0:00:00 > 0:00:07I was lucky enough to spend some magical moment at Bristol Zoo.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11Incredibly, Brazil is celebrating its 175th birthday this year. -- of
0:00:11 > 0:00:16her zeal. On this programme, we will take you of a whistle-stop
0:00:16 > 0:00:26tour. From Alfred the gorilla, who became a wartime symbol of
0:00:26 > 0:00:27
0:00:27 > 0:00:34resistance. He had a huge presence. A wonderful presence. To Dotty the
0:00:35 > 0:00:39Lemur, who captured the heart of a film star. I have a species of
0:00:40 > 0:00:49lemur named after me. And we will explore how changing attitudes have
0:00:50 > 0:00:50
0:00:50 > 0:01:34Apology for the loss of subtitles for 44 seconds
0:01:34 > 0:01:38shifted the focus of the suit from Bristol Zoological Gardens is the
0:01:39 > 0:01:435th oldest zoo in the world. The original list of shareholders
0:01:43 > 0:01:50reveals the important local shareholders. The most significant
0:01:50 > 0:01:57Bristow the end of all, Isambard Kingdom Brunell. Bristol Zoo really
0:01:58 > 0:02:02aimed itself and providing the Zoological Society for the rich and
0:02:02 > 0:02:06educated middle classes of Bristol. In the early days, they did manage
0:02:06 > 0:02:16to obtain some exotic creatures. But an elephant was really
0:02:16 > 0:02:17
0:02:17 > 0:02:24something. When Zebi was presented by V Maharajah of Mysore, that must
0:02:24 > 0:02:27have been a massive thing for this -- for the zoo. And yet the zoo was
0:02:27 > 0:02:35suffering financially so it began to rely heavily on added
0:02:35 > 0:02:42attractions. These would involve rolling, ice skating, things that
0:02:42 > 0:02:47may seem as if they fit with in our gardens. This zoo was struggling to
0:02:47 > 0:02:53fit with its original ethos. And they visit a number rose, it still
0:02:53 > 0:03:01failed to pay off its debts so it put on shows until the end of the
0:03:01 > 0:03:061920s. During that time, 16-year- old Reginald Greed started work
0:03:06 > 0:03:16there as an office boy. My father always used to say it was lovely to
0:03:16 > 0:03:21
0:03:21 > 0:03:24participate in the fairgrounds and Despite the lovely shows, the
0:03:24 > 0:03:32gardens at that time were still a place for the middle classes to
0:03:32 > 0:03:35visit. This was only a popular show you -- zoo for working-class people
0:03:35 > 0:03:41and there weren't even bank holidays and people worked six days
0:03:41 > 0:03:45a week, so that is part of the reason the zoo struggled. So one of
0:03:45 > 0:03:51the zoo's leading committee members, Richard Clarke, declared it must go
0:03:51 > 0:03:56back to its roots and concentrate on being a zoo. Work began on a new
0:03:56 > 0:04:01aquarium, which opened in 1927. And with the extra admission charge, it
0:04:01 > 0:04:08quickly paid for itself and brought in a much needed funds. The next
0:04:09 > 0:04:12major exhibit that Clarke came up with was at the Monkey Temple.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18Embracing a zoo her theory at the time that animals should see more
0:04:18 > 0:04:22outdoors. One little girl who loved the Monkey Temple was Margaret
0:04:22 > 0:04:26Woodland. We used to sit on the wall and they were running down.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29They could not get out because the walls were very high, but they
0:04:29 > 0:04:35would be carrying their babies and they used to get up to some real
0:04:36 > 0:04:39tricks. But maybe there would be a way over that high wall. Don Packam,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43who eventually became the head keeper, recalls a time when a
0:04:43 > 0:04:48prankster put a ladder in the Monkey Temple and all the
0:04:48 > 0:04:58inhabitants escaped. There had been 36 when I escapes -- when I left
0:04:58 > 0:04:58
0:04:58 > 0:05:02the previous night. There was nothing there. An elderly lady in
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Clifton, who used to take a bath every Sunday afternoon, was lying
0:05:07 > 0:05:10in the bath enjoying herself and looked up at the cupboard, heard a
0:05:10 > 0:05:14movement and then a monkey looked over the top of the cupboard
0:05:14 > 0:05:19because it had got into the bathroom. I was told that she never
0:05:19 > 0:05:27took a bath on a Sunday afternoon after that! It was a horrifying
0:05:27 > 0:05:32experience for her. In 1930, the zoo's most famous resident, Alfred,
0:05:32 > 0:05:38arrived. He was immediately a staff. The only go relay in Europe at the
0:05:38 > 0:05:43time. In those days, people were just fascinated. Because you were
0:05:43 > 0:05:49only eight feet away, you could smell it. Male gorillas have a
0:05:49 > 0:05:52wonderful smile about them. He had the most beautiful brown eyes. You
0:05:52 > 0:05:57went round to the gates and the first thing you saw was the gorilla
0:05:57 > 0:06:04and it just had a huge presence. A Alfred was, by all accounts, quite
0:06:04 > 0:06:11a character. My mum used to prepare her best hat and when we got to the
0:06:11 > 0:06:16zoo, we had to go and visit Alfred. She decided to get a little bit
0:06:16 > 0:06:23closer and he stood up and did an enormous wee all over her hat. It
0:06:23 > 0:06:29was dripping off her hat! She went absolutely mad. She grabbed me by
0:06:29 > 0:06:36the hands and said, ", on, I have had enough of him". And then we
0:06:36 > 0:06:46walked away. Towards the end of the 1930s, with 250 animal species, the
0:06:46 > 0:06:46
0:06:46 > 0:06:51zoo was still gaining popularity. When Hitler started to bomb our
0:06:51 > 0:06:59major cities, Bristol and Bristol's restarted to brace themselves. Dark
0:06:59 > 0:07:07times lay ahead. -- of Bristol Zoo started to brace themselves. Alfred
0:07:07 > 0:07:17is our mascot. Mass got? I will give you mascot! Where is my
0:07:17 > 0:07:24
0:07:24 > 0:07:29At the onset of war, the zoo struggled to find adequate food for
0:07:29 > 0:07:35many of its animals. Fish, for instance, were in very short supply.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41Initially, in desperation, at the zoo cried horsemeat dipped in cod
0:07:41 > 0:07:45liver oil, which, unfortunately he had the effect of killing the seals,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51sea-lions and penguins quite rapidly. As the bombs dropped in
0:07:51 > 0:07:55the centre of Bristol, the zoo was pretty much unscathed. At the
0:07:55 > 0:08:00Bristol Aeroplane Company was not so lucky. Its site in Feltham was
0:08:00 > 0:08:06severely damaged. The drawing office staff work relocated to the
0:08:06 > 0:08:12zoo pavilion. This man remembers some happy hours spent in the
0:08:12 > 0:08:18gardens, especially with Rosie the elephant. People knew about Rosie.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23The cigarette smokers would light up a cigarette and blow it right
0:08:23 > 0:08:29into her trunk. She would take it and then step back and then she
0:08:29 > 0:08:38would trample on her front feet and swing her trunk and blow it up in
0:08:38 > 0:08:43the air. I was actually a pipe smoker. Rosie took her up drunk on
0:08:43 > 0:08:48the rail and I blew into led to an she stood back and started swinging
0:08:48 > 0:08:54her trunk. And then up came her trunk and it went straight from her
0:08:55 > 0:09:01face and she blew it all out. Plus a little bit of saliva! She had her
0:09:01 > 0:09:08revenge! She was so beautiful. She was absolutely lovely and to climb
0:09:08 > 0:09:15up and get into that the seat and then, suddenly, you work rolling
0:09:15 > 0:09:23along. Even now, at my age, I still remember it. Alfred, meanwhile,
0:09:23 > 0:09:29became world famous. A symbol of resistance. But sadly, the after-
0:09:29 > 0:09:32effects of war would haste and Alfred's death. He succumbed to
0:09:32 > 0:09:41tuberculosis in 1948 - it is thought through in -- eating
0:09:41 > 0:09:44infected meat. I learned of his death on the front page of the
0:09:44 > 0:09:53newspaper and I ran all the way down to the zoo and could not
0:09:53 > 0:09:57believe it. A lot of children at wed that night. Rosie kept going,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02but one hot summer's a day, disaster was to strike. She
0:10:02 > 0:10:07collapsed, with 10 children on her back. That was quite an occasion
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and from that time, 1947, they reduced the number of rides because
0:10:11 > 0:10:15they thought it was too many. staff were beginning to rethink
0:10:15 > 0:10:19some of their practices, but Bristol was still very much a
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Victorian zoo. Many of the enclosures were still pitifully
0:10:24 > 0:10:30small and bare. The big cat and closure meant an enclosure for big
0:10:30 > 0:10:35cats. They were appalling. The animal could not run aground. They
0:10:35 > 0:10:40were 20 ft long by 15 feet. All I can think his embarrassment that
0:10:40 > 0:10:44the zoo ever kept animals like that. But after the war, people needed an
0:10:44 > 0:10:48escape from their own tough lives, so visible went into the black for
0:10:48 > 0:10:56the first time and visitors were no longer confined to the money's
0:10:56 > 0:11:01classes. -- the zoo went into the black. What was expensive becomes
0:11:01 > 0:11:06less expensive over the decades. We see the emancipation of the working
0:11:06 > 0:11:13classes through Bristol Zoo. didn't go away on holidays, so a
0:11:13 > 0:11:18visit to the zoo was very special. There was a big build-up for it. It
0:11:18 > 0:11:23was absolutely beautiful. A another youngster who could not wait to get
0:11:23 > 0:11:28to the zoo was one of Jeffrey's classmates, a lively young chap
0:11:28 > 0:11:33named John. I used to love going to the zoo. When I was at Lifton, we
0:11:33 > 0:11:39would walk out of the college, cross the road into the zoo, and
0:11:39 > 0:11:46one of the boys in my house's father ran the zoo. I used to love
0:11:46 > 0:11:51the little lemur. As a result of that, I did a programme about
0:11:51 > 0:11:57lemurs and I now have a lemur named after me, with the name of Avacki
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Cleesei, or Cleese's or woolly lemur. The 60s were a time of
0:12:02 > 0:12:09rebirth for Bristol Zoo. Fame was on the horizon with television
0:12:09 > 0:12:13programmes like The Politics Show, and weird and wonderful animals
0:12:13 > 0:12:18like this okapi were imported into the zoo. You could say it was at
0:12:18 > 0:12:28the height of its popularity. are not paying the enough for this,
0:12:28 > 0:12:29
0:12:29 > 0:12:35sweetie! Where is my agent? There is nothing like Bristol. It is all
0:12:35 > 0:12:40Bristol fashion. Even before The Politics Show, V zoo and Geoffrey's
0:12:40 > 0:12:45father had already achieved fame with the BBC series of News From
0:12:45 > 0:12:51The Zoos. The cameras were there to capture some very special moment. -
0:12:51 > 0:12:55- even before Animal Magic. Many viewers will be wanting to see how
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Sebastiaan the polar bear has been getting on. A Sebastien was special
0:12:59 > 0:13:04- not just because he was only the second polar bear to be born in
0:13:04 > 0:13:09this country, but also because of the pioneering breeding methods.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11got the idea of having a heated clubbing dens for the polar bear.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16Somebody has measured the temperature within it one of the
0:13:16 > 0:13:20clubbing dens in the wild, and it is quite high. By providing be
0:13:20 > 0:13:28tutor, that was the very first year but we successfully bred polar
0:13:28 > 0:13:32bears. It was post-war baby boom of time - and not just for humans.
0:13:32 > 0:13:39Roger the rhinoceros was the first black rhinoceros to be born in this
0:13:39 > 0:13:42country. And then there were baby giraffes, lion cubs, and not to
0:13:42 > 0:13:51mention new editions literally shipped in from a foreign climes.
0:13:51 > 0:13:57It was a very competitive time. We had bred penguins and rhinos, but
0:13:57 > 0:14:03the okapi was special. Only the very, very big zoos had it. You had
0:14:03 > 0:14:11to be a lead to get it. You had to be highly thought of. -- had to be
0:14:11 > 0:14:20eaten. We had to be installed a camera within the okapi Enclosure.
0:14:20 > 0:14:27We could make sure that everything And everything was well, she was
0:14:27 > 0:14:34fine and we had no problems at all. Despite its small size, Bristol Zoo
0:14:34 > 0:14:38really was leading the field. It opened the world's first nocturnal
0:14:38 > 0:14:46house, where day and night were reversed. In the nocturnal house
0:14:46 > 0:14:49But this was also the end of one era. After Rosie died in 1961 there
0:14:49 > 0:14:56were no more elephant rides. But she was replaced by Wendy and
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Christina - two very big characters! We used to take them
0:15:00 > 0:15:03out every day for a walk. We would take them, usually sticking to more
0:15:03 > 0:15:07less the same route. People got used to them coming round and quite
0:15:07 > 0:15:11often they would pop out with a bit of a titbit for them. As a result
0:15:11 > 0:15:17of that, if the people happened to be away or did not come out the
0:15:17 > 0:15:20elephants were difficult to move from that particular house. Bristol
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Zoo's current senior curator of animals John Partridge was later to
0:15:23 > 0:15:26work with the two elephants. He remembers Christina being just a
0:15:26 > 0:15:29little bit naughty. She was very good at recognising people she did
0:15:29 > 0:15:32not like. There was one particular contractor who would come into the
0:15:32 > 0:15:36zoo from time to time. We never discovered what he did, or maybe he
0:15:36 > 0:15:40never did anything, but she did not like him. She would pick him out
0:15:40 > 0:15:49from the crowd, she would find a stone and she would throw stones at
0:15:49 > 0:15:54him. Invariably she would hit him Christina and Wendy became the
0:15:54 > 0:16:02stars of the brand new children's show Animal Magic. It burst onto TV
0:16:02 > 0:16:07I grew up watching Animal Magic, watching Johnny Morris, utterly my
0:16:07 > 0:16:15era. Simon Garrett, now head of learning, was inspired by Johnny
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Morris. What I like is a grape perhaps. A grape perhaps? Yeah, a
0:16:21 > 0:16:24perhaps grape. I remember walking past one of the lake islands one
0:16:24 > 0:16:28day and there's Dotty the ring- tailed lemur. I stopped dead in my
0:16:28 > 0:16:35tracks and I suddenly thought, I'm working in the place that I saw so
0:16:35 > 0:16:38much of growing up through Animal Magic. Then I'm a little old man of
0:16:39 > 0:16:42the woods, ain't I? Yes, Henry, a little old man of the woods but
0:16:42 > 0:16:46there's no need to behave so much like one all of the time. All right
0:16:46 > 0:16:51then, I'll be a little old keeper of the woods!
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Most people thought that Johnny was actually a keeper in Bristol Zoo.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58And indeed he wore a Bristol Zoo uniform. I thought he was the
0:16:58 > 0:17:01keeper, wasn't he? As a kid you just thought he was the keeper,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04yeah. Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park was a huge fanand maybe
0:17:04 > 0:17:10it showed in his oscar-winning film Creature Comforts. Well looked
0:17:10 > 0:17:13after, very well looked after. I am not worried about anything. The way
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Johnny Morris did those funny voices for the animals, I guess
0:17:16 > 0:17:22that was the start of it, really. I was probably unconsciously very
0:17:22 > 0:17:26inspired by that, really. It really put Bristol Zoo on the map because
0:17:26 > 0:17:30he would often say that he was going to Bristol Zoo. I didn't know
0:17:30 > 0:17:35where Bristol was but I always wanted to go there. I always
0:17:35 > 0:17:42thought it must be a really special zoo. Do you mind if I come and sit
0:17:42 > 0:17:47And it was special. The Animal Magic cameras were there just after
0:17:48 > 0:17:50the birth of the first baby gorilla born in a British zoo. Don't you
0:17:50 > 0:17:53think you'd better support your baby's head, Delilah?
0:17:53 > 0:17:58Look, if you're so blinking clever you look after him, go on.
0:17:58 > 0:18:08alright, but only for a moment, Delilah. I say, he's getting quite
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Boosted by being on the nations TV screens every week, Bristol Zoo was
0:18:12 > 0:18:21more popular than ever before. And then the Severn Bridge opened in
0:18:21 > 0:18:261967 bringing coach loads of I can remember the day when we had
0:18:26 > 0:18:36over 35,000 people there. That is more than the zoo gets in a month
0:18:36 > 0:18:38
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Zoos really were going through a bit of a learning curve in the
0:18:42 > 0:18:441970s. The public were not content with just looking at the animals,
0:18:44 > 0:18:51they wanted to know about conservation, endangered species,
0:18:51 > 0:18:57like these Livingstone fruit bats here. The zoos had to take public
0:18:57 > 0:19:07opinion on board but it was not an easy ride. You can say that again!
0:19:07 > 0:19:14
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Look, can I get down now? My wings I thought, you know, some of the
0:19:17 > 0:19:24monkeys, they were, they looked miserable because they were in the
0:19:24 > 0:19:27cage. And basically that was it. They were on show and they were fed
0:19:27 > 0:19:33well, they were clean, but it was not really their basic natural
0:19:33 > 0:19:38environments. It was an old Victorian zoo, it was the 5th and
0:19:38 > 0:19:42still is the 5th oldest zoo in the world. Oldest zoo outside a capital
0:19:42 > 0:19:48city. It was beginning to show still those old Victorian bars and
0:19:48 > 0:19:53Big changes were ahead. In 1974 when Reg Greed died his son
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Geoffrey took over as director of the zoo. He had ideas thinking to
0:19:56 > 0:20:00the future that there would no longer be in Clifton, many of the
0:20:00 > 0:20:03larger animals that we had. That was difficult at that time to
0:20:04 > 0:20:07comprehend that. Because the large animals were the zoo, they were so
0:20:07 > 0:20:13much part of the zoo. And Geoffrey Greed embarked on a huge revamp of
0:20:13 > 0:20:17the zoo with a building programme which would continue over 30 years.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21He actually said, a chunk of the zoo is going to be a building site
0:20:21 > 0:20:25but when it is finished it is going to be good, it is going to be very
0:20:25 > 0:20:28good. He had the courage and the vision to do that.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33But the changes weren't fast enough for some and in the mid-eighties an
0:20:33 > 0:20:36anti-zoo movement started grabbing headlines. Bristol Zoo came under
0:20:36 > 0:20:42fire when it rescued a polar bear with mental health problems from a
0:20:42 > 0:20:48Unfortunately, when people saw the bear continually pacing, Bristol
0:20:48 > 0:20:51zoo got the blame for his condition. It was so disheartening to...mainly
0:20:51 > 0:20:54to the keepers who looked after the animal, to all the staff there,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58because we had worked so hard on giving options to the bear, giving
0:20:58 > 0:21:05something to take his mind off the pacing and over a long period of
0:21:05 > 0:21:07time, the bear was getting better and better. While the zoo hadn't
0:21:07 > 0:21:12caused the bear's mental condition, the controversy did raise questions
0:21:12 > 0:21:17about their enclosure. I did directly reference that polar bear
0:21:18 > 0:21:22pit at the time, that compound. It was a horrible bar there of dirty
0:21:23 > 0:21:28water. And a painted concrete environment that in a token way
0:21:28 > 0:21:36represented the snow, I guess. It probably wasn't that convincing to
0:21:36 > 0:21:40the polar bears. My favourite food, I am afraid to say, is steak.
0:21:40 > 0:21:48you like lions as well, then? Do you like steaks and chips with
0:21:48 > 0:21:54lions with it? Not with lions, Andrew, I do not like lion steak, I
0:21:54 > 0:21:57prefer the ordinary steak. I got quite a passionate response from
0:21:57 > 0:22:00animal rights people. People coming up to me and shaking
0:22:00 > 0:22:02my hand in America, saying thank you, thank you for what you're
0:22:02 > 0:22:06doing for animals everywhere. You're stuck in for some reason,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09like I am stuck in today. Then yes, you get bored and fed up looking at
0:22:09 > 0:22:13the same four walls. It wasn't trying to change anything,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16really. I was purely trying to entertain.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21When the polar bears eventually died, there would be no more bears
0:22:21 > 0:22:23in Clifton. We were not really afraid to
0:22:23 > 0:22:27recognise the problem, acknowledge it and do something positive to
0:22:27 > 0:22:32make a change. As the new millennium dawned,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Bristol Zoo had to ensure its survival into the new century. It
0:22:36 > 0:22:39started building new natural enclosures for its animals. Like
0:22:39 > 0:22:41this seal and penguin enclosure here. Not only that, they moved
0:22:41 > 0:22:48into ground-breaking projects, veterinary surgery, breeding and
0:22:48 > 0:22:58conservation work out there in the wild.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Yes, Terry, it's lovely here. Give With this kind of enclosure the
0:23:07 > 0:23:09public can get up close and personal with the animals.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Bristol's current director, Bryan Carroll, it's definitely the way
0:23:14 > 0:23:17forward. Rather than having the visitors in
0:23:18 > 0:23:25a way outside of the enclosure looking in, we are trying more and
0:23:25 > 0:23:30more to immerse the visitor in the environment of the animal.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32And more importantly, it's better for the animals. Something the
0:23:32 > 0:23:42zoo's very first on-site vet, Sharon Redrobe, heartily approved
0:23:42 > 0:23:43
0:23:43 > 0:23:46You cannot say you are about conservation and then keep animals
0:23:46 > 0:23:49in matchboxes. That is not what Bristol does. That is what they
0:23:49 > 0:23:53have been doing for the last few years, keeping species that can be
0:23:53 > 0:23:56kept on a smaller site very well. Sticking to those ideals, when
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Wendy the elephant had to be put down it heralded the end of keeping
0:24:01 > 0:24:05most big species here. The decision had been made for some time that
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Wendy would be the last elephant to be held in Clifton Gardens. And the
0:24:08 > 0:24:12right decision I am sure but never the less quite a difficult one and
0:24:12 > 0:24:19the end of another iconic species that no more will be seen in
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Clifton. I was determind to be with her right at the end and I was. I
0:24:23 > 0:24:32am a very quiet and private person, so I did what I felt I had to do
0:24:32 > 0:24:39The few larger species Bristol now holds are there because they're
0:24:39 > 0:24:49Like these recently born Asian lions, only around 400 left in the
0:24:49 > 0:24:50
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And then, of course, there's the gorillas. From Alfred's day onwards,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56the zoo's been great at keeping and breeding them. When one of the
0:24:56 > 0:24:59females, Romina, was refusing to mate, the team felt that cateracts
0:24:59 > 0:25:04in her eyes could be to blame. had a sneaky suspicion that maybe
0:25:04 > 0:25:07the not mating was partly because she could not see who was there.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13And so Bristol scored another world first as Romina underwent surgery
0:25:13 > 0:25:19to repair her eyesight. The results were outstanding. Romina had been
0:25:19 > 0:25:24bullied by another gorilla - but not now. Salome had had a habit of
0:25:24 > 0:25:28throwing fruit at her head. From a distance. And of course Romina did
0:25:28 > 0:25:31not know where the fruit was coming from. The minute we opened the gate
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and Romina walked through because she could see quite clearly for the
0:25:34 > 0:25:37first time in 21 years, Salome ran up to her with an apple, paused,
0:25:37 > 0:25:47they looked at each other and Salome slunk off and never did it
0:25:47 > 0:25:50
0:25:50 > 0:25:53again. Within three months she was From the biggest to the tiniest.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Bristol Zoo is helping conserve animals and even bring back extinct
0:25:58 > 0:26:01species. We are trying to raise the funds for reintroduction, which
0:26:01 > 0:26:07sounds ridiculous, but actually it is a very difficult thing to do and
0:26:07 > 0:26:11it is an incredibly important thing to do. It is alarming as you know
0:26:11 > 0:26:14how the species are getting wiped out and in many cases now it is
0:26:14 > 0:26:17because their habitat is being destroyed. If we do not bring them
0:26:17 > 0:26:24somewhere safe and have them bred there, these species could get
0:26:24 > 0:26:28wiped out. The zoo is planning a new
0:26:28 > 0:26:36conservation park near to Bristol. Here in Clifton, much of the focus
0:26:36 > 0:26:38is on education. If we can get a 300 to 500 people on the lawn
0:26:38 > 0:26:42watching macaws flying around over their heads, you can see the
0:26:42 > 0:26:48excitement in people, you can hear the intake of breath as the macaw
0:26:48 > 0:26:51flies just over their heads. At the same time, the commentary
0:26:52 > 0:26:58that goes with that is about the destruction of the forest when the
0:26:58 > 0:27:06calls come from. He was dropping in those key messages about what
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Bristol zoo has changed dramatically throughout its history
0:27:09 > 0:27:19but for many it's as magical today as it was for those very first
0:27:19 > 0:27:22visitors 175 years ago. You cannot wait to get to the next
0:27:22 > 0:27:26thing and when you are told, that is it, you have seen everything,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30you want to go round again and see it all again.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32It is the only time that human beings put themselves out for the
0:27:32 > 0:27:42sake of animals and there is something glorious about it because
0:27:42 > 0:27:43
0:27:43 > 0:27:51it is kind of pointless and yet it There is a huge love and affection