All language subtitles for Secrets Of The Zoo Tampa s01e02 Bear Necessities.eng

(upbeat music)

♪ ♪

JASON (off screen):
All right, so we gotta

watch out for gators around here.

Spring is in the air,
and a great sign of that is,

you'll start hearing
the male gators bellowing

and we get to start
feeding them again.

Hi, everyone, welcome to our
American alligator feeding.

In Florida, we have
a very large population

of American alligators,
and they are protected.

Believe it or not, though,
these alligators haven't eaten

for the last four to five months.

During the winter months,
they actually do not eat.

Because of the colder temperatures,
they could actually

harm themselves
because the food won't digest.

It'll sit in their stomach
and potentially rot.

First feeding of the year,
so they should be pretty hungry.

We have trained them to learn
that if they line up

and stay in the water,
we will feed them,

and that training also comes in handy

if we need to do
any medical or wellness checks.

But these are large,
dangerous animals,

so hopefully, they remember
to stay in the water

and don't come out
and try and grab it.

All right!

Good job, gators.

See, they totally remember
what's going on.

SPENCER: (laughs)
Oops.

JASON: There he goes.
We're out of food.

Spring is in the air.
(laughs)

(bell rings)

DR. RAY (off screen):
It's springtime in Florida.

The whole veterinary team,
including myself,

we're looking for every opportunity
we can

to get outside of the clinic
and go see the animals.

The animals feel it too.
You can just sense it.

They feel something's in the air.

DR. LAUREN: This time of year
in Florida is absolutely stunning.

We're surrounded
by such beautiful wildlife:

amazing Florida panthers
or the beloved Florida manatee.

We also have
all these amazing babies,

whether it's zoo babies or wildlife.

And unfortunately, we end up
getting orphaned black bear cubs

that need our help.

♪ ♪

Right now, we're preparing
to receive a little black bear cub.

This is a young bear cub
that's been orphaned

around eight weeks old or so,

and it's being brought to us
by Florida Fish and Wildlife.

- DR. RAY: Oh, my God, he is a little guy.
- DARCY: He's really, really tiny.

DR. RAY: Oh, my gosh.
Oh, my gosh.

DARCY (off screen): We have
a research project in the area,

so we knew where the mom was

and we noticed that she wasn't
sitting on her den.

DR. LAUREN:
Oh, my gosh, he is so cute.

DR. RAY: That's the smallest one
we've had since I've been here.

DARCY (off screen):
It had been alone in the den,

going without food and water
for eight days,

crying for its mom.

DR. RAY: Come on in,
we'll check him out real quick.

(whimpering)

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Without intervention,

this baby bear
could be left to die,

so we're gonna give it
everything we've got.

DR. RAY: All right, kiddo,
let's just check you out.

Come on, kiddo.
There we go.

DR. LAUREN: Oh, he's so tiny.

DR. RAY: Pull that towel
out there too, please.

- DR. LAUREN: Yeah, absolutely.
- DR. RAY: Come on, buddy.

You guys did weigh him, you said, already?

- DARCY: Yeah.
- DR. RAY: Okay.

DARCY: He's at about four pounds.

DR. RAY: Oh, wow, okay.

Any bear cub less than 10 pounds
is a very high-risk animal,

so this guy being this small
is an exceptional risk.

Their odds of surviving are not good.

He is bony.

(whimpering)

DR. LAUREN: When's the last time
you tried to feed him?

- DARCY: Two hours ago.
- DR. LAUREN: Two hours ago?

Sometimes, we don't know
why mama bears

will not return back to a den.

Maybe the mother got hit by a car

or encountered some type of trauma
out in the wild.

In this case, it's really heartbreaking

that this cub is so young

and absolutely dependent on his mother,

so he really needs that milk,
and when the mom's not there,

that can have a really
sad outcome for him.

So this is a really unfortunate case.

DR. RAY: Let's just get him some fluids.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Mm-kay.

He's definitely emaciated,
so there's concerns

that he's getting dehydrated,

and then that can, you know,
subsequently lead to a lot of issues.

I am just gonna give him
a little, like 50 mils of saline.

DR. RAY: That's fine.
That's fine.

Just restore his hydration.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
They're so young.

The immune system's not fully developed.

This is such a precarious time for them.

(yelps)

DR. RAY: Ooh!
You're okay.

Let me know if you need anything.

-(cub yelps)
- DR. LAUREN (off screen): Oh, I'm sorry.

- DR. RAY: It's okay, bud.
-(screams)

- Lungs are healthy.
-(cub screaming)

DR. LAUREN: Oh, my word.
All done, all done.

(cub screams)

(cub cooing)

DR. RAY: Oh, there you go.
That's a nice little coo.

- DR. LAUREN: Yeah?
- DR. RAY: I like hearing that.

That's good.

He can't do anything
on his own just yet,

so he looks like he's gonna need
a little bottle for a while,

so it'll be kind of like daycare.

DR. LAUREN: Oh, my gosh, he's--
I'm just trying not to pet him.

He's so cute.

Everybody that participates
in rescue and rehab

wants the animals to remain
out in the wild.

That's the goal.
That's our mission.

There's this misconception
that as veterinarians,

all we do is cuddle
and pet things all day,

and while I wish
that were absolutely true,

and sometimes it is,
I can't pet this little bear,

I can't cuddle him and name him,

'cause it's just not
in his best interest.

DR. RAY (off screen):
I'm gonna take him home.

Every three or four hours
through the night,

I'll offer him a warm bottle
and see what his response is.

DR. LAUREN: Yep.
Yeah, sounds good.

DR. RAY (off screen): Right now,
I'm not thinking about his release.

I have to think about just--
just saving his life, first of all.

All right, you can go to sleep.

(cub moaning)

♪ ♪

ASHLEY (off screen): Hi, guys!
This is Pierce.

She's our African crested porcupine.

She's doing a little bit
of running around.

Now, I don't want you to worry
about her shooting her quills.

She cannot shoot the quills off her body.

MELINDA: I don't know who enjoys
the animal mingles more,

the animals or the guests.

ASHLEY: This is the same
kind of thing

that your hair and your fingernails
are made out of.

It's called keratin,
so it's just modified hair.

MELINDA (off screen):
This is an opportunity for the animals

to come out and play,

and people get that up close
and personal experience,

which is super cool.

NATASHA (off screen):
Is he tall, friends?

BO: Yeah, he is really tall.

NATASHA (off screen):
He's pretty tall.

MELINDA (off screen): Not all animals
are suitable for mingling with guests,

but the ones that are
we call animal ambassadors.

You ready to meet people?

And some of our animal ambassadors,

they truly are rock stars.

They're gonna love you.

Everybody loves you.

Hi, guys!

- SAMANTHA: Look at this animal.
- MELINDA: You want to check him out?

He's doing somersaults.

His name is Silvio,
and he's a little anteater.

So you see he's got these big claws,
that's for climbing.

Is he pretty cool?

SAMANTHA (off screen):
Very cool.

MELINDA (off screen): Silvio is
a southern vested tamandua,

so he's also known as a lesser anteater,

but there's nothing lesser about him,
he's just little.

See, it looks like
he's wearing a little vest.

WOMAN: (laughs)
Yeah.

MELINDA (off screen):
Silvio looks like a little teddy bear,

but he's not a teddy bear.

You can sit close, but don't touch, okay?

He's got really sharp claws,
and you see how he grabs with them?

He gets to really show people
what an anteater is all about.

They can eat about 9,000 ants a day, so.

JENNIFER: Wow!

MELINDA: Ants stick to his tongue,

and he sort of slurps up most of his food.

So I've been working with Silvio
since he arrived at the zoo in 2011

and he was just a tiny,
itty bitty, little baby,

and he's about eight years old now.

Come on, let's go over here.

Their life span,
maybe 10 to 12 on average,

so, so he's getting up there, for sure.

I love him.

I always call him my little heartbreaker

because if anything ever
were to happen to Silvio,

I know he's gonna break a lot
of hearts here at the zoo,

especially mine.

You're one of my best friends.

A stinky friend, but still, that's good.

(cub screams)

DR. RAY: I hear an angry baby.

RYAN: Oh, yeah, yeah.

(cub screams)

DR. RAY (off screen):
Good morning, little boy.

(screams)

- Okay.
-(cub screams)

RYAN: No, it's not okay.

- None of this is okay!
-(sneezes)

DR. RAY (off screen): Last night,
I was up all night with this little bear.

He was a fussy little fuzz ball.

He's much more active this morning.

He's vocalizing, yeah,
and he's a little fighter.

RYAN (off screen):
Four pounds, 3.6 ounces.

DR. RAY (off screen): We were very close
to losing this little bear cub.

He would have not survived
if not for the intervention

and the support that we gave him here.

- RYAN: Roar.
-(cub whines)

DR. RAY (off screen): My biggest concern
is that his stool sample

has got sand and thorns in it,
and those are problematic.

(moaning)

RYAN: Aw, this smells funny.

DR. RAY: He's gonna be squirmy.

Easy, easy, easy.

My guess is that once
the mom bear was gone,

this little cub was getting hungry.

He was actually starting to starve,
so he's grubbing, you know,

whatever he can ingest
in the bottom of that den.

A little guy this age,
he's not gonna be able to digest that.

His system is designed to digest milk.

Clear.

Immediately, I want to check on his belly.

So I want to work him up,

take X-rays,
and see what's really going on in there.

All right, you got him?
Can you keep him like this?

I'm gonna look at these real quick.

(cub howls)

RYAN: He's howling.

(cub howls)

DR. RAY (off screen):
Thorns are especially concerning to me,

because the sharp edges to them

could cause a lot of different trauma.

They could go from
puncturing his GI tract

to actually just scraping it,
and he could be bleeding.

DR. RAY (off screen):
This little cub is 4 pounds, and this

is absolutely the smallest cub
that we've ever managed here.

(cub whining)

I'm kind of concerned
that while he's in his den,

waiting for his mom to come back,
he gets hungry,

he's just gonna start to root around
and just consume little thorns.

So I just want to make sure
none of that's still lingering in him,

because that's--he's not adapted
to eat that kind of stuff yet.

Now, a lot of his intestines are
kind of bunched up on one side,

so that's a little unusual.

You know, he's got a lot of gas in there.

That's not surprising to me, for a baby.

That's what I would expect
from an animal getting formula.

So that's all encouraging.

There's nothing in there that concerns me.

I think he's in good shape.

Okay, kiddo.

You look good.

-(cub crying)
- I know, I know, I know, I know.

After this exam, I don't have any

obvious concerns about his health.

Now it's just, can I raise a wild bear?

-(cub crying)
- RYAN: Okay, time to put you back.

-(cub screams)
- I know, I know, I know.

(cub crying)

♪ ♪

ASHLEY (off screen):
For us in Team Africa,

springtime is a really exciting time.

It's almost like a delayed Christmas
for us,

because that's when
all of our little baby marabous

start to hatch out.

Marabou storks do very, very well
here at Zoo Tampa.

We have one of the highest
success rates of any zoo around.

We, as hands-off as we are,

will sometimes have to go
and handle those eggs,

just to make sure that everything
is going on okay inside,

and for us, that means
taking them out briefly,

doing a quick check on those eggs,

and putting them back
as soon as we possibly can.

Good job, mama.

-(bird shrieks)
- ALICIA: There you go.

ASHLEY (off screen):
For us as keepers,

prepping for the arrival of these babies

keeps us very, very busy.

Nice.

Will and Kate's eggs at this point
are two days late,

so that's a little weird.

Marabou storks are definitely
unsung heroes, in my opinion.

We have some folks that say
that our marabou storks are ugly.

I do not think that is true at all.

I think marabou storks are super cute.

I love that they're inquisitive
and that they're curious,

and just how cooperative they are
in the parenting process.

The male and the female take an equal part

in making sure those chicks
are raised to adults.

You ready for this?

- It's kind of a grody thing, but...
- WOMAN: Yeah.

ASHLEY (off screen): So the diet
that I'm prepping for right now

is a little gruesome,
but it is pretty important,

and what I'm doing right now
is basically just baby-proofing,

so making sure everything is
in nice, bite-size little pieces,

things that are very small
and easy to digest.

These are animals
that are primarily scavengers.

They're gonna be going after
any sort of leftovers

that are out on the savannas.

And we do baby them a little bit,

'cause obviously, out in Africa,
marabou storks are not getting

all the nice fish that we give them.

- ALICIA: Will and Kate are royalty, right?
- ASHLEY: That's right.

Well, with all these eggs floating around,

I'm really hoping that soon

we get those little hatchlings
into this world.

I can't wait for you to meet 'em.

Fingers crossed, everybody.

♪ ♪

- JAIME: Hi, Sandy!
-(squawking)

JAIME (off screen):
I know!

Let's see if those skunkers are up.

It's spring.
They should be waking up.

Come on, Sandy!

Skunkers!

Come on, skunks!

Yay, a skunk.

Here at Zoo Tampa, springtime is nice.

Then it starts to get really hot.
(laughs)

Hi, there!

I'm just getting some enrichment
ready for the skunks.

This time of year,
they tend to live underground.

They go through a wintering behavior.

(screeches)

Hi, Mia.

Hi.

We have nine skunks total.

There's mom and dad,
which are Mia and Marcellus,

and then they have seven kids.

The mom and dad are de-scented,

but the kids all have their scent glands.

(skunk poofs)

(laughter)

Skunks can spray about 15 feet.

It would hit you.
(laughs)

They know us,
they won't usually spray,

unless they feel threatened
or they get surprised.

(skunk screeching)

Oh, no.
That's not nice.

I always love the skunks.

Now that they're waking up,
I always feel very Snow White-esque

when I'm in there,
'cause they always come over

and greet you once springtime comes.

All right, skunkers.

Bye, I'll see you later.

I'm glad you're waking up.

(funky music)

(upbeat music)

♪ ♪

(ducks quacking)

DEVON: Riley is our only ring-tailed lemur
that we have currently at the zoo.

He's one of our newer animals.

He came from up north.

He was previously kept
in an indoor habitat,

so I think Riley is definitely
liking Florida so far.

He loves eating grapes and banana.

He's just an all around
adorable, awesome lemur.

He's still really itchy,

and there's a little bit
of hair loss on his left leg.

We came in and saw that Riley
had really wrinkled face

and was very itchy.

I am worried that he's just
feeling uncomfortable.

The wrinkles on the face is something
that I've never seen before,

and it definitely made me
a little bit worried for him.

So we're gonna take Riley up
to the hospital and do some testing,

and hopefully we'll get a better picture
of what's happening with him.

- Hi.
- DR. LAUREN: Hi, Riley.

Sorry, sweet man.

How has he been the past couple of days
with his skin?

- DEVON: Itchy.
- DR. LAUREN: Super itchy?

- DEVON: Yeah.
- DR. LAUREN: Okay.

DR. LAUREN: So Riley has just
moved to Florida from Minnesota.

It's possible that all of
his swollen eyes, his itchy skin,

is all related to Florida spring
and all of the pollen.

But I definitely want to look

to make sure there's no fleas
or even mites

that could potentially
be causing itchiness.

All right, I'm just gonna
give him a look over.

COLLIN: So that was the hair loss
we were noticing on his tail here.

RYAN: Yeah.

- Did Lauren see that too?
- COLLIN: Yeah.

DR. LAUREN: Yeah, and I can--
you can kind of see it throughout.

Now that we have Riley under anesthesia
and I can really get hands on

and take a really nice, close look,

I think Riley's irritated
all over his body.

He's just itchy everywhere,

on his head, on his face, on his arms.

You can definitely see evidence

of where he's been scratching and licking.

Oh, yeah, and you can definitely
see it under his eyes.

He's really scraped himself raw.

RYAN: All right, what you want to do?

DR. LAUREN: I'm gonna do
a skin scrape, yeah.

- RYAN (off screen): Scrape?
- DR. LAUREN: He's definitely very gooey.

RYAN: Capital-G,
it's a professional term, gooey.

DR. LAUREN: Gooey.
(laughs)

So what I'm doing, I'm just
roughing up the skin a little bit,

and I'm just taking my slide
and just kind of pressing it.

I can look for, you know,
signs of infection, bacteria, yeast.

I'm trying to find an underlying cause.

And then I'm gonna do another procedure

called a skin scrape to actually look
for any potential mites.

'Cause mites live deep within the skin.

The mites are very, very contagious.

DEVON (off screen): I hate seeing
poor Riley go through this.

He's totally taken my heart.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Riley, our new ring-tailed lemur,

we definitely need to try
and see if we can find out

why he's so itchy.

I'm looking for mites.

Kind of looking through
a lot of schmutz and hair

and trying to see if anything's
moving or clinging onto it.

- So, I don't see mites.
- DEVON: Okay.

DR. LAUREN: I definitely think
environmental allergies

is a top contender.

DEVON: Okay.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Allergies are a part of Florida living.

We're surrounded by beautiful palms
and vegetation,

but the downfall of that is just
all the pollen in the air.

Poor boy.

Yeah, so I get allergies too.

Fortunately, it doesn't come
with the hair loss, like Riley has,

but it's not fun,
so I can totally empathize

with what Riley's going through.

I really want to make him feel better.

DEVON: Could that explain
the wrinkles on his face?

DR. LAUREN: The wrinkling on his face
is 'cause his skin has thickened up.

DEVON (off screen):
Okay.

DR. LAUREN: It's a response of the skin
when it's been irritated.

Unfortunately, this isn't gonna be
a rapid, quick diagnosis.

Environmental allergy cases
are very challenging.

Anyone that has an allergic dog
can tell you that.

There's still a couple of tests pending.

I'm gonna start some treatments on him,
but I do need that other information.

DEVON (off screen):
Hi.

COLLIN (off screen):
That's a serious wobble.

DEVON: Yeah.
Before, he's just like...

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
He's like, "Guys, I'm fine."

It's okay, Riley.

Aw, sweet boy.

♪ ♪

(screeching)

SUSAN (off screen):
They look like they're ready.

COLLIN: Hello, guys.

SUSAN (off screen):
The sloths are really fun,

but these guys move really, really slow,

so this training is extremely important
for an animal like that.

You got the bell with you?

- COLLIN: Yep, I have the bell.
- SUSAN: Cool.

COLLIN: And so I'm gonna
stand out here and...

- SUSAN: Okay.
- COLLIN: They should come to me.

(bell ringing)

(percussive music)

Chloe, Fabio!

(bell ringing)

SUSAN (off screen):
They're looking.

In springtime, we start to teach them,

in any event, let's say a hurricane,

to recognize the bell,
come out through the chute,

and meet Collin
on the inside of the aviary.

COLLIN: I think Chloe's
making a line for it.

SUSAN (off screen): (laughs)
Good job, Chloe.

Florida, especially in the summertime,

storms will pop up almost every afternoon,

and some can be pretty nasty.

COLLIN: Good girl.

Chloe is definitely the most motivated
out of the two.

It would be great to have
a sound they could come to,

and that way we would know
for sure they are safe.

SUSAN: I mean, for a sloth,
that was pretty quick.

COLLIN (off screen):
Yeah, that's--

and that's about as fast
as you'll see her move.

SUSAN (off screen):
(laughs) Yeah.

COLLIN (off screen):
Chloe tends to shoot out first.

Fabio's hit or miss at this point.

(bell ringing)

I prefer the term very unmotivated.

(laughs)

(bell ringing)

Fabio looks like he's hanging upside-down
and sleeping at the moment.

(laughs)

SUSAN (off screen): We only have, like,
two months till hurricane season.

♪ ♪

(grumbling)

♪ ♪

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
This bear cub's been with us

for about two, three days now.

So he's so young,
he's still supposed to be with his mom,

and basically we're trying
to be a surrogate for her.

(cub whimpering)

(cub chattering)

One of the things that we
want to be very mindful of

is just him not being used to
human voices, human scent.

We're gonna try to keep it to a minimum,

so I'm just gonna be quiet and be patient

and hopefully he'll have
a good feed this time.

(cub squeals)

Frustrating.

(cub whining)

(cub chattering)

All right, I think we're all done.

You feed him, burp him...

and then I have to stimulate him
to defecate.

This is a normal behavior
that his mom would do in the den.

This is definitely
a glamorous part of the job,

rubbing a little bear butt
to make it poop.

(laughs)

And it pooped all over me.

(laughs)

I'm used to poop, I'm a vet.

You know, it takes a village
to raise babies,

so it's no different for us
here at the zoo.

♪ ♪

JANE (off screen):
Hi, Riley.

DEVON (off screen):
He's so friendly.

Hi!

Want a bite?

- DR. LAUREN: How has he been?
- DEVON: Itchy.

DR. LAUREN: Still really itchy?

It's been about a week
since Riley had his workup.

We started him on a course
of different types of medications.

DEVON: I don't know
if you see on his legs,

some of the hair's a little bit shorter.

DR. LAUREN: Yeah.

DEVON: And the top of his head
looks like it's thinning to me.

DR. LAUREN: I agree, yeah.

DEVON (off screen):
We've seen some improvement,

but he's still really, really itchy,

and his face is still wrinkled.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Yeah, it's 'cause he's been scratching.

- DEVON: Yeah.
- DR. LAUREN: Poor boy.

I feel really bad for Riley,

'cause I just know
that's gotta be so uncomfortable,

and I think the antihistamines
are helping just a touch,

but not really providing him
the relief that he needs.

What I'm really considering,
moving forward,

is an allergy medication

that will help modulate his immune system.

DEVON: Okay.

JANE: And if there were
anything in his diet

that he might be allergic to,

because his diet did change
when he got here.

DR. LAUREN: You know,
dietary allergies can show up

at any point, and so I would consider
that differential as well.

You know, with his workup,
we did have some blood

that we were able to send out,
to look for any type of food allergies.

So, until I get all the tests back,

you know, I'm gonna
make some modifications

to his medications,
but there's more work to be done.

JANE (off screen):
All right, Riley.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Hopefully, we can help him out.

(chirping, chattering)

♪ ♪

MELINDA: Silvio.

Hey, bud.

Hey, you ready?

You gotta go to the doctor.

Time to go get an exam.

Huh? Look.

So Silvio has a little bit of arthritis.

It was in the beginning stages,

and so we're just trying to find out
if it's gotten any worse.

Let's do this.

So far, we haven't really noticed
a ton of changes in his behavior.

Oh, my goodness.

- ASHLEY: I just want to play.
- MELINDA: Check it out.

You just want to play.

He's just as active as he was
when he arrived as a little guy.

- You got Popeye arms.
- ASHLEY: He does have Popeye arms.

MELINDA: He does have Popeye arms.
Look at those arms.

But it makes--
it makes me pretty nervous,

so I'm just fingers crossed

that it's just sort of levelized
and hasn't changed at all.

He's very stinky this morning.

I think he's upset he didn't
get his breakfast yet.

DR. RAY: Yeah.
That makes us all cranky.

Silvio is quite the stinky little guy,

but honestly, tamanduas and stink,

you know, that musky smell,
they go hand in hand.

This is how they're supposed to be.

They just have this presence
that you can pick up

before you see them sometimes.

Topsy-turvy, come on, dude.
All right.

You guys got this?

ASHLEY: It's time to go to sleep.

MELINDA: Time to sleep.

DR. RAY: We'll do his radiographs,

get some bloods going.

MELINDA (off screen):
Being really close to this animal,

obviously it's always gonna
make you a little nervous

watching him go down,

but it'll help us figure out
what's going on.

- DR. RAY: Upsy-daisy.
- MELINDA: Sleepy man.

- DR. RAY: All right, buddy.
- SAMANTHA: Okay, sweetie.

DR. RAY: Has he lost
some weight recently?

ASHLEY: His weight's
been pretty consistent.

- MELINDA: His weight's been the same.
- DR. RAY: Okay.

- ASHLEY: He feels bonier.
- DR. RAY: Is he less active, do you think?

- ASHLEY: No. No.
- DR. RAY: No? Okay. All right.

He just feels a little leaner
than I remember, yeah.

♪ ♪

MELINDA (off screen):
Oh, X-rays.

(machine beeps)

- SAMANTHA (off screen): You doing okay?
- MELINDA: I'm okay.

- I just want to make sure he's okay.
- SAMANTHA (off screen): He's doing great.

DR. RAY (off screen): He's okay.
He's good. He's good.

MELINDA (off screen):
It's the beeping.

(laughs)
The beeping!

SAMANTHA (off screen):
Beeping is a good thing.

DR. RAY (off screen):
Well, these things can be--they're--

they can be stressful, I get it,
so, no, I-I understand.

MELINDA: That's our little man.

Obviously, animals, just like people,
they're gonna age,

and whether it's a snake
or a tarantula or an anteater,

it's always gonna be really tough.

You just don't know,
is it gonna be good news?

Is it gonna be bad news?

It's a roller coaster, every time.

DR. RAY: Wow.

MELINDA (off screen):
What is that?

DR. RAY (off screen):
That's new.

DR. RAY: Wow.

MELINDA (off screen):
What is that?

DR. RAY: That's new.

Actually, some of his spine,
the vertebrae,

they're actually starting
to get eaten away.

To me, that would explain
some of the weight loss.

ASHLEY: Can you--
is that, like, worse

than it did before, with his last workup?

DR. RAY: That's a lot worse, actually.
It is, yeah.

MELINDA (off screen): It looks like some
of the arthritis in his spine has spread

and his spine is deteriorating
in some places,

so we'll just have to see
what we can do to treat that.

DR. RAY: All right.

SAMANTHA: So, I feel--
I found a couple of enlarged lymph nodes.

DR. RAY: Okay.

(uneasy music)

Yeah, yeah.

One of the most difficult responsibilities

I have is delivering bad news
to the keeper staff.

The bond that forms
between the zoo staff

and their animals
can be very, very strong.

When one of their animals
becomes sick or hurt,

it can be devastating.

Several of his lymph nodes are big.

You can actually feel that one,

just right in there, it's like a pea.

- MELINDA: Oh, yeah.
- ASHLEY (off screen): Yeah.

DR. RAY: When you see multiple
lymph nodes blown up like that,

yeah, you have to start
thinking about cancer.

♪ ♪

Silvio is a--
he's a beloved member

of our zoo community here,

and so when we start to think about

devastating processes like cancer,
it hits all of us.

Melinda has a very special place
in her heart for Silvio.

She raised him.

They are very attached to one another.

MELINDA (off screen):
All right, buddy.

DR. RAY: It's gonna hit her harder
than I think any of us.

(machine beeping)

MELINDA: It's just all bad news.

- ASHLEY: Yeah.
- MELINDA: So.

It sucks.

It wasn't exactly what we wanted to hear.

He just has a lot of issues,
and they're getting worse.

He's gonna be a heartbreaker, but

they're all heartbreakers, so--
every single one of them.

DR. RAY: Looks like we got
a little bit of a sample.

It's not much,
but we'll send it to a pathologist,

to see anything that would
resemble a cancer cell.

ASHLEY (off screen):
He's gonna have some honey.

MELINDA: He's gonna get some treats.

I'm gonna get him
a bunch of ants and termites.

Gonna have a little insect buffet.

- DR. LAUREN: I know.
- MELINDA: Mm.

- DR. LAUREN: He'll be okay.
- MELINDA: Yeah.

DR. RAY (off screen): Our bear cub
has been with us for over a week now,

and he's turning into a little bear.

His legs look longer.

He's kind of in a gangly,
awkward phase.

His strength is good, his health is great,

but he needs to get to 10 pounds
and he needs to eat on his own

before we can take our next step.

- DR. LAUREN: You're good.
- DR. RAY: Hang on, buddy.

(vocalizes)

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
You know, I definitely want him

to move on to a wildlife park,
where he will have the opportunity

to be with other bears and hopefully
regain some of the instincts,

so he can go back out to the wild.

But at the same time,
I'm just a little bummed,

'cause he brings joy to us.

He's 9.8 pounds.

DR. RAY: 9.8 pounds, oh,
ten's our magic number, so.

- DR. LAUREN: Yeah, yeah, almost there.
- DR. RAY: So we're almost there.

DR. LAUREN: I think he'll be there,
like, in an hour.

- DR. RAY: In an hour.
- DR. LAUREN: (laughs)

DR. RAY: I think now he's just angry
and wants his breakfast.

DR. LAUREN (off screen): Yeah, he does.
Angry bear.

DR. RAY: All right, come on, buddy,
let's go back and eat.

For all practical purposes
we've hit the first criteria.

He's at his weight.

It's very exciting for us,

that's one of his huge mile markers,

but he's not quite in the clear yet.

He has to start eating solid foods
on his own

and not be dependent
on people bottle-feeding.

Come on, big bear.

DR. LAUREN:
He's been munching a little bit.

Oh-ho-ho.

(cub cries)

DR. RAY: There you go.

DR. LAUREN: Yeah, he's starting
to eat the solids.

DR. RAY: That's awesome.

No, that's a great sign.

DR. LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

DR. RAY: He thought about me,
but he went back to food.

DR. LAUREN (off screen): I'm always
taken aback by the state of Florida.

Like, right where we live,
we're surrounded

by such beautiful wildlife,

and I've seen black bears out in the wild,

and it's amazing when you know
that you can be a participant

on part of that equation of,
hey, I can help rehab this animal

and release them back out,

and you know you're participating
in their success.

DR. RAY (off screen):
That just really encourages me,

so we'll give him a few more days,
maybe another week.

He may turn into a wild bear just yet.

♪ ♪

JANE (off screen): All right,
I'll hold the ladder for you.

DEVON: Okay, thank you.

- DEVON: Ready?
- JANE: Ready.

DEVON: Today, we're giving the orangutans

some kids nontoxic bubble bath.

It's really fun for them.

It's melon flavored,
so they like to eat it.

It changes up their environment.

It's something unexpected.

It's really enriching for them.

This is my favorite,
when Randee gathers all the bubbles.

(laughs)

All the orangutans do different things
with the bubbles.

It really depends on their personality
and how curious they are.

Topi's investigating.

(laughs)

JANE (off screen):
There she goes.

DEVON (off screen): Randee likes to gather
as many bubbles as she can hold

in her hands and takes them
kind of to a corner

so Deedee, or anybody else,
doesn't steal them from her.

Uh-oh.

JANE: Oh, right, she's got it.

DEVON: They're hilarious
with the bubbles.

Each and every one of them,
it's fun to see

how they interact with them.

It keeps them stimulated.

It gives them something to investigate.

They're a really curious animal.
That was a success.

JANE (off screen): It was.
They like to have fun.

DEVON: Yeah.

♪ ♪

ASHLEY: Looks like
we're gonna have some...

- ALICIA: Food!
- ASHLEY: Yeah.

Some people creeping on us.
Hey, buddy.

(laughs)

ALICIA: See who's on the nest
right now.

ASHLEY (off screen): Looks like
Mr. William is up on the nest right now.

ALICIA (off screen):
Oh, I see Kate back there.

ASHLEY (off screen): Yep.
She's making her way back.

So she's seen us and she knows
that food is coming, which is perfect.

That's gonna get us
in a really good position

to check on the eggs.

ALICIA: I can't wait.

ASHLEY: These little eggs are definitely
a few days delayed at this point.

Hi, guys.

It's not a huge concern,

but it's something
I'm really curious about.

Every time we go out there,
we're looking for some sort of sign

that these babies are ready
to emerge into the world,

and what we're doing is we're listening,

because when those babies
are ready to come out,

they're gonna start pipping,
or making a little hole through that egg,

and they're gonna start being vocal
and starting to move that egg around.

All righty, let's see, let's see.

ALICIA: Oh, my goodness.

ASHLEY (off screen): Looks like
Mr. William is up on the nest.

That's gonna get us in
a really good position

to check on the eggs.

Hi, guys.

All righty, let's see, let's see.

ALICIA: Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness!

ASHLEY: I know!
Look at that little dinosaur.

There you go, peanut, good job.

We have one little baby hatched
out of Will and Kate's nest.

My tastes are a little eclectic.

I do find little marabou to be super cute.

They are just these little
naked Muppet-looking things.

They're really funny.

- ALICIA: So tiny.
- ASHLEY: Very tiny.

But this little guy's gonna grow
really, really fast.

- ALICIA: Yeah.
- ASHLEY: He or she.

Will and Kate are named
after the royal family.

To continue that tradition,
what we've done with this little baby

is we've named it Markle.

Now, we do have a plan on if it turns out

that this is a little boy--
just shorten it.

He can be called Mark.

Looks like that chick's starting
to pick up some fish that he found.

Fantastic, that's exactly what
we should be seeing,

so this is absolutely perfect.

Marabou do try pretty hard

to keep their nest pretty clean
of food debris.

You can see right there,
he's going through the nest,

he's looking for all the things
that he missed earlier.

ALICIA: Yep.

ASHLEY: And he's gonna go ahead
and clean it up.

ALICIA (off screen):
Gets a little dirty.

ASHLEY (off screen): Parenting's
a dirty job, but he does it well.

And they're gonna work together
to raise this baby.

You'll see a lot
of really good cooperation.

ALICIA (off screen):
Oh, my goodness.

ASHLEY (off screen): Good job, mama.
Oh, and there he goes.

- ALICIA: Bye, baby!
- ASHLEY: Good job!

(birds squawking)

(cub squealing)

LEANN: Oh, I hear him already.
Was that him?

- DR. LAUREN: You hear him screaming?
- LEANN: I think so.

-(cub screaming)
- DR. LAUREN: Yeah, through that.

LEANN: Oh, my goodness,
you've gotten bigger.

- DR. LAUREN: Hey, bud.
- LEANN: We're going on a road trip, buddy.

DR. LAUREN: Today, we are moving
the little tiny bear cub

over to his new home.

LEANN: You want to check it out?
You want to touch it?

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
He's being transferred

over to another facility.

This is a state wildlife park
that specializes

in preparing them for release
back out into the wild.

DR. RAY: If you want to just open it,
he may come right...

LEANN: He may come right out.
There you go.

DR. LAUREN: There you go.

- DR. RAY: Got him?
- DR. LAUREN: Yeah.

- DR. RAY: All right.
- LEANN: All right.

DR. RAY (off screen): The change in this
little bear has actually been dramatic.

He came in, you know,

I always describe him as a little dishrag.

Four pounds, soft and squishy,

and we just--
just not very healthy.

Today, this little bear's weight
is close to 12 pounds.

To see him almost triple
his body weight now,

he's eating blueberries,
some strawberries.

We haven't had to give him a bottle
for quite some time now.

It's time for him to move on.

- LEANN: Sorry, bud.
-(cub cries)

DR. LAUREN: Good-bye.
Good luck.

(cub crying)

- LEANN: He's feisty, isn't he?
- DR. LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

It's really hard to say good-bye
to this little bear cub.

From the day he came in,
this little bear was emaciated.

He couldn't walk on his own.
It was like having an infant.

(cub crying)

Got a screaming toddler in there.

(laughs)

LEANN: Ready?

You need to take a nap.

(cub cries)

♪ ♪

DR. RAY (off screen):
The bear rehabilitation holding areas

in Homosassa are isolated from people,

and that's the biggest goal right now.

Now we're really just
kind of stepping away.

We don't want him to associate
with people anymore.

LEANN: All right, bud.

DR. RAY (off screen):
I'm an optimist

that I think we can
get this bear cub released.

But I'm also a realist.

I know there's a lot of other challenges
ahead of him.

He's got a long time
that he has to grow up

and then develop into a little bear.

TRICIA: Yes. Hello.

LEANN: Nice rooms.

DR. RAY: You guys got
the bear den all set up?

- All right, cool.
- TRICIA: Yep.

We have everything set up for him.

- DR. RAY: All right.
- LEANN: Very nice.

DR. RAY: Perfect.
Perfect.

This next step for this little bear cub
is huge.

There's a whole wall
that exposes him to the world.

He can see the trees.
He can see the sun.

He knows when it's getting dark.

He'll be able to feel and sense the rain
and hear the thunderstorms.

- All right, I'm good when you guys are.
- LEANN: Ready for the door.

TRICIA: All right, opening the door.

DR. RAY (off screen):
That's good.

This is him stepping out into the world

that we want to get him back to.

Come on, big bear.

Come on out and see the world.

DR. RAY (off screen): All right,
I'm good when you guys are.

- LEANN: Ready for the door.
- TRICIA: All right, opening the door.

DR. RAY (off screen): This little guy
came from a bear den.

This is the most of the outside world
he's ever seen.

Come on, big bear.

Come on out and see the world.

There you go.

♪ ♪

As I watch this little,

you know, wild Florida black bear cub

take his first steps in this process

that, you know, we're undertaking
to get him released,

I-I'm encouraged,
and I think he's gonna do well.

All right, go ahead and start.

LEANN (off screen):
Yeah, you can close the door.

- DARIN: Fully clear?
- LEANN: Yeah.

- DR. RAY (off screen): All good.
- TRICIA (off screen): You're good.

- DARIN (off screen): Okay.
- DR. RAY (off screen): Very nice.

Am I proud?

I'm very proud.

There's no shame in being attached
to the animals that you take care of.

I don't think there's any shame at all.

I get attached to all my patients.

You guys turn him into a wild bear.

I take a lot of pride knowing

that we all had a important part
in this day,

in this little guy's life,

and this is why we all do
what we do here at Zoo Tampa.

♪ ♪

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Hey, Riley.

DEVON: Come down.

DR. LAUREN (off screen):
Today, I'm gonna catch up

with the animal care team, visit Riley,

our extremely itchy ring-tailed lemur.

He looks much better.

TIFFANY: He's got a few
wrinkles left, but...

DR. LAUREN: Mm-hmm.

- TIFFANY: Nothing like it was.
- DEVON: Yeah.

DR. LAUREN (off screen): You know,
initially, my thought was that

he just was very allergic
to his new Florida spring

and all the pollen in the air,
but to our surprise,

we did find that there was
something else going on.

Riley is allergic to bananas.

I don't think it's the underlying cause,
but it's just kind of ironic

that a primate would be allergic
to bananas.

I think as long as he's got
grapes in his life,

I think he'll be okay.

TIFFANY: He's like,
"Just keep bringing on the grapes."

DR. LAUREN (off screen): We'll keep
watching him, keep on his medication,

and I think we're on the right path.

- DEVON: I know, I'm out of grapes.
-(both laughing)

DR. LAUREN: Oh, my gosh.

(elephant grumbles)

MELINDA: All right.

Time.

Hi. Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh, what are you doing?

What are you doing?

Oh, you roly-poly.

So Silvio's diagnosis is not awesome.

Some of the results just came in,

and it looks like there is cancer there.

Long-term prognosis is not good.

Oh, my gosh!

So it's just best for us
to really just let him hang out

and live out the rest of his life
in comfort and playtime.

Lunch.

Delicious mush.

Lots of extra honey.

What do you think?
Oh, yeah, that's the good stuff.

Oh, delicious.

So with Silvio's cancer diagnosis,

that means that we are going to
retire him from his public job,

but that doesn't mean
we're gonna take it away from him.

You're a mess.
Look at you.

I mean, it's very important to him
to have that interaction,

so we'll be doing a lot of playtime
behind the scenes,

and honestly, I can't imagine my day

without a little Silvio playtime.

Ready?

All right, time for bed.

Your afternoon siesta.

Working with animals,
it's always gonna be hard,

but, you know, this happens,
and then you just toughen up

and you say, "All right,
we're gonna do this."

We're gonna enjoy him
as long as he's here.

DR. RAY: So when we have animals
that live so long in our care,

you have to expect
some of these challenges.

It's a hard thing to deal with,

but at the same time,
it's sort of a backhanded compliment,

you know, that this animal has lived

a very long, productive, full life.

I think it is a testament

to the care and the quality
of the people here at Zoo Tampa,

and we extend that care

to all the animals,
whether that's a Florida manatee,

a Florida black bear, the list goes on.

We're fighting for the future
of all these amazing animals.

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