Catch up TV

Summer 2023: Episode 6

We get to know some of the incredible animal heroes at the park who are helping their wild cousins across the globe.\n\nOne such animal is Anne the Asian elephant, who was rescued from the circus and rehabilitated, thanks to the tireless work of her keepers. When she arrived at the park in 2011, Anne was in such poor physical condition that she couldn’t even lift her trunk, but over time, the oldest elephant in Europe is now in good health. One of her biggest issues is typical of old age in both humans and animals - arthritis. Anne has been treated for this by specialist animal osteopathist Tony Nevin. His pioneering work on Anne has been so transformative and successful that Tony is now taking the knowledge he has gained to the other side of the world to rehabilitate captive elephants in Thailand. We join him and the keepers on their epic journey. \n\nThere is never a dull moment at the park, and Kate is on hand to witness a truly magical one. Over at the lake, the keepers have been closely watching the antics of a young Californian sea lion called Elvis. They were unsure whether this youngster had what it takes to become the new breeding male - well, any doubts have now truly disappeared because to their surprise, down on sea lion beach, six-year-old female Roo has given birth! Believe it or not, there is even better news. Tabby the keeper managed to capture the birth on camera, which is an Animal Park first! Kate wastes no time racing down to watch the footage and of course meet the hours-old baby.\n\nHamza Yassin is set a ‘spot the difference’ challenge, but with a wild pair of wildebeest. It’s vital that the keepers are able to identify their animals quickly, if there is a medical issue for example, so they always collect a list of differences to know their animals better. This is often a simple process, but with wildebeest brothers SJ and Ky, it’s quite a challenge because they look almost identical. Thankfully, Hamza is on hand with his zoom lens camera to analyse the brothers in extraordinary detail. With them constantly moving and swapping over, this is no easy task. Can Hamza deliver three distinct differences to the keepers? \n\nIn an episode where we are celebrating animal heroes such as Monty, the first male southern koala to be born in Europe, zoologist Megan McCubbin celebrates one of the unsung heroes of the natural world – the vulture. In the wild, vultures have the important job of eating the remains of dead animals, preventing the spread of lethal diseases. Megan shows us exactly how they do it, by staking out a carcass in their enclosure, but will the giant birds fly down for a feast?

Source: BBC 2