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50 years ago, the most exotic tourist attraction | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
in British history opened to the public. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:06 | |
It was an audacious plan | 0:00:06 | 0:00:07 | |
to allow visitors to come to an African safari park, | 0:00:07 | 0:00:11 | |
here in the rolling hills of the Wiltshire countryside. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:15 | |
50 lions lay in waiting, and no-one knew what was going to happen. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:19 | |
Now you can picture the scene, can't you? | 0:00:19 | 0:00:21 | |
It would have looked exactly like this back in 1966, | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
and since then, millions of visitors have passed through these gates, | 0:00:24 | 0:00:28 | |
in search of the wonderful and the weird, the cute and the cuddly. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:32 | |
And this week, we're inviting you along for the ride. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
We are back to find out how much has changed here, | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
but also to catch up on all the latest animal stories, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
as we return to Britain's wildest animal park. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:45 | |
So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
RATTING, RUMBLING, ROARING | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
Listen to that. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:51 | |
Open the gates! | 0:00:51 | 0:00:53 | |
-It's like the olden days! -I know! | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
I'm so excited to be back, aren't you? | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
Welcome to Animal Park! | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
We've got a series of action-packed summer specials coming your way, | 0:01:02 | 0:01:07 | |
bringing you the most exciting and adorable animals you can imagine. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
And today... | 0:01:11 | 0:01:12 | |
England won the football in '66, | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
but would the first visitors stand a chance against the lions? | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
The kids are screaming because this lioness had put her chest | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
onto the back window. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:24 | |
The locals were all terrified. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
A vital giraffe baby is due. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
It's the stress of watching them give birth | 0:01:29 | 0:01:31 | |
and hoping it's all going to be all right. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
But can it survive the six-foot drop? | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
And one of the world's greatest wildlife photographers | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
gives us a unique chance to see how he gets his killer shots. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:43 | |
I thought she was going to come straight to... | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
straight at the door! | 0:01:47 | 0:01:48 | |
It's absolutely brilliant to be back, | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
and we can't wait to catch up with what's been happening at the park | 0:02:04 | 0:02:07 | |
this summer, and what better way is there | 0:02:07 | 0:02:09 | |
to get reacquainted with the nation's first safari park | 0:02:09 | 0:02:13 | |
than by driving through a pride of wild lions in a tiny vintage car? | 0:02:13 | 0:02:18 | |
I've been here dozens and dozens of times, | 0:02:20 | 0:02:24 | |
and yet the thrill of seeing lions | 0:02:24 | 0:02:27 | |
just outside your windscreen never goes away. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:30 | |
And to be in a little car like this, | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
I'm really getting a sense of what it must have been like | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
for the first visitors. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:38 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:02:38 | 0:02:39 | |
To be here in these rather smaller, lower-slung cars, | 0:02:39 | 0:02:44 | |
and it feels like a much more visceral | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
and slightly scary experience. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:50 | |
Incredibly, it was close encounters with these magnificent lions | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
that held the key to saving | 0:02:58 | 0:02:59 | |
one of the country's greatest country estates. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
And that is, of course, the very estate we're at today. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
Longleat House has been the seat of the Thynne family | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
for over 500 years. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:12 | |
The current heir to the estate, Lord Weymouth, | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
lives at the estate today with his wife, Lady Emma, and their family. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
And he's incredibly proud of its rather unusual history. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
It is difficult to imagine that, when this happened, | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
it had never been done before. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:33 | |
Because the park you see today | 0:03:33 | 0:03:34 | |
is all down to Lord Weymouth's grandfather, | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
the sixth Marquess of Bath. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
He made the unique decision to turn the grounds of his country estate | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
into a wild safari park 50 years ago. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
The original safari park opened in 1966, with 50 lions roaming free, | 0:03:49 | 0:03:56 | |
while excited and often terrified customers drove through the gates. | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
This was the first-ever safari park to exist outside of Africa, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:07 | |
and the grounds of this estate | 0:04:07 | 0:04:08 | |
were suddenly home to wild and exotic animals. | 0:04:08 | 0:04:12 | |
I know you want to go walkies, come along. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
Come along here. No. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
But the nation had never seen anything like this before. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
-Oh, Michael. -It caused complete uproar across the country, | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
with the press labelling Lord Bath "the Mad Marquess". | 0:04:23 | 0:04:27 | |
There was a big body of public opinion that thought my grandfather | 0:04:27 | 0:04:31 | |
was completely off his rocker! | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
But, of course, the park was an instant hit. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:36 | |
And we have invited some of those first visitors back today, | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
complete with the original vintage cars they would have been in. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
When we came to the big gates, | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
I remember feeling...quite scary, you know? | 0:04:49 | 0:04:54 | |
When you first come in, the very first time you come in, | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
it's a totally unique experience. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:00 | |
It's something that you've never experienced before. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
Something you never forget. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
Something you never forget, that's right. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
It was of course the lions that were causing the biggest stir. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:12 | |
When you first went through the gates of the lion enclosure, | 0:05:13 | 0:05:17 | |
it was that feeling of... | 0:05:17 | 0:05:19 | |
..awe, and what are we going to see, and is it going to be safe? | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
And we came to a halt, because the car in front halted, | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
and a group of lions crossed the road. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:31 | |
And I clearly remember this lion | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
walking along the outside of the car, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
and a big beast it is, you know, and I was sort of holding, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
I was holding the steering wheel. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
So it was a very exciting first time. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
With 50 wild lions suddenly roaming round the grounds of the estate, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:51 | |
it was up to the first head warden, Mike Lockyer, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
to try and maintain some kind of order. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
We had some basic knowledge of what animals would do, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:02 | |
but because nothing quite like it had been done, | 0:06:02 | 0:06:04 | |
we didn't know exactly what might happen. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
It was the unknown that was the sort of thrilling bit. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:09 | |
Back then, the 100-acre lion enclosure was surrounded | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
by a heavy-duty chain-link fence, | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
army surplus from prisoner of war camps in Korea, | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
to stop the beasts from escaping. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:20 | |
But inside the enclosure, the lions did exactly what they wanted. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:26 | |
We were just driving through, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:29 | |
and the kids were excited because we were seeing the lions, | 0:06:29 | 0:06:32 | |
and they were actually getting up close, | 0:06:32 | 0:06:34 | |
and they were getting up closer. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:36 | |
And then I looked in the mirror and the kids are screaming | 0:06:36 | 0:06:40 | |
because this lioness had come up, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
and she'd actually leaned onto... put her chest onto the back window. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
She put one paw on one side of the window, | 0:06:45 | 0:06:48 | |
and one paw on the other side of the window, | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
at which the kids thought she was going to come in, or crush the Mini. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
And then we went through the gate and everybody goes... | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
"But wasn't that exciting!" | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:06:59 | 0:07:01 | |
It may have been exciting, | 0:07:01 | 0:07:02 | |
but the keepers were forced to create stunts | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
to ensure the public were aware of the very real danger. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
Such as this dummy up against a car. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:11 | |
That was the object of the exercise, | 0:07:15 | 0:07:17 | |
was to show the public how dangerous it is if they don't obey the rules, | 0:07:17 | 0:07:20 | |
because if you get out of the car, you will be eaten alive. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:24 | |
And the legendary lions still lie at the heart of | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
the safari experience today. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
SNARL | 0:07:31 | 0:07:32 | |
I'm about to catch up with an animal | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
who's even older than this golden anniversary. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
Nico, the western lowland gorilla, | 0:07:43 | 0:07:45 | |
lives by himself on an island in the middle of Half Mile Lake. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:49 | |
Now, it may be the safari park's 50th birthday, | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
but there is another birthday that I'm even more excited about. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:58 | |
It is Nico the gorilla's, and I made him a cake, | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
because he is a staggering 55 years old this year. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:06 | |
And I have come to see my old mate, Mark Tye... | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
"Old" being the operative word. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:10 | |
We're both, look at us both, we're getting a little bit old... | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
As... NICO GRUNTS | 0:08:13 | 0:08:14 | |
Hello, mate. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
He's looking amazing, Mark. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
-He's super, isn't he? -He really, really is. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
I mean, 55 makes him, is it, the oldest male gorilla in Europe, now? | 0:08:21 | 0:08:27 | |
Yes, he is, oldest male in Europe, | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
and he is about the sixth oldest in the world overall. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:32 | |
And, yes, you are right to give yourself a round of applause, Nico, | 0:08:32 | 0:08:34 | |
I think that's absolutely an incredible feat. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
And, I mean, yes, he's a bit greyer than when I last saw him. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:43 | |
Every bit as feisty. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
Absolutely, he still is completely sharp as a razor. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:49 | |
Mentally, there's absolutely no difference in him whatsoever. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
You know, he still got that... You can see that edge, | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
he's looking at the camera, thinking, | 0:08:56 | 0:08:57 | |
"Get a bit closer and I'm going to grab that!" | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:09:00 | 0:09:01 | |
So he's still absolutely all there. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
And he looks physically... | 0:09:04 | 0:09:06 | |
I mean, I would have expected him maybe to be a little bit creakier, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:09 | |
like you and me. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:11 | |
I'm not sure how long we're going to be able to stay kneeling down! | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
But physically, he actually looks in very good shape. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
He is. You know, | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
he has lost a small amount of muscle tone around his sort of backside, | 0:09:19 | 0:09:23 | |
and the tops of his legs, | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
but the top part of him is still very strong. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:27 | |
He still goes out every day, he still walks all round the island, | 0:09:27 | 0:09:31 | |
you know, chasing ducks, getting annoyed with sea lions, | 0:09:31 | 0:09:34 | |
all those things that he always ever did. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:36 | |
So, you know, he's really good. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
He's just, like all of us, a little older, | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
a little greyer and a little fatter! | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
You guys, you do have the most extraordinary relationship. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
How long have you been together now? | 0:09:48 | 0:09:49 | |
Well, I've been working with him since 1989, so quite a few years. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:54 | |
Quite a few years! | 0:09:54 | 0:09:55 | |
I don't know whether you can tell, but do you think he remembers me? | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
NICO GRUNTS | 0:09:59 | 0:10:00 | |
He just said so. Yes. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
Nico, you old charmer. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
Now, you're looking over my shoulder, aren't you, Nico? | 0:10:05 | 0:10:08 | |
Do you think it's about time we cut it? | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
What's the best way to do this? | 0:10:10 | 0:10:11 | |
Well, I think we'll just... | 0:10:11 | 0:10:13 | |
Which bit do you want? All of it. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
-All of it, please. -Yes. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:18 | |
'This cake is entirely made up of fruit, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
'Nico's favourite.' | 0:10:22 | 0:10:24 | |
Look at this. See what you think. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:27 | |
Oh, look, Nico. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
That didn't touch the sides, did it? | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
THEY CHUCKLE | 0:10:33 | 0:10:34 | |
Happy birthday, old boy. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:38 | |
It's very, very good to see you again. | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
What do you think? | 0:10:42 | 0:10:43 | |
HE GRUNTS | 0:10:45 | 0:10:46 | |
From ancient gorillas to cuddly lemurs basking in the sun, | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
the park is currently home to over 1,000 animals. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
And another addition is expected any day now... | 0:11:00 | 0:11:03 | |
..because the 121st giraffe is due to be born. | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
Keeper Bev Evans has come to check up on heavily pregnant Ella. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:12 | |
Hello, ladies. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:14 | |
Since the first 19 giraffe arrived at this country estate | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
nearly 50 years ago, | 0:11:18 | 0:11:20 | |
the park has built a superb reputation for giraffe breeding. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:24 | |
Currently, there are 12 giraffe here including Ella and her mother. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:29 | |
We are very, very lucky with our giraffe breeding. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
We do incredibly well. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:36 | |
We've had a very successful birth rate. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
It's the keeping them alive sometimes we had difficulty with. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
Unfortunately, quite a few years back, Ella being a first-time mum, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
she lost that first calf. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:48 | |
She had it out in the reserve, middle of the day, very quickly, | 0:11:48 | 0:11:52 | |
all a bit of a shock to her, and she abandoned it. | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
We brought the calf up on the truck, | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
bought it back in the house, and put Ella and calf back together | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
and she wasn't having any of it. | 0:12:02 | 0:12:03 | |
She was just not happy with it at all. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
She just did not want it anywhere near her. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
The team did their best to hand-rear the calf, but sadly, | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
it didn't survive. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:14 | |
Ella went on to have her healthy daughter, Adele, a few years later, | 0:12:14 | 0:12:18 | |
but Bev is still feeling worried. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:21 | |
It's the stress of watching them give birth | 0:12:21 | 0:12:23 | |
and hoping it's all going to be all right, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
can be quite traumatic. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:26 | |
To try and help all giraffe births, | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
the park recently had a new birthing pen installed. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
So, this is quite a thick bed. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
It's got its own water, its own food source. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
We've got hydraulic feeders as well, with new hay racks. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
But even in here, Bev can't help feeling anxious. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:44 | |
Everybody knows I do favour and worry and stress | 0:12:46 | 0:12:49 | |
about the giraffes a lot more than any other animal we've got | 0:12:49 | 0:12:53 | |
because there is so much that has gone right with our giraffes here | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
at Longleat, and so much that's gone wrong with them as well, | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
so the worst-case scenario is we come in and we find | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
mum hasn't mothered her at all, she's abandoned her in the corner. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
Even worse than that, you know, | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
all the afterbirth is still over her face | 0:13:08 | 0:13:10 | |
and she hasn't been able to take that first breath. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:13 | |
It's a big responsibility. | 0:13:13 | 0:13:15 | |
In the end of the day, it is up to you whether you call a vet out, | 0:13:15 | 0:13:17 | |
it's up to you whether you're going to save mum and baby, | 0:13:17 | 0:13:20 | |
or are you going to lose both. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:22 | |
Looking at Ella now, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
she looks nice and quiet and calm and her tail isn't cocked, | 0:13:26 | 0:13:29 | |
her udder's tight but not completely balloon tight, | 0:13:29 | 0:13:32 | |
as we call it. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:33 | |
So I would like to say, from the progression of all the signs, | 0:13:33 | 0:13:38 | |
that it would be in the next week. | 0:13:38 | 0:13:39 | |
Worrying about new mothers and their babies doesn't stop after the birth, | 0:13:50 | 0:13:54 | |
as Ben is about to find out. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:56 | |
Sometimes, keepers have to actually become Mum themselves. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
I have come along to Penguin Island to meet head of section, Georgia. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
-Hello, Georgia. -Hi, Ben. -And some of her 34 Humboldt penguins. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
-They are beautiful, aren't they? -They are indeed. | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
Now, we're going to do a quick checkup today on two individuals. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
-Who are they? -Yep. So, these two were actually hand-reared, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
so we are going to do a quick checkup | 0:14:20 | 0:14:22 | |
cos we've just introduced them, make sure they're doing well. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
OK, how do we get close to them? | 0:14:25 | 0:14:26 | |
So, they're quite friendly cos they are hand-reared, | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
so we're just going to pick them up and lift them up under their wings | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
-and we will take them to the rocks cos it's best when we're sitting down. -OK. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:35 | |
-How are we going to encourage them? -It's actually these two here. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
We'll just... See the ones chatting? | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
-Yes. -So, what you do... Just under the wing, pick them up. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:43 | |
-And this one here? -And that one there, yes. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
Hello. Hello. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:46 | |
Do you want to come here? Hello. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:47 | |
There we go. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:49 | |
And hold it under my arm like... | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
-Oh, look! I've fallen in love. -There we go. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
-Hello. So, who have I got here? -You've got Echo. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
-Echo. -And I have got Ant. | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
Echo and Ant. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
-Pop them up. -We will perch over here. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:03 | |
Here we go. There we go, there we go. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
So why did they need to be hand-reared? | 0:15:06 | 0:15:07 | |
So, unfortunately the parents didn't parent-rear. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
They were not very attentive, | 0:15:10 | 0:15:11 | |
it was their first time so it was to be expected | 0:15:11 | 0:15:13 | |
that a few of the parents didn't do that well. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
Georgia, to make that decision, to hand-rear an animal, | 0:15:16 | 0:15:18 | |
take it from its mother for whatever reason, that is a big one to do. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
It is a very tough decision. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:23 | |
We keep an eye on them really closely | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
in the first few days of parent-rearing | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
and it's a last resort to hand-rear, it really is, | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
cos we would like the parents to do it naturally | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
and it is not a bane on us to hand-rear as well, then. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
So you effectively became a surrogate penguin mum? | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
-Yes. -Sleepless nights, all of that? | 0:15:41 | 0:15:44 | |
Luckily it wasn't that bad. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:46 | |
The penguins eat early in the morning, | 0:15:46 | 0:15:48 | |
throughout the day and we can just do a late feed and go home | 0:15:48 | 0:15:51 | |
and come back in the morning again. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
But would you say you have a pretty unique bond with these guys? | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
Definitely. They talk to us quite a lot. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
They see us as their parents, effectively. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
How do you talk to a penguin? | 0:16:00 | 0:16:01 | |
Give them cuddles. So they will come up to us and they will start begging | 0:16:02 | 0:16:06 | |
for food and they like a little scratch behind the head. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
-OK, scratching. Here we go. -Little tickle under the neck as well. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:13 | |
-Just like that. -Yep. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:14 | |
And they do like to sit on your lap as well and just relax. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
Do they? Shall we see whether this is... | 0:16:17 | 0:16:20 | |
This is Ant. Let's have a little sit on here. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:22 | |
You are beautiful. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:23 | |
These are just two of 242 animals born here last year. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
In fact, over the last 50 years, | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
thousands of animals have been born to the park. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:33 | |
Ever since the gates first opened 50 years ago, | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
breeding programmes have been at the heart of the safari park's work. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
And over the years they've had some great successes. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:47 | |
Breeding is especially important for the endangered species, | 0:16:51 | 0:16:55 | |
but any baby is always welcome, | 0:16:55 | 0:16:57 | |
because many animals just won't start a family | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
unless they're happy with the accommodation. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
So if their animals are breeding, | 0:17:03 | 0:17:05 | |
it shows the keepers are getting things right. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
But the biggest problem with babies is sometimes the birth itself, | 0:17:09 | 0:17:14 | |
because while they usually go perfectly smoothly, | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
they can go horribly wrong. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
A few years ago, we followed a life and death drama up in the Deerpark. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:25 | |
Tim Yeo was the keeper in charge of all the deer, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
and he became concerned when one of the red deer hinds | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
seemed to be having a problem giving birth. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:35 | |
After she had been in labour for over 30 hours, | 0:17:38 | 0:17:41 | |
Tim called in the vet, Nanja Verkuijl. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
A long labour like this could be because the calf was breech, | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
twisted in the womb, | 0:17:49 | 0:17:50 | |
or caught, with its head bent backwards. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:52 | |
If it is the head back then we do have to interfere | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
and get down to her | 0:17:58 | 0:18:00 | |
and actually get the head in a normal position, get her out. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:03 | |
But then, two feet started to come out. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
They should be the front ones, and these were the back feet. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:13 | |
The baby was breech. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:15 | |
Tim and Nanja knew they must act immediately. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
I'm not completely convinced that the calf is still alive either. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:24 | |
It might well be that she has been so restless and nothing's happening. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
Also the other reason could well be because the calf is actually dead. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
The hind was suffering, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:33 | |
but she wouldn't let them get close enough to help. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:36 | |
They would have to catch her, and to do that, | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
she'd have to be darted with a careful dose of anaesthetic. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
We're just going to go up to her and try and put the dart in. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
So if the crew could stay here, | 0:18:45 | 0:18:46 | |
I think that would be the best thing. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
Until we've hopefully done that. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
Tim had to get as close as possible. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
For the dart to work properly, | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
it must hit the hind in the rear haunch. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
Luckily, Tim was always a very good shot. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:00 | |
The sedative would be passed from the mother to the unborn calf, | 0:19:07 | 0:19:11 | |
and if the baby was already weak, | 0:19:11 | 0:19:13 | |
a full dose of the drug could kill it, | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
so to be cautious they used a minimum dose. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
It took 20 minutes before the hind went down. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
To stop her from struggling, they used a net. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:26 | |
But she was more lively than they expected. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
We're never, ever going to get her. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
The only way to catch her would be to dart her again | 0:19:37 | 0:19:40 | |
with a stronger dose of sedative. | 0:19:40 | 0:19:42 | |
But that could prove fatal for the unborn calf. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:45 | |
We're just working out, the vets are just working out doses now... | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
to... | 0:19:50 | 0:19:51 | |
to go again, and we are going to try and dart her again. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:54 | |
This time they're using a stronger, faster-acting sedative. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:58 | |
It's extremely powerful, so must be handled carefully, | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
and the dose calculated exactly. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:03 | |
The tiniest of spillages, you know, can be fatal to us so... | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
I'm ready. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:11 | |
With just an hour left before darkness, | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
there was no time for any more second chances. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
We'll find out very soon | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
if they save the mother, and perhaps the baby too. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
For nearly a decade, | 0:20:29 | 0:20:30 | |
Kate and I met every unforgettable animal the park has had to offer, | 0:20:30 | 0:20:34 | |
so it's time to introduce a new face this summer. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
-How lovely! -Jean Johansson is here to get to know all the creatures, | 0:20:37 | 0:20:42 | |
great and small, cute and scary. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:46 | |
But the difference is not always that obvious. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:50 | |
-Hi, Kim. -Hiya. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:51 | |
Now, I thought I was coming to meet one of the most ferocious animals | 0:20:51 | 0:20:56 | |
on the park, but... | 0:20:56 | 0:20:58 | |
This is Marooni. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
She is a category one so she is just as dangerous as keeping a lion. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:05 | |
As you can see now, it's because of these very large claws. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:07 | |
Marooni may look friendly, but South American giant anteaters | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
can fight off pumas and jaguars with those claws. | 0:21:11 | 0:21:15 | |
Now I can see why you might put her in the same category as a lion. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:19 | |
And something else I'm noticing is a very long tongue. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:24 | |
Yes. The tongue is about roughly 60cm. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
When they open termite mounds, | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
they just use their claws to make one hole and use the tongue to just | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
go straight into there and get as many as they can. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:36 | |
The reason they don't destroy them is obviously if they destroy | 0:21:36 | 0:21:38 | |
the termite mounds then they can't come back and eat it again later. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
-I'd love to feed her. -I'm just giving her some avocado now. | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
-What we can use is a bottle, here. -OK. | 0:21:44 | 0:21:46 | |
And then that will show you her tongue a little bit more. | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
You will have to tip it up slightly for her, | 0:21:48 | 0:21:50 | |
-just so she can obviously get it. -And she'll get her tongue right inside. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
-You can see her tongue right in there. -Oh, wow. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
This tongue is going super, super fast. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
It's sticky, it's spiky and that tongue can flick over 150 times | 0:21:59 | 0:22:03 | |
a minute to suck up those bugs. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
And tell me some of her favourite foods. Oh. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
So, this is definitely one. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:09 | |
We've got a mixture of mealworms, egg and avocado in there. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:12 | |
That is something quite different for her. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:14 | |
It makes it a bit of a challenge because it's not just mealworms. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:17 | |
It's quite sticky, so she has to work for it a little bit. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
As you can see, she's shutting her eyes, | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
-so she's enjoying it quite a lot. -Really enjoying it. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
-And are there any teeth in there? -They have no teeth at all. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
This has got to go down as one of the most weird but wonderful feeds | 0:22:26 | 0:22:31 | |
on Animal Park. Well done. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:33 | |
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
the park want to get closer than ever to the incredible animals | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
that live here. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:44 | |
Who better to ask than world renowned naturalist | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
and award-winning photographer Simon King? | 0:22:49 | 0:22:51 | |
He's a man who'll stop at nothing in his quest to reveal the most | 0:22:54 | 0:22:58 | |
exciting and dangerous animals on the planet. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:00 | |
But it's here on this country estate that he's trying to | 0:23:02 | 0:23:06 | |
capture the animal kingdom as it's never been seen before. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
But it's no easy task. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:12 | |
It's a challenge. It's a real challenge trying to get a view of | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
these animals that, let's face it, have been photographed thousands, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
A fresh perspective, a fresh view. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
It was childhood trips here that ignited Simon's love of wildlife and | 0:23:24 | 0:23:29 | |
he's determined to capture the awe and amazement he felt years ago | 0:23:29 | 0:23:34 | |
in this project. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
He's got a completely bonkers plan. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:40 | |
It's important that you get to the level | 0:23:40 | 0:23:42 | |
or below the level of the creature and that was particularly the case | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
with the predators. The tigers, the lions, the wolves. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:49 | |
In order to do that, I would have to be within a metre or so of an animal | 0:23:49 | 0:23:53 | |
that, let's face it, could kill me. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:56 | |
And the only way of achieving that | 0:23:56 | 0:23:57 | |
was to build a specialist camera mount. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
But when Simon says camera mount, he actually means camera cage. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:07 | |
Because he decided that in order to really showcase the animals' world, | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
he needed to get inside it. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
Similar to a shark cage, | 0:24:18 | 0:24:19 | |
Simon's contraption is attached to the side of a four-by-four and it | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
allows him to be mere centimetres away from the deadly big cats. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:28 | |
The only access point from the camera point of view is what | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
I fondly refer to as the cat flap, which is a small hole | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
just big enough for me to push the largest of my lenses. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:39 | |
And I thought a cat flap was to encourage cats to come in! | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
Well, let's hope not... | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
because today Simon is in with the tigers. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:48 | |
The park's home to three female Siberian tigers. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
Siberian tigers are the world's largest cats and are known | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
for their power and stealth. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:00 | |
I'm just looking at the conditions in the tiger enclosure, | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
the light conditions and where I think they may come and play. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:12 | |
Stopping to photograph these animals is actually more dangerous here | 0:25:13 | 0:25:17 | |
than out in the wild. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
The cats here are familiar with humans so are more curious and bold. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:24 | |
But that's not stopping Simon. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
It's looking good. I'm going to drop the cage here. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:29 | |
PNEUMATIC WHINE | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
Good, isn't it? | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
But can this cage really protect Simon from three fully grown tigers? | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
I am armed... | 0:25:41 | 0:25:42 | |
..with this. This is not to protect me if the tigers decide to attack me | 0:25:43 | 0:25:51 | |
but if they do think about popping a tyre and chewing the car | 0:25:51 | 0:25:55 | |
and I can see them from here, then a little squirt of water in the ear | 0:25:55 | 0:25:58 | |
can just detract and deflect their behaviour. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:02 | |
So, yeah, armed and dangerous. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
So with the cat flap wide-open and his secret weapon at the ready, | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
it's time to release the tigers. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
This is Simon to Tiger Team. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:17 | |
Ready when you are. Over. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:18 | |
I love this moment. This moment of waiting. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
They come out of the house straightaway. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:27 | |
Do you know, it does tickle some kind of... | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
..primeval reptile brain fear triggers. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:37 | |
I'm not afraid, but there's no doubt that there's a heightened sense | 0:26:37 | 0:26:43 | |
of awareness, a heightened sense of being alive. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:46 | |
Here she comes. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS | 0:26:48 | 0:26:50 | |
TIGER ROARS | 0:26:50 | 0:26:51 | |
HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY | 0:26:51 | 0:26:53 | |
That was a rev! Straight at the car! | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
Simon might be laughing but the tigers aren't. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:00 | |
Yeah. That's quite cool. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
Wow! I wasn't expecting that. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
That was dramatic. The last one was... | 0:27:06 | 0:27:09 | |
..somewhat marred by me getting out of the way. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:13 | |
I thought she was going to come straight... | 0:27:13 | 0:27:15 | |
Straight at the door. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:16 | |
I'd do that again. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:19 | |
It looks like Simon will get another chance, because one of them's | 0:27:21 | 0:27:24 | |
heading straight for the cat flap. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
Hello, sweetheart. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:28 | |
CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS | 0:27:28 | 0:27:30 | |
Simon has to act fast. | 0:27:32 | 0:27:34 | |
This one's getting a bit too interested. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
It's getting too close. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:38 | |
METAL CLUNK | 0:27:39 | 0:27:40 | |
Naughty. She was trying to get my beanbag. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
That's a paw in through the window. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:48 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:27:48 | 0:27:49 | |
I tell you what, that's a big paw! | 0:27:49 | 0:27:53 | |
It's almost the size of her face. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:55 | |
And you know that shrouded in that velvet glove are daggers. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:59 | |
Tigers are powerful hunters that get close enough to attack their prey | 0:28:01 | 0:28:05 | |
with a quick spring and a fatal pounce. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:09 | |
So, as you can see, it's a very, very intimate experience when you've | 0:28:15 | 0:28:19 | |
got a tiger's face here and you're a few centimetres away. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:23 | |
You know you're alive. | 0:28:25 | 0:28:26 | |
You want to stay that way. | 0:28:27 | 0:28:29 | |
Simon needs to raise the cage but he isn't taking any chances. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:37 | |
One of the things tigers do with their prey, of course, | 0:28:40 | 0:28:44 | |
is attack it from behind | 0:28:44 | 0:28:46 | |
so that it has absolutely no way of knowing that there's a tiger | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
about to jump on its back. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:52 | |
But has today's life or death experience been worth it? | 0:28:53 | 0:28:56 | |
That's got some energy. | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
That's got some dynamism. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:00 | |
That's the shot of the day. That was worth it. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
Simon lives on to photograph another day. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:06 | |
A few years ago, we followed dramatic events | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
when a pregnant red deer hind got into difficulty giving birth. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:20 | |
When Tim Yeo and the team finally got her sedated, | 0:29:20 | 0:29:24 | |
it was clear that the baby was the wrong way round in the womb. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:27 | |
So vet Nanja Verkuijl had to try to guide it out. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:32 | |
In the wild, both hind and calf would have died. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:36 | |
This way, there was at least some hope for the mother, | 0:29:36 | 0:29:39 | |
perhaps even an outside chance for the baby. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:44 | |
Nanja was joined by her colleague, vet Martin Bores. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
At last, the calf was born. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
It wasn't breathing. | 0:29:58 | 0:29:59 | |
Nanja gave an injection to reverse the effect of the sedatives. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:05 | |
While the team urgently rushed to massage the heart | 0:30:08 | 0:30:11 | |
and try to stimulate the breathing. | 0:30:11 | 0:30:15 | |
Just lift it up again, Martin, and I'll try and see | 0:30:15 | 0:30:17 | |
if we can get some... | 0:30:17 | 0:30:19 | |
It wasn't working. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:22 | |
The baby was still lifeless. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
Come on there, little one. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:26 | |
There was just one thing left to try. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:32 | |
As a last resort, Nanja gave the kiss of life. | 0:30:32 | 0:30:35 | |
Slowly, the calf started to revive... | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
..and then the rest of the red deer herd came over to see | 0:31:01 | 0:31:05 | |
what was going on. | 0:31:05 | 0:31:06 | |
Although the calf was still weak, it was quite alert. | 0:31:07 | 0:31:11 | |
It looked like the baby and the mother were going to be all right. | 0:31:11 | 0:31:15 | |
It was going to go either way there and, fortunately, I mean, | 0:31:15 | 0:31:18 | |
there was some life there and for all the calf's been through... | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
I mean, it's been through a tremendous amount of trauma. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:24 | |
It's quite amazing that it's managed to come through like this. | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
Back at the park today, Jean has been continuing her initiation into | 0:31:42 | 0:31:46 | |
the wild and wonderful world of Animal Park. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:49 | |
And she's about to get up close and personal with those famous lions. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:56 | |
Forgive me if I seem a little nervous but right here | 0:31:58 | 0:32:01 | |
is the big cat feeding wagon and 50 years since they started feeding | 0:32:01 | 0:32:05 | |
the lions on Longleat, I'm going to find out first-hand | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
how they do it today. | 0:32:09 | 0:32:11 | |
Wish me luck. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:12 | |
The park is currently home to 31 lions. | 0:32:19 | 0:32:22 | |
Currently, these majestic cats represent the largest group of lions | 0:32:24 | 0:32:28 | |
in the UK, and right now, this pride are hungry. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:33 | |
What are we going to do today? | 0:32:34 | 0:32:35 | |
How are we going to get this meat to those lions? | 0:32:35 | 0:32:39 | |
The tractor averages out, maybe, 30mph, if it's lucky, | 0:32:39 | 0:32:42 | |
to get to the top speed, so we are going to circle around | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
the lion section, try and get them running at those top speeds. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:49 | |
51mph is how fast the lion can go for short periods of time and we've | 0:32:49 | 0:32:52 | |
definitely got a couple of girls in there | 0:32:52 | 0:32:54 | |
which will have a good go at it. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:56 | |
And then once Caleb's happy that they've worked hard enough for it, | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
we'll start dropping this meat out down through the chute and they'll | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
all pick it up piece by piece. | 0:33:02 | 0:33:04 | |
Right, we're actually entering the lion enclosure now so they're | 0:33:06 | 0:33:09 | |
about to be let out so especially now, don't put your fingers through, | 0:33:09 | 0:33:12 | |
don't lean up against the cage. | 0:33:12 | 0:33:13 | |
We've got to get a nice good centre of gravity | 0:33:13 | 0:33:15 | |
and hold on to these bars. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:17 | |
-They can see us, I can't see them? -Yes, they can. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
If you look down over there, they're in that paddock and so they're | 0:33:20 | 0:33:23 | |
going to wait for our cue to get let out and then they'll | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
start chasing after us, but if you can just about see, | 0:33:26 | 0:33:28 | |
they're already running up and down the fence line. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:31 | |
-Ready and raring. -There are 15 huge lions waiting to be fed. | 0:33:31 | 0:33:36 | |
-Come on, lions! -Here they come! | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
We're actually being chased by lions. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:51 | |
Come on, lions! | 0:33:53 | 0:33:55 | |
They look really hungry, Eloise. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:57 | |
Yep, they are. We are their prey. We're going to try and make | 0:33:57 | 0:34:00 | |
-them work as hard as possible. -I can feel them bumping against the cage. | 0:34:00 | 0:34:04 | |
It's amazing to be this close to a pride of lions. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
If you look into their eyes, they are clearly being like, | 0:34:06 | 0:34:10 | |
-"You are my food." -They are hungry. | 0:34:10 | 0:34:12 | |
They've got that predatory look about them for sure. | 0:34:12 | 0:34:15 | |
-HORN BLARES -Right. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
That beep of the horn is our sign to start throwing out the meat to them. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
-OK. -So, Jean, get going. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:25 | |
There is a lot of meat down here so this is a big job. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:29 | |
They seem to be enjoying it. | 0:34:29 | 0:34:32 | |
It's pretty heavy but you don't want to keep 15 lions | 0:34:32 | 0:34:35 | |
-waiting for their lunch. -Definitely not. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:38 | |
Obviously, they can go long lengths of time without eating | 0:34:40 | 0:34:43 | |
because in the wild they would find prey not every day, | 0:34:43 | 0:34:46 | |
so what's the longest you can leave them without feeding them? | 0:34:46 | 0:34:50 | |
In captivity, a week, probably even two | 0:34:50 | 0:34:53 | |
because in the wild that's what they potentially have to do. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:56 | |
And they've actually got these extra flaps of skin on their belly as well | 0:34:56 | 0:34:59 | |
so when they do find their food, they'll eat as much as possible | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
and so their belly will expand and the flap of skin will expand over it | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
rather than stretching their skin. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
So everything about them is designed to eat as much as possible because | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
they never know when their next meal's going to be. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:14 | |
But it seems the lions aren't ready for this meal to be over yet. | 0:35:14 | 0:35:19 | |
Although we've chucked out all the meat, | 0:35:19 | 0:35:21 | |
we still have some lions chasing after us. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:23 | |
There's still a couple of stragglers who maybe didn't get enough. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:26 | |
They definitely got enough. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:27 | |
-They're just greedy. -Do you have any indicators for them | 0:35:27 | 0:35:31 | |
that the feed is over? Because there are some hungry faces | 0:35:31 | 0:35:33 | |
up at these bars. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:34 | |
The fact we're trying to move them away and go into the gate, | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
they sort of know, but... | 0:35:37 | 0:35:39 | |
But obviously it's not working as well as we'd hoped. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
They're really not leaving us. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
We are actually surrounded. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:45 | |
All I can see is lions. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:47 | |
It's going to take the whole keeper team to restrain them. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:52 | |
Look at that blockade all of our trucks have formed now | 0:35:56 | 0:35:58 | |
so that our lions can't pass them. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:01 | |
Quite relieved, I didn't think we were going to lose them. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:04 | |
As adorable as they are, that was getting a little bit hairy. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:08 | |
But there's one casualty after the hunt. | 0:36:08 | 0:36:11 | |
It sounds like one of our lions might have popped a tyre. | 0:36:11 | 0:36:14 | |
Oh, I can hear a hissing sound. | 0:36:14 | 0:36:16 | |
I think it's a front tyre by the looks of it. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:19 | |
But they've definitely popped a tyre! | 0:36:19 | 0:36:21 | |
I'm so glad we're out here and not in there. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:24 | |
Scary stuff! | 0:36:24 | 0:36:25 | |
Over at the giraffe house, | 0:36:30 | 0:36:31 | |
it's time to find out how Ella is coping with her pregnancy. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:35 | |
Keeper Bev has got some news. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:38 | |
Ella finally went into labour. | 0:36:38 | 0:36:40 | |
Bev and the team used a small video camera to bring us exclusive footage | 0:36:44 | 0:36:48 | |
of the nerve-racking event. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:50 | |
First, the feet and head appeared. | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
But then, nothing. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:55 | |
Eventually, the birth started to progress. | 0:37:00 | 0:37:02 | |
But giraffe are the tallest animals in the world and give birth | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
standing up, leaving the babies to negotiate a terrifying six-foot drop | 0:37:08 | 0:37:13 | |
to the ground. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
Would the baby survive the fall and would Ella accept her baby | 0:37:15 | 0:37:19 | |
this time? | 0:37:19 | 0:37:20 | |
Thankfully, Ella felt the bond straightaway. | 0:37:31 | 0:37:34 | |
In the wild, young giraffe are never left alone and live in | 0:37:35 | 0:37:39 | |
a nursery group, where all the females | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
look after each other's calves. | 0:37:42 | 0:37:44 | |
The baby was protected as it adjusted to the world. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:47 | |
It was a little girl. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:48 | |
I'm thrilled it's a little girl | 0:37:52 | 0:37:54 | |
because we can keep them in our herd long-term. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:56 | |
You can watch them grow up, have babies of their own, | 0:37:56 | 0:37:59 | |
and all the way up to the end of their life here. | 0:37:59 | 0:38:03 | |
We've seen her first steps and feeding for the first time. | 0:38:03 | 0:38:07 | |
Now, we'll be her first guests. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
She's only four days old, | 0:38:10 | 0:38:12 | |
so this is a bit of a nerve-racking time for mum to meet new people. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:17 | |
She's used to the people that she knows on a regular basis | 0:38:17 | 0:38:19 | |
but this is the first time we have popped someone in just to see her | 0:38:19 | 0:38:23 | |
who she doesn't know. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:24 | |
So she's going to come across as a little bit nervous, | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
flaring nostrils, flicky tail and she's going to be watching the calf. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
Hi, Elles. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:32 | |
OK, so you can see standing next to her is the little calf. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:39 | |
So that's the little girl. She hasn't got a name yet | 0:38:39 | 0:38:42 | |
because she's only four days old. We never name anything until it's over | 0:38:42 | 0:38:46 | |
a week old. It's kind of a giraffe tradition, really. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
Ella and her baby have got a young male giraffe called Kaiser | 0:38:50 | 0:38:54 | |
in with them as a companion animal to help create a calm atmosphere | 0:38:54 | 0:38:58 | |
for them both. | 0:38:58 | 0:38:59 | |
Kaiser's been really sweet actually. Because there's different people | 0:38:59 | 0:39:03 | |
in the house, he's gone to stand next Ella and he's helping Ella | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
protect the calf. | 0:39:06 | 0:39:07 | |
Baby giraffe would be an easy target for predators, such as lions, | 0:39:10 | 0:39:14 | |
in the wild, so it's completely normal for Ella | 0:39:14 | 0:39:17 | |
to be feeling nervous. | 0:39:17 | 0:39:18 | |
So the little calf is doing really well. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
She's very strong, she's definitely finding her feet. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:26 | |
I think she's quite small, | 0:39:26 | 0:39:28 | |
personally, but that's only in stature. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:30 | |
You get tall giraffes, you get short giraffes. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
At the minute, if you look at the little calf's head, | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
her horns aren't quite upright. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:37 | |
When she came out, they were flat, and as each day goes on, | 0:39:37 | 0:39:40 | |
they can straighten up and they'll fuse to the skull | 0:39:40 | 0:39:43 | |
and they'll be part of the skull. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:44 | |
But, obviously, when you're being born, | 0:39:44 | 0:39:46 | |
you don't want big old pointy horns to hurt the female as she's calving, | 0:39:46 | 0:39:50 | |
so it's a great design. | 0:39:50 | 0:39:52 | |
Her markings are great. You can tell she's Rothschild because she's got | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
the white socks, so the marking doesn't go all the way down | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
to the toe, like it does in other subspecies. | 0:39:58 | 0:40:00 | |
All the giraffe here are Rothschild subspecies. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:04 | |
Poaching of Rothschild giraffe continues to be a | 0:40:04 | 0:40:07 | |
very serious problem | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
and today there are only a few hundred left in the wild... | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
..which is why this baby is so important. | 0:40:14 | 0:40:17 | |
And it's a little girl, so she can carry on and breed | 0:40:21 | 0:40:23 | |
and we'll have more giraffes, so it's win-win, really. | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
And, a few weeks later, Ben is on his way to meet the new baby | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
out with the herd. | 0:40:35 | 0:40:37 | |
12 weeks later and I've joined up with the very proud Bev, | 0:40:38 | 0:40:41 | |
and just over there is our young giraffe, looking very healthy, | 0:40:41 | 0:40:47 | |
very confident and outdoors. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:49 | |
Yes, she's out and about. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:51 | |
She's doing really, really, really well. | 0:40:51 | 0:40:53 | |
Hiding behind a jumble of legs and necks. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:55 | |
-Yes. -Now, you said you never name a giraffe before a week. | 0:40:55 | 0:40:59 | |
-That's right. It's tradition. -It's a giraffe tradition. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
So it's quite clearly more than a week now, does she have a name? | 0:41:02 | 0:41:05 | |
She certainly does and as it's our 50th anniversary, | 0:41:05 | 0:41:07 | |
we've named her after Lady Emma, and we've called her Lady Emma. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:12 | |
Very nice, so named after Lady Weymouth. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:15 | |
-That's right. -We've got someone. Who's this coming over to say hello? | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
-This is Gertie. -Gertie. -This is her auntie, so this is Auntie Gertie. | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
So Auntie Gertie wants to come and see what's going on. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
-For a 12-week-old... -Mm-hm. -..she is incredibly tall. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
Have you any idea... I mean she's over six foot, is she? | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
She is. When she was born, she was six foot | 0:41:29 | 0:41:31 | |
and she's definitely done some growing, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:33 | |
so I would say she's teetering on towards seven foot, easily. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:36 | |
You're beaming with pride just talking about this. | 0:41:36 | 0:41:38 | |
Do you have this kind of maternal instinct | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
just because you're so invested in the giraffes in particular? | 0:41:40 | 0:41:42 | |
Yep, all of the giraffe team, we're here, you know, Christmas Day, | 0:41:42 | 0:41:45 | |
bank holidays. We're here all the time, we see them being born. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
In fact, Gertie's due in November. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:49 | |
-Is she? -So we've got another one on the way. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:51 | |
-Gertie, who's here now? -That's right. -Congratulations, Gertie. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
Gertie, can I say congratulations? | 0:41:54 | 0:41:56 | |
She's too busy licking someone in the car, | 0:41:56 | 0:41:58 | |
hassling them, wanting some food, presumably. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:00 | |
-Hey, poppet. -Congratulations. -Say hi to Ben. -Hey. | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
You all right? Good girl. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:05 | |
Yeah, look. Oh, look at you. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
They are the most magnificent looking creatures, aren't they? | 0:42:07 | 0:42:11 | |
Do you know what, I could look at giraffe all day long. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:14 | |
They are beautiful. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:15 | |
There you go, Gert. Bev, thank you so much. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:18 | |
-No worries. -Gert, I am thrilled that another baby is on its way, | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
keeping everyone on their toes and in the meantime, | 0:42:22 | 0:42:25 | |
here's what's coming up on tomorrow's Animal Park. | 0:42:25 | 0:42:28 | |
Thanks, Bev. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:29 | |
A keeper's worst nightmare comes true | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
as a sea lion breaks out of the park. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:36 | |
By this point, we're starting to get worried. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:38 | |
She could end up following this river all the way, | 0:42:38 | 0:42:40 | |
and this eventually goes to the sea. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:43 | |
It's double trouble over in the African Village. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:47 | |
This morning when I came in to check on them, | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
she had two little twins in her arms. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:52 | |
And Jean comes under attack | 0:42:52 | 0:42:54 | |
as the biggest birds on the planet defend their nest. | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
What are we going to do? | 0:42:58 | 0:42:59 | |
They'll be all that and more coming up on the next... | 0:43:02 | 0:43:04 | |
Animal Park. | 0:43:04 | 0:43:06 |