Episode 2 Animal Park


Episode 2

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Today, we've got big plans for Monkey Jungle.

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A way of keeping the monkeys happy, busy and off the cars.

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It's a fun food source and a puzzle all wrapped up into one.

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Join us to find out what the monkeys make of their new treat.

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There's more than monkey business

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going on on today's Animal Park.

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I catch up with the giraffes

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and discover it's not only their necks that are exceptionally long.

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And I'll be calling on Nico the gorilla,

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to see if there's life in the old dog yet.

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Don't you even think about pinching my bum!

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But first, we're going to Monkey Jungle.

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A very perilous place for cars.

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Of all the species in the park, the troop of over 70

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Rhesus Macaque monkeys must be the most inquisitive.

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You could also call them cheeky, even mischievous,

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or possibly something untransmittable.

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While he's patrolling Monkey Jungle,

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keeper Ross Ellis has to stay on his toes.

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The monkeys are probably the most active animals in the safari park.

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We've always got to look for ideas to keep them occupied.

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Otherwise, they'll keep ripping cars apart.

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Anything that can keep them occupied, stimulated, is a plus.

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Windscreen wipers is a popular one.

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We get them come off all the time.

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There's a monkey on top of that one there, after an aerial.

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One on a wing mirror here,

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just checking it out.

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The monkeys are always ripping stuff off.

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We're forever picking bits up.

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Ford Mondeo.

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This lot has taken Ross only about a day to collect.

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So you see, the monkeys really are right little vandals.

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The only way to curb their wicked ways is to distract them.

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Deputy head warden Ian Turner

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is always trying to come up with new things to keep them busy.

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We want to enrich the monkeys' lives.

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There are 70 to 80 monkeys, plus babies.

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They're always playing on trees.

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I'm hoping if can I get a couple of good logs for them to play on,

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it's gonna be good for them.

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The other idea I've had is to drill some holes in them,

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so we can put food inside.

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We can put the mix in there,

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which may stop the seagulls from pinching it.

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Then in the afternoon, we can put fruit in there.

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Once we've found the logs, it should be no trouble getting them in here -

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dig a hole and putting two logs in.

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It should be easy.

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Should be easy, but are those famous last words?

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Two gorillas used to live on the island in Half Mile Lake.

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Nico, the silverback male, and Samba, his mate.

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They were both 46 years old, which is a very great age for a gorilla.

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They had spent almost their entire lives together.

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But recently, Samba passed away.

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The keepers were all pretty upset.

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After all, she was a big part of their lives.

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But perhaps the blow fell hardest on Nico.

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Since Samba died, everyone's been putting a lot of effort

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into getting him through this difficult time.

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I've come up to Gorilla Island to meet head of section Mark Tighe

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and to see how Nico is getting on.

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-Morning, Mark.

-Morning, Kate.

-How are you?

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I'm fine.

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-Good. He's actually looking better than I thought.

-He is.

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He's, amazingly, doing really well.

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I was so worried as to how he'd cope.

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Initially, obviously, it was very distressing for him and us.

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Slowly, but surely, he's really picked himself up and has

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kind of changed into a much lighter individual, if you like.

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-Really? So you've noticed changes in his character?

-Definitely.

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As you know, he had his stroppy tendencies every now and again.

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He seems much calmer now.

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Much more relaxed. He doesn't eat all his food in five seconds flat.

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He takes time over it.

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He uses the island a lot more,

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spends a lot more time foraging, which he never used to do.

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He used to leave that for Samba.

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Let Samba do the work and he sat and ate.

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He did go for all the easy pickings.

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How about... You and Michelle have both worked with him

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for a very long time. Particularly you.

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Have you noticed his relationship,

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for want of a better word, changing towards you two as well?

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He went right off us initially.

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-Really?

-After she'd died, he was

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very angry with us all.

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Almost as if he thought we'd done something to her.

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It took a long time, a good few months, for him to come back

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and start being nice again, particularly with me.

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He's become much more relaxed and much more vocal again.

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So what's the plan for today?

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The girls particularly have come up with a lot of new ideas

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for keeping him occupied while he's outside.

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Don't you even think about pinching my bum!

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He still likes to have a cheeky go.

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He hasn't lost his spirit completely.

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The girls have come up with a lot ideas for giving him

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more to do while he's outside, and also inside, in the house.

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-One of them is this novel lump of wood with some holes in.

-OK.

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They've been filling the holes

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with all sorts of different flavoured things.

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Chocolate spread, peanut butter, honey.

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Put them in the holes and he dips his finger in.

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This is like the gorilla equivalent

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of doing the crosswords.

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-Keeping his brain active.

-Yes.

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Brilliant. Well, shall we start?

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I'll give you the chocolate spread, cos I think that stuff's evil.

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I'll try the honey.

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This doesn't look like the most low-calorie of snacks.

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This is not something we give him on a regular basis.

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Right. So it's a kind of a treat.

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A treat thing, yeah.

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Some of the other ideas, we have a small cage feeder,

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which we put all his fruit and vegetables in,

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in oversized pieces that he has to push out with his fingers,

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which takes a long time for him to do.

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This is a bit of fun for him, and a nice flavour.

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I quite like the chocolate myself.

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Does this go into his cage?

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We can put it in there if we want to,

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but we've been putting it outside for him.

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And hanging it from one of the trees.

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-Shall we hang this up and see what he makes of it?

-Absolutely.

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All right, shall I grab it?

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It's a bit hefty.

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Weighs a tonne. Hold on, mate, we're gonna send you a treat out.

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-OK.

-Put it down a minute. Let's take these

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shackles out.

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There you go.

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Well, I guess, what we need to do now

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is let Nico out and see if he likes it.

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Join us a little bit later to find out

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whether Nico goes for peanut butter, honey or yucky chocolate spread.

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-No way is he gonna go for the chocolate spread.

-He will.

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Keeper Ross Ellis and deputy head warden Ian Turner

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have come up with a similar plan

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to enrich feeding time for their troop of Rhesus Macaque monkeys.

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The more time they spend eating,

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the less time they'll have to vandalise the visitors' cars.

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Dave found a couple of tree trunks in the forestry yard.

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The idea is to turn them into a kind of climbing frame cafe.

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But first, they have to be moved.

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So Ian's called in the professionals.

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Here's Mike Wooley and his heavy mover.

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It won't be that big a job, as long as we can lift them up.

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But they shouldn't be that heavy, cos they're softwood.

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Mike's machine clears the small logs out of the way like matchwood.

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After all, this baby can shift up to 1½ tonnes, no problem.

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Now for the main mission.

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To pick up Ian's tree trunks, carry them up the yard

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and then put them onto the back of a flat bed lorry.

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I'm hoping it weighs about a tonne-and-a-half,

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which is what he can lift.

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If it weighs more than that, we'll need a different machine.

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It's tricky to get a grip.

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But when he does, there's a problem.

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Mike's machine must admit defeat.

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-Too heavy?

-Too heavy. Yeah.

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There's about three tonne there.

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It's amazing, isn't it, what you think it is.

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And that's the hollow one!

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We're going to have to go to Plan B now. It was too big for the JCB.

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We'll get a telly handler in now

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and hopefully we don't have to go to Plan C.

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This is the telehandler.

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When it comes to heavy loads, it's a real monster.

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Capable of lifting up to three tonnes.

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But even the telehandler can't handle it.

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So now the two machines are going to have a go together.

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Come to keep an eye on his heavy metal

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is plant hire supremo, John Miles.

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And even the grounds and gardens manager is here, Tommy Parker.

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But despite their combined efforts

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and the fact that half the estate now seems to be involved,

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the logs still aren't shifting.

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Meanwhile back in Monkey Jungle,

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the little delinquents are getting restless.

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Bored with the cars, they've started on the buffalo.

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Never easy, though. Plan C.

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When we get to 26 in the alphabet, we're in trouble.

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If the trunk's just too heavy,

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the only thing to do is to chop a chunk off.

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It's a bit of a disappointment that we're gonna lose a bit of the tree.

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But we've still got another ten foot of it.

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It's funny, you look at a tree, you think, "I'll just pick it up,

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"shove it in the Monkey Jungle, the monkeys will be happy."

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It turns out it weighs 3.5 tonne.

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Or it did. Now it's a little lighter.

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So, much to Ian's relief, the truncated trunk can finally be lifted onto the lorry.

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The hardest part, we thought, was gonna be the drilling the holes

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so I'm hoping that's gonna be the easy part.

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Right, we're 50% done. That's one on the lorry.

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They'll finish off this one. I'll go and unload this one.

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Then we'll come back for that one.

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If Ian reckons his troubles are over, he could be in for a surprise.

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We'll be back later to see if

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the monkeys ever do get their fantastic new climbing frame cafe.

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I'm out in the East Africa Reserve with head of section Andy Hayton,

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who's come up with a rather interesting plan.

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Andy, what are we up to today?

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This is a bit of environment enrichment

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that we've been playing around with.

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We're gonna rig up a camera for you to see a giraffe's tongue.

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How long it is and how it actually works.

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That's what this unusual contraption is. Talk me through this.

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All it is, obviously, is a water bottle.

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We've drilled some holes in, put the food in the bottom

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and the giraffe will stick its tongue in there.

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So the tongue will be able to get...?

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I can't even get my hand in there.

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Absolutely. Their tongue is about 18 inches long.

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-Wow!

-And they'll use it

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and they'll curl it around boughs and leaves to pull it off.

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Pretty incredible.

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-Where are we gonna put this?

-We'll put it away up there.

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Knowing your giraffes, I've brought my own little treat

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to add to your cocktail, which I know are irresistible.

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Spoiling them.

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I'll put a few bananas in. That's probably enough.

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How are we going to get this up?

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I'll jump off the truck.

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-I'll lower this hook down with this winch.

-Right.

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Then I can raise it right back up for you.

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I'll wait here. I'll let you do the...

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OK, so we're gonna put that on. Bev helping out there.

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So how high are you going to take this water bottle now?

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I'm not sure how tall this one is.

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It must be about 12 foot off the ground.

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It'll only be the bigger giraffe that can get this out, this bottle.

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That must be high enough, surely. You're making it so hard for them.

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We don't want to make life too easy.

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That's really is only for the very tallest giraffes.

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What we'll normally do is this will go inside the house

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-at night to keep them occupied in the evenings.

-Right.

-And a camel...

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The camels aren't going to reach it!

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Absolutely not. Bev, do you wanna pull forward?

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We're gonna move away a bit now and hopefully let the giraffes come in.

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Are they quite sensitive about humans?

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Not too bad. They're used to us. OK, Bev. Lovely.

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They're used to us being around.

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Hopefully we're actually going to see their tongues go in those holes

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and hoik out various bits of carrot and...

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Here we go. Look, look, here we go.

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We've got a tongue going in.

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-It was a piece of my banana that went in there.

-Banana's winning.

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That is fantastic. Their tongues, remind me how long they are?

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About 18 inches long. They are huge.

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They can actually grip with their tongues.

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So they're using them almost like fingers?

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Essentially, yes.

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You'll also notice, if we get a good look at it, that the tongue's black,

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so it avoids sunburn.

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It spends so much time out of their mouth in hot African sun.

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There you go, you can see it's like a bluey-black colour.

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Isn't that amazing? There it goes.

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-Is it sticky or almost like sandpaper, I imagine?

-It's roughish.

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A lot of saliva as well to help with digestion,

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because the acacia that they'll eat in the wild are thorns,

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probably three or four inches long.

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They're able to get the tongues... Eat everything around it.

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That's right, pull them off.

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We give them hawthorn occasionally here, because that's got quite big spikes on.

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That mimics the nearest you're gonna get to acacia.

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They treat that with a lot of respect when they eat it.

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-They eat that slowly.

-That is incredible.

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Did you think they'd go for it as well as they have?

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I knew Imogen would.

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Imogen is definitely led by her stomach more than her brain.

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They're struggling for it. But that's the point. You don't want to make it easy.

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That's the whole point. If we made life easy and put food out on a

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plate for them and they never had to work to get it, they would be bored.

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A bored animal is not a happy animal.

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We have to keep them as motivated as we possibly can.

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Look at that. That is great.

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Andy, thank you very much for letting me help you out.

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I think these giraffes are going to be occupied for quite some time.

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Back up at the timber yard, Ian Turner and Ross Ellis

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have finally managed to get their tree trunks moved.

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But they've still got a lot to do

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before the monkeys can get their mitts on them.

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In the wild, Rhesus Macaque monkeys spend most of their days

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foraging for fruit or hunting for bugs.

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In order to make feeding more interesting here at Longleat,

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the plan is to drill holes in the trunks and stuff their food inside.

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Fishing it out should keep the monkeys busy for ages.

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Right, Ross. What do you reckon? Is that deep enough?

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She seems deep enough.

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It's not the adults so much, it's the young ones.

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We don't want it so deep that they can't get all the way in.

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It's the young ones, really. The adults, it wouldn't matter so much.

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-But the young ones.

-That's about right.

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Well, I can't feel the bottom.

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-One down.

-20-odd to go.

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With so many holes to drill,

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Ross and Ian are going to be here quite a while.

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The next morning, everything's ready for the trunks to be put in place.

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Ian's picked the spot.

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The main reason why we're doing the holes here is we've done a lot of work on the other side.

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We thought for a change we'd do something over this side.

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We've done it in this position, so it's in the sun.

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They've got plenty of sunshine.

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We're doing it in two different places.

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So it's not all in one place.

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They've got a bit of interaction between the two logs.

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I may even put a log on top of the two to do a bit in between.

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It's going good, after yesterday's disaster.

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Driving the digger is heavy metal supremo, John Miles.

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He and Ian both have a good idea of how deep the hole should be.

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Unfortunately, it's not the same idea.

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How deep do you reckon that is? Four foot?

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-It's twice as deep as halfway.

-Yeah.

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Trust me, I'm a digger driver.

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That way, then that way.

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So the trunk is finally upright, but Ian's still not happy.

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What do you reckon?

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In an ideal world, I'd like it a bit round that way. If possible.

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-Just tweak it round that way?

-Yeah,

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so when the visitors come down, they can see this bit,

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whereas here, there's quite a few of them dotted round there.

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You just hold that side, Mike.

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You push it that way and I'll pull it that way, yeah?

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Just straighten up a bit. That's great.

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I'm really pleased with how it's looking.

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If we have the other one further down and maybe a big log in between,

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it'll look really good.

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Yes, this has worked out really well. Really pleased with it.

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Ian may be delighted,

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but it's up to the monkeys to pass the final verdict.

0:20:200:20:24

We'll be back in Monkey Jungle at feeding time

0:20:240:20:27

to see if they also think their new trunks are tree-mendous.

0:20:270:20:33

Earlier, I joined head of section Mark Tighe on Gorilla Island,

0:20:370:20:41

preparing a special treat for Nico.

0:20:410:20:44

So, Mark, it's hanging up, ready. So now's the big test time.

0:20:440:20:48

Is he gonna like it? Quite often, he comes bolting out of this door.

0:20:480:20:52

-Does he still do that?

-Sometimes. Yeah.

0:20:520:20:54

Let's see how he behaves today.

0:20:540:20:57

-Here he is.

-Ooh, here he is.

0:20:570:20:59

He's looking magnificent, Mark.

0:20:590:21:02

He's looking very healthy.

0:21:020:21:04

He had all of those health problems last year

0:21:040:21:07

and he did begin to look, well, really quite old-mannish.

0:21:070:21:12

But he's looking great. Look at him.

0:21:120:21:14

He is. He's in fantastic shape. He spotted that straight away.

0:21:140:21:17

He has spotted it straight away.

0:21:170:21:19

Not quite sure whether to go straight for it.

0:21:190:21:22

It's amazing, when you see him standing in that posture,

0:21:220:21:25

you see that classic bent-back forearms or the forward forearms

0:21:250:21:30

-and that power.

-He has got immense power.

0:21:300:21:34

He's very strong.

0:21:340:21:36

Luckily for us, he's become quite...

0:21:360:21:39

-Look at that.

-Chocolate!

0:21:390:21:41

He's gone straight... No, that looked like peanut butter to me.

0:21:410:21:44

I think he went for the peanut butter.

0:21:440:21:46

That's great. Oh, look at him. He looks so content.

0:21:460:21:50

That's brilliant.

0:21:500:21:51

That's quite good, cos that'll last quite a long time.

0:21:510:21:54

He'll spend a lot of time messing about with it.

0:21:540:21:57

Then he'll get bored, do something else and come back to it.

0:21:570:22:00

Then come back and play around with it.

0:22:000:22:02

-We know he's an old gorilla, he's mid 40s.

-47.

-47, wow!

0:22:020:22:06

He's always had quite a lot of grey hair.

0:22:090:22:12

-The grey hair isn't just age, is it?

-No.

0:22:120:22:15

The majority of that is the silver, what's known as the silverback,

0:22:150:22:19

which is a mature adult male.

0:22:190:22:21

It's a sign of dominance.

0:22:210:22:24

Obviously, because there's no other males around, he's top dog.

0:22:240:22:28

He got the silverback.

0:22:280:22:30

But there is an awful lot, particularly if you notice his arms,

0:22:300:22:33

that is just old age grey hair.

0:22:330:22:35

-So the arms would normally be black?

-A lot darker.

0:22:350:22:40

-They are incredibly powerful animals.

-They're incredibly powerful, yeah.

0:22:400:22:45

Since Samba's gone, he's become much more relaxed.

0:22:450:22:48

Much more chilled out, much more of a gentleman.

0:22:480:22:51

Well, if that's a good thing

0:22:510:22:54

to come out of the departing of Samba, that's great.

0:22:540:22:57

He seems sort of content and happy

0:22:570:23:01

and, as you say, quite chilled out, quite relaxed with his lot.

0:23:010:23:05

He is. It's pleasing for us that's the way it's gone.

0:23:050:23:09

It could have been a lot worse.

0:23:090:23:11

He's taken to living on his own quite well.

0:23:110:23:14

We do our best to pamper him in every way we can.

0:23:140:23:17

Mark, thank you very much. Keep up the good work.

0:23:170:23:22

Keep him happy, cos he's very special. I know you think so too.

0:23:220:23:26

-He's still definitely going for the peanut butter over there.

-Chocolate.

0:23:260:23:30

So, Nico went for his tasty treat, but will the monkeys go for theirs?

0:23:300:23:36

After 36 hours of hard work, Ian Turner and Ross Ellis's

0:23:370:23:42

new tree trunk climbing frame cafe is finally ready.

0:23:420:23:46

It's all finished now, all ready to try.

0:23:460:23:50

It's gonna take a little bit of a while to feed this morning,

0:23:500:23:55

but the longer we take, it means the more time the monkeys have to take to get it all out.

0:23:550:23:59

Normally, we just scatter this all over the floor.

0:24:000:24:03

A lot of it goes to birds.

0:24:070:24:09

Hopefully we'll cut that out a bit.

0:24:090:24:12

But they're very inquisitive. They're already looking.

0:24:120:24:15

As soon as we walk away, they'll be here.

0:24:150:24:17

In fact, they'll probably be here before we finish.

0:24:170:24:21

They're gonna wonder what it is.

0:24:210:24:23

As soon as we've gone, they'll be straight over here to check it out.

0:24:230:24:26

Hopefully, they will enjoy it. Finger crossed.

0:24:260:24:29

I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.

0:24:320:24:35

Obviously, we've put a lot of effort into this.

0:24:350:24:38

More than we thought we should have.

0:24:380:24:40

But it should keep them occupied for a little while at least.

0:24:400:24:43

Right, step back and see what happens.

0:24:450:24:48

I don't think they're gonna be very long.

0:24:480:24:50

No, they'll be there straight away.

0:24:500:24:52

Normally, it takes about five minutes to eat this.

0:25:030:25:07

Hopefully, with this new apparatus, it'll take a bit longer.

0:25:070:25:10

Normally that'd be finished.

0:25:100:25:12

He's sat there, perched on there, taking it a bit at a time.

0:25:120:25:16

Normally, when we do a scatter feed,

0:25:160:25:18

the buffalo will pinch a bit of the food.

0:25:180:25:20

This way, hopefully, the buffalo won't get so much.

0:25:200:25:23

The monkeys are just using them as springboards.

0:25:230:25:27

Once the food has gone, the young ones might use it as a play thing.

0:25:310:25:36

You might find this turns into the juvenile kids' corner.

0:25:360:25:39

They'll all hang around this side more.

0:25:390:25:41

So was all the effort worth it?

0:25:410:25:43

Considering how much effort it did take to get it all here

0:25:430:25:48

and get it working, I'm pleased.

0:25:480:25:50

Yeah. I'm more than pleased. Definitely.

0:25:500:25:54

Only time will tell if this is going to keep the monkeys

0:25:540:25:57

off the cars and curb their vandalistic tendencies.

0:25:570:26:01

But certainly monkey meal times will never be quite the same again.

0:26:010:26:05

They're up there with Romeo and Juliet,

0:26:180:26:21

or even Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.

0:26:210:26:23

But unlike those star-crossed lovers,

0:26:230:26:26

Trevor and Honey are still living their happy-ever-after ending.

0:26:260:26:31

Because, after three years together,

0:26:310:26:33

it looks like she hasn't lost that loving feeling,

0:26:330:26:36

and, frankly, my dear, he DOES give a damn.

0:26:360:26:39

Kate and I are out in the East Africa Reserve

0:26:390:26:42

with head of section Andy Hayton and Honey, the ostrich.

0:26:420:26:46

-She's obviously sitting on a nest here, isn't she?

-Yep.

0:26:460:26:49

How many eggs are under there?

0:26:490:26:51

-There's about 17-18 eggs under that at the last count.

0:26:510:26:54

Wow. That sounds like an amazing number.

0:26:540:26:56

We've done really well. It's all down to those two.

0:26:560:27:00

They're such dedicated parents. They're really good.

0:27:000:27:03

Just over here, Trevor has taken an even more active interest in us.

0:27:030:27:08

Is this something you want to be aware of?

0:27:080:27:11

We don't want to stress them out.

0:27:110:27:12

It's just that dedicated parent thing, Trev sees us over here,

0:27:120:27:16

she's vulnerable at the moment, laid there on the nest,

0:27:170:27:19

so Trev's here to protect her and his interests, which are his eggs.

0:27:190:27:24

It seems very strange that she's lying there with her head so flat.

0:27:240:27:28

You'd think she'd have her head up

0:27:280:27:30

and be looking around for potential predators.

0:27:300:27:32

That's an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

0:27:320:27:35

-That's where it came from.

-Of course.

0:27:350:27:37

She makes a low profile. You see all the long grass.

0:27:370:27:41

I've cut some of the grass short.

0:27:410:27:42

But if she was in the longish grass

0:27:420:27:44

and she sits like that, nobody can see her.

0:27:440:27:47

So she's less vulnerable.

0:27:470:27:49

It does look like a pile of feathers.

0:27:490:27:51

A really good defence mechanism is stay still.

0:27:510:27:53

Thanks, Andy. I know you'll keep us to date with developments as they happen.

0:27:530:27:58

That's all we've got time for on today's programme.

0:27:580:28:01

Here's what it coming up on the next Animal Park.

0:28:010:28:03

Could the latest technology save the life of Winston, the OAP rhino?

0:28:030:28:09

We find out just how much food it takes to feed the 900 hungry mouths of the safari park.

0:28:090:28:16

And there's a whole lotta otter going down in pet's corner with some unexpected new arrivals.

0:28:160:28:22

So don't miss the next Animal Park.

0:28:220:28:26

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:410:28:45

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0:28:450:28:48

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