Episode 12 Animal Park

This is Wolf Wood. It's home to a pack of eight wolves,

but recently, a litter of cubs was born.

Sadly, in the past, many have died at this early stage,

but so far, six have survived.

We'll be bringing you their story today.

Coming up, on Animal Park...

Darren teaches Ben a thing or two about how to pick up a bird.

I've never done turkey wrangling before.

There's an impostor in the flamingo enclosure.

And Lord Bath's pride and joy goes on a hot date,

with Dandy, the labradoodle.

But first, we're heading to Wolf Wood because there's a big problem.

Keepers from across the park are descending on the section

because there's an emergency with the six week-old wolf pups.

The small pup down there is having some sort of seizure,

some sort of fit. So we come up here, managed to get hold of him.

Had a rough check but he doesn't look very good at all.

The wolf pup has become very sick, very quickly

and they have no idea what's caused it.

Swallowing a poison or toxin somehow,

could have caused such an aggressive reaction.

They've had a problem with worms before in Wolf Wood, but Bob's

worst fear is a disease or virus infecting the whole pack.

While we were up here, we've decided to worm the rest of them,

so we've been going around trying to find them.

We've managed to find two more

but they've just disappeared.

They're in hoes, they're everywhere.

So it's just a case of looking around every tree,

every nook and cranny, until we find the other three.

And just give them their first dose of wormer.

Just in case that's something to do

with what's wrong with little one.

Normally, they wouldn't get out of their patrol vehicles

in the enclosure, but this is serious.

Our biggest problem is that there's a wolf pack running around here.

And they're very protective of the youngsters, so Dad, Mum

and the rest of the pack members are following our every move.

The keepers have to act with extreme caution in a situation like this,

but are left with no alternative but to intervene.

If it's worms, all six young pups could get sick and die very quickly.

But they're almost impossible to find.

-Where's he gone now?

-Still there.

Come here. No, no, no, no, no...

There. Two of them. Hey. They're lively.

Just like with your dog or cat at home, worms can be fatal,

so all the pups need treatment and thankfully,

the team have caught all six.

We're just putting a couple of mil of wormer in...

But, as they prepare to let them go,

the first sick pup starts going downhill fast.

And another is very weak.

The keepers need to think on their feet and make the unusual decision

to rush the pair to the vet.

This is incredibly rare.

Wolves are pack animals, so they are never separated,

but this is life or death.

Whatever is wrong with these pups could spread to the others,

which might mean losing the entire litter.

Their future is now in the hands of vet Paul Higgs.

This one's a bit better. Yeah.

This one's a bit brighter, isn't it?

How long can we keep them away from the pack, realistically?

Or are we in trouble already?

I'd really like to put them back as soon as we can, to be honest.

If we start keeping them away, then you're gonna have

other problems really, getting them back in.

This one's looking pretty bad, really, Brian, I think.

I'm just going to take its glucose in a second cos I think

that's the most likely problem that we've got.

If we've got a high worm burden, that's the most likely.

Two of them going at the same time.

If worms are the problem, then the pups would need

a very aggressive course of treatment.

So Paul takes bloods to investigate all possibilities.

MACHINE BEEPS

The glucose is normal.

Normal range is about four to seven or eight

and we're at six, we're smack bang in the middle.

I don't really feel, therefore, that a low glucose or worm burden

is the likely cause of seizures, so we'll have to try

and work out now what the cause is gonna be.

Then suddenly, the pup who had been fairly lively,

slips into unconsciousness.

I'm just gonna go and see how these bloods are getting on a second.

Upsetting, really, to see them like this.

Worryingly, I don't know if the rest of them are gonna go the same way.

Paul has to figure out what's wrong with them...and fast.

Pets Corner, here, is home to 270 different animals,

made up of 47 species.

And once a month, they have an enormous task

that Kate and I have volunteered to help with.

Darren, you're head of Pets Corner here, with a beautiful owl.

So, first of all, who is this?

This is Harriet. She's gorgeous, isn't she?

She's a European barn owl.

And she's gonna help us start the ball rolling today, really.

Hopefully, your guys are gonna help us. We've got to weigh everything...

Every single animal in Pets Corner has to be weighed?

Well, it's a bizarre thing but as a keeper with a lot of animals,

it's difficult, they can't tell you whether they're well

or whether they're having babies or stuff. And Harriet, for instance,

these feathers hide a big secret.

We don't know whether she's thin under there,

is she fat, is she carrying eggs?

And so, weight can tell you so much.

So what we do, we weigh as many animals as we possibly can

-and we do it on a regular basis and we look for patterns.

-Right.

Obviously, a heavy animal isn't always a healthy animal, you know?

A light animal isn't always a sick animal.

You want to try and keep on a steady even keel.

We have guidelines of what we're looking for. And Harriet's first.

It's dead simple. We have different methods.

We just pop her on here. She sits on here.

-If she does. Yeah.

-Go on, my love.

-There she goes. That's easy.

-She's very well behaved.

And it's not rocket science. We read that.

377. That's a good weight. And then I'll add that in her records.

Later on, I'll sit and we'll do some number crunching

and it tells us whether she's about right... come on, sweetheart...

if she's underweight, overweight, whether she's carrying eggs,

any of that information, but with so many animals,

it takes a long time to do them!

-Where would you like us to start, Darren?

-If we head out to...

-I think Bev's waiting for us in ferrets...

-OK.

-And I've got a really good one for Ben.

-Fine. So I get the ferret.

-You get the ferrets.

-I've never liked the sound of that, Darren,

-when you've got a good one for me.

-There we go.

-Bev's just round the corner.

-Oh, brilliant. There's Bev.

-With ferret in hand.

-Ben, we're going over here.

All right. I'll come and find you in a bit and help you out.

Yes. Presumably, Bev, how many ferrets have you got at the moment?

We've got eight boy ferrets in here.

-OK.

-So it's quite smelly at the moment.

-Right.

We've got Reg here. So I've got to weigh him still,

but if you want to hold Reg, I've got to find Ricky, as well.

OK. You know you never ever need to give me an excuse to hold a ferret

cos I do think they're the best animals in the world.

Do you want to weigh Ricky first?

What we do, we put them in the scales and you have to sort of balance 'em,

-cos they're a bit wiggly.

-OK.

He's quite a good weight, actually.

-He's about one, three.

-One kilo, 300 grams.

OK, Reggie. Let's see if you need to go on a Weight Watcher's programme.

Let's pop you in there, gently.

There you go. Just sit there.

There, nice and calm. Oi, oi, oi!

No. No chewing the camera. There you are. Sit there.

Sit still, Reg.

Go on, Reg. He knows what's going on. Go on. Sit in there.

-Gosh, it's not easy.

-It isn't. You've gotta be quick.

You're not gonna sit down, are you, Reggie? Come on.

-And how many of these have we got? Six more to do?

-Six more to do.

Hang on, Reggie. Come on.

He's doing that girl thing, isn't he?

Keeping one foot on the floor so you don't look as heavy as you think you are.

We've clearly got a bit of a battle going on,

so we're going to carry on with the ferrets. Let's see where Ben is.

Wow.

This is Lucky Chestnut, we call him.

-Obviously, a turkey.

-He is a turkey.

-Wow.

-And he's a handsome fella.

Look at the colours on his face.

He's just like every stag turkey across the world,

or stag turkey of these.

But you don't always see them with their feathers on,

I'm afraid, so he's a big hit.

-I've put him in here...

-With the tortoises, obviously.

because we have gotta weigh him and that means we've got to catch him.

-OK.

-And he runs a bit faster than you might think.

Look at his head. Look at the colouring there.

At the moment, he's showing off to you.

-He's letting you know that he's handsome.

-He's boss.

Yeah. And all this round here, the caruncle and all this fleshy skin

around his face, he filled it with blood just to look very intimidating.

-Isn't he handsome?

-Well, I was going to ask you that.

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

I think he's gorgeous.

No comment from me. I think he's interesting.

I think, as well, because he's a fairly new animal to us this year,

he's one of the ones I was telling you about, we can't tell condition.

We can watch him eating. We know his behaviour. He's very active.

What we have got to do is grab him, weigh him and then, I'm afraid,

we've gotta weigh you, as well.

-How would you suggest we go about this?

-Let's catch him.

-Literally just...

-If you head him off.

-Yeah.

-Go in front of him.

And turn him back to me. And then I'll head him to you and just...

Tuck your arms round him and tuck him under your arm, Ben.

Just, like so?

That's it. And just watch these cos these are dangerous weapons, these.

-Wow.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah.

It's cool, I've never done turkey wrangling before.

He's coming through a moult.

See all this? He's coming through a moult. This bit's called his beard.

-Right.

-And honestly... I don't know if he'll make a noise.

In a minute, we'll put him down and see if he'll make a noise.

Let's weigh him back over here. He's a bit smelly.

OK. So, I understand.

We're going to weigh both of us and then we'll have to weigh me.

Ideally, you stand on there.

Is this all trial and error, that you've worked out the best ways?

Otherwise we've got to wrap him and box him and that's really not...

You don't want me to say this out loud, do you?

-Don't worry. I'm not shy.

-If you put him down now.

-Yes.

-And we'll say goodbye.

Thank you, Lucky. Thank you, Lucky.

He might make a noise.

Are you going to make a noise for us?

HE WHISTLES, TURKEY GOBBLES

-Do you like that?

-Brilliant, isn't he?!

Absolutely fantastic. Have you just weighed him?

I have. Beautiful, or not beautiful?

Mmm. I'm not sure I'd marry him.

But then, Ben, I get to work with you,

-so, you know, the standard's set.

-OK.

-Back on there before you go.

-Now I've got to stand on here, myself.

And obviously, I'll just do the taking away.

Was that turkey or for me, Darren?

He's now over 10 kilos. 10½ kilos, now.

That's a good weight. He's still putting on weight all the time so,

obviously he gets lots of exercise here, but he was an easy one.

We've got loads more to do now, so if we can crack on.

Obviously, no mention of Christmas, at this stage.

-No.

-Keep it quiet. Keep it quiet.

Now, we're heading straight back to the vet's where Paul is trying

everything he can to save two of Brian's precious wolf pups.

Paul decides to put the sickest one on an ECG machine

to check its heart rate.

Trying to make a quick analysis of this.

It's quite difficult when you haven't seen the species before.

But it certainly doesn't look normal.

The results of the blood test appear to confirm those of the ECG machine.

All right, Brian.

So we've had our blood results, to here.

Couple of the important ones. This one, particularly, low calcium,

can really make animals go really weak, really twitchy,

possibly have full-blown seizures,

but I would expect other signs on the bloods which we haven't seen.

I'm not 100% sure this is what's going on,

but we don't have anything else at the moment.

We're in a fairly critical stage. If we don't turn him around now,

he's not going back to the pack

and we're not gonna be able to save him.

So we're going to treat him with some calcium.

If he perks back up, then great.

Then we can start using oral calcium for, hopefully, all of them,

supplementing them all.

The problem with this stuff, Brian, is it's pretty dangerous.

If we give it too quickly, it's gonna stop his heart,

all by itself.

So I've put the ECG back on him and we'll watch as he goes.

If we start seeing problems with the ECG, then we'll stop.

Calcium should replenish the pup with essential minerals.

But too much will kill it.

Paul is taking a risk but this pup is now so ill,

it's difficult to pinpoint the cause.

No. It's the same as it was just before we injected,

but it's worse than it was before.

The calcium hasn't worked and things are looking desperate

for both this pup and his brother.

Paul works quickly to do everything he can

to try and save the young pup's life.

He knows they must get back to the pack tonight or they may face

being rejected by their mother, who would abandon them to die.

We'll try everything that we can, at the moment.

And this one is still completely and utterly...

you know... you can see, comatose and really non-responsive.

The problem is, we've got two in this state

and we've got to get them back tonight.

If they're going to go back, they've got to get back tonight

and I can't see this one recovering.

And to go downhill so quickly and we've had no response from it at all

and blood's been pretty much normal,

if this were a puppy, you know, we'd be putting it on fluids,

we'd be doing things, but we can't with these animals

cos they're gonna go back into an environment where they're gonna die

because they've been away too long.

So, I think we're going to take some last minute measures and if

that doesn't do the job, then I think we'll have to call it a day for it.

But nothing can revive the young pup,

leaving him and Brian with only one tragic option.

In a way, Brian, I think...

it might be sensible to put this one to sleep...

and focus on the other one.

Make sure the other one survives.

Cos at the moment, the other one's not getting any of our time

and this one is getting all of our time.

I don't think we're going to do anything to save him.

No. I think that's probably the best thing to do.

It's a really tough decision cos

if you don't know what's going on, there could be something

you can do something about, but until you know what it is,

you can't treat it.

We've tried every avenue that we can think of, at the moment.

You know, we've given him some calcium, given him some glucose.

I mean, it's really not making any effects, at all.

In fact, actually, he's getting worse, really.

And that's not a very good sign.

The problem is that his mate, as well, is getting worse

and unless we find out what's going on, we're going to lose both of them.

So, you know, in a way, it's going to be fairer to let this one go,

cos he's pretty past pulling back, at the moment and seeing whether or not

he can give us any more information about what's going on

so we can try and save the other one.

It's a terrible choice to have to make,

but Paul has done everything he can for this pup.

It's now unconscious, weak and not responding to treatment.

-The kindest thing is to let it die in peace.

-OK, Brian. Agreed?

Yeah. I agree. Yeah, totally.

You've done everything you can.

Poor little thing.

We'll have to do a post-mortem and try and work out if we can

find a way of treating the other wolf.

But I think, you know, even then it's still clutching at straws

with this guy. I think we'll be lucky to find

a reasonably acceptable cause,

but we need to give it a go.

They were doing so well.

Very chuffed with how they were getting on and then suddenly,

bang, we lose one.

Possibly may lose all of them, I don't know.

That's the worrying thing.

I'm hoping Paul may find something in this one to help the others.

If he don't find anything, I really don't know what the answer

is at the end of the day.

All Brian can do is hope that the post-mortem

may help them save the other young pup.

Well, the great weigh-in continues here at Pets Corner.

I'm with Bev Allen and we're in the rabbit enclosure,

so which of these two? This one's being very... Yeah.

That's Sparky. Sparky the rabbit.

It's none of those rabbits we're gonna weigh.

-OK.

-I've put her in the box over here ready.

-That's an enormous box, Bev.

-It is. She's quite a big rabbit.

-Bless her.

-Right. This is obviously a new resident

that I haven't met before.

No. She's only about ten months old.

-OK.

-I've got the towel here so we can wrap her up.

-Right.

-And here she is.

She's called Delilah.

She's beautiful!

She's obviously a giant rabbit, is she?

Yeah. She's a British Giant.

I mean, she's still got a bit of growing to do. So yeah, she's lovely.

Got another one called Samson, as well. And she's quite heavy, now...

Crikey. That is an armful of rabbit, isn't it?

-Wrap her up.

-Yeah.

So then you can... you have to step on those scales first, actually.

-OK.

-So we've got to weigh you.

Right. Yes. OK. Got that.

Then we pop her back on you.

-You got her?

-She does weigh a tonne.

She's very heavy, isn't she?

It's those big ears, as well.

She's gorgeous. She's absolutely gorgeous.

Now we've just got to see what it is.

She's about, I'd say, about 4½.

I would say about 4½ kilos. Yeah.

Your weight, 4½ kilos?

Yes, Ben. Absolutely.

In your dreams, Humble, in your dreams.

4½ kilos of rabbit isn't bad.

Wait till you see what we've got in the box.

-Darren's about to reveal all.

-All right.

-Well, good luck and we'll put you back, Delilah.

-Good girl. Good girl.

Good girl. Well done, you.

I always get a bit nervous at Longleat when I'm issued with gloves

but the next animal we're weighing requires them. What is it?

It's a new animal to us, not been here long. She's called Val.

-Right.

-And she's a cane toad, or marine toad.

Cane toad, OK.

I can see that. Who's that?

That's Michael. That's the male. We've had that one a little while...

or we think was a male.

We've got another one to go with it and the food disappears every night.

We want to see again whether this one's eating it,

but the gloves are important, cos if I open the door...

these toads are a great defence and it's called bufotoxins

which is a poison. And they emit it from small sacs on their shoulders.

-Right.

-If we open that...

-Yeah. I've got another problem for you.

-Yes.

-I'm glad you're doing this.

-Where is the other one?

-He's in there.

They hide, you get predators and to protect themselves and keep cool...

-she's buried herself right down.

-Literally under the...

Dig down there, under the front of the locusts there.

That locust doesn't know what it's sat on. That's it.

And then scoop and she'll probably do this defensive thing

-where she'll shed some liquid. That's it.

-OK. Wow.

Grasp her firmly. Behind you are the scales. You have to do it calmly.

You have to do it and make sure that... that's brilliant. Slippery.

-What are you doing?

-Don't ask, Kate.

I'm toad wrangling. Cane toads.

-You're doing very well.

-Right.

-These are a pest species, remember.

They're a real nuisance throughout the world now. 395.

-That's brilliant. Thank you.

-395.

-Just pop that one back in.

-They're getting bigger by the day.

-Incredible animals, aren't they?

Look at all that slime.

Oh, dear.

-Let's close.

-Right.

I want to go and find something a little less slimy.

With so many animals to weigh,

this monthly routine is an enormous undertaking for the keepers.

But helps ensure the good health of their creatures, great and small.

-He wants to explore everywhere.

-There you are. Pop you in there.

-OK.

So let's try down there.

-Just in case.

-About three kilos.

-Gosh.

-That's quite a weight, isn't it?

-A good weight. Yes. He's doing well.

Over the past six years, there's been one animal

that's been firmly by the side of the Lord of the Manor.

His devoted dog, Boudicca.

Lord Bath first met golden labrador, Boudie, when she was just

a tiny puppy and she quickly became his faithful companion.

Boudie!

Boudie Boo! Boudie! Bouda!

Boudie!

Come on. Show your obedience.

Somebody I know, whose dog was having puppies

and I got a telephone call,

"She's produced a white labrador especially for you".

So I felt I'd better have it.

She's got a very warm personality, very loving

and I think she's bonding with me fast.

I do find her adorable!

But it wasn't always the easiest of partnerships.

Boudicca's natural enthusiasm sometimes got the better of her.

It's quite painful, having a close relationship with her.

Like many puppies, all Boudie wanted to do

was nibble everything she could get her mouth round.

And nothing was off limits.

These were recently acquired shoes and she's ripped off all that.

She chewed up my £1,000 hearing aid.

But despite her appetite for destruction, it was the start of

a beautiful friendship and the pair have been inseparable ever since.

Come on, Boudie, time to get up.

But despite all the years of happiness,

there's still one thing missing from Boudie's life.

A litter of puppies.

So this year, Lord Bath has decided that it's time

Boudie became a mother.

I've had her since she was that high, or that large, rather

and she's been a really lovely companion

and I've always wanted a strain of doggies to replace her.

I would ideally like to establish a Longleat breed.

Well, she's not had any puppies before

and this will be her chance to have her first litter.

I have faith in my daughter there, producing the litter I want.

At nearly seven years old, she may not have

many more opportunities to get pregnant.

And as she's never bred before, finding the right dashing young male

for the job is all-important.

Meet Dandy.

A two year-old third-generation local prize-winning labradoodle.

Proud owner, Barbara Oats,

thinks he could be the prince Boudie's looking for.

He's very bright. He much enjoys playing.

He can be quite obedient, on occasions.

Very good-natured dog and he loves kids.

As the name suggests, labradoodles are a cross between

a labrador and a poodle and were first bred in Australia

in the 1980s, as guide dogs for people with allergies to animal fur.

They don't moult and are full of character,

so have proved very popular.

They've got a bit of common sense of a labrador and the bounce of a poodle...

which is quite a fun dog to have, really.

Very trainable, but I'd rather too much fool around

with him, so it doesn't always work!

He may have the pedigree but will Dandy cut the mustard

as a suitor for Boudicca?

He's very fit. He's very healthy.

He certainly knows what to do.

He's very interested when there's a bitch on heat anywhere.

So, just hope for the best.

So, Dandy by name and...

well, dandy by nature.

We'll be back later to find out what happens when he meets Boudie.

Having weighed everything in Pets Corner,

Kate's next stop is Nico, on Gorilla Island.

But as he's the weight of four men and has the strength of eight,

thankfully, she's not having to tempt him onto the scales.

Well, I'm standing on the pontoon with keeper Michelle Stevens.

We're basking in the sunshine here, outside Gorilla Island, with Nico

looking very content and happy in the background.

-He's a western lowland gorilla, that's right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So, if I were to try and find Nico in the wild,

-where would I have to go in the world?

-Mostly Cameroon, Congo area.

Sort of West Africa.

-Right. So quite hot.

-Very hot.

Very kind of humid. Lowland kind of tropical forest areas.

OK. So, I mean, he's lived here, in Wiltshire, which seems, at times,

about as far from a tropical rainforest as anywhere could be.

Exactly. Not quite the temperature.

And yet, clearly, he does very well here.

How does he manage between warmer summers and colder winters?

He manages very well. We don't mollycoddle him,

so he will go out in all winds and weathers.

If you look at his arms, the hair on his arms is really long

compared to a lot of captive gorillas and I think, over the years,

he's grown that long hair just to compensate for the cold weather.

On this island, it's like a whole ecosystem, a climate on its own.

-Yes.

-It could be two degrees colder on here than it can be on land.

In the summer, it can get really hot, so he'll just seek out shade.

He'll either hide in the bamboo or just hide around the house

and lay down and sleep, pretty much all afternoon.

And you don't feel kind of tempted that on particularly

cold winter days, you sort of keep him inside with a hot water bottle?

If it's very very cold, if it's snowing, it's bitter cold,

then we will keep him in, but to be honest,

it's very rare that we have to keep him in.

We try not to keep the house so warm that it's such a shock

when he goes outside, that could be really bad for him,

so it's trying to find that level where it's quite comfortable,

it's not too cold inside, but he's going to be comfortable

-when he goes outside.

-Michelle, thank you very much.

We've got lots more coming up on the programme.

Dandy meets Boudie, but it's not exactly love at first sight.

And Kate gets to grips with a new toy.

That's it.

Yes!

Back now to the critically ill wolf pups.

Vet Paul and keeper Brian made the difficult decision

to put one pup down to find out what was wrong in order to save the rest.

We've done a post-mortem now and it has actually come back

as one of the things we suspected, which is a huge, huge worm burden.

As soon as we went into the stomach and the intestines,

there were just hundreds and hundreds of worms,

all there and there was nothing else actually in the gut apart from worms.

The worms have killed because they are not allowing the body to absorb

any of the energy from the food so the worms are living off the energy

that the pup is eating, the cub is eating and so,

there is nothing left for the cub to absorb.

So the poor pup had died from worms.

In Wolf Wood, the keepers are always vigilant about worming

the mothers and the treatment has always been passed

straight through to their young pups.

All carnivores are actually susceptible to worms

and the larvae can survive in their food, grass or faeces,

but warm, wet conditions will cause them to thrive.

Like their wild cousins, wolves take their lead from nature,

surviving by not showing sickness.

By the time the keepers knew these pups were ill,

it was already too late.

For this one, treatment is going to be to try and get some glucose in him

which means putting some glucose under his skin and he's gonna go back

to the pack today and then the rest of the pack, the rest of the cubs,

are gonna have to be wormed again over the next couple of days,

which is gonna be hard work for Brian,

but, unfortunately, we couldn't save the sick pup.

There was nothing we could do.

Having treated the worms, the glucose should give this pup

enough energy to survive.

But Brian will have to treat all the pups back at the park.

Lively now, aren't you?

I might have to decide really to put them in the house, wolf house.

And actually lock them in.

It's not a thing I wanna do, but to save them,

I think we may have to do that, cos I can't guarantee

I can catch them all the time.

And if we don't do anything, we're going to lose the lot of them.

The great house has well over 100 rooms,

full of the treasures that one would expect

to find in a grand country house.

But over 20 rooms have had somewhat of a makeover by Lord Bath.

He's been painting murals in his private apartments for 40 years

and head guide Ruth Charles is about to reveal another to Ben.

-Where are we going, then?

-We're going into the disco mural,

which is full of bright colours.

I didn't think, after all the years I've worked here,

that there was another room that I hadn't seen but here is one.

-It's VERY bright.

-Very bright. Yes.

So what was this room used for? What is it used for?

It's used as the children's playroom.

-The date in the corner is here.

-Over here.

Tells us when he did it.

Weymouth, because he was the Viscount Weymouth when he did this.

-OK.

-Between '82 and '84.

So does that mean it took two years... did he create this over a two-year period?

Probably even longer than that. With help.

He needed help to actually physically get through the quantity

-he wanted to.

-And how is this all made then?

How does he create this 3D effect?

Well, he mixes household paint with sawdust to make a clay

and it's got glue in there, as well and nails to give it some relief.

And then 10, 12 layers of paints splatted over, oils squeezed straight

from the tube, until he gets the finish that he wants.

It's incredibly bright, isn't it? Obviously, as a children's playroom,

you want all those bright colours.

What's this scene going on around here, then?

-People dancing, I assume.

-The disco mural. They're jiving.

All of them very happy. There's just the base of a trampoline here.

Looks like they're bouncing on the trampoline.

And as you go round the room, you've got the trombone players,

you've got the cork from the champagne bottle.

Obviously, the ceiling is partly where it gets its disco theme from.

It's almost like a disco ball but stuck to the ceiling.

Stuck to the ceiling. Yes. And its legs make it look funny, comical.

-So you've got humour here, as well.

-Did Lord Bath create that, as well?

No. His nephew, who has the same name, Alexander Thynne.

He's created all the ceilings and Lord Bath has done all the walls.

I don't think he understands the word magnolia.

Everything, every inch, is coloured.

-Well, there you go. Another room...

-Yes.

-that I never knew existed.

Thank you very much.

Just as colourful as Lord Bath's murals, are the Chilean flamingos.

These eye-catching birds are extraordinarily fussy,

like to be left alone and everything has to be perfect

for them to lay eggs and increase their number.

Something their keeper, Mark Tye, is desperate for them to do.

Kate even helped him build them some nests a few years ago,

to try and push them in the right direction.

Unfortunately, it didn't work, so Mark has tried to leave them

to their own devices as much as possible.

But now, he's placed an impostor on the pond,

which should help him keep an eye on them.

Well, I'm down outside the flamingo enclosure

and I'm here with Mark Tye.

You're playing with a remote control duck, Mark.

-Hmm.

-Why?

Well, I wanted to show you something

-and if you look at this little camera here.

-Yeah.

Remember those shockingly awful nests we tried to build,

-to show a flamingo how to build one?

-Yes.

Well, they've showed us exactly how to do it properly.

Oh, my goodness. Because that was a couple of years ago, now.

-Yeah.

-So all these mounds that you're getting...

-this is the camera mounted on the duck?

-On the duck's nose.

And presumably, this is a way of not disturbing the flamingos?

Yeah, because if we all went in there,

they'd probably all just leave the nest site.

It's taken such a long time for them to get used to it

and seem to want to go there,

that I don't want to jeopardise any of this at all.

That's absolutely brilliant, because when the flamingos first

arrived here, they were all immature birds, weren't they?

Yeah. They were all between sort of a year and two years old.

So that was far too young to breed.

-Yeah.

-We always knew it would be a long-term project.

And now we've had them here for five years.

-Last year, they had a bit of a mess at it.

-Right.

And they didn't build any nests, but they started displaying a little bit.

-OK.

-This year now, it's all absolutely kicked off.

For the past six to eight weeks, have been displaying like mad.

It keeps stopping and starting, but then the weather keeps changing.

Right. So will they display when the weather's good, basically?

Yeah. They've been displaying while the weather's nice and then we've had

-some horrible rain and they've all just stopped.

-When they display,

-what do they do?

-They all run up and down the bank, all as a group.

-Yeah.

-All in unison and it's like one turns, everybody turns.

-Wow.

-And they all keep flashing all the pink of their wings they keep

holding out, so it's like showing off, but the greatest thing is,

-two of them have eggs.

-No way!

-Yeah.

-That is brilliant.

-So it's exceeded what I'd even hoped for.

It's great that they've done this. And now we've got two eggs.

There are also six nests in total, so I'm hoping for a few more yet.

Do you know how long it takes for a flamingo egg to hatch?

It's a little bit variable, but it's believed to be

-between 27 and 31 days.

-OK.

So that's not too bad. I've got dates when they were all laid,

-so we can hope.

-You're not going to, cos I know that you will quite often

incubate eggs, like with the pelicans and things, won't you?

Are you just going to leave the flamingos to

do it by themselves?

I think at this stage, you know, the behaviours are all as they should be.

-Yeah.

-They're sitting on the eggs. They're turning the eggs.

Can see one sitting just there.

-Yeah.

-Why get involved? Let's leave them to it.

Well, we'll keep our fingers crossed that there might be baby flamingos

in a few weeks' time. Thanks, Mark.

Earlier, we met Dandy, the two year-old labradoodle,

chosen as a suitor to Lord Bath's favourite companion, Boudicca.

Well, today, Lord Bath has invited him, along with owner Barbara Oats,

for a lunch date with Boudie.

So will it be love at first sight?

He definitely hopes so.

Dandy, don't put your feet in her face.

Well, no, it's not the warmest of welcomes,

but then the path of true love never runs straight.

Dandy, don't bounce at her.

If he kept his feet to himself, I think she'd like it a lot more.

-Good boy.

-Who's a lovely doggie?

Good boy. Down.

You be nice to doggie. She's never had a fight with any dog.

No. I think she'll put him in his place, as a young upstart.

Try as he likes, the lady of the manor's just not having any of it.

Boudicca! We'll go and sit over there and let them play around.

Lovely.

You're a good girl.

No. Not sounds like that.

-You be nice girl.

-Dandy, don't be a wimp.

Just leave her alone for a minute.

She thinks he's a bit bumptious.

I think she wants to be thought of as the princess.

Quite right, too, in her own garden.

And the more eager he is, the more she plays hard to get.

He's a very handsome labradoodle.

A very, very good-natured little dog.

Well, she is, except she's not exactly appearing so,

the way she's treating him. Ah, thanks.

If you calm down, Dandy, she might look more favourably on you.

She's just a girl who can't say yes.

Well, the fact that she makes a puddle in front of him,

perhaps, is flirtatious, I don't know.

Princesses require delicate handling.

I think the more they get to know each other, the more...

the more likely they'll be friendly at the right time.

Live in hopes.

Yes. We mustn't get too optimistic. They must do what they think best.

-To the puppies.

-To the puppies.

So, with the doggy date over, was it successful?

Boudicca wasn't a total no.

She slightly said watch your Ps and Qs, if you don't mind.

But I think she might come round to it.

I don't think that my little princess there was being

as quite as hospitable as she ought to have been,

but I think this is all in dog flirtation.

I mean, while she was snarling, she was wagging her tail.

She was saying don't force me on this

but I might like you if you wait.

If you come back and present yourself another time,

we'll think about it.

And when he comes back another time, she'll be in season and I'm sure she

will be thinking about it much more favourably.

Back now to the wolf enclosure because Bob and Brian

are on a mission.

They tragically lost one wolf pup to worms,

but did manage to save another and return it to the pack.

But now, they have to catch all five remaining pups

to give them a second dose of wormer.

If they don't, they could lose the lot.

The thing is, we've got 20 acres here that they can run around in.

So if they're all in one place, it's fine,

but if they're all spread about, then it's a bit more of a nightmare.

These animals live a wild existence, so the keepers are invading

the wolves' territory, but they must catch all the pups.

As you can hear, the adults we've got to contend with, as well.

It's not the easiest, this job when you've got

eight adult wolves running around you.

And, obviously, they're very protective of their cubs,

which is natural. To them, they don't understand

what we're trying to do, so they're a bit noisy at the moment.

Suddenly, they spot one.

I reckon there's at least one or two in there.

They manage to get three of the pups but there's still two more to find

and they could be anywhere.

One.

Come on, chubby.

-Trying to hide, look.

-They get hold of one, but the other is too deep

in the den that the wolves have dug, for the keepers to reach.

You're a little one, aren't you?

Getting used to this now, aren't you?

The keepers might be too late.

The final pup may have died from the infestation of worms already.

To find out what's going on, they ask our production team

to look down the hole with our specialist camera equipment.

Ah, I can see you flashing that then. There you go.

You can see it flashing.

-There it is. There, look.

-Got it.

-It's amazing.

-Never got that before.

Just round the corner from you.

-Yeah. That's it.

-It's not that far away from you.

It's not from where you are. Bit more.

You're almost lighting him. There. You got the light on him now.

He's too far to grab, though.

I'm at full stretch now. Hold on.

All the pups are still alive but this one isn't coming out,

so deputy head keeper Ian Turner is left on sentry duty

while they give the other pups their second dose of wormer.

He doesn't like that one.

If they wander off to the back of the root system,

then it's just a matter of time before they come out.

She will come out cos she'll get hungry.

She'll come out and Mum or Dad will call her.

And as soon as she's out then, hopefully, fingers crossed,

we'll be able to catch her and give her a second dose of wormer.

And then put them in the house and keep them in here

for another day or two.

With four pups separated in the wolf house

and one staying firmly underground, the adults are getting restless.

It's cos everything's not right, at the moment.

The pups in two different places.

And to get together, they all howl together,

which is what they're doing at the moment.

That's Mum here, on the right.

And that's Dad on the left.

What they'll do now is just call it out.

WOLVES WHINE

Here it comes.

That's it. His head's coming out.

(Get back out there.)

Bob and Brian have to treat all the pups or they won't survive.

They spot their chance.

Got it. The final one.

With all five pups successfully rounded up, all they need to do now

is to get Mum in to the house where the keepers can monitor them all.

She's just gone in. That's it, Bob? That's it.

Hello.

Well, we've got the last one... finally.

And it's not a pretty sight but you can see where the problem is.

He's pooing and he's pooing worms.

But that maybe because we gave him a dose yesterday,

so it might be getting them out.

But we got them all now...

thankfully. That's the fastest I've run for a while!

Paul, the vet, has now arrived to check on the pups.

Considering what the two of them looked like last night,

it's impressive to see, especially the one that went home last night,

is looking quite good, so, yeah, very pleased, actually.

Quite surprised. I was 50% suspecting that we would have lost

the other one today, so it's good news.

You're a darling, you are, aren't you?

In a lot of ways, I think it's turned out a lot better

than it really could have done.

We could have lost two or three more pups, if not the whole lot.

It's still early days but...

let's hope that they are out of the woods now

and we can look forward to more positive days.

There are an awful lot more animals on the estate than just exotic ones.

Thousands of sheep and cattle also call it home

and they all need feeding, too, which isn't a problem in the summer.

But in the winter, when the grass isn't growing, they eat silage,

rotted down bales of lush pasture.

So, summer is a busy time for estate farmers like Simon Baggs.

At this time of year, the air smells particularly sweet here at Longleat,

because all the meadows are being cut and someone who is making hay

while the sun shines is Simon Baggs.

-Hello.

-Hello. How you doing?

-Not too bad, thank you.

You've been very, very busy, by the looks of this field behind us here.

I would love to have a go at baling cos I've never done it before.

-You're welcome to have a go.

-Really.

-Yes. Of course you can.

-I'm not gonna completely mess it up?

-I'll stay with you. You'll be OK.

-Does the machine automatically make them that beautiful shape?

-No. No.

They make the round bale, then we have the machine that comes round

-and puts the plastic on them.

-OK.

Why do you wrap hay in plastic? I thought the idea of hay was...

This is more haylage and silage, so we wrap it for the cows

in the winter, so it doesn't go off.

-Oh, right. So it's sort of preserving it, really?

-Yeah.

-That's it. Yeah. It makes itself.

-OK.

You've got the beast over here. Come and show me how this all works.

Can we just while we're here, I know it's really noisy, I apologise to

our soundman, but this does look beautiful, Simon.

It's still got a bit of moisture in it.

-Bit of green.

-Yeah. Moisture. And it's just dry on top.

So what we do is we cut it, leave it for about 24 hours,

-then we have a big rake comes in, puts three swafts into one.

-Right.

And then we can bale it. It's just easier and quicker.

So you're not going up and down the field a million times.

-We're doing it every 30 foot.

-It's absolutely lovely looking stuff.

Your lucky cows. Right.

OK. But it's no good looking at it, we've got to get it baled up.

I'm just so excited. I feel about ten.

-Shall I get in?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-Right. That's it. Put your clutch down.

-Clutch down. So does it bite like a car?

-Yeah. Will be.

-Go on. Off you go. That's it.

-Woo-hoo!

That's it. Just keep it over to your...

I'm going to get over-excited now.

I'm dying for it to beep and make my very first bale. Look at this.

-Come on.

-There you go. TRACTOR BEEPS

-If you put your clutch in.

-Yep.

-Press the brake hard.

-Yeah.

-That's it.

-Yes!

-Put that into neutral. Press that button there.

-Yeah.

-And you watch and that'll start tying. See.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-This is my very first bale, everybody. Look at this.

OK. That's it.

I'm so excited. Right.

-Oh!

-That's very good.

-Is it?

-Yeah. That's OK.

-For your first attempt.

-There's a little bit of a bulge, there.

That doesn't matter. The cows aren't going to worry about that in winter.

Look at that. I feel like I've baked my first cake.

How many more acres did you say that has to be done?

Probably about 100 left.

Fantastic. Let's go!

Earlier in the programme, Boudie met Dandy,

a very eligible young labradoodle that Lord Bath hoped

may father a litter of pups with his pride and joy.

Their first meeting didn't exactly go smoothly.

Dandy was interested, but Boudie wasn't willing.

No sounds like that. You be nice, girl.

Well, since then, they've had a second date and perhaps it was

the ambience of Lord Bath's love garden,

but let's just say they got on a whole lot better.

So well, in fact, that Lord Bath feels a trip to the vet is in order

to get her checked out.

Having returned from all the drama in Wolf Wood,

Paul is back in residence at the practice,

dealing with more domestic matters.

Lord Bath and Boudicca, please.

-Ah. Come on, little girl.

-Come on, Boudie.

So, how's she been getting on?

Well, I wouldn't know if she's pregnant or not.

I mean, she isn't eating more than usual.

Well, she was mated five weeks ago?

-I think it was about that, isn't it?

-About five weeks ago.

So we might not be able to feel anything at this point,

but we should be able to see something on an ultrasound scan.

At seven years old, this is probably Lord Bath and Boudie's

last chance for puppies.

Righty-ho. Right. We're gonna have to get Boudie back up on to here.

-Yes.

-So Anna's just going to give me a hand to lift her up.

-OK.

Alrighty. Come on, Boudie. Up we go.

One, two, three.

There. OK. Good girl.

Who's a lovely little girl?

So we now just need Boudicca just to lie on her side a little bit.

So she might not like this very much. Anna's gonna give me a hand.

Good girl. Well done.

Good girl. Good girl.

-So we'll see what we get.

-Be a good girl.

Right. So this is the picture we're looking at. Well done, Boudie.

You be brave.

Now, we're looking for other black fluid holes with puppies in,

hopefully. I haven't seen any yet.

I'm just gonna have a quick scout round

but there's nothing obvious there, at the moment.

So I'm afraid, Lord Bath, that she definitely isn't pregnant.

Well, I expect she's delighted.

Yes. It may be sensible, actually, at her age, to call it a day

with the breeding attempts because I think she's unlikely to get pregnant

and if she does, she's gonna be at high risk

-of having problems at her age.

-Mm-hmm. Oh, well, my little girl.

You've got to be content with your dadda.

So Boudie won't be a mum but Lord Bath is philosophical

about life as one man and his dog.

Well, it is sad. I mean, because we've left it

a bit late in having this try.

It's not saying goodbye to the chance but we've probably

done it and she must just get used to her own family.

It's a little over two years now since the warthogs arrived

at Longleat and they are now firmly part of the furniture,

as Andy, you're demonstrating very well.

Look at them. So who have we got over there?

This is Genghis, Vlad and Atilla.

We though it suited them perfectly.

Well, you say that and they were, indeed, horrors,

weren't they, when they first arrived?

Yeah. I mean, to be fair to them, they were really scared.

And so were we.

And we'd never dealt with any animals of this nature before.

And yeah, it was a very steep learning curve for us.

And quite a few times, we wondered what on earth have we done getting

these animals, but now, we've spent some time

just trying to habituate them to what we want them to do

and we've kind of met level ground.

They do look quite fierce, though.

Would they attack us if they were scared?

What would they do in the wild if they felt threatened by

another animal or by a human being?

-Their main response to any kind of danger is just run away.

-Right.

You see their little tails go up.

They do. I always think they look like remote controlled pigs.

-Radio controlled. Yeah.

-Little tail flies up and they'll just run off

and get away from it, but, if backed into a corner,

then yeah, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a warthog.

These guys'll see leopards and lions off.

You almost look like a proud father standing here, doesn't he?

I thought you were going to say you look like a proud warthog!

-Thanks(!)

-They say keepers start looking like their animals.

I think we'd better go before you get into even more trouble.

And we have run out of time, sadly, but here's what's coming up

on the next Animal Park.

It's a keeper's worst nightmare as a lion tries to go over the top.

Come on, mate.

Thomas and Michelle may be giant tortoises,

but are they giant enough?

A vital weigh-in suggests they're not.

And Ben is let loose on 40 tonnes of runaway train,

packed full of passengers.

-So we're just creeping up to 5mph.

-Absolutely...

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