Episode 2 Animal Park

Winston and Poppy, the cheetah cubs,

have been causing concern since they were born at the park

back in the winter. They're now nine months old -

they are incredibly fast and incredibly curious.

Two natural instincts that are currently causing

all sorts of concern.

The problem is, the keepers have no idea what they're going to do,

or where they're going to go.

And with hundreds of thousands of visitors

and their cars expected this summer,

the keepers have to find a way to control them.

Now, they are desperate to get out, so shall we wander down

and let them out? Ready, guys?

-And...

-Here we go, go and enjoy!

-There you go!

-There we go.

Yes, it's another day of adventure for them,

and another day of headaches for the keepers.

Also on today's Summer Special...

It's all hands to the pump,

as keepers try to convince the reluctant rhinos to take a bath.

She seems to be more interested in me at the moment.

Probably thinking that I've got some of her food rather than a wallow.

Kate has a close encounter with one of the world's deadliest arachnids.

They have potent venom.

People have described it as having broken glass running through

your veins.

And Jean attempts to settle a feud within a pride of feisty lionesses.

Oh, that was a leap.

Hopefully they've realised what some teamwork can do.

Summer is a time of plenty.

But the job of feeding the animals never stops.

Especially where the larger animals are concerned.

It's feeding time here for the 17 bactrian camels,

so I'm joining Tara to put out some boughs.

Tara, I believe we have to be quite quick, before they spot us,

-is that right?

-Yeah, obviously we want to be back safe in the truck

-before they come down.

-OK.

So we will pop it out then try and call them over.

And we want to spread it out a little bit to stop squabbling,

-is that right?

-Yeah, cos there are 17 of them,

we just don't want the older ones kicking the little ones out.

Now the big question, Tara, is - how do you call the camels down?

Do you have a special whistle?

No, unfortunately we just use our voices and try and call them down.

Come, camels!

Have you ever been called the Camel Whisperer?

-Or the Camel Shouter?

-Not quite.

Shall I try? Come on, camels!

That's quite a sight to see them all running like that.

-Yeah.

-That's incredible.

Hello, they're coming straight up.

-Oh, who's this?

-This is Patrick.

Frisky! Looking a little scraggy...

Yeah, it's obviously summer months, so they're all

dropping their winter coats slowly.

Is that nice?

Here you go.

Look at that. Wow!

The bottom part of the plate has got the teeth.

And then it goes into, like, a hard plate on the top.

Look at that, and it's amazing how they use those lips as well

-to kind of hold on to the sticks.

-Yeah, they have really droopy lips.

So they use it to their advantage with the food and scooping it all up.

So when you're looking at them now,

are you giving them an overall kind of health checkup as well?

Yeah, so it is the summer months,

so they're staying out 24/7 at the moment.

So this is our prime time of day to be able to bring them down

for a little bit of a treat, so we can get a bit closer to them.

It's nice to see their faces up close,

and also see how their coats are going on.

And generally at this time of year, you can check their feet

really nicely as well when they're this close.

And will they eventually lose all of this fur?

-Will it all come out?

-Yeah, it will slowly all come out and then they'll

get like a thinner coat all over, which is their summer coat.

It only lasts a couple of months and then they have to build their winter coat back up.

So it seems like a very short amount of time between each coat,

but they definitely need it.

Hello, look at that.

Yeah. We do try to help them by pulling little bits off the ones that will let us.

I'll do my bit.

There you go. That's going to give you a slightly cooler head.

So how often do you do this?

So we do this twice a day, morning and afternoon,

to give them a good health check, but it also keeps them off the road

cos they like to stand on the road, especially when it's warm.

Now as Tara just reminded us,

keeping animals like this off the roads is something on the minds

of all the keepers here at the park.

A million visitors a year drive through the park.

Some of the animals, like the rhino, don't give a monkey about the cars.

Whereas the monkeys are experienced car-surfers -

they know exactly how to steer clear of the wheels.

But for some of the species,

a first encounter with a moving vehicle is a high-risk moment.

And when the animal is one of the world's fastest,

changes direction in a flash,

and highly endangered, it's a major concern.

The cheetah cubs were born during the winter months.

Since then, they've been kept in paddocks away from the drive-through

safari. But from tomorrow,

they will be the star attraction for the summer season.

Today, the team leader, Amy, is planning an exercise to try and

help them deal with cars.

So this is sort of the final step before they're out with the public.

So, it is really difficult.

And very nerve-racking, really.

A group of keepers have volunteered to pose as visitors.

Cars are all ready, I'm ready.

Cheetahs are ready.

And we've got people on the gates, ready to operate those as well.

So we're ready to go.

The drivers are on red alert.

One wrong move, and the cubs could end up under the wheels.

Come on!

Good girl.

Go on, girl.

Do you want to head on in?

'OK.'

So the cars are just about to head in now.

The cubs are just heading down towards the gate.

It's an important training exercise for the gatekeepers too.

They need fast reactions to deal with these high-speed cats.

You can see how fast they run around,

and we have to be always concentrating.

The animals can be... They'll go from one end of the section

to the other in such a short space of time.

So being on the gate, and operating it is such an important job.

Knowing that the animals could run down towards your gate at any time

at all, we're going to have to be sort of really on our toes.

The cats keep gathering around the gate manned by new keeper Norbert.

Wilma has actually walked off the other way.

So they're fairly close, we've got cars coming through.

Norbert will keep an eye on them all the time as well.

Got a bit closer to the gates, so I'm between the cheetahs.

So if need be, I've got time to react and try and block them

as the cars come through.

Suddenly, the cubs make a dash for Norbert's gate.

Norbert shuts the gate just in time.

Now, it's Wilma's turn to play up.

We've got Wilma actually a bit interested in the car.

This is one... One behaviour we definitely do not want.

Wilma!

Good girl.

Well, that's something we definitely don't want the cubs to try and do

with public vehicles, or any vehicle for that matter.

So that's a behaviour we definitely have to stop straightaway.

She hasn't done that ever before.

The practice session hasn't really gone to plan.

But time's up - tomorrow, the gates open for real.

Wilma, Poppy, and Winston will be released amongst the public.

But how will they react?

Each day, over 100 staff care for over 1,000 animals.

It's their job to see that each resident, no matter how fussy,

gets exactly what they need to thrive.

But some can be more difficult to please than others.

Meet the park's four Southern white rhinos...

18-year-old male Nanju

and females Razina, Marashi and Ebun.

In this group, it's the girls who rule the roost.

Razina is the boss,

Marashi - grumpiest.

And Ebun is the youngest and most lovable.

But, as the third-largest land animal on the planet,

when they don't want to do something, there's very little

anyone can do about it.

-Hello, boy.

-Rob is the rhinos' main keeper.

Good lad.

Every morning, he has to wake up these giant creatures.

But, like most teenagers, rhinos aren't great in the mornings.

Someone's grumpy this morning.

His next job is to give them all a quick health check.

The reason we check over their skin

is because sometimes the rhinos can get some grazes if they've been

fighting like they tend to.

That's it, good girl.

Rhinos, like hippos and elephants, are pachyderms.

This means they have very thick skin,

but it's sensitive and needs good care.

The perfect beauty treatment for them is mud,

which they absolutely love.

They love to wallow,

get right into the mud, roll around,

and then after that they get extremely playful.

They go running around, scratching on things, running after each other.

They're like a big puppy really.

So to bring out the puppy in the pachyderm,

head of section Ryan has a fresh plan to get them stuck in the mud.

As they don't have a bespoke wallow in this area at the moment,

we're just going to put something in to make sure that they can wallow

and take care of their skin by themselves hopefully.

In the wild, rhinos make their own wallows by digging their horn

into the ground to make a hole.

This quickly gets even bigger by rolling their two tonnes of

body weight around in the soft ground.

It will help their skin,

it'll help cut down the aggression between each other.

There are times when our rhinos occupy the same space as our guests,

so we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep the

rhinos in the best mood possible.

We don't want them getting too frisky with flies around their heads

and thinking that they can go and rub on guests' cars.

Despite their thick skin, rhinos can still feel insect bites.

The easiest way for them to scratch an itch is to rub themselves against

the nearest object, whether it be a tree, a rock, or a car.

Hopefully when we finish building the wallow,

it'll be great to see the rhinos act out their natural behaviour.

They do love to wallow in the mud and it would just be great that they

can actually do it and wallow, get mud on themselves

rather than us, every morning in the crush, chucking it on them.

Having dug the beginnings of a wallow, all that's left to do

is to add water and take a wager on who'll be first to wallow.

Four rhinos, four keepers.

-Who's having who?

-I'll go for Razina.

I'll go with Marashi then.

-Kev?

-Nanju.

-OK, I've got Ebun.

-LAUGHTER

The rhinos seem eager to explore the addition to their enclosure...

..and head off to investigate their wallow.

But who will be first to take the plunge?

We have Ebun here.

She seems to be more interested in me at the moment,

probably thinking that I've got some of her food, rather than the wallow.

Go have a wallow!

Ebun and Nanju edge a little bit closer,

but Marashi and Razina are nowhere to be seen.

I had Marashi in the sweepstake,

so she's still down on the sand yard at the moment, so it doesn't look

like I'm going to be winning this one any time soon.

Ebun is the first in, surprisingly, of all,

so Ryan may take the sweepstake on this one.

Well, she's technically in, but she's not wallowing.

I was hoping they would go in.

We haven't got the real sunshine, which they really love

to get in to a muddy wallow and get stuck in.

Perhaps it's not the weather to wallow.

It looks like none of the keepers are winners today.

Let's go double or quits on next time.

Yeah, good shout.

We'll be back later on, to find out whether any of the rhinos

take the plunge.

Here in lion country,

keepers are having to manage an ever-changing pride dynamic,

with males and females challenging each other on a daily basis.

So keepers need to keep coming up with ways to settle arguments

and strengthen bonds.

Lions typically live in highly structured prides led by a male.

Females have individual roles in a pride,

but there often isn't a strict hierarchy.

Because of this, conflict between females is common but can,

on some occasions, get out of hand.

It's a big concern for the keepers at the moment because fights

are becoming more and more common within a group of females.

Lionesses do most of the hunting in the wild -

it's a time where they must work together as a team.

Keeper Eloise has come up with a plan she hopes could get them

working together and Jean has gone to find out if it works.

This is quite a serious problem, Eloise,

because your pride has been squabbling.

How are you going to sort it out?

So we're going to try and fix some bonds now.

We've got a 60-kilo piece of meat that we're going to feed all of our

-eight lions that are out today.

-How's that going to help?

We're going to hang it up, up here,

so they've all got to work together to pull it all down and then they

can feed off of it together as well, so hopefully they'll all let each

other have a bit of meat once they do get it down.

So you're really hoping that this is going to encourage some

teamwork and working together?

-Definitely.

-All right, let's get started.

Let's get this meat hung up there.

I mean, it's a big old chunk.

Feeding time normally consists of smaller chunks of meat,

so this is a special occasion.

But it does require four people to get it in place.

Yes!

Cool stuff.

The hope is this feed will show lots of natural behaviour.

So with the meat in place, it's feeding time.

Third section, Matt, you can let the lions go.

Oh, here they come - bounding out as always, and they look hungry.

Right, so Malaika is the first one out and Sweet Pea as well.

-So Sweet Pea's the first one.

-Sweet Pea's gone up for it...

So there doesn't seem to be any hierarchy there, Eloise.

They've all gone for it.

They're both the top dogs in there, but it is normally Malaika,

but Sweet Pea was like, "I don't care, it's food!"

It's up there good, but you can see how that tree limb is moving so much

with their force to bring it down, so hopefully that won't snap.

So what do you think will happen once the bit of meat comes down?

How does that work? Who takes what?

Well, normally out in the wild and also in captivity,

we find that they all go for different parts of the body.

So for example, Malaika might want to go for that really meaty bone

at the top and some of the smaller females who are...

You can see they just rip some bits off and they're just happy eating on

the floor. So they all have certain parts that they like to go into.

Oh, they pulled it down! They've just pulled half of it down,

so they've obviously ripped the meat from the rib...

So is that some of the smaller lions that are sharing the ribs?

So you've got Sweet Pea, who's still the big lioness,

and she's got a couple of the smaller ones with her as well.

She's the one that's holding it down and she's the one that's grumbling

the most because she's like, "This is my food."

So they're still having that tug-of-war over that food.

You can see they've got their claws in it. Malaika's now come on top,

seeing if she can do anything from up top.

Ah, smart lion. Yeah, she really wants that.

So she's that matriarch and she's that clever one,

so she's just going to try and rip it from the top.

She's a bit wobbly.

It's amazing how that's played out because even though they all went

for it initially, once the meat started being separated,

they did fall into their roles almost.

Definitely, definitely. Half of it's fallen down,

you've got half of the group eating that half and then the other half

are trying to get at that other big bit on top.

They obviously wouldn't get an easy meal out in the wild,

so we want to try and replicate that and try and get them running and

using all those muscles and have all those thought processes.

You can see how they're all sort of trying to try and figure out,

"How can I get this down and beat the other person?"

They're acting as they would if that was a buffalo in the wild.

Definitely, definitely.

There's definitely some squabbles. I mean, we can hear them.

But do you think this is doing what you wanted?

Is it sorting out some relationships and bringing them closer together?

Yeah, I hope so. It definitely looks like it.

I mean, you have got a group of four happily in on a piece of meat

together on the floor there,

and then the other four are happily trying to get the other stuff.

They're not all fighting off and pushing the others out,

so they're all trying to work as hard as they can together to eat

that food and bring it down.

And although we can see little fights here and there, I think...

Woo! That was a leap.

Hopefully they've realised what some teamwork can do.

Definitely.

They sort of want to get their own bit of meat but then hopefully

working together to bring that food down.

It's great. It's always good to see the natural behaviours

that you would see in the wild

and I think a pride that eats together, stays together.

-BEN:

-It's another blisteringly hot day in the park and the residents

are making the most of the good weather.

But over in the rhino paddock,

keepers are once again waiting to see if the rhinos will pluck up

the courage to use their newly-built wallow.

Rob is feeling optimistic.

It's a lot sunnier today, so I'm feeling a lot more confident that

they actually will wallow today.

Last time it was a bit overcast,

and obviously you don't want to get in a bath when it's cold.

So hopefully now the sun's warmer, they will like to take a dip.

We know they've been up here to check out the wallow because we've seen

footprints in the mud, so they've definitely been checking it out.

And maybe now we get a bit more water in there,

they will come up and wallow.

Rob's determined to see some wallowing in action.

The water's in, the tractor's out,

and we're just going to get the rhinos up now.

There's a good reason they want the rhinos to wallow -

rhino are unable to sweat because their thick skin doesn't have

any sweat glands. The mud not only keep the rhinos cool,

it also protects their skin from the sun's harmful rays and keeps

biting insects at bay.

-Good girl!

-After a slow start, they're off.

Suddenly, it's a race to the wallow.

But once again, they get cold feet and fail at the last hurdle.

So the rhinos are a bit spooked at the moment.

It's probably cos we're so close to the wallow.

Well, who wants to take a bath with an audience?

It's just been proven we can't force them to wallow.

They will only do it when they want to.

So it may be that the rhinos don't actually use this wallow at all.

The rhinos do like to make their own, so it's what they would do in the wild -

they'd stick their horn in, dig out a bit of dirt where it's wet,

and then roll in it.

And slowly over time, it gets bigger and bigger.

We're going to keep a close eye on the wallow, and we'll be back

the moment they get in.

IF they get in, of course.

All parents know that heart-stopping sensation when their children start

to cross the road on their own.

But at least they can be taught the Green Cross Code.

Preparing dangerous wild animals to face traffic is not quite so easy.

Today, the six-month-old cheetah cubs Poppy and Winston will come

face-to-face with members of the public

driving through their enclosure.

For the cubs, going out for the first time, it's huge,

an absolutely huge step.

This is what we're all about - we're a safari park,

the public come through.

They want to see the animals really up-close.

We are always vigilant, we're always keeping an eye,

always having to concentrate at all times cos anything could happen in a

split second. So everyone has to be on their toes at all times.

And we'll see how it goes when we're in there patrolling them.

A long queue of cars is waiting to be let in to the safari park.

Lock four, lock five, cheetah on the way out.

It's time to release the cheetahs...

Sprinting past.

..and for them to meet their first paying guest.

First car's just entering now.

Coming a bit closer, to have a better look.

Move back slightly...

The cubs are tearing around.

Anything could happen.

They go so fast.

Just like that - a split second and they're off.

They could easily just go across the road right now.

New signs have been put up in the enclosure to ensure drivers

take extra-special care.

Hopefully with the signage as well,

the public will understand that the cheetah cubs are out and they'll

sort of watch their speed a little bit because the last thing we want

is them to be hit by anything.

But Amy knows just how easily that can happen.

Poppy just sprinted straight past, across the road to go and see Mum,

but it was great. The car, I think,

noticed something whiz past them and stopped.

As time marches on,

the enclosure gets busier and the cubs keep heading onto the road.

Amy has called in more keepers to help protect the cubs.

That was close.

We've got a few cars in here.

I'm having to keep an eye on all of them at the same time,

making sure that they

don't get too close to the cubs in the road.

Running past the cars like they've got no fear.

Suddenly, Wilma takes an interest in a particular car.

Amy must get them all back onto the grass.

Go on, Poppy!

Good girl. It's all go.

But it's not long before Winston appears to be copying Mum.

Then Amy realises what he's doing.

He's actually staring at his reflection.

He obviously thinks there's another cheetah, which is really,

really good to see. But obviously, we need to stop that.

I didn't want him to suddenly go, "Right, I'm actually having you,"

at the other cheetah and go in towards the car,

so we had to rev a little bit and he's gone away from the other

cheetah that he was obviously trying to get to.

After a busy morning, it's finally time for a rest.

Wilma's literally just laid down, so it's great.

So she's finally sort of relaxed.

Poppy's just sat watching,

and hopefully now if they stay within this middle bit here,

everyone can still see them. It's a nice area for them to be.

It's clear the keepers have a lot more work to do.

They need a plan for distracting the cheetahs

away from the cars, and fast.

We're now heading back to the rhino enclosure because we've just had

some potentially exciting news.

Rob, the whole team have been waiting to catch the rhinos in the wallow

and I'm hearing today might be the day.

-Is that true?

-Hopefully.

There's been a couple of times we've missed them.

They've been so sneaky.

I mean, we're around the park all the time and they've got in and out

but our cameras have never been there to catch it.

Yep. They literally only spend a couple of minutes in it at a time.

That's why.

So with this weather today then,

do you think a little bit of rain getting the mud nice and soggy

will be perfect condition for them?

Yeah. I think that's what's happened.

The mud's really soft at the moment.

They're already wet, so they don't mind getting a bit wet jumping in.

There's definitely a couple of them been in there.

I can see by their skin, it's nice and fresh, nice and wet,

nice and muddy.

Yeah, so it looks like we've got Ebun just having a look.

Whether she wants to go in or not is another question.

-She's having a little sniff.

-Hopefully she will cover herself.

-There she goes, she's going down now.

-There she goes!

They got in the wallow.

-Perfect timing.

-So what does this do for them?

I know it's a little bit of grooming.

Yep. So it also helps any parasites they may have on their skin.

Any flies... It helps keep the flies away and also any cuts.

It covers them. So when they've been fighting, they have open skin.

This helps cover it and acts as a natural plaster for them.

So it's very important for them.

Ebun's just planked herself down there.

She looks as if she's relaxing.

Sometimes they don't go fully over.

So you can see Nanju, he's gone in, but he hasn't rolled right over.

So he's got a line perfectly...

Half-covered, yeah.

They seem quite lively after that.

I saw Ebun almost skipping along here.

Yeah, sometimes they get very playful, after wallowing.

Why?

I don't know, to be honest. Once they get back up again,

they get really itchy.

They start running around and playing with each other.

Happy that they've had time in their wallow.

-Could that be it?

-Yeah, I think they're happy for bath time.

That's what we like to see - good, happy rhinos, covered in mud.

I have noticed that the wallow you made was a little bit smaller.

So they've made it bigger, just naturally, by being in there,

-they've made it their own.

-Yep, so they...

We started it off creating a little hole, filling it with water.

They've realised now that actually, "We may not fit in the hole."

So they've made it to their size.

-They've made it bigger.

-How clever.

-Spread it out. Yeah.

And do you think you could get four of them in there at the one time?

I'm not sure four of them this time...

-Maybe not.

-Possibly two.

It's great to see that they've taken to it and really made it their own

-and they're enjoying it.

-Yeah, definitely.

Now, Rob this is very important because there was a bet made about

who would go in the wallow first.

-Yeah.

-So who won?

Who went in first?

Kev won because it was Nanju that went in first.

Rob, I am so happy!

We finally get to see the rhinos wallowing in the mud.

Yes!

-BEN:

-The park is full of natural born killers.

Animals whose mere presence send shivers down your spine.

Unless of course, you're James from Animal Adventure.

We're heading behind the scenes because he's just been delivered two

new species of giant tarantula.

The first is a salmon pink birdeater,

known as a New World spider because she comes from the Americas.

They're actually one of the largest species of spider

in the world, absolutely huge, leg spans of up to ten inches.

So absolute monsters!

We do have a second spider as well - that I'm really excited about.

It's just this one up here.

This doesn't have a name just yet, a pet name, anyway.

In here, we have a king baboon spider.

We can have a quick look at her.

The king baboon spider, by contrast, is an Old World spider,

because they're found in Africa.

And this is the largest species of spider

found in Africa.

One of the main differences between Old World spiders and New World

spiders is actually their hair.

So New World spiders from the Americas,

if they're ever threatened, ever scared,

they can flick hairs with spines on them.

They flick them up into a fine dust.

When it lands on your skin, it's very irritating.

So it's actually more effective as a deterrent than a bite would be.

So a bite from most American spiders

is only going to be like a bee sting.

On the other hand, Old World spiders,

they just have rather potent venom.

Getting bitten by one of these might be your worst nightmare,

-for good reason.

-It's going to hurt.

People have described it as having

broken glass running through your veins.

Unfortunately for James,

this is the spider that needs moving into its new home today.

Fortunately for me, it's Kate who's going to help them.

I have been hearing a lot about the infamous creature that lives

inside this tub. Can I meet her?

-Of course you can.

-Let's have a look.

So, this is the largest species of baboon spider found in Africa.

So they get to approximately a sort of eight-inch leg span.

-They are monstrous.

-You don't really want one of those in your bed,

-do you?

-Not in your bed.

No.

So what is your plan with this spider today?

So the plan today is to...

..move her from this tank...

-Right.

-..into this lovely new one.

OK. Well, that sounds fairly simple.

Can you just sort of tip her in?

Sadly not. No.

She is most likely going to kick up quite a large stink.

How are you going to persuade her out of the burrow and into that tank?

So I have a few pieces of equipment here.

I have the catching device.

-Right.

-And I have the "gently move on" device...

OK. OK.

What do I need to do?

Sort of just stand back and admire?

-Potentially. That may be the best of options.

-OK.

-OK.

-So we're just going to gently persuade her out.

Out you come.

There we go.

-Well, she's doing quite well.

-I was going to say,

you've obviously got a very persuasive technique with your...

With your giant tweezers.

She's getting antsy now.

Oh, she's just beautiful, though!

Come on, poppet.

There we go. You're fine. She is a lovely, lovely spider, really.

Like, this is a lot better than I expected, to be honest.

I think it's having a bit of a female influence in there, James.

I think that's what it is. We're doing a little bit of girlie bonding.

-A calming effect there.

-Yeah.

-But no, that...

-Look at that!

You're a genius.

This is so much better than I thought it would be.

I thought that, you know, we might have to wrestle it.

But no, that was perfect.

That was beautifully, beautifully done.

Now, you see, could I hold her like that?

-Of course.

-There, I feel safe.

Brilliant! So is it time to put her in her new tank?

It is, indeed. So, they are from grasslands originally,

so this is going to be...

And is the idea now that she'll be able to go on display

to the public in this tank?

Yes.

Well, I think she rather likes her new enclosure.

I'm very, very happy with how that move went.

It couldn't have been smoother.

Not really. No.

As I say, you're a smooth talker, James.

-I've actually trained her.

-Well, it was lovely to meet you.

Very good luck and thank you, James, for introducing me

to the world's most feisty spider.

My absolute pleasure!

Feeding the 140 macaque monkeys here

is a relatively straightforward process.

You just scatter the food.

Here you go! Come and get it.

Then Phil, the troop leader, comes in,

to take his share before the other monkeys join in.

But there's another primate

that requires a little bit more precision with its mealtime.

These are Longleat's family of marmosets.

In the wild, their favourite food is tree sap,

which they get by chewing holes in trees

with their specially-adapted teeth.

So how on earth can keepers recreate this behaviour in captivity?

Well, Nick is carefully crafting some new feeding devices.

Jean has come to find out

what the monkeys make of the gum logs on their very first outing.

So we've put some marmoset gum in here.

This is marmoset gum. So it works as a replacement for the tree sap

they would naturally eat in the wild. And basically we've got some holes in to encourage them

-and we're going to fill it with gum.

-OK, let me put some in here.

So what are you hoping to see when the marmosets see this gum?

What we hope for them to do... We've got some big holes - hopefully they'll just go straight for it.

It's a nice easy reward for coming to the round here.

But they've got the holes here, the little holes,

you want them to be able to exclude and dig through the wood.

Again, marmosets have a natural comb sort of teeth.

Their incisors and canines are all the same size,

it allows them to gouge at wood in order to get the extra out of trees.

This looks nice and gooey.

So let's put it out for them. Let's see if they go for it.

-Find a nice flat place for them to land on.

-Over you come.

-So I'm looking for some quite distinctive teeth in here.

-Yeah, you see with these round ones,

they should go straight for it, doing the tongue action as well.

They have a slightly extended tongue, which is for taking sap out when they gouge holes in trees.

And they're eating together - is that how they eat in the wild?

Yeah. It's a family troop and they will all forage together, find

a big tree and just crowd around it when they get the sap going.

Now, they're really distinctive-looking animals - tell me a bit about where they're from.

Common marmoset are from Brazil.

These guys are renowned by their white tufts.

And they've really cleared all that out super-fast.

Yeah, they have. It did not take them very long, again.

We saw nice easy pods to start, get them going.

It's the small ones now, and they'll slowly start to gouge through to get the last little bits out.

That's again where we really will see their natural behaviour.

And they've got little claws as well?

They actually have nails.

-Ah!

-They're nails - the marmosets are very similar to us.

Again, ends in a finger to a nail.

-Now, they're very fast, quite jumpy around here?

-Yeah, again, unlike the other primates,

they are more prey species. They are lower down the food chain in South America.

-So again, they have to be quick.

-And who would be their enemies? Who would prey on them?

These guys - raptors. There's also lots of snake species, as well,

will actually hunt them down.

Well, they've really enjoyed this treat that you've put out for them today

and I'm glad we got to see them using those amazing teeth and their little tongues.

-Yeah.

-Really sipping out that sap as well.

So I think this went well, Nick.

I think it did. Excellent.

Enrichment is used for many different reasons all over the park.

But it's rarely been more important than today at the cheetah enclosure.

Since visitors have been driving through,

the cheetahs have been running into the road, getting close to the cars,

so something has to be done.

Big cat keeper Caleb is experimenting with scented bags,

hoping they might distract the cheetah cubs away from danger.

From experience, I know that most of the cats like lavender,

so it's always a good smell.

It tends to have a calming effect on the cats as well.

So they tend to roll over on it and it tends to relax them a little bit.

Catnip, as well, provokes a reaction from the cats.

Some cats are indifferent to it.

Some cats relax around it and others get super excited by it.

A prey species... Urine, as well, always excites cats and tends to get

them into sort of hunting mode, so just see which one they prefer.

Caleb's hoping his range of perfumes will do the trick.

When we're really busy, it's really good to be able to focus the cat's attention. So hopefully Wilma

and cubs we can keep in one spot or we can keep them away from a gate or something,

so we can open it to let the traffic through.

Hello, little ones!

We've got a new toy for you today, Poppy.

Caleb has used scent bags with other big cats before,

but it's the first time he's tried it out with the cheetahs.

It's really exciting to see what they're going to do and just to see

how useful it could be for us as well. It's super exciting!

As the cars enter the enclosure,

Caleb is ready to get his smelly test under way.

You can let them go when you're ready.

So the cubs are coming out. I wonder which one they'll go for.

The cubs seem interested in catnip, it seems, and Wilma's sniffing

the hoof-stock-wee bag.

The donkey urine is first to get more than a sniff.

I think they think there's something in there that either they can eat

or they can hunt or play with, getting their claws stuck in

and they're sort of having a mini tug-of-war.

So far, so good.

The scent bags seem to be stopping the cubs

darting into the road today.

Winston, he's got the lavender bag.

He's actually smelling it. So it is serving its purpose.

You can see him almost wanting to roll under it.

So I think he's actually quite liking the lavender.

As more cars and even a coach flow through the enclosure,

lavender is still holding the cub's attention.

The lavender bag is a really good distraction for the cubs.

They're both focused around it now.

And they're both interacting with the bag.

They're sort of playing with it and lying down next to it.

So it's probably the bag that's giving them the most distraction

at the moment.

Hoof stock distracts them but it does get them very excited as well.

So I think that bag may cause them to get more excited because they

think they can eat it. Or they can... You know, there's something there to hunt.

What they're doing is biting the bag and trying to scratch it

with their back legs to get it open.

So that is a signal that they're thinking it's alive a little bit.

In the wild, this would be the age where Mum might bring something back

that's partially wounded, for them to sort of figure out if they could

kill it or not, something small.

And over the next couple of months they'd just try and sort of learn

how to cope with prey and start hunting themselves.

So they're just developing those skills that they'd need to survive

in the wild.

But it doesn't take them long to get drawn back to the cars.

One of the cubs is just starting to see its own reflection,

so that's another problem we have with them.

That's a real success though cos the cub saw its own reflection

and then realised that the bag was still there

and went straight back to the hoof-stock-urine bag.

So even if it just can distract them back away from the traffic,

if they go near them, it's done its job.

So I think as they get older,

I think the cubs will start to learn that they don't need to run through

the road and they'll start changing the way they do hunt things.

They've got a sort of a boundless energy at the moment.

Then Winston suddenly speeds out into the road.

Whoa...

God!

That was close.

The scent bags have helped, but the keepers must hold their nerve,

rely on their joint experience,

and, of course, Mum.

It's definitely working to a certain extent and we just have to rely on

Wilma looking after them and, you know,

calling them back from the road, hopefully.

We've come up to the cheetah house to see Amy,

who I'm very pleased to say is...

You're still alive, Amy.

I'm very pleased to say these two are still alive.

My goodness,

they must have made your heart race over the last few days and weeks.

It's been very stressful. Obviously the first time they've been going out, but they've grown up so well.

Yes, we've still got them and they're doing really well.

Look how they've grown!

-Amazing, isn't it?

-So who've we got?

-Which one's Poppy?

-So we've got Winston here on the left and Poppy's

-on the right.

-How do you tell them apart?

The tail is the easiest way to tell them apart.

So you can see, Winston's got really defined rings on his tail.

And Poppy's more sort of blocks, rather than defined.

Oh, look, suddenly you're popular, Kate.

I know. I'm not sure you two little monsters deserve this,

having put Amy through so much worry.

Now, often when we've been here,

we've thought that events could be more dramatic than they actually

turn out. But this was perhaps even more dramatic

than any of us expected.

It was very dramatic. It's such a surprise to us.

But we've had to learn, very quickly learn,

how to look after cheetah cubs and also how to get them out into

the park and get them used to the traffic and everything.

So it's been a massive learning experience for us as well.

Cos there's nothing in the textbooks, is there, to tell you how to do this?

Not at all. So, no, it's literally just learning day by day.

But we've been very successful and really pleased

-with how everything's gone.

-Who's the naughtier?

That's a very difficult thing to...

They take it in turns?

Do they?

Well, you little monsters, you two...

Oh, it's coming. Remember to be a little bit traffic-aware

because you're very, very special.

It's always a treat to see them.

Thank you so much, Amy.

We hope that they continue to get a little bit more traffic-savvy.

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

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

CHEETAH WHINES

Yes, I'm coming.

Kaiser, the poorly giraffe, has everyone worried.

He's probably one of the most popular characters

in our group of giraffes - it's really hurting everyone.

Jean's with the anteaters,

but there's no holding back once they hit the bottle.

She's going to lick it clean, I think.

Maybe baby...

Could it be the patter of panda feet?

It really is just guesswork. So it could be any day.

-Nest-cam is set.

-I particularly do get quite excited when it's breeding season.

But who's in the egg?