Episode 2 Roar

Today on Roar, the keepers need to move the otters,

but they've got razor-sharp teeth and they're ready to fight.

For such small animals, they are dangerous.

About the most dangerous thing we keep.

Watch out - it's going to be a battle.

Brrr...!

Hello, and welcome to Roar. I'm Rani.

And I'm Johno. Oh, this is useless. No matter how many pies we eat,

we'll never have chins as big and wobbly as a pelican's.

You know what? It's not a challenge I want to take on.

So, erm, what else can we do?

Erm, maybe we should just get on with the rest of the show?

-I like it.

-Yeah. Nice.

Coming up today...

Down in the bat cave, Roar Ranger Toby

must face his fear and tackle a gruesome task.

It smells terrible and it's just disgusting everywhere.

Aw...

'We'll see who's got the bottle

'to take on the stick insects from hell.'

And Johny's looking worried on a dangerous mission

to feed the wolves.

I've done some things in my time, Bob,

but I've never gone in a wolf enclosure with their food!

WOLVES HOWL

They're cute, they're fast and there's lots of them.

A whole mob, in fact. They're the meerkats.

It's feeding time here in the meerkat enclosure

and with 14 hungry mouths to feed, things can get crazy.

That's why keeper John has asked me down here today to help him.

-Hi, John!

-Hi.

-So are you doing a bit of tidying?

-Of course.

I have some food for the meerkats...

but I can't see any meerkats!

-No, they're not in right now.

-Oh.

-Aren't we going to feed them?

-We are. We'll scatter their food around

so they have to look around and work for their food.

I've got to say, it ain't that tasty. We have nuts.

We have...

Cat biscuit.

..cat biscuit and, everyone's favourite,

mealworms.

-Mealworms.

-The meerkats love these, don't they?

-They adore them.

-Is there an art to this?

Do I have to put certain things in certain places?

-No, just scatter it as and where it lands.

-All right.

We've got a mix of things here. Do the meerkats like a mix of food?

-They do...

-I don't think I can reach this, John!

-Here?

-Yeah, perfect.

Perfect.

I'm making a bit of a mess there!

Let's keep scattering this. What about some holes,

-because meerkats like to dig.

-They do.

Once we're finished, we'll rake it all over

so that some of it is buried.

My tub is empty.

-Thanks, John.

-You're welcome.

-Right. Just rake it over?

-Just rake it over. They will know it's there.

-Really?

-Yep. They'll come out. They'll know instantly.

They'll see that you haven't done the peanuts very well,

so they'll find them and as they're rooting around,

they'll find everything else as well.

OK, well as you said I haven't hidden the peanuts well,

how about I take this one and place it here in the tree.

Do you think a meerkat is smart enough to find that?

Yes, I'd bet they'll find that.

John, how about my raking? More raking, or is that enough?

It's just getting rid of your foot marks, then we're ready to go.

OK. Join us later in the show when hopefully my foot marks will be gone

and we'll have some meerkats here, enjoying some tasty treats.

The park is home to two Asian Short-clawed Otters,

Rosie and Romeo.

They used to live in Otter Heaven,

an enclosure filled with rocks to play on

and ponds to splash about in.

But now that home has been demolished.

SAWING

A bigger, better enclosure is being built but in the meantime,

Rosie and Romeo are living next to the noisy building site.

So, today, head-keeper Darren Beasley is on a mission

to move them to a more comfortable temporary home

in a quieter part of the park.

I will attempt to go in, get them and relocate them,

but...they won't want to be relocated.

And if an otter doesn't want to do something, you're in for trouble.

Otters are the most wonderful creatures on the planet.

They look like brown teddy bears, they're lovely,

little cute faces and noses

and everbody says, "Aw..." when they see them but you have to remember

they're designed for a semi-acquatic lifestyle.

They eat molluscs - shellfish, crabs and things -

they've got double cusped teeth, so they're designed

for grinding and crushing. My little fingers or bones,

no problem for them. They'll go straight through those.

They can turn in their own skin. They can bite you.

They're very wriggly, very strong.

So, I have to somehow get them in a box to cart them away.

When the action gets going, it will be no place for a camera crew.

For such small animals, they are incredibly dangerous.

About the most dangerous thing we keep in our end of the safari park.

So, really, it's too dangerous for anyone else to go in.

I expect Beverly, my number two, will come with me

and we'll try and do it but anybody else will be looking from outside.

They'll jump around. They're nervous. We don't want anyone getting bitten.

The keepers are ready and the otters are waiting.

It's going to be messy, it's going to be rough, so stay tuned

because battle is about to commence.

HOWLING

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not me, that's for sure.

As long as I'm inside the feed wagon, they can't get me.

I'm here in the wolf enclosure with keeper Bob.

-Thank you for having me, Bob.

-That's OK.

-We're going to feed the wolves today.

-We are.

There's a big piece of meat there. How will we get it through this...?

-We don't. What you need is one of these.

-OK...

And we actually put the hook in the meat

and run across the field with it.

-Then they get it.

-But, Bob, the wolves are actually in the field.

That's the problem.

Last time, when I helped Bob feed the lions,

we stayed inside the feed wagon, which seemed like a good idea.

He's opening the gate...

OK...

'But Bob has been working with the wolves for over 20 years

'and he knows what he's doing.

'It would be incredibly dangerous to do this if he wasn't here.'

I tell you what - I've done some things in my time, Bob,

but I have never gone in a wolf enclosure with their food!

Even if they didn't want to eat me, I've got their food!

Surely they're going to start circling me?

-Just keep walking. I'll tell you when to stop, Johny.

-OK, OK.

So, look at this pack of wolves. How many have you got here, Bob?

-We've got 13.

-13 wolves?

I think that will do.

Pop it there.

I've noticed a few of these wolves looking over

but they're not coming over.

No. They are hungry, so when we get back into the feed wagon,

-they should come and start eating.

-Brilliant. We'll go in. OK.

This is interesting. Why aren't they coming directly to the meat?

They seem to be circling it.

-They are circling it. They're making sure it's not still alive.

-Oh.

And what they'll do is send one in, just to check,

and it's normally the very low-ranking animals -

what they call the omega wolf.

If it's alive, he's the one that's going to get kicked,

or bitten, or hurt.

So the rest of the pack will send him in to see if it's all right,

-and if it's all right, they'll go in and eat.

-Really?!

What would they hunt in the wild? Would they have a reason

to be scared of the animals they hunt?

In the wild they would hunt anything as big as a bison, elk -

which is a big deer - so a lot bigger than themselves.

-Here we are...

-This is the omega.

-The omega is eating it first.

He's testing it. But he's actually got the best bit!

So he gets to eat first, doesn't he?

He gets as much as he can because when those other pack members

-come in, they might just push him out...

-Really?

So he'll grab as much as he can now

and then just take what's left afterwards.

Look at this, they're all over and they're tucking into their meat.

Will they eat the whole thing? Bones and everything?

You know, dogs and bones.

Yeah, there won't be much left tomorrow.

They'll crunch all the bones up and they'll get every single

-little bit out of it.

-Right.

They'll feast on that for the next hour or so.

It's so interesting because usually you would think that animals

chase animals and try and kill them.

I never knew there was so much to it.

Thank you for letting us get so close.

What d'you call a deer with no eyes?

A no eye-deer.

SHE GROWLS

How do wolves eat?

They wolf it down.

SHE SNORTS

How does a farmer count his cows?

COW MOOS

With a "cow-culator"! Moo!

THEY LAUGH

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

'Here comes today's Roar Ranger.

'It's Toby, who's 10.'

I want to be a Roar Ranger because I really love animals. Grr!

I would like to work with lions and tigers

because I think they're really beautiful.

'They're all a bit bigger

'than the animals he's used to looking after at home.

'But that's not what he's worried about.'

I think the worst job for a Roar Ranger is probably

picking up pooh.

'But for any Roar Ranger pooh comes with the territory.

'The only question is - what kind?

'Now to find out.'

"Toby, today you're going to work as a bat keeper. It'll be a scream."

Aaaargh!

'Let's hope you're not scared of the dark, Toby!

'Or of Alexa, the bat keeper!'

THUNDERCLAP

Hello, Toby, I'm Alexa, and this is Old Joe's Mine.

What we're going to do today, I'm going to get you

to help me do some cleaning in our bat cave. You up for it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? Come one, let's go.

'In here, somewhere, lurking in the dark...'

'..are 31 Egyptian fruit bats.

'So called because they were first recorded roosting

'in the ancient pyramids of Egypt.'

'In fact, they can be found over a wide area -

'from the Middle East to southern Africa.

'Now fruit bats eat, surprise, surprise, a lot of fruit!

'And that means a lot of pooh.

'So, it's gloves on and down the bat pit.'

How do you feel? You comfortable?

N-n-n-not really, no.

No?

It smells terrible and it's just disgusting everywhere.

You know what, bat pooh is really a special substance.

It can be used as a really good fertiliser to help plants grow.

And it can be used as gunpowder.

Whoa...

'No, it's true. People used to collect bat pooh called guano

'from the floor of caves.

'It contains a lot of the chemical, phosphorus,

'that's an essential ingredient of gunpowder.'

FARTING NOISE

'But don't worry - bat pooh doesn't blow up on its own.'

Bit of a challenge now, for you.

I have a special torch that I'd like you to use

to try and count all the bats that are in here.

And it's special because it's red on the end here, see this?

Cos it wouldn't be very nice shining a bright light torch

-in their faces, would it?

-No.

-Not when they're having a rest.

There you go, have a go. See what you can see.

One...two, three, four, five, six.

It's really hard to spot bats because, well,

they're really camouflaged with the rocks.

'And, of course, they move. This could take a while.

'We'll come back later when Toby tackles the next job

'and the bats go wild.'

'Back up at the otter house head keeper, Darren,

'and his deputy, Bev, are getting ready to move Rosie and Romeo

'to a better enclosure.'

'Otters are just too smart to be tempted or tricked into a box,

'so the only way to move them is to actually catch them.'

If only you could talk to them and say,

"Don't worry, it's all quite calm.

"You're going to a better place down the road

"and you can have a jolly nice time," but they don't understand that.

So, physically, got to catch them.

They are wild animals and we got to hopefully do it as quick as possible.

'In one corner are the otters.

'With their razor-sharp teeth and powerful bite

'they're amongst the most dangerous of all the small animals.'

'In the other corner are the keepers.

'They're armed just with gloves.'

'It's keepers versus otters - let battle commence.'

BELL DINGS

Here goes nothing.

I want that red broom as well, that's my lifesaver.

OTTER SNARLS Argh.

Mind him cos he's lunging now.

# When two tribes go to war

# A point is all that you can score... #

'The brooms are just to Rosie and Romeo's escape routes

'but they're just too fast!

'The otters are winning.'

Oh, let's just catch 'em, I'm fed up with this.

'Plan B is to throw a big blanket over them.

-'And they've got Rosie.

-ROSIE SQUEALS LOUDLY

'Otters can be loud but don't worry, she isn't being hurt.'

ROSIE CONTINUES SQUEALING

'That's Rosie caught so now they can concentrate just on Romeo.'

'But Romeo is fast - too fast for the blanket.'

'So, now Darren's got a net.'

He's a slippery little eel, isn't he?

One of us is tiring, I hope it's him.

'The house is heated to keep the otters cosy

'and the keepers are getting roasted.'

What are we going to do, Bev? This is ridiculous.

ROMEO SQUEALS

'He's got him at last!'

-Steady.

-'Both otters are caught and both keepers are shattered.'

I'm never doing that again, Bev.

There's really no alternative to chasing around like that.

I know it sounds soft, but in the back of my mind,

I don't want him to get hurt, I don't want Bev or myself to get hurt,

so, you're hesitant. When you're diving in you think,

"Am I going to get bit, am I going to hurt him?"

I'm no skinny dude, me landing on top of him. So, I hold my hand up,

I'm too hesitant, sometimes, I should have just grabbed him

the first time or the 40th time, I'm not quite sure.

So, we're going to put them somewhere safe now to calm down.

I've had my exercise for the day. Going to go have a cup of tea now.

'Darren reckons the hard part was getting them in the box,

'but that's only half the battle.

'Stick around to see what happens when they have to get them out.'

'If you'd like to have your own wild animal park

'check out the Roar Game on the CBBC website, but before you go,

'make a note of this - fog5 - that's today's cheat code.

'And you'll need it to unlock food, treats and features

'to help make the most of your park. Happy gaming!'

Earlier on in the show I buried some tasty treats for the meerkats

under John's watchful eye.

All we've got to do now is let the meerkats out

and hopefully they'll sniff-out the food.

-You're quire confident about this.

-I am.

-So much so

you've even let me hide a nut up here, there it is, right there.

I couldn't find it then, for a second, and hopefully the meerkats

will sniff them out and have a nice little treat.

-OK, John, let's release the meerkats.

-OK.

Here they come.

Look! How did they even know they were there?

They've got absolutely brilliant sense of smell

and they've got very good eyesight as well.

They know exactly what's going on.

He's going for a little meal. Waaah.

And it's gone.

-John, we've got to talk about this sound...

-SHE MIMICS MEERKATS

What are they saying? You speak meerkat?

Basically they're saying, "food, food, food, food,"

they're letting everybody else know there's food around,

they all know there's food around, but do it regardless.

Do they then all share food?

-As a mob, do they all look out for each other?

-Yes.

When they find a source of food, that one could hog all the food

and it can eat all the food, but that wouldn't be fair.

That wouldn't be in the best interest of the colony,

so the colony knows there's food so they all get something

-to give them strength to work another day...

-Ah!

So that is why they let each other know and not get greedy.

-They are good climbers!

-Fantastic climbers.

Legs spread, gripping on. Oh!

-Did he hurt himself?

-No.

They are very, very hardy little animals.

He'll just get back up and try again.

It's great to see them.

But I am seeing with some of them, they are pushing the other one away.

-Yep.

-Are they protecting their food?

I know you said they like to look out for each other.

-Is it still a case of, "This is mine."

-Yeah, the food is there.

They will hover over the food as much as possible

-and they swing their bums around in a defensive movement...

-Right.

Do that one more time.

Turn round so we can show everyone at home. So we can see.

If you're a meerkat and if I was next to you

-and I'm trying to get your food...

-Yep. You'd push me out the way.

I'd swing you out the way. OK, I can get it.

And there they go again!

-If at first you don't succeed...

-Try, try again.

So this really is making them work for their food.

Yep. Very much so.

It is very much how they would act in the wild.

They would be scavenging all over the place - up high, down low.

They really would go to town

trying to get every single resource they can.

John, thank you for letting us pop down here today.

And it was great to see the meerkats noses and claws in action

finding nearly all the treats.

But I do have to say, my peanut is still intact.

Back up in the bat cave, Roar Ranger Toby has got the bats counted

and he's ready for his next challenge.

-If these were Egyptian fruit bats, what would they eat?

-Fruit.

-Exactly!

That's right. So what we'll do is we'll get some of their food

and hopefully they will come down and you'll get to see them up close. OK?

A fruit bat can eat 50% of its own weight in fruit every night.

BURP!

In a week, that would be like Toby eating his own weight 3.5 times!

OK, so a couple of them are just waking up.

Better watch out, Toby, because these guys are fast.

It's just...funny when they come straight at you.

You just need to duck.

When the bats come down to eat, the keepers can take a look at them

to make sure they're all right.

Sometimes, though, they need to check them over more closely.

Now don't try this with any wild animal, please.

Alexa can handle the bats

only because she is a fully trained professional keeper.

So...

here you can see him.

He's got lovely big eyes there.

And here are his wings...

See that lovely wing structure?

He's got four fingers, just like we do.

And he has a thumb as well, just like us.

-See his teeth in there?

-They are big!

They are big teeth. And that's so he can eat all of this different

types of fruit.

That's quite a bite!

You wouldn't want to be a banana or to hold one of these without gloves!

This bat seems in good condition, so off he goes.

Time for the Roar Ranger to fly, too.

Being a bat keeper is 10 out of 10. It was amazing.

It was just so much fun!

Toby did really, really well. Really proud of him.

He's helped me clean up all the mess that the lovely bats do make.

Bat keepers rule!

Earlier, Darren and the keepers had quite a struggle

to get the otters Rosie and Romeo into a box

so they can be moved into a new enclosure.

That was... That was a rather traumatic experience for me!

I don't know about the otters. We've got them, though.

They go into their new enclosure now but will they like it?

Bev has got it ready with a cosy bed and a pond.

This is just a temporary home while work continues to build them

a wonderful big enclosure.

With everything ready it's time to release the otters.

There is a risk when I open the slider,

that these animals are going to react very differently again,

and that's very aggressive

because they've experienced me bundling them into a box.

Not just because of me, you know, they're wild animals,

and their instinct is to defend themselves.

And defence in this case is... an attack.

They'll bare their teeth. Hopefully they don't hate me.

And after all they've been through already today

how long will it take for them

to get used to this new home?

An hour later they're still in the box.

It was a job to get them in.

And now they don't want to come out!

But after 2.5 hours, Rosie and Romeo

finally venture out into their new home.

And they seem to like it.

My worst-case scenario is that they were so scared

they wouldn't come out the box. That would just make us all feel awful.

The fact that they've come out, that's just brilliant.

And hopefully, I reckon in a very short period of time,

they'll be up on the rocks doing what our two otters are world famous for

and that's just playing the fool

and just being a good bit of entertainment.

They're lovely animals and I am so pleased they've settled.

The otters live in the Animal Adventure area

and they're not the only cute creatures here.

But strangely, this is also where they keep...

..the scary ones.

Well it's almost time for the end of the show,

but we've just found enough time to meet Graham

-and these beautiful stick insects.

-Beautiful?!

Are you looking at the same things as me? No offence, Graham.

I'm trying to see them as beautiful. They are quite weird looking.

They are very beautiful in their own way.

Now, Graham, when I think of a stick insect.

I'm thinking of something quite pale and thin and light.

These look more like branch insects to me.

Log insects!

Yeah, there are thousands of species of stick insect all over the world

and the most common ones that people keep are Indian stick insects,

long green ones.

These ones generally come from the rain forest.

They are a lot bigger, a lot hardier than the smaller stick insects.

They spend most of their time amongst the bark of trees or the floor.

You say their hardier.

They seem quite delicate, actually.

Yeah, they can be quite delicate when you're handling them.

They have little hooks on their feet which help them hold onto things.

But if you were to pull, they will grab on.

They get a bit scared sometimes. If you pull too hard

you can tear off a foot.

They've got quite spiky backs, haven't they?

They have little ridges all the way along.

Is that for protection?

Yeah, it's classed as an exoskeleton.

A lot of insects have this.

Basically their bones are on the outside

and inside it's all just the organs and the flesh.

I have to be honest, Johny, are you scared of these on you?

I actually am. Inside I'm really scared.

Because they keep on crawling around and they're so huge.

Are they dangerous?

Can they bite?

What is going to happen? They have these antennae waving around,

-it's looks like it's saying to me, "I'm going to get you, Rani!"

-No.

They're harmless. They're made to look dangerous.

They feed on leaves.

Unless you get your finger in there, they won't do you any harm.

It's all fascinating stuff, but I do not want to stick around

for any more of this. Why don't you lot stick around

-to see what's coming up next time. Aww!

-Oh!

Riley the baby seal lion must learn to swim

but he's just three days old, so is he ready to jump in the deep end?

We'll meet Genghis Khan,

Attila the Hun...

and Vlad the Impaler.

But are they as scary as they are cracked up to be?

And a Roar first when I learn to talk to the rhino.

Good girl!

That was incredible! Oh, my gosh!

So, don't miss it.

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