Episode 2 Roar

Today on Roar, Malika the lion needs an operation.

So they're sending her to sleep with a tranquiliser dart.

But will she come round afterwards?

Oh, hello and welcome to Roar. I'm Rani and this is Johny.

We're taking five minutes to use this new sock washing facility

they've installed in the park.

-Isn't that right, Johny?

-That's right. This is brilliant.

You can come to work, see all the animals,

and give your feet a good cleaning treat.

-They should have thought of this ages ago.

-Absolutely!

Excuse me, guys. What are you doing?

Darren, we're just washing our socks.

-Get yours off and I'll scrub them for you.

-Sorry, not a hope.

This is the new chipmunks' home.

This is where they live and they actually sleep in the socks.

Yeah, I told you, Rani. Darren, I knew that.

-Let's get on with today's show.

-But you said, "Wash your socks"...

Coming up today. Jess the tapir goes melon mad.

I've never seen a tapir look so happy.

We're going right in with the wolves to put the keeper to the test.

But, who's the most worried? Her, us...

or them?

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 a lot stronger than you and a lot stronger than me.

If there's one new baby everyone at the park wants to see,

it's a lion cub.

They've had dozens in the past, but the last lot was four years ago.

Since then they haven't had a suitable male here.

But now that's about to change.

In a few weeks' time, a young male lion is coming from Germany.

Hopefully, it won't be too long

before there are babies here once more.

MALIKA ROARS

Malika could be one of the first mums.

The only problem is that for the past few years

she's been on a contraceptive device to stop her having babies.

The device is put just below the skin, between her shoulders.

Now it needs to be removed to give Malika the chance to have cubs.

There are two vets here to do the job, Duncan and Chris.

He reckons she's now the perfect age to start a family.

She's just over five, so she could have a few litters of cubs,

which makes this procedure worthwhile with the new male coming. MALIKA ROARS

The first thing they need to do is send Malika to sleep

with a tranquiliser dart. Brian, the keeper in charge of the lions,

has an usual way of firing the dart.

We use a blowpipe as it's more friendly for the animal.

It's a smaller dart. It's a small needle that goes into the muscle.

She doesn't feel a thing.

Brian's worked with the big cats for over thirty years.

He's used the blowpipe hundreds of times to dart lions.

But, right now, there's a problem.

Too close, really.

I can't get to fire somewhere at her back there, she's too tense, as well.

I need her to move so she relaxes a little bit.

Otherwise a dart may bounce straight back out.

MALIKA ROARS

As soon as Malika gets up, Brian takes the shot.

Bull's-eye!

MALIKA YAWNS I think just leave her now.

The anaesthetic drug in the dart will take a few minutes to work.

We're going to leave her alone now, let her go to sleep.

Then come back in and do the job.

But the team will be watching Malika closely because,

as vet Duncan knows, animals can react badly to the anaesthetic drug.

There's always dangers with any anaesthetic.

You're knocking the animal out. There's always a risk.

So, don't go away, cos we'll be back shortly to see what happens

when the vets go right in the lion's den.

MALIKA ROARS

The lion is the only kind of cat with a tuft at the end of its tail.

They use it to signal to each other what kind of mood they're in.

TAIL CLICKS

On one side of the safari park, there's a lake.

In that lake, there's an island.

On the island lives a big silver-backed gorilla.

His name is Nico. At fifty, he's one of the oldest gorillas in the world.

In fact, if he was a human, he'd be getting on for 100 years old.

Nico is the park's longest standing resident.

He came to the island in 1986, and these days his favourite pastimes

are watching great programmes on his own TV,

giving the visitors dirty looks,

and eating.

-'Today, that's where I come in.' Hello, Sarah.

-Hi...

'I'm here to help give him his breakfast.'

I'm really excited. I don't get to meet Nico very often.

-He's a very special... he's right there! Oh, my God!

-Oh, yeah!

-Hello, Nico!

-Still waiting for his breakfast.

He seems really chilled out, but is he a grumpy old man?

Have you got to be careful?

You definitely have to be careful around him.

He seems quite chilled at the moment, but he's still got quickness in him.

Getting too close to the bars, he can grab you.

So you've really got to be careful.

-He just went like this...

-CLAPS HANDS

Is that sign language to say he wants something?

He can see dried fruit in my hand, so he's very keen to get some.

That's incredible! He went like that.

We better give him it. How will we do this?

We can't give it him straight up, can we?

No. He will take your hands off if you try and feed him.

What we will do today is put his fruit inside these brush heads here.

He will have a bit of his breakfast in here today.

We try to make a lot of animals work for their food

to mimic what they do in the wild,

but with Nico being so old, is it better to give him it outright?

No, it's very good to keep them occupied, keep them fit and healthy

and keep them working for food.

Life becomes easy if you put it on a plate for him,

so I think it helps keep him fit and healthy for longer.

We have bananas, oranges and apples. What do we have in there?

We've got some dried fruit here.

We have some dates and some apricots, which he really likes.

He does favour his dry fruits.

-We're making an old man very happy this morning, then?

-We are indeed.

-Or an old gorilla. Shall we take this out?

-I think that's plenty.

-Brilliant. Are we going out here?

-We're going out through the door.

Where are we going to put this, Sarah?

We'll hang it off this tree here.

What a beautiful place for Nico in his old age.

-The perfect old age retirement home.

-We do our best.

All we need to do is pick a link off here.

-Is that done?

-Yep, that's good. Let it go.

So that's in place, Sarah. Can we let him out?

Definitely not while we're out on the island. It's far too dangerous.

-He's not dangerous, is he?

-He's still very strong.

-A lot stronger than you and me.

-OK, then.

So we've got to get somewhere safe and then let him out.

-If we go back inside, we'll watch from the pontoon.

-Sounds like a plan.

Join us later to see what he makes of his breakfast provided by me.

It's time now for Ask The Keeper.

-Ladies, who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

-ALL: Me!

I am, too! They are just over there. There's a whole pack of them.

-Gemma, are we safe?

-We are. We've got Bob keeping them occupied

and as long as we don't make any sudden movements, we should be OK.

That's a relief. If there's one person you'd want between you

and a pack of wolves, it's Bob.

He's deputy head of big cats and has over 30 years' experience.

-Who wants to go first?

-How does the pack communicate?

The pack will communicate by howling. THEY HOWL

If they're having a disagreement, they'll growl at each other.

Snarl at each other, show teeth, that's how they do the hierarchy.

If the lowest one's eating meat and the highest one doesn't want him to,

they'll growl and then snap at them.

-Mostly it's done by howling.

-How fast does the pack run?

The pack can run 55-60km, so quite fast.

-Go on, Soph.

-How long do they live?

-They can live up to 14-16 years.

Any more questions to catch out Gemma and her serious poker face?

That's the first smile she's cracked all day! Go on.

-How small can a newborn pup get?

-Ooh!

A domestic dog, so if you've ever seen a domestic puppy,

they're about that size.

-Really small.

-Are they bald when they're born?

-They're just like a domestic dog.

-How much does an average wolf weigh?

Depending on how old they are, it's probably about 50-65kg.

-Is that what they'd probably weigh?

-The adult ones will, yes.

-Girls, how do you think Serious Gemma's doing?

-Really well.

She is. She knows her stuff!

-Do you think we can catch her out?

-Yes!

All right then, it's time...for the Killer Question.

All right then...

All right then, Gemma, your Killer Question is,

a pack of wolves can howl to deter their predators and even

take on different tones to give the impression the pack is even larger.

But do you know how many tones a wolf can sing in?

THEY HOWL

I'm just going to do a complete guess. I don't know that one.

I'm going to say 12.

-That is right! I can't believe you've guessed right!

-Did my best.

I think you secretly know and you're trying to make us feel better.

-No, it was a complete guess.

-She knows everything.

She certainly is the leader of the pack. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Purely for guessing, thumbs up. Well done, you. She beat us.

What do you call a karate pig?

Pork chops!

Ribbit!

Why do cats never play games in the jungle? There are too many cheetahs.

Ooh-ha-ha-ha-ha!

What do you call a cow with two legs? Lean beef.

Earlier in the show, myself and keeper Sarah

put on a breakfast spread for Nico the gorilla.

We're about to let him out. Are we ready, Sarah?

Here we go.

I love the way he's just come out and he's just stood there.

He looks like an old man. I think he's guarding his fruit.

He's guarding his breakfast from us. Sarah, come over.

Is this what he usually does? He doesn't yam it all down.

Normally he would go over,

but there's been lots of people here today.

He'll get there eventually.

-What type of gorilla is Nico?

-Nico is a western lowland gorilla.

We find them in the Cameroon, Central Africa area.

-It looks like he's going over to our brush.

-Yes.

Look at that!

He's found it.

"They've given me that banana again! They always give me banana!"

There he goes, digging out the dried fruit.

Out in the wild, how would gorillas eat? Would they pick berries?

-Is this mimicking that?

-They do ground feed a lot.

It saves energy. They will go up to bushes and bamboo

and strip the leaves and they'll eat stems of plants as well.

Also, they'll eat bugs as well. They'll pick away at tree bark.

I saw Nico pick up a banana, have a good sniff and throw it down.

-Is he quite picky in his old age?

-Definitely not.

He prefers his favourite things first. He'll eat the rest later.

The day he goes off his food, is the day we need to be concerned,

but he's OK at the moment.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been going to the gym,

but Nico just gets that big on fruit.

There must be something else he eats.

No, he just eats purely fruit and vegetation. How? I do not know.

He's got good genes. I'm going to have to start working out with Nico.

Back at the Lion House, Malika is groggy from the tranquiliser dart.

But before the vet team can go in,

they must make sure she's really out.

That can be hard to tell because the anaesthetic drug makes her

eyes stay open, even after she's fallen asleep.

Shall we check her?

Just going on the reactions. Stuart's given her a stimulus.

The best way to tell is to test her blink reflex.

They gently touch her eyelids.

If she blinks quickly, it's still not safe to go in.

But now, Malika's reactions are getting slower.

I think she's out enough now. We can crack on.

We're just checking her jaw, tongue now, which is an indicator

of how anaesthetised she is and that's very relaxed.

We do have a slight blink, so she's not really deep. But it's a short procedure.

It doesn't take long to find the contraceptive device

that was implanted just below the skin behind her shoulders.

-That's what they're here to remove.

-You can see it moving, look.

So, from there to there.

Everyone needs to work fast.

The longer Malika is under anaesthetic,

the greater the danger that she might have a reaction.

While vet Duncan shaves off a small patch of fur,

vet Chris gets ready to do the surgery.

It's vital that no infection gets into the wound.

This is just a swab that's soaked in antiseptic.

And I'm just cleaning the surgical site, so it's sterile.

When everything's ready, Chris gets started.

I'm just slicing down onto the implant now.

And I'm going as close to her head as I can,

so that she can't lick the wound afterwards.

Popped straight out.

That's gone nice and quickly. We'll just put a quick little stitch in.

There's the implant. And then we're done.

These guys work fast. The operation is almost over.

I'm just putting a little stitch in on top of the skin

just to close the hole.

This dissolves, so we won't have to knock her out again to remove it.

We're just going to try and hide it as best we can,

so that she doesn't aggravate it and none of the other lions do.

And then it's job done.

It's not often the team can get this close to a lion,

so they're taking the opportunity to give her a quick health check.

A nice big vein here, see?

And she seems to be fit and well.

Great. We can give her a reversal agent.

The reversal agent is a drug to wake Malika up.

This can be a worrying time because sometimes,

animals just don't come round.

She's not round yet, so we're not out of the woods.

The next hour, we should be seeing a bit more life, moving her head.

Now they need to watch her closely.

We'll be back later to find out whether or not Malika comes round.

There are a lot of games on the CBBC website, but there's only one

that gives you your own park to look after, the Roar game.

Why not give it a go?

But right now, make a note of this, today's cheat code.

You use it in the game to get new animals, treats or extra features.

Happy gaming!

Roll up! Get your grapes and melons.

Juicy and ripe...except with holes and tapir food inside.

You're not buying it, are you? What do you think of my sales pitch?

-Very good. Quite impressed.

-We're here to give them to the tapir.

-Do you think the tapir will like them?

-She'll love them.

-We've got Jess. Isn't Jess one of your favourite animals?

-She is.

She's an amazing animal. She's really friendly.

We're working with her today. What's all this about?

I've put some tapir food inside. What are we going to do?

We've drilled little holes and we've got little lids.

The plan is Jess is going to roll them about

and bits of food will drop out as they go.

What do I need to do with them?

You can top up the squash with more grapes

and then you need to stick lids on.

Who is Jess in there with? Is she on her own?

At the moment, she's on her own. Her mate, Jethro, died last year.

At the moment, we're trying to look for a new mate, a new fella for her.

-She's on her own at the moment.

-Let's go and keep her company.

-If I pop this on.

-That's great.

-That's that one done.

-And how are we doing this?

-Squidge him in as well.

I didn't look very masculine there! I can't get this pumpkin lid on!

-Are we OK to go in there with Jess?

-Yes, that's fine.

She could have a temper on occasions, but generally she's very good.

-I wouldn't let you in there on your own.

-OK. Such big animals.

There she is, at the top. Hello, lovely! Are you all right?

-Look what we've got!

-I've worked with tapirs before.

They look strange. Where would you find them in the wild?

She's a Brazilian tapir, so out in the Brazilian rainforest,

in South America.

-So she likes the warm weather.

-She does a lot!

-What shall I do?

Just put it just in front of her and hopefully she'll roll it.

-Look!

-The lid fell off! I'm gutted about that!

-Is she still going to go for the melon?

-We'll see.

She's eating the nuts at the moment, but melon is one of her favourites.

She's a big animal. Do you know how much she weighs?

She weighs about 300kg. You couldn't pick her up.

While we give her the melon, there's one more thing I'd like to do.

-That would be to give her a tickle.

-Yes, that's fine.

If you come round to the side. She likes being tickled,

all along the back she likes. And underneath on the tummy.

Oh, this is absolutely awesome!

It's not every day you get to tickle a tapir!

-She's really going for that melon!

-She is. Stand back a bit, Johny.

-She's having a good go at it.

-Hilarious! What was all that about?

She uses the swinging motion and her teeth and jaw to break off bits.

She can't really use her hooves.

Is it OK that she's eating the whole thing?

-Humans wouldn't eat the outside.

-She's good. She eats banana skins.

She eats all sorts of things out in the wild.

Any kind of fruit on the ground, she'd eat whole.

-I've never seen a tapir look so happy.

-Yes, she does enjoy herself!

She might not have a partner at the minute,

but she's got that melon and that's enough for her.

She's loving it!

Like many snakes, royal pythons have a row of heat sensitive pits

along their upper lips. Scientists believe these heat sensors work

like a thermal imaging camera, so the snakes can see warm things,

such as their prey, even in complete darkness.

Cos snakes like their food nice and warm!

Back up at the Lion House, Brian has been checking to see

how Malika's doing after her operation.

She's recovered pretty well. You can hear her grumbling a bit now.

But I'm not sure she's fully recovered enough to let out yet.

Just trying to see if she'd move.

I'm going to get her attention to see what she does. Malika!

Come on, then.

She may still be a little groggy...

..and a bit grumpy, but she's recovering well.

That's a good sign. She's being aggressive to us at the moment,

apart from actually getting up.

I think I'm going to leave her for a bit longer yet

and come back tonight and check her and go from there.

But it's going to take longer than that

before she trusts the keepers again.

She probably won't come up to me for a few days.

She'll stay away cos she's probably worried I'll stick one of those horrible darts in her.

I'm very pleased that she's pretty active, but she's not getting up.

Give her a few more hours and she'll probably be all right.

So, tomorrow Malika should be able to re-join the rest of the pride.

The whole operation has been a complete success,

so now Malika has a good chance of becoming a mum.

And if all goes well,

it won't be long before there are new cubs in the park.

So watch this space.

The family of mara have moved to a new enclosure,

so before we leave you, we'll pop along to see how they're getting on.

-We popped up to see keeper Lucy. Hi, Lucy.

-Hi, there.

This woodchip is quite uneven to walk on, but do the mara like it?

They love it.

They especially like digging and they've got a special play pit.

They love digging there and they often dig big holes round the back

and we fill them in every morning and we have to do it again.

It's a job we do every day.

Why do they dig? Are they burrowing or trying to get out?

They do burrow. In the wild they make burrows to raise their young in.

Sometimes they do try to get out but they don't burrow out.

The little ones try to sneak through the bars. They've got skinny hips.

They slip through the bars and often go to Monkey Temple. There's lots of nice grass.

I can't get used to them. What are these things?

They're cute! They look like a capybara mixed with a guinea pig.

-Yeah, a sort of rabbit. They're just a bit odd.

-A bit of a hare.

-Yeah.

Their closest relative is a guinea pig.

They're part of the rodent family.

They look rather odd and sort of like a rodent and a deer mixed up.

How are they getting on? Are they enjoying their new enclosure?

They're loving it.

They're constantly digging and they'll sunbathe.

-So it's good.

-A great life. I just think they're digging sandpits.

Sounds like they're living the Life of Riley.

-I think we should chill out with them!

-I'm loving your work, Johny.

While we do that, check out what's on the next episode of Roar.

-Budge over.

-Ay!

It's going to be a baby themed show,

with the dramatic story of a newborn deer rescued in the nick of time.

My first impression was that she was actually dead.

I'll be meeting the new baby camels... If the grownups let me!

SHE SCREAMS

It's desperate to be on camera!

And do you remember Kaseem and Sumalee, the baby otters?

-Oh, they're unreal!

-Cute, aren't they?

They are so cute!

We'll find out if they can still turn Johny

into a lump of gooey mush.

Plus, it's their birthday and they're having a party!

TOOT!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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