Episode 10 Roar

Today on Roar, a baby wallaby abandoned by his mother

is being hand-reared by the keepers.

And I'm going up to see him for the very first time.

-Hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Johny.

-And I'm Rani.

And just behind us here

are the very impressive ankole cattle.

Just look at the size of their horns!

They are incredible, aren't they? Did you know, in Africa,

where they are from, people hang their clothes to dry on their horns?

It's a really good way of drying clothes.

My coat's a bit wet, I might just dry my coat. That's a good idea...

Rani, I was only kidding. We'd better get on with the show.

-But it is wet.

-Don't do it.

Coming up, our Roar Ranger may be a karate king but how brave will he be

when he meets Nico the silverback gorilla?

I'm just amazed because he is a lot bigger than I thought.

They're small, they're fluffy and they're as cute as cute can be.

Today, the meerkat babies must face the dangers of the outside world.

And Diego the tegu is licking his lips over his buffet breakfast.

But will he be a salad or a raw meat man?

We're starting off today's show down at Jungle Kingdom,

where there's been some really exciting news.

A litter of tiny meerkat babies has been born -

not just a few, but six of them.

No-one is more excited than keeper Cat.

When one of your animals has a baby, you've got that temperament

of guarding them and making sure that they are OK.

When you come in every morning, it is a gasp before you count that

you've still got six and that all of them are still there.

In the wild, meerkats usually only have litters of two to four pups,

as they are called.

So six is a big number for Mum to look after.

Mum has been really, really good. She's quite protective,

but she is not overprotective. She will let the mob come in

and just have a little bit of a look around with the babies.

But she's got that perfect kind of rearing skill.

The pups are now five weeks old and at this age in the wild

they would be leaving their den for the first time. So Cat has decided

today is the day for these little ones to leave the house

and visit the great outdoors.

This is the time they would start coming out,

having a forage round, staying quite close to the burrow entrance,

and the time that Mum would go off foraging by herself.

It's going to be a big day for the baby meerkats and for keeper Cat.

They will come out to such a big environment.

I do have a few butterflies in my stomach this morning, I must admit.

In the wild, hawks and eagles would prey on meerkats.

Mum and the mob will keep their eyes peeled when the babies go outside.

Join us later to see how it goes.

# Today I don't feel like doing anything... #

Meerkats, like humans, love sunbathing.

But did you know, also like humans,

they will get out of bed much later on cold and rainy days?

# Nothing at all. #

Who can blame them?

What do you call a rich rabbit?

A million-hare.

-Purr.

-Purr.

What do you call a girl with a frog in her hair?

Lily.

Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw.

What do you call something that's big, grey, beautiful,

and wears glass slippers?

Um... Something grey?

Cinder-elephant.

ALL LAUGH

Last time on Roar, we told the story of Joseph the baby wallaby,

who had been abandoned by his mother. No-one knows why.

But when the keepers found him, alone and cold in Wallaby Wood,

he was close to death.

They took him in to try and save his life.

Since then keepers Polly, and Bev have been looking after him 24/7.

Today, I've been invited up to see him for the very first time.

-So I believe I am in for a real treat today, a baby wallaby.

-Yes.

-I can see your bag moving. Is he in there?

-He's just ready for a feed.

Oh, my goodness, he is so gorgeous.

-So this is Joseph, then?

-Yeah.

-And how's it going?

-It's going OK.

It was really hard to start with because it was just me being mum,

then Bev and I started sharing.

It's a lot easier now that we've split the duties.

-So I'm not as tired.

-Was he up a lot during the night?

For the first couple of days, I was feeding him every two hours

-because he was only having tiny amounts.

-Right.

Then it went to every four hours.

At the moment, Bev and I are trying to extend the night feed

to cut it out totally. So he will have his last feed at 11.30pm

and the next feed at 7.30am the following morning.

If you look at Joseph's face now, it's pure pleasure, isn't it?

He is just there going, "Oh, this is great. I am loving it."

It's like me eating an ice cream, Joseph.

He looks like he is in heaven. How old is he now?

We think he was about four-and-a-half to five months

-when we found him.

-Right.

So I think he's probably about five-and-a-half to six months now.

I heard he likes a lick of a banana.

Yeah, we are starting to try him with solid things.

Tried him with little bits of apple, he likes licking and nibbling those.

-And he starts trying to nibble dandelions and bits of grass.

-Aw!

So he's trying to be a proper big wallaby.

What's going to happen in two months?

Will he go back in with the other wallabies?

We have taken him over so he's met the wallabies.

He had a bit of a nose-to-nose meeting with one of our adults

over there the other day.

We take him over every now and then when we have time.

So he gets used to being in the wood and seeing other wallabies

and trying to learn that he's a wallaby himself, not a person.

I think it will be quite sad when he does finally go on his own.

But he's only in Wallaby Wood so Bev and I can over and visit him

-as much as we like.

-He looks so chilled in there.

While he is so chilled, is it all right if I have a little stroke?

Yeah, that's fine.

It's a first for me, I have never stroked a wallaby, let alone a baby.

And he's so, so soft.

It's a complete pleasure, Polly, thank you so much.

I really look forward to seeing him bouncing around one day.

Good luck to you as well. Thank you.

# All my life I've been good, but now

# I'm thinking, what the hell

# All I want is to mess around

# And I don't really care about

# La-la-la-la-la-la-la. #

Back up with the meerkats, and the mob are ready for the big release.

Up until now, the babies have stayed indoors but today keeper Cat

will be letting them out for the very first time.

Here goes.

There's a short tunnel between their night quarters

and the outside enclosure. At first, the little ones

seem a bit unsure about what to do.

But they soon get brave and follow Mum and the rest of the mob

down the tunnel.

To try and get the best shots,

we've put a tiny camera in the sand outside the tunnel,

but that doesn't last long with the inquisitive meerkats.

Eventually, the little ones pluck up their courage and come outside.

I've just spent a few minutes looking at the baby meerkats,

making sure everything is OK.

They were a bit nervous, actually, coming out of the tunnel at first.

All six were like, "I don't really know this big wide world."

They're doing really, really well. They're exploring their enclosure,

staying really close with the rest of the mob, which is fantastic.

They were a bit spooked by something and they ran for cover,

which is good because that's what you want them to do.

That's what you want them to start learning.

When they hear specific noises, that means, "Dive for cover

"because there is something coming overhead."

It's all gone really well. Mum and the pups are happy,

and Cat can breathe a sigh of relief.

Really, really good feeling, I must admit.

Really, really proud, and fingers crossed

everything is going to be all right when they're out here.

Right, all you gamers,

it's time for the Roar game on the CBBC website.

Type in "wood6" and see what you get. Happy gaming.

Our Roar Ranger today is 11-year-old karate expert...

..Tai.

I'm going to make a really good Roar Ranger

because I am full of energy and I love animals.

We're giving Tai just two clues

to guess what animal he'll be working with today.

Clue number one - a picture of an island.

Clue number two - a yoghurt?!

I can see two palm trees.

Hmm. Could the animal live on the island?

I really don't know, I'm going to have use my second clue.

Oh, no! He's eating the clue!

That wasn't meant to happen. Let's have your guess.

I think it is an animal that lives on an island. Not that I know

if there's any animal in the world that eats yoghurt.

Let's put him out of his misery.

Tai, your animal for the day is...

the gorilla.

Yes! Yes!

Tai is over the moon and what's more, how lucky is he?

He's the first Roar Ranger to work with Nico the silverback gorilla.

Nico is a western lowland gorilla.

In the wild,

they survive in just a few areas of West Africa

in Cameroon and around the Congo River.

They're critically endangered due to poaching and habitat loss.

-Do gorillas really eat yoghurts?

-Tai, you're about to find out

-with gorilla keeper Sarah.

-Hi, I'm Tai.

-Hi Tai, I'm Sarah.

Behind me is Nico's island. You're going to be working with him,

helping me look after him.

It's important you don't get too close to his bars,

because he can squeeze his hand through.

You don't want to be grabbed by him. Don't stare too long

in the eyes because in a gorilla, that's a sign of aggression.

So he doesn't like that very much.

And also just try to keep nice and calm and quiet.

If you stick with me and go where I tell you, everything should be good.

-So shall we head on over?

-Yeah.

To reach Gorilla Island, you have to go by raft

past dangerous hippos and lively sea lions.

It's very exciting.

But from here on in, it's vital that Tai does everything he's told.

So if you follow me, right behind me,

just so that you are nice and safe.

Gorillas are ten times stronger than a fully grown man.

So you don't want to upset Nico.

Standing well back from the bars,

Tai can meet Nico for the first time.

Try not to look into his eyes for too long.

I am just amazed because he is a lot bigger than I thought.

In spite of their size, gorillas are, in fact, shy, quiet animals.

It's only when they feel threatened that they can become aggressive.

-I was telling the truth, here is his yoghurt.

-Oh.

Nice cherry yoghurt to put his medicine in.

At 50, Nico is one of the oldest gorillas in Europe.

So the keepers do everything they can to keep him in tiptop condition.

Are you going to stand up, Nic? Good boy.

It's good to get him to stand up as well, it keeps him nice and active.

I felt a bit nervous,

because I realised how big he was when he stood up.

So far, Tai's had an easy time of it, but now there's work to be done.

And it's dirty work.

Here's your shovel, here's your scraper.

All that yoghurt has done the trick, because there's poo to clean.

I thought I was going to get past not having to work with the poo.

This is Nico's bedroom and luckily he is in a separate cage,

so Tai is quite safe for his poo-picking.

Oh, seen one straightaway. Looks all nuggety and pooey.

Brilliant.

We need to now look to see if there is any wee.

Just lift the bed up and have a look underneath

-and see if you can see any wet patches.

-No.

-All dry?

-All dry.

-OK.

-Yeah, that is dry.

-That's all right, that's nice and dry.

After a thorough search, he's found nothing.

OK, I think you've lucked out today.

I think all there was was that little bit of poo

-and I think the rest of the pen's dry.

-Phew. Lucky.

All they need to do now is make his bed nice and tidy.

As they put the finishing touches to Nico's nest,

it's almost time to let him out.

First, Tai must go outside to spread Nico's food around the island.

That means going into a gorilla's territory.

Down at Animal Adventure, there are plenty of scary animals.

You may be nervous of snakes and spiders,

or even scorpions and cockroaches.

There is one animal here

whose reputation is worse than all of these.

It's Diego the tegu and he could swallow a large rat whole.

There's an animal here at the park with a bigger appetite than me,

which I find very, very hard to believe.

-I am with Emily. Hello, Emily.

-Hello.

I'm guessing that this is the dude who can eat as much as me.

It is, this is Diego. He's a black and white tegu.

What kinds of stuff will he eat, then?

Pretty much anything - fruits, veg, insects, meats,

anything you can think of.

-I am going to have to ask you to prove it, you do realise that?

-OK.

I've got a good appetite and I will eat pretty much anything.

Although, having said that, look at what we have got down here.

We've got some eggs, yum. Mealworms, I am not too keen on those.

Crickets, we've got some beef, we've got turkey mince with some fruit,

which is an unusual concoction.

We've got some liver, fruits and veg.

I have to say, I would never guess

that a reptile would eat all that kind of stuff.

-Where is he from out in the wild?

-These are from Argentina.

-So South America, next to Chile.

-OK.

What kinds of stuff would he get his hands on out there?

He's a ground-dwelling animal so he would eat things...

Mice and rats that were on the floor.

Maybe small birds. He would also try and eat their eggs as well -

other reptile eggs and bird eggs. Anything, really.

-And he's an omnivore like us?

-Yes.

-He'd eat vegetation and fruit?

-Yeah.

-What's the point of today?

Are we going to try him out with some of our delicious dishes?

He eats various different things every day.

He doesn't have all of this.

We just like to see which is his favourite.

-Shall we put him down and see what he goes for first?

-Yeah.

Now, will he have, like, a smell in his tongue?

-Is it something similar to what a snake would have?

-Yeah, exactly,

he will be smelling all the different smells now

with his tongue and seeing which one he's going to go for.

Have tegus got sensitive taste buds?

Because he keeps on tasting the air. It seems like he's being picky.

He has had little wander over here, "No, I don't fancy that."

-Yeah, very sensitive, they are very picky as well.

-Really?

Yeah, if he doesn't like something he will just leave it,

and go and find something else.

He's gone first for this turkey with the fruit.

Are you surprised by that at all?

I am. He doesn't normally eat his fruit. It's quite nice

we've been able to hide it in the mince so he has to eat it.

He's like a naughty kid who tries not to eat his Brussels sprouts.

-Definitely.

-It's a good way to hide it.

What is quite incredible is how he can open up his mouth so much.

Is that so he can catch quite big animals and eat them,

pretty much like a snake?

He could eat really big animals. He could eat a very large rat

or something like that, or a large bird. They open very wide.

Emily, it's been great seeing Diego the tegu enjoying his feast.

I'm getting quite peckish looking at all this.

Do you mind if I pinch an egg?

-No. But you can have some crickets if you like.

-Oh. Thanks.

With nearly 1,500 animals in the park, you'd think we'd have enough.

But, oh, no, we are getting bigger,

and I have been given special access to the latest exhibit.

Follow me, it could get exciting.

-Hi, Jimmy.

-Hello.

-Jimmy, I believe you are the falconer here?

-I am.

So tell me, where am I? What is this new exhibit?

Welcome to Hunters Of The Sky. It's brand new.

-That sounds scary, Hunters Of The Sky.

-Yeah, we've got two more birds.

-Do you want come and meet them?

-You've got one on your arm.

-What kind of bird have you got there?

-He's a falcon.

-A falcon.

Tell me about the latest animals that we have got here.

What we want to do

is give a real close insight

into the amazing world of birds of prey.

So we've got a team of birds from all over the globe,

from Africa right through to really cold arctic regions.

Talk me through them. Who are these fellows?

These two are Chips and Pike. They are American black vultures

who will come out and swoop over people's heads

and get really up close and personal.

What's this one with the big furry hair?

This is Goose. Yes, she has got a bit of an Afro. Bless her.

Johny will be getting jealous.

Johny will be pruning himself before he comes on next time.

She's an African bateleur.

She's a really acrobatic species of eagle. The name, bateleur,

-is French for acrobat.

-We've got a baldy one here.

Bit mean to put a baldy one next to one with an Afro.

These are two hooded vultures. Moriarty. The little guy at the back,

he's only a year old, he's called Mighty Mite.

Is that why he's still got dark hair?

Yeah, he's got a little bit of brown hair.

It will go blonder, like Moriarty at the front, when he gets older.

What else have you got to show me? Aw!

-Very special little bird down here.

-A very, very clean owl.

It is an owl, a barn owl, and we've got a little bit of a special treat.

If you nip round the corner, I'll show you where we're going to fly

-these amazing birds.

-Come on, Jimmy, let's go around the corner.

Wow, this is where you're going to fly the birds?

-Yeah, this is the flying arena.

-Jimmy, what is that?

That is a very beautiful eagle owl with one of my colleagues. He's Paul.

-Can we go over?

-Of course we can, yes.

-That is unbelievable. Is it safe to come over?

-Yes, it is.

She's beautiful, she's called Cavale and she's an African eagle owl.

OWL SCREECHES She's the largest owl in Africa.

She's screaming. What does that mean?

-She's hand-reared so she's actually really friendly.

-Is she?

She's just saying hello. RANI MIMICS SCREECH

Is that saying hello right back? How close can I get?

You can get pretty close. She's just in training.

She's only been here for a few days. She is still very, very new,

still getting used to everything. She will be part of our flying displays.

Cavale is making me slightly jealous of her eyelashes. They are gorgeous.

At the moment, you are training all the animals

-and hopefully you'll be doing these amazing shows?

-Yeah.

-Any chance of a little taster?

-We can give you a bit of a taster.

You can see he is pretty much ready and raring to go. Here we go.

He swoops down silently.

It's a real thrill to get so close to these birds of prey

and to learn about the threats they face in the wild.

So we'll be meeting many more of them during the series.

Most vultures have a poor sense of smell,

which is lucky when you're eating rotting flesh.

But they do have amazing eyesight.

They can spot a dead animal from four miles away.

ALL: Now you know.

Back on Gorilla Island,

and our Roar Ranger Tai has finished all the pooey jobs,

and now here's the fun bit - putting out Nico's scatter feed.

Luckily, Nico is still locked inside.

Spread it on the floor, spread it up on these trees.

-Why is it good to do this?

-It is good enrichment,

keeps his mind active, so it's not all boring and the same every day.

In the wild, gorillas live in groups and spend up to 14 hours each day

looking for their food and feeding.

Nico used to have a partner here, Samba,

but she was quite old too and unfortunately died a few years ago.

Since then, he has been on his own so it is good to keep him busy

by hiding his food all around the island.

-Could we put a bit over there?

-Yeah, yeah.

Can you do it? Stretch.

No, I can't.

With his food spread out all over the island,

Sarah and Tai beat a hasty retreat

so they can let Nico out to search for it.

He's going to come shooting out of here and hopefully

he's going to get some of the food.

What food do you think he's going to go for first?

Either the banana or the lettuce.

There he is.

Why does he come running instead of just walking out casually?

He is running a bit this morning because he has had to wait inside

a bit longer while you and I have been working.

He just gets a little bit grumpy.

He's going for the lettuce, like I predicted.

Why is he black at the front and white all over his back?

Because Nico's what's known as a silverback gorilla.

The fur on the male's back turns a greyish white

when he is fully grown, a bit like some dads.

He's then known as a silverback.

The stronger the silver, the more dominant the male.

Nico is now going for the brush where Tai stuck his favourite fruit.

Oh, he's got the banana. Does he eat the skin as well?

Yeah, Nico eats all bits of the banana.

Sometimes he will eat the banana, then the skin,

sometimes he will eat the banana in the skin.

He's very funny like that, but he does eat all of it.

One thing Tai is unlikely to see is Nico taking a drink.

That's because gorillas rarely drink water,

as they get most of the moisture they need from the food they eat.

-Shall we head back to the mainland?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

Having been the first Roar Ranger ever to set foot on the island,

has Tai enjoyed being a gorilla keeper?

I thought the gorilla was amazing.

Tai has done a really good job today, he's really put some effort into it.

I was a bit sad there was no wee for him to clear up.

It was pretty fun using my fork to fluff up the gorilla's bed.

He was watching us and judging us, but I think he liked it.

I think he's got potential, definitely, to be a good keeper.

Nico's the coolest.

The end of the show is fast approaching,

but before we leave you,

we just have enough time to polish a chicken.

Are you sure about this, Rani?

Katie, is it right we are going to polish chickens today? Tell Johny.

No, they're Polish chickens.

They're Polish chicken! Who does the research on this show?

Sorry about that, I will get rid of this.

These are our chickens.

That's the cockerel, the one with the big fluffy tail,

and the hen is the little one next to him.

You know what? I'm loving the hair.

Yeah, definitely feeling the hair. They've got Afros!

We can see that they look quite different from chickens,

but do they lay eggs like chickens?

-Are they pretty similar?

-They do, they are little chickens.

You get little eggs from them.

I've got to ask, if they lay eggs, can you eat them?

Yeah, they would just be a lot smaller.

You'd want a couple rather than just one.

They seem quite chilled just roaming round,

but is it right they live with kunekune pigs?

They do, they get on pretty well. The chickens have been known

to sit on their backs when the pigs are in the wallow.

-And the kunekune pigs don't mind?

-They don't seem to.

They don't ever react to it, so we're hoping they don't mind.

So, Katie, any little Polish chicks on the way?

-No eggs for another couple of months, probably.

-Couple of months.

Well, luckily for you, you don't have to wait that long

for the next exciting episode of Roar. Here's what's coming up.

Next time on Roar, the sea lions can swim at 40 kilometres per hour,

but we have never filmed them underwater.

So can the Roar team rise to the challenge?

Do you know your snood from your wattle,

your gobble from your gizzard?

I'll be meeting Terry the turkey.

And a huge male tiger has come to the park.

He's over three metres long, weighs over 200 kilograms,

and has canine teeth as long as your finger.

Oh, and his hairdo's not bad either.

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