0:00:29 > 0:00:32Hello and welcome to Animal Park.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36- I'm Kate Humble...- And I'm Ben Fogle and this is Longleat Maze.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39At two miles long, it's the longest hedge maze in England.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45And there's only one way out. Now, the head gardener here can do the maze in five minutes, but one poor,
0:00:45 > 0:00:50unfortunate visitor was stuck in here for over four and a half hours. I hope that doesn't happen to us!
0:00:50 > 0:00:55Me too. While we try to find our way out, here's what's coming up on today's programme.
0:00:55 > 0:01:01It's time for the lion cub to venture into the great outdoors, if only she wasn't such a scaredy cat.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Dung beetles love dung.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10So why is the one named Hercules turning his nose up at the stuff?
0:01:11 > 0:01:15And the otter pups would be ready for their first solid food,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17except that Mum keeps scoffing the lot.
0:01:25 > 0:01:33But first, we're going up to the lion house because it's an important day for Kabir's pride.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Both of his two females each have one cub.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Luna's baby is now six weeks old,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and has been named Jasira, which means "bold" in Swahili.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Yendi's cub is older by eight weeks,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52and also has an African name, Malaika, which means "angel."
0:01:54 > 0:01:58While the cubs were very young, the whole family was kept inside the lion house.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02And for safety's sake, they've been isolated from each other.
0:02:02 > 0:02:08But now Malaika is finally old enough to go outside for the first time.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It's going to be quite an experience, though keeper Bob Trollope
0:02:12 > 0:02:15knows it's a stage that must be carefully managed.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Initially, what I want to do is just let Mum and cub out,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23keep the others in, just so, basically, Mum can get used
0:02:23 > 0:02:30to going back out and cubby can see the big wide world for the first time.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35In the worst scenario, I suppose, Malaika could panic and run off and just get...
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Well, not get lost cos we know where she is, but not be in contact with Mum.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43So this is the moment of truth, we'll see if
0:02:43 > 0:02:45they will go out.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Startled her little bit. Come on, darling. Oh, yeah.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53That's it, Mum's out. You're supposed to go with her, darling.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56That's it, call her, come on.
0:02:56 > 0:02:57Oh, what's that?
0:03:03 > 0:03:08So this is the first view she's ever had of being outside, so...
0:03:10 > 0:03:16This is a big step to take for the poor little thing, you know, it's a big wide world out there.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20She's got to step on grass, which she's never, ever done before,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23so anything that she can see or hear is totally new.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26MALAIKA YELPS
0:03:26 > 0:03:32Those noises sound to us really pitiful, but they are designed to, just to get Mum's attention.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Mum is less than 20 metres away, just waiting patiently.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43She's got up, so...
0:03:43 > 0:03:45possibly,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48any day now, she will go.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50There she goes. That's it.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53She's out into the big wide world.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Good girl.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Good girl.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03But Malaika is unsure, and retreats back to the safety of home.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Yendi is starting to give up hope.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11But hold on, here she comes again.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17She's going in and out a bit more often now, so what I think I might do is shut this a bit,
0:04:17 > 0:04:23so that all she can do now is wait for Mum.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Come on, darling.
0:04:27 > 0:04:33Trapped outside, Malaika finally makes a move, but in an unlikely direction.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Don't go up there.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39No, there's nothing up there for you.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41You can't get out that way.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45That's the door. Come on, out.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51If we wander off so that her mum can't see us too near to the cub,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54then she'll more likely come and get...
0:04:54 > 0:04:57That's it, good girl.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Cubby's coming down.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Reunited.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08There they are.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Are you excited now?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Mum is just checking her over.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16She's too big to pick up.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23That's what we wanted to see ten minutes ago.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33This is the first time that Malaika has experienced open space, seen trees and felt grass.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Just looking great, it took a little while
0:05:35 > 0:05:39but this is how you would expect them to be now.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Cubby getting a little bit braver and wandering off, Mum getting it back in line.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47This is one of these moments where you...
0:05:47 > 0:05:53It's a memory forever, because it's the first time out and it's so nice to see them out and about,
0:05:53 > 0:05:58running about the grass and finding new things to explore and to get into.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06The next stage will be to introduce Malaika to her dad, Kabir, out in the open.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12So far they've been kept in separate pens because male lions have been known to kill new-born cubs.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17Over the next few days, they'll be going out on their own, then we will incorporate Kabir.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I can't see a problem, but you've got to have that in the back of your mind.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26I should imagine Kabir will be pestered like no-one's business
0:06:26 > 0:06:29by Malaika, which is all a good thing.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It's just how he reacts to it.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36There's going to be a few more nail-biting moments, I think.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49Down by Pets' Corner, part of the stable block has been developed into Old Joe's Mine.
0:06:49 > 0:06:56The subterranean theme means this is the perfect place to exhibit nocturnal animals like bats.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59But now I've heard they've taken the idea a step further.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03I'm in Old Joe's Mine with old Jo Hawthorne.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06- Thanks(!)- I couldn't resist that, sorry.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09You've been doing an enormous amount of work in here, haven't you?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11We have, we've got lots of extra things,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16creatures we've added in to make it more exciting and more of an underground-creature type of thing.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Now, what's going on in here, cos this is completely new?
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Right. Well, a few clues.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24- Lots of branches...- Yeah...
0:07:24 > 0:07:30- You know, a nice secure kind of enclosure so that whatever is going in here can't escape...- Right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36And something which, years ago, would have stayed down in the mines to keep the miners safe and company.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39OK, well you've got some other things down here.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- Welly boots... - We have.- Is that going in there?
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Yeah, that's a bit of decoration, just to give you a clue
0:07:45 > 0:07:48of the kind of environment that these birds would have been in.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Ah, birds! You let it out the bag!
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- Birds, so birds that live in mines? - Yeah.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57I can't think what that would be.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59- Should I give you that as well? - Thank you.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Birds that live in mines?
0:08:01 > 0:08:03- Go on then, you're gonna have to enlighten me.- OK.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Well, since way back, since 1911, believe it or not,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11the coal miners that used to go down in the pits, deep underground,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15thousands of feet, used to take canaries with them down into the mine.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Of course they did!
0:08:17 > 0:08:23- Obviously this was simply because they actually detected gases that humans can't...- Right...
0:08:23 > 0:08:29One of them being carbon monoxide, which is colourless, odourless and tasteless, yet the canaries
0:08:29 > 0:08:34would pick up on that, shows signs of stress that, you know, they could
0:08:34 > 0:08:37feel this in the air. And they'd actually...
0:08:37 > 0:08:40The miners would be able to tell from that and take them back up and be safe.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Wow. So where are the canaries?
0:08:42 > 0:08:44We've got them in their little home over there...
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- Oh, yeah, shall I bring it over? - Waiting to come into their new one.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Here you are. They are so pretty, aren't they?
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- They are.- Aren't they gorgeous?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57They sing the most lovely song, especially the male there.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Which one's the male and which one...? Are they both male?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- The male's got the dark ring around his neck there.- Oh yeah.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07You can see this little girl here, she's the female.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11- Wow. So this is the first time they going into their new enclosure? - Into their new home, yeah.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Right. This is going to be a bit of a juggle, isn't it?
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- It is, yeah. - How are we going to do this?
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Best thing is to put them down in there on the floor, I think,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21and just unlatch the top of the cage.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25- Right. - And then hopefully they should flutter up onto their new branches.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Let's see how they like their new home.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31They'll say, "We love this cage, we're not sure about that big space."
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Maybe if we tip it up onto its side and they can actually see...
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Shall I tip it?
0:09:36 > 0:09:39That's fine. That's OK.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Shall we move back away and see...
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- Hopefully they should come out.- They come out. They're incredibly pretty.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48So, people, when they come into the mine...
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Hopefully they'll greet them and they'll give a little whistle,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53a nice greeting as they come in the door.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55The first one's ventured out.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Oh, they're great.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Well, we have got one final touch, haven't we, for the new enclosure?
0:10:04 > 0:10:08- Shall we... - We will.- Shall I hand you that?
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Thank you.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11There we go.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15Right, this is so everyone knows their names.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18- Tweety...- Tweety...
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- ..and Pie.- There we go.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Enjoy your new enclosure, guys.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41There are over 400 animals in the safari park
0:10:41 > 0:10:47that, between them, consume over 800 tonnes of food a year.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53Their appetites may vary but, from the biggest animals out in the park to the smallest ones in Pets' Corner,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57what goes in one end still has to come out the other.
0:10:59 > 0:11:05Longleat's animals produce a staggering 1,500 tonnes of dung every year,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09enough to cover a football pitch 50 times over.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14And that needs an awful lot of mucking out.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19Deputy Head Warden Ian Turner has seen his fair share of filth.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22If you imagine this rhino we've got here,
0:11:22 > 0:11:28you'll be talking three or four wheelbarrowfuls per day just from him alone.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34We've got giraffes, zebras, camels, lions, ankole, monkeys,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37the whole lot, all together you get a massive big pile of manure.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Every single keeper, they can't escape the mucking out,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45which is where all the muck is, and the manure and stuff.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Every keeper has to end up doing that, somewhere along the lines.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54The Pets' Corner staff have smaller manure, but it's harder, it's a dustpan and brush.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57You've got to get in the nooks and crannies, whereas these lot,
0:11:57 > 0:12:01it's a lot but it's a big shovel, a big wheel barrow and tipped away.
0:12:03 > 0:12:09Faced with such a mountain of muck, the keepers sweep and shovel relentlessly.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12There's no giant loo you can flush it all down,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16so the safari park has come up with an environmentally-friendly solution.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Once a week, all the dung in the park is collected
0:12:25 > 0:12:30from drop-off points and taken to the animal-dung equivalent of Everest.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32If you can't guess, this is the dung heap.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36There's what looks like giraffe dung,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40that looks like... That's rhino, by the looks of that.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Literally all this area here, and that behind us,
0:12:44 > 0:12:49is all the muck what comes from the safari park.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52It's left here to rot down and eventually it's all
0:12:52 > 0:12:56put in a muck spreader and put back on the field to make the grass grow.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58- And you can see... - HE SNIFFS
0:12:58 > 0:13:00..it's good stuff, that is.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07In Britain, millions of tonnes of cattle,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11pig and poultry manure are spread on agricultural land every year.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17Here on the Longleat estate, farmers like Steve Crossman use something much more exotic.
0:13:17 > 0:13:23Well, we spread it on the ground and it's to replenish all the food
0:13:23 > 0:13:26that's been taken out of the ground, grass needs to be fed.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30And all the dung is put on and it replaces all the bits
0:13:30 > 0:13:35and pieces that have come out of the ground, that the grass has used to make the hay in the summer months.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40The more organic matters that we can actually put back in the ground, obviously, the better. It's cheaper,
0:13:40 > 0:13:48there is a waste product which is good for the ground and it's put back in as a good balance.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52To complete the environmentally friendly cycle, the hay which grows on this
0:13:52 > 0:13:57fertilized land is fed back to the safari park animals in the winter.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Farmers and keepers may do the recycling
0:14:00 > 0:14:05here on the estate but in the wild there's someone else to do the job.
0:14:05 > 0:14:12It's the African dung beetle and, for this little fellow, a pile of muck is seventh heaven.
0:14:12 > 0:14:19In Africa, up to 16,000 beetles have been counted in just one heap of elephant dung.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25They also mate in it, lay eggs in it and burrow into the ground taking it with them.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31In fact, one dung beetle can bury 250 times its own body weight in
0:14:31 > 0:14:37a single night, which is the equivalent of an eleven stone man burying four bull elephants.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44Appropriately enough, Pets' Corner call their dung beetle Hercules.
0:14:44 > 0:14:51But now, tragically, this poor little chap appears to have lost his natural desire for dung.
0:14:52 > 0:14:58Old Hercules here, I call him Old Hercules cos, in fact, he is an ancient beetle.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03We've had him a couple of years, we got him from another collection and he was their
0:15:03 > 0:15:08last dung beetle they had and they sort of permanently loaned him to us, we were doing an exhibition here.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And they said, when they brought him they said he actually eats fruit.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15I laughed, as I was under the same impression as everybody else at Longleat -
0:15:15 > 0:15:17dung beetles eat dung, everybody knows that.
0:15:17 > 0:15:24But he's more than happy eating a bit of ripe fruit, so I don't know whether he's an exception, or perhaps
0:15:24 > 0:15:28it's because he's a bachelor and he ain't got a girlfriend or something, I don't know.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Obviously, this guy, if he was doing his job properly
0:15:31 > 0:15:36as we think evolution said he should be, you can probably see he's designed
0:15:36 > 0:15:41on his front forearms, if you want to call it that, he's got a special...
0:15:41 > 0:15:44they're not quite pincers, they're more like brushes
0:15:44 > 0:15:48and they use them to either push the balls of poo along
0:15:48 > 0:15:52in some species or to shovel the poo and get their way through it.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56It seems pretty disgusting, but that's what they are designed for.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01So what I'm proposing to do is, just to settle this once and for all, I'm gonna go and get a bit of poo.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03I'm gonna go up and get real poo, I dunno,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05some rhino poo or something like that.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09He might push it, or dig it, he might do something, it will solve the mystery.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20There are a few things every self-respecting
0:16:20 > 0:16:24stately home of any historical importance simply must have.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30Plenty of ancestors on the walls, the odd ghost or two, and a certain amount of heavy metal.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39I'm in the great hall, hanging up some of Longleat House's armour with conservator Ken Windess.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44Now Ken, the first thing I've really noticed it is how heavy all of this stuff is. What's it made of?
0:16:44 > 0:16:49It's straightforward steel, but the breastplate is a lot heavier than the back plate.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51- So this is obviously a breastplate.- That's right.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55They always assumed that you were gonna get attacked from the front.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58- So whereas a back plate presumably is...- There's a back plate there.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01You can see it's very light compared with that.
0:17:01 > 0:17:08And I'm surprised that it's so, kind of, dour and black and not shiny like I imagined armour would always be.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14- Yeah, shiny armour is just reserved, if you like, for the officers and knights of old, so to speak.- OK.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17These were made specifically for the soldiers,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20and the soldiers were made up of the staff
0:17:20 > 0:17:24of Longleat at the time, ie stable boys and the people like that, and
0:17:24 > 0:17:30probably most of it was made by the local blacksmith, because he was also an armourer as well.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32So this is during the Civil War?
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Civil War period, yeah.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39And if you'd been around in the house at that time, this would have been your task as well?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41That would probably have been my helmet.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Incredible. Tell me about the helmet.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46The helmets of this house, are called lobsters because of the shape of the...
0:17:46 > 0:17:49So lobsters have a sort of tail at the back to protect them.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51- Can I put it on?- Yeah, by all means.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53It all looks quite small, actually.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- I think people tended to be a lot smaller in those days.- Right.
0:17:57 > 0:18:02And presumably this was to protect the face, the front, from swords?
0:18:02 > 0:18:05What sort of weapons would they have used?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09- Spears and things like that. - And we've got...
0:18:09 > 0:18:12So there's the helmet, and we've got the breastplate and back plate.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15This would have been for the arms?
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Is there left and a right?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Yeah, you see on the display we've only got
0:18:20 > 0:18:28a left-handed, or left-armed, armour, simply because the sword arm was always kept free for...
0:18:28 > 0:18:31So literally you would have worn it on that hand and you would have swung...
0:18:31 > 0:18:34It would have been totally concealing that arm...
0:18:34 > 0:18:37That would be to protect the body.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41- Are there any kind of damage to any of the things?- Yes.
0:18:41 > 0:18:48You can believe, if you like, that these are musket ball indentations.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51- So that could have saved somebody's life at some point.- It does look...
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Do you think it's possible?
0:18:53 > 0:18:55I like to believe that, yeah.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58So, during the Civil War, where did the house stand?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Where were their allegiance?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Well, basically he was a King's man, underneath it all,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08but he did tend to sit on the fence, he did entertain both sides.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11- This is Lord Thynne of the...? - That's right.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Of course, you had the Woodhouse Castle and you had Hungerford and houses like that and they
0:19:16 > 0:19:22were totally different armies. You had the royalists and, of course, you had the parliamentarians.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26So basically, the house sat on the fence, went where it suited them?
0:19:26 > 0:19:31That's right. I mean, he did collect money for the King and I think if he had to
0:19:31 > 0:19:35declare which side he was on, I think he would have gone for the King,
0:19:35 > 0:19:37but he never actually took up arms himself.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Was there ever a risk that the house was going to be plundered, did they ever...?
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Yes, there was that risk but what they did is they actually
0:19:44 > 0:19:45took the valuable stuff away.
0:19:45 > 0:19:51There is a story, how true it is I don't know, where they actually took
0:19:51 > 0:19:55all the silver and hid it and the silver has never been found to this day.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00So somewhere in the Longleat estate there could be a big horde of silver buried?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03I keep looking but I haven't found it!
0:20:03 > 0:20:05What an amazing story.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09I better get back to hanging. Where do you want this helmet?
0:20:20 > 0:20:24It's been a few months now since Babs had to be put to sleep.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27She was 37 years old, which is a very great age
0:20:27 > 0:20:31for a southern white rhino and her arthritis had become very bad.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Babs was in constant pain and there was nothing left that could be done
0:20:36 > 0:20:43to help, though that was little comfort to keeper, Adie Lanfear or deputy head warden, Ian Turner.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47It's always a tough decision when you've got to put an animal to sleep.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52It's the hardest thing we have to do as a keeper, to obviously be there, when we put her down. It is hard.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56- Very hard. - We left it quite a while as she had been on a lot of medication.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01It got to the stage where she was having such difficulty getting up in the morning that,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04one morning, she had been trying to get up through the night,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07and she had got grazes all over her, a cut under her stomach.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09You've got to think of quality of life for the rhino.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13In an ideal world, we'd love to keep her for ever but you've got to
0:21:13 > 0:21:16put that to the back of your mind and think of what's best for her.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23Babs had come a long way
0:21:23 > 0:21:27since she was born in South Africa back in 1969.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29In those days, the white rhino was in danger
0:21:29 > 0:21:32of being wiped out in the wild by poachers.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37But Babs came to Britain while still young and arrived at Longleat, 13 years ago.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42She was paired up with a male, Winston, and the hope was that they would breed.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Unfortunately, it was not to be.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Keeper Kevin Nibbs spent a lot of time watching them together.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52She got on very well with Winston.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Whenever they went out, they would on occasion have a little quarrel.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58But most of the time she was very chilled out.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01There was no romance, but Winston would follow her
0:22:01 > 0:22:07around everywhere she would go, and sometimes they would have a little bit of a grump on with each other,
0:22:07 > 0:22:12a little bit of an argument, but they seemed to get on. Yeah.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Babs never had any babies of her own, but when three
0:22:17 > 0:22:23youngsters arrive at Longleat a couple of years ago, it seemed to bring out her maternal instincts.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27One of the good things about Babs was that she was always sort of semi-calm.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31When these new ones from South Africa came down, she just
0:22:31 > 0:22:34took them around, showed them all the ropes, she led them out.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39And it was all that, "I can do this - just follow me!"
0:22:39 > 0:22:42She was so useful because it all went so smoothly when the young ones came.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46They always looked to Babs to show the ways round the park.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51They would follow her around. There was a bond there, an attachment.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53If something kicked off, Babs was always pretty quiet.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56She would calm it down pretty quick.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59She wouldn't let the others go too far and if they did,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02we could always manoeuvre Babs with the tractor very easily.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05But one of the most endearing things about Babs
0:23:05 > 0:23:11was how keen she was on maintaining contact with the keepers.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13She liked to be stroked behind the ear.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16She liked to come over and she liked to have a fuss made of.
0:23:16 > 0:23:22But now the show must go on as they look after the four remaining rhinos.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Babs has gone but she's definitely not forgotten.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Just doing their feeds now and I was looking around for Babs' feed bucket.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31And I was, what are you doing?
0:23:31 > 0:23:32We do miss her.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38It's still fresh in our minds, obviously, but you've got to move on, these days.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39Got to keep going for them.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46There's a big empty space. The little guys, they will come on,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48but not for a while.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50It'll take a long time for it to sink in
0:23:50 > 0:23:52and realise she won't be there when you open the door.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Never replace Babs.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57You can't replace her.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01But time, they say, is the great healer.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Now we're going to find out if it's true.
0:24:06 > 0:24:12I've come up to the rhino house to catch up with deputy head warden, Ian Turner and keeper, Kevin Nibbs,
0:24:12 > 0:24:17to find out how life has moved on up here, since the sad demise of Babs several months ago.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21- That was obviously a pretty awful time up here, wasn't it?- Yeah.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Kevin, it was probably one of the first times that you'd had to deal with the situation
0:24:25 > 0:24:31- like that.- It was a terrible decision to make but ultimately, it worked out for the best.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35Moving on, how are the rhinos that are still here?
0:24:35 > 0:24:40- They've definitely got more confidence.- Do you think they relied on her before?
0:24:40 > 0:24:43They tended to follow her around but now they've found their own feet
0:24:43 > 0:24:46and they go off on their little adventures.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48- So who have we got here? - This one's Rosina.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51The youngest female.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Is that a really obvious thing that you have noticed, this increase in confidence?
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- Definitely.- They've grown up a bit, haven't they?
0:24:59 > 0:25:02She was maybe keeping them a little bit down.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Under her hoof?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07They were like babies and now they've grown up a bit, and
0:25:07 > 0:25:12he's started to show a little bit more interest in both of them,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14so hopefully, we should be expecting mating this year.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Really? You think that he might get together with some of them?
0:25:18 > 0:25:20That's fantastic news.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23And then further along, moving one more, this is...
0:25:25 > 0:25:26This is Morashi.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28I should know by now!
0:25:28 > 0:25:33And, again, they have all obviously got through it, like you say.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37So, the big question is, what about Winston? Where is he?
0:25:37 > 0:25:40We have got Winston out in our paddock area outside.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Why is he out here?
0:25:42 > 0:25:45You can't have the two males together.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50Two males together would fight and obviously one of them would end up with serious injuries.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Now obviously, Winston and Babs were sort of mates, weren't they?
0:25:53 > 0:25:59- Did you notice him pining for Babs when she was gone?- For a day or two.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04He knew something was missing from the house. But after that he just got on with it.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Normally in the wild, he's just on his own.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10They come together for mating, otherwise they wouldn't mix together.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15And I suppose he's getting a lot of extra attention from all of you.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18He's getting a lot of tickles. We always give him a pat.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22He's loving it, actually. And he get a lot more food now - he gets Babs' share as well!
0:26:22 > 0:26:27So it's all turned round, it's all turned out good. And life moves on.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29That's how it happens.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- Absolutely. - Guys, thank you very much.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Thanks.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52I'm out in the deer park with head of section, Tim Yeo.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56We're with the red deer and what...
0:26:56 > 0:26:58do we need to do today, Tim?
0:26:58 > 0:27:05Well, Kate, we're out looking to pick up antlers that the stag here has cast recently.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Now, which one is the stag?
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Can we see him relatively clearly?
0:27:10 > 0:27:13It's really difficult now that they're all the same, isn't it?
0:27:13 > 0:27:15He's actually got his back to us at the moment.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- They tend to have thicker, furrier necks, don't they, the stags? - That's right.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Is it that one right in the middle? Just walking away from us there.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26You can see that, as you say, that shaggy neck.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29There he is, walking towards us now.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31So why do they drop them?
0:27:31 > 0:27:35- Well, the antler is used... - Oh, here's one here.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Here's one of his antlers, here.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41You can see, this is an impressive looking...
0:27:41 > 0:27:44- It's amazing!- It's a tool
0:27:44 > 0:27:52to defend and to sort of fight off other stags, so they do get damaged.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55This stag hasn't had to fight off any other stags because
0:27:55 > 0:28:00he was put in here on his own, so that he could breed with the hinds
0:28:00 > 0:28:04but because they damage them sometimes in fighting, they need to grow a new set.
0:28:04 > 0:28:11- These drop off at this time of year, sort of spring time of year, every year?- Every year, yes.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Now they need to concentrate on feeding themselves up.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19They've lost a lot of body condition during the rut, and they need to get all that back,
0:28:19 > 0:28:26and get themselves ready for the autumn, which is the rut again.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29So how quickly will the antlers start to grow back?
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Do you know, Kate, it is incredibly fast. It really is.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37As soon as they cast, very quickly they start to regrow again.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43They are casting in the early part of March and by the end of August, you've got this again.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46That size? That much growth?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49In a year? That's amazing. There's the other one?
0:28:49 > 0:28:55Let's get the pair and see what they look like because he must have looked absolutely magnificent.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57They certainly do.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58And what is it made out of?
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Is it bone of some sort?
0:29:01 > 0:29:04I think it's very similar to bone.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06It's the nearest thing to bone.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09It's rich in calcium.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Lots of other animals, when they find these, will...
0:29:12 > 0:29:17- get the calcium from them.- They will chew on them, will they?- Exactly.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23It must take an enormous amount of energy, of feed, to grow this, every year?
0:29:23 > 0:29:27It's the most extraordinary feat. It's like us growing an extra arm every year!
0:29:27 > 0:29:33Exactly. It takes a tremendous strain on the entire body really.
0:29:33 > 0:29:39Now, at this moment, I'm feeding these stags that have cast, hoping
0:29:39 > 0:29:43just to get them back in good condition
0:29:43 > 0:29:46and we're getting grass growing now, which is really good.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51And presumably after this rut, and all this breeding that's gone on,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55you're going to have some little results soon, are you?
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Yes, very much so.
0:29:58 > 0:30:05Towards the end of May, beginning of June, we will be expecting a lot of these hinds, the females here,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07to be in calf, and what a wonderful time that is.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10- It really is.- These are magnificent.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14I suspect there will be a fight amongst the crew as to who gets to take them home.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17They will have to fight me first!
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Thank you very much indeed.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38I'm out in the giraffery with senior warden Bev Evans and Longleat's two dromedary camels.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40They're fantastic looking creatures, aren't they?
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Are you particularly fond of these two?
0:30:42 > 0:30:47Kind of. Caroline especially, this one here, can be quite temperamental
0:30:47 > 0:30:49but when they are being friendly...
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Are they prone to being particularly grumpy?
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Caroline is, but they get over-excitable as well.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57They can race around flailing their legs around.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59It can be quite dangerous.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Is it true that they spit at you?
0:31:02 > 0:31:05They can do, yes. We do find that our camels don't generally spit.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09- It's more our llamas we have problems with.- The other one is...?
0:31:09 > 0:31:10- Vera.- What about Vera?
0:31:10 > 0:31:12Does Vera have a unique personality?
0:31:12 > 0:31:15She is a little bit more laid-back than Caroline.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18If they are squabbling, it's normally Caroline who starts it off.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Fantastic. Thank you very much.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Here's what's still to come on today's programme.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28Will there be skin and hair flying when Dad and daughter
0:31:28 > 0:31:31come face-to-face for the first time?
0:31:31 > 0:31:36We'll meet the rodent who's like a mad cross between a rabbit, a rat, and a goodness knows what!
0:31:38 > 0:31:43And the otter pups will have to be quick if they ever want to try something tasty.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54But first, we're going back up to lion country where it's been a couple of days since young Malaika
0:31:54 > 0:31:58had her first experience of the great outdoors.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Don't go up there!
0:32:00 > 0:32:02There's nothing up there for you.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05You can't get out that way.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09After a shaky start, she soon began to appreciate the joys of freedom.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13Now, keeper, Bob Trollope, wants to go to the next stage
0:32:13 > 0:32:17to introduce Malaika and her dad, Kabir, face-to-face.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Up to now, for the safety of the cub, they've been kept in separate pens.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30What's going to happen now is, we're going to open up the side and let Kabir out with them.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33At the moment anything could happen, really.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Even though they've been next to each other in the house,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40when they can actually get to each other, you don't know what's going to happen.
0:32:40 > 0:32:46You've got to be prepared for the fact that Kabir could kill the cub.
0:32:48 > 0:32:55In the wild, the pride male's natural instinct is to kill the cubs of rival males.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Kabir has not had a proper chance to bond with Malaika, so it's possible
0:32:59 > 0:33:02that he may not recognise her as his daughter.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Hello, darlings. Oh, you look messy.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13If Kabir attacks the cub, her mother, Yendi, will try to defend her baby.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17But the male of the species is a fearsome beast.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19KABIR GROWLS
0:33:20 > 0:33:25If Kabir and Yendi did get into a scrap, obviously, Kabir is a big animal.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28He's much more powerful than her.
0:33:28 > 0:33:33But at least with Malaika out there it will give her something to fight for.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37It will give her a bit of spirit. I've seen lionesses see males off
0:33:37 > 0:33:39several times.
0:33:39 > 0:33:45If it got into a thing where they were just locked on to each other
0:33:45 > 0:33:49and they were fighting, unfortunately, I would put money on him.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Are we... Are we ready, are we?
0:33:59 > 0:34:01All right, all right.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06This is the moment of truth.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Everyone ready? Right?
0:34:14 > 0:34:18Come on, mate. Good boy. Good boy.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22Come and see your daughter.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29KEEPER LAUGHS
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Come on, Kabir. Come on, mate.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40I think they all met, but...
0:34:41 > 0:34:46..Malaika took it out on Mum. Kabir's just turned round and walked back in.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51No, he's coming back out now. He does look a bit confused, doesn't he?
0:34:54 > 0:34:58He obviously isn't too concerned about Malaika.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07No arguments, no scrapping.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11No untoward behaviour.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16Different animals react in different ways. He's quite laid-back.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Obviously it has an effect on the rest of the family.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24If his offspring are going to be as relaxed as him, I think we'll
0:35:24 > 0:35:26have an easy time of it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32But there are more introductions still to come.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37Kabir's other daughter, Jasira, has yet to meet the rest of the family.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40We will be there to see that later in the series.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48It's a good thing that this isn't smell-o-vision.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Because there's a powerful pong in the rhino yard.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58But it's the actual droppings that have brought head of Pets' Corner, Darren Beasley, here.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03His African dung beetle, Hercules, has been disdaining dung in favour of fruit.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08So Darren's hoping to tempt him with something really fresh and full of flavour.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10If he can get his hands on it.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17I do my best to avoid big things like this.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19He's a good-looking brute, isn't he?
0:36:19 > 0:36:24- This is a lucky old boy. He's from the free lot from South Africa.- Can I touch him?- No, that's fine.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25Isn't that weird?
0:36:25 > 0:36:28I've come out for some nice droppings, yeah...
0:36:28 > 0:36:31- Blue Peter jobbie, here's one he made earlier!- Goodness gracious.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Well I've got my little pot.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36Do you think I will need a bigger pot?
0:36:37 > 0:36:42I just want a little bit. I'll put some gloves on, because I don't do rhino poo, normally.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44Is it safe to lean in and get that?
0:36:44 > 0:36:46- It's safer up there. - When they're up there?
0:36:49 > 0:36:53- The electric's off. I'll switch that off.- You shout me, then.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57I'm going to have a rummage. I want to make sure there's nothing living in there already.
0:36:57 > 0:37:03I don't want to introduce any beetles or larvae into my little chap, my little dung beetle.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07- It's just like he hasn't eaten it. - Chewed up grass, really.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08I can hear him coming!
0:37:08 > 0:37:11- Just squeeze in a bit. - All right, mate?
0:37:11 > 0:37:13He's come for a stroke.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17- He likes being stroked.- He's come to see what I'm doing with his toilet.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21These guys, these are the giants of the African plain.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25These do all the grazing and all the toilet and then
0:37:25 > 0:37:29my little chap, my little dung beetle, he does all the clearing up.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31And you can imagine, in all seriousness,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35if this amount of animals... OK, sadly, due to poaching, there's not many rhinos left,
0:37:35 > 0:37:41but you think about the zebra and all the antelope, if their toilet wasn't cleaned up,
0:37:41 > 0:37:42you wouldn't see Africa, would you?
0:37:42 > 0:37:45After millions of years, it would be a big pile of poo everywhere.
0:37:45 > 0:37:52We'll find out later whether Hercules is tempted by Darren's tasty takeaway from the rhino diner.
0:37:59 > 0:38:05Not all of the creatures in the safari park have been introduced from far-flung continents.
0:38:05 > 0:38:12There are some natives of Wiltshire here, too. They also need to be encouraged and looked after.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14I'm out in Wallaby Wood with head of section, Andy Hayton.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19Surely these peanuts in this feeder are not for wallabies, Andy?
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Absolutely not. No.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26We're trying, and quite successfully, actually, bringing in and looking after the more
0:38:26 > 0:38:29native species, as well as all the exotic stuff we have here.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34Fantastic. I mean, Longleat has got fantastic birds around here.
0:38:34 > 0:38:41Have you noticed in and around your areas that you look after, how many birds there are?
0:38:41 > 0:38:45Yeah, I mean, we've got quite a lot in here and we're just trying to
0:38:45 > 0:38:48- give them a little extra helping hand.- So this one is living up...
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Just hung up on here.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52Oh, that's looks home-made, Andy.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Is this a little talent that I didn't know you had?
0:38:55 > 0:38:56A little talent with a chain saw.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59I actually made those with chain saws, and the bird boxes as well
0:38:59 > 0:39:01that we made, we did with chain saws.
0:39:01 > 0:39:09Absolutely brilliant. I mean this is a great area for birds, and for wildlife.
0:39:09 > 0:39:15But having the wallabies, presumably that's not going to bother native species like the birds?
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Absolutely not. In fact, it's a bonus cos nobody comes up this end of the wallaby paddock
0:39:19 > 0:39:23apart from us. Only last night Mark told me that he saw a barn owl
0:39:23 > 0:39:25- flying through the giraffe reserve.- Through here?
0:39:25 > 0:39:28- Yeah, over the mound, the public area.- Fantastic!
0:39:28 > 0:39:31We've got a resident kestrel as well that often sits on the fence
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- and sits in the shelter for the giraffe.- Lots of jackdaw of course that we can hear.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Jackdaws that steal the monkey food and the wallaby food and everything else.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44And we've got Mark Beardshaw up a ladder, one of the keepers here. Hi, Mark. What are you up to?
0:39:44 > 0:39:48- We're just about to put one of these bird boxes up.- Oh, let's have a look.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Another home-made effort.
0:39:50 > 0:39:55- Yeah.- I tell you, you giraffery boys could set up a cottage industry. Fantastic.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Again built with a chain saw?
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- Yeah, built with mine and Andy's fair hands.- Brilliant.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02So a little hole in there.
0:40:02 > 0:40:08What sort of birds are you hoping are going to be attracted into a box like this, with this sort of design?
0:40:08 > 0:40:13Primarily we're trying to get the smaller birds, smaller species such as the tits, the blue tits,
0:40:13 > 0:40:18great tits and things like that, because around here, the jackdaws have got the monopoly.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23- On the trees...- Yeah. - And are you just feeding peanuts or are you doing any other mixed foods?
0:40:23 > 0:40:27We're doing peanuts at the moment but if it's successful and the more we look into it,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31we'll start feeding different things to encourage different types of birds in.
0:40:31 > 0:40:38And the great things is obviously, you know as Spring progresses and birds are breeding, what you
0:40:38 > 0:40:41need to think about is soft food, things like meal worms,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44which is much better for chicks rather than the peanuts.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47So there you are, that's your next task with the chain saw.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- Right, OK.- Come up with the meal worm feeder. Shall we hang this up?
0:40:50 > 0:40:55- Yes.- So have you thought about particularly
0:40:55 > 0:40:58where you're hanging them on the trees and in the reserve?
0:40:58 > 0:41:01What sort of considerations do you have?
0:41:01 > 0:41:04We don't want the boxes too close together because
0:41:04 > 0:41:08they do sort of have a territory, especially the robins in the winter.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11And they will fight if the bird boxes are put too close together.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- They can get quite vicious, robins, can't they?- Yeah.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17So we're putting this on the north face of the tree,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21out of the prevailing wind and obviously so the sunshine doesn't hit it too much.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25- And they don't boil.- Yes, we don't want them getting too hot in there.
0:41:25 > 0:41:26That looks perfect up there.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Are you all right holding all that?
0:41:28 > 0:41:30I think I will be.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Well, good luck to both of you.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I shall be out with my binoculars, seeing the results.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39- Mark, Andy, thank you very much indeed.- No problem.
0:41:44 > 0:41:50Down in Pets' Corner, the two otter pups are now 11 weeks old, though it's only in the last three
0:41:50 > 0:41:55weeks that they've been coming to play outside, along with Mum and Dad Rosie and Romeo.
0:41:55 > 0:42:01The babies are growing fast, and the time has come to find out if they're ready for solid food.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06But here at Longleat, it's been over 30 years
0:42:06 > 0:42:12since they last had otter pups, so no-one's too sure about how to go about it, or what they'd like.
0:42:12 > 0:42:19It's going to be a case of trial and error, and keeper Rob Savin is going to start with raw meat and peanuts.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23I've got some tasty morsels. They don't look too tasty to me but
0:42:23 > 0:42:25I'm going to see what these little ones want to eat.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30It's obviously the first real time they're going to be accepting proper food now,
0:42:30 > 0:42:36and we want to see if they're going to eat on their own, of if one of parents is going to share with them.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39I don't think Rosie is much of a sharer so what we're going to do,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41is we're going to see if we can get her up and out of the way.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43We've put some food down there.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Yes, she's wanting some food over there.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48What I'm going to try and do is put some food up here as well.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Oh no, she's found that already.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54We've got Romeo out of the way but we'll get...
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Rosie out over there and hopefully, Romeo's going to do a bit of sharing.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01I've got a little bit of meat.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04No. She's definitely not sharing her food,
0:43:04 > 0:43:09which isn't too good but hopefully Dad will do the honours with that.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13Rosie has always been keen on her food, so this is tricky.
0:43:13 > 0:43:19The pups need to learn to eat, but they'll have to do it before Mum scoffs everything in sight.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25It's really going to be a game at the minute just to see what they're eating, who's giving it to them
0:43:25 > 0:43:30and how they're getting on with it because they might struggle with a few things being so little so far.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35Until they get a bit bigger, a bit stronger, then they might start fending their food off Mum.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39This was supposed to be the pups' first meal.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41But they hardly got a chance to get near it.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Rob's going to have to try something else.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48What we really want to see is them actually eating their food on their own,
0:43:48 > 0:43:53fighting off Mum and Dad a little bit and saying, "Hey, this is mine, I'm going to eat this." So...
0:43:53 > 0:43:55trial and error.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58Rob's going to have to try to feed them another way.
0:43:58 > 0:44:05Perhaps he can slow Rosie down long enough for the pups to get at least a taste of something yummy.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08So the next morning, before the otters are let out of their house,
0:44:08 > 0:44:11he's gone into the enclosure with some breakfast.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13I like hiding food for the otters.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I don't want to hide it too much so the little ones find it.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19But I want to spread the food around, and especially
0:44:19 > 0:44:23with something like prawns, it gives them more of an opportunity to eat.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25So hopefully,
0:44:25 > 0:44:31Mum won't get all the food this time. It's one of their favourites, actually, prawns. They love this.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Obviously they wouldn't necessarily get prawns in the wild.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39They'd eat a combination of fish, a combination of different crustaceans and invertebrates
0:44:39 > 0:44:41and things like that, insects.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44And they love them. They love them. I love them to be honest.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Hopefully, the babies are going to take on straight to it,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51and it's a nice easy soft food for them to get their teeth into.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03As I was hoping for, they all came out and because there was so many,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08I could see Mum straightaway trying to gather as much as she could and run in.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12She was thinking, "Oh my God, there's loads of food, I want it all." But it gave them
0:45:12 > 0:45:14the opportunity because they were everywhere, the prawns.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18They all had a munch. I saw the babies eating. It was fantastic.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35What I want to try now is just to see the varieties, make sure they're getting a good
0:45:35 > 0:45:41variety of food. It's all good and well that they're having prawns and it's lovely to see them eating, but
0:45:41 > 0:45:46we want to make sure they're eating some substantial things, and a big variety of food that we offer them,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51so that the meat, the chicks, the swan muscles, the eggs, all sorts.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54And we'll build on this and hopefully it'll be good.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57But so far, I'm really happy.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01So the pups still have a lot of growing to do.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05And we'll be following their progress later in the series.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20I'm in the chinchilla house with keeper Bev Allen,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23and you've got some intriguing looking things in there
0:46:23 > 0:46:28that I wouldn't think of as being classic chinchilla food.
0:46:28 > 0:46:34No. What we've got here, we've got cuttlefish, which we give to the chinchillas to chew on, to gnaw on.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- Really?- Really good for their teeth and good calcium as well.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39So we give that to them.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Which sometimes they really do like and...
0:46:42 > 0:46:44they're going to run away.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46- Shall I put one over here as well? - Yeah.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49This just... This is basically the skeleton of a cuttlefish?
0:46:49 > 0:46:53It is, yes. And it's quite soft on this side and what they do,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55they do actually like it a lot,
0:46:55 > 0:46:56and they just munch away on it
0:46:56 > 0:47:01- and it keeps the teeth nice and not too long and everything.- Yes.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05- But we also give them branches as well, that you can see in the enclosure here.- Right.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10You've got to be careful what sort of branches and logs that you do use.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15- Hazel, willow, applewood as well. - Those are good, are they?
0:47:15 > 0:47:16Yes, they're the good ones that we use.
0:47:16 > 0:47:22Also hay, they need lots of hay for their teeth as well, because when they're gnawing and chewing,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26the action of the teeth helps to grind down the teeth, so that's really good for them.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28Are they rodents?
0:47:28 > 0:47:30They are rodents as such, yes.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34So the teeth constantly grows and you have to have a strict diet, so we've got the chinchilla pellets.
0:47:34 > 0:47:39So are these sort of full of special chinchilla-type of vitamins and minerals?
0:47:39 > 0:47:43That's it, vitamins, minerals, all the nutrients that they need in their diet.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46What would they eat in the wild? Cos they do live in what you
0:47:46 > 0:47:51would imagine to be quite kind of arid areas with not much at all.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54- They do live at the top of mountains, don't they?- Yes.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57They live quite high up in the Andes and they would actually eat
0:47:57 > 0:48:02grasses up there. Cactus fruits as well, and actually they get all their
0:48:02 > 0:48:08- water from the dew off the grasses and things like that. - So they don't need very much?
0:48:08 > 0:48:12- You've got water in here obviously, but they're not big drinkers?- Not as such.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15You have to offer it to them but they don't drink a lot,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18and also as a treat you can give them peanuts, which they like.
0:48:18 > 0:48:24And you can give them a bit of apple and a bit of green food, but not too much, only as a treat now and then.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26- Right. It makes their tummies go funny, does it?- Yes,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28we don't want that.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31No. I can't imagine this lot with funny tummies, wouldn't be fun.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33I was just looking down here.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36You've got what looks like a sand pit.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Oh, yes. The sand bath.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42They actually sort of roll in it because they've got such dense fur
0:48:42 > 0:48:46because where they're up in the Andes it's cold, so they need the fur to keep them warm.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51They don't like water to bath in, so they have the dust to bath in.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54So they'll roll about in that and that basically cleans the fur?
0:48:54 > 0:48:57Yes, cleans the fur, and keeps it all nice and clean.
0:48:57 > 0:49:03And usually they don't actually get any fleas or anything because the fur is so dense they don't like it.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05How amazing!
0:49:05 > 0:49:08They are the most hilarious looking creatures,
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and when they run like that, they're incredibly quick as well, aren't they?
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Very agile across the rocks.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17They're quite fast. You can't hold a chinchilla for too long.
0:49:17 > 0:49:22Oh, hang on, I'm just going to stop that one because he's chewing a cable. Come on, off the cable!
0:49:22 > 0:49:26You can't chew that.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29That's another thing you've got to be careful about - chewing cables.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33If you have one at home, you've got to be aware they will chew absolutely anything.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37- As you can see, they've been chewing the walls as well.- They have! They've been chewing their mural.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Yeah, anything they can chew, they will chew.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42Quite destructive animals, really.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46They are fantastic, though, and I just love the way they look.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48They look like a sort of mad cross between a rabbit and a
0:49:48 > 0:49:52- rat and a guinea pig all rolled into one, don't they?- They do.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54They're brilliant. Bev, thank you.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57- It is lovely to see them. Shall we...?- Yes, give them some treats.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00Here you are, guys. Thanks for letting us in.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13Back in Pets' Corner, head of section Darren Beasley
0:50:13 > 0:50:17is about to serve lunch to his African dung beetle, Hercules.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21Until now, Hercules has shown a distinct preference for fruit, which
0:50:21 > 0:50:26is fine from a nutritional point of view, but since these beetles dine on
0:50:26 > 0:50:33dung in the wild, Darren's offering him what should be a gourmet treat - fresh rhino droppings.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36I'm just going to pick him up from his water bottle.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Come on, my old fruit.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42There we are. I'll leave him on the surface, just for a moment.
0:50:42 > 0:50:49I expect these little tentacles here, these little antennae, they're what's sensing the smell.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51It certainly does whiff.
0:50:51 > 0:50:57If he's at all interested in this dung, and I'm going to be proved wrong, then he should...
0:50:57 > 0:50:59If I put some of this down...
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Oh, the things I do for these wee beasties.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Warm and wet. There you are, my friend.
0:51:08 > 0:51:15What Hercules should be doing now is he should be racing towards this big pile of damp dung,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18because obviously he would eat that in the wild.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20He wouldn't eat all the grass and hay fibres.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23What they do is rather horrible, I'm afraid.
0:51:23 > 0:51:28They get big mouthfuls and they slurp up the juice of the poo.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36I can't imagine why, but Hercules seems to have lost his appetite.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42In Africa, these beetles not only eat dung
0:51:42 > 0:51:47but they also use it as part of a mating ritual, rolling it into balls.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51I've got a home-made dung ball here.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54There we are. He would make something almost as big as that,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57actually, for this particular one.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00What he would do is he would rear up and he'd push this around.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04He'd find himself a lady dung beetle, and he would offer it to her.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09If she liked him, she would go off and they would roll the dung off into the sunset and bury it.
0:52:09 > 0:52:10That's where they lay their eggs.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Oh, he's just literally climbing on it now,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16but I'm going to have to watch closely.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19I don't think he's going to eat it.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22No, he is just walking over the top of it.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25What he's doing is it's just an interesting object, so he's just
0:52:25 > 0:52:29going to walk on round it. He's not that bothered.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31At the moment, as you can see here,
0:52:31 > 0:52:33he is walking away from it.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35It does smell. I don't blame him.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38He is probably try to get as far away from there as possible!
0:52:40 > 0:52:46So, despite all Darren's efforts, it looks like Hercules will be sticking with soft fruit after all.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49But Darren's hatching a new plan.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53It may be, perhaps, because he hasn't got a female to impress.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58He has got an alternative food supply in the fresh fruit, but he doesn't want to roll
0:52:58 > 0:53:01the dung balls because he hasn't got a girlfriend to roll the dung ball to.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05What we would like to do now is, we would like to get some more dung beetles,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08but one really would be good for a start,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10to pair up with this old fellow.
0:53:10 > 0:53:16And you never know, if he did roll a ball of dung, and he did dig a hole, or eat dung,
0:53:16 > 0:53:20it would be interesting to see, it's interesting for us to talk about,
0:53:20 > 0:53:25so our next stage, hopefully, we are going to get some more dung beetles and make it a bit more interesting
0:53:25 > 0:53:30and a bit more lively, so we don't have the world's only fruit-eating dung beetle in our collection!
0:53:47 > 0:53:51It's the end of day here at the giraffery, and Kate and I have come up to join
0:53:51 > 0:53:54head of section Andy with a spot of feeding. What have we got in the buckets?
0:53:54 > 0:53:57This is their veg ration that we give them
0:53:57 > 0:54:00every evening in winter, just so there's a nice bit of green food.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03- This is presumably swede. - Swede, yes...
0:54:03 > 0:54:07- How do you know giraffes like swede - trial and error?- Cos it's all gone in the morning!
0:54:07 > 0:54:11- Fair enough! - Can't say fairer than that.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13So, why do you need to do this?
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Presumably they're eating grass during the day?
0:54:15 > 0:54:22In winter, there's not a lot of grass around, so we supplement their diet with some nice fresh green food
0:54:22 > 0:54:26such as cabbage and swede. In summer we'll knock this feed off.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30They're grazing out in the park - we've got such a big area out there,
0:54:30 > 0:54:32and we'll cut and browse for them daily as well.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35So, why do they have to come in in the winter?
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Wouldn't it be easier just to leave them in the park and take out the supplementary food like this?
0:54:40 > 0:54:43There's no goodness in the grass this time of year anyway.
0:54:43 > 0:54:48It would be lovely to leave them out because we wouldn't have to clean up in the morning,
0:54:48 > 0:54:50but it's the cold. It is so cold.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52There's quite a large surface area on a giraffe,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56- and they lose heat quickly because they are big.- Right.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59It's just too harsh. And it's a security thing as well.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02If something scares them in the middle of the night,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05even in summer or whatever, we don't know what's going on.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08When they're in here, they're here, we know where everybody is and
0:55:08 > 0:55:11everybody is fine and locked away quite nicely.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13It is security for them.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Presumably it's a good chance to check them over as well for
0:55:16 > 0:55:19any injuries that they might have picked up during the day.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21You can monitor them, have a look at them in the morning,
0:55:21 > 0:55:26and if there's food left in here, especially with the ones that are individually boxed,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30if there's food left, you know it's left and you can start looking for things.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32So you know immediately there's something wrong.
0:55:32 > 0:55:38And presumably, this is a perfect opportunity to check that each gets an equal amount of food.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Exactly, you can watch. It's nice with these guys
0:55:40 > 0:55:43because when they feed at night, they all sit down.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46You look in the troughs and there's still food left,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48so you know everybody is getting what they need.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52- And is there a particularly greedy giraffe amongst them?- Jolly.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Jolly is actually down at the bottom.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58Jolly is on her own. She's in there with a youngster.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01But she thinks with her belly, not her brain.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03I'm going to do a bucket swap.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07Yeah, we've got a few more things to feed here.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10We'll leave them in peace to enjoy their supper.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12Andy, thank you very much indeed.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's Animal Park,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18but here's what's coming up on the next programme.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21It looks like there's a baby tapir on the way.
0:56:21 > 0:56:26Quite honestly, she's showing all the signs of being pretty imminent, she's got a huge udder...
0:56:26 > 0:56:31It's touch and go as Gladys the iguana undergoes radical surgery.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33Come on, sweetie, we need you to breathe.
0:56:33 > 0:56:39- And, romance gets hot and heavy for this horny old rhino.- Oh, here we go.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43- Wow, what a reaction! - That's explosive, isn't it?
0:56:43 > 0:56:47Wow! We'll have all that and more on the next Animal Park.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd, 2006
0:57:21 > 0:57:24E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk