crawlie tarantulas?!

I've got this tiny camera so we can get up close and personal

-with these tarantulas. Have a look on that screen.

-Right.

-We can get right in close.

-Oh, they look really hairy!

Usually you would just see them from the top, but with this,

you can get right in.

-What tarantula is this?

-This is the Chilean rose tarantula.

She's called Rosie.

Rosie the tarantula. Are those fangs dangerous?

Not at all, not to us anyway.

It's really there for crickets and the prey that she'd normally eat.

I'm glad I'm not holding her. But I do have to say,

she's a stunning colour, really pretty.

She is ever so beautiful. That is because she's just moulted.

-She has just shed her skin.

-That's her skin, is it?

-Yeah.

-Can I have a look at this? Can I touch it?

-Yeah.

I'm more scared of the skin than the actual tarantula! It's so bizarre.

What you've got to imagine is that their skeleton is on the outside.

Unlike us, our skeleton grows with us,

whereas they can't. So they pop their skin off...

It is amazing to see her colour and stuff.

-So this is what she looked like before?

-Yeah.

I do actually have another tarantula here,

Ruby, if you'd like to hold Rosie for me?

-She is nice and gentle, isn't she?

-I can show you the colour difference.

-She's absolutely fine.

-Oh, she's just so soft.

Look at that.

Rani's face is more of a picture!

I'm kind of used to the tarantulas now,

cos even though they're huge spiders, they seem quite gentle

-because they don't run round loads.

-That's what lots of people say, too.

But Ruby's legs are going, I'm glad I'm not holding Ruby!

This is Ruby, you can see the complete difference in colour.

-What kind of tarantula is she?

-She's a Chilean rose,

-exactly the same as Rosie.

-Wow.

Is it anything like us all having different hair colours?

Or is it purely from shedding that they're different colours?

It is just purely from shedding

that they get that vibrant in colour.

Hey, you know what? I know a show that keeps getting bigger and bigger

-and never needs to she its skin.

-Eastenders?

I was talking about Roar. Thanks, Gemma.

Why don't you check out what's on the next episode? Roar, Johny.

-I knew that.

-Roar.

Coming up next time, the flamingo chicks are in grave danger.

Some have already died, so will the rest survive?

They're big but they're only babies.

I'll be getting to know the world's largest species

of mainland tortoise.

And I'll be meeting the sea lions to discover how they use

their whiskers to go fishing.

So whatever you do, don't miss it.

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