01x05 - North Carolina: Giraffic Park

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

jodi: Well, hello!

(whistle tweets)

christina: Good boy!

♪ ♪

(shrieking)

♪ ♪

jenni: Hello, everybody.

So, we have chimps,

and we've got them split
into two separate groups.

Today is kendall's group
out here,

they're kind of
our group of misfits.

We've got former entertainment
chimp, former research chimps.

They're all a little bit odd
in their own special way.

Oh, hi, kendall.

Ooh!

Dude, I just cleaned
these windows.

You made a mess.

When you've got kids, you are
not supposed to have a favorite.

That being said,
nori's my favorite.

(laughs)

she's over here
on top of the rock now

eating some green beans.

Nori has been kind of special
from day one.

She was born here at the zoo.

She was the first baby
that we had had in years.

I helped to hand-raise her
hours a day, days a week

for the first four months
of her life.

And then about five years ago

she started having
these seizures.

(shriek)

her body was trembling.

She would bite her tongue.

Once or twice she knocked
herself unconscious

by landing on the ground.

Once we described
some of her symptoms,

they said it sounds
like epilepsy.

Alright, nori, it's time
for your medication.

Are you going to get up for me?

Good girl.

(shriek)

at this point
she's having seizures

maybe two or three times a week.

I would love for her
to get to the point

where she's having
no seizures whatsoever.

So, now we're trying
a new medication,

and we just want to keep
a close eye on her

to make sure there's no side
effects or anything like that.

It's a combination of
a pill and some liquids

so we get the exact milligram
dosage that she needs.

If you give her a whole pill

she's not gonna want
to chew it and swallow it.

She'll probably spit it
straight out,

so this way it just
disappears into the juice.

Put the lid on here
and give it a good shake

and we're off to find nori.

(shrieking)

good morning.

Getting nori to
take her medication

can be more difficult
than you would think.

(shrieking)

thank you, kendall,
that was helpful.

Not.

The other chimps
sometimes get jealous

that she's getting treats.

(shrieking)

gigi, behave yourself,
sweetheart.

(shrieking)

jenni: Kristy?
Kristy: Yeah.

Jenni: Can you keep kendall
occupied for a minute?

He keeps chasing nori off.

Kristy: Hi, kendall.

Come this way.

That's it.

Jenni: Here you go, babe.
How's that?

Pretty delicious, yeah?

Mmm-mmm!

Alright, good job.

Yum, yum, that's all you get,
you're done.

Good job, kiddo.

Okay, nori is all done.

Kristy: Yay.

Jenni: Every time there is
a change in her medication,

we need to take a blood draw

looking at kidney,
liver function,

to make sure that she's not
having any sort of side effects.

So, we have
a blood draw coming up

here in the next
couple of weeks.

We just hope that nori's
blood work comes back clear

and she can continue
to live a happy life.

I love nori so much.

So I've got my fingers crossed.

Robert: We've got all kinds
of animals here at the zoo,

young and old, big and small.

Over here you'll see the tallest
animals, which are the giraffes.

And if you're lucky
while you're here

you may even get
to feed one of them.

Man: Yeah, you think
he's hungry?

Jodi: Extend your arm out

and he'll stick his tongue
out for you, okay.

Kelly: Their tongues are
about to inches long.

It's got great grip
for being able

to rip leaves off of branches.

Good boy, turbo.

Today is a really exciting day,

we're actually getting
a new giraffe to our herd.

We currently have three giraffe
at our zoo.

We are really hoping that
they do get along very well

with the new giraffe.

Turbo is our oldest;

he's actually gonna be turning
later on this year.

He is definitely
the most relaxed,

chilled guy of the group.

Jodi: You're so brave, turbo.

Kelly: Jack is
our breeding bull.

As big as he is,
he's actually kinda wimpy

when it comes to new things.

Which is so silly, because he's
supposed to be the big, bad boy

of the group,
but we still love him.

Jodi: Jack can't
make up his mind,

he keeps looking at us
and looking at leah.

He's like, "I don't know
which way to go!"

kelly: Leah is our sassy,
fiery, redhead girl.

She does what she wants
when she wants

and ain't nobody gonna tell her
anything different.

I never expected to really love
these animals as much as I do,

but once you do, they put
their full trust in you,

and I think that's
an incredible relationship

to have with an animal.

Good boy, good boy.

Jodi: Oh, what a good boy.
You're so brave!

Kelly: All three of the giraffe
that we currently have

get along very, very well
with one another,

so bringing in this
brand new baby giraffe

is gonna be quite
a new experience.

Our new giraffe is amelia.

She is gonna be two,
I believe, in April.

Although she's young right now,

we are hoping that
in the next few years

that we can maybe start
having some calves from her.

We've got the trailer
coming down right now.

Amelia may be a little stressed
from the ride.

Coming to a new zoo is
a big change for a giraffe.

It's kind of like anyone
who's a young adult

going to their first new
apartment or going to college.

It's a whole brand-new
experience for this animal.

Jason: Good, keep it coming,
keep it coming!

We're good!

My job today basically is
to get amelia in position

from the trailer into the barn.

Hopefully I can accomplish
that without any hitches.

Come on, girly.

Kelly: It could be
very challenging,

we don't know what
her temperament is,

what her behaviors are going
to be to a new environment.

Amelia.

She could walk off
really smooth,

she could also want
to stay in the trailer.

Jason: Come on.

Go see your new friends.

Come on!

Kelly: Giraffes are kind of
a combination of super curious

about what's going on,

as well as very cautious
about new things.

She's like the shy kid
on the first day of school,

just kind of looking around
through the doors,

not really sure where to go,
or what to do.

Jason: Do you want any of this?

She's thinking.

Kelly: Come on in.

Jason: She's coming,
she's coming.

Kelly: I can see her nose
peeking around the corner,

so she's getting closer.

Jason: Good girl, look at you.

Couple more steps. Good girl.

Kelly: Good job.
Jason: Good girl.

Jason: Great, guys, good job.

Kelly: Good girl.

I am super excited.
She did phenomenally well.

I couldn't ask for
a better intro to the barn.

She's adorable.

Jodi: She's tiny.

Kelly: She's super tiny.

We think that she probably
is around feet tall,

which is probably
at least four feet shorter

than our shortest giraffe.

Like any other animal
that comes to the zoo,

we have to put them
into quarantine

to make sure that she's
not carrying anything

that we don't want to give
to the other animals,

and then after that
short amount of time

we can start introducing her
to the herd.

I think the giraffes
are gonna love amelia.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(squeaking)

♪ ♪

kim: Keeper van spronsen
to keeper clauson.

(squeaking)

cat: Go ahead.

Kim: I'm gonna feed the bats the
blood, if that's okay with you.

Cat: Okay, - .

Kim: Into the bat cave.

♪ ♪

so, I'm just going to start
setting out their bowls.

They get this blood twice a day.

Vampire bats feed
strictly on blood,

and they get this
by flying around at night

and looking for an animal
that is asleep.

And then they can sense
where the blood's flowing

close to the skin, and they make
a very, very small incision,

and sometimes the animal
doesn't even wake up.

So, this tends to be the area

where the bats
hide out the most.

They each kinda have
their own little spot.

They're really chatty,

when I come in here
they'll squeak at me.

(squeaking)

but I think the bats are cute.

They're not as scary
as you think they are.

I mean, they look kind of
like a small mammal,

just happen to have
leather-looking wings.

(squeaking)

yes, they drink blood,
but I just love vampire bats.

They get a bad rap.

People think I'm weird
all the time. (laughs)

(squeaking)

we have bats,

and we try and get
a little bit of a look at them

to make sure that they look
healthy, look for injuries.

Vampire bats aren't
very easy to tell apart,

especially in the dark,
so we have this system

where we tag them with
different colored bands,

and then we can name them

depending on what
the band color is.

We name them after singers.

There's johnny cash up there.

Johnny cash, 'cause
he's wearing a black band,

and we have prince
who has a purple band.

Ah, there's springsteen.

(squeaking)

she's very outgoing.

We'll put the food down,

and she'll come up
to you right away.

Silently screaming at me.

We have janis chomplin,
but that's 'cause she bites.

(squeaking)

so, this is silver-blue,

we don't have a name
for her yet,

but she has a silver
and a blue band.

♪ ♪

she's looking really heavy.

Like really heavy.

She looks like a water balloon,

she looks like
she's about to burst.

(bats chirping)

kim: We have bats,

and we try and get
a little bit of a look at them

to make sure that
they look healthy.

This is silver-blue.

She's looking really heavy.

She looks like a water balloon,

she looks like
she's about to burst.

She's either put on a lot
of weight or she's pregnant.

Keeper van spronsen
to curator ireland.

Hey, jenn, can you meet me
by the bat cave?

I have a pretty
round-looking bat

that I think might be pregnant,

and I'd like you to
take a look at her.

The last time I saw her
she was up in this corner.

Jenn: Alright, so you think
she's pregnant, huh?

Kim: Yep.

Jenn: Over the years
the vampire bat population

has kinda gotten really
genetically dilute.

So, it's really important for us

to change up the genetics
in that group.

About seven months ago
we brought in new females.

Kim: This is silver-blue.
She's looking really heavy.

Jenn: So, now
seven months later,

which is the length of
a gestation for a vampire bat,

we're starting to see what
we think are pregnant females.

Yeah, I think she looks
like she's pregnant,

her abdomen is kind of lumpy,
which would suggest maybe,

you know, elbows and knees
of a bat.

Kim: Vampire bats only have
one pup at a time,

and when they're born
they're pretty big,

they're about a third
of the size of the adults.

Jenn: So, yeah, the timing
is right, I really think

it's quite possible that
she's pregnant. Exciting!

Kim: That is exciting.
Jenn: Yeah.

Kim: I love having the babies.

I guess I'm just going to keep
coming in every morning

and hoping that I find a pup.

Can't wait to see it.

Jenn: Yay! Bat babies.

♪ ♪

robert: You can come on up
and get your tickets

at number three, number four
and number five.

(screech)

jodi: Good boy, baba,
is that yummy?

Melissa: It's good stuff.

Jb: So, I'm on my way to see
amelia, our newest giraffe,

and today is going to be
her visual quarantine exam.

If everything turns out well,
we'll try to get her out

onto the habitat pretty soon.

Hopefully we'll be able to get
a really good look at her.

Kelly: Hi! Who's a good girl?

Amelia has been getting
very comfortable very quickly.

We really couldn't ask for
a better situation so far.

Hi there!

Jb: She's so petite.

Kelly: She is super, super tiny.

Jb: What we're going to do
is I'm going to have kelly

just kind of walk her around
a little bit,

and I'm going to get a really
good visual on body condition

and what she looks like,
get the best visual exam we can

depending on how much
she wants to participate.

(kisses)

pss-pss-pss!
(clicks tongue)

giraffes in general
are quite skittish.

This giraffe doesn't know
really anybody

at the north carolina zoo.

She hasn't been here that long.

But I'm hoping that
she's gonna at least come over

and allow me to get
a pretty good look at her.

Kelly: Yeah, she loves keeping
an eye out on her surroundings,

that's all she's done.

Jb: Come up here,
you want some of this?

You want some of this kale?

She's like, "nope."

"I don't know that guy."

kelly: Stranger danger.

Amelia's still nervous
right now,

just not used to
her surroundings.

Jb: Hopefully she's not
too skittish.

She will allow me to look at her
feet, maybe look at her eyes.

If we can get her close,
that would be awesome.

Kelly: Amelia.

Jb: I'll stand back and just
let you kinda bring her up.

Kelly: Hi, amelia.

Can you come?

Good girl, good girl, amelia.

Good job.

Jb: Her eyes look
really, really good.

And she's moving around
pretty good.

She doesn't seem to have
any lameness or any limping.

Her feet look
really, really good.

She doesn't have
any overgrown toenails.

She's cute, she's
really small, though,

compared to all
of our other giraffe.

So, on average an adult giraffe

can be anywhere from
to foot tall.

Amelia is about foot,
now that's small for her age.

So the question is,
is there something underlying?

Proportionally she looks
relatively normal.

When you talk about the
body condition scoring system,

it's one that's
severely underweight;

a nine is severely
over condition.

I'd call her a five
out of nine, which is ideal.

Kelly: Great, yeah.

Jb: She's just, I think
she's just a petite giraffe.

Kelly: I am so relieved
jb has given amelia

a clean bill of health.

Jb: She's got a few more weeks
of quarantine,

and then she's going
to be released.

I'm really excited to see
how she's going to interact

with the giraffe that
are already out there.

There you got somebody
right here coming up.

Kelly: Is that a turbo?

Jb: How you doing, turbo?

Kelly: Turbo's already gone
into like big brother mode.

Jb: I mean, look, look at
the size difference,

I could just, I mean, he's
just massive compared to her.

I'm going to call this it,

I mean, basically she looks
really, really good to me,

and we can get
those guys together.

Kelly: Sounds great!

They're ready. (laughs)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

audrey: Where you going, mister?

This is maximus, he is our
alligator snapping turtle.

He's guesstimated to be
about years old.

He is a living fossil.

Alligator snapping turtles are
our largest freshwater turtle

in the united states.

He weighs about the same that I
do, and he's super-duper strong.

Man: He's huge!

Audrey: Their populations
aren't doing well,

so it's good that we do have
some of these in human care.

What I've noticed recently is
a few little pits in his shell.

They don't have
algae growth on them,

and it looks like they're
eating down into the shell.

It could be
something really bad,

so I've just called jb to come
down and take a look at it.

Jb: Good morning.
How are y'all doing today?

Chris: Good.

Jb: These lesions,
if they are some kind

of really pathogenic fungus,
could eat into the shell,

and that can cause
some really big issues.

This shell is like his house.

You don't want your roof
to fall apart;

he doesn't want
his shell to fall apart.

Heather: It's slippery
right there.

Jb: It looks slippery.
The entire thing looks slippery.

How's maximus?

Audrey: Umm,
he's a little grumpy,

but he's hiding right now
in the perfect spot.

Maximus does not like
being out of the water,

so he's going to be grumpy
and uncomfortable.

Jb: So the first thing I got to
do is I got to get samples

of these lesions
on the top of max's shell,

without getting my fingers
bit off by max.

Chris: One of us will
just kind of hold him

and the other will hold his tail
for you, does that work?

Jb: I think that works.

Okay, coming in.

Ohh, he has a big,
open mouth there, bud.

(growl)

obviously he's a big animal.

These guys are super strong,
they have a lot of muscle.

That's a lot of pulling
on my fingertips.

If he was to turn around
and bite me,

he's going to take
my fingers off.

Potentially could
take my hand off.

We're gonna have to make sure
that we can keep our footing

and don't fall down.

He said, "let me at him."

I'm focused on what I'm doing.

That's not a bad one.

Audrey and chris,
they're watching max closely

to make sure that
he doesn't turn around

and do anything silly.

(growl)

sterile swab.

There you go, good job!

I've got the samples from
the top of max's shell,

so now I've got to really get
a good look at his belly.

Let's see what the shell
looks like underneath.

And the only way to do that

is for chris and audrey
to pick him up.

Chris: So are we ready
for just underside?

Jb: Yeah, we're going to drag
him out and then pick him up?

Chris: Yeah.
Jb: Okay.

Audrey: We rarely
have the opportunity

to see underneath max.

This is going to be really hard.

Chris: One, two, three.

Audrey: He is not happy anymore,
and he's slippery.

Jb: This is
a dangerous situation.

I'm face to face with max.

(growl)

if he comes out and snaps,
he's gonna take something off.

(growl)

ooh, oooh, ooh!

Audrey: We rarely
have the opportunity

to see underneath max.

This is going to be really hard.

Chris: One, two, three.

Audrey: He is not happy anymore,
and he's slippery.

Jb: This is
a dangerous situation.

I'm face to face with max.

(growl)

if he comes out and snaps,
he's gonna take something off.

(growl)
ooh, oooh, ooh!

That was close!

Put him down.

Yeah, underneath looks good.

Good job, guys, we still have
all of our fingers. Okay.

So, I think at this point
they don't look to be deep.

It doesn't appear that
the shell is pitting.

Right now they're not something

I'm like overtly
that concerned about.

Maximus actually did
really, really well.

We got in safely, let's see
if we can get out safely.

The lesions don't
seem aggressive.

These are things
that we're gonna just

have to keep an eye on,
but we're looking pretty good.

(growl)

maximus, he's the oldest animal
we have at the zoo.

We don't know how long
this guy can live,

so I wanna make sure that
he's as healthy as possible.

(snort)

(screech)

jodi: Yeah, you like that.

(chattering)

christina: Nice and clean.

(trumpeting)

(trumpeting)

jordan: C'sar,
let's go, over here.

Back up.

Foot, trunk.

(whistle tweets)
good boy, baba.

Yeah.

Nancy: C'sar is years old,
which makes him the oldest male

african elephant
in the united states.

I love c'sar,
he'll do all the things

that a young male elephant
would do,

he's just in
a -year-old's body.

But he has had some eye issues
over the past couple years.

Jordan: C'sar actually had
cataracts removed

a few years ago, and since then,
his corneas are actually

a little bit more vulnerable
to having ulcers.

Two days ago we started seeing
that he was squinting this eye

a lot more, and now you can see
it's been more weepy as well.

Nancy: It's very painful,
it can be uncomfortable,

and that's one thing
that we don't want.

Jordan: We actually have
an ophthalmologist coming down

today to take a look at it,

see, you know, if he thinks
there is an ulcer forming.

Lean in.

Nancy: Nice.

Jb: Nancy, nancy, jordan,
how are y'all?

Nancy: Good, how are you?

Jb: Nancy, have you met
hans before?

Nancy: I've not.

Hans: Hi, hans westermeyer.
Nancy: Hi, nice to meet you.

Jb: And then this is liz.

I've got hans and liz, and they
are stationed at the vet school,

they're ophthalmologists,

so they're gonna give us
their expertise,

give us some idea of what's
going on with c'sar today.

How's it going, old man?

I can see the weepiness.

C'sar's eyes start to water,

and he takes that trunk
and he starts to rub his eyes.

And when he does that oftentimes
he will scratch the cornea.

If you knock that top layer
of the cornea off,

it's going to develop
into an ulcer.

If left untreated, he
potentially could lose the eye.

Nancy: Even just relaxing he's
closing that eye a lot more.

Jb: Is he? Have you--

like even when he's like at rest
here without us here?

Nancy: Yeah.
Jb: Try this inside?

Nancy: Yeah, we can definitely
bring him up to the mesh.

Jordan: Let's go.

Good boy, back up.

Just be careful of any fingers

going on the other side
of the mesh, yeah.

Jb: Hans is just getting
some images of the eye.

Is he giving you anything, hans?

Hans: Mm-mm, about
a half a second view.

Jb: He's going to keep that eye
completely shut,

because he knows what
we're trying to do.

Hans: In the picture we can see
that there's just an area

that's a little bit cloudy,

so I'm not sure if
that's the mineral

that he's always had there,

or if he has a little bit
of an ulcer there.

Jb: We'll get a stain on it,
see what we got.

The question is, is he gonna
allow us to do that?

Jordan: Back up.

Jb: So, jordan's gonna bring
c'sar back into position

and we're gonna try to
get this stain in his eye.

(tweet)

if there's an ulcer in the eye,

this stain will
light that area up

and we'll be able to see it,
kind of with our naked eye.

(trumpets)

the problem is,
is he knows what's happening,

so he's gonna have it
shut pretty tight.

Because he's so aware of us
working and poking around

in his eyes, we've only
got one opportunity

to get the stain in there today.

It's all on hans.

Hans: Maybe there's across
the eyelid at least.

(grumbling)

I know, buddy, this sucks.

(grumbling)

I know, that's not nice.

Jb: Yeah.

Hans just sh*t it in his eye,

and now he's real
protective of the eye,

the eye is clamped shut,

so now it's trying to
get him to reopen the eye.

Hans: Yeah, I don't
see anything.

Jb: Jordan, back him up
one more time.

Jordan: Okay, back up.

Jb: We're waiting to see

if any portion of the cornea
turns green.

That'll indicate to us
that there's an ulcer.

Hans: I don't see
anything bright.

I think I'm pretty happy

saying that he doesn't
have an ulcer there.

Jb: Okay.

So, what do you think?
Some kind of seasonal allergy?

Hans: Yeah, seasonal,
it's related to pollen

that's actually staying
in his eye.

Jb: The pollen is
really heavy right now.

So thankfully c'sar
doesn't have an ulcer,

so we are going to chalk up
most of this irritation

and inflammation
just to, like, hay fever.

Hans: So just flushing that out
a couple times a day

to decrease the amount of pollen

that's actually
staying in his eye.

Nancy: So, like, if we do, like,
a morning rinse and a pm rinse

until we start really
seeing a decrease,

and then maybe
just switch to am?

Jb: Sounds like a plan.

Nancy: Perfect, thank you, guys.
Hans: Thank you.

Nancy: Thanks for
making the trip out.

Jb: That's all I got.
Hans: Anytime.

Jordan: Good boy.

Nancy: It's really important
to respect your elders,

whether it's an elephant
or a grandparent.

I love c'sar, so if it's gonna
make his life easier

if I wash his eye out every day,
that's what I'm going to do

to make sure that
he stays healthy.

Jb: Okay, guys, thank you.

Jordan: Thank you, guys, bye.

(grunt)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(birds chirping)

cat: Alright, bats, I'm just
gonna change your blood out.

It's always fun to come down
and feed the bats.

One of our female bats,
silver-blue,

is expected to give birth
any day now,

so I keep walking in
expecting to see baby bats.

I'll get my light out in just
a second and check on everybody.

A couple bats up here.

Okay, these bats seem
very excited.

(squeaking)

alright, ladies.

So, let's see if
we can find silver-blue.

Oh, well.

There she is.

Oh, no way!

(bats screeching)

cat: So let's see if
we can find silver-blue.

There she is.

Oh, no way!

And there is a little baby!

Keeper van spronsen,
I have a surprise for you.

Kim: What have we got?

Cat: We got twins.

Kim: We have twins?

Cat: There's twins.

Kim: No!

Cat: They're so cute.

Kim: This is super rare.

I've been here
for a number of years,

and we've never had twins,
so this is pretty exciting.

Cat: We've got two baby bats!

Kim: That's crazy.

Cat: That's why she was so big.

Kim: Two new babies
in the colony,

that's even better than one!

Cat: Yes.

Kim: We have a lot
of older vampire bats,

so this is two new pups
to add to the population.

We really get excited about it,
because we want to increase

kind of the genetic diversity
of our colony.

How's mom doing?

Cat: She's got one
nursing right there,

and then the second one
is hanging on the ceiling

right above her.

Kim: We have to keep
an eye on that one

and make sure it's getting fed.

She's probably capable
of nursing two pups,

but it's so new to us

that we really don't know
what to expect.

Silver-blue is a rock star mom,

so we have to come up with
a cool female rocker.

Cat: Bat benatar!

Kim: Bat benatar!
(laughter)

bat benatar is amazing!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

jodi: Alright, so I was thinking
about hanging some of these up

on our structure here.

Sarah: Oh, yeah.
Make them climb for it.

Jodi: We have two red ruffed
lemurs here, zee zee and gee.

They are very well bonded,

they've spent pretty much spent
their entire life together.

Sarah: It's kinda like
a scavenger hunt.

Jodi: It is, it is.

Today what we're using is
what's called a suet feeder.

We can hang it
from different heights,

so that encourages
the lemurs to climb

and actually search
for their food.

Sarah: Okay, I have one more.

Jodi: You're a little taller
than me, can you reach up there?

Sarah: Got it.

Jodi: Alright, you ready?
Sarah: Yeah.

Jodi: Gee gee, zee zee!

Sarah: I love working
with red ruffed lemurs,

but they are not high up
on that intelligence scale

as apes or monkeys.

Jodi: Look at zee, she's just
laying down, relaxing.

Sarah: Yeah, she's melted.

Jodi: Sometimes they're not
super motivated.

Gee gee, zee zee!

Sarah: We hung up some stuff
for you, you have to find it.

(screeching)

when they vocalize, it kinda
sounds like a screaming demon.

(screeching)

you got to work for it. Sorry!

Jodi: Oh, there she goes!

Sarah: There you go.

Get it, zee, what's in there?

Jodi: Lemurs love fruit.

It's kind of like
their chocolate.

Oh, you got it.

Sarah: Good job.
Jodi: She just got a raisin.

Jodi: Gee is really using
a lot of muscle strength

hanging upside down
trying to get his treats.

It's really important
to simulate

natural foraging behavior,

just to keep the animals
mentally stimulated

as well as physically.

Sarah: Good job!

Jodi: This is exactly what
we would see in the wild.

Alright, well, I think
this was a success.

Sarah: Good job, you guys!

(snoring)

heather: I am on my way
to work with nori,

our chimpanzee who has epilepsy.

We have been trying
a variety of medications

to keep her seizures
under control.

A lot of these dr*gs can be
very hard on the liver.

So today we're pulling blood
to make sure

that she's staying safe
while she's on these dr*gs.

Jenni: It is a very big day.

We're gonna be getting a blood
sample from nori, voluntarily,

but nobody likes getting
stuck with needles,

so we have to have a reward
just to keep her happy.

I'm a little bit nervous
that she won't participate.

She's been giving us the cold
shoulder for the last hour.

I really hope
she plays ball today.

Heather: Hello.

I have peppermints if you're
good and don't spit, okay?

It's not normal for
a chimp to sit there

and let you poke them
with a needle,

but jenni built a really
strong trust with nori

to let us do this.

Good to go?

Jenni: Yeah.
Heather: Cool.

Jenni: Hi, kiddo.

Heather: Hi!

Jenni: Are you ready
to do some work?

Heather: What's up, girly girl?

Jenni: Where's your face?

Right there!

Good job!

Heather: It's really important
for nori to stay calm

and hold still while
we're doing the blood draw,

because we do have
a sharp needle in her arm.

Jenni: I'm ready.
Heather: Okay.

Jenni: You want to
hold hands, girly?

Heather: If nori made
any sudden movements,

that sharp end of the needle

could actually
cut her arm muscle.

Jenni: Good,
get the elbow up here.

Heather we want her
to hold real still.

Jenni: Come closer. Good girl.

(shrieking)

jenni: I'm ready.
Heather: Okay.

Heather: It's really important
for nori to stay calm

while we're doing
the blood draw.

Jenni: Get the elbow up here.

Heather: If nori made
any sudden movements,

that sharp end of the needle
could cut her arm muscle.

We want her to hold real still.

Jenni: Normally
nori is a rock star,

but there are times
that she's not willing.

I'm really hoping
nori cooperates today.

Get the elbow.

Good. Come closer.

Good girl!

I'm focused on
giving her the treats.

It's a little bit
of a distraction.

Heather: Alright,
little stick in here.

Jenni: Hold it.

Heather: Perfect positioning.

Jenni: Hold.

Heather: I've got the needle in,
now I just need nori

to hold long enough
to get the sample that I need.

Jenni: Hold.

Thank goodness, it's happening.

Good job.

Heather: Oh, that's my girl!

Jenni: You're so good!

Heather: She did amazing.

Look at all that blood.

Jenni: I couldn't have asked
for a better blood draw.

I'm really proud of her!

Heather: I think you deserve
two peppermints.

So good!

Jenni: We just hope that nori's
blood work comes back clear.

You never know
with the medication

how it's gonna affect her.

I'm really hoping for the best.

Heather: All done.

Bye, nori.

(jenni laughs)

kim: So, I'm off to go
check up on the ocelots

and give them
their morning diet.

And then I'm going
to service the habitat

and give them some enrichment.

We have two ocelots, and
their names are inca and diego.

They are typically found through
central and south america.

And they're very, very shy.

Diego probably won't come out
while anyone's in here.

Diego is a typical ocelot.

If he was a person, he'd be
the introvert of the party,

he'd be the one that's just
kind of sitting by himself.

Alright, inca,
there's your breakfast.

Inca is way more outgoing.

She is always interested in
what the keepers are doing

and what we have for her.

If you come to the zoo
and there is one ocelot out,

it's most likely her.

Because ocelots are
so shy by nature,

getting them out on habitat
can kind of be a challenge.

So we try to make the habitat

smell like their
natural environment.

I'm putting out some
enrichment for them.

This is spray catnip,
I'm putting it on this ball.

Hopefully they'll play with it.

Also, I've got some
imitation strawberry extract,

and the best is boar urine.

The boar urine is really smelly.

This is
the worst-smelling stuff,

but as long as they like it,
it's their habitat.

Oh, my gosh.

It's like a scented candle
at your house.

But instead of being lavender
or vanilla, it's boar urine.

You ready, pumpkin?

You wanna go out?

Let's go.

Inca, come here!

(clicks tongue)

inca, come here!

Come on!

Here she comes.

I can see her smelling around,

she smells that there's
different scents out there.

She's got her head
up in the air.

I love these ocelots,
they're really fun to work with.

And this is their home,
so we do what we can

to make them as comfortable
as possible.

There she is. (rings bell)

good girl!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

woman on radio:
Zoo comm to all units,

a severe thunderstorm is
approaching the zoo.

All personnel are advised
to take shelter immediately.

Man: Hurry up, let's go,
let's go, let's go.

Kelly: Today it's a little bit
wet since it's raining outside,

and so it's a great day
to provide enrichment

in the inside part
of the barn for amelia.

Now that amelia is officially
cleared of quarantine,

we want amelia to have access to
the habitat as soon as possible,

but we want to make sure that
she knows how to get food.

We're gonna attempt to use this
really cool dumbbell device.

When we lower this down for her,

I'm hoping that
she goes right to it.

This blue feeding barrel
is really new to her,

and so she may not actually
know how to interact with it.

Good morning, little babe.
How you doing?

Are you ready for something?

Watch your head, babe.

She's pretty suspicious
about it, because it's new.

She's staring hardcore at it.

What is it, babe?

You got lots of goodies.

You got to figure it out.

Oh, oh, watch out!

It's moving around and
starting to spin on her.

It could be windy,

so if the branches are moving,
this kind of simulates that.

So she's gonna have to
figure out how to move with it.

Good girl.

What is that?

She's pulling out some pieces.

She's taking her first bites.

Yeah, you like that!

This is exactly
what we want to see,

she's super comfortable
with it already.

This is really good for amelia.

Coming to a new zoo is
a big change for a giraffe,

so these special moments
with amelia

really help to build
her confidence.

We're all quite proud of her!

We really can't wait to finally
get amelia out on habitat

and to meet her new family.

♪ ♪

woman: Feeding time.
There you go.

(grumbling)

(crunch)

(tweet)
sally: Oh, so good.

(barking)

melissa: Get your mouth ready.

Audrey: Good job!

♪ ♪

heather: Today I'm gonna be
meeting up with jenni

and going over all
of the blood work results

that we've collected on nori.

Jenni has been with nori
since she was born.

So, they have
a very strong relationship.

Jenni: How's my girl?

You look very pretty today.

I worry about nori all the time.

I hope that the blood tests show
that she's not having

any adverse reaction to
being on this medication,

that she still has
healthy liver function.

So, have you heard anything
about nori's blood work yet?

Heather: So, yeah,
her drug levels came back and...

Jenni: So, have you
heard anything

about nori's blood work yet?

Heather: So, yeah,
her drug levels came back

and it all looks great.

Her liver levels are normal,

so she's doing
really good with that.

Jenni: John's back.

Heather: Ohh, hi handsome.

Jenni: Honestly, since she
started the new medication,

she is so alert and playful,
she's doing great.

Heather: Good.

Jenni: It's been a nice, long
stretch of seizure-free.

Heather:
So everything looks good.

Keepers care a lot
about our animals.

They spend all day,
every day with them,

making sure that they have
the best lives possible,

so we like being able
to give them good news.

What are you doing?

(laughs)

jenni: I feel a lot better
about her now,

that she's under control.

The last days
have been seizure-free.

I just love nori so much,

so we're just gonna keep giving
her the best possible care,

keep a close eye on her.

Even though she's
nine years old,

she will always be my baby.

Jb: I'm currently heading down
to the bat cave.

I got a call from kim
a little while ago,

one of our female vampire bats
just gave birth to twins.

She thinks there's a hernia,
and she wants to make sure

that it's not going to affect
that mother raising the twins.

Hey, kim, how you doing?

Kim: Hey, good, how are you?

Jb: Good.

Kim: So I'm looking
at bat benatar.

(laughs)
we're sticking with the theme.

Jb: Bat benatar, I like it.

Kim: Bat benatar gave birth
to the twins a couple days ago,

and we're a little concerned

about the protruding lump
in her belly.

So she's behind the one
that's grooming right now, but.

So it looks like mom
has one pup on her now.

We're concerned that the hernia
has maybe not only affected

her ability to take care
of the twins,

but also her ability
to take care of herself.

Jb: Let's take
a quick peek at her.

Mom looks like she has a hernia.

(chirping)

but it's not so serious
that I'm worried about her,

and she's nursing that pup,

so we don't want to go in there
and disturb that.

Mom seems to be
doing really well,

she's nursing that pup,
so they've got a good bond,

so she appears healthy.

So, kim, I can see one pup,
where is the other one?

Kim: You're gonna love it.

Jb: Can you point?

Kim: One of her pups went
with a different mom.

Jb: Oh, I see it.

Another bat came along and said,

"okay, I'll take care
of her for you."

kim: It seems like the pup
that's fostering is doing great,

she's nursing
and, and is still alive.

Jb: So that's pretty exciting
that both of them

are still doing
as well as they are.

Kim: This is kind of an example
of it takes a village

to raise a child,
and humans are like that, too.

I mean, if we need to go do
something, we get babysitters,

and we get relatives and stuff

to help us out
with our children,

so vampire bats are
kind of like that.

Jb: This is great news,
we've have two healthy pups

on the ground, and they're
both being taken care of.

If everything goes well,

I mean, hopefully we'll
just come back down here

and there'll be baby bats
flying around at some point.

Kim: Yep.

Jb: Okay, kim,
you have a good one, okay?

Kim: You, too.

Jb: Vampire bats display traits
that all of us

can really learn from,
and that's helping one another,

and that's something
we strive to do every day.

It doesn't matter who you are.

Is that a mom that
needs a helping hand?

Is that an older animal
that potentially needs

a little bit of extra care?

Jordan: Good boy, baba.

Jb: Or a new arrival that
just needs to settle

into its new home?

We will always do our best here

so that every animal
under our care

will live its life
to the fullest.

Robert: This is a special day
here at the zoo.

Our newest giraffe amelia
will be joining the herd.

Everybody needs to give her a
special north carolina welcome.

Kelly: Amelia,
are you ready for your day?

This is gonna be amelia's first
time out on habitat today,

and so she's gonna experience
a whole new area

that she's never been in.

You're going to have
so much fun outside.

A whole new space.

Good job, babe.

Think we are ready to go.

Moving any animal from
one facility to another

is a big change
in that individual's life,

and so it's our job
once they arrive

to make sure that everything
is as stress-free as possible.

So, as keepers we have put in a
lot of work and a lot of effort

to get to where
we are right now.

She just bounded right out.

Looks like she's actually now
out on the habitat,

out in the bright sunshine.

She's pretty excited.

Now we're gonna let the rest
of the herd go out.

Good job.

Easy.

So all the giraffe are
now out on the habitat.

Well, it looks like
she's taking the lead.

This is great, she is such
a brave little girl.

I don't think this could
have gone any better.

She walked out of the gate
all on her own,

and she's comfortable enough
out here already

that she's eating the browse.

As a keeper, this is everything
that we want to see.

It's like a proud mama moment.

She has molded into
our family perfectly.

She loves the keepers,
she loves the other giraffes.

I think she's really liking
her new home and her new family.