Catch up TV

Summer 2024: Episode 5

Ben and Kate discover the importance of the keepers understanding every aspect of the lives of their animals, and in tiger territory, that’s more vital than ever. For the past few weeks, they have noticed female Amur tiger Yana is acting strangely. She’s not lying on her stomach, and she is increasingly inactive. This could be a worrying sign if they hadn’t observed her mating with male tiger Red. With cautious anticipation, the team are starting to believe that Yana could be pregnant. This is not just exciting for the park but also the breeding programme, as it’s believed there are fewer than 400 Amur tigers left in the wild. Keepers rig cameras so that they can see what’s happening in the tiger house without disturbing secretive Yana, but as the days march on, what will she reveal? \n\nWildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin has his sights on less exotic but no less fascinating creatures – he’s conducting a survey of the native bird species. This represents vital information for the park, as it can reveal which bird habitats they need to encourage and which are doing well. In just an hour, Hamza spots a huge variety of birds, from the tiny house martin to the enormous prehistoric heron – but how many will he spot, and how will it correspond to his findings last year?\n\nElsewhere, Kate is serving up a deliberately fiddly meal to the gorillas, Ben encourages a kangaroo to reveal his full height, and zoologist Megan McCubbin tries to teach an old pig new tricks.

Source: BBC 2