Episode 1 Roar

-Get ready to roar...

-TIGER ROARS

..because we're back for a brand new series

of wildlife, fun and animal action.

And, today, standby to meet the biggest celebrity in Britain,

because Anne the elephant is moving in.

THEME MUSIC

Hello and welcome to a brand new series of Roar. I'm Johny.

And I'm Rani. We are back at Longleat Safari Park

for what promises to be the biggest and best series of Roar ever.

Oh, yeah! Not only are there brand new animals,

brand new keepers and brand new enclosures,

but there are brand new sections for us to check out, like this!

Yes, this is Monkey Temple,

where these guys, the marmosets, love nothing better than causing

all sorts of mischief and running across these ropes.

They are wicked animals, but if we are going to see all the newcomers

-we had better get on with the all new series.

-Agreed.

We've got amazing stories and great animal encounters

lined up for every show

and it's going to be a bumper series for new babies too.

But here's what's coming up today.

There's meerkat mayhem when the mob starts to party.

-The Roar Rangers must face pygmy goat peril.

-Arrgh!

And the new birds are small, beautiful and scary...

Darren, and I'm OK?

..when they go into a feeding frenzy.

But we're starting with the dramatic story of Anne,

probably the oldest elephant in Europe

and the most famous in Britain.

No-one knows exactly how old she is, but they think Anne is 58.

She's the last circus elephant in the country,

having spent nearly 50 years performing in the ring.

Watching wild animals do tricks at circuses like this one from 1979

used to be very popular

but, these days, most people feel it's no longer acceptable

and this kind of show is now widely banned.

In fact, Anne retired from performing a few years ago

because she was getting old,

though she continued to live at the circus.

What happened to her next was shocking

and you may find these images upsetting.

An animal rights group secretly filmed a man

who was hired to look after Anne hitting and kicking her.

The images caused an outcry in the press and on the news.

CCTV pictures of Anne the elephant being badly treated

at a circus in Northamptonshire were hard to watch.

Soon, there was a campaign to find Anna a new home.

Somewhere she could live out the rest of her life

in comfort and safety.

And that's when Longleat Safari Park stepped in.

They don't keep elephants now, but they used to,

and they still have the facilities to offer Anne

a loving retirement home.

Jon Cracknell is the new head of the safari park.

We wanted to offer the beautiful surrounding countryside,

and the fact she can do what she wants, when she wants.

But they didn't just have the facilities,

they also had the expertise,

with two of the most experienced elephant keepers in the country,

Andy Hayton and Ryan Hockley.

It's been a few years since they last looked after elephants,

but elephant keepers never forget(!)

They are just spectacular.

There's nothing that compares to an elephant.

You can work hands-on with them. You can make a difference to their day.

In fact, the keepers are going to make a difference to Anne's life

when she comes to live in the park.

Moving Day, and this could be tricky.

Anne is quite elderly and she does away almost four tonnes.

They've had to get one of the biggest animal transporters

in Britain, and they set off with a police escort

to make sure the journey goes smoothly.

It takes five hours to reach the park,

where the first problem is to get her safely out of the transporter.

A whole team of keepers are standing by to help

because, after the stress of the journey,

no-one knows how she'll react to this new place.

But Anne takes it all in her stride.

She's a seasoned traveller. She's been to Paris, to Germany.

She's seen the world already so she's quite used to it.

We're just lucky that Anne is who she is.

Another elephant, and it might have been a different scenario.

Having lived so long in the circus and survived such cruel treatment,

will Anne be able to enjoy her new life in the park?

Later on, we're going to find out.

-ALL:

-Did you know?

A giant anteater can eat up to 30,000 ants a day.

How many is that? If every ant was a baked bean,

that would be like you eating 65 tins.

BURP

-ALL:

-Now you know!

Now, exciting stuff today. I'm with head of section, Darren.

Darren's going to introduce us to some of the park's newest members.

The thing is, it's not just about me,

it's Johny as well, but he has not turned up.

-Johnny!

-Yeah?

What are you doing? We've started. Get out here!

LAUGHTER

-Darren!

-Sorry.

I don't know about Johny Pitts, it's more Jammy Pots now!

What's all this about?

Johny, we're going to take you in and see some really wonderful birds

but they're specialist feeders

so Rani and I need some help feeding them with this stuff.

I like this, Darren. Thank you very much.

There has to be an easier way to do this.

They're big eaters and, you know, we need more hands.

OK, specialist birds, what kind of birds are we talking about?

These are rainbow lorikeets and they eat a special home-made nectar

which is why, hopefully, Johny is going to plough in there

and feed as many as we can.

Johny, this is for a good cause, so let's see these babies.

Home-made Nectar Man!

Here we go, guys.

-Oh, they're beautiful!

-Are you sure about this?

Ooh! I've already got two! There's nothing on my head!

-Darren, am I OK?

-You're fine. They are very excited to see you.

Can I just say...I think this has backfired for Rani.

OK, they've got quite spiky claws, that's for sure!

And they're squeaking a little bit, Darren.

They're just very excited.

They are really chattering in my ears. Do they bite?

-Am I safe?

-You're very safe.

They're very excited because they are nectar feeders.

They're designed for eating the nectar from flowers and soft fruits

and what we do is supplement it or change it to a home-made nectar.

They use their special tongues.

I was just looking at their tongues. It's almost...

Excuse me, you are very loud in my ear!

But it looks kind of like it's bristly or something.

It is, it's like a little brush, and they use that to lap up the nectar.

The idea is that it's such a high energy food, it's very messy,

but it's gone very quickly.

It seems to me like they're all going for the same pot.

Do they feed together?

He's dropped my pot! He's dropped my pot!

They are social feeders, they're flock creatures,

and this particular species comes from Australia.

You'll see them in groups thousands strong.

They group for safety but, also, when certain flowers are flowering

and the nectar is out, one little chirp goes up

and everybody is going to hit there and say,

"We want a bit of the action, we want a bit of that food."

There's one question I have to ask.

When you feed birds a lot, they tend to poop a lot.

Do they also need a poop table?

They could probably do with it but, in here,

they just go where it lands, which is where Johny wins,

because he's got the hat.

He's going to need a shower before he goes anywhere else.

All right, Johny, we should probably leave you

because the birds are going to need to do their business.

Darren, it's been a pleasure. We'll see you later. Enjoy!

Guys...! Help! Come back!

Rani! Darren!

What do you call a great dog detective?

-Sherlock Bones!

-LAUGHTER

THEY HOWL

How do you start a flea race?

One, two, flea, go.

SHE ROARS

-BOTH:

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

I don't know.

-BOTH:

-Tyrannosaurus pecks.

LAUGHTER

Our first Roar Rangers for the new series

are budding ballerinas and best friends Molly and Cassie.

But, today, they'll be swapping their ballet shoes

for something a little more practical.

As well as being bonkers about ballet,

they're also potty about pets.

Between them, they look after three cats,

two dogs and a hamster called Lola.

So they like animals...

-BOTH:

-But not poo!

So, what animals will the girls get?

This series, the Roar Rangers won't be opening any easy envelopes

to find out their mission.

Instead, we're handing them a couple of tricky clues.

-Gloves.

-And a first aid kit.

Maybe it's something to do with helping an animal that's ill.

-A cow! An udder!

-Oh, yeah!

Molly and Cassie, who do you think you'll be working with today?

-BOTH:

-A sick cow. Moo!

Well, close, but no lollipop.

In fact, the Roar Rangers are in for a real treat.

They're getting a rare opportunity to go around with Chris,

the safari park vet.

Every week, he spends a day at the park

to check on the animals that have any kind of health problem.

-Hi, guys. BOTH:

-Hi.

My name's Chris. I'm the park vet.

You're going to be joining me on my rounds today.

First up today are the pygmy goats.

Originally domesticated in West Africa,

the pygmy goats' small size has made them popular all around the world.

As you can see, we've got a load of goats here.

These guys have had some bad skin that we've been treating

so, today, we're going to have a look at it and check it's getting better.

Goats can get mites like we might get nits.

That can cause a skin reaction.

The one named Cracker has had it quite bad.

You've got to catch them. Are you ready for it?

-BOTH:

-Yeah!

These goats may be tame but they do have horns.

What if they run at us and head-butt us with their horns?

They're pretty friendly.

They're more likely to run away from you than run at you.

I will say one thing, watch out for Bubble.

She's not too keen on new people so she might butt you.

But she's only tiny so just look out for her.

That's all they need, a pygmy goat with attitude!

Still, Molly and Cassie will be safe

because they'll be with Chris the whole time.

The one we're going for is the dark-coloured one.

Right, this is going to be hard.

Look out, here comes Bubble!

Bubble...she was a maniac.

-She kept trying to head-butt us.

-It was funny.

And while Bubble's making trouble, Cracker keeps running off.

I don't think it's going to work. It's too big a field, isn't it?

But when dealing with goats, just remember this.

If all else fails, use food.

This is our secret weapon which works really well.

All goats are greedy so, if you come in with some nuts,

usually, they'll come over.

You take the bucket, give it a shake. Let's see how many goats come over.

-All of them!

-Whoa!

They really like it.

Right, girls, this is the one we want.

He's just staying on the edge

so, I wonder, if you put some of the stuff on the ground,

let's see if he'll come and have a look at it. There we go.

Got him!

This skin has gone all thick and crusty

because he's been scratching it so much.

He's scratched it so much, all his hair has come out.

But the drugs will hopefully have got rid

of the reason he was scratching.

We think it's parasites - little bugs in his skin that make him itch.

Although it looks nasty with no fur, that's a lot better than it was.

I don't think we'll have to do any kind of treatment today.

I think we'll just keep an eye on it.

So what he had, was it dangerous?

Or was it an average thing that the goat would have?

It wouldn't kill them but it's not fair for them to have it.

They're really itchy, they don't eat, they're not happy with life,

so we treat it and make him feel more comfortable.

Right, are you ready? Just stand back because he might go that way.

OK. There a go.

That's the goats done and as soon as they have washed their hands,

they'll be off to their next patient.

Don't go away because there's dirty work ahead

for a much, much bigger animal.

This year, things have been changing in the park.

As well as the new animals like the lorikeets and the marmosets,

some of the older residents have just moved in to brand new homes.

Oooh !I've been invited to a house-warming party!

And like any guest, I've got a gift. Juicy mealworms.

-Hey, Gem. Great new digs. I got you a present.

-Thanks.

-Mealworms.

-That's not really for me though, is it?

-Isn't this your new house?

-This is for the meerkats.

-Of course it is.

I've got them some mealworms to say, lovely new place and all that.

-What are we going to do? Put them on a nice plate for them?

-No.

We're going to leave them in the box. Very good enrichment for them.

-OK. Shall we just place them on here?

-Yes.

Give them a shake first to get them over.

-Take the lid off.

-Look at them all coming!

-I'll just leave it and spread them out.

-That's it.

-Look at that!

-There go. Happy new house.

They've just flicked meal worms at me. They've got no table manners.

They're loving their treat.

Talk us through their enclosure.

We've got the high point, their look-out still.

What else is going on here?

We've got lots and lots of tunnels around the enclosure,

which naturally, they will constantly be burrowing.

We've got lots of heat lamps as well because, unfortunately,

it's not quite like Africa here.

They need lots of heat, especially on rainy days. They won't come out.

I'm going to have a nosey at a tunnel and see what it's like.

It's only small. There's the heat lamp so you can see it's warm.

There's a load of them. Do they huddle together?

-How does it work?

-They huddle together to keep warm.

Especially when it's damp and horrible.

Generally, they kind of will split up a bit as well.

They will separate into two different groups.

That's what we've found in this enclosure, anyway.

I can hear them all, what's that sound called?

-It's a scuffly sound.

-It's barking.

RANI IMITATES MEERCAT BARK They're all saying, "They're mine."

He's sat in there, now. He's telling everybody off.

They seem to have really enjoyed my housewarming present

but I've got to say,

I haven't been offered a drink yet. This is a terrible party.

The black around the meercat's eyes helps cut down glare,

just like sunglasses,

so they can see better in bright sunshine.

It's been a few days now since Anne the elephant came to the park.

After spending her whole life in the circus,

no-one knew if she would be able to settle down here.

So far, the keepers have been astonished.

You'd never think this is probably the oldest elephant in Europe.

She toddles round the yard and has a play around.

Sometimes she acts like an elephant more than half her age.

She's out there playing,

throwing things around and kicking her tyre around.

She's tired the next day after she's done it. She wears herself out.

It's great to see her doing what she does.

ANNE TRUMPETS

She might be very active, but Anne does have some health problems.

She is a very old lady. In everyday terms, she's a granny.

She's got achy legs and she gets tired easily.

She's just not a young animal any more.

Vet, Nick Masters, is an elephant expert.

He's been keeping an eye on her aches and pains.

Anne's biggest problem that we can establish at the moment

is that she's got sore and stiff back legs,

and it's difficult for her to perform functions

that she would walking around.

Anne is suffering from severe arthritis.

Her joints are simply getting worn out.

We're trying to make her feel comfortable, not to fix it,

we can't get rid of the arthritis. It's old people care, really.

She's an old lady and there's some wear and tear

taken place over years which we'll try and manage.

Anne's age and aching legs aren't stopping her from playing.

Right now she's trying to figure our how to demolish the log structure.

Elephants are very clever anyway, but Anne's one of the smart ones.

She's quite canny. She looks into things,

she knows what's going on and she plays up a little bit.

She is a challenge to manage. She knows every trick in the book.

That's going to be a big challenge for Andy and Ryan over the next

coming weeks and months and for the rest of her life, really.

She's always going to be testing the waters,

seeing what she can get away with, like a naughty child.

At the moment, everyone is just pleased that she settled in so well

and so quickly, too.

Fantastic. She's got a new lease of life.

Suddenly she's got this amazing outdoor area

and you can see she's loving it,

interacting with the environment, I think that's given her a big boost.

It's wonderful to have an elephant back here.

We're racing around.

We're constantly doing something and working hard, but it's fun.

It's great.

So things are looking up for Anne, the last circus elephant in Britain.

Stay tuned because later in the show,

we're going to see how she's doing

when Rani and I get to meet her in person.

The Roar game is back on the CBBC website.

The aim of the game is to create your very own wild animal park

and build it up to make it the best it can be.

To help, we give out a different cheat code on every show.

Today it's wood4.

You need the cheat codes to unlock extra animals

or treats or special features.

So why not give our game a go? It's easy to get started and great fun.

Our Roar Rangers, Molly and Cassie, are helping Chris,

the safari park vet, do his weekly rounds.

They're about to discover the smelly side of being a vet.

There you go. There you go.

I'm scared! I don't want to pick up poo.

-I don't know what animal it is.

-This is from a rhino.

-RHINO BREAKS WIND

-Nice(!)

That's why there's so much, a wheelbarrow load.

The reason we're looking at their poo

is that they get all kinds of parasites. Worms.

So we're going to have a quick look through it, see if we can see any.

Just like our pet dogs and cats,

rhinos usually have some of these tiny parasitic worms

living in their digestive system, feeding off the food they eat.

They don't cause a problem as long as there aren't too many.

But if the worms build up, some start coming out the back end.

That's why it's important to keep checking.

If you're lucky, it might still be warm.

-Ew! That's not better.

-It's a bit straw-y.

Ew, I... I just touched it.

You just touched it. Go on, get your hand right in there.

Get closer, you've got to see if you can see anything in it.

Because the worms are so tiny,

one thing you can do is put some in some water

so that any worms or bits and pieces we want to see will float to the top.

If we shove it in there, and have a look for anything floating on top.

Lovely. Get your hand in and break it up.

-Oh, man!

-Eugh! I can't breathe!

RETCHING

Right, have a close look. Let's crouch and have a look.

-Eugh, gross.

-Do you see any movement on top?

Right, one little task left.

We couldn't see anything in there, we need to make sure.

We're going to take a bit and send it off to the lab.

They can look under the microscope. There you go.

See if you can get a bit of that poo in there. Squish it in.

GROANING AND RETCHING

This is manky.

Thank you very much.

Right, well done. We'll make vets of you yet.

-Blegh!

-Eugh!

Right, girls. Good and bad bits to every job.

You've done the bad bit. Let's meet Cara who made all this poo for you.

Come on, through we go.

Aw! That is so cute!

Does she ever get her head stuck?

No, she can fit it back out.

-They don't look this big on TV.

-No.

They're much bigger when you get up close.

With the day drawing to a close,

what to the Roar Rangers think of the vet's work now?

I do still want to be a vet but some jobs are better than others.

That poo, I would really not look forward to be doing that!

It's quite tough being a vet.

You have some real nasty, horrible jobs and some fun bits.

I'm impressed with them. They got stuck in.

You had to go away from it to get a breath of air.

You had to stuff it into a tub. It was all warm and gooey.

They got stuck in with the poo,

which is impressive, that's a horrible job.

Most vets don't like doing it. BOTH: Go, vets!

Another amazing, action-packed show in the bag.

We've got time to squeeze in a little more.

Really?

Yeah, we've got time to meet Andy, Ryan and Anne the elephant.

-Hello, guys.

-She's looking good!

-Fantastic.

-How's she getting on?

Really well.

We're working hard and giving her a bath every day

and looking after her skin and her feet and nails and everything.

It's good fun.

Sounds like she's just being pampered! I want her job!

-It's like Andy and Ryan's spa.

-Is it hard work?

We're looking round and there's a lot of poo about.

Obviously, they are big animals. There's a lot of poo

but there's a lot more involved than picking up poo.

It is hard work every day.

We enjoy it and we're seeing the fruits of our labour.

It's been fab meeting Anne the elephant today.

We look forward to following her story.

Why don't you guys check out what's coming in the next episode of Roar.

-Milyka the lion needs an operation.

-MILYKA ROARS

But will she come round afterwards?

Jess the tapir goes melon mad.

I've never seen a tapir look so happy!

And even though Nico is a very old gorilla,

it's not a good idea to get between him and his food.

He's still very strong.

A lot stronger than you and a lot stronger than me!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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