Episode 1 Animal Park

Longleat is home to 12 of these incredible Rothschild's giraffes

and the keepers are busily preparing for more.

Yes, after months of waiting,

one of them is about to give birth very soon.

We'll be bringing you all of the news on today's Animal Park.

Coming up on today's Animal Park -

Some ferocious new arrivals bring terror to Longleat.

TIGER GROWLS

After last year's dramatic scenes,

can Imogen the giraffe survive another labour?

And when you're just one month old,

the last thing you need is a neighbour with the hump.

The baby elands learn that speed is an essential survival skill.

The giraffes at the safari park

are a highly endangered sub-species called Rothschild

and there are only about 300 left in the world,

so the keepers are doing their best

to keep this threatened species alive.

A pregnancy is usually a cause for celebration,

but the latest one has only caused concern.

The expectant mother is Imogen,

and the last time she tried to give birth, it almost killed her.

She's due any day, so the keeper in charge of the giraffes, Andy Hayton,

has been watching her closely.

This morning, he's got two vets out with him,

Duncan Williams and Paul Higgs.

They were all there when things went so badly wrong for Imogen.

It's been almost two years

since these dramatic scenes in the giraffe house.

When Imogen went into labour, everything seemed normal,

but as the hours passed, it became clear that she was in distress.

Sunday morning, the vet came out, looked at her

and the decision was taken we would probably have to pull the calf.

We thought, possibly, it could have been a breach birth or the head was

tilted back, so she just couldn't physically push it out.

In order to help, they had no choice but to put her under anaesthetic,

but resident vet Duncan knew how risky that could be.

Anaesthetic-wise, I think giraffes probably are the most dangerous,

really, in terms of, basically, one in three anaesthetics

with giraffes end in fatalities.

When the anaesthetic took effect, the team could get to work.

There were four vets, including a special anaesthetist,

and keepers came from all over the park to help.

Sadly, Duncan's internal examination revealed

that the unborn calf was already dead,

and it soon became clear it was dangerously stuck inside the womb.

Imogen's life was now balancing on a knife edge.

For any chance of her survival, they had to get the dead calf out.

We're going to attempt a Caesarean, just to give her a go.

We can't just decide we're going to put her down and quit here.

Even if it doesn't come out,

the right outcome that we want, we've got to at least try it.

The vets worked as quickly as possible to remove the dead calf.

As the minutes turned to hours, deputy head warden Ian Turner

began to lose hope for Imogen too.

We've just took a baby giraffe out of her stomach,

which is a 6ft-odd baby, so the actual wound, the stitches,

we're talking that sort of size stitching,

and she's got two lots of internal stitching,

plus the external stitching.

She's now been under for four hours plus.

Admittedly, if the giraffe survived, it would be a miracle.

The stitches had to be made very strong,

because giraffes must never lie down for too long.

If they do, the pressure of their own 600kg weight

can cause muscle damage, so when it was time to revive Imogen

from the anaesthetic, it was vital that she just got straight up.

It didn't look good.

Sick giraffes have been known to lie down, give up, and just die.

It's one of these difficult situations.

How much you intervene? Do you let her do it herself?

You always worry that you don't do enough

and if something bad happens, you're going to be blaming yourself.

But a minute later, somehow, Imogen found the strength to sit up.

And finally, to try to stand.

Slowly, over the months that followed,

Imogen made a full recovery.

As every Rothschild calf is so vital for keeping the species going,

Duncan decided that as long as there was careful monitoring,

Imogen could try again.

And sure enough, she fell pregnant.

Having one Caesarean doesn't automatically mean

that she'll have a Caesarean every time,

but you can never say it's a certainty.

That's the problem. She's looking big, actually.

She's looking like she's going to do something fairly soon.

The udder's developing well.

She seems really happy in herself

and it's really just fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

We'll just have to wait and see.

With the baby due any time and as a first-time mum,

it's important for Imogen to be watched round the clock,

so an infra-red CCTV camera has been erected in the giraffe house

to monitor her progress day and night.

We'll be back to find out more later on.

While Imogen can only wait to see if her baby arrives safely,

on the other side of the park, another herd is already celebrating.

Within the past month, five stunning baby eland have been born,

and Ben's heading over to meet them.

There's been some exciting news in the new area, and I've joined

deputy head of section Kevin Nibbs to come and see some baby eland.

We've got four females and a male.

Five of them. That's 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 around the country, or even Europe.

Really exciting for you.

Just over here, we've got some quite nervous youngsters, still,

which is only to be expected.

-Yes.

-What sort of age are they all?

The youngest one is only just under a week old.

-About five days old.

-And which one is that?

He's the smallest one.

The smallest one in that pack of four over there?

He's the one without the tag. We've tagged the other females,

but the male, we didn't manage to get hold of.

So roughly what ages are we dealing with over there?

The oldest is about a month old.

It ranges from a month old to maybe three weeks, two weeks, one week,

and then just a couple of days.

It's a nice range, and they just hang around together,

as a group of babies. It's nice to see them all together.

-So have they got names yet?

-They have.

The oldest one is called Fearne, after a beautiful TV presenter.

-OK.

-And the youngest one is the male, and we've called him Irwin,

in honour of Steve Irwin, who died recently.

So we're chuffed with him as well.

And we've got one called Sarah, one called Holly and one called Eva.

-So there's still not a Ben?

-Not yet, no.

I'm going to have to come back another year!

I can't help but notice the camels in the background there as well.

Could they potentially be a hazard?

There is a chance, with anything that's bigger than the babies,

that they could get trodden on or roughed-up in play.

But they're quick on their feet.

Just from a couple of hours, they can run around really quickly.

The other thing they do is play dead.

Within the first 24, 48 hours, they will play dead.

So if something comes up to them, they just lay still

-and normally they'll get left alone.

-Well, Kevin, Thank you very much.

A huge success story for the safari park.

Breeding season at Longleat always brings a lot of change and upheaval.

But over in Tiger Territory, some new arrivals from outside the park

are about to cause total havoc.

For almost 20 years,

three Bengal tigers have lived here together, like a settled family.

There was Shandi, the famous white tigress,

Kadu, the playful female, and Sona, the male.

But last year, old age and cancer caught up with Shandi.

Then, just two months ago, Sona passed away.

Now Kadu is the only one left.

At 21, she's already outlived the normal life span of a tiger

in captivity, and keeper Bob Trollope is keen

to make sure she's happy in the autumn of her days.

She hasn't been the same since Sona died.

Kadu was, the first day or two,

obviously, I wouldn't like to use the word "mourning",

but she was aware that she was the only one left.

She did pine for a little bit.

Tigers are solitary animals, so they do spend a lot of time on their own,

but having had a partner for 18 years, she missed him.

But life never stands still,

and now, two vans have just arrived in the safari park.

They've travelled from Mulhouse Zoo in Alsace, France,

and it's taken an incredible two days to get here.

On board are three very rare Amur tigers

who've come to live at Longleat.

It's a historic moment, and a tense one.

Just getting them unloaded into the tiger house

is going to be a challenge, and no-one knows how they'll react.

The three new tigers are young, little more than a year old,

and they're all sisters from the same litter, born at the zoo in France.

-Go on.

-The slide is up, but there seems to be a communication problem.

-What's French for "go on"?

-Vous avez arrive a la maison!

Deputy head warden Ian Turner spots the obvious solution.

We should turn the box round.

It's just as well for the team that these are only youngsters.

These tigers are the largest kind of cat in the world.

The males can reach 3m from the nose to the tip of their tail.

Soundari is surprisingly placid.

Because she's the first,

it takes a while before she bucks up the courage to enter the tiger house.

One down, two to go.

But it's amazing how different sisters can be.

Next it's Svetli.

TIGER GROWLS

A bit more spirit, this one!

Two, three...

Bob has been looking after tigers for over 25 years,

but even he is shocked by these fierce youngsters.

One of them is fine so far, and one of them is in a grumpy old mood.

Luckily, Shouri, the third sister, isn't in such a bad mood.

In terms of temperament, she seems to be somewhere between the other two.

Or maybe not. While all this has been going on,

Kadu has been in a separate pen at the other end of the house.

Tigers are territorial animals

and could fight to the death to protect their own space.

As soon as he gets a moment,

Bob checks to see how Kadu is taking things.

She doesn't seem that bothered about it.

She's quite happy. She just thinks, "God, noisy neighbours!"

But she's purring away as normal in there.

She's just thinking that something's a bit strange.

A bit noisy next door.

I think they're a bit too boisterous for mixing, that's for sure.

Safari park vet Duncan has also come to check on the new arrivals.

I think they look absolutely superb.

They're beautiful animals and they're a bit feisty.

They're certainly not like we're used to with our other tigers,

and the best thing we can do,

because they've had a lot of stress travelling today,

I think that we can leave them alone

and the sooner we do that, the better.

Because they're pretty wound up, I think.

The three sisters are going to keep Duncan busy for the next few months.

As they've come from France,

the tigers will now have to do six months' quarantine.

But how will these ferocious young tigresses adapt with being cooped up,

and how will the keepers cope with them?

'I'm racing up to the giraffery

'after an urgent call from Andy Hayton,

'with some dramatic news about Imogen.

'Last time she tried to give birth, she nearly died.

'With her new baby due any day now, everyone's been desperately worried.

'The entire park is on tenterhooks, the keepers have been up

'all night, and I'm really anxious to know what's happened.'

Hopefully good news, Andy. What's happened?

We've got a baby giraffe. Imogen's actually done it.

Oh, that's fantastic!

Now, I know you don't really want us to go in at this stage.

Yes. We always err on the side of caution

and let mum and baby bond. Especially in this situation.

She's a first-time mum, so just let her get on with it

and bond with her baby.

But she's doing absolutely brilliantly. It's total textbook.

That's such good news. The camera, did it get anything?

Yes, it did. We can actually see the birth.

-Can we have a look?

-Yes. Sure thing.

-Just turn the TV on.

-OK, let's see.

This is a truly special moment, as it's the first time

the keepers have filmed a giraffe giving birth alone.

There she is, so no sign of baby yet but clearly looking quite restless.

You can see she's circling and going round in circles, and agitated.

She's quite a calm female anyway.

Women, when they're about to give birth,

do feel quite restless, quite uncomfortable.

Presumably, it's sort of alleviating that discomfort?

They don't give a huge amount away.

Because instinctively, if they're flailing around

and crashing around and looking like they're in distress,

-every predator in the vicinity will be like, "Oh, cool."

-Absolutely.

-So they've actually got to...

-They've got to hide it.

A couple of hours later and things are really starting to happen.

So is this sort of like, again, the human equivalent of waters breaking?

Absolutely, yes.

And sure enough, just minutes later, the baby is on its way.

There's a leg. There you go. You can see a leg.

Oh, look at that! Oh, that's amazing!

There's the calf. You've got two front legs.

-There's the head, just hanging.

-Oh, my goodness!

It does seem extraordinary that giraffes give birth standing up.

It's a big drop for a baby!

-It's kind of a smack on the bum.

-It is.

When the calf hits, if the bag is still round her nose,

it will break the bag and also, as the calf hits the ground,

-we have heard them...

-GASPING NOISE

-as they hit the ground.

-like a human baby.

-There you go. There he goes, look.

-There he goes!

Oh, my goodness, that's fantastic!

-Wow!

-Let's see what Imogen's reaction to the calf.

This is crucial time, presumably. This is where you're nervous.

Will this very first reaction tell you

-whether Imogen's going to be a good mum or not?

-Yes.

You want her to get in there pretty quick. She didn't freak out.

She kind of knows what to do.

It looks like she's licking it.

This is all-important, Kate.

All the licking, the cleaning of the calf, the bonding.

Oh, look, he's stood up!

Is he just... It's a bit grainy, but there he is.

First kind of wobbly steps.

But she's just standing there, so calmly, so cool,

not fretting, not jumping around.

-He's trying to feed, now, actually.

-Oh, yes, he is.

-And that, again, that first suckle, absolutely crucial?

-Absolutely, yes.

Sometimes you'll get a problem with young females.

She's pulling him in underneath her.

She knows so well what to do, and this is the amazing thing.

She's learnt, by watching the others, what she has to do,

and she's positioning herself over him so he can feed.

-This is incredible.

-This is so lovely.

It's so nice to see. This is kind of what it's all about.

It really is, and Imogen, of all of them.

-That is amazing, Andy. Congratulations!

-Thank you.

Really, really good news, and I hope they continue to do really well.

I can't wait to see them. We will of course be keeping you updated

with this little one's progress. You've got to think of a name!

-It's H this year, as well.

-It's an H year. OK.

-Not Humble!

-Thanks, Andy. Really good news.

Back up in the tiger house,

the three youngsters from France are being kept in quarantine.

Only a handful of staff are allowed to have contact with the tigers,

and once a week, Duncan the vet comes to do a health check.

I actually check them every week, make sure they're all healthy.

Not showing any signs of illness, such as rabies.

They're in rabies quarantine because they've come

from a country that's got rabies. They came from France.

They have a six-month quarantine period,

because the incubation period for rabies is quite a long time.

It can be even longer than that. So that's the reason.

Kadu, the elderly tiger who's lived here for nearly 20 years,

has also had to go into quarantine.

She's been kept in her own pen and not yet mixed with the youngsters,

but Bob is pleased with how she's coped so far.

Well, Kadu is Kadu. She's our little favourite.

We had a couple of months when she was on her own, while we were

waiting for these to come, but now, she's got three new friends.

Because quarantine restrictions are so strict,

our crew must stay outside the tiger house.

Right. Let's see what we're doing here.

Hello, Doo-Doos! This is Doo-Doos.

Hello, Doos. Hi-ho.

This is one of the reasons why I've got the camera,

because we've got the film crew out there, who aren't allowed in.

Next door is Soundari.

The three have kept the names they were given in France,

where they were born.

Soundari is turning out to be a big kitten.

There we are.

Further along are the two ugly sisters, Svetli and Shouri.

Hello, my darlings.

Who were very grumpy when they arrived five months ago.

And their characters haven't really changed.

Hello. What's this?

You're fogging up the lens now.

This is Svetli.

-TIGER GROWLS

-I know!

Back with Soundari, Bob wants to get a good, close shot of her claws.

I want to see your claws, you softie!

These tigers have claws like knives, 4cm long.

-What's this?

-So they can rip their prey to shreds in seconds.

But Soundari is just not that kind of girl.

What are you doing, silly? Eh?

Good girl.

Oh, what's this? Something to eat?

Bob needs to build up a bond with all the newcomers,

and one way to do that is with food.

We'll be back to see if they bite the hand that feeds them

-a little later on.

-Oh, dear!

-TIGER GROWLS

Earlier on, I went to check on the five cute new eland calves,

but it was cut short when they were spooked

by the rather large Bactrian camels,

who are clearly feeling a little left out.

To try and readdress the balance,

keeper Adrian has come to tell me all about them.

Now, Adrian, I heard a fascinating fact

that there aren't actually very many wild Bactrians left in the world.

No, there's only about 1,000 left wild in the world now.

Most of them are domesticated, around about two million.

Wow. So basically there's two million Bactrian camels in the world,

but only 1,000 of those live wild.

-All the rest have been harnessed by man.

-That's right.

Isn't that incredible? So what do we use camels for?

Obviously, they have many uses in the deserts.

To carry goods across the desert.

Their fur can be used for coats and lining tents.

And also, they use the milk as their only form of nourishment,

for the camel herder.

-Wow. Have you ever tried camel milk?

-I haven't, myself.

Something tells me it might be a bit rich.

I'm quite happy buying mine from the supermarket.

Adrian, thank you very much.

Here's what's still to come on today's programme.

Bob attempts to feed a very big cat on a very small stick.

Rather him than me!

They are so powerful and so quick.

They could kill you in seconds.

Ben goes poolside to make sure there's no running or bombing

as the park's largest tortoise goes for a dip.

And find out what happens

when our new arrival ventures out for the first time.

Down in Pets Corner, as well as otters, ferrets and iguanas,

live three tufted-eared marmosets.

These territorial animals are usually found

in the Brazilian rainforest,

so it's not surprising that they're barking mad about trees!

But it's not the bark itself that makes them go wild,

it's what's inside it, as I'm about to find out.

I'm down in Pets Corner with keeper Jo Hawthorne,

and half a tree!

Is this really necessary?

Well, you're going to make the marmosets very happy.

-Am I?

-So it'll be worth it.

-OK.

Is this an extra climbing frame, or what are you going to do with it?

Basically, these little guys, in the rainforest,

part of their diet is a gum and resin diet.

-They've got specially-designed teeth.

-Yes.

-Very sharp mandibles,

-that they make scrapings in the tree trunks out there.

-OK.

And they extract this gum and resin.

So, you know, in Wiltshire, we can't do that.

We don't have these trees. So what I do is I give them lots of different

logs and I change them regularly, every couple of weeks or so.

And I drill lots of little holes in the tree trunks

and then we have this very special gum here,

which is a gum resin, which basically mimics that gum

that they would have out in the wild.

Lots of vitamins and minerals and nutrients,

and it is an essential part of their diet.

And just looking at their paws, now.

Will they use those fingers very much the same way that we do?

They do. They're manipulative, dextrous, so they are like us.

But when it comes to the gum thing, I've seen them, I've watched them

very closely and it is simply those teeth.

If they didn't do it, they get very overgrown teeth

and things like that, and it mimics their natural diet.

They're all right here, though.

They're like, "Come on, get drilling!"

So we need to drill out a few little holes here?

We do, yeah. Yeah.

-Do you trust me?

-Oh, go for it.

-So any particular technique?

-Anywhere you want.

-Hold the drill up, so you're going kind of down and deep.

-Oh, OK.

-So, like that?

-Yep.

Brilliant. Oh, look at this.

DIY special!

It's quite a tough log. Couldn't you have got one that was more rotted?

So how deep do you think, Jo?

-As deep as you can, really, I have to be honest.

-Really?

Instead of filling the hole up so that it's spilling out of the top,

we leave a little bit in the bottom, so they get the smell,

and what they do is think, "Oh, it's right at the bottom of this hole,

"so I have to chew, chew, chew at the trunk to get it out."

It makes them work harder. I think that's cool.

-Okey-doke. Do you want to do the honours?

-OK.

-First squirt.

If I start with this top one and just fill up the hole?

Well, not fill it up completely.

Just halfway, so they have to really get in there

to try and get a bit out of the bottom. Brilliant.

-About that much?

-They can see it and they can smell it,

-but they have to get their teeth in to get it out.

-What is this stuff?

Arabic gum, a product which has been made,

but in stickiness and sweetness,

it pretty much does replicate the gum and resin that they would have.

And they absolutely go mad for it.

It smells quite nice, doesn't it?

-Yes, like syrup.

-Yes, it is. Quite syrupy. Right, guys.

Let's see what you make of...

Look! "Come on! Get a move on!"

Come on. We're coming!

'We'll be back later to see if the marmosets get stuck into the gum.'

Imogen's first baby, who we witnessed dramatically being born on camera

in the middle of the night, is doing well.

It's a boy and he's been named Henry.

He's spending his first few days in a small paddock

next to the giraffe house with his mum

and Jolly, the granny of the herd.

Part of the reason for having them up here

before they go out into the drive-through

is we really want to see the calf and Mum bond.

You know, be right on her heels.

Out in the drive-through, there are other animals around.

Just in a giraffe environment, we're pretty confident that no harm

will come to the youngster, but we can't guarantee that

when you have zebra that sometimes hare around.

There's ostrich, camels, llamas out there,

so what we want to see is that calf following Mum everywhere

and really seeing its mum as its protector.

Its whole world is centred around its mum.

The calf is now four days old

and so far, he's been doing all the right things.

So now the time has come for him to go out and meet the gang

in the East Africa Reserve.

MUSIC: "Wild World" by Cat Stevens

# Take good care, hope you make a lot of nice friends out there

# But just remember, there's a lot of bad, and beware

# Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world

# It's hard to get by just upon a smile

# Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world

# I'll always remember you like a child, girl... #

Because there are so many potential dangers on his first day out,

keeper Corrine Hill is keeping an extra special eye on him.

It's lovely to see him out and about with Mum.

The other giraffes are taking an interest in him,

giving him a bit of attention and stuff, so it's absolutely lovely.

After her Caesarean and things, we weren't sure how things would go,

but absolutely lovely to know that she can carry full-term,

have a normal, healthy little calf and that she's showing really good,

strong maternal responses as well, because it's her first time.

So really, really good.

Really, really thrilled.

She's a really cool mum, actually.

But then she's seen a lot. She's an older mum.

She's starting quite late, breeding, so she's seen a lot of babies born.

She knows the score.

It's another Rothschild giraffe.

There's 300 left.

They're very endangered, so he is a pure Rothschild giraffe,

he's a male, he'll be a breeding male in the future, he's important.

This is why the risk was taken with Imogen, to breed her, because every

animal that we get out of this particular group, this herd,

are important to Rothschild in general.

Senior warden Bev Evans and I have come up to the tortoise paddock

to meet an African spurred tortoise. Now, she is gigantic, isn't she?

She is, although she's not fully grown yet.

-How much bigger will she get?

-Probably another two-thirds bigger.

Wow! And I'm right in thinking we're actually here to give her a bath?

Yes. She generally, as you can see, is quite clean,

but sometimes they can get quite dirty underneath,

and it's very good to keep them hydrated in the warmer weather.

So how on earth are we going to give her a bath?

We have a special tortoise pond down in the paddock.

Which means we've got to get her there.

-Yes.

-I imagine she's quite heavy.

-She's about 20kg in weight. Sorry!

I suppose I should be gallant and volunteer.

-Shall I pick up like this?

-Yes, just underneath there.

-That's lovely.

-Wow. That is a very heavy tortoise.

Just lead her down this way?

-Yes, just down this way.

-OK. So, presumably, this is the washing pond?

-If you just dip her into there.

-Pop her down like that?

-That's fine.

-She likes that, does she?

-She does.

We've made this specially designed for our tortoises,

it's not too deep in the middle.

-OK.

-So they're never going to get themselves into any kind of trouble.

How do we go about it? Are we just going to splash some water?

Yes, if you do that. She's not overly keen!

-Some days are better than others.

-Just like this?

-That's cool, yes.

We need to keep the top of the shell quite clean.

If there's any big bits of mud or anything on there,

it can inhibit their intake of sunlight and vitamin D and UV.

They pick up vitamins through the sunlight going through the shell?

-Yes.

-Do you think she's enjoying this?

-Um...kind of!

She's not running off, so...

She's not running off. Could she feel that through her shell?

It's kind of like a very thick fingernail.

There is blood running through the shell, so if it did break,

you can get shell-rot and things like that, so you do have to keep

-the shells in good condition.

-And does she have a mate here?

Thomas. He's wandering over, down by the house.

-Thomas is there. And does Thomas like having a bath?

-He hates it!

-Does he?

-He absolutely hates it.

She'll go in herself, Thomas won't. He'll walk through it by accident,

but generally, he'll never stay in there. He's a dirty little boy!

Do you have to force him in there occasionally?

Yes, we'll dip him in there from time to time.

I'm amazed, because tortoises have a reputation for being very slow.

-Actually, that's a reasonable pace, isn't it?

-Yes.

The sun has been out strongly today and once they're warmed up

and at their full temperature, that's it, they go.

Like a solar panel. They can go quite fast.

So that was a quick shower. Are you happy I've done a reasonable job?

To be honest, she's not too dirty today, so not too bad. Thanks.

Thank you very much.

I'm not sure that I'd ever get a job as a tortoise-washer.

Back in Tiger Territory,

the three young new arrivals are still in quarantine,

but have been let out to stretch their legs

in a specially constructed paddock.

It looks like the girls are loving it.

MUSIC: "The Lovecats" by The Cure.

# We move like cagey tigers, oh, we couldn't get closer than this

# The way we walk, the way we talk

# The way we stalk, the way we kiss

# We slip through the streets while everyone sleeps

# Getting bigger and sleeker and whiter and brighter

# We bite and scratch and scream all night

# Let's go and throw all the songs we know

# Lovecats

# We miss you, hiss the lovecats... #

The tigers come into the house at night

and that gives Bob an opportunity to try to build up their trust.

He has to teach them to take chunks of meat from a stick,

so if they ever need medication,

it can easily be given in their food.

-Good girl!

-It's no surprise that Soundari, the nice sister,

-has got the hang of it already.

-Let's see if the others...

But now for the two grumpy sisters, Svetli and Shouri.

Go on. Good girl. Good girl!

It's another achievement.

A few weeks ago, they wouldn't come up to us,

but now... You keep on breathing on that, you!

But now, the fact that they will all come up and take meat off the stick.

This is also a good way to give them a dental check-up.

The teeth are in, actually, perfect condition.

But what about the elderly tiger, Kadu,

the last survivor of the old gang?

She's still here in the house and her teeth are not so good.

Most of her teeth are left in cars

that she's bitten over the years, I think! We're going to see her.

And there are so many comparisons.

You look at Kadu's eyes.

They're going a bit misty now.

Everything about the new tigers is just like a younger version of Kadu.

It's nice to be able to compare different age spectrums,

from, most probably, one of the oldest tigers in the country

to some of the youngest ones.

Whether any of the three youngsters ever become part of the family

remains to be seen, but Bob's unlikely

to be inviting them round to tea in the near future.

TIGER GROWLS

They'd kill you in seconds.

They would, honestly.

They are so powerful and so quick that that's one thing...

I suppose, to a certain extent,

we've been complacent with the old tigers, that they are slow.

But these, you can walk along the corridor

and the nastier ones will just fly at you.

It's nice to get that bit of a shock, because it puts you back

into perspective that they are wild animals

and their main aim is to get you.

You're a food source to them, aren't you?

Although the new tigers are exciting,

they clearly haven't replaced Kadu in Bob's heart.

Hello, darling.

She's still my favourite, no matter how nice these ones are.

Earlier, Kate joined keeper Jo Hawthorne

to help with a rather sticky job -

filling a log with a special gum that the marmosets go crazy over.

Now they're heading over to the enclosure

to see if they get stuck into their new treat.

-Crikey, marmosets! Just look what trouble...

-We've gone to.

-So, shall I just push it forward a little bit more?

-Yeah, that's cool.

-Sort of like that?

-That's brilliant.

And how quickly do they tend to come in?

-They coming over now, look. Mum here, look.

-It's interesting.

It looks they kind of use a combination of teeth and tongue.

What they'll do is they'll actually excavate

with the teeth first, and then, once they see the gum and the resin

coming through the bark, they'll then lap it up with their tongues.

OK. So it's interesting that they will even do the scent-marking here,

even though this is obviously a confined territory

with all three of them and they know it very well.

That's right. One of the questions we do get asked so regularly, Kate,

because they've got a free-range enclosure,

people stand and watch them and they're like,

"How come they don't escape or run off?"

It's what they would do in the wild -

go around and leave a scent mark.

Every branch and tree in this enclosure,

although they're in captivity, it is still their home,

and there still needs to be a chance for them to say,

"This is my enclosure, this is my home."

Neighbouring troops will go, "That's out of bounds.

"We can smell others have been here."

So they know, once they've marked all the trees outside, this is where

-they belong, and there's no need for them to go anywhere else.

-That's it.

Well, thank you very much indeed for letting me help you.

Thank you for bringing the log in!

I usually do it on my own, so I was glad for some help!

Did you like that? Did you? Yes?

We're out in the East Africa Reserve

with head of section Andy Hayton

and just over there, presenting her bottom, Andy, which isn't great,

is Imogen, new mum, with little Henry,

looking like they're fitting in beautifully.

I'd say, to be honest, Imogen is the best giraffe mum I've seen up here.

-Really?

-Really?

-She is absolutely incredible.

He's such a miracle baby. That should never have happened.

Absolutely. She went through the pregnancy and she's breezed it.

It is great.

She's a breeding female now.

It looks like he's slotted beautifully into the herd.

Incredibly relaxed.

-They look like he's just been part of the family for years.

-It's nice.

Giraffe really love babies. They're all like these old maiden aunts

that coo and cluck over babies, and you get the young females

like, "I'm looking after him," and and they get all over-excited

when you first put the babies in.

Imogen is just the most attentive mum ever.

Ah, it's such a happy scene.

-Look at that.

-For you, another success story in your book.

You've had a fantastic record of breeding here

and this is another one.

This is the best birth for us, or for me particularly,

because Imogen's kind of... She's done it.

She can go on and have calves now. We know she can do it.

It's a perfectly healthy, lovely little calf.

She's going to do what she's designed to do.

Congratulations to you and to everyone at the giraffery.

They're are a credit to you. They really are. Look at that.

That is a fantastic scene.

That's all we've got time for on today's Animal Park,

but this is what's coming up on the next programme.

The wild new warthogs take the safari park by storm,

shaking the nerves of even the most experienced keepers.

They are pretty aggressive as well.

I really do not want one of them to get hold of me! They're scary.

'I'll be helping to put up new toys for the lions,

'to prove they're just big pussycats.'

And dramatic developments on Gorilla Island.

In fact, it's the end of an era.

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