Episode 4 Roar

Today on Roar, there's an emergency with the otters.

The keepers must rescue three tiny babies to save their lives.

But they're only hours old, and their chances are looking thin.

Hello, and welcome to Roar! I'm Johny.

I'm Rani, and I'm trying to get higher than Johny,

but his hair's just too high!

Come on, put your thighs into it!

We should jump start the show!

Come on, let's jump out of here!

'Coming up today, the marmosets are after my gum,

'but it's not going to make their breath any better.'

Oh! Wow!

The Roar Rangers are tackling the rhinos,

but can they cope with that much poo?

And there's a prickly situation when we discover that porcupines have

more deadly weapons than just their quills.

He's got massive teeth! He's got big, long teeth!

But first, we're heading for the Animal Adventure area,

because there's a crisis with the otters.

When the keepers came in this morning, they were surprised

to hear the sound of baby otters crying from inside their house.

Normally, any new babies are a cause for celebration, but not this time.

For Darren, the keeper in charge of them, it's an emergency.

In the past, Rosie and Romeo have been brilliant parents,

but now there's a serious problem,

because the last two litters they had all died.

The reason may be that Rosie no longer produces enough milk

to keep her babies alive.

When a baby animal is first born, including human beings,

their mums produce milk to feed them, and the very first milk

they have is a special thick, creamy milk that makes them strong.

That milk is called colostrum.

If they don't get that, they can be very weak,

and they can get infections and get poorly and die.

That's what'll happen to the new pups

unless the keepers take drastic action right now.

To save the babies' lives, they must be hand-reared.

But first, Darren must get them out of the nest,

and that's not going to be easy.

Mum and Dad won't be appreciative of this.

They don't understand it'll save the babies' lives.

We'll block Dad with pieces of board,

to stop him getting back to me.

I think Mum, for safety, I've got to try and keep her out of the way.

Please, please remember, if you haven't got a glove on,

you're in big trouble, all right? So keep all your soft digits

and your parts out of their way, all right? They are quite dangerous.

To follow the action,

we've kitted Darren out with a special hands-free keeper cam.

Hello.

Rosie and Romeo are in there, barking and growling,

but they don't understand that this is a last resort.

If Darren didn't take the babies away, they would die.

-That's one.

-Getting the other one as well.

That's two. But there's still one more, right at the back of the nest.

That's the third and last one out.

The youngsters will be reintroduced to their parents when they're older.

But for now, the keepers must take over all the work of Mum and Dad.

It's going to be very interesting. I saw one thin one already.

They've got the energy, cos they've just been born,

but have they had a decent feed yet?

If not, we can give them some colostrum ourselves.

We can have baby otters at the end that are going to

grow on and probably be just as noisy and just as violent as those!

Now the babies desperately need that special milk,

but will they take it from the keepers?

If they don't feed, in a matter of hours they could be dead.

So don't go away.

Keeper Jon has asked me to meet the marmosets to give them some gum.

Personally, I think he's lost the plot! Hiya, Jon.

How you doing? I've brought my gum. There you go, little marmoset.

-It's not that type of gum, Johny.

-He went for it.

They've got bad breath, but I don't think that's going to do him good.

-OK, what kind of gum are you talking about?

-It's actually tree sap.

So, gum that you get from trees.

I don't think this going to do your breath any good.

Let's have a smell.

-Go on, have a little whiff.

-Oh! Wow! And that comes from a tree?

It's actually artificial sap. We don't go raiding the trees ourself.

That would take quite a long time, I think!

It's a pre-mixed gum which we give to the marmosets.

So we're going to do it now. There's a log behind you

which has got an eager marmoset waiting.

So all we're going to do is, using this syringe,

just get a little bit in there.

You can see there's a few holes drilled into the log there.

-Just going to put a bit in. I don't know if you want to have a go?

-OK.

So first things first, why are we putting it in the holes?

And, I guess, secondly, why gum?

In the wild, these guys live in the rainforest.

Look at that, pretty eager.

So they would eat a lot of fruit and seeds and things like that.

But they also chew the bark off trees.

You can see what they've done to this old rotten log here.

They chew it to get the sap out of the tree.

It gives them lots of nutrition, it gives them

a lot of the things that they need in the wild.

And also, a lot of people think that these guys are quite cute,

-but I think they're not.

-Oh, they're quite cute!

They've actually got a bit of a dental issue,

if you look. They've actually got a bit of a sticky-out bottom jaw.

They actually use that for scraping off the bark from the trees.

Cos the sap is deep inside the branch of the tree,

and they actually use their bottom jaw to scrape at the bark.

That gives off the bottom layers, they can get to the sweet gum inside.

-So who've we got here, then? How many have we got?

-There's three.

We've got a nice little family here. We've got Mike, Mandu and Michelle.

Mike and Michelle are the mum and dad,

and Mandu is the little youngster.

This is the little youngster.

I was just about to ask,

would the youngster be up for having the sap as well?

Without a doubt. They're all tucking in.

I say young, she's a couple of years old,

so not actually as young as she once was.

As much fun as it's been giving these beautiful little marmosets

their gum, I think I'm going to stick to the nice old minty variety.

Where do fish go on holiday?

Fin-land!

-ALL:

-Ruff ruff ruff! Ruff ruff ruff!

How do you take a pig to hospital?

In a ham-bulance!

Ah, ah, ah!

What do you get when you cross a skunk and a bear?

-I don't know.

-Winnie the Poo!

THEY LAUGH

Back in Animal Adventure,

it's a critical time for the three baby otters.

They're only a few hours old. If they're going to live,

they need food, and they need it fast.

There's only one person experienced enough to save them,

deputy head of section Bev Allen.

Over the years, she's been mum to several abandoned baby animals,

like this little wallaby, whose mother sadly died.

So, Bev is the park's super mum,

and the fate of the newborn otters is in her hands.

I'm just about to prepare some milk for the little baby otters,

then hopefully try and get them used to taking the milk from a syringe.

They're now several hours old.

They haven't had any milk yet, and they're fading fast.

The milk is in a syringe, but it can't be injected.

The baby must open its mouth and drink.

Success, and in the nick of time!

Just like puppies, baby otters are born blind.

It'll be over a month before they open their eyes.

The milk Bev's giving them is specially made for kittens,

but it works for otters too.

The crucial first feed has gone well, but it's going to be

a long battle before the youngsters are really safe.

I'm just going to clean them up a bit now, because they've got

a bit of milk around their mouths, so I'll just clean their mouth.

Cos Mum would do this, or Dad would do this, clean them up afterwards.

And with the babies clean at one end,

Bev needs to look after the other end too.

Usually after you feed any baby animal, usually Mum would actually

try and lick them down below to try and get them to go to the toilet.

So you have to gently just rub.

And see if they go to the toilet.

Ugh, rather you than me, Bev!

It's making sure everything's passing through,

basically.

Because they need the stimulant of Mum doing this,

cos they're just too young, and can't do it on their own.

Eventually, they will be able to go to the toilet on their own.

I haven't named them yet. We don't like to name things

until they're at least over a week old.

We like to make sure they'll do OK. Otherwise, when you name them,

it becomes a bit more personal, you really get personalities for them.

So the next 24 hours is crucial, basically.

It's crucial to get them feeding well and get as much fluids into them.

So hopefully, tomorrow they'll be doing really well, and really strong.

From now on, Bev must feed, clean and care for the three babies

around the clock, but that's no guarantee that they'll survive.

In fact, out in the wild, the smallest baby of the litter

sometimes dies within the first few days,

so we'll be back with them later to see what happens here.

Today, there are two Roar Rangers, George and Nicole.

And like many brothers and sisters, they're a bit competitive.

I'm going to be a better Roar Ranger because I'm crazy about animals

and my sister isn't.

I am a better Roar Ranger than George because he terrifies animals.

Both George and Nicole are experienced with animals.

At home, they have Angel the hamster,

Eddie the dog and Socks the cat.

Will they get something small and easy like them?

The answer is in the envelope.

"George and Nicole, today you're going to be rhino keepers."

I'm off the scale to do rhino keeping. It's absolutely amazing.

It does sound good, but what does rhino keeping actually involve?

The Roar Rangers are about to find out.

Hello, how are you doing? I'm Andy.

-And we are going to go and shovel some rhino poo.

-Nice(!)

That's a nice treat, innit(!)

Yes, it's poo time!

And the bigger the animal, the more poo it makes.

Here at the park, they have the biggest kind - white rhinos.

In the wild, they live in southern Africa.

The species has been threatened by hunting, and now they're very rare.

So Andy's right, it is a treat to get close to them,

even if that does mean picking up poo.

-Right, this is Marashi. What do you reckon, then?

-She's very big.

-Cool.

-Do you want to take her home when we've finished?

-No!

-No?!

She would trash the place!

She would! She's quite nice.

She's a bit overexcited, cos we're all here.

So, she's a white rhino.

-Do you know the difference between black and white rhinos?

-The lips.

Marashi is a grazer, so she'll be out and she'll eat grass.

So that big, wide lip lawnmows grass up,

and a black rhino is a browser, so they'll go out in thick bush,

and they'll actually eat from bushes and trees and stuff.

The black rhino is much smaller than the white rhino,

and has a prehensile front lip.

That means they can grab and pull leaves and twigs into their mouths.

The white rhino has flat, square lips, because they just eat grass.

Hopefully one day we'll have babies out of Marashi,

which'll be really cool, because baby rhinos are amazing.

Baby rhinos, when you look, they are born almost with adult-sized feet

and adult-sized ears, and they grow into them.

The most bizarre things you've ever seen.

They're really, really cute.

When they're born, baby rhinos weigh around 65 kilograms.

That's about the same as both our Roar Rangers put together.

-So, shall we put Marashi to bed?

-Yeah.

-And then we can do some of the dirty work.

-No!

-Yeah!

I'm sorry, that's the way it goes! If you want to be an animal keeper,

you've got to do the dirty stuff and not just the good stuff!

Marashi is ready for bed, which is just as well,

because at over two tons, she could make a lot of trouble.

-Do you go to bed that well?

-Erm...

-Or do you fight it a little bit more?

Look, she's gone!

That was easy, but don't go away,

because soon we'll find out what George and Nicole are made of

when they have to tackle some truly monstrous piles of dung!

Out in the park, there's a 65-acre area

where they keep almost a dozen different species all together.

Amongst them, one of the rarest animals in the world,

a Pere David's deer.

Rani had never heard of them, let alone seen any,

so she was very keen to join keeper Tim to try and track them down.

Now, Tim, I'm going to help point them out now. Is that them?

There they are, the deer with the humps on their back! Is that them?

-Rani, it's not, it's the camels.

-Don't worry, Tim, they're camels.

OK, there on its own, lonely, Pere David's deer, all alone.

-It's a rhino. It's a rhino.

-It's OK, it's a rhino.

OK, so they're the camels.

Ah, there in the distance, the Pere David's deer. Elusive, alone.

I'm going to disappoint you again. These are the scimitar-horned oryx.

So is it the case that we don't actually have

any Pere David's deer in this park? Is this the problem?

-Well, it would seem that way, but we have.

-Where are they then?!

There are eight somewhere.

OK, we need to get on this mission and find these Pere David's deer,

so we're going to wheel our way up here.

In the centre there, lying on the grass, maybe lonely,

light-brown coloured, in the misty sun?

-Could they possibly be?

-You've got it right this time. Well done.

What is so special about the Pere David's deer?

Because people are going to say, "Oh, deer, we see them

"running round parks, whatever."

Are these special, these deer?

Well, I think, Rani, they are very special, and the reason for that,

really, is that they almost became extinct, this species.

And they're not actually a species that you will see

-in a huge number of parks.

-Right.

We're privileged to have a small number of deer here in the park.

It seems like a really strange thing to hear,

deer becoming extinct. What was the reason?

Excessive hunting was the main reason as to why this species almost

became extinct, and it really did,

it literally got down to 20 or 30 animals, I think, at one stage.

-Wow.

-It was that bad.

OK, that's in the past tense, which is really good to hear,

cos you said nearly extinct.

What's the situation now?

Well, thanks largely to the 11th Duke of Bedford,

who collected some of the remaining animals from zoological

societies around Europe, he brought them back to Woburn Abbey,

his country seat there, and he has wonderful parkland,

with vast lakes and such.

These animals, incidentally, where they come from, in China,

they come from flooded plain.

Certainly at certain times of year they're in flood plain.

So he had all these lovely lagoons at Woburn,

and they really flourished there.

And he built the numbers way back up.

And since that time, there have been reintroductions back to China,

back to the area of China where the species lived, and we were fortunate

to be one of the collections to have sent some animals there.

It's been a privilege for us to see these guys.

Our mission continues. We've found the Pere David's deer -

how about the lesser-spotted three-legged horned deer?

That-away, I think!

Move it out, please!

If you've been playing the Roar online game on the CBBC website,

you'll want to make a note of this.

wind4 - that's today's cheat code.

While you're on the site, check out Feeding Time

and have a look at our great animal feeding videos too.

See you there later!

Back with the baby otters, it's now been almost a week

since the keepers had to save the three newborn pups.

The park super mum Bev has been looking after them day and night.

But despite all her expert help, sadly the smallest one has died.

I went to give its feed at 3:30 in the morning,

and when I came back at 5:30 to feed it, sadly it passed away.

It was quite small, it did seem a bit weak compared to the other two,

so we were a bit concerned and we did give her extra fluids as well

as the milk to try and get her going, but sadly she didn't make it.

It's always sad when an animal dies, but thankfully,

the other two are still fighting for life.

They're taking a lot more milk now, which is brilliant,

cos they only used to take one syringe to begin with,

and now they're taking three at most feeds, so it's good news.

We have to weigh them, just to make sure they are putting

the weight on, and they are, so it's working out really well.

They seem very strong. Very vocal, as you can hear, which is brilliant.

We actually have a girl and a boy. This is the boy.

The brother and sister seem to be all right,

but at the park, the keepers don't give the babies names

until they're sure they're going to survive.

I think we're going to give it another

couple of days before we actually think of any names.

It's been about six days now that they've been doing well,

but we'll leave it a little bit longer, see how they go.

So far, so good, but it's still early days.

We'll be back later in the series to see what happens to

the baby otters and find out if they ever get names.

So far, our Roar Rangers George and Nicole have had

an easy time helping Andy with the rhinos.

But now, that's about to change!

-Right. Guess what.

-Poo time.

-Poo time!

Couldn't have put it better! Right, who's driving the wheelbarrow?

That means you're shovelling, Nicole!

That was a bad choice, wasn't it?!

Wheelbarrow, shovel -

you can see we're not talking about a little light poop scooping here!

And with Andy in charge, it's got to be done properly.

If this isn't done really, really well,

then the next part of your day, it's not going to happen, is it?

Hard boss, aren't I?!

It smells of fish oil.

It smells really strong, actually.

Yeah, it is really strong, isn't it?

That in there, and I want to see you shovelling!

Come on, Nicole, you can do it!

I'll just stand and shout encouragement!

Yeah, you're doing well, kids.

Lovely. Look at that. Natural, you're born to it, George!

-NICOLE:

-He is, I'm not!

You're going to have massive muscles by the end of the day, Nicole.

If you get some on the shovel!

That's one pile done, but there's more. Lots more.

-NICOLE:

-That one looks worse!

Come on, in the wheelbarrow!

Nicole, are you going to get that one on there?!

-That's a biggie!

-That one's heavy!

-Go on!

-She's getting a bit braver with the poo.

-She's getting good now.

-You're very professional at this!

-I've done it a long, long time!

Nobody can shovel poo like me!

George was a better poo shoveller.

Actually, Andy was the best, though.

Right, so as you guys have worked so hard,

shall we go up into the field and get Njani and Rosina,

bring them into bed with the Land Rover?

-Yeah.

-Got a driving licence?!

The other two rhinos here are Njani, the male, and Rosina, the female.

-OK, kids, let's put the rhinos to bed, shall we?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

The rhinos spend all day out of the park, but in the evening,

they need to come back in to the nice, warm rhino house.

The keepers use the tractors and safari trucks to guide them

back the right way to the house.

Come on!

-So what do you reckon, then, kids? GEORGE:

-Yeah.

Still want to be a rhino man, then, George? What about you? Yeah?

-As long as you don't have to shovel any poo up?

-Don't mind.

You don't mind!

With all three in the house, for the rhinos it's the end of the day.

So, it's time for the Roar Rangers to head off too.

It was absolutely brilliant.

It was the best experience of my life, the best day of my life.

I just hope I can do it again one day.

Everything was great, even mucking up the poo.

I made it sound difficult because it was.

-BOTH:

-Rhinos rule!

It's almost the end of the show, but before we leave you,

we thought we'd meet the animal capable of producing these things!

-Yes, it's the prickly porcupine. Hiya.

-Hi.

I did have one of those quills, but I can't figure out where it's gone!

Very practical!

But obviously they don't use quills just to put their hair up!

Not at all. These quills, as you can see, are lethal weapons.

They can take down lions and hyenas in Africa. So they are quite spiky.

They are incredibly spiky, and very hard,

like pieces of wood, aren't they?

-What are they made of?

-They're made like our fingernails, keratin.

I've got to ask this.

You're saying they can take down lions, hyenas -

you're there right next to them! Are you safe?

I am safe, yeah, it's just literally because these guys know me.

They know my voice, so they know that I'm no threat.

They can probably smell this food I've got for them!

We should feed them, keep them on our side!

-Shall we do that?

-Shall we help you with that?

-Yeah, of course you can.

What to do, guys, is just take... They love their apples.

If you take it, and you can hand feed Brussel here.

-That's amazing!

-Brussel!

All right! Here we go, Brussel. Oh, my goodness, he's got massive teeth!

He's got big, long teeth! I've never seen a porcupine before!

-Their teeth are absolutely incredible.

-They're yellow!

They are yellow! Why are they yellow?

-It's just basically because they don't use a toothbrush.

-Ah!

Next time we meet the porcupines, you brush Brussel's teeth,

and I'll brush Sprout's!

I'll pick my teeth with this thing!

Check out what's coming up on the next episode of Roar.

Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!

The pink flamingos have been destroying each other's eggs.

To save them, the keeper will swap their eggs for wooden ones.

But will the birds be fooled?

I'll be ferreting out some new furry friends.

-And the keeper's in trouble...

-Oh, no! That's really hard!

..cos the Killer Question's got a sting in the tail.

So, don't miss it.

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