01x08 - North Carolina: Running Otter Time

[bunniefuu]

(trumpets)

♪ ♪

jodi: Good boy.

Kelly: So good.

(trumpets)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

child: Do you see it?
Child: Yeah, look.

Child: Look how big
his claws are!

Child: They're long.

Alexis: I'm getting tommo's
training buckets ready.

Tommo is what you'd call
a geriatric grizzly bear.

He's an old man,
he's years old.

For a grizzly, you know,

they can live into
their mid to late s.

Every summer tommo
will shed out his coat,

a lot of guests actually think
that we shave him.

He'll grow that
right back in, in the fall

and have a big, thick,
beautiful coat.

He was born in the wilds,

became what you would call
a nuisance bear.

Got into some trouble,
getting too close to people.

So, the north carolina zoo
offered him a home,

and he's the most
wonderful bear.

(laughs)

tommo's nails are
getting pretty long,

so just to help him out we're
going to try to trim those.

Child: He's talking a shower.

Alexis: A younger bear would be
walking around and climbing

a little more than he is, and
that helps wear down the nails.

He's very motivated by food,

especially his
all-time favorite: Honey.

(laughs)

alright, let's go train a bear.

He might be a little nervous
about his nail trims.

Man: We'll see.

Alexis: Tommo! Over here, bud!

Tommo has a great personality.

He's a very relaxed bear.

He might not want to come over
and participate.

It's really, really hot today.

He sleeps a lot more
than he used to.

He definitely spends a lot
of time laying in the pool.

Grizzlies love to swim.

Tommo! Tommo!

Right here, bud.

Tommo!

There you go! Alright.

He can probably
smell the treats,

he's got a pretty good
sense of smell, so he knows.

Hi, tommo, you ready
for a big day?

We're going to trim those nails.
What do you think?

You ready to go?

If they get too long, it could
cause problems in his foot,

so we want to make sure
they stay trimmed

to where they're not
going to irritate him.

First I'm just going to ask him
for a few basic behaviors,

just to make sure
he's feeling good

and willing
to participate today.

Tommo, up!

(tweet)

when he does what I ask...

Good job! Got it?

...I will bridge
with my whistle,

and that tells him that
he did the right thing,

and then I reinforce him
with a treat.

Foot.

Open.

Tommo, paw. (tweet)

because bears can be
very dangerous,

I want to make sure that
he's relaxed and comfortable.

So we actually have some
clippers that we use.

Do you want to step up?

Good.

It's not painful for him,
but it can be a little like,

hey, what are you doing,
you know.

We just want to make sure
he's not alarmed

or scared or anything.

Awesome, buddy.

Good.

Little bit like
a manicure for a bear.

That's a good bear,
look at those nails!

Much better.

Man: Looks good.

Alexis: Alright, bud, all done.

You did awesome, tommo.

Now you got
the best-looking nails.

I'd say he's willing to do
a lot of things for honey,

I don't know about
anything, but.

Roll over.

(tweet) good job!

(laughs)

tommo did great and he got
a lot of honey in the end,

so I think it was worth it.

Robert: Folks, here at the zoo,
our wildlife rehab center

takes in sick
and injured animals.

We nurse them back to health

and then we release them
into the wild when we can.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

adrien: I'm hiding fish.

Katie: Ok. They'll have
a good time with that.

Adrien: I think so.

We have two rescued
north american river otters.

Katie: We're going to take
part of their meals

and hide it
throughout the habitat.

It's kind of like
a scavenger hunt,

to kind of keep
their minds thinking,

so this is a way to replicate

what they'd be doing
in the wild.

Alright, release the weasels.

Bono is our older gentleman,
he's a little more laidback.

Hannah is a little bit younger,
she's about ,

and she's very boisterous,
she's very active.

There he goes!

Adrien: There you go, buddy.

Katie: Hannah and bono,
they were both wild orphans.

As young pups they became
too habituated to humans,

so that's how they came
into the zoo world.

But we do rehabilitate
wild otters here on site

and release them
back into the wild.

Halley: What time is it?
Do we have to feed otters?

Taylor: Yes.

Halley: How have they all been?

Taylor: They've all
been eating well.

The wildlife
rehabilitation center

takes in injured and orphaned
native wildlife.

Halley: This year
we are rehabilitating

four orphaned
north american river otter pups.

The otters are between
and weeks.

They didn't have their parents
to raise them.

If they hadn't been rescued,

they most likely
wouldn't have survived.

Taylor: When these four otters
first came in,

they were still on
a formula-based diet,

so we were working on
transitioning them

onto a whole fish diet.

Halley: Hopefully
they'll want to eat.

You all set?

Taylor: All set.

Halley: Ok.

(squeaking)

♪ ♪

taylor: They are afraid of us,
so that is good.

Halley: Hiding from humans
is the most important part

of being a wild otter.

Our goal for these otters is to
release them back into the wild.

But the more human interaction
they have,

the less wild they'll be.

Has anybody poked out
their heads yet?

Are we behind the box?

We're all behind the box.

We don't want them
to unlearn how to be wild.

(squeaking)

so we really need to make sure
that they don't habituate to us

or else they're gonna be
non-releasable.

Their greatest chance
of survival long term

is to learn to otter
from each other.

The older otters can really help
the younger otter, otter better.

That was awesome.

These otters are
otterly adorable.

Everybody says they've
got boopable noses.

I would never boop an otter's
nose, 'cause I like my fingers.

Ideally all the animals
we release

have no negative impacts
to being in human care.

They're doing pretty well,
don't you think?

Taylor: They are.

Halley: I think we can start
planning the next step,

offering them some live fish.

Taylor: I'm just so excited
for them to go back to the wild.

Halley: Next steps,
fish school .

(squeak)

♪ ♪

(hiss)

♪ ♪

(hiss)

♪ ♪

dustin: Last night I got a call

that we have seven confiscated
pythons coming to us,

which was definitely a surprise.

But as a zoo, we want to help
every animal that we can.

Anytime that we have the chance
to offer our resources,

our expertise, whatever they
need, we'll take care of it,

just because of
our love for animals.

Oh, there's a box turtle
in the road right over there,

let's go check it out.

The box turtle decided to cross
at the turtle crossing sign.

Got a little female box turtle

that we want to make sure
that it doesn't get hit.

So I'll help it get
across the road.

Got to help everybody!

These pythons were confiscated

because they were kept
in poor conditions,

and that's all we really know.

So I'm on my way to
the vet hospital right now

so we can do a health exam
on these guys.

Jb: Hmm. Smells like
snake musk in here.

Turn that into a nice perfume.

Woman: Mmm.

Jb: It's going to be
an interesting day.

We have seven pythons.

Let's get a weight on them,
let's get a measurement,

and then just
a good physical exam.

Make sure no one gets hurt.

And when dustin gets here,
and obviously he's always late,

we'll get started. Um...

Heather: Did you hear that?

Dustin: Did you say
something about me?

Jb: I said you're
always late. Ok.

Dustin: Let's do it.

All of these snakes came
from a private individual.

He may have been a breeder.

And a lot of individuals that
breed these animals are doing it

to get different color
variations or color morphs.

Anytime I hear
the word confiscation,

my heart kind of skips a b*at,

because we never know
what to expect.

We don't know if these guys
have diseases;

we want to make sure
those diseases

don't get to the rest
of our zoo animals.

Ok, this is the burmese python.

(hiss)

jb: This is one of
the medium-size ones.

, foot.

Dustin: These guys can be
very dangerous.

Even a python of feet long
can still k*ll a person,

just by their strength and their
ability to constrict their prey.

Alright, buddy.

Let's see if we can do this
without biting me, please.

Every snake has
its own personality,

so we don't know what to expect

until we have the animals
in hand.

Jb: He's looking
to hurt somebody.

(hiss)

dustin: Agh!
Heather: Oh, gosh!

Dustin: Musk in the face. Agghh!

Jb: We have seven
confiscated pythons.

It's important that we make sure
they're all healthy.

Dustin: Alright, buddy.

Let's see if we can do this
without you biting me, please.

This burm is really defensive.

Ahh! Musk in the face!

Heather: Oh, gosh.

Dustin: It's not wanting
to be handled right now.

Now it's got a good grip
on my arm.

Jb: No, no.

Dustin: Ahh! Ah, man you can
feel how strong she is.

Jb: Got it!

Dustin: There we go.
Jb: Stinky.

Dustin: I don't know if that's
me or the snake now after that.

He sprayed me right
on the side of my face.

Most snakes have
a great defensive mechanism

of using snake musk,
the smell is pungent.

Think of rotten gym shoes

that have been in a locker
for a really long time.

That's not one of the more fun
parts of the job.

The plan today is to do
an overall health assessment.

We want to see if they have
any parasites.

We're gonna look at their
overall body condition,

and the vets will be able
to take blood.

Jb: A little on the skinny side.

Dustin: Yeah.

Their patterns do not look
much of anything like this

normally in the wild;

and this was selectively bred
to have a more unique pattern.

Are you petting it?

Heather: Just giving it
a massage,

it's had a stressful day.

Dustin: Anytime anybody
takes an animal on,

you owe it every bit of care
that you can provide.

I always tell people that if
they want to have a pet reptile,

to do a lot of research.

They can live
to be , years old.

Jb: You don't think
everybody should have

a -foot reticulated python
in their house?

Dustin: No.

(laughter)

we'll see what other
surprises we get.

(hissing)

♪ ♪

(hissing)

so this is definitely
a more normal pattern

for reticulated pythons.

Saddle pattern with the gold
that goes around it.

Heather: Got a pretty good
lesion back here.

Jb: This one went pretty deep
into the muscle.

I wouldn't rule out
thermal burn,

if they had a heat source
that was kept too close.

Let's take a look at its mouth.

Dustin:
They are not venomous species,

ah, but they have
over a hundred teeth.

All of those are sharp,
and they're curved backwards.

Jb: Oh! Dustin.

Dustin: Oh, sorry.

Jb: You've got one job here,

and that's to make sure
I don't get bit.

Dustin: And you haven't
got bit yet.

Heather: Please don't get bit,
that's a lot of paperwork.

(laughter)

dustin: These snakes
should be in better shape,

definitely could have been
kept in better condition.

Jb: The hope for these pythons

is that we're gonna get them
to the point

where we think they're
well enough to be shipped out.

Dustin: Alright, so we've got

a much, much smaller one
for you guys.

Jb: We do not want seven large
constrictors here at the zoo,

so I know dustin's
gonna truly be looking

to find these guys a home.

Dustin: He's got
some injuries to his face.

Jb: It looks like some type
of probably bacterial infection.

Dustin: Yeah, I'm annoyed
with this situation.

These snakes are barely
hanging on to life.

That really hurts to see that.

This one's calm, no musk yet.

Heather: Give it time.

Dustin: This one's
a little bit skinny.

But they're in a position

where we know we can
help them recover,

but it's gonna take us
some time to fix this.

This one's an albino.

It's a little
on the skinny side,

and it does have mites.

Jb: Yeah, for sure.

Dustin: There's some
physically moving.

Jb: All these little
black dots are mites.

Heather: I'm going home
and showering at lunch.

Dustin: Mites are a parasite.

It feeds off the skin
and the blood.

It can cause internal problems,

but also it can transfer
disease across snakes.

Jb: She hasn't picked
her head up,

she's not looking,
she's not smelling.

She's not flicking her tongue.

She doesn't seem to be
interested at all.

Dustin: The albino, this is the
one we're most concerned with.

Ready for another one?

Amy: Which one is this?

Dustin: The biggest one.

Amy: Saved the best for last.

Dustin: We don't know
what to expect,

we have to be ready
for anything.

♪ ♪

heather: So it begins.

Jb: Ok, got her?

Dustin: Yep.
Jb: Ok.

It is big.

It's -plus foot,
it's a lot of snake.

Dustin: Come on!

This is one of the biggest
pythons I've ever seen.

♪ ♪

heather: This snake
is a lot stronger

than all of us put together,
honestly.

Dustin: It is literally
all muscle from tip to tip.

Jb: People have been k*lled
by pythons.

If that big one were
to constrict around you

and squeeze you, you're going
to suffocate to death.

Ok, let's get this exam
done quickly.

What we're noticing
right off the bat

is she's loaded with mites.

Dustin: Alright, are you good?

Jb: Got the blood.

This is the last thing
we're going to be doing.

Dustin: She doesn't want to be
on this table right now.

Jb: Oh! And she let go.

I mean, our snake here
gave us a fecal sample.

Heather: Oh, that was a nugget.

Jb: Ok, we are now done.

Dustin: Guys, I need
a little help over here!

Ugh!

Jb: Where's she at?

Dustin: Umm, all around my body.

Jb: Oh, oh.
Dustin: Argh!

(clang)

heather: Don't move, dustin.

Dustin: Argh!

Jb: We're getting there.

Push her a little bit harder.

Come on, get it, get it!

Dustin: There you go,
right there.

Jb: Ok. Ok.

I know none of y'all
went to the gym today.

(laughs)

dustin: It's a lot more fun
than going to the gym.

It's a better workout, too.

Heather: Yeah, work muscles
you never knew you had.

Dustin: Yeah, right!

Over the years I've seen
lots of confiscated animals

come into the zoo,

because the person wasn't
taking care of it correctly.

Our goal is to make sure
that all of these animals

are healthy enough
to go to a new home.

The first thing, though,
we're going to do

is treat those mites.

♪ ♪

(barking)

♪ ♪

(growling)

♪ ♪

April: Terra?

This is terra.

She is an animal ambassador
here at the zoo.

Good girl.
Now go in your crate.

(owl hoots)

good job!

It is so important
for the public

to get to meet
animals like terra.

Alright, terra.

So that they can understand owls

and want to protect
those species.

They play a pretty big part
in our ecosystem

with controlling
rodent populations.

Almost show time.

Hey, guys. This is terra.
She is a barred owl.

She's named after the stripes
on her feathers,

they look like bars.

Child: She's beautiful.

April: She is very pretty.

We've had her
almost years now.

She came into
our rehab center on site.

Terra couldn't go
back into the wild

because she had
some severe eye damage.

She was flying into things.

But she's such a great animal
for our education program.

She gets paid in mouse parts!

(laughter)

good job, terra.

You want a mouse head?

(chirps)

(laughs)

♪ ♪

robert: Folks, we're coming up
on our huge elephant habitat.

Woman: Look, you can see them
through the trees, guys. Look.

Child: Oh, yeah!

Robert: Every one of them
is quite the character.

We have the young bull artie.

He is so full of himself
at times.

He can be a little clumsy;
he basically has two left feet.

(trumpeting)

nancy: Artie boy!

What you doing, big guy?

You look good.
So handsome!

Artie is a -year-old
male african elephant.

I have a giant bucket
of bananas

and some apples, some carrots.

(snorts)

yeah!

Artie definitely knows that I'm
kind of like the ice cream man,

I'm going to bring a bunch
of good stuff with me.

There you go, big guy.

Artie is a giant doofus,
and I relate to that,

because I am also
a giant doofus.

But we think that while
he was being a goofball

out here on the habitat,

he kicked his foot
against something hard.

Did you hurt your foot? Yes.

Is it 'cause you're a doofus?
Yeah.

Good boy,
that's a good handsome man.

Elephant feet
are really important.

They are on their feet
constantly throughout the day,

and artie, being our largest
elephant, , pounds,

that's a lot of weight
to put on his feet.

What we're gonna do now,

we'll actually bring him
down to the barn

so that we can get
a closer look at him.

Artie! Come!

Artie's going through musth
right now.

Hi there, bubba.

How's your day?

And what that is,
is when male elephants

have a lot of testosterone
build up,

and that's kind of when we see

a lot of these
show-off behaviors.

So we see him spar
with different rocks and trees,

and at some point,
while he was doing this,

he actually cracked a toenail.

Handsome bubba boy!

The problem with this cr*ck

is that his nail bed
is actually exposed,

so the biggest concern here

is that he doesn't get
an abscess in that toenail.

That would be
our worst-case scenario.

Because that abscess can
actually go up into their leg

and cause a lot of other issues.

It can be very dangerous
if we let this go.

We could even see him go lame.

So, a good goal for today

is to take some of that
extra tissue out,

maybe file down the nail
just a little bit.

(snorting)

jordan: Working with all
of our elephants,

you really have to know a lot

about each of them
each as individuals.

One elephant may be ok
standing still for five minutes,

while another elephant's not.

My job today is
making sure that artie

is calm and comfortable with
everything that we're doing.

But also safety,

so making sure that his trunk
is down here with me,

and that it's not
fiddling around with nancy,

trying to knock any tools
or, you know, move her away

or anything like that.

Nancy: Anytime you're working
with an elephant

it can be dangerous;

they're very strong,
they're very large.

That's why it's so important

that we build
a trusting relationship.

I'm ready.

Jordan: Foot.

Nancy: Where's your foot going?

We have issues
with our boy elephants

when they go through musth,

because they get
kind of confused

and they want to just
go see the females.

So there is a potential that he
might not want to do this.

Jordan: Foot.

(grumbling)

good boy!

Foot.

♪ ♪

(snort)

♪ ♪

nancy: Artie cracked a toenail.

It can be very dangerous
if we let this go.

So a good goal for today
is file down the nail.

Jordan: Foot.

(grumbling)

nancy: Artie's going
through musth right now,

he's got a lot of testosterone.

He might not want to do this.

Jordan: Foot.

Nancy: Where's your foot going?

(grumbling)

♪ ♪

good boy!

Alright, so it looks like
he's got some bits

that need to come off.

I want to make sure that
the actual toenail itself

is nice and smooth around here.

And I'm also taking out
some of this dead tissue

that can dry up
and cause some issues.

I'm trying to open
that up enough,

so that there aren't any pockets
where debris can get trapped

and then you can get that
infection starting to fester.

This procedure
might look painful,

but it's actually just like us
filing down our nails.

And so, because those nails
grow down rather than out,

we want to make sure that when
they're walking around,

they're actually walking
on the pad of their foot.

The pad acts
like our sneakers do,

so that if they step on rocks
or anything like that,

they can't feel it.

(groans)

as this tissue
continues to grow out,

we'll need to keep
trimming on it.

His nail grows really quick.

We're opening .

Hopefully this
is all gonna work out

and he'll be back
to full-speed artie soon.

Jordan: Yeah, that'd be great.

Foot.

Nancy: Our job is just
to keep it clean.

Good boy, bubba!

You are the gentlest of giants.

Artie did a great job.

We're gonna keep an eye on him

to make sure that we
don't see any issues.

Jordan: Artie, come.

Nancy: And hopefully we'll
get this all figured out.

Bubba boy!

You did so good, yes, you are
a brave, brave elephant!

This is definitely
a mani-pedi day,

a nice spa day for artie.

The only thing that's missing
are mimosas.

♪ ♪

(ribbit)

audrey: Hold.

Good girl.

♪ ♪

dustin: So how comfortable
are you handling snakes?

Kelsey: I'm pretty comfortable.

Dustin: Ok, well,
my routine with snakes.

I always give
a nice little tap on the head,

so he's backed
kind of into the corner,

and I would pull the body out.

Jb: You're not done yet?

Dustin: Don't you
have work to do?

Jb: Yeah, supervising you.

Another day in paradise!

(hiss)

today we are going to start
the mite treatment.

Not only are we going
to treat the snake,

but we're going to treat
the enclosures as well.

They're not always
on the animal.

For us to re-home these guys,

we're gonna have to get rid
of these mites.

We're applying the mite
treatment, it's a miticide.

Dustin: It's safe to put
directly on the reptiles,

and what we're going to do
is coat the animals,

and that will begin k*lling
the mites instantly.

Jb: Aw!
Dustin: Aw, there you go.

Kelsey: Lovely.

Jb: Oh, my god. Ugh.

Dustin: When was the last time
you got pooped on by a snake?

Jb: Oh, it hasn't been
that long ago.

(laughter)

dustin: Alright, so,
I think we're done

with this mite treatment.

Now we're going to feed them.

And we don't know when
they were even fed last.

I've had snakes in the past
that had mites,

and they didn't want
to eat at all.

So we're hoping that
these guys are healthy enough

to want to eat food.

I'm definitely worried.

They're in terrible condition.

♪ ♪

alright, buddy.

(hiss)

that's good, good response.

Their metabolism's
nothing like humans.

A large python in the wild

may only eat eight,
ten times a year.

(hiss)

our big snakes here
need large rabbits.

Jb: Thinking about it?

(hiss)

dustin: Yeah, I think she wants
something a lot bigger.

This snake can easily eat
a prey item

that's not only bigger
than its head,

but twice the size of
the biggest part of its body.

Everybody that we expected
to eat has already eaten.

So, we're on the right track,

but we have a little bit
of concern with the albino,

because it has lots of mites.

I think this one definitely
could use some weight.

Jb: Come on, you hungry?

♪ ♪

dustin: No significant response.

The albino is not wanting
to eat at all.

If they're unhealthy, they're
not going to want to eat.

Six out of the seven,

I mean, that's pretty good
for their first week here.

There's still
some concerns obviously

with this one
that does not want to eat.

Jb: They just got pulled out
of a really bad situation;

they got a long road before
they're back in a, a good place.

Dustin:
I think this is an animal

that we're going to be looking
at again a little more closely.

Our goal right now is to help
get them on the road to recovery

and find really good homes
for them.

Hopefully we finish up
this mite treatment

and get the albino eating.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(children screaming)

child: Right there.

Melissa: Hi, littlefoot!

(barking)

♪ ♪

sally: Hi, boys!
Come here.

Right here, good boy.

Good job.

Our two harbor seals
are half-brothers.

Their names are ronan and paco.

They are years old.

This is paco.

(whistle tweets)
good boy.

Paco, wave hi?

(tweet)
good.

Fish.

Ashley: Hey, would you
be able to come down

to arctic fox for a second?

Sally: Ah, can you give me
about minutes?

Ashley: Is there any way
that you could come right now?

Sally: Sure, I'm on my way.

Emergency calls don't
necessarily happen that often,

but we have to be prepared
for them just in case,

because you never know what
the day's gonna throw at you.

Ashley: When I came down
to check on our arctic foxes,

I noticed that rizzo
had a pretty severe limp.

Natalie: I don't see them
right now.

Ashley: I see kenickie,
but I do not see rizzo.

Sally: She's right here,
come up this way.

You see her right here,
she's on the rock?

Emma: So she's up there?

Natalie: Yeah.

Ashley: I really care about
rizzo, so I am pretty worried.

I'm just a little bit concerned
that it's a broken leg,

and she's holding it up,

but she's not putting
any weight on it.

Emma: And you just noticed this
this morning, right?

Ashley: Yeah.
Emma: Ok.

The only way to diagnose
what's causing the problem

is to get a closer look at her.

A broken leg can be
really life-threatening

and can be deadly for them.

Sally: Hi, stinky, come here.

(laughs)

natalie:
Arctic foxes are usually

a skittish and shy species.

So it is kind of hard to get
a good look at them up close.

Emma: They're both
sitting there.

Sally: He's not going
to come down.

Emma: These arctic foxes
are pretty smart;

they know that something's up.

When the vets interact
with the arctic foxes,

it's rarely for anything good.

Sally: There's just way too many
people around here.

Everybody, back off,
except for those two keepers,

and get her down with some food.

Ashley: I am ready
whenever you are.

(bell ringing)

rizzo! Rizzo!

♪ ♪

natalie: Here she comes.

Ashley: Oh, I see her, yup.

Yeah, she's barely touching it
on the ground.

Emma: What did you do,
sweetheart?

Ashley: When I came down
to check on our arctic foxes,

I noticed that rizzo
had a pretty severe limp.

I'm just a little bit concerned
that it's a broken leg.

Natalie: Here she comes.

Ashley: Yeah, she's barely
touching it on the ground.

I'm going to try
and get a video.

I can see that it's swollen.

Natalie: Hey, kenickie.

Hey, ashley, I think kenickie's
face is a little swollen.

Can you see it?

Ashley: Mm, I can see it.

Natalie: It's definitely
kind of on his left side.

Ashley: Ok.

Both of them have injuries.

Now that we've got
two foxes with issues,

it's more likely that there's
another reason behind it.

Emma: What did you do,
sweetheart?

I didn't notice that
from far away,

but he definitely has a swelling

right kind of
on his cheek right there.

I can see that rizzo's paw
is swollen

and the side of kenickie's face
is swollen.

Since both rizzo and kenickie
have areas of swelling,

probably not just
a coincidental injury.

Sally: She just saw me.

Ashley: Yeah, she's still
holding up that leg.

Emma: Oh, wow, yeah.

She's not using it at all.

So do they catch prey often
in this enclosure?

Ashley: Yes.

Natalie: Things get into
their habitat all the time.

Emma: Ok, that helps
narrow the possibilities.

Rizzo's leg injury probably
isn't just a broken leg,

they've probably been stung
or bitten by an animal

that's gotten
into their enclosure.

We'll have to put them
on anti-inflammatories

and really watch
those swellings closely,

make sure they
don't get any worse.

Natalie: Hopefully
the pain medication helps.

Ashley: Yeah, we really
love these guys.

Natalie and I feed kenickie and
rizzo almost every single day.

We do have that bond.

Hopefully, these guys
will recover pretty soon.

♪ ♪

jodi: There you go.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

kamisha: Alright.

Right now, I am getting the
baboon troop's breakfast ready.

We have baboons here,

and it's a very large,
complex troop.

We have lower-ranking
individuals

and higher-ranking individuals.

Tukio is the most dominant male
that we have,

and he kind of rules
the roost here.

The higher-ranking individuals
hoard the majority of the food,

so one of the ways that we help
the lower-ranking individuals

is distributing their diet out

either with feeders
or hiding it.

It's a lot of fun watching them

all come out of that door
over there all at once.

♪ ♪

they're done.

(growling)

♪ ♪

keeper carpenter
to keeper goldsten.

Goldsten: Go ahead.

Kamisha: The habitat is secure,
and you're good to let them out.

Tukio is probably going
to take some of the feeders

and keep them to himself.

Hopefully some of his females
will get one as well.

Here they come!

(screeching)

shannon: Zanzibar is first
out of the gate this morning.

♪ ♪

they're having to work hard.

Kamisha: I've really hid them,
like everywhere.

Shannon: I mean,
it really looks like it.

Kamisha: Oooh!

Amari got
the first b*llet feeder,

on top of that log.

Tukio is up on that big rock,

yelling at everybody
to stay away from him.

(growling)

I put a lot of biscuits
up there, so.

Shannon: Yeah.

Kamisha: It looks like
keema's found another one.

Shannon: Addis has some very
full cheek pouches right now.

My goodness!

Kamisha: Sweet boy.

(laughter)

shannon: Good job, kamisha.

Looks like they're getting
all of the food!

♪ ♪

halley: This is their
big graduation test.

Will they pass fish school?

Taylor:
That is to be determined.

Halley: So, today's
really important,

I am getting some live fish
for our otters.

Otters have to hunt and forage
to find their own food.

In the wild it's not served
to them on a platter.

This is not going to be
an easy challenge for them.

They have to hunt, and that
is what we're testing.

Taylor: You're testing
for yourself, too?

Halley: Umm, apparently so.
You're not helping.

Taylor: They're right there.

Halley: Thank you.

I got him, I got two!

There, I think
that's plenty for today.

I get real nervous
at each stage.

This is the first time they're
going to see a live fish.

They could absolutely not know
what to do with it.

Taylor: Alright, this is
their big graduation test!

(groaning)

halley: So, today's
a pivotal moment.

We're going to determine
if they have those skills

to survive on their own.

♪ ♪

(squeak)

I really, really hope
that they do this.

Oh, they're on the chase.

(squeaking)

there's one fish over here
on the right.

This is not
an easy obstacle course.

There's sunken trees in here,

it's very much a mimic
of the wild.

♪ ♪

(squeaking)

they don't care.

They haven't eaten them.

This is really important.

If they can't hunt,
then they can't be released.

♪ ♪

(squeaking)

halley: I am getting
some live fish for our otters.

If the otters can't catch fish,

then they won't survive
in the wild.

(squeaking)

I take a lot of personal
responsibility for their care.

These animals are relying on me.

If they fail, I failed them.

Easy does it.

You can see them
trying to find fish.

I think one caught one.

(squeaking)

ooh, one caught a crawfish.

He's got it.

Oh, got another fish caught.
Ooh hoo.

Did you see that?

That was awesome.

The otters are hunting.

(squeaking)

they're the only species
that's ok to be loud eaters.

(laughs)

we're seeing everything
we need to see.

I feel very relieved and pleased
with our otter students today.

You got to give them credit.

They do have a lot
of wild instincts.

♪ ♪

you missed it.

Taylor: What happened?
Did you fall in?

Halley: No, I didn't fall in!

All four of them caught it
and ate it and munched on it,

and it was awesome,
I'm not going to lie.

This is a huge milestone.

I feel very confident
within the next month

these guys will be
ready for release.

They're wild animals,
they belong in the wild.

Taylor: A+?

Halley: A+.
They've done otterly amazing!

(laughing)

(squeaking)

♪ ♪

(elephant trumpets)

(grumbling)

♪ ♪

(snort)

♪ ♪

nancy: Deb, we're ready
whenever you are.

Deb: You're good.

Nancy: Opening .

Deb: - .

Nancy: It's been a few months

since artie
has injured his foot,

so what we're gonna do is have
jb take a look at his nail

and make sure there's no issues.

Hopefully we can actually
take him off the rounds lists

and so jb doesn't have to come
back down here again.

Jb: It's like jurassic park
around here.

Nancy: I know, right.

Jb: Letting out
the velociraptor.

I'm hoping that everything's
healed up,

and I want to look at
the progress that nancy has made

on keeping it trimmed
and keeping it clean.

Deb: Good boy, artie!

Nancy: Moving at the speed
of an elephant.

(grumbling)

♪ ♪

deb: Foot!

Jb: Looks really good!

It's healthy-looking,
and it's growing out.

(nancy laughs)

there's really nothing to do,

just gonna have to watch it,
keep it clean.

We're going to take him
off my list.

Hopefully I won't have to
see him for a while.

Nancy: Alright, bye, buddy.

That's exactly
what I wanted to hear.

Artie is my favorite,
so I want to make sure

that he's getting
everything that he needs.

I just want him to be back
to his full goofy self

and not have to worry
about this nail cr*ck.

Jb: He's like, why does c'sar
get all the girls today?

Nancy: 'cause c'sar
is really the ladies' man.

Jb: True story.

Nancy: Artie just wants
to be friends.

Jb: He's friend-zoned.

Nancy: He's in the friend zone.

Jb: It's not affecting him
anymore, that nail.

Looks really good!

(trumpeting)

♪ ♪

(whooping)

(warbling)

♪ ♪

dustin, what's the plan
here, buddy?

Dustin: So, my goal today is
finish up this mite treatment,

see the overall health
of the albino,

checking to make sure
that every snake eats

and none of us get eaten.

(laughter)

kelsey: Oh, one of them's
actually out of the tub.

Jb: Look at that.

You can tell these snakes
just feel significantly better

than they did
when we first got them here.

They're much more alert,
she's come out to greet dustin.

Dustin: Nope, see, that's
not a rabbit, you're good.

Get this over here
so we're a little bit safer.

We'll go ahead
and get the albino first.

We definitely have some concerns
about this snake;

not only is it not eating,
it's not acting right.

Jb: Hopefully a lot of these
mites are going to be dead.

Dustin: Look at that, jb.

I don't see any mites at all.

Jb: Overall, they look
significantly better.

Dustin: Yeah.

Jb: What we're doing
is really helping them.

Dustin: The snakes have shed,

everybody's skin
looks really good.

Here's some shed skin.

These guys are not mammals,

so their skin does not grow
the same way mammals' do.

Jb: They're trying to shed
as frequently as possible

trying to get rid
of these mites.

Dustin:
It really is a good sign.

So, you can see
their mites are all dead

and they won't hurt
the animal anymore.

Jb: Now that she doesn't have
those mites on, she's like, ok.

Kelsey: I'm ready.

Jb: It's time to be fed now.

If this albino doesn't have
a feed response

after she sheds this skin off,
I will be concerned.

♪ ♪

dustin: I really, really
want her to eat.

Come on,
I've got dinner for you.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

dustin: We'll go ahead
and get the albino first.

We definitely have some concerns
about this snake.

Not only is it not eating,
it's not acting right.

Jb: If she doesn't have
a feed response,

after she sheds the skin off,
I will be concerned.

Dustin: I really, really
want her to eat.

Come on.

I've got dinner for you.

♪ ♪

come on!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

there we go!

The snake came out
and grabbed the rabbit,

coiled it up and ate it
pretty quickly,

so it's a good sign.

These snakes are looking
really good, everybody's eating.

I was really concerned,
so it's a huge relief.

There you go.

Heather: Looking fat and happy.

Dustin: These pythons
were confiscated

from terrible conditions.

That really hurts
to see that, you know.

We want to see every animal
survive and thrive.

Jb: I mean, the fact that we've
now gotten seven eating,

now it's just up to you
to find them a home.

Dustin: Well, about an hour ago
I got a call

from two different zoos that
are interested in the snakes.

Jb: That's great news.

♪ ♪

dustin: As a zoo we want to help
every animal that we can.

And once you take
that animal on,

you owe it everything
that you have.

Every animal deserves the right
to a healthy, stress-free life.

♪ ♪

natalie: We've been giving rizzo
and kenickie some pain meds

for the last few days.

And dr. Emma is going to see
how they're doing.

Ashley: Hopefully we should be
seeing some good improvement.

Natalie: We think that
the swelling is from a sting

or a bite from a local animal.

Whatever it was,
it looked pretty painful.

I'm still worried about them.

Ashley: You ready?
Natalie: Yep, I'm good.

(bell ringing)

ashley: Rizzo!

♪ ♪

good girl, rizzo.

Can you get a good look?

Emma: Yeah, I can see it's
still swollen a little bit.

But not too much,
and she's pretty good.

Ashley: It's a relief.

Natalie: Kenickie!

Ashley: He's like,
I'm hungry, I'll take some.

Natalie: Ah, look at you.
Good job, buddy.

Emma: Wow, his face
looks so much better.

Ashley: I really care
about rizzo and kenickie.

I enjoy seeing them
every single day,

so I'm definitely relieved
that it's not more serious.

Emma: Ok, great,
that's all I needed.

Based on how severe the swelling
was and how quickly it resolved,

they were probably
just bitten or stung

by a native animal
that entered their enclosure.

Foxes will be foxes, and it's
their natural instinct to hunt.

Hopefully they'll choose
less dangerous animals

to interact with in the future.

Natalie: Very true.

Rizzo and kenickie
will lick their wounds and heal,

but this zoo is nestled
in acres of woodland,

so we all have to learn
to coexist

with the wildlife around us.

♪ ♪

halley: All four otters
that we're about to release

are fish school graduates.

Top of their class, a+.

(squeaking)

so, how do you feel about
your first otter release?

Taylor: I'm really excited
for these guys

to get to go out there and be
in their natural habitat.

I've really enjoyed being able
to watch these otters grow up.

Halley: They're so heavy.

Taylor: They came in so small,
and they've grown so much.

I'm really hoping
that we made a difference

in these otters' lives.

Halley: Leave the crate
sitting for a second or two

so that they can look out.

It's a network of huge ponds,
well sourced with natural fish,

lots of places for them to go.

Alright, are we all ready?

Ok, door's going open.

♪ ♪

they're smart animals,
so they're

curiously investigating
their surroundings.

Go otters!

♪ ♪

these otters are on their own.
It's up to them!

(squeaking)

taylor: They're
in the lily pads playing.

Halley: Yeah. (laughs)

♪ ♪

we share this world
with other animals.

Whether it be an insect

or a bird

or an elephant,

it's our responsibility
and our duty as humans

to do better
by the animals around us.

(squeaking)

♪ ♪