Episode 6 Animal Park

Today, we're loading up the feed truck

because the three new tigers here are about to get a meat feast.

And four keepers from Longleat are heading over to Tanzania

to work with a living legend of conservation.

All that and more on today's programme.

Coming up - the keepers in Africa are put to the ultimate test

as they fight to save the lives of some critically endangered wild dogs.

Meanwhile, the wolves in Wolf Wood have had a tough time of late,

so how are the new cubs faring now?

And does your cat ever scratch your furniture?

Well, that's nothing compared to what this lot can do!

But now, four keepers are about to set out

on the adventure of a lifetime.

Ryan Hockley from the giraffery,

Bev Allen who works in Pets' Corner

and Michelle Stevens who helps look after the lake animals

are going on a mission,

led by the safari park's head warden, Keith Harris.

They're going to Africa.

It's very nice that the keepers can actually go over

and see things in the wild and how things actually are.

We deal with captive animals and they react different.

You can get to know them.

It would be very good for the staff to see things in the wild,

see how they live,

see how they struggle for life sometimes.

In some ways, the staff and animals are pampered here.

But in the wild, every day is a struggle,

so it would be good for them to see that.

And this is where they're headed -

the Mkomazi game reserve in Tanzania,

1,600 square miles of pure wilderness.

The Longleat keepers aren't coming here just to go on safari.

They'll be working on wildlife projects

alongside the renowned conservationist Tony Fitzjohn,

known to one and all as Fitz.

Fitz has played a major role

in preventing the local elephant populations

from being wiped out by poachers.

He's built a sanctuary for the critically endangered black rhino.

And he's running a captive breeding programme

to preserve the desperately rare African hunting dog.

He also cleared a runway and learned to fly

in order to track animals from the air.

'I'm really looking forward to them coming here.'

Longleat, I mean... it was one of the first,

and I understand you've got some people

that have been there for decades coming out.

It would be lovely to meet them and see what they have to say,

and their call on it.

But I just know it's going to be great

because all animal people that I meet are good people. Yeah.

Fitz got his training as a conservationist from the best.

40 years ago, he was the apprentice of George Adamson,

the man made famous by the book and Oscar-winning film Born Free.

Adamson was one of the founding fathers of wildlife conservation,

working from his camp in Kenya.

He was the man, George. He was just...

When I saw George and got to know him over a few days, I thought,

you know, I want some of that.

Fitz became involved in the work Adamson was doing

to care for rescued and orphan lions,

return them to the wild and then protect them from hunters.

He gave me the chance to be anything I wanted to be.

There we were, sharing the lives of these incredible predators,

once again, with their big MGM reputation.

In fact, the lion in the MGM thing is yawning, he's not roaring.

Did you know that?

It was extraordinary. They were just such an integral part of us.

It's like saying, "How do you feel about your kids?"

They're great, I love them dearly and they're part of me.

But it took a wild lion to remind Fitz

exactly how dangerous these animals really are.

I'd just come back from a supplies trip and I got out

to say hello to the lions and they jump on my shoulder

to say hello and rub heads.

No-one saw this lion coming out of the bush.

He came for me, probably as the biggest threat.

He whacked me across the head,

a bit like Mike Tyson with six-inch nails in his fist.

I stuffed my fist in his mouth

and he started to bite harder on my head.

He sort of took a big chunk, all this muscle

out of my neck and shoulder and sort of ate it.

You become this sort of silent spectator of your own death.

I went down that tunnel.

There's nothing in the end of it. It just went black.

George came running out, he shouted at this lion.

The lion dropped me and ran off about 40, 50 yards,

and then crouched and growled at George

who didn't stop running,

just with a stick in his hand, just going for him.

It was enough bluff, bless him, just to see the lion off.

And I said, "George, am I dying?"

And George said,

"You probably are but we'll have a look at you first."

It was a close call, but after weeks in hospital, Fitz pulled through.

George Adamson died in 1989 and Fitz move to Mkomazi

to continue his conservation work.

Now, four keepers from Longleat are in the air.

We'll be back in Tanzania later when they arrive.

Luckily, the big cats of Longleat have never managed to savage anyone.

But that doesn't mean they wouldn't.

The three young tigers who arrived just a few months ago

are particularly feisty and unpredictable.

The keepers need to keep their wits about them,

especially at feeding time.

Kate and I are out in the feed truck, in the tiger enclosure

with deputy head warden Ian Turner

and we are about to feed the new tigers.

Look, look, look! One of them's absolutely chasing the truck, Ian.

-That's Sundari. That's the braver one.

-Right.

Now this is a first.

They are used to being fed in a completely different way from this.

We fed them inside for the last nine months for the quarantine.

This is a good sign, because this is going to simulate

what they would do in the wild, which is chase prey.

When are we going to start to feed them, Ian?

-You can chuck one bit out now.

-You do the first.

Let's see if she goes for it.

-Down the hatch.

-Oi! Round the back.

-What was she doing?

-She's trying to go for the tyres.

Hey!

Now she's realised that there's meat there, look.

-The other one's coming over, so that's a good sign.

-There we go.

Now she is coming back towards us to have a look.

She's on a chase again.

-We need to move off, presumably.

-So she's the really inquisitive one?

She's the one in the house who was always the confident one,

who'd come up to the bars.

I wouldn't say friendly,

but she would come over and was, not aggressive to the bars,

she's more mischievous.

Interesting that there's all that delicious meat there,

yet she's more interested in the tractor.

How often will you feed like this?

Because they're getting quite a lot of meat,

quite big chunks and two each.

Probably about three times a week.

She's going for the tyre again.

Oi! Behave yourself!

Otherwise you'll be put on starvation rations.

Rubber tyres aren't tasty!

Out of curiosity, could those teeth penetrate our tyres?

-Oh, easy.

-We could break down in here?

-Definitely.

We'd have to go out on a flat.

She's still there, she's still going for it.

She's determined to get that tyre.

The patrol man's coming in here, chasing her off. There she goes.

She's absolutely determined to get at us.

She does look like this glorious, playful kitten.

Unfortunately, an absolutely lethal one

as far as our tyres are concerned!

I'm quite pleased we're in this cage.

I'm still worried about those tyres. Let's hope we get out of here.

Ian, thank you very, very much for a great experience.

Sundari, carry on playing.

Meanwhile, almost 5,000 miles away at the other end of the world,

four keepers from Longleat are just coming into land

on a dirt strip deep in the African bush.

They will be spending a week in the Mkomazi game reserve

to learn more about the animals they care for

and help with some ground-breaking conservation projects.

Their host is the legendary conservationist Tony Fitzjohn,

known as Fitz.

Since I was a kid, I've heard about Longleat. I've never been.

But, welcome to the Mkomazi.

We're looking forward to showing you what goes on here

and looking forward to hearing from you guys.

For many years, Longleat has supported the work

of a British-based conservation charity called The Tusk Trust,

an organisation that's done much

to help save endangered African wildlife.

And there's certainly been a lot to do here in Mkomazi.

When Fitz first arrived, poachers had almost wiped out the wildlife.

The elephant population was in a very bad way.

The elephant count before I came was 11 individuals,

so the elephants had gone from 4,000 to 11 individuals

in five, six, seven years.

There was this massive slaughter of the elephants.

It all happened in the incredibly short period of time

that I've been in Africa.

Fitz has taken every opportunity to boost the numbers.

When a zoo here closed a few years ago,

he managed to rehabilitate their elephant

and then return her to the wild.

Ever since, she's been a frequent visitor

to the game reserve's headquarters.

I'd like you to meet someone rather special to us.

Now, the workshop doesn't really seem the place to do it

but come down and have a look anyway.

Meet Nina, the zoo elephant, the ex-zoo elephant and her baby.

So close!

Nina has adapted quite well to life in the wild.

Her baby is a little boy called Johnny.

-How old is the calf, Fitz?

-Nearly four.

-Cool. He looks really healthy.

-He does, doesn't he?

She was locked up in a place that wasn't much bigger

than where the machines are here.

She was right next to a main road and that was home.

And here she is, behaving like a completely wild elephant,

making all the right moves.

They're incomparable with anything else.

You know, lions are basically your house cat, zebra are horses,

all the rest of it, but there's nothing,

nothing that can sort of stand up with an elephant.

I agree with you totally, but I have known a few lions

that might take offence at that remark of yours about house cats.

I'm really sad that I don't have a couple around at the moment!

That was an amazing experience and it's the best thing,

for me to, sort of, be allowed into their world.

They're coming here, which means they are comfortable here

and they're allowing me to stand and watch them.

It's a real privilege to be able to do that.

I've never been to Africa before. It's quite moving.

I don't know if I'll get to experience it again.

So, I'm really pleased. It's just wonderful.

If I didn't see anything else for the rest of my time here,

I would be happy, because it's wonderful to see her doing so well.

From just 11 elephants in the reserve when Fitz came to Mkomazi,

now there are almost 1,000.

We'll be back in Africa later when the keepers take a walk

on the wild side.

A few months ago, the population of Wolf Wood grew

when some pups were born.

Having brought a huge piece of meat for them to get their teeth into,

keeper Stuart Sears and I

have come to check up on how they're getting on.

Good. You can see them starting to sniff,

but definitely looking a little bit kind of, "Get out of my way!"

And what sort of stage are they at now?

They're pretty much self-sufficient.

They're still suckling now and again.

OK. I can see a cub trotting into the sunshine,

just coming in behind the rest of the pack.

Who's going to be in first? Would it usually be

one of the dominant males that will come in first?

Mostly, we have found recently,

-it would be Frida that'll come in first.

-So the mum?

The mum has been coming in first.

Whereas, the pubs are growing now, it all changes again.

OK, Stuart, pups seem to be coming in almost first.

-It looks that way today, doesn't it?

-It does.

They're very wary of that piece of meat.

I'm slightly offended after all that effort.

They should be in there, ripping it apart!

Who's gone in first?

Someone's been brave.

This is interesting, the pups coming right up now going,

"Oh good, they've done the first bit of ripping."

My word, you really see a bit of competition there.

Oh, it is great to see them, Stuart,

looking so well and clearly thriving

amongst the pack. Congratulations on your latest wolves,

-they're just gorgeous.

-Thank you very much.

Back in Tanzania, a tricky and dangerous mission is about to start.

One of the most endangered species in the world

is the African hunting dog.

They once roamed in packs across most of the Continent.

Now, they are on the very brink of extinction.

To try to save the species,

Fitz began a captive breeding programme

in the Mkomazi game reserve.

He now has six enclosures called bomas

that house nearly 70 hunting dogs.

Today, he's about to take the first vital step

towards returning a whole pack back to the wild.

We're going to dart this group of nine male dogs

and move them to this new holding compound

that we have on the Kenyan border.

We have too many so I have to start moving them.

We've just got permission, which is great.

Longleat's head warden, Keith Harris, is going to help.

He's had lots of experience moving wild animals,

though he's never done anything quite like this.

It's quite nerve-racking.

You've got to sedate them so there's the worries of sedation.

I think we're planning on flying them down.

It's going to be quite interesting, I think.

It's conservation at work.

If we can be a little part of that, and it is a little part,

that's what really appeals to me.

Just being able to put something back.

Wild dogs or hunting dogs

are in one way Africa's most successful predator.

Lions make a killing in only about every five chases they begin.

But when these guys start running, the prey doesn't stand a chance.

These dogs, they just go and go and go. They can run forever.

Eventually, the prey gives up and they pull it down.

They just rip at everything

until there's absolutely nothing left whatsoever.

Being such efficient hunters has given them an evil reputation

and so they've been massacred by people.

They say in the whole of Africa up there's 3,000 left.

They are very, very rare.

They have this incredibly undeserved reputation.

They've never, ever been known to harm a human being, ever. Ever.

To save them from extinction, Fitz plans to release packs

into protected areas in Tanzania and Kenya.

But just moving them is a high-risk operation.

Fitz and Keith will use anaesthetic darts

to put them to sleep for about an hour.

Just enough time to load them into a plane

and fly them to the release camp, 40 miles away.

So, once these darts start flying, the clock starts ticking.

The darts are pressurised

and the anaesthetic is supposed to be injected on impact.

It's not going in. That one's not going in either.

Even that one didn't go, Keith. I just don't know what's happening.

We're losing pressure. I think it's just because the darts are so old.

The more stressed the dogs get, the more difficult it is too dart them.

With 30 years' experience of sedating animals to draw on,

Keith won't lose his head now.

At the moment, we're out in the field.

We're not doing a clinical trial.

It's a job that got to be done and you've got to get on with it.

Whatever happens, you have to work round it.

At last, the darts start working and the drugs can begin to take effect.

It's quite something.

All the noise just now, it's actually a bit peaceful.

I think we've got to try and move them before they start coming round.

It's a race against time.

But the danger of the dogs waking up is not the only deadline.

Get them in the car and down the airstrip.

We're gonna move fast.

The anaesthetic drug has a dangerous side effect.

It can cause animals to lose control of their body temperature.

And now, the heat of the day is building up.

It's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

If they get too hot, the dogs will die.

Meanwhile, 40 miles away on the Kenyan border,

Longleat keeper Ryan Hockley and ranger Semu

have arrived on the landing strip, ready to receive the dogs.

It's a stressful time for everyone but the dogs in particular.

Obviously, you've only got a certain amount of time

to travel them while they're still under.

You obviously don't want them to wake up in transit.

The last thing the dog knew, he fell asleep in his home

and today he wakes up in the back of a plane.

That's got to be quite a shock for an animal,

It's very, very important that everything runs to the minute.

The flight to the release compound should take less than ten minutes,

but what state will the dogs be in when they arrive?

We'll be back shortly to find out.

Also hailing from the African plains but born in the English countryside

are five new stunning baby eland and Ben's heading over to meet them.

There's been some very exciting news up in the new area

and I've joined deputy head of section Kevin Nibbs

-to come and see some baby eland.

-Baby eland, yep.

Four females and a male, so we've got five.

Five, that is fantastic news for Longleat, isn't it?

Definitely, the females are our future breeding stock,

but the little male, he'll be fantastic

for breeding all round the country or even Europe.

Really exciting for you.

So what sort of age are they all?

The youngest is only just under a week old.

-He's about five days old.

-And which one is that?

He's the smallest one.

In that pack of four over there?

-Yes.

-They just looked incredible.

So roughly what ages are we dealing with over there?

The oldest is about a month old.

So it ranges from a month-old to maybe three weeks, two weeks,

one week, and then a couple of days.

It's a nice little range.

They'll just hang around together, the five of them

as a group of babies.

-So it's nice to see them together.

-Have they got names yet?

They have. The oldest one is called Fern after a beautiful TV presenter.

The youngest one is the male, we've called him Irwin,

in honour of Steve Irwin who died recently.

It's a tribute to him. We're chuffed with him.

We've got one called Sarah, one called Holly and one called Eva.

-So there's still not a Ben?

-Not yet.

-I'll have to come back another year, won't I?

-Yep!

Kevin, I can't help but notice all the camels in the background.

-Could they potentially be a hazard?

-There's a chance, yeah.

With anything bigger than the babies,

that they could get trodden on or roughed up in play

but they're quick on their feet.

From a couple of hours, they can get up and run around really quickly.

The other thing they do is they play dead.

In the first 24-48 hours, they'll play dead.

If something comes up, they'll just lay completely still.

-Normally, they'll get left alone.

-Fantastic.

Well, Kevin, thank you very much.

A huge success story for the safari park.

Back in Tanzania, Longleat keeper Ryan Hockley and ranger Semu

are anxiously waiting

for the African hunting dogs on Fitz's plane to land.

It's a hot and tense wait...

but finally, they arrive.

Here he is.

But the race against time is far from over.

They won't know if the dogs are all still breathing

until after they take them out of the boxes

inside the holding compound.

There's always a risk when you're sedating any animal,

whether it's a wild dog or a domestic dog.

The heat is not going to help us,

because they can very quickly overheat.

So we want to move as quickly as we can.

The holding compound is a quarter of a mile away.

Let's just get them out...

There's not a second to lose.

Apart from anything else, they could start to wake up at any moment.

It's now midday, and incredibly hot.

As they are taken out, the dogs are put in the shade

to give them the best chance of survival.

This is the last one.

They are all still breathing.

For me, this is like "phew",

because I've waited so long to get them, to start moving them.

The pack will stay here in the compound for one month

while they acclimatise to their new surroundings.

Then, they will be released into thousands of square miles

of protected bushland, where they can hunt and breed in safety.

I would love to be a wild dog here. There's a lot of game out there.

It's a wonderful place for a dog to be.

There's no tourist camps. It's just perfect for them.

I think these dogs are at a critical stage of their evolutionary history.

I think if we don't help them now, they will disappear.

-Here they come.

-Yeah. Even the little ones.

This one's coming round, nicely.

That one, see, she's up now.

Steadier than the others were at the same time.

They've all come round really nicely.

They're beautiful little things, aren't they? Aren't they wonderful?

It's not until you get this close

that you realise how delicate they are.

Everything I knew as a kid was, "They're a ferocious pack,

"the most successful hunter." But extremely delicate.

It's been an interesting day for Ryan and Keith.

Animal moves in Wiltshire are nothing like this.

Being able to be part of a release programme...

we talk about it a lot in Longleat, in captivity.

But a lot of the time it's talk.

We try to do our bit, obviously, but coming out here now

and being part of a scheme to put these dogs back out there,

I think, is absolutely wonderful.

And I'm actually very privileged to have been able to have done it,

so I'm going to go home with a lot of memories on this trip.

Last year, we helped put up some giant cat toys

for the Longleat lions

but it didn't take long for them to rip them to shreds.

So, earlier in this year's series,

I helped put up some bigger, stronger toys.

Now Kate and I have come back up to the lion enclosure

with keeper Craig Faggeter to see what they've made of them.

They've done a pretty good job, Craig.

-Pretty much finished them off.

-They did.

-This is marine rope.

Ships ply the world with this and they've shredded it.

-They've just pulled it apart.

-Unbelievable. Look at that!

This, Kate, because you didn't necessarily see it

in its former glory, was a swing.

Just down this way, we had a big ball

that seems to have totally gone. Is there anything left?

-Is this the remains?

-That is the remains of the ball.

Was there one lion in particular

that you think did most of this damage or was it team work?

Mainly team work. The little ones mainly.

Kabir, he didn't pay it much attention.

He just sat in the background? This is gone as well!

This is actually remains of one of the balls.

That is... Joking apart, and it's quite funny,

but can you imagine if this was you?

It really shows you how powerful they are, doesn't it?

Last year, when we put them up,

we thought we had to build them even stronger this time, which we did.

And no difference at all.

-No, Fogle, you're hopeless.

-Next year, they'll be this big!

Craig, thank you very much indeed.

We'll have to think of something new for the lions next year.

Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's programme.

But here's what's coming up on the next Animal Park.

In pursuit of love, three tonnes of randy rhino goes on the rampage.

This might make a few cars move.

Will the new arrivals break the deadly curse of Meerkat Mountain?

And Bev takes her chances with killer snakes and scorpions

as she hunts for the elusive pancake tortoise.

All that and more next time on Animal Park.

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