Episode 5 Roar

Today on Roar, Anne the elephant spent a lifetime

working in the circus before wild animal acts were widely banned.

But now she's come to live in the park, is she in grave danger...

of being spoilt rotten?!

Hello, I'm Rani.

And I'm Johny and welcome to an extra special episode of Roar,

dedicated to this extra special lady standing next to me.

Oh, shucks, Johny! You're not so bad yourself!

I weren't talking about you, Rani. I was talking about Anne the elephant.

I knew that, yeah.

-Let's get on with the show and find out about Anne.

-A bit embarrassing.

Coming up today,

we're going to get up close with the scariest claws in the business.

With that huge claw they'd make short work of you and me.

-They're cute but smelly. We'll be meeting the parping pigs.

-Phoar!

And will the chipmunks go nuts for our buried treats

or are they too busy just looking cute?

We're starting off with Anne the elephant.

No one knows exactly how old she is, but they think she's 58

so Anne is probably the oldest elephant in Europe.

She's also the last circus elephant in Britain.

Anne spent many years performing in the ring.

This footage is from 1979,

but these days most people feel that wild animal acts are no longer

acceptable and this kind of show is widely banned.

But now Anne's been living at Longleat for a few weeks

and she's settling in well with lots of help from keepers

Ryan Hockley and Andy Hayton.

Anne was a working elephant,

performing in the circus all her life.

She's probably seen more of Europe than I have,

but now it's time for Anne to slow down and take it easy

and have a nice retirement, and that's what we want to give her.

It's kind of like an old folk's home now.

Anne is the only elephant in the park, but she's not lonely.

In fact, when she was last with a group of other elephants

she was bullied quite badly, so now she seems perfectly happy

on her own and she is getting plenty of attention here.

In fact, for the keepers it seems that nothing is too much trouble.

For example, they've put in a lot of work

just getting her to take her medicine.

When Anne first got here,

it was such a drama trying to get medications into her.

We've tried jam sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches,

bananas, but we finally found a way!

(WHISPERS) So, now we hide it in her breakfast, but don't tell her!

Anne has arthritis in her back legs which makes walking difficult,

so her medication is a mixture of painkillers

and an oil that helps her joints. It has to be hidden in with...

Sugar beet, a few pounds of pony nuts, eight apples, bananas,

some molasses, a bit of stirring

and hope that she doesn't suss out what you've actually done.

We'll go and give her her breakfast.

There's a good girl.

Move up.

Andy's crafty recipe seems to be working and elephants do eat a lot.

In one day, Anne will get through about 20 kilograms of fruit and veg,

one-and-a-half bales of hay, six branches of tree leaves

and a bin bag of nettles.

That's quite an appetite!

After breakfast it's time to start on Anne's skincare regime.

She's built up layers of dead skin, which must be uncomfortable

and could get infected.

She needs to exfoliate desperately,

but the only effective way to do that is for the keepers

to give her a really good scrub every morning.

And she loves it.

For the keepers to work this closely with almost four tons

of elephant, they have to make sure they're safe

and that she can't accidentally squash them.

And to do that, Anne needs to be temporarily restrained.

It's kind of putting a lead on a dog or a head collar on a pony.

It's not for long periods of time.

Literally half an hour a day and it benefits her - her day in general

and her life in general.

Scrubbing Anne is a big job to do every single day,

but they've got extra help from rookie elephant keeper Ross.

It's really, really hard work with elephants.

They're so big it's like washing a lorry every day.

It's really hard work. Hard on the arms.

Half way round you start getting really tired,

but when you see the results, when she goes out she's clean

and happy, it makes it worth it.

But Anne's beauty treatment doesn't end there

because next she's going to have her nails done.

We'll be back later to see how they do that.

Elephants are big,

but the largest animal in the world is the blue whale.

They're so big you can get an elephant in its mouth!

Now, if I want to get into this tin of beans for my lunch,

I'm going to have to use this can opener,

but how far will an anteater go to get to its grub?

Now, Darren, I can peck away, but I've got to use this.

I can use tools, what about anteaters?

They've got a built-in toolkit. They've got the most amazing...

-Better than a can opener.

-Oh, yeah?

-I promise you.

What are we talking about here?

We're talking about a whopping claw and I'm going to show you

cos just down here... Can you see this thing?

It's homemade, all right? Be kind to us. Yes.

Anteaters, as the name says, they eat ants, but they eat termites.

-In South America, they build these huge mounds, termites.

-Right?

And an anteater can come along with his massive, very powerful,

very sharp claw and they rip opened a termite mound like that,

-so we've made a pretend one here.

-So is this quite tough, then?

Yeah, this is clay. It won't hurt them.

So you're hoping... Argh!

This is your favourite bit!

We'll fill this now, so if I tip some of these in here.

-This is crickets and...

-They're getting away, they're getting away!

-If you just actually just scoop some in? Come on.

-I'll get a mealworm.

We're loading it up because this is a fake termite mound,

-so we've got to put some...

-Can't they eat nicer things?

They've got an amazing sense of smell, Rani,

so we're going to let the female out here in a minute and, hopefully,

she's going to come over, think this is a real termite mound and...

-Boo!

-Eek!

-Sorry.

And, hopefully, she's going to come over and smell it

and she'll start hitting it with that really powerful can opener, her claw.

She'll hook it and she'll take this clay off.

-It's just a traffic cone under there.

-Hang on!

She doesn't need to do that because there's a hole here

and we know anteaters have got long tongues.

-We did that last series.

-Yeah. She might spend a bit of time,

but it just speeds up the process.

OK, termite mound is in position.

Bugs and all are in there, so, Darren,

-we need to get out of here, to be safe?

-Yeah.

All right, well, join us later on in the show and find out

if Moroni is going to destroy the termite mound with her sharp claws.

We're back for another Ask The Keeper, finding out

about one of the park's slower animals, the Sulcata tortoise.

But hoping to be quick off the mark today is their keeper, Corinne.

-Corinne, are you ready?

-Let's give it a go.

-Well, guys, are you feeling ready?

-Yeah!

We're more ready than you are, Corinne.

-OK, who's got the first question?

-What do they eat?

Well, what you can see around you here, things like grass, clover,

plantain, dandelions, but today I've got a bit of a treat for them.

Here we've some melon which they love.

So if I can get each of you guys to take a piece.

-So, we get to feed them, do we?

-Fantastic. Yeah, a bit of a treat.

And if you just pop it very carefully, each of you,

down in front of her and then let go, that's fantastic.

You can see there that she's really keen for that.

-How much does it weigh?

-Johny, I need your help for this one.

If you want to come round here. I'm disturbing her from her meal.

If you just put your hands underneath her shell that side. That's it.

Lift her off the ground just by a couple of inches for me.

There you go. And put her down. Excellent.

I reckon I can answer that. Really heavy!

She's actually weighing in at the moment at about 30 kilograms,

but she's probably going to double in weight.

-What's their shell made out of?

-Basically, a bit like our bones.

Calcium carbonate, but very different in form.

If you think when you're growing, your bones grow longways

to make you taller as you get older.

With these guys they're getting... A bit like a tree.

When you cut through a tree trunk and you get the concentric rings.

Exactly the same.

So as they get bigger, they can go wider and longer.

How many eggs will she lay at once?

A clutch is about 30 eggs and they're like ping pong balls.

But she'll tend to probably lay between 25 and 30 eggs at one time.

Well, Corinne, we've thrown absolutely everything at you

and you've come up trumps. You've answered everything

but you know what time it is now, guys, don't you?

Let's get prepared for this because it's Killer Question time!

Come on.

Guys, right we need to think of a really, really good question.

Ready, steady, go!

Come on! Yeah.

OK, on average the Sulcata tortoise can weigh

anything from between 36 kilograms and 50 kilograms,

but what is the heaviest Sulcata tortoise on record?

I'm going to go with...68.

-68? Final answer?

-Final answer.

I'm going to tell you, Corinne,

that you're way off because it's 105 kilograms.

Wow! That's incredible. I didn't know that.

You were way off. That's incredible, though. That's three of these kids!

That's impressive. We stumped you on that Killer Question, Corinne,

but I think overall you did "eggshell" yourself.

Did you see what I did? Egg shell? Oh, sorry.

Guys, what did you think of Corinne's performance?

I think it was better than my joke anyway. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

-ALL:

-Thumbs up!

-Thumbs up all round.

Excellent! Cheers, guys.

What is a cow's favourite performance?

The Sound of Mooosic!

HE QUACKS

-Where do you go when you get stung by a wasp?

-I don't know.

The Waspital!

Squawk!

Polly want a cracker?

What animal never needs a haircut?

A bald eagle!

THEY LAUGH

Earlier on in the show, I was with Darren

inside the anteater enclosure.

Now, we filled our mock termite mound with lovely jumping crickets

and lovely wriggling mealworms. Thanks for that, Darren!

-We're outside for safety reasons, aren't we?

-They're lovely animals,

but they can be incredibly dangerous with that huge claw.

They'd make short work of you and me.

And you probably run faster so I'd be left on my own!

-We're going to see what they do to the mound?

-Yeah.

You think they'll destroy it?

I think she'll get that claw in, she'll hook away.

We've made it of soft clay which is completely harmless

and some sacking, so I think she's going to wreck it.

I don't think she'll sit and use her tongue.

I think she'll want to get in there to the contents.

Well, speaking of patience, I have none. Let's let Moroni out.

Come on over, then. Right, so this is it. She's just inside here.

Pull that one for me, Rani and pull it all the way towards you.

-Are they fast? Is she going to come running out?

-No, and they've got...

You're so wrong, Darren! Here she comes.

She's sniffing the air now. She knows we've been in there

and she is going to investigate and see where we've been and, hopefully,

get a whiff of those hundreds of bugs we've put in there.

Well, she's coming up now with those claws. Look at that!

-This is it. This is her can opener. Look at that.

-Oh, my goodness!

Can you imagine if you were termite and seeing that coming towards you?

It's only two of them that are long.

And they've got soft pads underneath actually

that take all the impact of the animal.

-Oh, here we go! Has she got it?

-OK, let's go over.

-There's your termite mound.

-Go on, go on! Is that tongue going in?

Oh! Look! There's that sharp claw! And she's up.

Aw! Now, this could be smart

-because you've made your termite mound over a traffic cone.

-Yeah.

-She's trying to rip into it.

-She knows it's under it.

She's going to go right under it, I think!

Ah! Moroni has outsmarted you, I think.

Oh... Oh... Is she going to get to this end where the bugs are?

-I think she might.

-You were saying their eyesight is really poor.

-Yeah.

She's relying on that sense of smell.

I imagine some of the crickets are stuck on the back.

-She's pulling the clay away.

-She's pulled the clay off.

She's got the cricket. She's seen some crickets.

-Watch that tongue coming out now.

-There it is, there it is!

I'm happy because I don't want her to wreck it. I want to use it again

so if she does wreck it we'll have to build a new one.

She's just going to hoover that lot up now.

I love the way you're so positive, "I don't want her to wreck this!"

She doesn't look like she's actually using her tongue.

Is she using her tongue or is she just inhaling?

No, the mouth only opens about two centimetres anyway,

so the tongue is just coming out just a tiny bit.

A quick swirl round, get some sticky bugs and back up and it's gone.

We've talked about tongues and claws. What about teeth?

-Do anteaters have teeth?

-No teeth at all, no.

None in there at all. It's ground up with the mouth parts

and then goes down into the stomach to be digested.

Well, Moroni looks like she's had a fill of bugs,

but what about me, Darren? What about my lunch?

I haven't got anteater claws, but I could use the ring pull! Thank you.

I'm off for dinner!

Back with Anne the elderly elephant,

the keepers are putting a lot of time and energy into making her

comfortable and happy, which isn't surprising

when you understand what happened to Anne before she came here.

Whilst she was still living with the circus, it was discovered

that a man who was hired to look after Anne

had been hitting and kicking her.

But now, here in the park, she's in grave danger of becoming

the most pampered animal in the place!

For instance, she's about to get her nails done.

Of course, the nail file is huge, but the technique is the same.

It's just slow and steady.

Just keep taking a bit off.

It's important to do this

because if toenails become overgrown it can make walking painful.

This is a lot harder for me than it is for Anne.

She's just got to stand here looking cool.

And when they're all neat, it's time to paint them,

though elephants don't really go in for colours.

This is a hoof conditioner.

We paint this on her nails every day

and it will keep her nails nice and supple.

Being an old lady, she kind of deserves a bit of pampering

and looking after, not that I don't think she appreciates it a lot.

Before Anne goes outside, the keepers hide lots of snacks

and treats around her paddock.

Finding them all is like a puzzle to keep Anne's brain busy.

You know the intelligence is there in elephants.

They are clever animals, but it's not until you're with them

and you look into her eyes and see someone looking back.

It's incredible how intelligent they are.

Every day they do something that just impresses you.

In the wild, elephants spend up to 16 hours a day

searching for food, so making Anne work for her dinner

is good exercise for her mind AND her trunk.

That trunk is the most amazing piece of animal kit on the planet.

The things they can do with it. They can pick up tiny little things.

The end of their trunks are like fingertips.

They're so strong. I mean, they could pinch you and all sorts.

Now the keepers are planning to let Anne out for a walk in the park.

But are they taking pampering too far?

After all, no one knows what she might do

and she does weigh almost four tons.

Would you like to have your own park filled with your favourite animals?

Well, you can with the Roar online game on the CBBC website.

But before you check it out, make a note of this...

That's today's cheat code.

You'll see how you use it when you get to the game.

Good luck and don't forget to look after those animals!

It seems like a lot of effort for a snack,

but there's one animal that will dive in head first for a treat,

which is why I'm in the chipmunk enclosure with keeper Lucy.

-Hello, Lucy.

-Hi, there.

-So, what's all this about chipmunks

and diving in there using their heads to eat?

In the wild their food is buried quite deep

so often they'll have to bury and forage for it.

They'll stick their head down and get in with their claws and dig it out.

Are they sticking their head in to have a good smell

or do they think they'll just come up with something in their mouth?

They have a good sense of smell so they use their noses to find it

and then they bury down, snuffle in and kick out the dirt

if they think they've got something.

Then they come up with a peanut or something nice.

Is that what we're hoping to find today?

We're hoping they'll do that for you.

I've brought some peanuts. Do you want me to peel them

-or will they be all right like that?

-They'll be fine like that.

-OK, awesome. So we pop them in here?

-If you want to put that in first,

-just the rest of that.

-Yeah.

-Just finish that off, just on the top.

Like that? So, I've got these nuts now. What shall I do with them?

If you just want to bury them in so make a little hole.

-How deep do we need to do this?

-Some quite near the top and some deep

just so they have a chance.

What I want to know is how do they know

that there are going to be nuts there?

-They use their great sense of smell at first.

-OK.

So, because it's nice and new, the thing, they probably should

be interested in it and, hopefully, they'll sniffle them out.

You know what, Lucy? This is a nice enclosure.

You've got a running stream and you've got the nice wood here.

What's with the smelly socks knocking about?

Well, they do enjoy the socks. They like sleeping in them sometimes

-and you get two or three all in one sock.

-Really?

And they store their food in them.

Tell us about their natural habitat. Where do you find these chipmunks?

Well, these are Siberian chipmunks, so you'd find them in Northern Asia,

Russia, cooler temperaments, and they mainly live in the forests.

They won't live up trees and mostly live on the ground.

They're ground dwelling

and they run up the trees to avoid predators or danger.

We've got one chipmunk that's come to say hello,

-but they've not gone nuts for our nuts, have they?

-No.

It just goes to show, you can't rush a chipmunk.

We'd better leave them in peace.

The strongest creature in the park is one of the smallest.

These leaf cutter ants can carry bits of leaves

and other things that are more than 12 times their own body weight.

That's like Johny carrying a small car!

The keepers have been working hard to get Anne in tip top condition

and now they've got a new idea for her exercise routine.

They're going to take her out for a jog around the park,

but this will only be the second time they've tried it.

We're feeling fairly confident.

We've got a good relationship with her and we can do this with her.

Good girl. Move up. Come on, then.

This is very good exercise, but because she has arthritis

in her back legs, Anne is taking it pretty slowly.

The walk is a great success, but Anne gets tired easily

so she soon heads for home.

The next job for the keepers is to prepare Anne's evening meal

and put it out ready for when she comes in.

They also need to make a bed.

It's a deep layer of fluffy straw and they know just how she likes it.

We've got CCTV recording Anne all the time

so we know how she's doing and she does lie down every evening.

She'll lie down on one side for a couple of hours,

then she gets up and goes and has a wee,

and then she'll come back and she'll lie down on the other side.

So, it's quite nice to know that she uses it.

OK, mind your nose.

All right, good girl. Move up!

Good girl. Move up.

All this pampering makes looking after Anne a lot of work,

but that's not a problem, even for rookie elephant keeper, Ross.

With Anne, it's just a pleasure to be with her every day

and get to work with her and watch her outside playing

and rolling in the sand and things like this.

It's impressive. Sometimes you can have a job where you don't want

to get up and you want to stay at home, but with Anne,

when you're working with elephants, you're up an hour early.

So Anne is probably not just the oldest elephant in Europe,

but also the most loved.

We'll be back to catch up with her later in the series.

It's nearly the end of another show, but, before we leave,

Darren wants us to do a bit of gardening.

-This isn't in our job description!

-Darren, why are we gardening?

This is brilliant. You're doing two jobs. You are gardening

but, more importantly, you're getting some browse for our newest members

-of the Animal Adventure Team.

-Who are they?

-Can we have a look?

-Aw, piggy, piggy!

-How cute!

That's Rufus and Wilbur in there. Kunekune pigs.

-Which is Rufus and which is Wilbur?

-There's Rufus, that's Wilbur.

-Hi, Rufus! Can we just pass it right over?

-It's really good.

-They've got really strong teeth.

-Oh, they've got a tug!

-Can you feel that?

-He's got a tug.

They forage, they get a bit of green food on the ground.

We bring them out for walks but giving them bits of willow,

it's brilliant for them. It's good for their tummies and teeth.

-It's health food for pigs.

-Really?

It seems to be paying off because they look happy.

-How are they getting on?

-They've settled in so well.

The keepers love them. I love pigs and all the visitors love the pigs.

They're really smart creatures.

Keeping them nice and fit and healthy, their minds

and their bodies, it's really important.

And how old are these guys cos they're only little?

They're a few months old now, not even a year old.

They've grown fast. They're not a big pig species

so they'll maybe get a third bigger than this.

And they're both boys. They're just such incredible creatures.

We have to hide food in here and they come out for runs around

and see everybody, but getting their bit of high fibre

in the mornings is very important for them.

They're really munching this down. Do you give them this every day

-or is this like a special treat?

-The fresh willow's a treat today.

If you give them too much of this fresh stuff they can get

a bit of a poorly tummy so what we do is to give them the bark

of the trees and bits of wood to chew to keep their teeth down.

And lots of toys, as well.

I'm just going to ask something.

Is it one of you two or is it Rufus that's just pumped?

Because there's a terrible smell!

Not me! It's got to be Johny, I'm afraid.

She who smelt it dealt it, that's what I say!

Be honest, do they have a bit of wind?

They do get a little bit of wind, yeah.

That's why the running around's important.

In fact, "pop-off pigs" I think we should call them, really.

Well, I think on that note, and on that smell, we should say goodbye.

-What do you think, Johny?

-I think we should, and while we do,

why don't you lot see what's coming upon the next episode of Ph-Roar?

There's going to be a cute baby alert from the friendly marmosets

when we get a first peek at their new babies.

Will the Roar Rangers survive the nettle peril

when they get up close with the world's tallest animal?

And are the ants trying to tell us their favourite TV show?

-Yes!

-Yes, they've done it.

I thought so!

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