Episode 6 Animal Park


Episode 6

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Meet Razina and Marashi.

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They're southern white rhino,

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a species that back in the 1900s had been hunted almost to extinction.

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There were less than 100 of these animals left in the wild.

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Thanks to conservation efforts,

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the species survived - but only just.

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Today, keepers are preparing to fly thousands of miles to the front line

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of a war being fought to save this iconic species, and many like it.

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So join us, as the keepers head to meet the wild cousins of the animals

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they work with here in the park,

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and bring back vital information for their future.

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It's day one of another jam-packed week of summer specials...

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..and coming up on today's show...

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..the baby marmosets are at risk of attack.

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It's absolutely terrifying for us.

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We love these monkeys and we don't want anything to happen to them.

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Jean finds a waterproof toy big enough for the tigers...

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but will it get them into the pool?

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-Is it going to go in? Ooh, is it going to go in?

-Come on, girls.

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And we'll follow five keepers

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on the ultimate fact-finding mission to Kenya...

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First wild lion footprint. Yes!

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..as they learn all they can

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from some of the world's rarest and most iconic species.

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We're on a bit of a research mission here.

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We're going to find some stuff out

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and, hopefully, take that home with us.

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It's been ten months since the arrival of cheetah cubs

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Poppy and Winston...

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..and whilst out in their enclosure,

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head of section Amy is finding it extremely hard

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just to keep tabs on them.

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They run around, and we have to be really on our toes.

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To make matters worse,

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behind the scenes, the cubs are also having an effect

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on the park's two adult male cheetah.

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So, this is Carl.

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He's very laid-back, but he's actually dad to Poppy and Winston,

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so he's done the business with Wilma, which is great.

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He's a great character. He really is. He's a ladies' man.

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This is Rasta. He's a bit grumpier than Carl.

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Not even looking at us at the minute.

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Dad Carl used to live with mum Wilma in the same outdoor enclosure...

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..but in order to control when she has her next litter,

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he's having to be kept away.

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The problem is, the only other outside enclosure

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already belongs to Rasta...

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..and these two fully grown males have never been mixed.

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Shut off...

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between six and five and then five and four, as well.

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So, today, Amy is going to introduce them for the first time

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in the hope that, one day, they could form a bachelor group.

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It's always a bit nervous, sort of, that first reaction -

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but you need to do it and just be brave

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and sort of open up and just seeing what happens,

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sort of thing. We're ready.

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If anything does happen, we can be there, we can separate them off.

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So it's all controlled. Do it in the house,

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so we've got a bit of control over it.

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So it's not big spaces that they suddenly just go running off

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after each other. So, hopefully, it'll go quite well.

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There's no way of knowing how the cats will react.

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Male cheetah are highly territorial.

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Straight up there.

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Carl's very interested, by the looks of it.

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Just having a pace up and down.

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Rasta, the fact he's quite confident,

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he's come in all of his own accord.

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It's opened up for him. If he wants to come in, go out, he can -

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and, hopefully, the more we do it, Carl will get used to it,

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calm down a little bit,

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and then we can sort of get him into the pen next door

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and just keep going and seeing how that goes.

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A few days later, Amy has begun feeding them in adjoining pens.

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So far, it seems to be working...

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..but the moment the food is gone, tempers flare.

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A week later, and Jean is catching up

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with head of animal operations Darren

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to find out if things have improved.

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They weren't getting on too well, were they?

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No. We're asking...

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-This is a big ask, you know.

-Yeah, of course.

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We're asking for two male cheetahs to be very close to each other.

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They're not bonded, they're not blood brothers.

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-Yeah, they're not family.

-No.

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There's been some hissing and lots of vocalisations from Carl, as well.

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It is crucial we get this right.

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-Yeah.

-We can't have single cheetahs living on their own.

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It's not how we operate.

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We're a safari park, we want these animals to go out.

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If Amy and the team can get this as a group,

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it'll be great for the animals, but it'll be even better for us...

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Yeah, you really want to see that bachelor group forming.

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So what happens if it doesn't work?

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The crux is, if these two boys don't get together,

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then there isn't room for everybody,

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so somebody is going to have to leave,

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or somebody is going to have to go on to pastures new.

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So it's really important that this is a success.

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It's whilst in Africa that the team will look for fresh ideas

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on how to mix the cats.

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Feeding time sounds as if it's going well.

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It's almost finished. Amy, come over and join us.

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I hear that a trip you're taking to Africa

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might help you out with this?

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Yeah, we've got a bit of an expedition coming up.

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We've got so many unanswered questions here on the park.

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-Yes.

-You can talk to other zoo collections and cheetah experts,

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-but all these animals are in captivity.

-Mm-hm.

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You know, what happens out there on the front line, every single day,

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-the battles these animals go through.

-Yes.

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..that's where some of these answers are.

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-We need that, we need that.

-Yeah.

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And this is where they'll be heading -

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10,000km away to the Lewa Conservancy in northern Kenya.

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The 250 square kilometre Lewa Conservancy

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is run today by CEO Mike Watson.

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In the '60s and the '70s, Kenya, along with many other countries

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in Africa, was suffering from a significant bout

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of devastating poaching of rhino, primarily,

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but obviously of other wildlife species, as well -

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and the demand for rhino horn was such that the population

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of black rhino in this country went from 20,000 to 200

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in the space of 12 years.

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That was roughly three rhino every single day that were being killed.

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That's a massive, massive figure of rhino to lose...

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..for Kenya.

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It's by working with Mike and his team

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that expert keepers from Longleat

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will be able to enhance and grow their own knowledge.

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We do have plans to hopefully mix more animals in

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with our giraffe and zebra,

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so it would be nice, when we go out to Kenya,

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to see which animals mix well with each other,

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who hang out at watering holes together.

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We can bring that information back and use some of those species

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that mix well naturally

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and bring them in our mixed exhibit.

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We would love to sort of expand into African species of invertebrates,

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so going out there and seeing the habitats they live in

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would be perfect.

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We'll join the team later

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as they begin their mammoth research trip to Africa.

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It's feeding time at the park, and what the residents eat

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is as varied as the species themselves...

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Come on, lemurs! Come here.

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..but it's up to the keepers to find out what they like -

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and, more importantly, what's good for them.

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These are ring-tailed Madagascan lemurs.

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They're known as opportunistic omnivores

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and I'm joining Tina here in their enclosure with some summer treats.

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Now, what have we got here? We've got coconut, we've got strawberries,

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we've got melon - and it seems that melon is...

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Oh, squabble.

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It seems that melon is their favourite right now?

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Yes, we don't often give them fruit items.

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This is very much a summer treat for them.

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In the wilds, they would...

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You know, their diet is mainly based on the fruits

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that they find out there.

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All the trees blossoming and coming into fruit.

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But they'll eat meat as well?

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Yes, they are omnivores, so, you know, out in the wild,

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they will go for insects and bird eggs sometimes.

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We have tried them with it, but, to be honest, to begin with,

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they start out a bit scared of them

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and then they have to rely on Mum and Dad to show what to do.

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Now, was that a little squabble over food, was that kind of hierarchy...?

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Unfortunately, you know, like any family, they do fight.

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That was one squabble. You could see who was dominant.

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We've still got the one here and the other one's ran away.

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So we can see the hierarchy there, but that's it, sorted.

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They're very inquisitive, aren't they?

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-And they're not worried about us.

-No, no, they've grown up with us.

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We teach them that, you know, they have respect for us, but, you know,

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we bring them lovely things and that's what they enjoy.

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Is it quite important for you guys to keep adapting

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their diets, testing, seeing what works, what doesn't work?

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Yeah, we do like to keep it sort of with the seasons.

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We also like things like, in the winter time,

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we use sweet potato and we heat it up in a microwave and then it's

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something warm for them to come into the house at night.

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It's nice and warm.

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We make tea for them, as well, in the winter.

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-Tea?

-Yes, a nice cup of tea. It warms them up after a cold day.

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Now, when they drink their tea, do they like it white or black?

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No milk, no sugar, just black.

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I love that. Listen, I think this is a success.

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I think we can safely say that these guys

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love their strawberries and their melon.

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I'm not sure about the coconut.

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Well, that's a lesson we've learned,

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so next time we will leave that out.

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-Tina, thank you very much.

-Not a problem.

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Now we're heading straight to monkey temple,

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where there's been a report of an intruder.

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Keeper Sam is on the lookout for the culprit.

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This morning, first thing, we let the monkeys out

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into the outside enclosure.

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One of our cotton-top tamarins, Luana,

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was sat in the tree and a crow flew down and tried to grab her.

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I've worked here three years, it's never ever happened before.

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It's absolutely terrifying for us.

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We love these monkeys. We don't want anything to happen to them.

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Monkey temple is a walk-through enclosure.

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It means visitors can get up close...

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..but with nothing protecting the monkeys from the outside world,

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it also leaves them vulnerable to predators.

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Crows are nesting nearby and are taking an interest.

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They've been sat up in the trees,

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they've been swooping round all morning.

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So the keepers that are out with the monkeys

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are having to keep a really close eye out.

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A group of crows is called a murder.

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Sam has no doubt that's what they're capable of.

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Luana, come on.

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The victim of this morning's attack was Luana,

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a rare cotton-top tamarin.

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You can see how small she is. She only weighs about 400g.

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So, unfortunately, pretty much snack-size

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for a big bird like a crow.

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We've got some small, young baby monkeys at the moment,

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which are really, really high-risk. So until this threat has passed,

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we have to keep them inside, because we just can't risk them

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being taken by a crow.

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Birds do prey on marmosets in the wild,

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but, out there, their defences are up.

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What they'll do in the wild, is if they see a bird,

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they'll generally alarm call.

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Because they live in a group, they'll all run and hide for cover.

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So they are actually quite clever about it.

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Obviously, living here, they probably have a little bit more

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comfortable lifestyle than they would have in the wild.

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They're slightly more relaxed about it, which I think is why perhaps

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the crows are getting so close.

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Crows, crows everywhere.

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Sam's determined to protect the animals in her care...

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I'm watching you.

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..with a little help from her friends.

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Meet Gareth and Jamie - Sam's new scarecrows.

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So we have a plan.

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These are our very plastic, fake birds.

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So the idea is that crows are scared of birds that are bigger than them,

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so we're going to pop these out around the temple

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and, hopefully, it might be a bit of a deterrent.

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They'll keep the crows away from the monkeys.

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It's our first try.

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The only problem is obviously the monkeys are scared of the crows,

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which means they may also be scared of these guys.

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If the monkeys are worried about them, we might have to rethink,

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because it doesn't really solve the problem.

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There's only one way to find out what effect the fake birds of prey

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have on the crows and the monkeys.

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That would be a good spot for the crow to see it,

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but the monkeys will not be too worried about it.

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Got a new friend.

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So it's great, the moment.

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Luana's just foraging in the bush there, which is perfect,

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normal behaviour. So, so far, she's not too worried,

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but it might just be she hasn't spotted it yet.

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If she was at all worried,

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she'd probably start making loud alarm call noises -

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and jumping around and getting...

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They fluff themselves up to look big and scary as well.

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I think she might have just spotted it now, actually.

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She's just having a little look...

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..but she doesn't seem to be too worried.

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So that's perfect, really, so far.

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If it was stressing them out at all, of course I would move it -

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but if she seems quite comfortable with it there,

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hopefully we'll be able to leave it there and it'll fool the crows

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more than it's fooling the monkeys.

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We'll be back later on to see if Sam's fake feathered friends

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can keep the birds away.

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The team has arrived in Lewa, a remote part of northern Kenya.

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The keepers have been travelling for over ten hours

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and taken several flights to get here.

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They've come to Lewa because visitors to Longleat

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have been raising tens of thousands of pounds each year

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to ensure the charity the Tusk Trust can continue

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its vital work.

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To go out and actually experience working with Tusk,

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which is quite close to my heart,

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it's one of these charities that just does so much good

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throughout the continent.

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It would be incredible to meet the people on the ground out there

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that have to deal with poachers in everyday life.

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People like Sarah Watson, director of programmes for Tusk.

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Human beings can't live alone,

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we have to be able to live with the wildlife, with the habitat,

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and we have to be able to find ways to make it sustainable

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and achievable -

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and Lewa is one model that's proven that -

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and so, the more that we can instil this here

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and across the rest of Africa, the more hope there is for,

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basically, for the people and wildlife of Africa.

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One of Lewa's biggest successes has been with the southern white rhino.

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Once on the brink of extinction,

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with less than 100 in the whole world,

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the conservation miracle here has raised their numbers globally

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into the thousands.

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Back home in Wiltshire, the park has struggled in recent years

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to get the species to breed.

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Their male, Nanju, isn't mating

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with the three females he lives with.

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Experienced keeper Kevin has a theory.

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We were hoping that they would breed within just a couple of years.

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The main reason, really, is to do with Nanju.

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He's just... I think he's just too nice an animal, really.

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Any animal in captivity will behave differently to their wild cousins...

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..but in Africa, Darren will be on the lookout for information

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that could help his challenges back at home.

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The Lewa Conservancy is an absolute conservancy haven

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for white rhino and black rhino, and it's really crucial for us.

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We have white rhino at Longleat and we've tried very hard

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over the last few years to...

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..encourage them to breed.

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Not been successful at that yet, but, here, they are the masters.

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We're on a bit of a research mission here.

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We're going to find some stuff out and hopefully take home with us.

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The vast conservancy is patrolled daily

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by a dedicated team of rangers, like Ian.

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Just grab my gear, which is the camera, a GPS and the radio,

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and then grab my motorbike...

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..and then I go round.

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Monitoring the animals for their health and wellbeing

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is the reason for his relentless patrol.

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Any sightings of the key species that I'm looking at,

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I take a look at them, also rate them,

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give them their body condition score

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and then move on to the next species that I find.

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Ian is passionate about his work and observes our place

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in the Earth's fragile ecosystem.

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We came into this planet and took over,

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but wildlife is such a beautiful thing -

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and to be working closely with amazing creatures

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like this wildlife is just amazing.

0:17:150:17:17

Every day, his findings are fed into the computer back at Lewa HQ.

0:17:190:17:26

I found a few buffaloes.

0:17:260:17:28

Got a few rhinos, about ten rhino.

0:17:280:17:31

These ones are very healthy.

0:17:310:17:33

Very healthy.

0:17:330:17:34

Ian's interest in wildlife began

0:17:340:17:36

with a visit to Nairobi National Park.

0:17:360:17:38

When I was a young boy, I used to go and see the animals.

0:17:380:17:41

Of course, they're in cages, but like for a young person,

0:17:410:17:45

I was quite fascinated to see lions so close.

0:17:450:17:49

When I grew up, I knew that I really wanted to work with wildlife.

0:17:490:17:52

I wanted to do something to protect this species.

0:17:520:17:56

I went to school for that and here I am.

0:17:580:18:01

Darren is keen for Ian to show them wild rhino and share his expertise.

0:18:030:18:08

-How are you doing?

-Very well. How are you?

-Nice to see you.

0:18:100:18:13

-Nice to see you, too.

-Thank you for this, thank you.

0:18:130:18:15

-My pleasure.

-Thank you. Good man. Thank you. Come and meet the team.

0:18:150:18:19

All right.

0:18:190:18:20

-How are you?

-Not too bad.

-Good.

0:18:200:18:22

This is Polly, who looks after our rhino.

0:18:220:18:24

-Wow. Awesome.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Awesome.

0:18:240:18:27

Let's go and find some rhino.

0:18:270:18:29

A total of 157 black and white rhino thrive here at Lewa.

0:18:310:18:37

Due only to the constant vigilance of rangers like Ian,

0:18:370:18:40

rhino here are seemingly safe from the ever-present threat of poachers,

0:18:400:18:45

which stalks many parts of Africa.

0:18:450:18:47

One of our big concerns all the time is the poaching

0:18:480:18:51

and the evil, you know, taking of the rhinos' lives.

0:18:510:18:54

I mean, how do you monitor here that the rhino are safe?

0:18:540:18:57

I mean. because you haven't lost any, have you, last year?

0:18:570:19:00

No, we haven't lost any in the last three years...

0:19:000:19:02

Brilliant. Well done.

0:19:020:19:04

-Good.

-..and we are very happy and excited, because...

0:19:040:19:08

but it takes a lot of work.

0:19:080:19:10

-Rangers...

-Yes.

-..security, intelligence, all that.

0:19:100:19:13

-There's rhino there.

-We have rhino, just here.

0:19:130:19:16

The first one, that's a small calf,

0:19:190:19:22

then the lady is Rosie.

0:19:220:19:24

Then the big guy behind her, that is Owen.

0:19:240:19:27

-Owen?

-Yeah, Owen.

0:19:270:19:29

Keen to compare them to his rhino back at home,

0:19:290:19:32

Darren wants to know more about this wild family.

0:19:320:19:34

And is it unusual to see the bull with a female?

0:19:370:19:40

For white rhinos, they are quite social.

0:19:400:19:42

-OK.

-In fact, even this is a small group.

0:19:420:19:44

At times, you'll find that even the cousins are there,

0:19:440:19:47

and you'll find five to six.

0:19:470:19:49

Well, that's good to see. That's good to see.

0:19:490:19:51

It's an opportunity for Darren to discuss his captive group of rhino,

0:19:510:19:55

and his male, Nanju.

0:19:550:19:58

Our male lives very comfortable, there's not really much aggression.

0:19:580:20:02

It's very, almost brother, sistery, cousiny.

0:20:020:20:05

You what him to be a bit, "Hey, come on, girls," you know?

0:20:050:20:08

-Yeah, and he's not.

-And he's not, yeah.

0:20:080:20:11

Then we have to have more than one.

0:20:110:20:14

-If there are two males...

-Yes.

-..at least they'll want something.

0:20:140:20:18

They want to compete, then there's better chances of mating,

0:20:180:20:21

and this one has to wait.

0:20:210:20:23

So it will trigger that sense of...

0:20:230:20:25

..reproduction.

0:20:270:20:28

But birth is only the beginning of the story.

0:20:280:20:30

Here, young calves are vulnerable to attack.

0:20:300:20:33

Once they are born, there's everything that wants to eat that...

0:20:330:20:37

..rhino. There's hyena, there's lion.

0:20:380:20:41

-Even sometimes you'll find a pack of wild dogs...

-Wow.

0:20:410:20:43

..just chasing after a rhino.

0:20:430:20:45

The mother is defending the calf, plus the male rhino, he's also...

0:20:450:20:49

-He'll come in to defend?

-Yeah.

0:20:490:20:52

That's an impressive horn the male has, isn't it, over there?

0:20:520:20:54

Yeah, yeah.

0:20:540:20:56

And it's the horn the poachers are after.

0:20:560:20:59

Tusk and Lewa are working hard to change opinions here.

0:20:590:21:03

Several rangers were once poachers.

0:21:030:21:05

When the calf is born, the rangers have a right to name it.

0:21:070:21:12

-That's brilliant.

-And then they gave us the names of their families.

0:21:120:21:15

They gave us the names of their mothers, the names of their wives,

0:21:150:21:18

children, fathers,

0:21:180:21:20

and it's important to create that attachments with these animals,

0:21:200:21:25

because once you do that, you are no longer looking at rhino X,

0:21:250:21:30

you are looking at Sophie, you are looking at Callum,

0:21:300:21:32

you are looking at somebody who you can put an attribute to -

0:21:320:21:37

and also one important thing to note is that they name them

0:21:370:21:40

-also depending on their behaviour.

-Oh, do they?

0:21:400:21:42

Yes! Sometimes you'll find a rhino being called Mpole,

0:21:420:21:46

-which means very gentle in Swahili.

-Oh, OK.

0:21:460:21:49

-Do you get some called Grumpy and...?

-We have Mkali.

0:21:490:21:52

-That means very tough!

-OK!

0:21:520:21:54

Although Ian and his team seem to be winning the battle with poaching,

0:21:570:22:01

as our keepers will see later,

0:22:010:22:03

it requires a huge amount of coordination and surveillance.

0:22:030:22:07

There are over 30 different species of birds living here at the park,

0:22:130:22:17

many of which are endangered in the wild, and in just the last year,

0:22:170:22:22

keepers celebrated a significant milestone.

0:22:220:22:24

It's feeding time for the pink-backed pelicans,

0:22:250:22:27

and I am here with super keeper Mark Tye.

0:22:270:22:31

I'm allowed to call you that because a little bird told me -

0:22:310:22:34

well, in fact, quite a big pink-backed bird told me -

0:22:340:22:37

that finally your work with these extraordinary birds

0:22:370:22:41

has been recognised. You've just won an award.

0:22:410:22:43

-Yes, we did.

-I'm so proud of you!

0:22:430:22:45

-It's not just me.

-Well, no.

-There's an awful lot of other people help.

0:22:450:22:48

I know, but I remember many, many years ago, you carefully,

0:22:480:22:53

desperately trying to get these birds to breed and you've done it.

0:22:530:22:57

Well, finally we've got them to do it.

0:22:570:23:00

You know, this is what we've been aiming for.

0:23:000:23:02

We've had much success with hand-rearing.

0:23:020:23:05

Yeah. Although that was a first, wasn't it?

0:23:050:23:08

No-one had managed to hand-rear one before.

0:23:080:23:11

No. That was a first. That came with many problems, but this bird here,

0:23:110:23:15

that is the first parent-reared one we've had, and this has been, what,

0:23:150:23:20

-20 odd years in the making.

-20 odd years!

0:23:200:23:23

-Took a while.

-But absolutely incredible success.

0:23:230:23:27

I mean, how does it feel to have spent all those years

0:23:270:23:32

getting really to understand the biology of these birds,

0:23:320:23:35

what makes them tick, to allow them to breed in a country

0:23:350:23:40

which is so far from their own?

0:23:400:23:42

It's just been an amazing sort of journey with them, really, you know?

0:23:420:23:46

And to actually finally see them manage to do it, on their own nest,

0:23:460:23:51

all by themselves, was a real, sort of, big moment for us.

0:23:510:23:56

Real nice to see.

0:23:560:23:57

And what implications does this have for the species?

0:23:570:24:01

Well, hopefully, if we can keep going forwards

0:24:020:24:04

with more parent-rearing, the fact is, you get that one bird

0:24:040:24:08

that can do it, it proves it can do it,

0:24:080:24:10

-the others see it happening around them...

-Yeah.

0:24:100:24:13

-..so they all think they can do it.

-Yeah.

0:24:130:24:14

So what I'm hoping now is that this will just mean that the group

0:24:140:24:17

will go from strength to strength and that they'll start

0:24:170:24:20

bringing them all up themselves and we won't have to hand-rear any more.

0:24:200:24:23

Well, I did notice, you've got one nest already.

0:24:230:24:27

So, we're right at the start of the breeding season now, are we?

0:24:270:24:31

The breeding season for these guys is only when they feel like it.

0:24:310:24:34

-Oh, is it?

-They literally have bred in every month of the year -

0:24:340:24:37

and when we do the hand-rearing,

0:24:370:24:39

we're all faffing with heat lamps and all the rest of it.

0:24:390:24:41

They just get on with it.

0:24:410:24:43

It's been brilliant to watch.

0:24:430:24:45

Mark, I can't congratulate you enough.

0:24:450:24:47

I know how much this has meant to you,

0:24:470:24:49

and I know how hard you've worked, and I'm just delighted -

0:24:490:24:52

but, as you say, you've come up with the ultimate success -

0:24:520:24:55

the birds are doing it for themselves.

0:24:550:24:57

-Brilliant. Thank you.

-Great news.

0:24:570:24:59

All this summer, Jean has been helping keepers to come up

0:25:000:25:03

with new ways to keep their animals cool...

0:25:030:25:05

..and today's idea involves this...

0:25:070:25:09

It's a boat's buoy placed right next to the tiger's pond.

0:25:110:25:15

You can let the tigers out now.

0:25:150:25:17

The question is, will it persuade the tigers to take a dip?

0:25:170:25:20

-Oh, here they come.

-Oh.

0:25:210:25:23

There's Soundari first and then Shouri's just behind her.

0:25:230:25:26

She's the more dominant out of the two,

0:25:280:25:29

and she's a bit more confident than Shouri is normally.

0:25:290:25:32

However, Shouri is the first one that's coming over towards us now.

0:25:320:25:36

She's just having a little sniff around log cam.

0:25:360:25:38

-Yes.

-Now, there's a big orange object there.

0:25:380:25:40

-What will she make of it? Oh, there she goes.

-Having a sniff.

0:25:400:25:43

Seeing what she thinks of it,

0:25:430:25:44

make sure it's not dangerous or alive or anything like that.

0:25:440:25:48

It's great that she doesn't seem like she's backing away

0:25:480:25:50

-or she's scared of it.

-You can see her ears are flicked back

0:25:500:25:52

a little bit, so you can she's a bit cautious about it, still -

0:25:520:25:56

and now Soundari's coming in as well, doing the same thing,

0:25:560:25:59

having a sniff of log cam first, then have a good old sniff of this.

0:25:590:26:03

Seeing them up close, you can really see that dense coat of fur,

0:26:030:26:06

which of course is perfect for Siberian tigers in Russia, but here,

0:26:060:26:10

on a warm day, you really need to keep them cool.

0:26:100:26:12

Hopefully they'll batter it around and push it into the pond soon.

0:26:120:26:16

This is quite nice for bonding, isn't it, just playing around...

0:26:180:26:20

-Yeah, definitely.

-..cos they are sisters.

-Yeah, definitely.

0:26:200:26:23

Tigers are normally solitary animals.

0:26:230:26:25

The only time you see them together is when Mum's got cubs.

0:26:250:26:27

But luckily our girls do normally get on really well with each other,

0:26:270:26:30

and they do like to have a bit of fun and play.

0:26:300:26:32

Yeah, we just need to see their noses and paws nudging that buoy

0:26:320:26:34

-into the water, don't we?

-Yeah. I think they're probably hoping

0:26:340:26:37

that there's meat somewhere, because that's normally

0:26:370:26:39

-what we put out. There's Soundari.

-Up on her hind legs.

0:26:390:26:42

-Yeah.

-That's great.

0:26:420:26:43

Is it going to go in? Oh, is it going to go in?

0:26:450:26:46

Come on, girls. If you didn't have the buoy there,

0:26:460:26:49

would they be likely to just run into the water?

0:26:490:26:52

They don't often just run in.

0:26:520:26:53

-OK.

-Normally, when it's the heat of the day.

0:26:530:26:55

At midday, they might go in and try and cool down.

0:26:550:26:58

Tigers have webbed feet. That's so unusual.

0:26:580:27:01

Yeah, slightly webbed paws just to help them swim,

0:27:010:27:03

obviously gets a bigger surface area so they can pull that water in and

0:27:030:27:06

help swim a bit better, cos they are water lovers.

0:27:060:27:09

Oh, she's almost just pushed it in there.

0:27:090:27:11

-Go on. Go on, Shouri.

-I think it might go in. Go on, Shouri.

0:27:110:27:14

Yeah, they're giving it a good go with their massive paws

0:27:140:27:17

and they're balancing as well, so they're using some other skills.

0:27:170:27:20

Yeah, you can really see the little flicks of the tail

0:27:200:27:22

to get that last bit of balance.

0:27:220:27:23

It's almost like two domestic cats with a ball of wool,

0:27:230:27:26

or something. They're really rolling it around and playing together.

0:27:260:27:29

Yeah, definitely.

0:27:290:27:30

Well, the girls didn't fancy getting wet today,

0:27:300:27:32

but they've had a good old play around, so the buoy done good.

0:27:320:27:35

It's mid-afternoon and over in Monkey Temple,

0:27:440:27:47

keepers Sam and Shelley are busy nervously moving marmosets.

0:27:470:27:51

This group of monkeys we're just about to shut in,

0:27:520:27:54

and then we're going to let out our black-tailed marmoset group,

0:27:540:27:57

which have little babies.

0:27:570:27:59

It's been three days since an unprecedented attack,

0:27:590:28:02

in which a mob of crows nearly flew off

0:28:020:28:05

with one of the park's marmosets,

0:28:050:28:07

sparking fears for the safety of their two newest arrivals.

0:28:070:28:10

Today, Sam is letting their family and the babies out

0:28:120:28:15

for the first time since the attack.

0:28:150:28:17

Hello, guys. Are you coming out?

0:28:180:28:21

So this is Mum that's come out first.

0:28:210:28:23

And then we've got Dad and one baby, I think, by the looks of it.

0:28:230:28:28

Hello. This is one of our baby black-tailed marmosets.

0:28:280:28:32

No bigger than the palm of Sam's hand,

0:28:320:28:34

the babies could easily become a bite-size snack to a hungry crow.

0:28:340:28:38

Being so tiny, it's the little babies we were a little bit more

0:28:380:28:41

worried about.

0:28:410:28:43

The park's other groups of larger marmosets have continued to go out

0:28:430:28:46

safely each day,

0:28:460:28:47

albeit under the watchful eye of Sam's two fake birds of prey.

0:28:470:28:52

Never had any issues with crows before. It's all a bit strange.

0:28:530:28:56

Perhaps it's their breeding season or something like that,

0:28:560:28:59

but we're just really happy that our bird deterrents

0:28:590:29:01

have done the job.

0:29:010:29:03

At eight weeks old, it's vital the baby marmosets are outside

0:29:030:29:06

as much as possible.

0:29:060:29:08

It's a critical stage in their physical and mental development,

0:29:080:29:12

learning important life skills from their parents.

0:29:120:29:15

You can see, Mum and Dad are doing a great job of looking after them

0:29:150:29:17

and guarding them as well.

0:29:170:29:19

Now, finally free to explore their open-topped enclosure,

0:29:190:29:23

it seems Sam can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

0:29:230:29:26

This is exactly where they should be, out and about, running around,

0:29:280:29:31

enjoying the sunshine, so it's great.

0:29:310:29:32

As you can see, they're really enjoying themselves.

0:29:320:29:35

The Conservancy of Lewa in northern Kenyan is one

0:29:370:29:40

of the few places in the world that is winning the war

0:29:400:29:43

on keeping wildlife safe.

0:29:430:29:45

We've got more white rhino and black rhino here

0:29:460:29:49

than I've ever seen in my life. It's just stunning -

0:29:490:29:52

and that's because the rangers that are looking after them,

0:29:520:29:55

and we're talking armed guards,

0:29:550:29:56

we're talking lay their life down to protect an animal.

0:29:560:30:01

Lewa covers 250 square kilometres,

0:30:010:30:04

and the challenge to keep it secure around the clock is immense.

0:30:040:30:07

I'm in charge of this room

0:30:090:30:10

and I have a team of seven radio operators.

0:30:100:30:12

So, we man this place 24-hours a day.

0:30:120:30:14

In the communications room, John ensures the experienced rangers

0:30:160:30:20

on the ground are where they need to be at the right time.

0:30:200:30:24

His wealth of experience and dedication to the wildlife

0:30:250:30:28

helps inform his decisions.

0:30:280:30:31

It's my passion and that's why I've worked here for the last 21 years,

0:30:310:30:35

and I've seen it grow gradually, and at least now we have technology.

0:30:350:30:40

This tracking system means the wildlife

0:30:400:30:43

can be constantly monitored.

0:30:430:30:44

So, this one is for tracking the elephants.

0:30:440:30:48

We have 7,500 elephants, and out of those we've collared

0:30:480:30:52

between 45 to 50 elephants.

0:30:520:30:54

So, for example, if you look at this particular animal here,

0:30:540:30:57

that is an elephant...

0:30:570:30:59

That is where she is at the moment, and if you go there,

0:30:590:31:02

she's not alone, she could be in a small herd -

0:31:020:31:04

and we have about 7,500 elephants current in that area.

0:31:040:31:08

We have what you call a security response team,

0:31:080:31:10

and we can send them there to go and make sure

0:31:100:31:12

that those elephants are safe.

0:31:120:31:15

The advanced technology means rangers and anti-poaching patrols

0:31:150:31:19

can be dispatched immediately to deal with any situation.

0:31:190:31:22

Each of these green and white blue dots you are seeing,

0:31:230:31:26

those are patrols.

0:31:260:31:28

We have, in this patrol, we have at least three men,

0:31:280:31:31

whose work is to go out there and find rhinos,

0:31:310:31:33

plus any other wildlife species.

0:31:330:31:35

So they protect rhinos

0:31:350:31:36

and, at the same time, they're protecting other wildlife species.

0:31:360:31:40

Sadly, in spite of the efforts here at Lewa,

0:31:400:31:43

poaching of rhino and elephant is on the increase across Africa.

0:31:430:31:47

The armed patrols at Lewa are constantly on alert

0:31:480:31:52

for poachers who illegally obtain rhino horn and ivory.

0:31:520:31:55

Today, Ian wants to show the keepers their most critical challenge.

0:31:590:32:03

Black rhino are on a knife edge in terms of conservation.

0:32:040:32:08

With only an estimated 5,500 in the world,

0:32:080:32:11

they could easily go extent.

0:32:110:32:14

These are four black rhinos and we have Sonia and Subira.

0:32:140:32:19

Subira is her calf -

0:32:190:32:21

and then, on the other side, we have Anna and her calf.

0:32:210:32:24

It's quite incredible for us.

0:32:240:32:26

This is a species that could be lost in our lifetime,

0:32:260:32:30

but here they're not only surviving, they're breeding too.

0:32:300:32:33

Two successful breeding female black rhinos.

0:32:330:32:36

-Two successful breeding females.

-Amazing.

-Yeah.

0:32:360:32:40

And then we have Anna there.

0:32:400:32:42

Anna, this is her second calf.

0:32:420:32:44

She's still a young mother,

0:32:440:32:46

but we're expecting that she will give birth again next year.

0:32:460:32:50

We're looking at four of only 84 on the Conservancy, anyway.

0:32:500:32:55

I say only, that's a massive proportion of the number

0:32:550:32:58

left on the planet.

0:32:580:33:00

-This is wonderful work.

-Thank you.

0:33:000:33:02

Rhino are hunted for their horns,

0:33:030:33:05

which are then used as shows of wealth,

0:33:050:33:07

or for their falsely believed medicinal benefits.

0:33:070:33:10

It's an outside of Africa thing, is it?

0:33:130:33:14

Yeah. The biggest market is Asia and other places.

0:33:140:33:19

A rhino horn is a sense of wealth and everything,

0:33:190:33:23

and also the Chinese medicine, as well.

0:33:230:33:26

Keeping the rhino here is a matter of life or death,

0:33:260:33:30

both for the rhino and keepers in equal measure.

0:33:300:33:33

It's sad that it's happening out there

0:33:330:33:35

and we're the ones who are feeling it,

0:33:350:33:37

we're the ones who are kind of like risking our lives

0:33:370:33:41

and risking our families and risking everything.

0:33:410:33:44

You know, even the rangers themselves,

0:33:440:33:46

they don't understand.

0:33:460:33:47

Why would somebody want to kill a harmless rhino?

0:33:470:33:49

If we were able to show that to the people out there,

0:33:490:33:52

and also to make sure that the people who are buying this,

0:33:520:33:56

-it's not been cut off peacefully.

-No, it's been killed.

0:33:560:33:58

The animals have been killed, they've been butchered.

0:33:580:34:01

This is a being that you are taking from the wild.

0:34:010:34:04

Today has been a profound experience for Darren.

0:34:050:34:08

We can really see the progression that conservation is making -

0:34:080:34:13

but actually there's a whole army of people like Ian

0:34:130:34:16

that care so much and are working day in, day out

0:34:160:34:19

to conserve some of the rarest animals on the planet.

0:34:190:34:22

From the tallest to the smallest,

0:34:310:34:34

the park is home to some pretty strange creatures...

0:34:340:34:37

..but when they're covered in slime,

0:34:390:34:41

most people would throw in the towel.

0:34:410:34:43

I'm here to meet an animal that I usually spend time avoiding

0:34:450:34:48

on a rainy day in my back garden - but, Graham, you're going to change

0:34:480:34:52

my opinion about the slug.

0:34:520:34:54

Well, I hope so. These are probably one of the larger species

0:34:540:34:57

of slug out there and they're the Pancake slugs.

0:34:570:35:00

They get their name because they're quite sort of pancake coloured

0:35:000:35:03

and they do sort of tend to flatten out when they relax.

0:35:030:35:06

Yeah, it's very unusual looking.

0:35:060:35:07

It's nothing like your ordinary garden slug.

0:35:070:35:09

No, no, I don't think you'd have much of a garden left

0:35:090:35:11

with these guys in there. They grow up to about 12 centimetres in size.

0:35:110:35:15

So they are a really enormous slug, from Barbados, actually.

0:35:150:35:18

-So they're a tropical slug.

-So it's an exotic slug.

0:35:180:35:20

-It is an exotic slug, yeah.

-That's good.

0:35:200:35:22

I'm hoping you won't find these ones in your back garden.

0:35:220:35:24

Being this close up, I can see there's two eyes there.

0:35:240:35:26

And what are these two little things underneath?

0:35:260:35:28

Yeah, these bits here really are like feelers.

0:35:280:35:30

So he's just tapping away as he's moving

0:35:300:35:32

and he's looking for anything that is nasty

0:35:320:35:35

that he doesn't want to slime through,

0:35:350:35:37

anything sharp, but also food, as well.

0:35:370:35:39

So, these guys just constantly eat all the time.

0:35:390:35:42

It's a really cool adaptation down there -

0:35:420:35:44

and from this angle,

0:35:440:35:45

it looks like the two stalks of the eyes are coming out from under...

0:35:450:35:49

-almost under a hood.

-Yeah, really unusual for this species, as well.

0:35:490:35:52

It does. It comes out under a bit of a mantle at the top there -

0:35:520:35:55

and that's just an extra form of protection,

0:35:550:35:57

so if you were to just disturb him at the front, there,

0:35:570:36:00

-you'll see that his eyes...

-Ah, they retracted.

0:36:000:36:03

Retract straight back inside and then he's poking about,

0:36:030:36:05

making sure it's all safe again before he moves on again.

0:36:050:36:08

Now, Graham, you keep saying "he".

0:36:080:36:10

Have you sexed this slug?

0:36:100:36:11

No, I should probably correct myself on that, actually -

0:36:110:36:14

they are hermaphrodites, which means they are both male and female.

0:36:140:36:17

-Wow.

-So that's a really sort of unusual feature

0:36:170:36:19

for most of the gastropods, the snails and the slugs.

0:36:190:36:22

He or she doesn't really make any difference, I don't think.

0:36:220:36:25

I don't think he gets that offended by it,

0:36:250:36:27

but, basically, they can produce both eggs

0:36:270:36:29

and mate with the other sex as well.

0:36:290:36:31

I have to say, Graham, they do have a bad reputation,

0:36:310:36:34

but watching him for a little while, he's really interesting.

0:36:340:36:37

I think you've changed my opinion.

0:36:370:36:38

-I'm glad.

-Yeah, it's great.

0:36:380:36:40

Earlier, we met Carl and Rasta,

0:36:420:36:44

two male cheetah that Amy and her team want to introduce

0:36:440:36:48

into one bachelor group.

0:36:480:36:49

If it works, Amy can keep all the cheetah here.

0:36:490:36:53

If it doesn't, some of them will have to go to a new collection.

0:36:530:36:56

Darren and Amy are seeking the help of an expert in the field, Mary.

0:36:570:37:01

She's Lewa's research manager and one of the few people in the world

0:37:010:37:05

who can help Amy with her issue back at the park.

0:37:050:37:08

The cheetah have a house that they come into each night.

0:37:100:37:12

They've got separate pens inside the house.

0:37:120:37:14

We're trying to get them to have that close contact with each other,

0:37:140:37:18

in the house, when they're feeding, but they haven't actually met.

0:37:180:37:22

Amy explains that after feeds, the older cheetah, Carl,

0:37:220:37:25

has been showing more aggression than Rasta.

0:37:250:37:28

Because Carl is the father to the cubs,

0:37:300:37:32

-he might be more territorial as well.

-Yeah, exactly.

0:37:320:37:35

So he might not want Rasta to come in and be close.

0:37:350:37:38

Cheetahs are so territorial that...

0:37:380:37:40

..like, even one male can protect the whole of the entire of Lewa...

0:37:420:37:47

-Wow!

-..as the territory.

0:37:470:37:49

He's going to be aggressive and he feels like he's...

0:37:490:37:52

He's the dominant male, he's definitely going to feel, you know,

0:37:520:37:58

-"These other males are not coming to my territory."

-Yes, yes.

0:37:580:38:02

As Carl is older and arrived at the park first,

0:38:020:38:05

there's little chance of him ever accepting Rasta,

0:38:050:38:08

the younger, new arrival.

0:38:080:38:10

If they were young and they grew up together...

0:38:100:38:12

-Yes.

-..then that would be good -

0:38:120:38:15

but now they are all grown-ups, and you're bringing in together.

0:38:150:38:18

-Yeah, try to bring them together.

-You want them to stay together.

0:38:180:38:22

It's... I don't think that is going to work.

0:38:220:38:25

It seems the difference in their age could be making things difficult,

0:38:250:38:29

but Mary isn't ruling anything out.

0:38:290:38:32

It's going to be fascinating to know how that goes...

0:38:320:38:35

..but, you know, that is in captivity.

0:38:370:38:39

It is a different situation in the wild.

0:38:390:38:42

So we will keep in contact...

0:38:420:38:44

-Definitely.

-Definitely keep in contact.

0:38:440:38:46

..and you will tell us how that works -

0:38:460:38:48

and if you succeed, you better document it.

0:38:480:38:51

-Yes.

-Definitely will.

0:38:510:38:53

Thank you.

0:38:530:38:55

It's not the answer the team were hoping for -

0:38:550:38:58

but on the drive back to camp, Darren spots another species

0:38:580:39:01

that he's been wrestling with how to display

0:39:010:39:03

back in Wiltshire - ostrich.

0:39:030:39:05

It's really interesting to see how these interact with each other here.

0:39:070:39:11

We're looking to run a group of ostrich together.

0:39:110:39:15

Darren's always wanted to keep a large group of ostrich,

0:39:160:39:19

but has never done it.

0:39:190:39:21

So this is a great opportunity to understand a group in the wild.

0:39:210:39:25

That's the male of the family and then that's the female.

0:39:270:39:31

The very young males are starting to mature, but once they are young,

0:39:310:39:36

they will always stick with each other...

0:39:360:39:38

-OK.

-..and then they'll split later on after maturity.

0:39:380:39:41

Back at the park, they've recently started incubating a dozen eggs

0:39:410:39:46

in the hope that they can form a larger group -

0:39:460:39:49

but no-one is quite sure if it would work.

0:39:490:39:52

Back home, we currently have a clutch of eggs

0:39:520:39:55

and we've got them in the incubators,

0:39:550:39:57

but our female's also sitting on eggs

0:39:570:39:59

that we don't want her to hatch out. That bloodline's no good.

0:39:590:40:03

So what we're going to do is, we're going to put some back under her,

0:40:030:40:06

-yeah, so she'll hatch them out of thinking they're her own.

-Yeah.

0:40:060:40:09

Let them grow up together and then they will have the notion that...

0:40:090:40:12

-Yes.

-..they are from the same family.

-OK.

0:40:120:40:15

Encouraging a female ostrich to raise unrelated chicks

0:40:150:40:18

as one family from birth is something Darren is keen to try.

0:40:180:40:22

Back at the lodge, he calls home to fellow keeper Mark.

0:40:230:40:27

-Hello, Mark.

-Hello, Darren.

0:40:290:40:31

Just wanted to give you a quick call hot off the press.

0:40:310:40:34

We came across a big family group of ostrich -

0:40:340:40:36

and as long as Mum and Dad rear them as their own,

0:40:360:40:41

they will accept them and they will grow up

0:40:410:40:44

-without any risk of inter-male fighting.

-Oh, brilliant.

0:40:440:40:48

The good news for you is you've got 11 out of 12 fertile eggs.

0:40:480:40:53

No way! Cheers, mate, thank you.

0:40:530:40:55

-Take care.

-Cheers, bye.

0:40:550:40:57

Another great thing to look forward to -

0:40:570:40:59

and if I can take a few more of those little pearls of wisdom

0:40:590:41:02

back from Africa, then it's worth a 13 hour shift.

0:41:020:41:06

Earlier, Jean and Eloise gave the tigers an enormous ship's buoy...

0:41:120:41:17

-Oh, is it going to go in? Is it going to go in?

-Come on, girls.

0:41:170:41:19

..hoping they'd play with it in the pool and cool off.

0:41:190:41:22

Well, the buoy didn't get wet...

0:41:230:41:26

but later in the day, it certainly got played with.

0:41:260:41:29

Now, if you've ever wondered what a tiger could do

0:41:320:41:36

to a ship's buoy, wonder no more.

0:41:360:41:39

-Eloise!

-Look at that.

0:41:390:41:40

They did a pretty thorough job, didn't they?

0:41:400:41:42

Yes. They definitely ripped it to shreds

0:41:420:41:44

and crumbled it up as much as possible.

0:41:440:41:46

And do you know what's amazing? This is really solid.

0:41:460:41:48

I mean, they've really gone to town.

0:41:480:41:50

That is quite an animal toy.

0:41:500:41:52

Yeah, they managed to get through it a lot quicker than we expected,

0:41:520:41:55

and, yeah, they love it.

0:41:550:41:56

Is this sort of thing important for the tigers

0:41:560:41:59

to have in their enclosure, to have that opportunity?

0:41:590:42:03

Yeah, we try and make our girls work really hard

0:42:030:42:05

and get as fit as possible, and giving them a new toy

0:42:050:42:08

is exciting for us to see what they do

0:42:080:42:10

and for them to figure out what they want to do with it, as well.

0:42:100:42:12

Well, I am impressed.

0:42:120:42:13

It looks like you've got a few little chunks of food there,

0:42:130:42:16

-on a knitting needle! I like what you're doing there.

-Yes, yes.

0:42:160:42:19

-Come on.

-This is?

-This is Shouri behind us.

0:42:190:42:21

-Shouri.

-Shouri's the one that had the most interest in this buoy

0:42:210:42:24

and she's he one that made the most mess out of it.

0:42:240:42:27

-Didn't you, sweetheart?

-They're keeping you on your toes.

0:42:270:42:30

-Definitely.

-Thank you so much.

0:42:300:42:32

Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's programme -

0:42:320:42:34

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

0:42:340:42:37

Keeper Polly is in Africa, earning her stripes

0:42:390:42:42

amongst some very rare zebra...

0:42:420:42:45

Seeing them out here in the wild, it's amazing.

0:42:450:42:47

It's overwhelming!

0:42:470:42:48

The park's gorillas give their verdicts on a new diet.

0:42:500:42:54

Both going for the tomato, as well.

0:42:540:42:56

Save some for the others, Evindi!

0:42:560:42:59

..and we'll reveal how an emu cools off in the summer.

0:42:590:43:03

When they're that hot, they need to cool down,

0:43:030:43:05

and this is the best way for it.

0:43:050:43:06

Yeah, he's just sat himself right in there.

0:43:060:43:09

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