Episode 3 Animal Park

Celia and Jo-Jo, two of the Californian sea lions

that live here in Half Mile Lake, are about to give birth,

but it's been a long wait.

Yes, sea lions are pregnant for 11 months, but these girls are due any moment.

We'll bring you all the news from the lake on today's Animal Park.

Here you are, girls!

Coming up on today's Animal Park:

Last year the pregnant sea lions defended their territory against the keepers.

But it's birthing time again, and another fight is brewing.

They've decided now they don't want the beach, they want my bridge.

I'm not having it. I will win.

The tigers tear into something new.

And the great house goes under wraps for a monumental makeover.

SEA LIONS BELLOW

Every morning at the beach on Half Mile Lake, the six Californian sea

lions come for their breakfast.

It's a great opportunity for head of lake animals, Mark Tye,

to see them all out of the water and make sure they're all healthy.

But in early summer, there's an extra special reason

to keep a close eye on the girls.

This is Celia. She's a pregnant female.

CONSTANT BARKING

14 years old.

That's Nancy, and that at the back

there is Jo-Jo. Jo-Jo is the other pregnant female.

You can see her back end is ever so swollen, whereas Nancy, although

she's quite fat, she is still

tapered at the end, but Celia is enormous.

BARKING CONTINUES

'The beach was built a few years ago so the sea lions would have

'a natural place to give birth.

'But, so far, they've avoided using it.

'Last year, Celia and Jo-Jo gave birth on the jetty Mark uses to get

'over to Gorilla Island, which proved quite inconvenient for everyone.'

I'm going to get bitten!

That's just Jo being protective.

This is her spot and she felt we were a bit close, so she saw us off.

'So this year, he has devised a new plan.'

Yeah, last year they gave birth on our bridge, right next to

our pontoon, which is not very convenient for us.

Obviously we had the beach built for them and they've decided no,

they don't want the beach, they want my bridge.

I'm not having it, I will win.

But to make it more comfortable for them,

we are going to build a wooden jetty off the beach,

just like the bridge, because they seem to prefer lying on wood.

Wood is obviously much more comfortable.

It's probably warmer when it's cold and cooler when it's hot.

Hopefully with a wooden bridge there, they will give birth there.

'Mark's also worried about the safety of the pups on the old bridge.'

There's only one exit off the bridge,

and it's plop, straight into the water.

There isn't a very easy way out.

We have to cross the island three times a day

and they're always in our way.

They get upset with us, and it's not a very safe place for the pups to be.

Over on the beach, it's a nice area where they can get up onto easily.

It's safer for the pups and it's just a more peaceful place for them to be.

'With Celia and Jo-Jo about to give birth any day,

'it's a race against time to build the new jetty.

'So, Mark has called in the park's Mr Fix-It, Bill Lucas, to help out.

'All this activity has caught the attention

'of the lake's longest serving residents, Spot and Sonia,

'the African hippos.

'After all this work, the big question remains,

'will Celia and Jo-Jo actually use the new bridge to give birth on?

'All will be revealed in today's show.'

'Over in tiger territory, the three lively new sisters

'have been settling in well to their new life in the park

'after being released a few weeks ago.

'As one of the most dangerous cats in the world, it's essential the

'keepers get to know each tiger and what they do and don't like.

'That could take some time,

'so they're keen to get started today, and Kate is joining them.'

I've come up to the tiger house to meet keeper Bob Trollope,

and have a little hello to Kadoo - hello, Kadoo! -

who is in today, which is jolly nice, Bob,

-because it's miserable out there.

-It is, yeah.

She's enjoying staying in today.

Now, you have got a bit of an experiment planned, I gather,

for the three new tigers.

Yes, it's something we've done in the past with Kadoo, as you know.

What we're going to be doing is padding a sack out with straw.

I've prepared one already. That's full of catnip.

OK, which is famously loved by domestic cats.

Domestic cats, yes.

Generally as well, younger cats, so

having some new cats, we have something to try them on.

To see if they react to this catnip.

Yes, hopefully they will.

-That's not catnip, is it?

-No, this is lavender.

It's very strong, especially when you break it up.

What we'll do is fill this up, tie it up tight,

and break this up over the outside and really smother it

so it really stinks.

Presumably, even if it's

not the scent that interests the new tigers, will they be interested by

just simply having a new thing in their enclosure?

Most probably.

It'll be nice to see if they do grab hold of it, as Kadoo used to,

really take the smell in.

I mean she loved it, didn't she?

-She really, really enjoyed the catnip particularly.

-She did, yeah.

I imagine Soundari, for one, will be full of energy, full of fun.

I mean, she is the most curious of the three at the moment, isn't she?

She is the most curious, the most mischievous, the most troublesome!

And you love her already, don't you!

Right, is that enough?

-Yes.

-Are we going to be able to tell the difference

between the catnip one and the lavender one?

What I've done is, the catnip one has the green paint on it,

and I've turned this one inside out.

Right, OK. The one with no writing is the lavender one.

So just break it up? Let's see...

-You can smell it already, can't you?

-It's a lovely smell, isn't it?

As soon as you sort of irritate it, just get it all over.

Kadoo is studiously ignoring us over there.

-She's seen all this before.

-She has!

The plan is that we're going to take both these sacks, the one with the

catnip and the lavender, out into the park to see

how the three new tigers behave when they see them for the first time.

Join us later for that.

'The nine Bactrian camels at Longleat are a particularly

'special herd because in the wild, they're critically endangered.

'Originally from Mongolia, Northern China and Kazakhstan, these

'tough animals are used to extreme desert conditions, and that often

'means subzero temperatures. It's their long thick hair

'which helps them survive,

'but that's not its only use, as Ben is about to find out.'

I'm out in the new area with keeper Adrian,

who has a rather hairy task for me.

Adrian, what are we up to today?

We're collecting camel fur, which

you'll find lying about on the ground here in the new area.

It comes off them in great big clumps.

It not only looks untidy, but it can get caught up

in the hooves of the smaller animals.

-So this is an example?

-Yeah.

There's loads of it. It's unbelievable.

-Can I get out in the absence of...

-Yeah, we're fine at the moment.

So, basically, this is what we're collecting.

They shed all of this at a certain time of the year, in the summer?

Yes, late spring, early summer, it starts to come off.

It takes six to eight weeks and they look very untidy, very moth-eaten.

It comes off in great big clumps from the neck.

Sometimes we can help those who have the attitude to let us help.

Now, you say we are collecting this for a specific reason. Who's it for?

Yes, we've got a special request from Pet's Corner.

It's surprisingly coarse, isn't it, feeling it?

It's the hair on top, and you've also got the soft underfur.

I've got this image that all your camels are totally bald!

They are at the moment, yes.

Just a little bit left on the humps.

How long will it take for their hair to grow back again?

It'll start to grow back immediately, but it's a very slow process.

Probably by the winter they'll have a nice full, thick coat again.

What sort of uses does this have?

In the Gobi Desert, where these camels originally populate,

the shepherds would use them as coats.

-Camel hair coat.

-Camel hair coats.

Do you think anyone ever uses it locally?

We have had a local person who wanted us to sell to them, to turn it into yarn and make jumpers.

Something tells me it would be a very smelly jumper.

It would need to be washed, I would have thought!

Adrian, thank you very much.

Join us later in the program when we find out which lucky animal

in Pet's Corner is going to make use of all of this.

'Down on Half Mile Lake, there's some exciting news.

'Celia the sea lion has given birth.

'Mark is delighted that she has avoided having her baby anywhere

'near Gorilla Island, but no, she hasn't used the jetty he

'built for her specially.'

Good news, Celia has given birth.

Just not in the place we expected.

We kind of hoped it would be the beach because we put

the new platform up there, but she has done the next best thing

and she has come next door into the old hippo pen,

which is actually where she's given birth before twice.

There's a nice gentle slope into the water, so the pups are in no

danger of getting into distress.

It's a good place to be.

'Celia is 14 and this is her sixth pup.

'She's been a brilliant mum in the past,

'so as soon as Mark sees the baby suckling, he knows he can relax.'

The first few hours are really for Mum and baby to bond.

We just leave them and let them get on with it.

There's the first suckling, which the pup has now had.

So, we've got no worries there.

He or she knows where to go. It's all good really.

'Sea lions give birth on land, because their pups

'have a better chance of survival than if they were born in the water.'

Babies can instinctively swim from day one.

They're just not very good at it.

Normally after about a week, they would venture towards the water.

When they're first born, as you can see, they're very saggy.

They look a bit unfilled.

Once they've had a week of suckling,

they fill out and become much more muscular and stocky,

and that's when they would probably start investigating the water

and perhaps have a swim.

'But, at just four days old, this adventurous pup

'heard Celia in the water and decided to take a dip.

'Although the pup was coping well, Celia moved quickly

'to get it straight back onto the safety of dry land.'

Definitely a positive side to this job

is knowing that your animals are happy, and they're happy giving

birth and everything is all well,

and hopefully will be for a long time.

'This is the 31st pup to be born at the park.

'There's already 15 girls and 15 boys, but Mark has got a

'feeling about the sex of this one.'

I would like a girl, and from what I've seen so far,

I'm 90% sure it's a girl.

But I'm not going to put my money on it just yet.

'We'll put Mark's intuition to the test later on.'

Well, I'm now out in the tiger enclosure with keeper Bob Trollope.

Soundari right beside us, Bob. Do you think she knows something is up?

I think she knows, yes.

Earlier, we stuffed these two sacks full of straw

and gave them a scent, one of catnip, and the other of lavender.

Presumably this is going to be something new and strange in

the enclosure anyway, so they will probably be quite excited by their appearance?

Yes, I imagine they'll see this as

a new toy, and they'll grab hold of it and play with it.

But it's when they've got a little bit bored

with the playing and realise there's a smell on it, hopefully

we will get the desired response.

But how are we going to get the sacks out into the enclosure?

Seeing as Soundari is quite close, I'm going to stand outside my door,

using the Land Rover as a barrier.

As soon as I've chucked one over, I'll jump back in.

We'll see what she does with that one, then chuck the other one out.

Just keep an eye on her.

-I'm keeping an eye on her.

-OK.

She's definitely noticed that you are out, Bob.

Oh, there she goes, straight for it.

Having a look. Straight for a sniff there.

Look at that. Are the other two interested?

Sort of looking.

They're looking, but...

She's dragging it over.

Interestingly, she turned the sack over and went for the side that we

really rubbed with lavender.

You can see that green grass stain on it.

Shall we put the catnip one in?

We'll see if she goes for this one.

She looks like she's rather liking that smell.

-Yeah, OK.

-OK.

Here you go, Soundari, another one!

Let's see.

She's looking very happy with the lavender at the moment.

She likes that one.

She's having a right old time with that.

That's brilliant!

She definitely is loving the lavender, and at this moment,

completely rejecting the catnip.

So, if you have a couple of tigers at home, I can thoroughly recommend

lavender for their amusement. Bob, thank you very much indeed.

We're going to stay and watch her a little bit longer.

'Dating from the time of Elizabeth I,

'Longleat House is widely acknowledged

'as one of the most beautiful Elizabethan buildings in Britain.

'Unfortunately, at the moment, it's covered in scaffolding.

'At least this is no ordinary scaffolding.

'Like everything else at Longleat, it's on a grand scale.

'And, to the builders working on it, this job is the Rolls Royce of

'scaffolding contracts.

'There are over 10,000 scaffold tubes to lay, but the scaffolding

'hasn't been put up to be climbed on.

'They're not working on the walls at all.

'The entire structure is just to hold up that big white canvas cover.

'It's called a hacky roof, and it's there to keep the rain off

'the builders, while they tackle central repairs on the lead roof.

'For house steward Steve Blythe,

'the repairs have come not a moment too soon.

'The roof was in a dreadful state.'

Any building is only as good as its roof, really.

If you haven't got a good roof, you can get water in.

With valuable pieces of furniture, valuable paintings,

lots of high value things in the house,

we cannot afford to get water in there.

The lead that is down at the moment, we believe, is about 80 years old.

With changes in temperature, it needs to contract and expand.

With the age of it, it's started oxidising, and it's not

contracting and expanding as it should, and instead it's splitting.

So we're getting a good few leaks in the roof.

'They used to just patch up the leaks, but now the job is getting done properly.

'All the old lead is to be stripped off and replaced with fine new lead,

'over 100 tons of it.'

BANGING

'Putting lead down is a noisy business.

'The project is going to take over 14 months.

'Luckily, no-one lives in the rooms just below.

'But today is a big day.

-'They've finished the roof at this end of the house,

'and are ready to start at the other.

'So, the temporary canvas hacky roof must be moved from the west side

'to the east side.

'Now, here's the clever bit.

'It's on wheels.

'This could be a tricky operation.

'Scaffold project manager Stuart Salmon wants to get cracking.'

Today we're moving this roof and it's quite windy, and it's quite

a big job. We need to get it done quite quick because with the wind, it

could get quite dangerous. We are in quite a bit of a hurry.

-Advanced scaffolder Steven Hart concurs.

-A little bit nervous, yes.

The wind is just starting to pick up, so the sooner we can get

this done, the better really.

'So now, 11 guys are about to push a

'roof the size of two tennis courts, that weighs over 13 tons, a distance

'of 42 metres in a freshening wind on top of one of England's finest

'stately homes. You couldn't make this up!'

Ready? Three, two, one, go!

Job done!

Double thumbs! Cup of tea!

Time for a cuppa!

Steven Blythe is looking forward to the repairs being complete.

'Once this is all done, I can sleep easier.'

We get heavy rain, I don't have to go running around checking all the

ceilings and the roof spaces to see if we've got water coming in.

'And, of course, when the whole project is finished,

'the scaffolding can come down.

'Even though this is an outstanding piece of scaffolding, the house

'does look better without it.'

Earlier on, I collected a whole bag of this fur

from the camels up in the new area.

Now I have come down to Pet's Corner where keeper Bev Allen is waiting

with anticipation for the bag.

-Morning, Bev.

-Morning, Ben.

-Oh, great.

-Oh, brilliant!

Now, what do you want all this for then?

Right, what we are going to do is we are going to

put it in our degu enclosure just over here, for two reasons.

One is hopefully, they might make little trinket mounds

out of the camel hair.

What is a trinket mound?

It's what degus do to show their dominance in the group.

It's basically a pile of twigs, leaves and wood chippings.

They make a big pile and they sit on top of it, chirping away,

to show they're the most dominant male in the group.

-So it's almost, "Look at my mound"?

-Yeah!

And a "trinket mound" is all the things they put in it?

Yes, any object they can find. So, why don't we put

some down and they might use it.

So literally, are we just going to sprinkle it?

Yes, just sprinkle it around here.

Would a degu ever come across camel hair in the wild?

No, probably not, but maybe different kinds of hair.

But any object they find in the wild

they would use as part of their trinket mound.

They're originally from South America, aren't they?

South America, in the mountains, that's why we've got the rocks here.

Round here, we have got little caves which they go into.

Usually it's this big cave here, which they do like to build...

We've got one on top of the mound, in fact!

-They're actually quite small, aren't they?

-They are.

They're closely related to chinchillas as well.

You can hear them chattering away now and then,

they know we're here. They're very vocal animals.

Judging by this one standing on top of the mountain,

-they love it up there.

-They do.

You see them climbing around, jumping around on the logs.

They like to be up high.

They've got surprisingly large ears.

They do. They've got a very good sense of hearing.

Usually they wag their tail when they know danger's coming.

When they build this mound, are they going to go up to the top of it

like the summit of Mount Everest, and go, "I'm the best degu!"?

Yeah, when they do their mounds in there, they usually sit on top of

their trinket mounds and they get very vocal about it, to say,

"This is my mound, look at my mound".

But there's no female to attract?

No, but in the wild this

is something they would do to show they're the best male for breeding.

Another male might come along and knock their mound down.

It's interesting to see them do it.

-Important for their hierarchy as well?

-It is, very important.

They do it quite often. You never know when they're going to do it.

You usually see a pile of woodchips,

leaves and twigs in there, so you know they're starting to do it.

Fantastic. Are you happy with the fur I brought you?

I am, thank you ever so much, Ben.

Brilliant, well, thank you and fingers crossed that the degus make lots of trinket mounds.

'There are four species of deer at the park,

'and it's never easy getting close to them.

'But one special creature is friendlier than most,

'so I've gone to meet her.

I'm out in the deer park with head of section Tim Yeo, and the very

soppy red deer female, O28. Is that her name?

-That's right.

-You could have thought a better name for her!

We could have done a bit better, couldn't we?

Why is she particularly affectionate?

I think she has been hand reared, this animal.

Not here,

but I think she has been hand reared.

Hence the complete no fear whatsoever of us.

Well, it's a huge treat to get close to a red deer.

Red deer are native to Britain, is that right?

That's right, Kate, yes.

I guess, most famously, Scotland.

People think of red deer and they perhaps think of

the highlands of Scotland.

They're quite big animals when you get up close to them, aren't they?

They certainly are, Kate.

-These are our largest land mammals.

-Are they?

You are very, very pretty.

How do they work?

Do you tend to have females group together, males group together,

or all of them as a family?

No, they're very much...

As you say, for large parts of the year, the males go off and do their

own thing, spend time together, and the hines,

which we call the females,

they're also collected in herds with calves of the previous year

and that sort of thing.

So again, it's the breeding season that brings them all together.

And that's when you get the famous clashes,

the males really battling it out for supremacy.

Exactly.

It's lovely to see her as always, Tim. Thank you very much indeed.

We've got lots more on today's programme.

The keepers take a shot at the cubs.

The otters go on the rampage.

And Ben faces a deadly foe.

They need enough venom to overpower quite a large prey.

-Large prey being a presenter?

-Yes!

'Down in Pet's Corner, keeper Rob Savin is about

'to conduct a very important experiment in the otter enclosure.

'The otters are undoubtedly one of the most popular animals with the

'public, but unfortunately, their enclosure can become

'barren and muddy.

'In the wild, these Asian short clawed otters live in

'a variety of habitats, but as their favourite pastime is

'to destroy the plants around them, here at Longleat, it's a constant

'battle to enrich their lives and keep the enclosure looking good.

'But now, Rob has come up with a plan.'

We're going to get some plants for the otter enclosure.

As you can see, it looks a little bit bare at the minute.

I have been digging out some of the old grasses we had in there,

so we are looking for something to fill these holes,

and experiment with a few plants.

We want to keep it natural, we want Asian plants,

things which suit these guys very well.

Maybe a few local ones thrown in, I'll see what I can find.

But definitely something from southeast Asia,

where these guys come from, and try and experiment with different types.

'Previous attempts to spruce up the enclosure have involved collecting

'plants locally from the estate,

'but the otters have always found a way to vandalise them.

'Rob's plan is taking him to a garden centre

'to choose a selection of plants originating from their natural habitat,

'which he is hoping will prove to be otter friendly.

'He's shown round by owner Diana Walker.'

It's mainly the Asian otters, so we're looking for southeast Asia,

something that will last a little while.

The trouble is, they're such characters that they tear it up

and play with a lot of the plants.

It's just an experiment, so we just want ten, possibly up to 15 plants

of various sizes, mainly Asia.

That's quite nice.

Attractive foliage. It's called a Nandina domestica.

It has lovely autumn colour, but I don't suppose the otters will really

worry about that!

They do see colours, so colours would be interesting for them.

But smells as well, something that smells a bit different as well.

This is a rather lovely grass.

I like that. It's similar to what I've been getting randomly from

the side of the road, to be honest!

But it is a lot prettier.

-It's quite tough.

-Yes, I like that.

-That's good.

-And then bamboos.

I was looking at the golden bamboo actually, that's really stunning.

This is a golden bamboo here. Here we are.

Yes, I like that.

And that's quite big. I want a variety of sizes.

'But Rob is not just looking for plants of Asian origin.

'He is also hoping to throw in a few local varieties.'

-This is quite pretty.

-This is a Warminster Broom.

-Oh, Warminster so really local?

-Yes, you couldn't get better than that.

Yes, couldn't get closer if we tried!

Grown in Chapmanslade. It's a broom.

That's quite colourful.

I think the otters would probably take a lot of this off straight away,

but at least it would be quite good for them looking at it,

seeing the colours and smelling it.

I think we'll take a couple of these.

We'll load up and see how the otters like them.

-It'll be good fun to watch.

-Good.

We'll catch up with Rob when he's back in Pet's Corner later,

to find out just which of his plants survive the otter test,

and which get pulled to pieces.

'Earlier, on Half Mile Lake,

'we discovered that Celia had given birth to a gorgeous new pup.

'But there was still one sea lion ready to pop,

'so Kate's keen to see if there's any news.'

We're coming down to sea lion beach.

I'm here with head of section Mark Tye,

and it's the time of year where there are usually youngsters.

Are there any? Oh, look, two tiny ones!

We've got two!

Hippos a little bit close to us, Mark.

You're walking very confidently, I'm staying slightly behind you.

Are we safe?

They'll be fine, they don't normally come over here.

Although that is a threat!

I was going to say, that's a classic hippo threat!

We'll be all right, we'll be all right.

The little ones don't seem remotely concerned. How old are they now?

They're coming up to three and four weeks.

OK, and who are the mums?

-Jo-Jo and Celia.

-Right, so good, experienced mums.

Fine mothers, as you can tell... they're not here!

-Just abandoned them.

-Just abandoned them and left them for food!

-They're getting on happy as Larry.

-They look great.

Presumably, in the three and four weeks that they've been alive,

they've grown a tremendous amount?

They've grown a lot width wise, as opposed to lengthwise.

Is that what they do, they get sort of tubby?

Yes, you tend to find that sea lions do three stages of growing.

They go fat and then long, and then fat and then long!

And presumably very rich milk, is it,

that they're feeding on exclusively at the moment?

It is, it's incredibly rich milk, very high fat content.

When they're born, they look really saggy.

Literally within a week, they fill out, completely fill out.

Right, so it's like this empty sea lion sack that fills up.

Yes, absolutely.

Clearly very happy in the water, even at this early stage.

-Are they swimming yet?

-Yes, these two are swimming all over the place.

They're very content.

It's nice to have two together playmates, getting into trouble.

You can always see them going off, one will test a little bit further,

and the other one's like, "Shall I go? Oh, perhaps not."

You know, they will both come back.

-The interesting one is when they find the hippos.

-Yes!

-Baby sea lions always find hippos.

-What happens?

Because I mean, the hippos have been here for years,

they've been with the sea lions for years, so even though

it's a combination you would never find in the wild,

hippos and Californian sea lions, these guys...

Sonia and Spot cope with the sea lions pretty well, do they?

Yes, they have got so used to the sea lions being around, and the sea lions

are much quicker than them, they've given up. They don't care now.

They're quite happy to be a mobile island around the lake.

You don't find sea lions literally perching on the hippos?

-Right on their backs.

-No!

-Yes.

You get some cheeky youngsters who will quite often climb right

up onto the top of their head.

That normally ticks them off a little bit.

So funny.

The sea lions are always so inquisitive, so cheeky, they get away with it.

The big question, of course, is have you found out what

sex these two are yet?

We have, and it's two boys.

Not great news.

Not the best. It would have been nice to have at least one female that we

could keep, but they have a shelf life for staying here,

because of an interbreeding problem later on.

How long can they stay here before that becomes a problem?

They could stay here probably three years.

So you will be able to see them grow up,

like the proud Dad you always are every year.

Yes. It's lovely to see them grow up here,

and it's such a fantastic environment for them.

It makes them very strong, very fit sea lions from a young age, we find.

I mean, it is the school of hard knocks, almost.

We're not in a little pool and all the rest of it.

It's a big pool, it's got other animals in it.

It's a whole learning experience from day one for these little guys.

Mark, always a delight to see new sea lion pups.

You are looking great, guys.

Very good luck, and we look forward to watching you grow up over the next few years.

-Thanks, Mark.

-Thank you.

BARKING

BARKING

'Over in lion country, the keepers are about to face one of the most

'challenging tasks of the year.

'It's time for the annual cat flu injections,

'not the lions' favourite experience...

AGGRESSIVE GROWL

'..but something that has to be done for their protection

'against a potentially fatal virus.'

They obviously know something is going on.

'Brian Kent and Bob are darting Kabir first,

'so he hopefully sets a good example to his rapidly expanding family.'

ROARING

'There are six cubs in Kabir's pride,

'and the youngest four are due for their first jabs today.'

They have had normal inoculations at eight and

12 weeks, and this is the first time they've had a booster

for the four little ones.

All the others have had them before.

So, it's a case of the others knowing what's going to happen, and the four

little ones haven't got a clue what is going to happen,

so there'll be a bit of stress as well.

They don't take long to wise up.

They feed off each other's stress.

They see one get done, and the others will realise that something not very

nice is going to happen them.

Which is unfortunate, but they have got to have it.

'It's been two years since Kabir arrived to start a new pride.

'No-one could have predicted what a stud he proved to be.

'His two ladies, sisters Yendi and Luna, gave birth soon after,

'and within weeks of each other, to one girl each, Jasira and Malaika.

'But then, only seven months later, came a big surprise, when Yendi

'produced four more cubs, two boys and two girls.

'And, Kate was lucky enough to help with their first health check.'

You're four weeks old, and you are the most

beautiful thing on telly today, that's for sure!

'Watching the pride grow up has been a joy.'

'They've been going from strength to strength. They're into everything.

'They climb everything.'

They tried to climb the fence, they climb any tree that's climbable.

They're on the go all the time.

They have a little bit of a siesta when the sun comes up,

and then play, play and more play.

Kabir has been very, very patient

with all the cubs you know, Malaika, Jasira and the four new ones.

He's not the most playful of fathers,

but he does tolerate a lot of tail pulling, and a lot of mane pulling.

'But there's no time for fun and games today.

'The youngsters are now 18 months old, and in the last six months,

'have tripled in size.

'They still look quite cuddly,

'but given half a chance, would love to bite the hand that feeds them.'

They could take your hands off easily,

and rip down to the bone without even thinking about it.

You might be able to get away with them not killing you,

but I wouldn't like to put it to the test.

'There are nine injections to do in total.

'One at a time, the lions are encouraged into the pen

'at the end, so that Bob can get a clear shot using a blowpipe.

'It's the quietest, least stressful means to inject a lion.

'18-month-old Malaika goes first.'

Good girl, stay there!

How are you? Come and say hello.

Oh, I'm not going to hurt you now.

That was obviously an expert shot.

Textbook.

'Before they can go out, the dart has to be retrieved.

'Usually it just falls out in the run at the back.

'Malaika's followed by her mum, five year old Yendi.

'As the dart goes into the skin, the pressure is released,

'forcing the cat flu vaccine into the muscle.'

It's best to get them in the rump, because

there's a bit more muscle there.

Good girl!

'Yendi's sister Luna is next.'

Oh, I know. Oooh!

'Despite the noise, so far the four youngsters hardly seem

'to have noticed what's going on.

'Last of the older ones is Luna's daughter, 18 month old Jasira.'

ROARING

'This is one of the few occasions when the four youngsters have been

'on their own, and they seem to be wondering why.'

What's left is that the wisest ones have gone,

and it's all the four little ones.

This might be a little bit more difficult because

all the big ones have gone out.

When you separate them, they're going to panic a little bit.

Come on!

'We'll be back in the lion's den

'later to see just how much trouble the cubs can be.'

It's not going to hurt.

I'm about to do something I've put off for a very long time.

I've come down to Old Joe's Mine,

which is home to use some of Longleat's least cuddly creatures.

Head of the Pet's Corner, Darren Beasley, is, of course, very cuddly,

but you're going to introduce me to someone who isn't.

Yes, in here we have our imperial scorpions.

If you look closely, there's one right at the back there,

and one at the side as well.

Lots of people hate them. I love them.

It's our mission in life to get people to love them.

They're ambassadors for the bug world, so hopefully...

I have to say, I've always been a little bit scared of scorpions.

If you walk this way, you won't have to be scared.

We have you here a rather good pair of thick gloves.

You need to put them on for me.

You have been volunteered.

We normally have three scorpions on display.

Today there's only two on display because I have another one in here.

-Look at this beauty.

-Um, beauty?

Well, she is beautiful.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Darren!

The thing is, you see, they're misunderstood.

Yes, they've got a big stinger on the back,

which you have to watch out for.

She's more scared of us. You've got to think, for her, we could eat her.

She has to try and think about defending herself.

You mention the stinger. Just how dangerous is that?

Obviously, depending on the species of scorpion,

they have got to have enough venom to overpower quite large prey.

Large prey like a presenter?

Yeah!

We have to be a little bit careful.

We have got the precautions. You are wearing gloves.

You know, there is only one Ben Fogle and we don't want

to lose him today, but of course, the stinger is the important thing.

It's their main bit of venom.

What they can do is repeat sting.

Not like a lot of bugs who sting and then fly away.

This can inject several doses of venom.

I am going to pick her up like this, so she hopefully feels nice and safe.

I've got the gloves on you as a precaution against the pincers.

What I'm going to do is put her on there and then, how about this...

-Ready?

-Yes. Shall I put the hand in front?

That's it, we don't want her to drop.

She is going to feel a little bit unsure, a little bit nervous.

These are the pincers.

Obviously she can bite with those. We don't want her to bite you.

No, I really don't! And that's why I am wearing the gloves.

And hopefully now what you're doing is showing the whole world...

this is not a pet you can pick up and pet,

you're not going to cuddle that tonight when you're watching the TV,

but in fact, there is nothing to fear.

That poor animal there has got more to fear from you.

This venom takes several hours, 14 or so hours to recharge that venom,

but it can strike and strike.

What would they use their pincers for?

When they're hunting, these are restraining pincers.

These are to grab, restrain the prey,

so that bit can come over the top and repeat sting

until it's completely and utterly immobilised.

They have special grinding-up jaws to rip pieces off,

and start eating their food.

Just imagine I didn't have my gloves on and I got stung,

what effect would it have on me?

There are some scorpions out there that are absolutely deadly,

you know, and if you're accidentally stung by a scorpion,

your life could be in danger. This isn't one of those.

Having said that, I wouldn't want you to get stung.

I wouldn't ever want to get stung.

When we handle these, we take the precautions

and I am protecting her as much as I am protecting you today.

I think you deserve your medal today. Well done.

Dan, thank you for not letting my fingers be pinched.

There you go, world, scorpions aren't so bad!

'Earlier, we accompanied keeper Rob Savin to a garden centre

'as part of his otter experiment.

'He wants to find out which plants are otter friendly,

'and which they'll destroy.

'The Asian short clawed otters' natural behaviour is to tear

'plants apart and use the foliage for bedding in their holt,

'even though the keepers regularly provide them with fresh straw.

'When the Pet's Corner team have added plants in the past,

'they've never lasted very long, but Rob's hoping the selection he

'has chosen this time, largely consisting of plants

'originating from their natural environment, will be different.'

I think they're probably going to go for the bamboo first,

because it's something they've had before,

and it's something that would be a very natural plant,

this is one they'd find in parts of their own environment.

They'll try to pull it or break it off as best they can,

drag it in, and they'll use it to compact their den,

and make it more comfortable, because they're a family unit.

They all chip in, they all get involved, the whole family

will help get that nest, that den, exactly how they want it.

Leaving a mess out here, but perfect in there.

I think this last one I'm going to put in, the Warminster Broom, that

probably will last the least amount of time, because it's fairly flimsy,

and the flowers on them will probably go pretty quickly.

But yes, I expect they'll be straight in here,

digging around, making it dirty, generally making a nice mess.

'With the plants in place, Rob releases the otters to let

'the mayhem begin.'

This is working quite well.

A lot of interest on the sedge grasses, and the bamboos,

which is the stuff they're used to,

which is what I thought they would go for first.

Bamboo, I think they've realised it's very deep set in that pot.

They're having trouble getting at it, which is quite a good thing.

They're trying.

They almost got the grass out, the reeds,

they almost pulled that out.

'But how about his local English variety?'

Not too bothered about the Warminster Broom actually,

but they're showing a lot of interest and curiosity.

This one smells lovely because they're sniffing it all the time.

It would be good if they showed a little less interest in the

plants because we want them to stay, we want them to be visibly good.

We've got to make this attractive for the visitors, look really nice.

I was wrong in my assumption that this would be gone in two seconds.

They're lasting a lot longer than normal for now.

They've only had 15, 20 minutes, but normally,

when this stuff is in there, it lasts a great deal less than that.

You're talking five minutes at most.

So, yes, triple the amount of time.

I think it has been quite good.

There are lots of smells there, so it's very enriching for them.

I'm pleased for them. I'm pleased that the plants look attractive.

For the time being, the enclosure looks green, so it's nice.

I'm sure that in the next half a day or a day, they will make a mess.

I know they will. Not yet, they have proved me wrong just for the moment.

'With some of the plants still standing,

'Rob's experiment seems to have been a success.

'Hopefully the days of the otter enclosure being barren are numbered.'

'Back over at the house,

'work is continuing to restore this fine building back to its

'original glory, and we've gone to take a closer look.'

This isn't a film set, although it looks like one.

We are actually on the roof of Longleat House,

where this massive restoration project is under way.

It's believed that this is the largest scaffolding structure

ever erected on a residential building here in the UK.

There's enough piping to reach the summit of Everest three times.

And we're going to be meeting some of the people who

are undertaking this enormous task.

I'm off to meet one of the stonemasons.

And if you follow me... we've got a very tall cameraman, so duck down!

Come this way with me.

I'm going to meet James Nott, who is working with the lead.

Is it all right to step on here, James?

I feel bad stepping on your work. Come down here.

This must be one of the biggest jobs you have ever undertaken.

Yes, it's one of the biggest jobs our company has ever undertaken.

For a full 12 months, yeah.

As far as the lead is concerned, it sounds like an obvious question,

but what does it actually do? Why use lead?

It's quite a durable material and it's long lasting.

This will last about 100 years. It's really durable and hard wearing.

Really? And this is the waterproofing for the roof, is it?

Yes, it is.

Can I see how skilful your job is by having a go?

Basically we are taking the lead over.

So I literally just wallop it?

-Yes, take it over very slowly just curve it over the row.

-Right.

-Try to curve it over the row.

-So if I wallop it like that?

Yes, that's it.

It's not easy.

You must have very big biceps!

I'm not sure I am going to be a huge amount of help,

but I am going to carry on bashing here.

See how Ben is getting on.

Like that?

As well as the leading, there's a huge amount of stonework to be

done here, and that falls to one of the stonemasons, Sean Clarke.

-Hi, Sean.

-Hello, Ben.

What's your role? What are you working on now?

Currently I'm replacing one of the hounds overlooking the courtyard.

-Where are you working on it?

-Just round the other side of the roof.

-I'll follow you.

-OK, thank you.

Presumably these are old and new?

That's correct, yes.

And this has been started from scratch by yourself, has it?

Yes, one block of stone.

One block of stone? What is it actually made from?

This is a type of Bath stone.

OK. How tough is this?

Can you do this with hand tools?

Yes, definitely. It's not that hard.

-And you're still working on this?

-Yes, I am, yes.

Can I have a little watch of you at work?

Yes, sure.

How long has it taken to get from your one solid slab to this point?

Ten days' work.

-How many hours a day?

-Nine hours a day.

-Wow!

-It needs another day, maybe a little bit longer.

I feel cheeky even asking, but is there any chance I could try?

Feel free, yes.

I won't try on the leg or anything.

-Try this side here.

-Here?

-Yeah.

-What, so literally...

-Hold it here.

Hold it here, and then just whack on that?

Do you trust me?

Yes, sure, no worries!

There we go.

And literally, that's what you will do for nine hours a day,

-just carving away until you get the shape?

-Yes.

It's quite satisfying, isn't it?

-Yes, it's all right. Beats working for a living.

-Yeah!

I might hang up my presenters gloves! Sean, thank you very much.

You're welcome.

# What's new, pussycat?

# What's new, pussycat... #

'Back up in the lion's den, the four youngest cubs are

'about to have a new experience.

'Bob and Brian are going to give them their very first cat flu jabs.'

Come here, come here.

Good girl. Good girl!

We got her unawares of what was happening

and the dart went off perfectly.

It didn't come out straight away,

but Brian's trying to get the dart out now.

'The most awkward part of the operation is not shooting the darts,

'it's getting them back.'

If she moves up and down, hopefully it'll just fall out,

otherwise she'll start panicking because she's not out with the rest.

I don't think it's the dart that's actually bothering her now,

it's being split up from her brothers and sisters, and also Mum.

She just wants to get out.

But I do need the dart back.

You have got to be careful as well if she knocks it too much,

she might break it off and you could end up with the needle itself

still stuck in her.

'It's the first time Brian has had to do anything

'that hurts to the young lioness.

'Her trust in him has been bruised.'

Obviously, doing something like this,

they don't want to come near you.

Oh, come here!

There you are!

She just stood enough by the cage, I managed to grab it.

That was all right.

# Pussycat, pussycat, I love you

# Yes I do. #

This is my little favourite, this one.

Oh-ho! You won't be a favourite for long, doing that!

Shhh, shhh, shhh.

Oh, you didn't even realise, did you?

Good boy.

All right, go on. Freedom.

GROWLING

'The last two are getting nervous.

'So often, this is when things start to go wrong.'

Come here!

It's not going off.

It hasn't gone off.

Unfortunately, the dart's gone in, but it hasn't gone off.

I don't want to dart her again in case it does go off,

and she'd get a double dose.

The needle is bent now.

That's what I was worried about. As you can see, it's all bent.

If that had been a bit longer, it would have broken off there,

and she would have ended with a needle stuck inside her.

That has gone off.

Good, we got the dart back as well. We're getting good at this.

'Finally, Kabir's family is reunited,

'and it was worth all the effort as the cat flu vaccine

'will keep these lions healthy for another year.'

Kate and I are down at a very noisy Half Mile Lake, on the beach with

the sea lions, and head of section Mark Tye, helping with the feed.

How are the mums getting on, that's the first question?

The mums are getting on great, really well.

No problems, as we would expect, after giving birth.

They're both experienced mothers, and all is well.

And full appetites again, judging by how they're eating

-through this fish.

-Absolutely, yeah.

We feed them a little bit more once they've given birth to pups,

obviously to help with the lactating and milk for their offspring.

And what about the pups, are they doing well and thriving

in amongst this big crowd of very noisy, very big adults?

Yes, the pups do great. We are very lucky.

It's a tough school to grow up in,

but it's probably as near to natural as you are going to get in captivity.

-Absolutely.

-It does make them very good, very strong pups.

And having Buster here, a big male,

in charge of everybody - is he a good father,

or does he tend to keep his distance from them?

He's a fantastic father. He is really good, first class.

The nicest bull we've ever had.

He's a really good dad and a really good friend to these guys.

And what happens now? The females, presumably, aren't going to get

pregnant too soon, they will be busy looking after these young ones?

Absolutely not. The females could be pregnant already.

-What, now?

-Oh, my goodness!

Literally, they're only not pregnant for two weeks.

That's exhausting!

Are there any signs that they are pregnant?

CONSTANT EXCITED BARKING

What happens next year?

Well, as you can see from the noise of the two mothers,

they're both now pregnant.

There's no signs at all, you wouldn't know.

You only really know with about a month to go.

But the fact that Buster is doing all this barking,

is the fact that he has mated and he wants them back in the water now.

He wants them back in the water, OK!

In that case, we shall leave them in peace, and we shall leave you

from this extremely noisy sea lion beach,

and we look forward to seeing you again on the next Animal Park.

BARKING CONTINUES

Coming up on the next Animal Park:

They call them the king of the beasts,

but just how strong are these majestic animals?

All the keepers are on tenterhooks, as Jessie the tapir is expecting.

And the new vet faces a major problem - he can't find his patients.

If they decide they don't want to be seen,

then it can be quite difficult to find them.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd