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There are currently two separate prides here, | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
and two separate enclosures. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:12 | |
But all that is about to change, | 0:00:12 | 0:00:14 | |
because construction is under way | 0:00:14 | 0:00:17 | |
on a brand-new lion enclosure out in the woods, | 0:00:17 | 0:00:20 | |
and the area is so big, it will mean that all these lions | 0:00:20 | 0:00:24 | |
and both prides will be able to live in the same space | 0:00:24 | 0:00:28 | |
and be able to come and go as they please, 24 hours a day. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:32 | |
This is a huge moment - final checks are being made to the fences | 0:00:32 | 0:00:37 | |
and the keepers are bracing themselves as these lions | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
prepare to go into their new home for the first time. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
It's been a jam-packed series... | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
Full of animal antics, getting you closer than ever before. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:53 | |
And today is no exception, | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
when Ben becomes a tree for a long line of lorikeets. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:59 | |
-Have I got something on my head? -I'm afraid so. | 0:00:59 | 0:01:02 | |
Kate gets extremely close to some creepy crawlies. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
I'm worried I've lost some. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:07 | |
You suddenly have one crawling up the back of your shirt... | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
And we find out how the early visitors | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
got a closer encounter than anyone bargained for. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
Somebody on the left would say, | 0:01:16 | 0:01:17 | |
"Oh, we've seen the sea lion," rush over, and the boat would tilt. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
But first... Lions have always played a massive part | 0:01:30 | 0:01:34 | |
in the safari experience ever since the park first opened to the public | 0:01:34 | 0:01:39 | |
50 years ago. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:41 | |
The lions are really, really important to the park. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
It's the first animals we had in '66 when it opened, | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
that's what we're famous for. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
Back then, keeping lions in a large, semi-wild group was new, | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
ground-breaking and dangerous. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
And now, half a century later, | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
the team are about to embark on another pioneering venture. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
Come, lions, come on! | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
At the moment, | 0:02:11 | 0:02:12 | |
the lions have naturally split into two different prides. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
Good lions. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:17 | |
Come on. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:19 | |
At the end of every day, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:20 | |
both prides are brought in from the open enclosure of Lion Country. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:24 | |
On duty this evening is senior keeper Caleb. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
What we're doing now... As they come in, | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
we tend to try and shut them in so they can't run back out, | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
and we then put them in groups of four. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
While one pride remains in the house overnight, | 0:02:40 | 0:02:43 | |
the other stays in the outside paddock with access to the shelter. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:47 | |
So, currently we have the 13 that have been shut in with access | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
to the majority of the house. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
And then the others have access to the paddock | 0:02:55 | 0:02:57 | |
and a small part of the house. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
To keep things fair, every few days the prides are swapped over. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
But all that's about to change... | 0:03:05 | 0:03:07 | |
..because the park is creating a new super-enclosure, | 0:03:09 | 0:03:13 | |
big enough for all the lions, | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
with houses open to paddocks at night. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
The main reason we're doing this is for the lions' welfare, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:24 | |
it's to give them a better life so they can stay out all night. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:28 | |
We try and do everything as natural as possible. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
Because, in fact, lions are semi-nocturnal - in the wild, | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
most of their hunting and social behaviour happens at night. | 0:03:35 | 0:03:39 | |
It's really important for the lions to out at night because that's what they naturally do. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:43 | |
Giving the lions free access to their outdoor space at night | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
is extremely rare and not without risk. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
If this works and turns out really good, | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
you'll probably find that other parks will follow. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
This densely wooded area will have plenty of space | 0:03:54 | 0:03:57 | |
for the lions to climb and explore. | 0:03:57 | 0:03:59 | |
But, for it to work, the forestry team must remove | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
a rotten tree that could come down and onto the fence. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
The work is causing disruption across the whole carnivore section, | 0:04:11 | 0:04:15 | |
partly because of all the tractors. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
The big cats associate tractors with food because that's how they're fed. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:29 | |
Just the sound of a tractor gets them excited. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:34 | |
And not just the lions, the tigers too. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
It's a bit unsafe to get the tigers out into their enclosure | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
while we're doing this. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:44 | |
We're working in an area behind their section - they're very | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
interested in what we're doing, especially with tractors. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
So we're going to have to keep them in their paddock until we're done. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:53 | |
But the tigers are hungry. | 0:04:53 | 0:04:55 | |
We've got the paddock here, | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
so we'll chuck the meat over before they go out and they'll feed. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
At the heart of this whole redevelopment is the fence. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
At a cost of £500,000, the park is erecting | 0:05:06 | 0:05:10 | |
two and a half kilometres of state-of-the-art lion-proof fencing, | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
standing a whopping five metres high. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:18 | |
Built by a specialist set of fencing contractors, | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
they know it's not just the height that matters. | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
We're laying some matting on the floor just to prevent | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
any risk of the lions burrowing underneath. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
These guys are used to high security jobs. | 0:05:34 | 0:05:36 | |
We've got to make sure nothing can get out. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
God forbid anything was to, but this is to ensure they don't. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
And seeing the lions here is keeping the contractors on their toes. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:50 | |
It's feeding time and they're all running around | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
and, yeah, that's a bit frightening. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:54 | |
It's a first for the park. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
We'll be back to find out just why these lions need such a big fence. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:03 | |
50 years ago, it was all about the lions, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
but they've since been joined by a host of other animals. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:26 | |
I'm here with my old friend Darren Beasley... | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
-Hi, Ben. -..and some lorikeets. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
Look, they are desperate for this. They are beautiful. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
Aren't they wonderful? | 0:06:33 | 0:06:34 | |
These are called rainbow lorikeets and it looks like somebody | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
has painted them every colour of the rainbow. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
Lorikeets have brushed tongues, so they eat nectar, | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
so we supply them a little bit of nectar here. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
And this really is all about the people who come to visit Longleat | 0:06:46 | 0:06:50 | |
getting a close, immersive experience | 0:06:50 | 0:06:52 | |
with this magnificent wildlife. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:53 | |
Absolutely. You're quite right. Lord Bath said, | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
"Bring them into the safari park and trap the people in their cars." | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
Well, now we're taking all the barriers down and you come in | 0:06:59 | 0:07:02 | |
this huge aviary and the birds come and go as they please. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
But for us as a keeper as well, it's wonderful, | 0:07:05 | 0:07:07 | |
because what I'm doing now, secretly, is I'm looking at toes... | 0:07:07 | 0:07:11 | |
-Like a health check? -Absolutely. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
Because they get so close. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:15 | |
What other things do we need to look for? Hello. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:19 | |
When we have them here, we're looking from good feather condition. | 0:07:19 | 0:07:23 | |
We're looking for toes - are there any nicks or...? | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
They can nip, they are parrots, | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
they can bite each other. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:30 | |
And also, you can feel the weight. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:32 | |
It's an absolutely great way for us to get close. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:34 | |
If this was a free-flight aviary without us coming in, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:38 | |
you'd have to peer through the mesh, | 0:07:38 | 0:07:40 | |
you just wouldn't be able to get close. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
-Have I got something on my head? -I'm afraid so. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
Is there something on my head? I can't tell, it feels... | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
So where are these guys actually from originally? | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
The lorikeets come from Australasia and south-east Asia. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:53 | |
These are actually... | 0:07:53 | 0:07:55 | |
We call them rainbow lorikeets but they're actually a particular type | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
of rainbow lorikeet called Swainson's lorikeet. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:00 | |
And what about this noise they're making? | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
If you live where these guys come from, | 0:08:03 | 0:08:05 | |
it's a pretty vast expanse of space. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
They've got to talk to each other so they need to be loud. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
You know, Darren, I had forgotten | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
how ridiculous and wonderful your job is. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:15 | |
You're like the real-life Dr Doolittle, you know. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:17 | |
-I'm a lucky, lucky man. -You really are. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:19 | |
Well, Darren, thank you very much, it's been amazing to meet | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
your lorikeets. Who knows, maybe they'll be here in another 50 years. | 0:08:22 | 0:08:25 | |
Half Mile Lake is a strange old place. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
It's currently home to hippos from Africa, sea lions | 0:08:32 | 0:08:36 | |
from the Pacific Ocean, and a gorilla named Nico | 0:08:36 | 0:08:40 | |
who lives on the island in the middle. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:42 | |
But it began its life in the 18th century as an ornamental lake. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:47 | |
It must have seemed like a pretty brave, if not crazy plan, | 0:08:47 | 0:08:51 | |
to fill this spot with wild animals when the safari park | 0:08:51 | 0:08:54 | |
was first set up by the Sixth Marquess of Bath. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:58 | |
His grandson Lord Weymouth knows just how wacky an idea it was. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:03 | |
I think it was courageous, | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
I think it had incredible foresight. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
It was slightly batty. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
Lord Bath's plan was to fill the lake with hippos and sea lions | 0:09:14 | 0:09:18 | |
and let primates roam around on the island in the middle. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
Oh, yes, we've improved the hippo reserve here. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
We now have three hippos. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:26 | |
The two big ones are called Arnold and Manfred | 0:09:26 | 0:09:29 | |
and the little one called Frida. | 0:09:29 | 0:09:31 | |
And they really are the most engaging beasts. | 0:09:31 | 0:09:33 | |
They flop about in the water and the public can feed them from the boat | 0:09:33 | 0:09:37 | |
when they go round and see them. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:39 | |
When I first started years ago, we did boat trips round the lake, | 0:09:39 | 0:09:42 | |
similar to what we're doing now, but the boats were a lot smaller, | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
they were old lifeboats. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:47 | |
They'd rock from side to side with sea lions jumping on the boats | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
and hippos in the lakes, and going round the island | 0:09:51 | 0:09:56 | |
was a little bit more scary than it is now. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
Two people who remember fondly what it was like back then | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
are Rose Long and her daughter, Helen. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
The boats were a lot more rocky than they are now. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:07 | |
They have nice flat bottoms and they're nice and stable now | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
and they certainly weren't when I was little | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
and they had sort of dragon-boat heads on the front of them. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:15 | |
Somebody on the left would say, "Oh, we've seen the sea lion," | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
rush over, and the boat would tilt. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
So it was a bit of an experience going on the boat then. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
But rickety old boats weren't the only thing visitors | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
had to look out for - it was the animals, too. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
And then over here, in this island, | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
there's a whole family of chimpanzees. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:35 | |
They're great big savage animals - quite frankly, if you went | 0:10:35 | 0:10:38 | |
on the island, they'd tear you limb from limb. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:40 | |
I'm scared to death of them. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:41 | |
But really, it was the hippos they should have been most afraid of. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:48 | |
They may look placid, but in Africa these two-tonne herbivores | 0:10:48 | 0:10:53 | |
contribute to more human deaths than any other large animal, | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
even lions. | 0:10:57 | 0:10:58 | |
You see, a hippo is extremely territorial, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:02 | |
and simply won't tolerate anyone who strays too close, | 0:11:02 | 0:11:06 | |
a fact that the current Lord Bath probably hadn't heard of | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
when he bought a new sailing dinghy. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:11 | |
Here's his version of events from 2004. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:17 | |
I was bullied into getting a boat by my children. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:21 | |
That's not quite true. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:25 | |
I think I got it in my head and they were saying it was a ridiculous thing to have. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
But anyway, having got it, I better try it on the lake. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
Ian Turner was a junior keeper at the time | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
and he couldn't believe his eyes. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:38 | |
I mean, literally, I just came along the top road | 0:11:38 | 0:11:41 | |
and I could see a sailing boat out on the lake. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
First instinct was I couldn't believe anybody would go | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
onto a lake with a boat like that with hippos in. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
And it turned out to be the now Lord Bath. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
So I went out there and the boat had a will of its own | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
and kept on going towards the island. | 0:11:57 | 0:12:01 | |
And trying to tack it and make the boat move in the direction I wanted, | 0:12:01 | 0:12:06 | |
I didn't seem to be very good at that | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
and it just went closer and closer and closer. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
So I said to the boats, "You have to tell him to get off." | 0:12:11 | 0:12:13 | |
They said, "We can't, it's Lord Bath's son." | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
I said, "It doesn't really matter who it is, | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
"cos if the hippos which were in the lake get near the boat, | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
"they'll sink it and he'll be sunk." | 0:12:22 | 0:12:25 | |
Lord Bath was escorted back to dry land by one of the pleasure boats | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
and he never tried sailing on the lake again. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
And today, 50 years later, Half Mile Lake is every bit as exciting, | 0:12:33 | 0:12:39 | |
and still the only place in the world where hippos, | 0:12:39 | 0:12:42 | |
sea lions and gorillas peacefully live side-by-side. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:46 | |
Well, almost. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:49 | |
Having worked at the park for so many years means that we've | 0:12:52 | 0:12:56 | |
been witness to sad events like the loss of Samba the gorilla, | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
but also happy and exciting ones | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
like the arrival of lion cubs and the new tigers. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
We've even seen Lord Bath jump out of a plane. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:08 | |
But one of the most dramatic stories we witnessed happened ten years ago | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
and that starred Imogen the giraffe. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
In 2006, after several years of trying, | 0:13:16 | 0:13:20 | |
Imogen finally fell pregnant, | 0:13:20 | 0:13:22 | |
and when it was her time to give birth, keeper Bev Evans was there. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
It's really exciting. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:27 | |
We came in and she was actually starting to go into labour, | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
but obviously with that came the complications, so from really | 0:13:31 | 0:13:34 | |
exciting to really worrying in quite a short space of time actually. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:39 | |
When Imogen's labour went on for more than a day, | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
it was clear to Andy Hayton, | 0:13:44 | 0:13:45 | |
the keeper in charge of the giraffes, that something was wrong. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:50 | |
Sunday morning, the vet came out, looked at her and the decision | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
was taken we would probably have to pull the calf, | 0:13:53 | 0:13:56 | |
the calf was obviously badly presented. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
We thought possibly it could have been a breach birth or the head | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
was tilted back so she just couldn't physically push out. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
In order to help, they had no choice but to put her under anaesthetic. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:10 | |
But resident vet Duncan Williams knew how risky that could be. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:14 | |
Anaesthetic-wise, I think giraffes probably are the most dangerous. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:18 | |
Literature reports are basically one in three anaesthetics with giraffes | 0:14:18 | 0:14:23 | |
ended in fatalities. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:26 | |
But if they didn't do something, | 0:14:26 | 0:14:28 | |
Imogen and the calf would surely die. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:31 | |
The last thing you want to do is knock out a giraffe, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:33 | |
and even worse is knock out a giraffe that's got a baby inside. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:37 | |
So, you know, it was a last resort, we hadn't got any choice | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
in the matter. We'd waited till the last minute | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
and it was just fingers crossed from now on. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
A whole team of vets and staff was urgently summoned. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
Nothing like this had ever been done here before, | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
so Ian and the team filmed the whole procedure. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:00 | |
The first step was to anaesthetise Imogen. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
Andy was dreading what would happen next. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
When they go, sometimes what they'll do | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
is force themselves into a corner and try and prop themselves up | 0:15:13 | 0:15:17 | |
and then what can happen is they'll actually flip themselves straight | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
back over where they just can't fight any more and they're just | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
out on their feet almost and they just collapse. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
The big worry for us is if she goes over straight backwards, | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
she could break her spine. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
The box is lined out with large bales of hay | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
to soften it as much as we can do. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
The straw on the floor was also piled up to cushion the impact. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
She survived the fall, but the risk wasn't over. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
I think the big problem is... | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
A massive animal, when they fall down, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
you've got the risk of regurgitation of stomach contents... | 0:15:55 | 0:15:59 | |
The contents can go up the oesophagus | 0:15:59 | 0:16:03 | |
and get swallowed into the lungs. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
So, as quickly as possible, an air tube was inserted all the way down | 0:16:05 | 0:16:10 | |
that long throat to the top of the lungs. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:12 | |
Responsible for that was Pamela Murison, an anaesthetist | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
from Bristol University's veterinary school. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
They're so big. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
I'm used to anaesthetising large animals, but you know in the back | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
of your mind all the time that it is such a risky procedure. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:32 | |
With Imogen anaesthetised, Duncan could start his examination. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:37 | |
He had to find out what state the calf was in. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
The ropes were essential for everyone's safety and it took | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
a lot of hands to hold them secure. | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
You know, there's 30-odd people - if the giraffe kicks, | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
somebody's going to end up seriously injured or even worse. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:55 | |
Duncan's internal examination revealed some sad news - | 0:16:58 | 0:17:02 | |
the calf inside was already dead. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
It may have been dead for some time. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
Bev Evans had been looking forward to having | 0:17:08 | 0:17:10 | |
a new baby in the giraffe house. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
It was quite sad to lose the calf. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
The vets and everybody couldn't do anything about that. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
We couldn't have done anything so there's no point | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
worrying too much about that. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
Yeah, it's such a shame we lost him, this little boy. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
Now, all their efforts were concentrated | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
just on trying to save Imogen. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
They had to get the dead calf out, | 0:17:34 | 0:17:37 | |
but there was a complication. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:39 | |
There was no way that it was going to come out just simply | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
because everything had closed down again. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:45 | |
We did quite a major pull on it | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
and it just wasn't shifting, unfortunately. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
Duncan and the team had to come up with a new plan and fast, | 0:17:50 | 0:17:54 | |
because Imogen's life was balanced on a knife-edge. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:57 | |
Jean Johansson has been shadowing keepers... | 0:18:05 | 0:18:08 | |
Eloise, wait for me. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:10 | |
..and getting to meet the park's most amazing species. | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
-All right? -I'm trying not to scream. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
Finding out what they love... | 0:18:16 | 0:18:17 | |
Oh, this is great. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
How lovely. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:20 | |
..and how best to care for them. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
Today, it's the turn of the park's lemurs. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
Right, I've got rosemary, thyme and mint in here, | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
everything you asked for - but what are we going to do with it? | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
Here in Lemur Walkthrough, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:33 | |
-we like to test our lemurs and we like to mix things up. -OK. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:36 | |
And this is specifically for our white-fronted brown lemurs | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
that we have in here with our ringtails. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
There they are. Who are these two? | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
This is Ida, our female, and this is Brau. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
-If you want, this is a bit of mint, we'll see what she likes to do. -OK. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:52 | |
So she's away with it? Oh, she's rubbing herself with it! | 0:18:52 | 0:18:54 | |
-Yeah, it's good insect repellent. -OK. | 0:18:54 | 0:18:58 | |
This is Brau, her partner, so she likes to make herself smell nice. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:02 | |
That's pretty unusual. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:04 | |
Now this one likes eating it more than rubbing it all over his body. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:07 | |
Yeah, Brau is very much food-orientated, | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
he loves eating the buttercups in here as well. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:12 | |
-But it's good for digestion, good fibre in there as well. -Excellent. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
So he's rubbing as well but, yeah, he will eat it also. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:20 | |
-So these are white-fronted brown lemurs. -Yes. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:22 | |
I don't know anything about them. | 0:19:22 | 0:19:23 | |
Where do they come from? Are they from Madagascar as well? | 0:19:23 | 0:19:26 | |
Yep, they are as well. They're a bit more timid as you've seen | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
being in here - the ringtails are very much in-your-face... | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
Yes, they are, they like the limelight. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
The browns are a bit more timid, in the wild they would be more | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
90% in the trees and 10% maybe on the ground, | 0:19:38 | 0:19:42 | |
whereas ringtails are more 50-50. | 0:19:42 | 0:19:44 | |
They would be found in the northern part of Madagascar | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
but they might come into contact meeting over territories. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
But they're much more... They'll sit back and let the world pass by. | 0:19:51 | 0:19:55 | |
Brau, he has a bit of romance going on | 0:19:55 | 0:19:57 | |
-with some of the boys like Watson. -Really?! | 0:19:57 | 0:20:00 | |
You find them playing together, eating together, grooming, | 0:20:00 | 0:20:04 | |
and then you've got Ida, who's 22, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:06 | |
so she's our eldest lemur here in the Walkthrough. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
And does that make her the kind of leader of the pack because she's 22? | 0:20:09 | 0:20:13 | |
They are very much separate, so the ringtails have their family group | 0:20:13 | 0:20:16 | |
and the browns have their pair. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
But, you know, when it comes to it | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
she'll keep them in line if she has to. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
So, at the ripe old age of 22, how long do you think she'll live? | 0:20:23 | 0:20:29 | |
In the wild, ringtails and browns, probably about 18 years. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:34 | |
In captivity would probably be... They can go into their mid-20s. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:39 | |
However, some people say that browns can go into their 30s. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
That would be great, wouldn't it? | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
But, in my heart, Ida's going to live forever, | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
so we'll wait and see how old she gets. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
She's full of energy and she's lovely. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
She's got a special place in many of the keepers here, in their hearts, | 0:20:51 | 0:20:55 | |
and we will take care of her for as many years as she gives us here. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
Now, one of the things I love about filming Animal Park | 0:21:10 | 0:21:15 | |
is that I get to handle some really weird and wonderful creatures. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:21 | |
First of all, tell me about these amazing bugs. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:24 | |
-This is a giant, spiny stick insect... -Yeah. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:28 | |
..and, hopefully, today, we're going to sex them. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
-Not all of them, hopefully, because we got quite a lot... -Right. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
..but were going to use, hopefully, admitted your kit to work out | 0:21:34 | 0:21:37 | |
which ones are boys and which ones are girls. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:39 | |
And why is it important for you to sex them? | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
-Breeding, obviously, breeding purposes. -Yep. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:44 | |
-Eventually, we are going to have too many stick insects... -Right. | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
-..so, obviously, eventually, we may have to separate boys and girls. -OK. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
Obviously, we don't want to be completely overrun | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
-with these beautiful creatures. -They ARE beautiful! | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
Where would you find these? | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
If you wanted to stumble across one of these in the wild, | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
where would you have to go? | 0:21:59 | 0:22:00 | |
-These guys are from New Guinea. -Are they? -Yeah, New Guinea spiny... | 0:22:00 | 0:22:04 | |
There is something about New Guinea wildlife that just... | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
-It just has knobs on, doesn't it? -Yeah, definitely, without a doubt. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:11 | |
So, hopefully we're going to use one of your cameras to work out... | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
Well, let's try and do that. Do you want to try mine first? | 0:22:14 | 0:22:17 | |
So, we've got this lens that can do macro close-ups, | 0:22:17 | 0:22:22 | |
-so we're going to use this monitor here, aren't we, John? -Yep. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
This to see... You are a very active! | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
So, which part of the insect | 0:22:28 | 0:22:31 | |
does Jamie need to try and get a good shot of | 0:22:31 | 0:22:34 | |
to find out what sex it is? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:36 | |
Just to make things that little bit more interesting, | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
-there is actually two parts that we need to look at. -Right. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:40 | |
-So, you've got the base of the tail... -Yeah. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
-..and also at the back of the legs, so, the two back legs... -Yeah. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:48 | |
..the boys have a certain part there which the girls do not have. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
Ooh, they cling on - | 0:22:51 | 0:22:52 | |
they've got these wonderful hooks on their feet... | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
Yeah, don't worry about dropping them. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:56 | |
I mean, I can already see the tail in that shot... | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
-Yeah. -..so, I can tell that that is a girl. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
Well, we should have known that, shouldn't we? | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
-Because you're beautiful. -I've got two boys here. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:05 | |
I'm worried I've lost some - I feel like they've... | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
I'm a bit worried that I'll get home tonight, and... | 0:23:07 | 0:23:09 | |
You'll suddenly have one crawling up the back of your shirt. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
I won't be overly popular in my household if that happens. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
-Right, so I've got two boys here. -OK. -So, if you look on your one, | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
-you see the base of the tail has got almost like a big spike. -Yes. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
-Whereas the boys... -Oh, no spike at all. -..don't have that. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:23 | |
So, that lovely spike right there, that shows it's a girl. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
Now, what's the bit on the legs that makes this a female, | 0:23:27 | 0:23:30 | |
-and yours a male? -So, just underneath, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
I don't know if you can see, he's got a really mean set of... | 0:23:33 | 0:23:36 | |
almost like hooks on the back legs. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
-Oh, yes, it has. -Almost like great big barbs. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
-It looks like a rose thorn, almost, doesn't it? -Yeah. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:43 | |
In fact, in parts of New Guinea, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:45 | |
-fishermen would actually use those as fishing hooks. -Really?! | 0:23:45 | 0:23:47 | |
They'd actually take them - not so good for the stick insects, | 0:23:47 | 0:23:50 | |
-but obviously that's man. -So, my lovely girl | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
-doesn't have those barbs. -No. -No, nor she does. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:54 | |
So, the bit on the end, there, is called the ovipositor. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:58 | |
-Now, I know what that means. -Go on, then. -I did Latin A-level, John. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
-Oh, OK. -Don't do me down. So, ovipositor is - "ovi" is "eggs"... | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
-Mm-hm. -..and so that's where she is depositing her eggs from, | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
-would that be right? -Very good, very good. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
They are absolutely wonderful. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
Well, John, I'm glad we were able to be a little bit useful - | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
although it seems you didn't really need a big fancy camera, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:18 | |
-you just got us here under false pretences... -Yeah, yeah...! | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
-..didn't you? -Possibly. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:22 | |
Over in Lion Country, | 0:24:36 | 0:24:38 | |
The new super-sized enclosure is now almost ready, | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
and, as moving day approaches, tensions are building. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:45 | |
I think we're all excited by it. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:48 | |
I'm a little bit nervous of what's going to happen | 0:24:48 | 0:24:50 | |
when we do finally opened the gate and get the lions running through... | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
but it is really exciting. We've never tried it before. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
The new fence may look like overkill to some, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:00 | |
but senior keeper Caleb | 0:25:00 | 0:25:03 | |
is all too aware of these cats' ability to climb. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
Today, the carnivore team have got something special for Simba's pride. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:14 | |
They've got a box of hooves and hides, which the lions love... | 0:25:15 | 0:25:20 | |
and they're hanging them up in awkward places | 0:25:20 | 0:25:23 | |
to give the lions a real workout. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:25 | |
So, we've got a climbing frame here | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
with a big structure on top so we can hang stuff on either side. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
I'm feeling really excited. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
Now to find out what these lions are capable of. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:40 | |
Here come the lions. So, you've got Simba charging first. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:43 | |
Hopefully he's going to jump up, with Nala, | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
and they're going to try and bring down the hide. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
He can see Simba using his strength, and the girls, | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
to pull it and drag it. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:52 | |
SIMBA RUMBLES | 0:25:56 | 0:25:57 | |
And what he's doing is, he's making vocalisations | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
to signify that it's his, and the others can't get it. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
One of his sisters have gone up along the top of the log, | 0:26:03 | 0:26:06 | |
and she's trying to attack it from the top side, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
because she knows it's less dangerous | 0:26:08 | 0:26:09 | |
than being right next to Simba. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:11 | |
Something out of the ordinary like this | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
brings out the lions' natural instincts. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:23 | |
There are some easy pieces out there, as you can see, | 0:26:23 | 0:26:25 | |
some just laid there, but they choose to go for the bigger pieces, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
the ones where they can assert more dominance. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
You can see why they've been pruning branches | 0:26:34 | 0:26:36 | |
that overhang the fences in the new lion enclosure. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:39 | |
Such powerful climbers would be up and over in a flash. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:44 | |
When we do things like this, | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
you can appreciate how strong they are in, how high they can jump, | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
how long they can hang and how they can use their muscles, as well. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
If the new enclosure works out, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:54 | |
it's going to give the lions an opportunity | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
to show even more natural behaviour. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
My passion in life is to show people what carnivores are capable of, | 0:27:00 | 0:27:04 | |
cos I can't imagine a world without carnivores, | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
because they're a symbol of strength, power, family... | 0:27:07 | 0:27:10 | |
And, not to forget, they're also natural-born killers, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:15 | |
so, encouraging their wild behaviour could be a dangerous thing to do... | 0:27:15 | 0:27:19 | |
..but the new lion enclosure is almost ready, | 0:27:20 | 0:27:23 | |
and the keepers are set for taking that risk. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
We're going back to 2006, | 0:27:37 | 0:27:40 | |
and one of the most dramatic scenes to ever hit the giraffery. | 0:27:40 | 0:27:44 | |
A female giraffe named Imogen had lost her calf, | 0:27:44 | 0:27:47 | |
but failed to give birth to it naturally. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:50 | |
If left untreated, she would almost certainly die. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:54 | |
So, with Imogen in real danger, | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
there was only one way left to try to save her life. | 0:27:58 | 0:28:02 | |
Andy knew there was little chance of success. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
We're going to attempt a Caesarean, just to give her go. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
You know, we can't just decide we're going to put her down | 0:28:12 | 0:28:16 | |
and quit here, you know? We've got to... | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
Like I say, it's... | 0:28:19 | 0:28:20 | |
Even if it doesn't come out, | 0:28:20 | 0:28:22 | |
the right decision, or the right outcome, that we want, | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
you got to at least try it, so... | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
we're going to attempt a Caesarean now and see how we go. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
This was the first Caesarean ever performed on me giraffe at the park. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:37 | |
Duncan Williams was the vet in charge of the team. | 0:28:37 | 0:28:40 | |
We do Caesareans in cattle all the time, | 0:28:42 | 0:28:44 | |
and the actual operation itself is very much similar to do it in a cow. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:49 | |
But, I mean, it is different. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:52 | |
I've never done anything like that in a giraffe at all. | 0:28:52 | 0:28:55 | |
No. | 0:28:55 | 0:28:56 | |
Imogen had already been under anaesthetic for well over two hours. | 0:28:56 | 0:29:00 | |
For a giraffe, that's a very long time. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
Deputy head warden Ian Turner was losing hope. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:07 | |
Never seen a Caesarean on a giraffe. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:10 | |
And literally, if the giraffe survived, it would be a miracle. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:13 | |
You know, at the stitches, were talking, like, | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
that sort of size stitching, | 0:29:16 | 0:29:17 | |
and she's got two lots of internal stitching, | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
plus the external stitching. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:22 | |
She's now been under for four hours-plus. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:26 | |
You know, it's going to be touch-and-go | 0:29:26 | 0:29:28 | |
whether she actually survives this operation anyhow. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:31 | |
The stitches had to be very strong, | 0:29:31 | 0:29:33 | |
because the team needed to get Imogen up on her feet | 0:29:33 | 0:29:37 | |
as soon as possible. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:39 | |
The moment of truth would be when they tried to revive her. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:43 | |
Once we'd finished all the operation, | 0:29:44 | 0:29:46 | |
Duncan had stitched it all back up, he'd got all the stitches done, | 0:29:46 | 0:29:50 | |
he cleaned the wound up, he gave it all the antibiotics and stuff, | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
they give it a revival. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
What we do is...Andy, Ryan, a couple of others, stayed in there, | 0:29:56 | 0:30:02 | |
and we moved out with just Ryan and Andy in there, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:04 | |
and sit on its... What you do is, you sit on its neck, | 0:30:04 | 0:30:07 | |
you wait for it to come round, and at the last minute, | 0:30:07 | 0:30:10 | |
once it's up, you get off its neck, and it sits up. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
It was an anxious time for Pam, the veterinary anaesthetist. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:18 | |
For me, particularly, I find that period very nerve-racking, | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
because beyond... | 0:30:22 | 0:30:24 | |
We've got very little control of how she gets up, | 0:30:24 | 0:30:27 | |
and she could easily injure herself. | 0:30:27 | 0:30:30 | |
They were expecting Imogen to at least try to stand up | 0:30:41 | 0:30:44 | |
as soon as she came round - but something was wrong, | 0:30:44 | 0:30:48 | |
because lying down is unnatural to a giraffe. | 0:30:48 | 0:30:51 | |
It's dangerous, because they're known just to give up | 0:30:51 | 0:30:55 | |
and lose the will to live. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:56 | |
-PAM: -The longer the anaesthetic, | 0:30:58 | 0:30:59 | |
the more likely you are to have some of the other problems | 0:30:59 | 0:31:02 | |
associated with anaesthesia in large animals - | 0:31:02 | 0:31:05 | |
for example, there is pressure on the muscles, | 0:31:05 | 0:31:07 | |
which have been lying in an awkward position | 0:31:07 | 0:31:10 | |
with 600 kilos of giraffe lying on top of certain areas. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:14 | |
-DUNCAN: -It's one of those difficult sort of situations - | 0:31:14 | 0:31:17 | |
it's, how much do you intervene? | 0:31:17 | 0:31:18 | |
Do you let her do it herself, and...? | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
I think I was worried that you don't do enough, | 0:31:21 | 0:31:23 | |
and if something bad happens, you know, | 0:31:23 | 0:31:25 | |
you're going to be blaming yourself. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:27 | |
But, a few minutes later, | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
Imogen found the strength to sit up... | 0:31:31 | 0:31:33 | |
..and then, finally, to try to stand. | 0:31:44 | 0:31:48 | |
The big step is, she didn't die in the operation. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:06 | |
The next big step is, she got up, or woke up, and got up, | 0:32:06 | 0:32:10 | |
and if we can slowly get her eating again... | 0:32:10 | 0:32:14 | |
and it is just tiny, tiny little steps all the way. | 0:32:14 | 0:32:17 | |
If she makes it through tonight, | 0:32:22 | 0:32:25 | |
tomorrow and then days on after that, | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
if she gets to two weeks, then we can kind of breathe out. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:30 | |
Imogen did survive the days that followed, | 0:32:31 | 0:32:34 | |
and, just one month later, she was well enough to go out with the herd. | 0:32:34 | 0:32:39 | |
In fact, Imogen made a complete recovery | 0:32:41 | 0:32:44 | |
and lived many more years at the park, | 0:32:44 | 0:32:47 | |
during which time she had a healthy baby boy called Henry... | 0:32:47 | 0:32:51 | |
..and another, called Kaiser. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
At the end of each day, the park's four white rhino, | 0:33:14 | 0:33:17 | |
helped by a tractor, | 0:33:17 | 0:33:19 | |
begin their journey back to the rhino house, ready to go to bed. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:23 | |
Jean is back with Tina and Luke to help tuck them in for the night. | 0:33:25 | 0:33:29 | |
-Look, here they come, I see one coming round the corner. -Yeah! | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
They've all come down together! | 0:33:33 | 0:33:35 | |
Yeah, you've got Unjarnu right at the back, there, our bull, | 0:33:35 | 0:33:37 | |
he's just, you know, pottering at the back, | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
and these are our girls coming down. | 0:33:39 | 0:33:41 | |
-Wow! -Come on, rhinos! -They are huge. How much do they weigh?! | 0:33:41 | 0:33:44 | |
Let's just say you wouldn't want them to stand on your foot. | 0:33:44 | 0:33:47 | |
I have to say, I've got two rhinos running towards me at the moment, | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
it's a little bit unnerving. | 0:33:50 | 0:33:52 | |
In the summer months, all four rhino can stay out, | 0:33:54 | 0:33:58 | |
with access to the house... | 0:33:58 | 0:33:59 | |
Ebun, come on, lovely. Come on, lovely! | 0:33:59 | 0:34:02 | |
..but on wetter nights such as today, Ebun, the youngest rhino, | 0:34:02 | 0:34:06 | |
is brought in to keep her warm and dry. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:09 | |
-In you come. -Good girl, Ebun! | 0:34:09 | 0:34:12 | |
Where will she sleep, on the floor? | 0:34:12 | 0:34:14 | |
I see a few mats, there, at the back. | 0:34:14 | 0:34:17 | |
Rhinos themselves, they're not sort of cosy, comfortable animals. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:20 | |
They don't need a big feather pillow or anything like that, | 0:34:20 | 0:34:22 | |
they're really hardy - but what we do is, | 0:34:22 | 0:34:24 | |
we provide these mats that you see at the back, | 0:34:24 | 0:34:26 | |
just to make sure they don't get any pressure sores, | 0:34:26 | 0:34:28 | |
or anything like that - and, you know, | 0:34:28 | 0:34:30 | |
it's a nice warm surface between the cold concrete on the floor. | 0:34:30 | 0:34:33 | |
She's got some logs, and everything, around, | 0:34:33 | 0:34:35 | |
so she can scratch all night, which they love to do. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:37 | |
-I did notice some piles of poo... -Yes. | 0:34:37 | 0:34:41 | |
..already in there before they came in. What's that about? | 0:34:41 | 0:34:44 | |
-Our rhinos have middens. -A midden? | 0:34:44 | 0:34:46 | |
A midden! Yeah, as you see, in all the different patterns, | 0:34:46 | 0:34:49 | |
we have different piles of poo, they're referred to as middens, | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
and we have them up in a new area, where they spend the day, | 0:34:52 | 0:34:55 | |
and they use them where they defecate, | 0:34:55 | 0:34:59 | |
-and basically mark their territory. -Right, OK. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
For us, personally, as a keeper, | 0:35:01 | 0:35:03 | |
it's a brilliant way of trying to keep their pens inside tidy - | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
instead of coming in in the morning and finding lots of piles of poo, | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
they just poo in one place, and it makes it a little bit easier for us. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:11 | |
Wait a minute - so, not only are they trained for bedtime, | 0:35:11 | 0:35:14 | |
they're potty trained, as well? | 0:35:14 | 0:35:16 | |
-In a sense, yes. -Smart rhinos! | 0:35:16 | 0:35:19 | |
Amazing to see a rhino up close like this - am I safe to touch? | 0:35:19 | 0:35:23 | |
Yes, absolutely fine - obviously, | 0:35:23 | 0:35:24 | |
-just watch where she's pointing us, but, no... -Wow! | 0:35:24 | 0:35:27 | |
..she's a really good, well-tempered rhino. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:29 | |
Now, I've heard that she loves having her belly rubbed, | 0:35:29 | 0:35:32 | |
-so, if I go into here, is that OK, is that safe? -Yeah, it's fine. | 0:35:32 | 0:35:35 | |
Very soft under here, not what you'd expect from a rhino at all. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:40 | |
People think they're quite, you know, rough and tough - | 0:35:40 | 0:35:43 | |
and they are, but, as you can see, | 0:35:43 | 0:35:44 | |
they also have their sensitive side, as well. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
Yeah, really sensitive to just touch, | 0:35:47 | 0:35:49 | |
because she seems to be really enjoying this, and I mean... | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
-Yeah! -It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:56 | |
They love the contact, they absolutely love it. | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
Now, that is how you put a rhino to bed. I'm really proud of that! | 0:36:00 | 0:36:05 | |
Good girl! | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
The new super-sized enclosure is now ready, | 0:36:18 | 0:36:21 | |
in the day has finally come for the big lion move. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:25 | |
We've all been preparing it for, like, six months now, | 0:36:26 | 0:36:29 | |
and we haven't slept, we've been so excited, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
and we don't know what's going to happen. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:34 | |
OK, good morning, everybody. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:36 | |
Time for a final briefing. | 0:36:36 | 0:36:37 | |
Hopefully the food will help keep them calm. | 0:36:37 | 0:36:40 | |
Extra keepers have been drafted in to help. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:43 | |
We have a plan. Playing it by ear, to a certain extent. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
The mission today is to move half of the lions | 0:36:47 | 0:36:50 | |
through a new fenced corridor, or race, | 0:36:50 | 0:36:52 | |
joining their old enclosure with the new area. | 0:36:52 | 0:36:55 | |
The teams take up their positions. | 0:36:57 | 0:37:00 | |
Caleb and Eloise are putting out the lions' favourite treats | 0:37:00 | 0:37:03 | |
in the new territory as a kind of house-warming present. | 0:37:03 | 0:37:07 | |
These are hide strips. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:08 | |
We're going to chuck them all around this section | 0:37:08 | 0:37:11 | |
in areas that we want the lions to explore. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:12 | |
It's just going to make it a positive experience. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
Of course, they will, like, rip that apart in two seconds. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:19 | |
Meanwhile, in the old lion enclosure, | 0:37:19 | 0:37:22 | |
section manager Amy is in charge. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:25 | |
I can't really put it into words, what...such a big day this is, | 0:37:25 | 0:37:29 | |
getting them over there, and the fact that...the race, | 0:37:29 | 0:37:33 | |
and just making sure that works. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:34 | |
Amy has a squadron of safari trucks | 0:37:35 | 0:37:38 | |
ready to usher the lions down the race. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:40 | |
This will be new territory for the lions, | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
and no-one knows how they'll react. | 0:37:44 | 0:37:47 | |
The worst case scenario today | 0:37:47 | 0:37:48 | |
would be for the lions not to want to come across, | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
or to be too scared to come across the first. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:53 | |
With everyone in position, it's zero hour. | 0:37:53 | 0:37:56 | |
The lions are released from the paddock into their old enclosure. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:01 | |
Down in the new area, the feed wagon is driving up and down. | 0:38:03 | 0:38:06 | |
The lions know that sound. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:11 | |
It's got their attention. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
Amy and the others slowly start to shepherd them | 0:38:15 | 0:38:18 | |
towards the top of the race. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:20 | |
Is it's a tense wait to see if the lions will go in. | 0:38:22 | 0:38:25 | |
We've got one at the top of the race. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:33 | |
The lions are running through the race. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:41 | |
So, we have some of the braver individuals - | 0:38:41 | 0:38:43 | |
so, the two big lionesses, | 0:38:43 | 0:38:44 | |
we have Little Jas and Jazeera leading the race, | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
and then I can see Simba, one of the males, coming through. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
But just when things looked to be going well, the last lion, | 0:38:53 | 0:38:57 | |
a young male called Notch, bolts. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:00 | |
Notch is the last one, he's a bit wary. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:03 | |
He wants to follow, but he's a bit like, "I don't know!" | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
As the bold ones take their first steps into the new territory, | 0:39:06 | 0:39:10 | |
Notch isn't ready to leave the old neighbourhood. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
He's a bit wary of the others - | 0:39:15 | 0:39:16 | |
he's one of the youngest in this group, anyway, | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
so, yeah, he's not quite as confident as the rest of them. | 0:39:19 | 0:39:21 | |
Notch could scupper the whole move. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
He's calling them, he's trying to get them to come back. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:29 | |
A lion pride is a family, and they don't like to leave one behind... | 0:39:29 | 0:39:33 | |
..so, now, they're all retreating back up the race... | 0:39:36 | 0:39:39 | |
..and the big lion move is back to square one. | 0:39:41 | 0:39:44 | |
To have any hope at all, something will have to be done about Notch. | 0:39:46 | 0:39:51 | |
We can give him as much time as he needs, | 0:39:51 | 0:39:53 | |
but if he doesn't, last resort, we will dart him. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:55 | |
The keepers have planned for every possibility. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:59 | |
Ryan is standing by in case they need to take extreme measures. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
Our gold standard was to have the 15 lions just move across together, | 0:40:05 | 0:40:09 | |
but, you know, this is working with animals. | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
Nothing generally works exactly to plan. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
Ryan has a dart gun ready. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:17 | |
If Notch won't move, | 0:40:17 | 0:40:19 | |
they'll have to tranquilise him and carry him through... | 0:40:19 | 0:40:22 | |
These are semi-wild animals. You can't just... | 0:40:22 | 0:40:26 | |
Just because that's what we would like them to do, | 0:40:26 | 0:40:28 | |
doesn't necessarily mean that that's what they want to do. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:32 | |
..but putting an animal under anaesthetic is a risky move. | 0:40:33 | 0:40:37 | |
So, the team have one last trick up their sleeve. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:40 | |
We've sent the feed wagon through, | 0:40:40 | 0:40:41 | |
and they're hopefully going to go across, | 0:40:41 | 0:40:44 | |
drive round the feeder in the old way, | 0:40:44 | 0:40:45 | |
and to make Notch realise everything's all good, | 0:40:45 | 0:40:48 | |
and then, hopefully, | 0:40:48 | 0:40:50 | |
Luke is will be able to drive back through this way, | 0:40:50 | 0:40:52 | |
and bring Notch through | 0:40:52 | 0:40:53 | |
with the feed wagon and a band of his friends. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
If all the others are chasing the feed wagon, Notch might join in. | 0:40:56 | 0:41:00 | |
Notch is starting to trot behind us, so that's good news. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:08 | |
Notch is at the back there. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:13 | |
But, as the feed wagon goes down the race, | 0:41:15 | 0:41:18 | |
Notch has a moment of doubt... | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
Come on, Notch. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:25 | |
..until, finally, he takes the plunge. | 0:41:25 | 0:41:28 | |
And I can see Notch! | 0:41:30 | 0:41:31 | |
So, we have Notch in there, as well. | 0:41:32 | 0:41:34 | |
He's joined the group and he's coming through. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:36 | |
With the pride all together, | 0:41:40 | 0:41:42 | |
they're now ready to start exploring their great new territory. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:46 | |
We're literally witnessing exactly what a pride would do in the wild | 0:41:46 | 0:41:50 | |
if they took over a new area. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
They're walking the boundary, so that's a good start, | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
to assess how big it is, and where it goes, | 0:41:55 | 0:41:57 | |
and they're scent-marking as they go. | 0:41:57 | 0:41:59 | |
The big lion move has been a roaring success. | 0:41:59 | 0:42:03 | |
This is a dream come true, it's the best thing. | 0:42:04 | 0:42:07 | |
Best day of my career, 100%. | 0:42:12 | 0:42:15 | |
Now, I know we weren't here on the day the park opened | 0:42:32 | 0:42:34 | |
for the very first time, but it's been a few years, hasn't it is? | 0:42:34 | 0:42:37 | |
It sometimes feels that way! | 0:42:37 | 0:42:38 | |
-You haven't aged at all, Kate. -You old charmer! | 0:42:38 | 0:42:41 | |
But, over the years, we've had some extraordinary encounters, | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
met some amazing animals and, of course, made some wonderful friends. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:47 | |
We really, really have. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:48 | |
Now, the park opened to allow people to see animals | 0:42:48 | 0:42:51 | |
from all over the world, but it also has another important role. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:55 | |
It's played its part in the understanding and conservation | 0:42:55 | 0:42:59 | |
of many of our planet's endangered species. | 0:42:59 | 0:43:02 | |
It really has - and let's hope that the extraordinary animals here | 0:43:02 | 0:43:05 | |
continue to delight and inspire us all for another 50 years. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:10 | |
-Goodbye. -Goodbye. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:11 |