Episode 7 Roar

Today on Roar... Get ready to go gooey,

cos when it comes to cute, the baby otters are off the scale.

-Aw, they're unreal!

-Cute, aren't they?

-They are so cute!

Roll up, roll up for t'greatest show on earth with me, Johny Pitts and Rani Price.

It's a Roar extravaganza.

Now Johny, before I get a rush on, this IS the Greatest Show On Earth?

Haven't you seen what's coming up on today's show?

I have seen it and there's some amazing stuff coming up.

Let's stop talking about it and get on with it.

Roll up, roll up! Greatest show on earth.

We've got a bit of a baby theme going on today.

As well as those little otters,

there's high drama with the giraffes.

Imogen is expecting a new baby but the first calf she had almost killed her.

We thought, if she pulls through this it'll be a miracle.

I'll be trying to meet Riley the sea lion pup -

if he ever stops fooling around!

And the Ask The Keeper kids are after some answers about the white rhino.

How fast, how heavy, how smelly?

Have a sniff, guys. Don't be shy!

In the past, they've had a quite a few baby giraffes at Longleat.

103 have been born here over the last 30 years.

And now there are more to come because this year

almost half the females here are expecting babies.

Course that's great news but the keepers are worried about

one of the pregnant mums.

Very worried.

This is Imogen and this is the scar she got a few years ago

when she almost died while trying to give birth.

The deputy head of the park Ian Turner was there.

We knew she was pregnant, and she's acting quite normally.

Then one day she was trying to go into labour,

pushing and pushing but nothing happens.

Aye 'oop, something's not quite right here.

Vet's in, said we need to knock her out because something's not right.

She's trying to push but nothing's happening.

Imogen was in terrible distress.

She had to have an emergency operation to get the baby out.

It's called a Caesarean, and first they had to send her to sleep

with an anaesthetic.

But giraffes could react badly to the drugs back then.

In fact, one in three never woke up.

However, if they didn't operate,

both Imogen and her baby would certainly die.

A massive crew came in. I think there was five vets.

We had tubes down its throat for breathing and wires,

just like in a hospital.

The longer Imogen was under anaesthetic,

the more dangerous it was. Everyone had to work quickly.

Sadly when they go to the baby they found it was already dead.

And it was really big,

so there was no way that baby could have been delivered.

If we hadn't done anything, they would both have died, for sure.

By the time they got the baby out, Imogen was in a bad way.

It was looking grim.

We thought if she pulls through this, it'll be an absolute miracle.

Even after having an operation, giraffes must stand up.

They have problems if they don't and can choke to death.

And the longer Imogen stayed down,

the most likely it was she would never get up.

Hope was fading fast.

But then something amazing happened.

Imogen stood up!

She was on her feet.

Very dopey and drowsy but fine.

They next day, apart from a ginormous scar down her side,

she was absolutely fine. It's a miracle.

In fact, Imogen may well be the first giraffe in the world

to survive this kind of operation.

And incredibly, two years later, she successfully gave birth

to a healthy baby named Henry who's now three years old.

But the keepers have never forgotten what can happen

when a pregnancy goes wrong and now Imogen is about to give birth again.

The safari park vet, Duncan Williams, is keeping an eye on her.

We're worried about every one, but because Imogen's got the history

we're a bit more concerned about her.

Imogen's looking great.

I think she'll give birth in the next few days.

The birth could come at any time.

At night, Imogen is being kept in her own separate pen

where's there a camera to watch for any signs of trouble.

Giving birth almost killed her before,

so will she soon be fighting for life again?

Stay tuned to find out.

There was great excitement at Half Mile Lake

when Zook, the Californian sea lion, gave birth to a new pup.

They named him Riley and our cameras were there when he learned to swim at just three days old.

Now he's 15 weeks and Rani has gone to meet him in person.

I've come down onto sea lion beach with Sarah to meet Riley.

I was expecting he's not going to come over because he's a baby.

But this is absolutely amazing. How old is he now?

Riley's just over three and a half months old.

And he's very confident because he wants to come over and say hello.

-He's very playful.

-Will he come over?

Um, he comes to a certain distance.

He's our only pup this year so he sees us as some entertainment.

It's almost like he wants to play. It's a game of chase

but he'll only come so far because he's still cautious.

So, what happens for the first couple of weeks,

does Mum leave them on the side?

For the first couple of weeks Mum's quite protective.

She won't let him go far.

But within a couple of weeks,

Mum ventures out. She still needs to feed for fish and leave the pup alone.

These are the times they get into mischief.

He is such a show off!

Look at that.

It's mesmerising to watch.

It is. I could spend all day down here just watching him.

Where is Mum and Dad now?

You're saying Mum isn't as protective now...

He's a little bit older.

Mum and Dad will be out after fish from the boats.

They'll be feeding for the day then Mum will come back

and that's when he has his opportunity to have his dinner.

Riley is a pup on his own. Are there hopes for other pups?

Fingers crossed.

We do have two breeding females in the lake, so hopefully next year

we'll have two pups.

Sarah, you've got to keep us posted on that.

It's been brilliant seeing Riley in action, thank you.

It's Ask The Keeper time again.

We're at the rhino yard where keeper Adrian will be answering questions

about this beautiful animal, the white rhino.

Adrian, are you ready?

I'm ready!

What are there horns for?

Protection and for signalling with their head movements.

How much does their poo weigh?

Ha, ha, that's a question!

That's not something I've weighed.

A wheelbarrow and a half full.

That's incredible.

What does their poo look like? Is it full of hay? Does it smell?

We've got some here if you want to look.

OK, Adrian. What do you reckon, kids? Come on.

You can tell what they mainly eat. It's mainly grass.

It's partly digested.

It doesn't smell that bad, does it, Adrian?

Well, I don't think so, but I work with them all the time.

I'm told I do smell a bit!

Have a sniff! Go on, guys.

Get in there. Don't be shy!

Bleugh!

-Does it smell?

-Yeah.

Do they eat anything else, other than what we see there?

The white rhino eats mainly grass.

We've got just under three tons of animal just eating grass.

How many babies do they have?

They only have one baby at a time.

How fast does rhinos run?

They can accelerate very quickly, up to 30 miles per hour in short bursts.

Wow! Something that big can go 30 miles per hour. That's amazing.

They've very powerful animals

but their legs are like shock absorbers.

They're running on air when they're running.

Adrian, you've done tremendously well so far but I know

we're going to come up with a tough question

because it's Killer Question time!

Come on, guys.

THEY CONFER

Ready for the Killer Question?

Come on! We're ready, Adrian. Are you?

I'm ready.

As we know, this beautiful animal is called the white rhino.

But it's grey. So why do they call it the white rhino?

It's called the white rhino

because it's an African word, "weit", meaning wide mouth.

It's been misinterpreted as white rhino.

You seem very confident with that answer. Is that your final answer?

That's my final answer.

And your final answer is correct!

He's got it right! Due a round of applause, you reckon?

Overall, how do you think Adrian did?

Is it a thumbs up or a thumbs down for this Ask The Keeper?

Thumbs up all round.

Adrian, you did ever so well.

Thank you very much!

There's some news from the giraffe house.

Imogen's showing signs she's going into labour.

The baby may be coming soon.

The Roar camera crew are rushing up to see if they can film it.

No, sorry folks. You can't come in here today.

Our crew can't go in as they might make Imogen nervous,

and they could disturb the birthing process.

Right now, only the keepers she knows really well are allowed in,

like Brian.

We think Imogen's showing early signs of labour.

She's cocking her tail, holding it out.

So it looks like she's going to poo but she's not doing anything.

We've kept Doto in next to her just for a bit of company

so she's not on her own, because if she is in early labour,

if we took all the giraffe out of the house, that could upset her.

After a giraffe goes into labour,

there's no telling how long it will be until the baby comes out.

Trying to stay positive, but in the back of your mind

you're looking for signs the labour is going on too long

like it did the first time.

So, yeah, a little bit nervous.

A long labour could indicate something's wrong.

And it's now been a few hours.

They're starting to get anxious.

Everyone's got a soft spot for Imogen.

You're always a little bit nervous about these births.

I think because of the trouble she had with her first birth

and her first one was a Caesarean, that puts more of an edge on it.

So I think I speak for everyone that we're more nervous than usual.

As night falls, there's still no baby.

If it doesn't come by morning,

Imogen may need another emergency operation.

And then her chances will be pretty slim

because you can't always count on miracles.

In all my time on Roar, I've seen animals move in impressive ways.

But when I heard a snake could swim,

I thought, "Somebody's taking it too far." And that person is Jo.

Jo, are you pulling my leg? Can snakes swim?

Yes, all snakes can swim.

-ALL snakes can swim?

-Yep.

A rattlesnake got found 30 miles offshore once.

-That's a long way to go.

-It's a pretty long way, isn't it?

Pretty impressive, actually! OK, who have you got here?

-This is Togo.

-Hi, Togo!

-And he's our one-year-old royal python.

OK, and we've got the camera here for some underwater action.

-Do you place him in?

-Pop him in and see how it goes.

-So, straight away, unravelled himself.

-Yep.

And you can kind of see he's moving...

-Aww, bless!

-He's pretty nosy anyway, Togo,

so he's probably having a look around for anything interesting outside.

Now, on land, a snake kind of moves in an S-shape,

pulling itself along. Is it the same kind of action in the water?

Yeah, pretty much. He'll use his tail a bit like a rudder, really.

So he'll pull himself along.

And this bit where he's floating, that's where his lungs are.

-So the lungs help him float as well as breathe?

-Yeah.

It is absolutely fascinating to see that.

-Now, I can see he hasn't got goggles on.

-He hasn't.

-Does the water not get in his eyes?

-He should be OK.

He's got a protective covering over his eyes,

so he shouldn't be too bad.

Now when you say all snakes can swim - why?

Why would snakes want to swim? Are they into keeping fit?

-What is it?

-Not quite. Sometimes they need to get away from predators

so they need it, also to look for food,

and sometimes if it's a really hot day, just to cool down a bit.

It's been great to see him sort of wiggling around the water,

and he seems to be loving it.

Honestly, though, I've herd of the doggy paddle,

heard of the butterfly, but I've never heard of the snake stroke.

Learn something new every day.

What kind of key opens a banana?

A monkey!

Who's a pretty boy then?

What does a frog like to drink?

Croaka-cola.

SHE QUACKS

-Why were the insects playing football on a saucer?

-I don't know.

They were practising for the cup.

LAUGHTER

It's dawn at the giraffe house, and after an agonising wait,

there's finally something to smile about.

Really good news this morning.

We came in to work and Imogen's had her baby.

The Roar crew still aren't allowed in,

but Ryan has taken one of our cameras

to get the very first shots of the new baby,

just a few hours old.

It's up and it's drinking, which is great.

You know, that's one of the major hurdles, to make sure that it's up

and drinking well.

Imogen looks absolutely fine.

The baby is a boy.

Newborn giraffes are quite funny-looking.

Those tufts on his head are where he's got little horns

which are floppy at birth but soon straighten up.

Because it's day one,

we always like to give newborns at least a couple of days with Mum

just to really get that bond nice and tight between them.

So for now they'll be staying indoors together,

which is just as well, because Ryan has noticed a problem.

His back legs look just a little bit weak at the moment,

a little bit bendy. They're not as straight as

you would expect them to look on a calf.

His back legs are both pointing the same way,

so it's a slight worry.

Ryan's got Ian to come and take a look at the footage.

As the deputy head of the park, he's seen scores of giraffe births.

-You can see how bendy those legs are.

-Yeah.

You can see, he's moving around OK.

It's just those bendy legs, is our only worry.

Basically, you've got to monitor,

and make sure he drinks,

-and the stronger he gets the better the legs will get.

-Yeah.

Giraffes are pregnant for about 15 months,

and by the end, the baby is very squashed up,

especially those long legs.

They might go straight in a couple of days,

or it could be a more serious problem.

Going to give him a multivit shot,

which should just help him, in the short term,

just give him a little bit of extra energy.

And then in the next couple of days we'll get a calcium solution

with added Vitamin D.

Calcium should aid his bone development.

But if the vitamins don't help, the vet will have to be called.

Imogen came through the birth, but now the baby may have a problem.

We'll be back later to see what happens.

Earlier in the series, we were there

when the keepers had to tackle an emergency

with the Asian short-clawed otters, when Rosie gave birth

to three tiny babies.

The problem was that her previous two litters had all died.

They think it's because she doesn't produce enough milk to feed them.

So to save the babies, the keepers had to get them out

and try and raise them by hand.

Bev Allen, who's very experienced at this, became their foster mum.

Sadly, the smallest one didn't make it.

But the other two were feeding well.

And now, they're almost one month old!

I am proper excited because I'm about to meet the baby otters,

and we're about to name them. I'm here with keeper Bev.

-Bev, hi.

-SQUEAKING

-Oh, they're unreal!

-Cute, aren't they?

They are so cute!

But they don't look like otters at this stage, really.

-They look like little hamsters or something!

-They do.

They've still got their eyes closed, as you can see,

-big yawn there as well.

-They're blind at this stage?

Yeah. they should start to open their eyes now.

They're about four weeks old now

and it's usually around now we see the eyes opening.

We're going to weigh them now, see how much weight they've put on.

Working on Roar, I've seen some cute things, but they're up there.

Definitely top five.

-Awww.

-Would you like to pick one up?

Yeah! I can't believe we're going to weigh them in this little tub.

Might be a bit wiggly, but just support them...

-I'll just put the scales on.

-Aww, don't worry.

-Shall I pop it in?

-Yeah.

They are a bit wiggly, but hopefully...

-SQUEAKING

-Then we've just got to see...

about 400, I would say, would you say?

-Yeah, maybe just over.

-Just over. Over 400.

Is that a healthy weight for this age?

That's quite good. They were only about 60g when they were first born

so they have put on a lot of weight in the last four weeks,

which is brilliant. Really good. And we've also just named them.

Oh, so what are their names?

We've got a girl and a boy, so the boy's called Kasem

and the girl's called Sumalee.

Sumalee means "flower" in Thai, and Kasem means "happiness".

-Is that also in Thai?

-Yeah.

And would you find these in Thailand?

Yeah. They're short-clawed Asian otters, from Asia -

Indonesia you'd find them as well, so...

Yeah, all over, really. Just weigh this one.

You can weigh the girl.

So what are we calling her again?

-Sumalee.

-Sumalee. Beautiful name.

Come on, then, Sumalee!

About 345g, I would say?

Bit smaller for the little girl, then.

Yeah. I mean, the boys do get bigger than the girls,

they'll tend to be a little bit larder, so that's normal.

No need to worry there. They're putting on weight.

-So they all seem quite good.

-So what's next for them, Bev?

When they're a bit older, about ten weeks,

we'll take them outside and get them to learn to swim.

And how do you go about starting?

We'll just get a bowl of water and just put them in,

and see how they cope with that, and eventually we'll get a bigger pool

and let them swim in it.

I don't think I've ever seen anything as cute as that. That is...

How is that real? It looks like a little cuddly toy!

It is nice when they're sort of sleeping like that, together.

It's great to hear they're doing well

and we'll be keeping up with their progress.

They are so cute. Almost as cute as me!

Have another look.

Now then, gamers.

How's your wild animal park doing

at the Roar game on the CBBC website?

Here's today's cheat code to help:

Type that in and see what you get - food, treats or features.

Don't forget to check in every day

and happy gaming!

When he was born, Imogen's new baby had a problem.

His back legs were bent and bandy.

So the keepers gave him vitamins and extra calcium

and now, one week on, he's doing absolutely brilliantly.

They've named him Kaiser, and he's already going out with the others.

Every morning, the keepers walk them down the lane

they call the Race, to the East Africa Reserve.

The bright blue poles are to make themselves more visible

so that they won't get kicked.

But Kaiser has got them worried, because he's leaping about so much!

His first couple of trips down the Race,

he got a little bit sprauncy, as we like to say,

and...you know, it's not out-and-out aggression,

it's just defensiveness. And when they're that age,

and that size,

although it would spoil your day if he caught you with a good kick,

you can't help but laugh, because it just seems a little bit comical.

Kaiser is now out with the herd and all the other animals in the park.

Keeper Bev has been watching to make sure he doesn't come to any farm.

Kaiser has caused a few issues coming out,

his first week or so.

We've got a herd of zebras out here led by our stallion Guinness,

and he's very playful,

and he finds baby giraffes particularly good to chase.

But it's not clear how much Kaiser enjoys playing chase,

so the keepers on patrol use their trucks to head off the stallion.

You do have to get involved,

and just stop Guinness in his tracks, really.

Get in the way.

But you don't want to go too fast and get in the way,

because you don't want to run into any of the babies.

So just grab his attention off the baby

and hopefully focus it on you.

But a lot of people have been put in the deep end

trying to get in between a very fast stallion and a fast giraffe.

He may be causing extra work,

but everyone is delighted to have such a bouncy baby

belting about the place.

Especially when, just one week earlier,

a happy ending was no done deal.

MUSIC: "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green

It's almost the end of another... Achoo!

..Show, but before we leave you, we've just got time... Achoo!

Johny, should I get you a tissue? I think you're getting a cold!

No, I think, hanging around these furry animals,

I think I'm developing a bit of an allergy.

-Achoo!

-Oh!

I think I've got the perfect solution for you.

Here's Michelle, with one of her more unusual animals.

-Hiya, Michelle.

-Hello, Rani.

What is this that you have in your hands?

This is Luna, and she's a naked rat.

-Naked rat?

-Wow! Incredible. Tell us what a naked rat is, then.

A naked rat is a brown rat with no hair.

Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

Have you just shaved a rat?

No, no, not at all!

No, I promise you, we've not had a go at her with any form of scissors

-or clippers at all.

-So how has she got to be naked?

This is... Here you go. This is humans

taking advantage of rats in the wild that come out every so often

as naked and hairless, and people breeding them

so people can have pets if they've got fur allergies.

It's great there are pets for people with allergies.

If you want to see what animals are coming up, hairy or not,

on the next Roar, here's a preview.

'Could you make friends with a snail the size of a guinea pig?'

It's all sticky!

'Too much monkey business lands the keeper in trouble.'

Oh, no!

'And the lions must be tricked into taking their medicine.

'So there's a rare chance to get really close to the business end.'

I just hand-fed a lion!

'So, see you next time.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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