- 4 hours ago
Work On The Wild Side S02E10
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00:02South Africa has some of the world's biggest national parks and game reserves home to an
00:07incredibly diverse range of animals we actually pinch ourselves and think we're living the dream
00:12some of which are critically endangered you don't realize how special it is to be part of the team
00:18that's saving these animals we're following vets and volunteers I feel like I'm actively doing
00:23something to make a difference if we all just do our little bits at least we're setting the scale
00:27it's going the right way all trying to save some of the animals that live here come on we've watched
00:34the highs seeing them in their own habitat there's nothing more beautiful and the lows with the people
00:42who are trying to save our planet it's tough that we do it because we love it
01:15so
01:22with elephant numbers across Africa in decline saving each and every one of them is crucial
01:27he's gonna kick it with his foot wait for it find a tasty route join a hand
01:38Jenna and husband Sean work closely with their seven rescued elephants to further research into
01:44the species us and the elephants have such a family bond because all the handlers and all
01:52of us are with the elephants every day all year round Christmas Day New Year's Day there's no
01:58different you know the elephant still need care they still need attention they still need their needs met
02:02so you know it's not like you come to work and you just shut off at five o'clock you
02:06know you have
02:07that bond with the animal with temperatures soaring there is only one place these elephants want to be
02:18around midday the elephants love to come for a swim when it's the hottest part of the day
02:28they play they joss they really really have a good time they're like kids in the water although they're
02:34the largest land animals in the world elephants are incredible swimmers they can do it for several
02:40hours their bodies provide natural flotation and their trunks double up as snorkels you see the two
02:46babies playing with each other there they jump on each other it's really phenomenal to watch when Bella
02:55the youngest carp had a first swim she was tiny maybe a couple of weeks old and the herd went
03:01across the dam Bella followed the herd and they got to the middle the deep part and she just sunk
03:06under the water the next thing mum and auntie come they put their trunks under her tummy they pull
03:10her up and then incidentally she figured out to use her trunk as a snorkel and then she literally then
03:15swam across the rest of the dam so she learned how to swim in in less than a minute
03:23just being in their presence is the most humbling experience you can't even put it into words their
03:28sheer aura you know it makes you feel so insignificant and being able to watch them like this is a
03:34privilege
03:34reserved for the very few like we're so so blessed to be able to do what we do every day
03:38it's phenomenal
03:41the elephants may be able to cool down but for Jenna and Sean things are about to heat up right
03:46on their
03:54doorstep in the Eastern Cape there's never a dull moment for vets Emily Annie and Lisa Annie has been
04:02at Medivet for two years I work in part domestic animals and also in wildlife so I do half and
04:08half which is the perfect mix for me I get to do all the complicated medical things that you can
04:12do with
04:13small animals and horses and then I get to jump in a chopper and dart a rhino living her dream
04:19Emily
04:19emigrated here four years ago I'm primarily a wildlife vet and at home I was doing mostly mix work there's
04:28definitely different challenges it's a vocation not a job you know it's seven days a week on call for
04:33indefinite periods of time couldn't imagine leaving this job and working at home again working on the
04:41front line of conservation and feeling like you're you're making a difference in the world with with
04:45what you want to do in your life it's is life-changing the third Brit on the team is Lisa
04:53who runs the
04:53research side of things for me I never went into veterinary to be a clinical vet it was always a
04:59sort of footstep into conservation Africa and African wildlife has kind of always had a special place in
05:06my heart and I don't know why that is and I think a lot of people have been bitten by
05:09the African bug
05:10and they can't you can't really put words to it one project close to her heart is the monitoring of
05:16a
05:16crash of rhino in a top-secret reserve I've always been interested in how wild animals use the space
05:21around them with human encroachment we have smaller and smaller space left for wildlife the more we know
05:27about that the more we can appropriately protect the size of the space and the type of habitats and
05:34things that we need to be able to encourage viable populations a dedicated field monitor works full
05:46time alongside Lisa his job is to find every rhino every day gather data on them check how they're doing
05:53if they've got any wounds observe any kind of social conflict or look to see if there's any new babies
06:00that
06:01sort of thing the rhinos have not been dehorned and because of the high risk from poachers they
06:06are heavily protected 24 7 the quickest way to find them is the field monitor tracking their telemetry
06:13collar which they were round their ankle unfortunately the battery life of them is restricted by the size
06:21that you can put onto the ankle of a rhino one of the female rhinos needs the battery changing on
06:28her
06:28collar and Lisa is taking the opportunity to carry out some visual health checks before the procedure
06:36we've got a bull and two females here we've started to look at their body condition and we score them
06:43on
06:43a monthly basis and we started doing that because we had one of the older rhinos on the reserve get
06:50very
06:50sick and sadly we lost her the research Lisa carries out is part of the fight to save this endangered
06:57species she really should have had probably two calves by now and she hasn't carved once so vets have
07:05come and done some hormonal treatments on her to try and get her cycling again to see if it is
07:09that
07:09that's good that's going on with almost 800 killed every year Lisa is determined to help save them we're
07:29definitely feeling the pressure of poaching but it's yeah it's not it's not easy it's it's always really
07:35difficult sorry it's tough hey you work with these animals sometimes on a on a daily basis if we're
07:51really lucky and although in some ways it becomes the norm you never you're never not aware of how
07:59privileged you are to be around them you can't really be within this team and not have developed
08:06a real place in your heart for I know it's why tracking collars can be so vital in protecting
08:16rhino but it's always a risky procedure
08:20go under the skin
08:42Josie has been in South Africa since 2006 who would have thought a quick internet search would change
08:48her life forever I did Google this volunteering stuff and I found the vervet monkey foundation
08:53was the first project I came across and it just sounded perfect it was within nature I could help
08:59monkeys and I've always wanted to go to Africa so the whole thing just kind of fell into place little
09:06did I know it would lead me to where I am now as co-director and rehabilitator of the sanctuary
09:11and it's not
09:14just South Africa that's stolen Josie's heart vervet monkeys once you get to know them and they're the individual
09:22characters they're very similar to us so they're primates like we are so you look at a child and
09:28they're playing you can look at a vervet monkey and they're playing you can look at an alpha female of
09:32a group and you can compare it to a leader within a business they are so similar to us it'll
09:40be Josie's
09:41leadership skills put to the test today she needs to introduce new orphan arrival Cedric to a possible new foster
09:47family
09:48it was that she kept as a expat it's really not good for monkeys be kept as pets we want
09:54them to be with their own kind
09:55they can become really distressed and unhappy three and a half year old Cedric is currently in the introduction enclosure
10:01where he can get used to the sights and smells of the troop and vice versa you do have to
10:07understand
10:07the hierarchy system of the troop and also you know you have to get to know the individuals as well
10:13before
10:14they come in to try and find the perfect foster family for Cedric Josie plans to introduce him to
10:20the troop one by one with ex pets we found it can take anywhere from three weeks and we've had
10:27one
10:27nine months it took us so we're looking for positive interaction basically at this point so that he can
10:33form the bonds so they accept him better into the group there's usually a queue forming outside with the
10:42two females and there's one already it's the alpha female plotty so in she comes and everybody else wants
10:51to come in he seems very confident and he's gone up to her straight away he's mounting her first of
11:00all
11:00not mating her so it's more of a dominance thing and a playful thing at this age too and we
11:05also
11:05vasectomize our male monkeys so that we can take in more orphans otherwise we'll have nowhere to put
11:12them if we've got hundred babies born every year Cedric's grooming plotty and he's also lip smacking
11:17which is when they put their they put their lips together it's a nice gesture actually this is
11:23positive interaction I don't think plotty's going anywhere and the alpha female is accepting him
11:33which is fantastic because if she accepts him then hopefully the rest of the group will follow her need
11:50as well at a moya kalula wildlife center a drought in South Africa is having a catastrophic effect on
11:57wildlife especially the smaller weaker species we're getting quite a lot of orphans coming in there is no
12:04water therefore the parents have nothing to eat they're all dying and also with the heat the animals
12:10actually just can't cope with this heat getting round-the-clock care our new arrivals you're gonna
12:16fall in love with we have two little baby bush babies these are thick-tailed bush babies they came
12:23in a couple of weeks ago we had an incredibly hot day here and so it was sweltering and there
12:30was a lot of
12:31animal casualties unfortunately because of this so these guys we believe just got too hot in their
12:36nest I came out to cool themselves down and then fell out of the tree so then they got brought
12:41into
12:42us they're doing really really well and they were very weak when they came in and dehydrated but as you
12:48can see and they're looking good they're drinking well and they just started to eat some solids some
12:53grapes and mango and there and they're loving this so they'll be with us a little bit longer until we
12:59have weaned them off milk and then we'll be able to get them back out into the wild
13:08bush babies are primates and two species found in South Africa are the lesser and the thick-tailed
13:14this one's thick-tailed bush baby they're nocturnal little animals so come out at nighttime and feed on
13:21insects and fruits and tree sap you'll see their big eyes glowing at nighttime and they're great climbers
13:30in Africa they're called enough our piece they're a night monkey basically and and they're they're
13:37very beautiful little creatures with no mum human interaction is vital in this early stage of their
13:50rehabilitation literally we are their mums for this time they are completely dependent on on us and
13:59what we are doing with them so they do become quite tame but the minute we don't have to handle
14:05them
14:05anymore then we stop and because it's easier for them to go back into the wild so a minute that
14:11they're
14:11not drinking anymore we'll get them into an enclosure we'll get them catching their own bugs getting their
14:16own food and then they can go back out until then it's left to Emma to play surrogate mum no
14:25easy task
14:27the bush babies are getting fed every two hours and that is day and night they're very small and they
14:32would still be completely with their mum in the nest they have just started solid so we will be going
14:38to
14:38three hours to four hours soon but they will start crying when they're hungry you hear them making these
14:43frog-like little noises so then you know it's time to feed I think she might be done are you
14:54finished we
14:57don't sleep much when we have these guys in but it's worth it the minute you see them out into
15:03the wild
15:03you forget about all that stuff it's been about 10 days since cedric met plotty who's alpha female
15:25and since then we've been letting a few other females in and now we're just gonna try and see who
15:31else wants
15:32to come in today so that we can get him to form more bonds and relationships before he goes out
15:36into the troop so cedric looks excited waiting for the females to come in so I hope this session goes
15:42okay first at the gate is an adult male with the adult males we won't let them in at all
15:48he'll meet
15:49them when he actually goes out into the troop the reason being is in a confined area they could
15:54actually corner him and attack him and if he actually goes out into the troop usually what happens
15:59is they come back and they find the door and they come in and use this as their safety so
16:03they can
16:03actually run and hide away from the males by making those relationships with the females because the
16:10females tend to run the troop then they're they're kind of like the protectors if you like fortunately
16:16the females do arrive Eva's coming so this is Eva she's a adult female and she's also fostered quite a
16:25few orphans so she's usually good with new arrivals the subject's just greeting her he he seems to mount
16:34each female that comes in he's only about three and a half years old so it's more a play behavior
16:40than
16:41anything else so as long as they do some grooming have some positive interactions what we don't want
16:47obviously is for him to be injured or bitten so I've just let one of the juveniles in as well
16:54they're
16:54usually quite confident he's definitely doing very well and the troops seem confident around him so he's
16:59just got to meet a few more females because we don't want him to go out there and then get
17:03chased and
17:03bitten because they haven't spent any time interacting with him Cedric was released eight weeks later a few
17:30months on Josie has come to check up on him I think I found him just just here yep that's
17:40him
17:43so Cedric's been in the trip now for two months he went out into the enclosure and he was so
17:50confident
17:51I just couldn't believe it you know having been an expert for a couple of years and now actually going
17:56into a troop he was very confident with the other monkeys he made really good friends with two
18:01monkeys Denford and Gabriel so he joined his family and he's been really good ever since
18:10the verb it's definitely stole my heart little did I know that that would become my total dream and doing
18:16something like this it doesn't just give you purpose it's giving back to the planet as Jenna and Sean's
18:28seven rescued elephants cool down in the midday heat the couple are called out to an emergency
18:49we have two fires at the moment which has started at the same time in the heat of the day
18:54with this
18:55wind it's a massive massive issue we don't sort of all come together as a community and help fight these
19:01things then we can lose vast tracts of land and wild life to these fires which is a huge problem
19:11everything about my life is different than England England you have police service you have the fire
19:17brigade that are right on your doorstep you know you have everything you wouldn't get the community
19:21together to to fight a fire everybody stops what they're doing and gets to work on the left is a
19:32big
19:33property full of lions we've got teams running around in there trying to put out the fire on the ground
19:39with
19:39lions running around talking to various people I think that it might be poachers starting a fire which
19:48means all of us run to go and assist with a fire and then have a problem you know when
19:54they that
19:55leaves that leaves the animals open to poaching yes this is how close it is to the house we'll go
20:04and
20:04fight at the front end of it quickly it's running fast and it's it's really really hot so it is
20:15quite a
20:16bad fire for us and it's running through a lot of high value game properties which is a concern it
20:23was
20:23it was very very big everything shut down it was just focusing on the fire it's the first time I've
20:30ever been nervous from fire so we've had lots of them I've never been worried about and they've always
20:34been kept under control quite well but this one was very worrying and it was pitch black you wouldn't
20:39even know it was daylight with the fire spreading Sean and his team hope to stop it using a technique
20:51called back burning back burning is when the wind is blowing in a certain direction the fire is going
21:00to move quickest in this in this direction so what you do is you find a road or an open
21:05piece of land
21:05that that you can actually safely start a fire put out on the one side and allow the back of
21:12that
21:12fire to back burn towards the oncoming fire so in essence you the fires on its way to you you
21:18start a
21:19fire here it starts burning backwards you put out the little piece that you have started on this end
21:24so you start to make a big gap of burnt land so when this big fire arrives it actually puts
21:29out the
21:30it puts itself out on that back burn it's a gamble that must pay off
21:51it's 6 a.m. and vets Annie and Lisa are preparing to change the battery on a tracking collar on
21:56a female
21:56rhino the collars are important for lots of reasons first one being protection and then the second use
22:02of a collar is actually monitoring the rhino we like to know where they are whether they're using all the
22:07available habitats whether they're eating well whether they're communicating and working you know
22:12together as a group or if they're traveling solitary head vet will is busy prepping the
22:17anaesthetic and reversal drugs we're just making up darts this is the opioid which is the most dangerous
22:23component of it the drugs that we use for most wildlife species are opioids so they're in the same
22:28family as morphine they're about 50 times stronger on average and a drop could kill you so you really
22:34have to be careful about where we put them and what we do with them I've been filling darts for
22:3817 years
22:39haven't picked myself yet they also need to keep the reversal drugs close at hand I'm not sure it's the
22:44best way to keep a syringe but in general
22:46we like to keep our syringes either in a cap or in our hair and it just helps if we
22:52need to pick
22:53a reversal quickly we always know where it is and we won't mix it up with anything else getting the
22:59equipment ready usually does take a lot of time and it's probably almost more time-consuming than the
23:03job itself we need ropes we need drugs we need blindfolds it plugs everything must be ready or else we're
23:10going to come into problems later the student vets are on hand to help but large numbers of people
23:16always increases the risk the vet takes precedent especially the one that's starting it's really
23:21dangerous work in the wildlife it's really dangerous working with the drugs that we work with you want
23:26everyone to know exactly what their roles are so there's no confusion the quickest and safest way
23:31to anesthetize a rhino is by dart gun from the air the female is soon spotted with two males it's
23:45paramount
23:45the rhino is darted as quickly as possible to reduce stress so will takes the shot
24:01with the new arrival bush baby babies fed and sleeping emma gets some time to herself and heads
24:07to get some much-needed supplies an hour away when i do go back to england i feel so claustrophobic
24:13it's
24:14too much there's too many people you have to sit in traffic i think there's nothing better than driving
24:20all across the country we have the most beautiful scenery here you go from the mountains to the bush
24:27and it's a great positive of south africa as well
24:34we normally come in here twice a week to get all our supplies some of the animals are on special
24:40diets
24:40so they get treated and spoiled with nice fruit and veg and grapes and nice things you know everyone
24:46thinks in south africa that we don't get a huge selection but we actually do and you can find
24:51most things here but what they do do which is amazing is the cakes south africans know how to bake
24:59hello morning can i please have five of the chocolate cupcakes and then one of the nice carrot ones
25:11we don't come into town so often um you know it's sometimes a little treat we're at the farm the
25:17whole day
25:17we're working um we don't get to come out and dress nicely and see other people so when we do
25:25get the
25:25opportunity if we have a little bit of time those those small things in life are really important
25:36a few hours later emma's back home after collecting the orphaned bush babies
25:41we have had to literally designate a room in our house now for these animals um they're taking over
25:47the place so my spare room is not my spare room anymore it's the animal room
25:55these little cute old men as i think they look like you can't help but smile and how they drink
26:02with their tongues sticking out a little bit they're absolutely adorable
26:11i've always had this huge passion um for animals and to want to do everything in my power to save
26:18them
26:19um but i think especially when you see what these animals go through and the absolutely traumatic
26:24situations that you just want to do everything in your power to be that comfort to be that mum you
26:31know to give them some kind of nurture and some kind of safety but emma's dedication comes at a cost
26:40at the moment i'm sleeping probably three
26:44three four hours if i'm lucky you know this glamorous lifestyle that everyone thinks you lead
26:50of of just saving all these animals i mean it's amazing and it's it's my perfect job i wouldn't
26:57want to do anything else but let me tell you it's not so glamorous when you're getting up every two
27:02hours and it's you know three o'clock in the morning and you have screaming babies and all you want
27:07to do
27:12is sleep no sleep though has meant emma has released over 50 animals back into their natural habitats
27:19there we go he's out he's released he's gonna not have to see humans again
27:28they've all gone off into the wild to start their new lives
27:33come on baby you can do this
27:39to cry a little bit this is the bit we work for so by being in emma's care these bush
27:46baby babies
27:47have a great chance of making it back to the wild
28:10as the fire takes hold near jenna and sean's house the community are fighting fire with fire
28:16back burning it's kind of like you feel a little hopeless because it's moving so fast yeah it's
28:24horrible you know knowing that this this wind look at this it's terrible and it's just rushing this
28:29fire into property after property after property so you always feel like you're just behind it
28:35has it jumped wait just this section
28:46back burning is a strategy that involves deliberately burning patches of land ahead
28:50of an approaching fire slowly slowly eh we need another one just in the middle just go just into
28:56the middle and just run up this side here
29:03you never know where they're gonna go how much land they're gonna consume you're working with a
29:10whole bunch of people in the community who desperately trying to put out these fires
29:14to prevent them jumping from farms and causing a huge amount of damage
29:28just lie down hey we can just go across go across there
29:37we're just trying to make sure it doesn't jump into another property if the wind is all blowing that
29:41way if the wind changes we don't want it to blow and start to fire on another side of a
29:46fence then
29:46everybody has to go and chase that one so we'll just back burn up to the top end of the
29:50road here
29:51across a little bit and then we'll probably go and try and help out at the other it looks like
29:59it's burnt across there then at least it's not going to get into here and go that way if the
30:03wind
30:03changes and then we've done happy that the back burning is working sean takes to the air to get a
30:12bird's eye view of the damage
30:21the speed that that fire ripped through the area it's always just worrying that it might take out
30:26wildlife it might take out people's properties in their homes and it could just carry on and on and
30:32i think it was 8 000 hectare fire so it's the closest one that's ever been to our our home
30:41it was
30:41literally just a road separating us if it jumped it would have been straight onto our property
30:46you do worry i mean we've got 380 hectares here which seems massive but it's actually a tiny space
30:52um and how quickly the fire spread at 8 000 hectares it can happen so quickly
31:08the female rhino has been darted vets annie and lisa jump into action ready to change her tracking
31:14collar which has run out of battery it's really important to get a blindfold over the animal
31:26because they are slightly more dangerous if they're standing up and they can see you
31:30it's very helpful to have a blindfold on and also if the rhino then wakes up during the procedure it's
31:35not orientated and it makes the procedure safer
31:40then that's closely followed by earplugs because they get very disturbed by the noise at the same
31:45time it's really important we get a catheter in to the vein so that we've got access to the vein
31:49in case there's a problem or in case the animal needs to be given drugs to make it fall asleep
31:52or to
31:53wake it up okay she's behaving like she either hasn't got enough drug or it's gone under the skin
32:01blood pressure's not great
32:17as soon as the rhino's down annie begins to monitor her vitals
32:24it's important to have a heart rate and a respiratory rate check the blood color is good
32:27and that she's breathing well oh it is 80. we give penicillin just in case the animal is unwell because
32:34we don't know these things when we when we approach them and also we're going to put them
32:37under quite a lot of stress so we need to make sure they don't get sick afterwards
32:44the collar's changed does alarm at 13 minutes
32:52and lisa is taking bloods to further research we're just looking at blood gas analysis from the
32:57arteries and the inside of the ear rhino really battle with the anesthetic drugs that we use
33:02and they can get scaringly low blood oxygenation levels levels that we would panic with
33:07in human anesthetics we don't know exactly what the after effects are but from what we know from
33:15human medicine and things there will be some consequences um so yeah the best we can do for
33:22them um that's what we're aiming for
33:28a heart rate of anywhere between 60 to 80 is probably what we think is normal for a rhino in
33:36wild conditions
33:42if it starts going up again afterwards then we might be worried that the animal is starting to
33:45become more awake then you're tracking collars now on so that we can always monitor her and not lose her
33:51especially if there's an incident we think she might actually be pregnant so we're going to take some blood
33:56to try and find out she's now coming to the sort of age where she's starting to mate
34:03she has been certainly getting some attention from the bulls and she was also um seen mating heart rate 17
34:09so thank you oh it's going up
34:24we're going to reverse her now she's going to wake up in about uh 20 to 30 seconds and after
34:29that um
34:29she'll get up and she'll run off and we're hoping that she'll join up with um the other rhino in
34:34her
34:34crash and fairly shortly um usually it's quite a quick recovery successful morning as long as she
34:41gets up on her feet
34:5012 hours after the fire was put out jenna and sean are back at work it was terrible and it
34:57was dark
34:57and that fire was coming very fast it was very scary it turns out that what happened was a lawnmower
35:04that was actually out there cutting grass for a fire break actually hit a rock and that caused
35:09the spark which then set the felt on fire that just took off and before the two guys managing
35:15the tractor could actually put it out and it got too big for them that's where we're extremely lucky
35:20we've got such a strong community in the area and you've got a bunch of people who just yeah at
35:25the
35:25drop of a hat the drop of a hat they'll drop everything panic over jenna and sean get back to
35:31their
35:31seven rescued elephants just that piece when you're just watching them in the bush and being with them
35:39is something you can hardly explain you know it's very difficult to sum up how special that is
35:49vet annie's successful replacement of a tracking collar could turn to disaster if the rhino doesn't get up
36:00the reversal process is quite important if you mess it up animals not going to get it
36:09it's really important that we've given us some space when we wake up
36:19during any procedure there's a certain amount of stress and then you get that moment to where
36:24the animal gets woken up and then they walk out back into the wild and it's those golden moments
36:29that i think we live for it just reminds us what we're doing here and the small part we can
36:35play to
36:36make a difference in this world and the big question is is the rhino pregnant from what we've seen today
36:43we don't think she's pregnant you know that's all right nobody gets it first time
36:50these are dinosaurs you won't see them anywhere else in the world like these animals won't
36:54live like 10 years from now if we don't protect them but they are the most incredible species that
36:59i've ever worked with
37:12the rains have arrived in south africa and there's not as many injured orphans needing care it's a huge
37:19relief for emma
37:29we've had a few days now of good rain so fingers crossed there'll be more to come
37:34all the green little shoots are coming out
37:37we're smiling the animals are smiling and getting ready to have a good old feast and that means we
37:43can start releasing the animals that we need to the two bush babies emma's been giving 24-hour care to
37:51are on the list of animals to be released after rehabilitation emma's off to scout for a potential
37:56release site but all alone today she can't leave the babies with these guys as they get fed every two
38:02hours they have to come with me and wherever i go which can be a little bit hard because i'm
38:06using
38:07my hands for everything so the best thing we found is our hair we do i pop them in a
38:13little bun in my
38:14hair it's great for me and it's also really great for them it's uh they feel very comforted by my
38:19hair
38:19it's the same as holding on to their mummy in their nest so i'm just going to pop them in
38:24now
38:27and then i make a little bun around them so i'm basically forming a little nest for them to feel
38:33really comforted in and then they'll go fast to sleep in that nest so they can come along wherever
38:39i need to go you get so used to having animals on you in your hair everything that you forget
38:49that
38:49they're there some other time until they start wriggling around or yes you can feel maybe a little
38:54pee pee or something so it becomes so normal and then to other people i think we must look like
39:01absolutely crazy fools um but but to us this is actually normal life to have things hanging off you
39:15this is an absolutely perfect um spot for a thick-tailed bush baby we've got the nice fig trees we've
39:22got
39:22wild fruit we've got water we've got nice trees that they can um have a nest in
39:29emma checks if there's a supply of bugs to complement their diet
39:33most of the hunting is in the trees but they do come down to the floor and and do kind
39:38of have
39:39a look what's down here as well okay we can see here some little beetles um this is a good
39:46sign
39:46these guys love love these they're not ready to eat these just yet but this shows me that it's a
39:51good
39:52food source in the insects as well it's a little cockroachy type beetle everyone's a bit squeamish
39:58about cockroaches but for these guys absolutely love them and so this is perfect
40:06dinner sorted it's vital though that there are no other bush babies here so they can settle and mark
40:12their own territory i really can't see any feces of any other bush babies here i've had a good old
40:18look
40:18in the trees can't really see any nests so that's again another big tick on our list so these are
40:25all
40:25the things we're having a little look at before we actually fully go into a release um so i think
40:32we've been lucky we found a really nice spot for these guys
40:42six months later
40:45they are doing absolutely amazing now they're in one of our enclosures and we'll be ready to release
40:51soon so this is little duck here and this is clive very very hungry as you can see duck is
41:00a little
41:00bit smaller than clive he was just the runt of the litter but he's doing super well now compared to
41:07when
41:07they came in these little dehydrated babies to what they are now it's absolutely amazing the change in
41:13them and we're so happy that we could be there to help them and get them to this condition where
41:18we can get them back out into the wild it's absolutely amazing i love my job more than anything in
41:25the
41:25world even with all the hardships with the sleepless nights with the broken hearts with the broken limbs
41:30sometimes and black eyes and scratches from the animals i absolutely love this job and this is what
41:37what i was meant to do and i was meant to do and i honestly wouldn't change anything
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