Episode 33 Roar

On Roar today. Something has spooked the pride of lions.

There's an intruder in their territory.

Will it escape or will it be cat food?

Squeak, squeak.

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

-And I'm Johny.

Sorry, we're just having a quick game of cards, here.

-Yes, I win! Snap. Yes.

-There's no way... You are such a cheater.

Rani, I'm not a cheater. That's a cheetah.

-He's got a point. Let's get on with today's show.

-I still won, though.

There'll be no cheating on today's Roar

because royalty has arrived at Monkey Temple.

Caesar and Tiberius, the emperor tamarins.

But can they pass their exams?

The cheetah have some learning to do too,

-as I'll be helping with the stick feed. Wow!

-You can see their claws.

Look at their claws, how long they are.

And all aboard!

Me and the gang are sailing on the country's most dangerous lake

to quiz a keeper about hippos, sea lions and gorillas.

We're going to get him with this one. Ha-ha-ha!

I'm here in the big cats section of the park and I'm really excited

because keeper Stu has a special delivery for me.

-Hiya, Stu, you all right?

-All right.

-Good to see you.

So, I'm guessing that it's a nice, big cake to thank me

for all my work on Roar.

Well, it could well be, Johny, but I'm not sure myself.

I wonder if it's an early birthday present from my mum.

Right, OK, let's have a look.

Oh, no. Look at... This is Robo-cam. It's the return of Robo-cam.

This time, it's Robo Mouse.

Now, in the past, we've tried it out with the wolves,

who were a little bit wary of it.

Then we tried it out with the lions, who just tore it to bits.

Remember this from the last series of Roar?

They're coming, quick. A bit faster, guys.

They're going to get him. No, no, no, no! Ha! No!

They've got Robo Zebra.

What we going to be doing with Robo Mouse?

I think we're going to see if the cubs are interested.

What do you reckon the cubs are going to do?

Do you reckon they'll be more playful?

I would say they'd be more playful, yeah.

Now, this sounds like fun, but there is a real reason for doing this.

We want to see how the pride hunt and how the cubs behave.

Look at this, they are really interested.

It's like when you see a cat at home

and you've got a little toy and they're crouching

and they're really slow, then they're ready to pounce.

They might go for this. Let me get my steering right.

I can see that the team have been hard at work

in developing Robo-cam. This year, we've got a new camera.

We should get some really good shots of the lion cubs.

Will that be nice for you to see?

It's always nice to see them from a different perspective and angle.

Join us later on in the show to see this exciting game of cat and mouse.

I think they're going to go for this.

Down at Monkey Temple,

the family of ten common marmosets have settled in really well.

They're friendly. Sometimes too friendly.

And there have already been two gorgeous babies born.

The little monkeys spend their day running wild

around their open-top enclosure, playing and feeding.

They think they own the place, which they do. But not for much longer.

Because some new monkeys have just arrived

and Roar has been called up to be the first to meet them.

Their keeper is Jo Hawthorn.

We have two brand new arrivals at Longleat.

They arrived last night, would you like to see them?

OK.

These extraordinary looking monkeys

are a pair of Emperor Tamarins.

Emperor,

very regal name, but rightfully so,

because they have that beautiful moustache.

These are one of my favourites because of their appearance.

I'm really pleased they're here.

They come from the forests of

South America and, in the wild,

would live high up in the treetops

with other species

of tamarins and marmosets.

Many of these small monkeys

look quite similar.

But you'd never mistake an Emperor Tamarin because, well,

just look at that 'tache.

The Emperor Tamarin would stand out to all the others

because they have those lovely whiskers.

And these two have been given some very fitting names.

We have two males, here.

We've decided to call them, or I've decided to call them,

Tiberius and Caesar.

Hence the emperor names.

One of them is two years old and the other is three. Both males.

They're almost fully grown.

These guys will never grow to more than 26cm tall.

The same height as your average domestic cat.

Meow!

In the future, they hope to get females too,

so they can start a breeding programme.

But, for now, since they have just arrived,

they'll be kept in an isolation pen.

They need to get used to the keepers and to make sure

they are fit and healthy, before going out into the Temple.

In their time in isolation, because they won't have the outdoor

world to explore, there'll be lots of enrichment going on.

The main aim is to keep them really active and keep them

really stimulated, while they're doing their isolation period.

They may be in isolation, but that doesn't mean they can relax.

Because before they're allowed outside,

they'll have to pass a series of tests.

And the examiner will be head keeper Darren Beasley.

Will they pass? We'll find out later on.

The one thing you can't miss

when you see an Emperor Tamarind is the moustache.

It's thought they got their name as a joke

because a scientist thought they looked like the German Emperor

Kaiser Wilhelm II, who also had a big 'tache.

ALL: Now you know!

What's a baby's favourite snake?

A rattlesnake.

Ba-baork. Ba-ba-ba-baork baork.

What do you give an elephant that is going to be sick?

Plenty of space.

Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum da-da-da da-da-da.

-What do you get if you cross a sheepdog and a rose?

-I don't know.

What do you get if you cross a sheepdog and a rose?

A collie-flower.

Back up in Lion Country, and Robo Mouse is ready to run for his life.

The whole pride is so interested in what we're up to that

the keepers have decided to let everyone out at once.

That way, the cubs will learn how to hunt by watching.

-I'm ready. Stu, are you ready?

-I'm ready, Johnny.

-But the big question is, are the lions ready?

-Let's hope so.

-Shall we release them?

-Let's do it.

-I can't wait for this. Right, OK.

Six to Laura.

So, if we can see, Robo Mouse is going.

He's going. Oh, look at this, look! They're running straight over.

I'm going to get some speed up.

Ha-ha! Oh, no. Look. No, no!

That was incredible. They came straight over.

And they've ripped Robo Mouse to shreds already.

That didn't last two seconds, did it?

They've ripped the mouse apart, the mouse, sort of, exterior.

Remind us what that was made out of again.

The mouse itself was made out of paper mache.

It's biodegradable. Nothing that's harmful for them.

-So, it's not going to hurt them.

-Yeah.

Amazingly, our mouse-cam has survived but, typically,

it's fallen upside down

and it's only getting good shots of the grass.

And they've just obviously made the kill. They can't eat Robo Mouse.

What does it look like they're doing?

Will they play around with their catch?

They'll play around with it, get the smells off of it.

They'll associate that, obviously, it's not food,

but it still draws their interest.

-Look at this amazing, who's this that we've got here?

-This is Nibilo.

-He's the main man.

-How impressive does he look?

And what's incredible is, they've all come out to do the hunt.

Is this what the male lion would do?

He's just looking around and just watching what's going on.

In the wild, the females are responsible

for all the actual hunting, themselves.

They'll make the kills.

Then they'll bring it back to the pride lands

and the male hoards the meat and they distribute it out between themselves.

I'm just looking at the cubs. Would the cubs, out in the wild,

watch the adults to learn how to hunt?

Yeah, they take a bit of a distance on the main hunt.

But what you would get is, Mum would take them off separately, on her own.

She would take the cubs off and she would train them to hunt.

Stu, what is Nibilo doing with that piece of mouse?

I think he's sitting on the main part of the kill there, isn't he?

He's got the majority of it, over there. He's not letting go of that.

He's just stood there, looks sort of gormless.

What's lovely to see here is

that the little cub's playing with his dad.

Nibilo, this big lion,

has just let the cub take that piece of paper mache, or mouse...

-Yup.

-..off him. Now, would he ever let another lion cub do that?

-Or do they have to be his own?

-Oh, they would be his own, definitely.

There's no way in a million years that another lion cub

would get near him.

Well, Stu, it looks like Robo Mouse lasted all of two seconds.

I think it's definitely been destroyed.

But it's been a great excuse to see the lions hunt together.

-And I think they've enjoyed it.

-I think they have.

Back up at Monkey Temple, Caesar and Tiberius, the two Emperor

Tamarins, have spent the past few days getting used to their new home.

The plan is for them to be able to go outside into the open-top

enclosure and mix with the common marmosets.

But there are no cages or bars outside,

so the monkeys need to be trained to come for food.

Only when the keepers are happy will they be allowed out into the Temple.

And today,

head keeper Darren Beasley is starting their first lesson.

Cos they're new animals, they're new to us,

they've got to get used to the way we do things round here.

They've got to feel comfortable.

And part of that involves them eating from places

and locations that we want them to eat from.

This may look like a normal, wicker basket.

In fact, this is a very, very good monkey-feeding device.

So, the idea is, wherever you put this, the monkeys head towards that.

They'll go, "Look, there's our basket.

"That means nice food, yum, yum, yum." Off they'll go.

I presume it's a bit like

when I was little, I used to hear the ice-cream van.

Ding-a-ling! All those lovely tunes.

The kids would go racing after the ice-cream van.

The monkeys should say, "There's dinner."

Association, and they'll come down and find something nice.

It's a case of getting the Emperor Tamarins used to it,

not scared of it. Know there's some nice food in it.

The basket is loaded with woodchips and mealworms,

so they'll have to do a bit of work to find their food.

But it's the first time they've seen the basket.

Will they be too nervous to come near?

Caesar and Tiberius are not convinced it's safe.

So, they're a little bit more nervous of me than the basket.

I think I'm going to come out.

These guys are amazingly agile.

They weigh only 400g, which is

the same as a can of baked beans.

In the wild, they'd hardly ever come down to the ground,

but jump from branch to branch, deep in the forest,

using their orangey-brown tail for balance.

But whilst they may be great jumpers,

they're still not going for the food.

Time to try a bit of bribery. Blueberries.

Blueberries happen to be a very sweet, juicy, tasty fruit.

All monkeys love them.

For me, this is the cheeseburger and chips of the monkey world.

They'll do just about anything for a bit of sweet fruit.

Caesar seems to be the bravest. Will he be tempted by the blueberries?

And he's done it!

Let's see that again. That was a swift manoeuvre.

And he's got the prize.

And once Caesar's had a go, Tiberius moves in for his blueberry.

Then Caesar goes back for seconds.

That actually went very well. They didn't dive straight into it.

They're naturally very cautious animals.

They've got to be cautious, things eat them in the wild.

I had to resort to emergency blueberries.

It's just a matter of time now.

Once they associate the basket to good things, nothing bad,

we can then move it on.

Then, what we'll do is, we'll start moving the basket around.

So they'll come to the basket, wherever it is.

They've passed the first test.

But will Caesar and Tiberius be brave enough

for their next challenge? We'll be back later to find out.

Now, recently on Roar, we went to South Africa to follow

the story of six young cheetah that were coming to Longleat

to start a new breeding programme for this threatened species.

Cheetah are the world's quickest land animal.

They can accelerate faster than most sports cars,

doing nought to 16 miles an hour in three seconds.

And their top speed is around 70 miles an hour for short distances.

The park's cheetah have arrived safely

and are now in quarantine, up in their new house.

Now, I'm with deputy head of section Bob, and I am in the

quarantine section for the cheetahs, and I believe I have to dip my feet.

-You do.

-Why am I dipping my feet?

My feet are perfectly clean and my shoes are lovely.

Well, because they're in quarantine,

we don't want to bring any diseases into them.

And we don't want to take any out.

That's why we've got our lovely jackets on.

-But the gloves, that's a special treat, isn't it?

-It is.

Because we are going to stick feed the cheetahs.

So, Bob, you said we're going to do a stick feed. What does this mean?

It means that we've got some small chunks of meat, here.

-Right.

-A couple of sticks.

We actually stab the meat and just pass it through to them.

Now, this is not how you normally feed them, is it?

No, this as an easy way of being able to get medication into them.

You hide little tablets, worming tablets, into the chunks of meat.

What we do is get his attention, he'll come over.

-Come on, mate. Oh, look.

-And this is Max, isn't it?

-This is Max.

-He looks so gentle.

-He's ever so gentle.

You're used to looking after the big cats, aren't you?

And these aren't big cats, cheetahs. So, what's the difference?

Apart from the size,

-these are designed for speed more than anything.

-Right.

Because they take on little antelope, gazelles, whatever,

they've got to be able to keep up with them.

I think Max has had a good fill, is that

what he's saying when he's squeaking away to me?

I think he's just saying he wants some more.

We can't give it all to him,

so we'll go and do his little mate here, next door.

-Come on.

-Wow!

-You can see their claws.

Look at their claws, how long they are.

-Look at them!

-Fantastic, isn't it?

-Those claws, are they good climbers?

-Well, they do climb trees.

-Yeah.

-Well, jump up trees.

And they're very good at staying in trees.

Seeing as they run so fast, then they can grip.

It's like having running spikes on. If you're an athlete,

you would have spikes in your shoes to grip the ground.

That's exactly the same with them.

Look at that! And they're light, aren't they? They just seem.

-Oh-ha-ha!

-Good boy.

You know, Bob, when I see Casey reaching up here, he's so big.

-Is he fully grown?

-He is fully grown, yeah.

He's just over two now, so he won't get much bigger.

So, are they at the right age then to now start families?

They could do. You know, we've got three males, three females.

Our hopes are to breed from them.

It's slightly different, with most of our other cats,

you just let them get on with it.

With these, you have to do a blind date sort of thing.

You have to let the male choose the female.

If we're going to get these guys fit and healthy

and ready to breed, I think we'd better hurry up with our feeding.

-What do you think?

-I think we'd better.

It's time for Ask The Keeper,

which is challenging enough at the best of times.

But today, keeper John Reynolds is going to be answering

questions on not one, but the three animals here on the lake.

The hippo, the gorilla and the sea lions.

But he's got to be facing the most fearsome animals of all. This lot!

-John, are you ready?

-I'm ready.

-Are you sure about that?

-I'm definitely ready.

-OK, he seems ready.

We're on the move so that we can see as many animals as possible.

I can hear some sea lions, has anyone got a sea lion question?

Arrf, arrf!

What do sea lions eat?

Ah, well, sea lions generally eat fish.

We give ours mackerel, herring or sprats.

I've got some fish here. This is sprats.

Any of you want to feed the sea lions?

-Yes.

-Yes? There you go.

-Is that why they're making this noise, John?

-Because they're hungry?

-They're trying to get your attention

so you'll feed them.

-Do you just throw it in?

-Just throw it in to them, yeah.

That's cool, innit?

Arrf, arrf, arrf!

-Guys, how cool is that?

-Why do sea lions make that noise?

Why do they, John? Cos it's hurting my ears a little bit.

They are making that noise cos they want to get your attention.

It's not just noises they make to try and get your attention.

Buster knows that if he makes enough noise, people are going to feed him.

Are sea lions aggressive?

Not really, no. I'd say they're generally curious, the sea lions.

It depends on the time of year.

When you go into the breeding season, or just after

the sea lions have given birth, then they're a lot more aggressive,

cos they've got to defend their babies.

The rest of the time, they're just curious and playful.

This is quite nerve-wracking,

cos one of the most fearsome animals at the park,

apart from you lot, is just over there.

We've got a hippo. Has anyone got a hippo question?

Why are hippos so dangerous?

They're so dangerous because they're very, very territorial.

In their territory in Africa, they have to defend their food

and their breeding space.

They have to be very aggressive to make sure that they stay fit

and strong and healthy.

So, they have developed a way of staying healthy,

by being very, very territorial.

How big can a hippo grow to?

These ones we have here, they're about two-and-a-half tonnes.

But some girls can grow to about three tonnes

and male bulls can grow to about four tonnes.

They can get very, very big.

How big can hippos extend their mouths to?

A hippo can actually open its mouth to about 150 degrees.

-So, that's kind of like... That's kind of like that?

-Basically, yes.

Wow, that's pretty scary.

Definitely wouldn't want to get caught between that mouth.

So far, keeper John has done brilliantly.

But we've still got Nico the gorilla to see. And the killer question.

So, don't go away.

OK, here's the cheat code you've been waiting for.

Type that in and see what it gives you.

New treats, animals or enclosures.

You'll find the brilliant Roar game on the CBBC website. Happy gaming.

We're going back up to Monkey Temple now,

cos it's exam time for Caesar and Tiberius.

If they're going to be released into the open-topped enclosure,

the keepers need to know they'll be safe and won't escape.

The best way to do that is to make sure

they always come to the food basket.

They've passed the first test with flying colours.

But the training is about to go up a level.

The next stage is that I now need to move the basket so that

the monkeys actually come towards us and wherever we put the basket.

And the whole target is that

when we're eventually outside, I can move this basket around and

they'll follow it and that's where they'll go to feed and feel safe.

Darren is fixing the basket in the room next door.

For Caesar and Tiberius, it's unknown territory.

But if they're brave enough to go in and feed from the basket, they'll

have passed their second test

and be almost ready to go outside. So, it's fingers crossed.

Caesar's through. Will Tiberius follow?

Caesar seems to be the braver, or maybe the greedier, of the two.

But will he go for the basket and pass the test?

-Caesar has aced it.

-Yes.

And, as ever, Tiberius isn't far behind.

That went really well.

You've got to have patience in this game.

Because these are fragile, tiny little monkeys,

so they are nervous.

Marks out of ten for Emperor Tamarins, they've got to get

a good eight and a half or nine for that, I think.

Well worth it.

It shouldn't be long before these two are ready to go outside.

But for now, they're just enjoying their fruity rewards.

Me and the gang are out on Half Mile Lake,

quizzing keeper John about the animals.

And we've still got one more to see.

Look at this. Incredible. Nico the gorilla is out there.

You're looking at one of the oldest gorillas in Europe.

Have we got any questions for John?

Can a gorilla swim?

No, gorillas can't naturally swim.

If you ever find yourself in the wild

being chased by a gorilla, find some water and you'll escape.

They can paddle, they can even wade. You'd have to make sure that

it was deep enough that they wouldn't want to risk it.

How big can gorillas grow to?

Nico, over there,

he is about as a big as a western lowland would probably get.

He's just under two metres tall.

And he probably weighs something just under 30 stone, which is about 320kg.

What do you reckon? He's done really well, hasn't he?

He's answered all our questions. But we have got one more question left.

And that one is the killer question!

Come on, guys. Gather around.

Right, we need to ask a question.

We're going to get him with this one. Ha-ha-ha!

So, I'm thinking...

-So, is that a good killer question?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

The killer question, we've got it? Put it there, guys. Oh, yeah!

-Right, we're ready, John. But are you?

-I'm ready.

OK, well, here it is.

How many visitors came on this boat during the whole of last year?

-How many people came on the boat over the whole of last year?

-Yes.

-It was 427,000.

-You're saying 427,000.

-Was that just a wild guess?

-That was a rough average, I'd say.

Ha-ha! That is incredible, because the answer is actually 433,000.

You were 6,000 out, that's absolutely incredible!

I'm suspecting that you're a bit of a genius. That's incredible.

What do you reckon, guys, a thumbs up or a thumbs down for John?

Got to be thumbs up, all round. You did amazing.

Elands are Africa's

biggest antelope.

A large bull can weigh

nearly 1,000 kilos

and stand 1.8m tall at the shoulder.

But it's not the grown-ups we've come to see today,

it's the five babies that have been born this year.

-We're here with their keeper Dan. How they getting on?

-Very good.

They've been out for quite a while now,

but we're really happy with how they're getting on.

-Are they there with Mum?

-They are, yeah. All our group is out.

There's mums, babies, dads, and they're all there together.

Are little ones still dependant on Mum, are they still suckling?

They are still suckling, but they're also grazing and stuff.

-So, they're fairly independent.

-You can see them all there.

They're in the middle, why is that then,

that the little ones are in the middle?

They tend to hang around in the middle cos

they've got the bigger ones around them

so it's a bit of protection, really.

Protection against predators. Have we got any names yet?

They've all got names. We're on the letter L this year.

We have a different letter for every year, cos it's easy to remember

when they were born.

And we've got Lance, Lionel, Lorenzo, Louis G and Lamara.

Congratulations. Looks like they've settled in nicely

and they're off to go and play happy families.

Great stuff. Alas, it's time for us to go.

Before you leave us,

-why don't you check out what's on the next episode of Roar?

-Bye.

Next time on Roar, there's trouble up in Wolf Wood.

Frieda the she-wolf is dangerously ill.

The keepers and the vet will do everything they can to help her.

But will it be enough?

Whippet, the tiny boobok owl, is learning how to fly.

And I'll be there for his very first attempt.

And Roar ranger Ethan is a keen magician,

so the sea lions show him a trick or two.

How to make fish disappear.

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