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They can race at up to 30 miles an hour and their sharp tusks | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
can shred anything or anyone they don't like to pieces. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:08 | |
Yes, and Vlad, Genghis and Attila are new to Longleat and the keepers | 0:00:08 | 0:00:13 | |
are hoping they'll make a good impression. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
The warthogs have arrived on Animal Park. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:19 | |
Also on today's show, | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
we know Trevor as the perfect dad, | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
but someone's been ruffling his feathers and he's not happy. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:50 | |
Don't you kick that truck. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
I'll be helping to put up new toys for the lions, | 0:00:52 | 0:00:55 | |
proving they're just big pussy cats. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
And a Far East food fad | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
or a fiendish plot to make the otters work harder? | 0:01:00 | 0:01:05 | |
But first, a few months ago | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
three brothers arrived at Longleat | 0:01:13 | 0:01:15 | |
to begin a reign of terror in the East Africa reserve. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
Their names, Vlad the Impaler, | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
They're warthogs, the first ones they've ever had here. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:38 | |
The keeper in charge of them is Andy Hayton | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
and he's still getting to know the brothers. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
Already he's found their names are not completely silly. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:47 | |
When we got hold of them we did think, | 0:01:47 | 0:01:49 | |
Oh, yes, pigs with big teeth kind of thing. | 0:01:49 | 0:01:52 | |
We weren't quite that blase, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:53 | |
we knew they were aggressive, we had read up on them. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
We've learnt very, very quickly that these guys go from flat calm | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
to absolutely freaking and running around at a thousand miles an hour | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
in the bat of an eye. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:05 | |
And full speed is flying and they can be three or four feet off the ground. | 0:02:05 | 0:02:11 | |
Pigs can't jump, these guys can. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
You don't get any warning when they're going to get frightened | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
or going to start kicking off and running around. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:20 | |
You have to treat them with kid gloves, but they are pretty aggressive. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
They're pretty scary. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:25 | |
If one of these guys hit you | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
it would be like being hit by a steamroller | 0:02:27 | 0:02:29 | |
at 40 miles an hour, you know? | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
I do not want one of these guys to get hold of me, they're scary. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
For now, Vlad, Attila and Genghis are being | 0:02:34 | 0:02:38 | |
kept in a paddock by themselves | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
until Andy can assess just how wild and dangerous they really are. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
We haven't got anything else here like them. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
You say warthog to somebody, they know exactly what you mean. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:50 | |
You know, they're characters and three boys are something else. | 0:02:50 | 0:02:55 | |
When you're in there with them in the morning and you go and check them | 0:02:55 | 0:02:58 | |
and they come over the hill and are stood there looking at you, | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
there's stuff going on in their heads | 0:03:02 | 0:03:04 | |
and they're so ugly that they're cute. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
In Africa, where they come from, warthogs are omnivorous. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:11 | |
You name it, they'll eat it. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
In turn, they're a favourite foodstuff for lions | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
and because of that warthogs have evolved | 0:03:16 | 0:03:19 | |
an unusual posture for grazing. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
They've thick pads, on their knees so they graze on their knees. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
Plus, if they were to bow their head down a lot to eat, | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
predators would be able to take a shot at them a lot easier. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:32 | |
But as they go on their knees | 0:03:32 | 0:03:33 | |
they keep their head up so their vision's better. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
Come on, boys! | 0:03:36 | 0:03:37 | |
They were about a year old | 0:03:37 | 0:03:38 | |
when they came here from Colchester zoo. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
Keeper Ryan Hockley | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
has noticed they've calmed down a lot since they first arrived. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:48 | |
They're getting there, much better than they were to start with, | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
but it's just been a matter of them settling in | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
to their area and just giving them time to settle down. | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
I don't think they'll ever be any, sort of, physical contact, | 0:03:57 | 0:04:02 | |
you know, we'll never be patting them or anything like that, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
I don't think. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:06 | |
They have their little squabbles in the day but, like I say, it's pretty | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
good natured, but at the end of the day, they are definitely a trio. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:14 | |
Ryan and Andy are still getting to know the terrible trio and later on | 0:04:15 | 0:04:20 | |
we'll join them to find out what Vlad, Attila and Genghis | 0:04:20 | 0:04:24 | |
get up to when no-one's looking. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:26 | |
These lions may be ferocious killers | 0:04:36 | 0:04:38 | |
who'd rip your throat out as soon as look at you, | 0:04:38 | 0:04:40 | |
but they also like nothing more than a good play. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
So last year, we helped put up some giant cat toys | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
and it was fantastic to see how much they enjoyed the apparatus. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:52 | |
Unfortunately, it didn't take the lions long | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
to tear the lot to shreds, | 0:04:55 | 0:04:56 | |
though they might have lasted longer if they'd been a little bigger. | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
Over there are some very keen lions. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:06 | |
I'm out in the lion enclosure with a very unusual toy | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
and I've come to catch up with keeper Bob Trollope. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
-Hi, Bob. -Hiya, Ben. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:14 | |
-A lion toy. -Yes. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:17 | |
Mark two, cos we have done this before haven't we in years past? | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
We have. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:21 | |
And they absolutely love this sort of stimulation. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
We've got a few new designs as you can see. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
-OK, so here, presumably this is a swing. -Based on a swingy type thing. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:30 | |
We've obviously added extras. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
You wouldn't find that on your normal playground. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
I've noticed the rope here is solid. That is a thick rope, isn't it? | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
This is thicker than we have used in the past. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
-OK. -Several reasons for that. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:43 | |
Because lions have got sharp teeth and they do tend to eat it, so yes. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:48 | |
OK. So where are we going to put this enormous ball? | 0:05:48 | 0:05:52 | |
-We're going to hang it round this log over here. -OK. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:55 | |
So it can swing and they can dangle on it and pull it about. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
-This is basically, genuinely to keep them busy and occupied. -Yeah. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:04 | |
And it's not just for show, is it? | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
No. This is... They've got each other to play with. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
But we do try to stimulate them with other things | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
-and this, toys are... -Yeah, perfect. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
-..Something that we can... -Craig's helping us. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:17 | |
-Morning. -Morning, Ben. -Pass that up and over. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
I think we're going to have to wrap this round a few times. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
Shall we put that through there? | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
-Through there and pull that back tight. -Yeah. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
If we let that down we can probably tighten that up around. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
So, just remind me which pride this is. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
-This is Kabir's pride. -Right. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:36 | |
One of the reasons we do it in this pride | 0:06:36 | 0:06:38 | |
is because there's a lot of youngsters. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:40 | |
And they do, if we go over that way a little bit. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
We'll have to send this over, Craig, if you get that. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:45 | |
We'll have to send it round a few times | 0:06:45 | 0:06:47 | |
until we get it to the to the right sort of height. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
So this is Kabir's pride and, of course, | 0:06:50 | 0:06:52 | |
there's some youngsters in with them now. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:54 | |
Who, last year, could barely even reach. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
They were too small last year to play with | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
some of the toys that we had so this is | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
-going to be really new to them. -Yeah. | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
-You know, they played with the remains. -Yeah. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
Because lions, as we know, are... | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
Now, let's see this, if we go round. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
-I reckon that, will that swing? -I think... | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
I think they can do a lot with that. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
If we go up any higher it'll be too close to it. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
I think that's a pretty good level. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
-Looks just right. -Do you think? -Brilliant. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
Will those youngsters come out here first of all | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
and just jump on it? | 0:07:28 | 0:07:29 | |
Cos walking in, they were all looking at me from behind the... | 0:07:29 | 0:07:33 | |
They're quite keen. | 0:07:33 | 0:07:34 | |
You can see them. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:35 | |
Youngsters will definitely play with this. | 0:07:35 | 0:07:37 | |
I like to think Kabir will come over and investigate. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:40 | |
OK. Well, shall we get in? | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
Yes. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
Join us later in the programme | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
when we'll find out what Kabir's pride make of their new toys. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
OK, take her away, Craig. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:54 | |
Earlier in the series | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
we saw what happened when Sour, the nanny goat, had triplets. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
Unfortunately, she just couldn't cope with three | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
and so rejected the smallest one. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
The kid would certainly have died if senior warden Bev Evans | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
hadn't intervened and for a while there it was still touch and go. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:26 | |
But the baby did survive, | 0:08:30 | 0:08:32 | |
was named Bubble and has been bottle-fed ever since. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:35 | |
But that was just the start of this years Pygmy goat birthing season | 0:08:35 | 0:08:40 | |
so Kate's gone to meet Bev and catch up with developments. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:44 | |
There seems, Bev, suddenly to be thousands of them. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:46 | |
Yes, we've got quite a lot at the moment. We've got about 21. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:50 | |
-Right. -We had a prosperous year on breeding, we had nine kids born. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
Oh, that's fantastic because although you would think that | 0:08:53 | 0:08:58 | |
goats could breed easily Pygmy goats are quite difficult to breed, | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
-is that right? -They can be. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:03 | |
Obviously, they conceive quite well, | 0:09:03 | 0:09:05 | |
but they do have, the breed does have quite a high still born | 0:09:05 | 0:09:10 | |
and immortality rate with the youngsters, | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
so it can be quite a difficult birth for them cos they are so small. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:16 | |
And all of them doing well? | 0:09:16 | 0:09:17 | |
All the parents doing the things that they should do? | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
Kind of. We do have two hand reared females. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
-Right. -Basically, two of our girls had triplets. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
One didn't have enough milk so we took one of the females off | 0:09:27 | 0:09:31 | |
and the other one abandoned one of the little ones. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:33 | |
Oh, really? So thought that, because quite often with sheep | 0:09:33 | 0:09:37 | |
they'll take a third away and give it to another mother. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
-Yeah. -So why did you hand rear? | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
Why didn't you give it to one of the other adults? | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
We didn't have one really who could take one on. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
-They all had enough of their own. -Right. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
So we were able to have to hand rear from powdered milk instead. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:54 | |
So which two need feeding | 0:09:54 | 0:09:56 | |
and how on Earth do you manage to feed them and not all the others? | 0:09:56 | 0:10:00 | |
-There are two as you can see that... -These two. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
..the two keenest. This is Dora. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
And this is Bubble. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:05 | |
Bubble was the one who was kind of abandoned by her mum Sour. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
We don't really know why, | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
she just was, so we had to intervene quite dramatically. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:14 | |
Well, now I heard that really you were key in saving Bubble's life. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:18 | |
I mean she wasn't going to make it. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
Yes, Andy and I kept an eye on her | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
throughout the day, but she went downhill. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:25 | |
She got a little bit cold and generally she was | 0:10:25 | 0:10:30 | |
on death's door to be perfectly blunt. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:32 | |
But we just kept rubbing her with a towel, things like that, | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
syringed some colostrum which we milked off Sour, | 0:10:36 | 0:10:38 | |
and just tried to keep her spirits up. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:42 | |
It didn't take too long, a few hours, until she was stood up on her own. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
Shall we try giving them some food now and see what they want to do? | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
I haven't hand fed a goat before. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:51 | |
-Lambs, yes, goats, no. -This is Bubble. | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
Bubble has a less milk - she's a bit smaller. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:56 | |
OK, so is there a knack to it? | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
If you just head it towards her mouth and then just lift up slightly, | 0:10:58 | 0:11:02 | |
she, kind of, does the rest but she's incredibly strong for her size. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
-Look at her. -As you can see. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:07 | |
Crikey, it must be quite hard being a mother goat, actually. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:11 | |
They really do, sort of, push to get the milk out don't they? | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
Yeah, and as you see | 0:11:14 | 0:11:15 | |
it doesn't take very long for them to actually drink most of the milk. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
They're absolutely adorable. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
It must be very rewarding for you to get them to this stage, | 0:11:22 | 0:11:27 | |
get them to the stage where they can almost go off | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
and be independent. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
They've done very well. We haven't had any problems with them at all, | 0:11:31 | 0:11:35 | |
so it's been really, really good. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
You're getting all over your head. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
That's it. Crikey. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
Absolutely done and dusted, Bubble. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
You can keep sucking on that, | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
but I don't think you're going to find any more. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:48 | |
Well, Bev, they're a complete credit to you. Very, very well done. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:52 | |
You're not going to give up, are you, little one? | 0:11:52 | 0:11:54 | |
And we look forward to seeing her out and grazing on the grass | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
very, very soon. Well done you two. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:01 | |
Aren't you brilliant? Yes. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:03 | |
Vlad the Impaler, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
are the first ever warthogs to grace the grounds of the park. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:17 | |
In the early days, they charged around like monsters, | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
but in recent weeks they seem to have calmed down a bit. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:25 | |
The keepers are still getting to know them and Andy Hayton is keen | 0:12:25 | 0:12:30 | |
to find out what they co | 0:12:30 | 0:12:31 | |
when no-one's looking, after dark in the warthog house. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
Can you turn that infrared lamp on, mate. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
This is the camera | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
that's wired up to a hard drive infrared camera so we should | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
be able to see when they come in, how many come in, | 0:12:45 | 0:12:48 | |
where they lie down. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
The more we learn about the animals we look after, | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
the better we can do for them. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
Some mornings you come in and this place is absolutely trashed | 0:12:54 | 0:12:58 | |
so, yeah, I think there are a few parties now and again. Must be. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
In the wild, warthogs sleep in burrows. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:04 | |
Usually, it's one they've taken over from whoever actually dug it, | 0:13:04 | 0:13:09 | |
often some poor aardvark. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
But for Vlad, Attila and Genghis does sundown mean party time? | 0:13:11 | 0:13:16 | |
Early next morning, | 0:13:19 | 0:13:21 | |
the brothers are outside in their paddock as usual | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
while Andy and keeper Ryan Hockley rendezvous at the house | 0:13:24 | 0:13:29 | |
to see what the spy camera has recorded. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
There's only one at the moment, | 0:13:31 | 0:13:32 | |
but I think this is about ten o'clock. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:34 | |
We put their food actually in the pen next door | 0:13:34 | 0:13:37 | |
so they may have come in and eaten. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:39 | |
We hadn't seen that and this is when | 0:13:39 | 0:13:41 | |
they're coming in and settling down for the night. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
You tell in the morning, if the bed's been laid in or not | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
because they're normally, I think, we've heard they | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
actually huddle together to keep warm. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:52 | |
So that will be quite interesting if we can see this, | 0:13:52 | 0:13:55 | |
see if they do do it at night. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
Spinning on an hour it looks like bedtime. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
This guy down here is really pulling it around. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:04 | |
-Pulling hay? -Yeah, yeah. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:06 | |
-It's almost like they're nestling. -Yeah. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
Nice to see all three of them in there. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
-Mmm. -So that we know that nobody gets pushed out or anything. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:18 | |
There settling down there. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
See them going backwards a lot into these corners. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
It's almost like they're backing into a... | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
A burrow. Yeah, yeah. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:27 | |
They're eating a lot of straw. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:29 | |
Really filling up on the straw. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
But if they eat their bedding how are they going to keep warm? | 0:14:32 | 0:14:37 | |
They'll huddle together like this to keep warm, | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
because they find it hard to regulate their body temperature. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:44 | |
But there is only two here. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
-Mmm, yeah. -Unless the other one is tucked right down in the corner | 0:14:46 | 0:14:50 | |
or they're laid on top of him. I don't know where he is. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:53 | |
Possibly one of them is out there, staying awake, standing guard. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
-Yeah. Sort of like a sentry almost. -Lots of animals will do it. | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
One will stay awake watching the rest of the group sleep | 0:15:00 | 0:15:05 | |
and so maybe these guys do it too. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
It's always fascinating, really, to see your animals at night. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
Things you've worked with for donkeys years during the day, | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
they seem completely different at night. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
It's a very strange thing. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:17 | |
It's hard to put your finger on it, but it's quite weird. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:21 | |
They look quite cute when they're asleep. | 0:15:21 | 0:15:24 | |
Like most things. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
I wouldn't like to go and wake them up. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
We knew they were coming in because, like I said, | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
the bed has been disturbed | 0:15:32 | 0:15:34 | |
and food disappears. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:35 | |
But it's nice to see animals, when we're not here it's their place | 0:15:35 | 0:15:39 | |
in the middle of the night and very rarely do we see | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
what's going on here then so it's quite intriguing. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:46 | |
With Vlad, Attila and Genghis looking peaceful | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
you almost wonder if they got the names wrong. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:54 | |
How about Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail? | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
Or maybe not. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:03 | |
Earlier on, I helped keeper Bob Trollope | 0:16:13 | 0:16:16 | |
put out some cat toys for the lions and now it's time to release them. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:21 | |
-So, Bob, we've got all of the rope out there. -Yeah. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
It's all looking good. So are we ready to let the lions out? | 0:16:25 | 0:16:28 | |
Yeah, I'll just give Craig a shout. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
Can you let them out now, Craig, please. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
And any idea which... here they come. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
Which one might come first? | 0:16:36 | 0:16:38 | |
So who is that? | 0:16:38 | 0:16:39 | |
-That is Jazeera. -Right. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
And then you got the small ones. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:43 | |
-Yeah. -Last year's youngsters. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:45 | |
So they like the swing, look, straight away. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:47 | |
Straight away. That's it. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:49 | |
Wow, look at the power of that. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:51 | |
So they're not nervous about new things, are they? | 0:16:51 | 0:16:55 | |
No, there's curiosity | 0:16:55 | 0:16:56 | |
and straight away one of them gets on the top and starts chewing. | 0:16:56 | 0:17:00 | |
And it's almost like it's coordinated, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
that a few have gone up to the top and the rest are down at the bottom. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:06 | |
And using their mouths and claws, | 0:17:06 | 0:17:08 | |
are they feeling it or are they playing with it still? | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
That's, everything that they would use if that with a prey animal. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:16 | |
-Biting, clawing. -Here they go for the middle one. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
-That's it. -Who's that playing now? | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
-That is Jazeera again. -Jazeera? OK. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:23 | |
She seems to be the one that investigates them first. Then... | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
And there's a lot of weight on that so obviously... | 0:17:26 | 0:17:29 | |
She's weighing in the region of about 150lbs and that's taking that easily. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:34 | |
Look at those teeth going into it and the claws. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
Hopefully they haven't spotted the ball yet. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:39 | |
They haven't, it's my favourite. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
But as soon as they do, well, | 0:17:41 | 0:17:42 | |
you see a lot of them want to go up the top and play. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:45 | |
Is that partly because, | 0:17:45 | 0:17:46 | |
there's smell from us when we were putting them up? | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
Yeah, we've been clambering all over the top of them and there's, | 0:17:50 | 0:17:53 | |
actually there's vegetable oil soaked into the rope as well. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
-OK. -So that will be wafting around as well. | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
And they put that on there to actually keep the rope supple. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
-Yeah. -So it's easier to work. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:05 | |
Well, it's such a fantastic sight | 0:18:05 | 0:18:07 | |
just seeing them all playing like little household cats. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:10 | |
Yeah, and that will keep them going for hours and hours and hours | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
-and it's only when they chew through the rope that... -Yeah. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
You know, they become defunct. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
And that's the big debate, you know, | 0:18:19 | 0:18:21 | |
how long are these realistically going to last. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:25 | |
What will be the first thing to give way? | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
Probably that one that Jazzie's playing on. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
But the thing is, you know, you've got to use rope that is degradable. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
-Yes. -You know? | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
If they're biting it then they'll get bits off them. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
If that was nylon rope then that could do all sorts of damage. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:44 | |
-Now we've got going over to the ball, who is that? -Luna. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
So Luna's going over to test out. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:49 | |
-Oh, it's moving. -Not really quite sure what to make of that. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:53 | |
She might need a bit of backup. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
I was going to say, all the others are busy with the swing. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:57 | |
Look, look, look! That's so cool. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:00 | |
That's so cool! | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
Look, then we've got a little bit more confidence | 0:19:04 | 0:19:07 | |
with the ball with Luna although she would like some backup perhaps. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:11 | |
-I think, as soon as they realise there's another toy... -Yeah. | 0:19:11 | 0:19:14 | |
Then they'll play with that as well. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
They get hours of enjoyment with that swing. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
It's almost as if they're trying to take them down. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
Look on top of the tree stump there, | 0:19:21 | 0:19:23 | |
they're tearing at the rope that we tied around the top. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:27 | |
It doesn't take that long. They remember from last time | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
that if I chew this then that falls off and we can run around with it. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:34 | |
-And they loved running around with the rope. -They did. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:37 | |
That's not a worry for you because it's all safe, it's biodegradable. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
It's all safe, yeah. That will break down, | 0:19:40 | 0:19:42 | |
and any little bits that are left on the ground will rot and, you know, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:46 | |
that's ultimately what we want. If you were using nylon, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
that would stay there for years and years and years, you know, | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
but this all rots down to nothing. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:54 | |
Fantastic. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:56 | |
Well, Bob, thank you for letting me help you, | 0:19:56 | 0:20:01 | |
and I think we have some very, very contented lions. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
Up in the East Africa reserve, there's a new project under way. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:19 | |
Andy Hayton came up with a great plan to build a water hole | 0:20:19 | 0:20:23 | |
for all the animals to enjoy, | 0:20:23 | 0:20:25 | |
and he persuaded construction worker John Myles to help out. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
But there's one major problem that neither of them anticipated. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:33 | |
He's over seven foot tall, can run over 40 miles per hour | 0:20:33 | 0:20:39 | |
and, at over 100 kilos, could trample you to death in seconds. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
And we know him as Trevor. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
Like most ostriches, Trevor would fight to the death | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
to protect his territory, | 0:20:53 | 0:20:54 | |
so when John started invading Trevor's patch, | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
it really ruffled his feathers... | 0:20:57 | 0:21:01 | |
and Andy's seen the tensions rise. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
Every time John arrives, it's absolute mayhem. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
Trev can be extremely aggressive. We just all ignore him. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
John can't possibly ignore Trev when Trev starts. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:15 | |
Trev can spot John a mile off. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:17 | |
John could be walking along a perimeter fence, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
and Trevor will spot him and run up there and try and get him. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:23 | |
Now Trev has fixed his beady eye on John, | 0:21:23 | 0:21:27 | |
it's made his work down at the water hole almost impossible. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:31 | |
Whether it's me or the truck I don't know, | 0:21:31 | 0:21:33 | |
but...he certainly doesn't like it when we arrive... | 0:21:33 | 0:21:38 | |
-or when -I -arrive, actually - | 0:21:38 | 0:21:39 | |
not any of the other guys, it's only me, really. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
When he's sort of throwing his wobbly, it can be quite scary, | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
cos when you get close to him, he is quite a big bird. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:49 | |
Unfortunately for John, | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
today he has to head into Trevor's territory for a site survey. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:56 | |
Since ostriches have eyeballs measuring a full two inches across, | 0:21:56 | 0:22:00 | |
it's no surprise that within seconds, Trevor's spotted his prey. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:05 | |
'First his little war dance to warn us off that... | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
-HE LAUGHS: -'..we're on his patch - I think that's what it is.' | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
"Don't you kick that truck!" | 0:22:13 | 0:22:15 | |
"Trev, we can talk about this." | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
I think it makes us all love Trev just actually a little bit more, | 0:22:18 | 0:22:23 | |
cos he really winds John up. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:25 | |
It doesn't take long for Trevor to show just who's lord of this manor. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
But with John seen off for another day, | 0:22:29 | 0:22:32 | |
will this water hole ever get finished? | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
Well, that depends on Trevor. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
I'm up at Pet's Corner with keeper Rob Savin and, of course, | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
the otter family, who are looking extremely hungry. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
-Have you been starving them? -I don't think we've been starving them. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
They always look like they're starving. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
They like to make people believe that they've never been fed before, | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
-a bit like my family cat. -We've got Romeo and Rosie right here. | 0:22:57 | 0:23:01 | |
They're the brave ones, they're coming right up. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
They're not too bothered about all the equipment, | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
they're just looking at our selection of goodies here. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
I'm going to lift this up, cos it's rather impressive, Rob. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
It looks like some sort of rather elaborate Japanese dinner. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:15 | |
Yes, I'm sure they don't mind what extravagance we've gone to here, | 0:23:15 | 0:23:19 | |
they just want the bit in the middle, | 0:23:19 | 0:23:20 | |
but we've got a couple here already... | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
These king prawns we're gonna stuff into these bamboo tubes here. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:26 | |
-Right. -And the idea is, because the otters are so excellent | 0:23:26 | 0:23:29 | |
at getting things out of holes and gaps, | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
we're just trying to use their noses and get their paws into here, | 0:23:32 | 0:23:35 | |
and the trickier it is for them to get these out of the middle, | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
the better. So they can smell it but can't quite get to it - | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
-gives them enrichment. -You're making them work for their food. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
-It's a real treat for them. -OK. I have a horrible feeling... | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
They're desperate to go for it, so if you want to... | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
I knew you were going to make me do some. Is there a technique to this? | 0:23:50 | 0:23:53 | |
Fold it out a little bit and stuff it in there. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:56 | |
OK. In it goes. So I mean... | 0:23:56 | 0:23:57 | |
Obviously, otters aren't going to get | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
beautifully presented king prawns in bamboo tubes in the wild. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
-No. -So what does this mimic? | 0:24:03 | 0:24:05 | |
It mimics them getting things out... They would eat a lot of shelled food. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
-Right. -So they'd eat crayfish, they'd eat crabs, they'd eat... | 0:24:09 | 0:24:13 | |
They'd also eat things like frogs and all sorts of weird and bizarre stuff. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | |
They're not particularly big fish eaters, but some of their food, | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
they prefer shallow, marshy grasses, logs and rocks | 0:24:20 | 0:24:24 | |
-where they can get their paws in... -Can I just point out... | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
the prawn's too big for the bamboo. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:30 | |
I'd stuff that one the other way round. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:32 | |
Maybe I'll have better luck, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:33 | |
but if you want to throw one in to see if they'll catch directly. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:37 | |
-So throw it onto the rocks? -See if one will take it, actually. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
-See if mum or dad there will just catch it. -There we go. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:43 | |
-Oh, not too bad. -Not too bad. There we go. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
They'll probably both try, there might be bickering. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
-They might share it. No. -The paws are straight in there. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
-Here we are, Romeo. -Romeo's given up to Rosie there, | 0:24:51 | 0:24:53 | |
he's gonna try it there. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:55 | |
You can see the paw's in, and it can make it very, very tricky. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:58 | |
It's not always the easiest thing to get, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:00 | |
so it will keep them busy for a long time. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:02 | |
It might take them a while, but they'll find a way to get it out... | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
It looks like Rosie has been successful. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:07 | |
-It didn't taken her too long. -Romeo is being a bit thick. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
Come on, let's see if any of the young ones will do this. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:13 | |
-See? It wasn't me. -No, it wasn't you. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:15 | |
I'll tell you what, we'll give them an easy one. We'll bung that in. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
I'm not sure the other ones... We've got a few more interested. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
They've realised that food's coming in, so let's chuck them a few more | 0:25:22 | 0:25:26 | |
-and see how they go. -Now, as a family, | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
would they hunt together? Would they... | 0:25:28 | 0:25:30 | |
Yeah, they basically work as a group. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:32 | |
These otters are one of the few social otters in the world. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:36 | |
Most of the otters are solitary. But these ones will work as a team, | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
and... I mean, I've seen programmes | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
with them chasing off crocodiles as a unit, you know. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
-Really? -This croc's trying to have a go at them, | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
and as a unit, they're protecting the whole family by working together. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:51 | |
This thing gives up and runs away, d'you know what I mean? | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
-That's amazing! -They always work as a team. -Come on! | 0:25:54 | 0:25:57 | |
Come and see these. Come on. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:58 | |
Well, I think it's been a huge success, Rob. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
Certainly with the more experienced otters, | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
they're the ones that hang about. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
The young ones would learn from the older ones, presumably? | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
They'd get the idea eventually, | 0:26:08 | 0:26:09 | |
and certainly our two oldest children are already getting a lot more brave | 0:26:09 | 0:26:14 | |
and a lot more adventurous as it is. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
Well, we'll chuck these last two in. Here you go, guys. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:19 | |
Enjoy those lovely prawns, and... | 0:26:19 | 0:26:21 | |
-Rob, thank you very much indeed. -You're very welcome. Thank you. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
A fascinating view of how dextrous an otter can be. Thank you. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:29 | |
Kate and I have come out to the new area | 0:26:35 | 0:26:37 | |
with deputy head of section Kevin Nibbs | 0:26:37 | 0:26:40 | |
to see how the Bactrian camels are doing. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
Judging by this... Not too disturbed | 0:26:42 | 0:26:45 | |
by this particularly cold weather we've got right now. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
No, not at all, not at all. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:49 | |
Usually, you see him with a big chuggy jacket on. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
-This is the summer coat, presumably? -Exactly, yeah, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
they've lost all their hair now sort of for summer. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
I was just going to say, this is not a summer coat. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
No, exactly. I mean, we know that they're tough animals. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
In the wild, they live in really difficult conditions, don't they? | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
You can find them in the Gobi desert where it gets really cold at night, | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
-minus 40 sometimes. -Wow. | 0:27:11 | 0:27:12 | |
They can withstand really cold temperatures. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:14 | |
-Presumably that's with their coats. -With the coat. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
So how are they coping now with summer coats | 0:27:17 | 0:27:19 | |
-in quite cold and very wet weather? -It's not very nice for them. | 0:27:19 | 0:27:22 | |
Occasionally, if it's really wet, | 0:27:22 | 0:27:25 | |
we'll put them indoors for the evening. | 0:27:25 | 0:27:27 | |
It's the wet they don't like. They don't like getting wet, | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
cos they don't dry out very well. It's like a big soggy towel on them. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:34 | |
-They're wet and miserable. -The cold winds are not a problem | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
cos they deal with much chillier conditions? | 0:27:37 | 0:27:39 | |
No, and they've got the third eyelid as well to block anything | 0:27:39 | 0:27:42 | |
-blowing into their eyes. -You need third eyelids. -We do! | 0:27:42 | 0:27:45 | |
We're being sprayed by straw from Khan here. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:48 | |
Well, Kev, I hope that they manage to survive | 0:27:48 | 0:27:51 | |
this very inclement summer we're having. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:53 | |
-Thank you very much indeed. -I don't know if we are. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:55 | |
Or we're going to get eaten by camels - one or the other. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's programme, | 0:27:58 | 0:28:01 | |
but here's what's coming up on the next Animal Park. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
'I go picking for probably | 0:28:04 | 0:28:07 | |
'the world's most dangerous tortoise food.' | 0:28:07 | 0:28:09 | |
We find out if Andy Hayton's African watering hole | 0:28:09 | 0:28:14 | |
is a hit with the giraffes. | 0:28:14 | 0:28:15 | |
Plus there's a life and death drama when babies are born | 0:28:17 | 0:28:20 | |
on Meerkat Mountain. | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
So don't miss the next Animal Park. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:28:45 | 0:28:47 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:28:47 | 0:28:48 |