Episode 9 Animal Park

With this thermal imaging camera we'll look the animals at Longleat

in a way we've never done before.

Look at these amazing images. This camera will reveal things about the animals

that we never normally see.

So, stand by for a unique perspective of them and us on today's show.

Coming up on today's Animal Park...

over in Tanzania, Michelle the keeper gets her first experience

of working with an endangered hyena.

But as her release into the wild stops going by the book,

the pressure starts to show on a veteran of conservation.

Why isn't she waking up?

Back at the park, could the latest technology save the life of Longleat's largest resident?

And a short back and sides is easier said than done

when you've got a llama in the chair!

But first, we're going to look at some hot new technology.

Or should that be cool new technology?

Whichever it is, these images of animals

are taken using a cutting-edge camera

which shows areas of heat in the body.

For the very first time, this technology, otherwise known as thermal imaging,

has been brought to the park to give the keepers and us a unique perspective on the park.

This is no gimmick. These cameras are being increasingly used

by the medical and veterinary worlds to help diagnose conditions

ranging from sprains and arthritis to even cancer.

We'll be using this amazing camera throughout today's show

to reveal some of the animal's best kept secrets.

We are tucked in the shelter at the East Africa Reserve.

It's a little bit wet, but we are not deterred

because we are here with a man called Dave Blain,

who is a thermal imaging specialist.

Dave, can you tell us what this piece of kit does?

The thermal imaging camera is the latest technology.

It's very much used in industry now, for medical purposes, military purposes

and of course, the local police force, fire brigade use it.

What does it actually show?

It picks up heat and radiation,

and we use it very much looking at body temperature in the medical field.

You're then looking for hot spots,

or it can be reverted to look at cold spots.

So, the white areas are the hottest, closely followed by the red,

while the blue and green colours

indicate the coldest parts of the animal.

We're here with the head of section, Andy Hayton.

Andy, how do you think this is going to be useful for you

looking at the animals here in the East Africa Reserve?

Possibly rheumatism, if an animal is lame

we can possibly look to see if there is any heat in the muscles,

heat in joints through rheumatism, arthritis, things like that.

Andy, certainly a unique perspective for you. Looking at that,

on this camel we have a very hot head,

but lots of the neck looks like... just near the head

is actually a lot colder than the rest of the body.

It's the thickness of the fur, so the blue is the hair, the body hair.

If we look at the giraffes, they obviously don't have

as much covering of hair. Lots and lots of heat?

If you look from the head and down the neck, the neck is very hot.

There is obviously a good blood supply going up there

and like us, you have a lot of veins in your neck close to the surface,

so possibly that's what's giving off that heat signature there.

What is interesting is, clearly in the places where you haven't got a great blood supply going through,

the horns and the very horny place on the front of their head

-are giving off hardly any heat at all.

-That's solid bone.

If we look at the big female, that's Jolly and she's on arthritic drugs.

-Look at that!

-Look at the difference in the legs?

You can clearly see her right leg is a lot hotter than the other.

And presumably you can then use this evidence, if we can use that word,

when the vet, Duncan, comes along next time.

You can say we saw this, could that reaffirm what you thought

and help you with your diagnosis and treatment?

This gives us another tool to help look after our animals better.

The more tools we have to make their lives more comfortable is a good thing.

Interestingly, vets are using this technique more and more,

as indeed will we later in the programme

when we go around the safari park with Dave and his camera.

Four Longleat keepers are on a fact-finding mission in Tanzania.

Ryan Hockley, Bev Allen and Michelle Stephens are led by head warden,

Keith Harris.

But this is no safari.

It's been an opportunity to work and live with Tony Fitzjohn,

one of the all-time greats of African conservation,

and his wife Lucy and their family.

So far, Ryan and Keith have helped move a pack of endangered hunting dogs

as part of a ground-breaking release programme.

Michelle tracked two tonnes of rather unpredictable black rhino

through the bush,

and Bev encountered her first ever wild tortoise.

No-one will believe them back at Longleat!

Fitz was the apprentice of this man, George Adamson,

made famous through the book and film Born Free.

Michelle has the chance to continue Adamson's work

by helping release a striped hyena back to the wild today.

She was taken to the snake park just outside Arusha as an orphan,

when she was quite small, and reared by two South Africans that owned the place.

She was always causing trouble.

She'd come out and chew your leg and chew your ankles.

Chew your hand.

Then she'd break out and eat all the little day-old chicks...

-Snake food.

-For the snake food, right.

Although native to Africa, the striped hyena is increasingly rare

due to hunting and the destruction of their natural habitat.

18-month-old Fissi arrived at Mkomazi just four weeks ago

so Fitz could release her into the park to breed with the other striped hyenas.

I think putting her back in the rhino sanctuary,

where there's a lot more striped hyena, and bags of room,

will give us more time to find out about her.

There's little known about these animals.

So Fitz can monitor Fissi's movements, once she's been released,

he's fitted her with a special collar with a radio location device.

Even though she's used to her keeper, Simon,

Fissi is still a potentially dangerous animal,

so the collar can only be fitted when she's under sedation.

Fitz has over 40 years' experience working with African wildlife.

But anaesthetising wild animals is always a potentially risky procedure.

She's never had a dart before, so I don't know how she'll react.

Maybe it would be a good thing if people stand back a bit.

We'll aim for the hind quarters. It's the safest place to put the dart in.

Hello, big girl.

The darting may look uncomfortable, but it's the simplest way

to alleviate any distress for Fissi when the tracking collar is fitted.

It all went in.

But we managed to distract her so she didn't pull the dart out.

But within a couple of minutes,

the sedative starts to take effect and the team can get to work.

What do you think? Steady, Michelle.

-Can I touch her?

-Yes, please.

She's really rough. Really, really rough!

Once the special tracking collar is in place, Fitz has a chance

to make sure Fissi's in good health before she's released,

and Michelle gets the chance to help out.

OK. Now, let's check her for ticks.

OK, fleas... She seems amazingly free

of all sorts of things. Teeth are all good.

OK. Gums are good.

At Longleat, Michelle normally looks after sea lions, hippos and gorillas,

so by coming to Mkomazi, she's getting an invaluable opportunity to broaden her knowledge.

This is really kind of...

I can't really describe it. It's amazing being this close.

I've never been this close before.

So it's always a good opportunity, when an animal

is under anaesthetic, just to have a good look at them,

just to explore them.

Look at this long hair. It's amazing.

Fitz is satisfied that Fissi is in good health,

and so it's time to give her another injection to bring her round.

Do you want to inject the antidote?

I can do. Where to?

In the rump.

Nice, juicy bit in the rump.

-Straight in.

-Here?

Yeah.

Thank you.

We don't know what's going to happen, so we should all stand back a bit.

This is always a nervous time, isn't it? It can go either way, can't it?

It should only take a few minutes for Fissi to wake up.

But bringing an animal out from sedation is always an anxious moment.

However many animals you sedate, for whatever reason, you always...worry.

Every now and then you get caught by surprise, there's a bad reaction or something.

There are some big breaths going in.

Worryingly, there's still no sign of Fissi coming round.

OK, why isn't she waking up, though?

We'll find out if Fissi comes out of the anaesthetic later in the programme.

Now we know you'd never find a llama in Africa,

but back in Longleat's East Africa reserve,

three South American friends

have lived happily alongside the giraffe, ostrich and zebra for years.

Llamas Debbie, Lavinia and Foggy are hardy animals and spend most

of their time grazing, so require little hands-on attention.

But keeper Dan Gray has developed something of a soft spot for them

and has noticed they could do with a grooming.

During the summer months it gets really hot.

They've got really, really thick coats, adapted for cold weather and stuff,

so there's a slight risk of heat exhaustion.

So it's nice to shear them just for their sake, really.

Really looking forward to it, actually.

It'll be nice to learn how to shear them properly.

Then we can do it every year.

Good intentions, but the reality is that Dan has never actually sheared

a llama before.

I have clipped dogs before,

but obviously slightly smaller, slightly less fur.

It's the first time they've ever had it, so we don't know

how they're going to react.

Hopefully, they're going to be fine and just let us get on with it.

It's possible they might struggle.

So, since this is a first for both Dan and the llamas, he's called in

some serious back-up - professional shearer Jamie Dickson

has travelled halfway round the world to be here.

I actually met some of the breeders from England when I was back in Oz,

and about three years ago they lost their previous shearer.

And I was sitting eating my tea one night and

got a phone call saying would you come shear in England?

Last year, between over here and back home, I reckon I would have

gone through about 10,000 or 11,000 alpacas and llamas,

with a few sheep thrown in as well,

so it's enough to keep you out of trouble.

Calm down, easy.

The most important thing is to be confident around the animal

and let them know that you know what you're doing.

That will keep them as calm as possible.

Well, I think what we should do, first up, try and get them in.

We'll get some sheep nuts and we'll get them into the pen over there

and from then on, it should be relatively calm.

Come on, llamas!

Come on, Debbie. Good girls.

-Well done.

-They are by nature a very defensive animal,

and so when you do catch them, they can have a bit of a squirl,

a bit of a spit, maybe a bit of a kick if we're lucky.

-But, generally, it's all a bit of bluff.

-Very good.

Too easy. So long as we can make Dan nice and calm about the whole affair,

I'm sure he'll do fine. Okey-doke.

But first, they've got to grab them. And the lucky llama they're after is Debbie.

Into this corner.

Any corner's a good one.

They'll usually stay calm if they're with a mate.

OK, come up here with your mate.

The llamas are not used to being restrained.

Holding them by the ears is the best way to keep them still and, while it

causes them no pain, the llamas do like to make some noise to complain.

LLAMA BRAYS AND GRUNTS

OK, basically, we'll start just above the tail, here.

Put the comb in there once it's running.

And just breeze along that side of her back line.

OK? We'll get going while Debbie's nice and calm.

Debbie's being a bit vocal about the whole experience,

but she's staying nice and calm.

And that's about her done. She was very well behaved.

Most of their herd recognition, how they know each other, is based on scent.

After you shear them, they don't smell the same.

They smell a bit of the shears, a bit of me.

And so you'll see them sniffing each other, saying, "Who are you?"

At worst, it will take them a day or two

to kind of re-establish what the herd hierarchy used to be

and they're happy with each other again.

If we get her up in one of these corners,

just like we did with Debbie...

Next up, it's Lavinia's turn.

She may not be as noisy as Debbie,

but prefers to stage a more peaceful protest.

Here we go. They do feel a bit tense.

I usually just run my hand along their back line.

That's the first place we're going to put the shears,

so they're getting used to feeling something alien on their back.

But after the initial resistance, Lavinia is perfectly behaved.

Push a bit harder.

You often find that the ones that are a bit touchier when you're trying

to handle them or trying to get them in - once you've got them held,

they're actually the best behaved.

It's the ones that are nice and calm and come up and

give you a kiss in the paddock that you've gotta watch out for.

But she's being lovely and well behaved.

-You were no trouble at all, were you?

-Yeah, she was really good.

I'm shocked at that.

Went quite well. She was the one we were

expecting to be a bit of trouble, but she stood there good as gold.

Really surprised, actually. Thought she was going to be a complete nightmare

and she was really good.

-Fingers crossed, the last one behaves for you.

-Hopefully.

Having shown him how it's done, it's up to Dan to shear the final llama,

Foggy. But, like the others,

she's not going to give in easily to a haircut, as we find out later on.

Earlier in the series, deputy head warden Ian Turner masterminded a plan

to put one of the six million trees from the Longleat estate into Monkey Jungle,

to make its residents a new and exciting feeding station.

Things didn't go exactly to plan and the whole operation took over 36 hours

just to move the massive trunks into position.

Ben and I have joined Ian to put them to good use.

-So what have we got here?

-We've made some special cakes for the monkeys.

It's got all the normal stuff, what the monkeys eat - banana, peanut and apples.

What we need to do is shove it into this Corsican pine tree we've made for them specially.

We've drilled loads of holes in, but the trouble is we need to do it quick because the monkeys...

It's not the greatest day weather wise, but we need to scoop this out and shove it in there.

-Would it be fair to describe this as a monkey trifle?

-Yeah, yeah.

-It looks very good.

I've got one here. God, it does look good.

So they will come racing over to this.

Has the tree gone down well with the monkeys? Have they enjoyed it?

Really well. Yeah, yeah. And the reason why we're doing this is instead of just putting food down,

they've got all these perches where they can sit on and pick the food out.

If you look behind you, you've got one coming over straightaway.

And they don't like this weather.

So it is very much a case of racing against time, or racing against monkeys.

-Don't take them from my tray yet!

-KATE LAUGHS

We may even need to speed up, cos they'll be right here.

What is attracting them? Are they curious because we're around here,

or would they be able to actually smell this food from a distance?

They'll be able to smell this food and they know somebody's made them.

-And that's quite a nice one. Look.

-Look at that. That's brilliant.

-Squash right in.

-I'm worried they'll blow away.

Is the point that they'll spend hours and basically busy themselves when normally they'd just eat?

Normally, they shove everything in their pouches. So they've got great big stores.

Then if anyone comes over, a dominant male or some other,

they can run off and eat at leisure.

Well, Ian, should we just pull back now and let them come in and watch them feed?

-On this tree, yeah.

-Yes. OK, let's just pull back and away.

And, yeah, in moments, we've got the first one coming in, although, rather lazily,

picking stuff up off the ground there.

MUSIC: "Girls and Boys" by Blur

You're constantly coming up with ideas for them.

Do they really need it, because it's a huge enclosure with lots of natural trees

for them to climb and places for them to hide?

Why is it so important to keep coming up with new stuff?

They probably wouldn't need new stuff, because, as you say, it's like being in the wild.

But literally just to keep them, cos they've got all the young ones,

it's always good to keep their mind active.

And have new stuff all the time. And this tree has gone down a treat.

It has got little perches and stuff. You can see,

instead of shoving all that in one, he's picking all the peanuts out.

-Oh, yes, he is!

-It must be incredibly satisfying to see them working away like this?

-Yeah. Normally, they'd take five minutes to eat and this hopefully will take a few hours.

-Brilliant.

Well, we shall get down to putting this in the rest of the tree.

But, Ian, thank you very much and congratulations on a real success.

-You'll have some very happy monkeys this year.

-Thank you very much.

Earlier, we were looking at some of Longleat's animals

in a whole new light -

through a hi-tech thermal imaging camera.

This provides a temperature map of the animals,

revealing hot spots which could be cause for concern.

It already showed up Jolly the giraffe's arthritic leg.

So now, up in the new area, Head of Section, Tim Yeo,

is keen to put it to the test on some of HIS animals.

He's asked expert David Blain to take a look at Winston,

the elderly rhino who's a favourite with the keepers and the public.

Winston's been with us here at the park for a good number of years.

He's a very popular rhino with the staff

and certainly the public that visit the park.

He'll readily come up to the bars and he likes to be patted

and have that close contact with people.

In the wild, rhinos rarely live beyond the age of about 30.

But Winston's easily surpassed that, reaching the grand old age of 38.

The keepers have kept him well for many years,

but sadly his age is catching up on him.

His health is an increasing concern.

For a number of years Winston has suffered with arthritic problems.

He's getting on in years and it has been increasingly a problem to him.

It's been a rather upsetting thing to see over that period of time.

He has good times and he has bad times

and it's worrying because you don't know what's round the corner, you don't know what's coming.

Tim has good reason to be so worried.

Sadly, Winston's condition is all too familiar.

His long-time companion, Babs, also suffered with arthritis.

Last year, at the age of 37, her condition worsened

and her pain increased,

so the decision was made to put her to sleep.

Now there are signs that Winston is displaying similar symptoms

of arthritis, which can be as crippling for animals

as it is for humans.

While he receives ongoing treatments,

it's not always easy to tell how well they're working.

It's very difficult by looking at the animal

to see the severity of the problem.

All sorts of remedies have been tried to ease the discomfort,

but he still seems to suffer.

So can thermal imaging provide an answer?

If the arthritic areas can be accurately identified, it would be

a massive help for Tim and his team to target their treatment.

What we had hoped to see with arthritis

is if you look at the joints, they'll be white cos it's warmer.

What happens is it draws the blood to the surface to protect it.

That's how you can determine, because the blood is warmer,

you can see the problem areas.

It just pinpoints it spot-on.

Especially on the back leg, you can see it clearly.

Thermal imaging has one other massive benefit -

it's non-invasive, which means that Winston can be examined

just by the use of a camera and without causing him any stress.

It's very interesting looking at the pictures and seeing exactly

whereabouts those heat sources are.

It would be wonderful to be able to do it again

after a period of time had elapsed

to see if there were any changes.

You can store the images.

You can store the images and you can overlay them, place them side by side,

and you can see if there's any deterioration

or if it's got any better, if your medication's working.

It's incredible technology.

Surely it'll help our vet very much to see whether these treatments

are having any effect at all.

The hope is, of course, that that sort of technology could help

in the future with these sort of conditions

that are always going to be with us as animals advance in years.

Thanks to this new technology,

Tim has the opportunity to treat Winston's arthritis

in a way they never could with Babs, and keep him happy and healthy.

Back in the Mkomazi game reserve in Tanzania,

pioneering conservationist Fitz and Longleat's Michelle Stephens

are anxiously waiting to see if Fissi,

the orphan striped hyena, is going to come round from being sedated.

She's moving now.

Ears are back.

Fissi has been fitted with a radio transmitting collar that will enable

Fitz to monitor her movements once she's released into the wild.

But for now, she's more interested in the safety of her den.

-I mean, talk about heading for home.

-Safety.

-Wa-hey!

Sedating a wild animal is always a risky procedure

so Fitz and Michelle are relieved that she's back on her feet,

even if she's looking a little bit groggy.

There she goes. Now, this is better.

Simon's the one she likes to bite and that's what she's doing.

-Everything...

-..is normal.

-Yeah.

Simon was saying that she's biting a little bit harder than normal

when she normally plays with him,

but that's understandable.

That's happened before with other animals.

They just want to let you know

that something funny has gone on and they're not impressed.

So now, Fissi is almost back to her normal playful self.

Fitz and Michelle leave her to rest overnight, as tomorrow's a big day.

Next morning, Fitz and Michelle are back to see how Fissi is doing.

Today's the big day when she's finally released into the reserve

where she can mingle with the other striped hyenas.

First, Fitz wants to make sure that the collar's working

as it's important to monitor Fissi's progress once she's released.

This is an essential piece of kit

when you're tracking... trying to find a little, lone hyena.

This is difficult country. It's not like the Namibian desert

where you follow a nice little trail.

It's thick, there's lots of grass.

It's difficult country, especially in the rains, to track in this.

-It's big as well.

-Yeah, huge.

And we have no idea where she's going to go, so this is essential.

Maybe she'll go 20 miles in a straight line. Maybe she'll just go round the corner.

Maybe she won't leave. Who knows?

But without this, we'll never know.

The collar works by transmitting a radio signal which is picked up by the aerial.

The strongest signal is the way this antenna's pointing.

And now we are, we are that close...

RECEIVER BEEPS You can actually notice

a slight difference, even here. Yeah.

The bleeping sound tells Fitz the collar is transmitting.

So finally Fissi is ready to be released.

But after a month of guaranteed food and shelter here,

she's going to take a bit of coaxing to get her out of the compound.

Don't chuck her anything.

OK. Put it back, put it back.

Simon.

Simon. Come on. Come on.

Show her the meat. Perfect.

Come on. Come on.

FISSI YOWLS

Fissi has got too attached to her home,

so there's only one thing for it.

It's going to have to be pulled down.

We're just trying to tell her that it's time she became

a bit of a big girl, and made a move into the bush.

She knows what we're doing. She's a bit cross we're busting the hut down.

FISSI GROWLS Come on, Fissi.

You can't stay in here forever.

That's been her little place, her little place of safety, security,

for the weeks that she's been here.

So, I mean, she's defending that, which is great.

All her instincts, all her inherited knowledge are there.

So I'm not worried about how she's going to cope.

She'll be fine. I think we're going to have to leave her.

Simon, I'm sure, will get her out later.

OK, Simon. All yours, man.

With Fissi standing her ground, Fitz leaves it to Simon to tempt her out of her compound.

We'll find out later on if this hyena wants to be released at all.

This is Jess the tapir.

This is Senior Warden Bev Evans.

And this over here is Hugo the brand new tapir.

-He is absolutely adorable, still with his stripes.

-Yes, definitely.

How long will he keep these for?

Round about six to eight months

and then he'll go all brown just like his mum.

It's pretty amazing having tapirs born here at the safari park,

cos they're endangered.

They're quite badly endangered.

These are Brazilian tapirs and they're from South America.

The habitat out there is depleting quite a lot because it's rainforest.

That is a problem for them. But they face a lot of problems in the wild.

So it really is significant to the whole population that you've got a new tapir.

We like to think so.

This is her sixth baby, so here at Longleat we are doing quite well

on the breeding of Brazilian tapirs.

Bev, thank you very much.

You really are sweet.

We've got plenty more animals like Hugo still to come, including...

How DO you measure a tiger with paws the size of a Frisbee?

The answer is very carefully, as I'm about to find out.

-Two down, and one to go

--

-but how will Dan get on shaving his first llama,

if it won't even get up?

And Fissi the hyena is headed out into an area of Africa's bush the size of the Yorkshire Dales.

But how on earth will they ever find her again?

At Longleat, Pets' Corner is no stranger to orphaned animals.

Deputy Head Keeper Bev Allen has often been on hand to play mum.

In her time, she's cared for everything from a baby wallaby

to even a marmoset. But now,

she's out in Africa at the Mkomazi Game Reserve, and her experience is being called on by Lucy,

wife of Tony Fitzjohn,

who has spent his life dedicated to bringing animals back from the edge of extinction.

Living in the bush means Lucy and her family

are always helping stray animals.

Recently, they've been caring for an aardwolf. That may seem strange,

but it's nothing compared to some previous housemates.

We started off with a lion cub, which was fantastic, and she was with us

for about nine months. Then we put her into the rhino sanctuary,

and she matured, and then further out into the reserve, so she had a good seven years in this reserve,

starting off in the bed!

Sharing a bed with a lion was lovely. They go to sleep when you do.

It was like having a little baby next to you, absolutely lovely.

We are very much early carers. We give them a few months here,

where they put on weight or mature, and then after that, the job is to reintroduce them into the wild.

Today, they've got the smallest carnivore in Africa on the loose in their house - a dwarf mongoose.

They usually live in family groups,

but this one seems to have lost its way.

This little one was in the guys' camp when they were having lunch one day, all on its own.

And it was feeding off one of the guys' hands, so they caught it

and brought it in here.

Although this may not be as endangered as a striped hyena,

this dwarf mongoose would never survive on its own.

So Lucy planned to monitor her progress, then release her to join the other mongoose.

But today, she escaped from her cage,

and with lots of dangers around the house, this orphan needs to be caught and monitored.

Sounds like a job for a veteran of Pets' Corner!

Now, Bev, it's gone back up the wall.

Have a look. I can't see it at the moment.

Hide and seek!

-Nothing.

-Nothing.

We'll be here all day... Oh! There it is, going back up again. Sorry.

Come on!

-It's coming your way, Bev. Can you see it?

-No.

Look under...

-Where's he gone, under the bed?

-Yes.

-Hang on.

-Oh! It's coming. Have you got it?

-Yeah.

Well done.

Its little heart's pounding away.

-We'll put it in the box.

-Yeah.

And let it calm down.

Ha!

With a very careful grip, Bev can now finally examine the mongoose.

Ah, hello.

As you can see, there's sharp teeth!

-Looks quite...

-What do you think?

-Looks quite healthy.

-Nice and clean bottom area.

-Yeah.

-Nice bright eyes as well.

There's no dirt coming out of the eyes.

Ears quite clean as well.

-Look at it biting you.

-BEV LAUGHS

-But their claws are incredibly strong, aren't they?

-They are.

Because they like to dig down in burrows to get away, especially when it's very hot.

The fur is in good condition, very glossy.

Wants to go back.

But very active.

Usually if there was a problem, they'd be hiding.

Sort of curled up, not looking bright-eyed and bushy there.

So now they know she's in good health all that's left is for Bev to attempt to release this animal

back into the wild.

Something she's never done before.

Join us later to see how Bev and the mongoose get on.

How on earth do you measure a tiger?

That's been the challenge for the keepers since these

three youngsters arrived at Longleat.

Coming up to two years old they're growing fast and can put on

up to three kilograms a month.

That's the same weight as your average domestic cat.

It's essential that their growth is monitored to spot any abnormalities,

but since these are the most dangerous cats in the world,

just how is this done?

Well, Ben's about to find out.

I've come up to the tiger house

to help out with a rather worrying task.

Tiger measuring.

Keeper Bob Trollope is here.

-Morning, Bob.

-Morning, Ben.

-Is this for real?

We're actually going to measure a tiger somehow today?

Well, attempt to. As you can see it's not something that you

can go in with and get proper measurements, that's for sure.

What do you want to do then? You want to basically...

Basically just get her to stand up and see how far she can stretch and

then we'll just see what measurements we can get.

-So who have we got here?

-This is Sundari, one of our new ones,

which is one of the livelier ones, as you can see!

She's amazing, isn't she?

And literally you're going to entice her up using some of that meat?

-I'll keep her up here, Ben.

-OK.

If you see if her paws come up against there,

if you're very careful, you can get a rough measure.

A rough measurement. OK. Let's see how we go, I won't go too close.

Come on, my darling.

We've got...

OK, I estimate about 17 centimetres for one of her paws,

but that's only a rough estimate. Can I have a quick go?

-Yeah.

-Do you mind me? I'll do a swap.

OK. There you go.

-Just hold it out.

-Yeah.

Wow, look at those teeth!

If you're tall enough Ben, if we can dangle it from here.

See if she'll go right up to the top.

Up there. Sundari, look.

Look, up here. It's up here, Sundari.

Maybe she has to follow it up.

Look, here we go. Up we go.

-That's it.

-Wow, so basically we know that she can stretch

right up to the top of this cage.

And you think of it, that wasn't a full stretch.

Do you want to occupy her with that and I'll...

-You can measure the cage.

-I'll measure the cage from top to bottom.

Hup, hup. Good girl.

Yeah, you have that bit.

We've got 207 centimetres or so.

Although she's already over two metres long, since she's just a cub,

Sundari still has a way to go.

Fully-grown tigers like Kadoo can reach over three metres.

Look at these claws as well.

In fact, shall we see if you can estimate a claw size.

I've got it here. I've got it here.

-Let's see if we can get a claw.

-Here you go.

Now that's...well, just the actual sheath of the claw,

that is four centimetres.

Four centimetres, wow.

You wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of that?

-No. Definitely not.

-Bob, thank you for letting me help you

with one of the most unusual tasks I've ever done. Here you go.

Wow. I tell you what, it's not every day you get to measure a tiger!

Back over in the East Africa reserve, keeper Dan Gray is about

to give Foggy the llama a haircut.

She's actually the most confident of the three, but

just cos she's the most confident, she's not necessarily the calmest.

She's got trust issues, so she's a little bit wary of us.

Removing her heavily-matted fleece will make her much cooler and more

comfortable during the summer.

Professional shearer Jamie Dickson

has shown Dan how it should be done on Debbie and Lavina.

But Foggy is not exactly keen on the idea. It's a first for her and Dan.

So, understandably, they're both a little anxious.

OK, Dan, are you ready to have a go yourself?

Erm, yeah, possibly. I think so.

OK, the main thing is not to be nervous.

The shears are designed so they're not going to hurt the animal.

-You'll be fine, mate.

-Yeah, it'll be fine.

She's going to go into the same corner as she did before.

But Foggy just isn't in the mood for a short back and sides,

and refuses to stand up.

So Dan has no option but to shear her sitting down.

Now, remember to go in just above the tail there.

So if you bring in the comb...

Be nice and easy. So if you just start it up.

There you go.

That's it. Anywhere will do.

You seem to be getting a feel for it. No worries.

I think that's enough for her.

-There you go.

-Sorry about that.

That's a pretty good job. I think you should be proud of yourself.

-Hopefully better with practice.

-Well, that's what it's all about.

You don't start off being an expert.

Well, that's for sure.

This may not be quite the look that Foggy was after.

-Go on.

-Come on. Good girl.

I think Dan did really well.

From this distance, you can't tell which one was done by who.

-So that's the main thing.

-I'll get better at it hopefully.

Hopefully, it will continue from there.

After all their moaning, the girls seem quite grateful of their new

crew cut and, for the first time ever, can scratch those parts

other llamas just can't reach.

There are plenty of warm-blooded animals around the park,

but it's the cold-blooded ones that need some extra special care.

Since they can't control their internal body temperature

they survive by absorbing heat from their surroundings.

It's essential they're kept at the correct temperature.

With David Blaine and his thermal imaging camera on hand,

it's a great opportunity for keeper Kim Tucker

to learn a little more about one special creature.

-Who's this that you've got here, Kim?

-This is Khan.

Khan has just come out of the enclosure,

so he's lovely and warm to the touch.

Let's see what he looks like on the camera.

-You can see.

-He's very red.

But what's really interesting is that he's particularly red

around where your hand is, isn't he?

He looks to be taking on my heat.

I'm just wondering if we can take him away from you a bit

and see if he starts losing heat.

A little bit. He seems to be cooling off a little bit.

It's a very warm day today, but this is interesting.

He's got real warmth in the middle of his body.

That's where all his organs are. So most of it'll produce the heat.

Oh, right.

That's fascinating.

What is the mechanism of a cold-blooded animal like this

to warm up?

They take on the heat of their surroundings.

If they're cold, they'll move to a warmer spot.

If they're too warm, they'll move to a cooler spot.

I know that it's not something that you would ever do,

but do you think if he was put down on the ground,

he'd cool off very quickly.

Probably, because taking on the heat of his surroundings

and at the moment he's taking on my heat as we saw before.

The areas with my hands on him are very red.

If I was to put him on the floor,

I suppose, David, back me up on this, he should go quite...

Shall we give it a go and see?

-I hope he doesn't shoot up your trouser leg!

-Let's hope not.

That's amazing! Look at that! He's cooling almost instantly.

Going yellow. You can see again around that organ area,

still keeping warm.

But the areas where my hands were, look, they've gone.

-They have.

-The redness has gone.

If you were to pick him up again now, shall we just see if...

-There you go.

-Look at that.

He instantly takes the heat from your hand.

It's almost like a thermal fingerprint.

-Look!

-Look at that! That's amazing.

-But his head is now completely cooling off.

-Yep.

How will this help you when you are doing 'Meet the Creatures'

with these very delicate animals?

Hopefully it can detect how long we can keep them out for,

depending on the weather conditions.

At the moment, on days like today, we will keep him out maybe an hour

and on cooler days, not quite so long.

We do use hot water bottles as well.

Look at that instant change as soon as you pick him up.

He completely changes colour again.

That is absolutely fascinating.

I can see he clearly loves you, Kim,

because he blushes when he's in your arms.

Dave, thank you very much. A fascinating afternoon.

Kim, thank you and Khan, you are a perfect thermal imaging subject.

For keeper Bev Allen, travelling to Africa was an amazing chance

to see animals in their natural habitat.

But now another opportunity's landed at her feet.

For the first time ever she's about to attempt to release an animal into the wild.

But she's as nervous as she is excited.

You never can be 100% certain that it's going to go well.

But that's why we need to monitor it, we need to do the process slowly

not rush into it.

Um, and just get the crate out with the mongoose in

and hopefully it'll start calling and then the other group of mongoose

will come over and it'll communicate.

After monitoring the dwarf mongoose for 24 hours and giving it a clean bill of health

the time has come to set her free.

So what do you think now?

I think maybe if we take him outside in the crate,

sort of put him near where the other mongoose usually come to

and he might start maybe talking to the others and making the noise and that.

Is this where the mongoose hang around here, is it?

There are a lot of mongoose around here.

And they come through here quite a few times a day.

-So I think if we put it somewhere shady?

-Yeah, that'll be great.

-The mongoose looks quite active now. Compared to what it was back in the house.

-Yeah.

It looks desperate to get out now.

Hopefully if it starts calling and making all the noises

-the others may come over...

-Yep.

-..and start making noises to him,

communicate with it.

See you in a bit!

There are several mongoose colonies near to Lucy's house

and they live in groups of up to 20 animals.

For this one to survive it's vital that it integrates back into a group.

-So that's her calling for the others?

-Yeah.

-HIGH-PITCHED CALLS

I wonder if they'll come.

-QUIETLY:

-Oh, look - there's one there.

Brilliant!

-Oh, that's good.

-So sweet.

-It's coming over.

Here they come, look. Not taken them long.

You can see her paws going out.

-I'd never have thought that would happen that quickly.

-That's amazing.

Here they come.

And they're not showing too much signs of aggression as such.

They just seem more intrigued.

-This means that, you know, she should be accepted back into the colony.

-Yeah.

There's a high chance that this is her own, you know, her colony before this happened.

ANIMALS CALL

This is a really good sign that, you know, that they're coming over, they're showing good interest

-with her.

-Yeah.

-And she's showing good interest - she wants to be out now.

It's like she knows she's home which is brilliant.

So, I think, you know, it's a good time now to go over in a minute and open the cage

and just see what happens.

With no signs of aggression from the other animals

Bev feels it's now safe to release the little mongoose back into the wild.

You've found your friends.

If you take a step back.

-She's not that nervous.

-No.

Look, there she goes.

-Straight into the bush.

-Straight in! She's happy.

-That's brilliant!

-She's keen!

For Bev this is truly an experience she will never forget.

It's been fantastic. It's an opportunity that I've never had before.

Um, I mean it was quite scary because you don't know how it's going to turn out.

Um, but the way that everything's happened and the behaviour of them,

it's been fantastic.

I'm over the moon.

Really pleased. I mean the little animals are just as important as the bigger animals.

Um, but that was a success and I'm really, really pleased.

-Oh!

-KATE LAUGHS

I out in the wolf enclosure with keeper Stuart Sears

who rather wisely said, "Why don't you feed the wolves today?"

Stuart, you're giving them an enormous amount of food.

Oh!

How far do I need to drag this?

-That'll be fine.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, that'll be fine.

-OK.

Good!

Right, back in the vehicle.

Now, presumably, Stuart, one of the important things when you feed the wolves

is that it gives you a very good opportunity to check them all over and see how they're doing?

That's right. Usually they are quite elusive and sometimes, you know, you can patrol an area

and you won't see full numbers all day.

When we put feed out for them, when we draw back

generally draws the whole pack in and we can observe them.

-So we need to move back a little bit, do we, before they'll come in?

-Yeah.

-We can them starting to sniff.

-They're starting to circle.

-They're like, "Get out of my way."

-Yeah.

Keeper Stuart Sears is particularly keen to check up on the new wolf pups

which were born just five months ago.

And what sort of stage are they at now?

Because presumably their pecking order in the pack, they're still very much at the bottom?

-That's right. They have got their own hierarchy amongst themselves.

-Oh, have they?

And that will integrate with the adults' and the adults will put them right.

But they're coming on. They're pretty much self-sufficient.

They're still suckling now and again.

-OK. So they will come onto the meat, hopefully?

-Should do.

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, we've got them absolutely as you predicted, in fact.

A complete change of hierarchy.

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.

Earlier on, in the Mkomazi game reserve,

Fitz and Longleat's Michelle Stevens had trouble coaxing Fissi,

the orphaned striped hyena, out of the compound and back into the wild.

A few hours later, and Fitz and Michelle are keen to see if keeper Simon has had any more luck.

THEY SPEAK IN DIALECT

She came out. She just carried on adding sticks

to where her little place was and she just went in

and just bolted out, veered right and went through the fence at the back into

the main part of the sanctuary and she's gone off into the bush there.

-So we've got the machine here. We know her collar is working. Let's look for her.

-Let's.

Fitz has fitted Fissi with a radio transmitting collar so that he can track her progress in the wild.

TRANSMITTER CRACKLES

It doesn't take him long to pick up a signal.

MACHINE BEEPS

The strength and frequency of the beeps tells Fitz which direction to look in.

-I can see something there. I don't know if that's her.

-She is.

-Right here.

-I saw her.

-Here we are, Fissi.

-Thought I could see something.

-Yeah. No, well done.

Apart from a bloody nose, Fissi seems in perfect health.

And has found a new, comfortable home.

She's found a beautiful sandy place beneath the rocky outcrop,

protected from rain and shade

and just a classic place for a striped hyena to lie.

-I mean, couldn't be better than that, Simon.

-Indeed.

She has every chance now to become a real hyena.

-How do you think she will find hunting, cos she's never done it before?

-No, she hasn't.

But I don't think she'll bother.

I mean, they scavenge and they're very careful. They eat very small crustaceans and ants.

-They're not fussy at all.

-Maybe even lizards.

-Will you feed her initially just a little bit?

Of course. Of course.

If she sort of heads back, she will get fed.

And, after a couple of days, if she hasn't headed back,

we'll look for her and give her something if she needs it.

Make sure she's well and she's coping OK.

So, Fissi's release has been a success.

I hope that she, you know, just continues to explore the environment.

I hope she meets up with other striped hyena.

Maybe in the long-term, have a family of her own.

You know, she's got her life ahead of her now.

She is a young hyena. She's got everything to look forward to.

Being involved in the tagging and release of an orphaned animal

has been an amazing chance for Michelle to learn about conservation first hand.

This has been a really excellent experience for me.

Not many people get hands-on experience doing this and it's a really positive thing to do.

I mean, it is conservation at its best.

You always want animals to be where they naturally should be.

And it's been achieved today and it's really brilliant. It's great. Really good feeling.

Hi-tech thermal imaging has been a great success in the park.

So far it has helped diagnosed Winston's arthritis,

spotted Jolly the giraffe's bad leg

and taught keeper, Kim Tucker about Khan the snake.

But before we go, there is one more thing it can help with

and that involves the often confusing question of gender.

We are down in Pet's Corner with head of section, Darren Beasley.

Darren, you have a theory which you think that Dave Blaine,

on his thermal imaging camera, is going to be able to back up or not.

It would be fantastic if he can.

OK, tell us about this.

Really, it's all about boys and girls.

Parrots, most species of parrot all look the same,

whether it be a boy or a girl.

The issue we always have, the great mystery of the universe is,

they know if the bird next to them is a boy or a girl.

We can't do it visually.

It's really odd.

We're not sure what sense they use or how they do it.

It might be the shape of face or something.

We have to either surgically sex or use DNA nowadays

-to find out if the bird is a boy or a girl.

-Right.

I just wondered whether there is something the birds see in their field of vision,

whether it is some heat or some little hot spot or something,

that says, "Hey, you're a boy, I'm gonna talk to you."

Or "You're a girl, I'm gonna chase you,"

whichever way round it would be.

-So, shall we start. Who is this?

-This is Archie.

-Right. And Archie is definitely male, is he?

-Definitely a boy.

Is there a place, Darren, that Dave should concentrate on?

Do you think there are any particular areas?

Certainly the head, the face shots and around the beak area,

but I also wondered around the tummy part.

If I turn Archie round... Archie! Come up on there.

ARCHIE SQUAWKS

There is definitely a hot area around his tummy.

It is very warm and very white on the legs.

I've got Nelson here which we know is a girl.

Despite the name!

Despite the name! Always confuses me.

Can we see any difference here?

You're not getting the complete bleaching out

-and actually the tummy is a lot cooler, isn't it?

-It is.

-There could be something in it, Darren.

-There could be.

Shall we try with Sunday, because Sunday is a mystery.

This is an unsexed bird.

I would say immediately, exactly the same as Archie.

-Look at that!

-Warm down at the bottom.

The very completely bleached out head and the white legs.

-It really is a mystery, isn't it?

-It is a mystery.

What we would probably have to do is later on, perhaps this year,

we would follow up and perhaps have DNA tests.

-You can take a feather, send it away...

-HELLO!

Hello! Sorry. Take the DNA and have a look,

-so we can definitely get a sex.

-Thank you very much indeed.

Absolutely. 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.

They've got a plan to stop the marmosets from getting up to mischief, will it work?

Kadoo must be put under anaesthetic, but will she ever wake up??

And Winston the rhino might not be the only one who's going to get a mud bath.

Don't even think about it, Fogle!

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