Original subtitles

Downloaded from RARBG

(Monkey screeching)

Narrator: This time on magic of Disney's animal kingdom...

- A baby monkey becomes a big sister... - Dr. Natalie: Beautiful tail here.

Narrator: A teenage elephant takes a run at her biggest fear...

Elizabeth: You can do it!

Narrator: And a green turtle goes for gold.

Aaron: (Laughs) Awesome, buddy.

- (Theme music playing) - (Bird squawking)

(Tiger purrs)

(Tiger pants)

Narrator: Out on the gorilla falls exploration trail...

Hi, guys. You ready for some lunch?

Narrator: One baby monkey likes nothing more than creating a little chaos.

- (Monkey gibbers) - (Munches)

Alika is just over a year old now.

She is the most rambunctious for sure.

She just never stops, never stops moving, never stops bouncing around.

She's really, really, really a lot of fun.

Narrator: Black-and-white colobuses have four fingers and no thumb.

Perfect hooks for leaping on branches.

(Monkey gibbers)

Alika, what are you doing, lady?

She's playing a lot and mom does not want that at all.

(Caitlin laughing)

Narrator: The monkey business bugs mom, zahra, for good reason

she's pregnant with baby number two.

Hi, zahra. You want some? Here you go.

Your purple Kale's exciting. I know, zahra. (Laughs)

Zahra was a very good mother with alika, so we're hoping that she will be

a good mother again with her next little one.

Narrator: Alika becoming a big sister will be a first for the park.

It's going to be very interesting when the new baby is born, um,

to see what alika is going to do for sure. It's gonna be an adventure for all of us.

How can you have a bad day when you're watching her play around like that?

(Caitlin laughing)

Narrator: But there's one detail no one is quite sure of.

Caitlin: Zahra's becoming a mom again

a little bit earlier than we had anticipated.

We don't know exactly when zahra is going to deliver.

Dr. Natalie: Move this...

- Keeper: Wanna move it closer to the door? - To the corner there?

Narrator: So, behind the scenes,

Dr. Natalie and the primate team are on the case.

Today I'm here to ultrasound zahra,

so that we can get a better prediction of when the baby will be born.

We can try this first.

Zookeeper: Zahra. Come here, lady.

Dr. Natalie: I've been working with zahra since she was an infant.

So it's really exciting to see her grow up as an adult.

To see her have her own children. To be able to ultrasound those babies.

You know. Good girl. That's not scary.

So move to the right a little, or at least tail to the left.

More towards the left. There we go.

You can even see the heart valves on the baby.

That was an awesome tail, I have a beautiful tail view.

(Chuckles)

- So cute. Is that the little colobus tail? - Oh, yeah.

Zookeeper: Oh, my gosh.

Dr. Natalie: Fingers.

These are end-on fingers, so you can just see them kind of...

Narrator: This scan shows the little one is healthy,

but a big question remains...

How far along do you think?

Dr. Natalie: I'll tell you this, we've still got a lot of amniotic fluid,

and so we've still got a lot of room to grow, so we're not... you know,

we're probably second trimester?

Narrator: Dr. Natalie's guess puts zahra around three months pregnant.

Still more than two months to go.

Over on the African Savanna...

13-year-old elephant, nadirah, babysits her 3-year-old sister, Stella.

Elizabeth: Nadirah, right now, is just, kind of, hanging out,

she's picking up hay scraps,

and surprise, surprise, Stella is behind her hanging out.

Picking up hay scraps.

Typical little sister.

I have a little sister.

She still lives with me and steals my clothes, so... (Laughs)

Nadirah is a great big sister, she's very gentle with Stella.

Right now, Stella, she's seeing what nadirah got,

seeing if she got anything good.

When they stick their trunks in each other's mouths,

they have to kind of trust each other.

So, she's super comfortable with nadirah.

Narrator: But teenager nadirah has one major growing pain.

Elizabeth: The bridge connects the east and the west yard,

that's the only way to access the west yard

for an elephant is to go over the bridge to that yard.

Narrator: For the other elephants in the herd,

stepping on the bridge is a walk in the park.

But not for nadirah.

Elizabeth: Nadirah, in general, her personality,

she's a little bit more skittish.

So, the first time nadirah would not go past the threshold,

so where the dirt met the cement to go over the bridge, she couldn't do it.

So that is the bridge dilemma.

Narrator: As mom, Donna, takes over the baby-sitting duties...

Erin: Stephanie, Tyler. You copy?

Animal manager, Erin, hopes a little peer pressure will encourage nadirah

to take her first steps onto the cement.

- Female voice: Go ahead, Erin. - East gate has been confirmed secure,

you can start sending the ladies.

Today, we're gonna wait for all four of the girls to come here,

and hopefully she will go with them in a group so she's more comfortable.

Kianga. Hi, big girl.

Hi. Good morning. Good morning. Come on, vasha.

Luna! Nadirah!

Narrator: While the others say a friendly hello,

nadirah seems to know what's coming.

Nadirah's the one hanging out in the back by the rock ring.

You guys ready? Come on.

Raising the drop gate. All right, Luna go on.

Luna and kianga, look like they're gonna be first.

Narrator: Nine-year-old Luna and 15-year-old kianga

- stroll right on to the cement. - Erin: Come on, vash.

I know you're waiting, you're doing so good.

Narrator: Now it's up to mother figure, vasha, to give nadirah a nudge.

Erin: Vasha seems to do a really good job of waiting for nadirah.

She'll kind of put her in front of her sometimes and then she'll go behind her

and try to scoot her over.

So far, nothing. But she's at least making an effort.

Come on, nadirah.

I know, vasha, you're doing good.

She stopped, looked back kind of a, to me, "let's go, come on."

Narrator: But even vasha can only wait so long.

Now, for nadirah.

Erin: Good girl, nadirah. Come on.

Everyone's going, kid. You can do it, come on.

Step back a little bit.

Come on, nadirah. Good girl, nadirah.

So, this is kind of about where we're at.

So far, we have not had any more forward momentum.

This is all choice for her. Ultimately, we can't...

I can't force her to go anywhere, she's an elephant.

What're you doing? Atta-girl.

Narrator: But being left by yourself is no fun, either.

Erin: She'll try and she'll go back.

Now she's... now she's leaving. She's gonna throw a tantrum, right now.

I know. I know.

(Elephant grunts)

- Narrator: Today at least... - Erin: There she goes.

Narrator: It remains a bridge too far.

(Screaming)

Narrator: Anchored right in the heart of the park, stands discovery island.

And the 145-foot tree of life.

So I'll pull some of this out of here.

Narrator: Beneath its huge branches,

keeper tricia, cleans up after a messy pair of birds.

Carri and bones are not the best nest builders in the world.

So, we have carri and bones, our lappet-faced vultures.

They're the largest species of vulture in Africa.

Carri is our female, she is a little bit larger than he is.

She is our feisty one.

She kind of rules the exhibit and tells all the other animals

that live in here, where to go. They have to answer to her.

Uh, whether it be red kangaroo or zookeeper.

She's got her wings open and coming across the yard like she owns it.

Bones, on the other hand,

just kind of follows along and does what he's told.

Narrator: Once a year, this odd couple builds a gigantic nest.

And everyone hopes for a baby.

This is an endangered species in Africa.

We're trying to do whatever it takes to get these guys

to re-populate their species.

So we'd really like to get some chicks from them.

Narrator: But after 15 years with little success,

practice hasn't exactly made perfect.

As a couple, she...

(Chuckling)

Ah, I don't know what I could say.

They're not great communicators,

as far as how they want their nests to look.

So, a lot of times he'll put the sticks in and then she will rearrange.

Well, I mean, yeah. When my husband moves something around,

you know, it's not... Not where it's supposed to be.

I have to go in and fix it, so... (Chuckles)

Narrator: The results can be a little haphazard.

They'll probably, hopefully, build up the edges a little bit more,

so that it's not just a ramp down. (Chuckles)

But again that leads back to how they're not the best home makers, these two.

Narrator: But what they lack in know-how, they make up for in enthusiasm.

Tricia: During the breeding season,

bones spends a lot of time building the nest,

a lot of time sitting on the egg. He is our good dad.

He really is, and she sure tries hard.

So we're hoping that, this is going to be our year

from these guys.

Narrator: Five miles away at epcot,

the seas hosts everything from tiny clownfish...

To big and beautiful sharks.

Behind the scenes in a separate holding habitat,

a newcomer waits his turn to join the crowd.

Harry, the rescued turtle.

There you are. Good morning.

Narrator: One of more than 300 injured sea turtles taken in

and released by the seas.

Aaron: When he first came in,

we knew he was hit by a boat and had some head injuries.

We didn't know exactly what he would eventually give us...

Want some back scratches?

Narrator: But aquarist, Aaron, soon found a way to his heart.

He really finds these back scratches reinforcing,

um, so he can actually feel it through his shell.

Um, and you can see him kind of wiggling his butt back and forth.

That's kind of him backing up into it and enjoying it.

Narrator: Harry's injuries mean he can't be re-released to the ocean.

But to join the main aquarium, he has to learn that here,

dinner comes from a target above him.

Aaron: Our goal is to get him in our main environment,

but in order to do that we need to know that he's going to come to his target

and he's going to eat. It's dinner time.

Narrator: Harry should head toward his target and his food.

Oh, this is not great.

So right now he's probably averaging about a c.

In order to go out into the main environment,

he probably needs to be around a b-plus at least.

I'm not quite sure where he's at at the moment.

He chose not to engage with this target twice.

But, not looking too great this morning.

But, again, that's okay.

It's all up to him. I can't make him do anything and it's all his choice, so...

Narrator: Not a b-plus in sight today, but Aaron doesn't give up on him.

We'll just pull the target and try again, take a timeout,

and hope for better next time.

(Munches)

Narrator: Back at Disney's animal kingdom theme park,

in the veterinary treatment room...

Tricia: Following you, Jen.

Potential vulture-dad, bones, faces an emergency.

Dr. Josie: Let's grab a blade for shaving things away.

It's nice and cozy.

He flew kind of...

Shoddily and landed, unfortunately, on a log,

um, and that's how he got the puncture wound.

All right, everybody clear.

Narrator: A serious injury to his torso could crush any plans for a baby.

If he wasn't able to go back today that could delay their breeding process,

it might even completely stall it.

So, it's really important to get him back out on exhibit with her,

so that they can continue to nest-build.

And he's still breathing well on his own?

- Veterinarian: Yes. - Great.

Narrator: With just one chance a year to breed,

Dr. Josie needs to get bones stitched up,

and back to his mate for life, carri, waiting at the nest.

We're gonna flush this area

because sometimes dilution is the solution to pollution.

This is a... a really critical step 'cause it was a wooden branch,

um, the chances that there's little small splinters

that are in there is pretty high.

It's closing up really well, so I'm going to put some antiseptic cream,

'cause everything goes better with just a little bit of frosting.

- All right. You ready? - Yeah. I'm just gonna... hug him, right?

You got his feet, Jen?

Narrator: As bones wakes up,

tricia gets the chance for a rare vulture cuddle.

Tricia: Look at his eyelashes. They so pretty.

Dr. Josie: So, we got a blink.

Tricia: Oh, that's some eye movement.

Tickle, tickle.

He's probably just gonna stand up and look at us, like,

"what are you guys doing?"

Dr Josie: You gonna stand there? There's a vulture face.

Narrator: After two and a half hours away from each other...

The love birds reunite.

(Birds chirping)

Tricia: He came back and after her

being a little upset with him for being gone,

they went right back to doing all the things

that they are supposed to do during this time of the year.

In just a few weeks, we hope to see an egg.

(Birds chirping)

Narrator: On the Savanna, as baby Stella enjoys a juicy banana leaf...

Behind the scenes...

Danny: Nadirah. Good girl, nadirah.

Narrator: The elephant team tries out a new tactic with nadirah.

Danny: Oh, come here.

Narrator: Softening her up with her favorite pastime.

A bath with keeper, Danny.

- Zookeeper: Ready, Danny? - Danny: I'm ready if you're ready.

- Zookeeper: Yup. - Danny: What a good elephant.

She loves the bath,

uh, she's getting a lot of treats. She's getting attention from us.

There's a lot of trust between her and us.

Nadirah, foot.

Good girl.

Good. Nadirah, turn.

Nadirah, when she's really comfortable, she'll cross her legs

and then you just know she's chill, she's loving life. Best time for her.

- Narrator: The spa treatment does the job. - Zookeeper: Where's your nose?

I don't see it. Oh, thank you.

Narrator: Now, Danny gives nadirah a little something extra

to sweeten her journey back to the bridge.

Danny: Come here. Good girl.

Come here. There you go.

All right nadirah, go on.

Narrator: Of course, if a treat's involved,

baby sister, Stella, wants in on the action, too.

No, ma'am.

The babies, they always want all the food.

All right, Stella, go on. Stella's yours.

Narrator: So far, so good.

But the threshold of the bridge still awaits.

(Train whistles)

(Monkey gibbers)

Narrator: In the colobus monkey habitat, as alika clowns around...

Her new sibling keeps everyone waiting two weeks past the due date.

Dr. Natalie: We're starting to get a little bit concerned about normal

versus when we're gonna have a problem.

The things that we have seen, historically, in our colobus

is that we've had really big babies.

And sometimes that can make for a challenging birth.

That makes us really vigilant.

Narrator: So mom-to-be zahra heads backstage for another ultrasound.

- Dr. Natalie: You're right on the baby. - Zookeeper: Okay.

You're very wiggly.

Tilt to the right.

Three o'clock.

(Munches)

So the baby's still kind of in the same position.

- Female voice: Same, sideways. - Dr. Natalie: Sideways.

- Female voice: Sideways. - Dr. Natalie: Yup. Almost no fluid.

This baby wants to come out.

Narrator: The baby appears large. Just as they suspected.

This might just be that she is gonna have this kidlet sometime soon.

- Female voice: Right, be done. - I hope. (Chuckles)

Narrator: The next few days will be crucial for zahra and her baby.

I think that we are so close that we are either going to

- give birth soon... - Right.

Or we're gonna be intervening.

So that's why I want you guys to monitor every day.

Babies normally come overnight. And so, usually we wake up to find them here.

If we have an animal in active labor,

that means that something hasn't gone properly.

- What that means is really a c-section. - Yeah?

What it will likely mean.

I'm hoping that's not where we go, but it's always worth discussing it.

- Female voice: Yeah. - Dr. Natalie: Okay?

(Monkey gibbers)

(Monkey screeching)

Narrator: Back at the tree of life,

more than a week has passed since bones' emergency.

And he hasn't let a few stitches get in his way.

Today is a very exciting day, um, carri and bones,

our lappet-faced vultures, we've been waiting anxiously for them

to lay an egg and today is the day that she laid an egg.

We've been watching her very closely through the day

and so when she finally stood up, the whole team started cheering.

We were very excited. It's just the best feeling as a zookeeper.

Narrator: As soon as carri lays an egg,

the highly trained keepers spring into action.

I've got our dummy egg and our container, so we're good to go.

Narrator: To give her egg the best opportunity to survive.

They're just very difficult to breed. So what we've done is we've started

pulling their eggs and artificially incubating them.

And then in its place we will leave a fake egg, which we call a dummy egg.

It looks exactly like their egg. Um, we had one made,

so it's the same size, shape, color. Um, and we let them sit on that.

- Tricia: Everybody ready? Everybody good? - Zookeeper: Yup.

Tricia: We don't need to move super-fast.

Okay. Nice and slow.

- Keeper: I don't see bones yet. - Tricia: And she's facing our direction.

Narrator: Normally, carri lays only one egg a year.

- So this is make it... - Tricia: Watch your step, guys.

- Sorry, carri. It will be quick, mama. - Yeah, go in front of me.

Narrator: Or break it.

Tricia: Okay. There she goes. Yup, go ahead and push her.

- (Carri screeches) - Push her.

Okay, don't step on the egg, Jeremy. Let's stop movin'.

The dummy egg is down. I have the egg.

Okay. Right, slow, slow, back up.

- Tricia: Okay guys, you're good. - Zookeeper: You're good.

- Tricia: They good, clear? Okay. - Zookeeper: Mm-hmm, yeah, they're good.

- It looks great. - Zookeeper: Good job, guys.

- Did she stay on the nest? - She went right back over to it.

- Keeper: Yup, she's still standing there. - Tricia: Okay.

- Keeper: Bones is still on the other side. - Tricia: Okay. Awesome.

Narrator: Mission accomplished.

Now the real egg has a chance to make it to the hatch-date

at the avian research center.

Tricia: I'm very excited.

- That's an understatement. - Tricia: Um... yeah.

Hey, glory. I brought you an egg.

The egg will spend the next 55 days tucked into a specialized Incubator.

- We can just wait... - Yup.

Narrator: Carri and bones take one step closer to becoming parents.

So we're still a long way out from hatching, but, um, very excited.

Narrator: Back at the seas...

- Aaron: (Laughing) Awesome, buddy. - Narrator: Harry makes some progress.

Right around the b, buddy.

You gotta get around that strap first though. Come on.

I know, sometimes forget you have shoulders.

Narrator: Eh, give or take an obstacle or two.

Aaron: Here you go. Right here.

Right. Come on. That was awesome. So good.

Narrator: But Harry needs more than a single success

to make sure he gets enough food in his new environment.

Aaron: We'll try that again.

Just wanna get that repetition in to make sure it's consistent.

Doesn't look like there's gonna be any reaction to the target going in over here.

Little bit disappointing, but...

Ah-ha! Never mind. Look at that.

That was a-plus right there.

You can see that increase of speed

when he saw the target and came right over.

Doing so well.

Today was a great day for Harry and we're absolutely making progress

on getting him into our main environment.

So, really hoping we can get him out in our main environment soon.

Narrator: Harry is on his way to his forever home.

The sea's 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium.

But this indoor ocean isn't shipped in from the coast.

It's created right here on site.

Patrick: Yeah, that should work.

We bring in very large semi-trucks that are full of salt.

Narrator: Twenty-two tons of salt, to be precise.

We add that salt to ready fresh water that we have here in these basins.

Narrator: Chemist, Kent, oversees the mix.

This isn't like your table salt, uh, that you would have on the dinner table.

Although it has a lot of that in it, we formulated our own custom formula

to mimic sea water as closely as we can.

It takes about two million pounds of this salt

to mix up the entire aquarium.

Narrator: That's a whopping 27 truckloads.

The next challenge,

making sure 5.7 million gallons of saltwater stays clean.

That water is in a constant loop of filtration. Round and round it goes.

Its turnover rate is about 35,000 gallons a minute

through ten different filters.

Two olympic size pools per hour is what we're turning over

to continually clean the water, continually disinfect the water

and make it safe and healthy for our animals to live in.

Narrator: Early morning at the park...

Keepers, Wendy and ko, start their rounds in the monkey barn...

Ko: Here I come for it.

Zahra, look.

Only to spot a new arrival.

I just kind of came in this morning,

and did an earlier check than usual and sure enough,

there is the little baby there.

All the keepers here are feeling very relieved,

it's just very exciting to all of us.

- Whoa! - Narrator: And mom, zahra

is happy to show off her new baby to Dr. Natalie...

A shelled peanut. What?

Narrator: For a peanut or two.

Dr. Natalie: Oh, my goodness.

This baby's a little bit big. She was great

because she passed this baby without our intervention.

- I really think she worked hard. - Ko: Yeah.

Narrator: One little question remains...

Is it too much to ask to have her come up a little bit so I can look under?

Ko: I can try.

Dr. Natalie: See if she does it. See how tall you can go.

We do have a little boy.

- Yay. - Awesome. Awesome.

A little brother for alika.

It's kind of a big first. This is our first sibling pair

that has actually been born here at Disney's animal kingdom.

We're watching alika because this is her first experience

with a baby in the troop.

Wendy: Oh, everybody's going to love you guys.

Zookeeper: Everybody's here.

Narrator: Today at least, alika and dad, Damian,

show more interest in the prized peanuts.

You know, your job was easy, you don't get a peanut for that. I'm sorry.

Narrator: And it won't be long till alika's baby brother

starts making mischief of his own.

Female voice: What a cute little baby you have.

(Screeches)

Narrator: While carri and bones incubate their dummy egg in the nest,

the real egg is nearly three weeks away from a potential hatch.

- You ready for candling? - Yes. Ready for candling.

Tricia: Yes.

Narrator: Today, tricia arrives for a weekly update from keeper, glory.

- Tricia: So... yes, I'm ready. - Glory: Ready?

Narrator: Glory uses a bright light to look inside the egg

and check its development, a process called candling.

Glory: So, you can see that the light difference here is lighter in the bottom.

- Tricia: So the dark space is... - Glory: Yes.

- Glory: That's where the chick... - Tricia: The chick is.

- Glory: Mm-hmm. - Tricia: Okay.

Narrator: Today, she notices a change.

Glory: See this area here, see how it's hazy.

The blood vessels around the air cell were not noticeable.

Tricia: And so that's different from what we saw last time.

Glory: Yes. Last Saturday, it was clear, the fluid was clear.

Narrator: It's a troubling sign,

the blood vessels inside an egg deliver vital nutrients

and oxygen to the developing chick.

If they don't work properly, the embryo may not survive.

Tricia: Would you normally see blood vessels at this stage very clearly?

- In the smaller eggs, yes. - Tricia: Okay.

So that's one of the main concerns that we have right now.

It's a little bit of trouble in the development, so it's just

a matter of, like, going day by day.

- I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed. - Glory: Me, too.

Birds typically only lay one egg a season, so each egg is extremely important, um,

for the preservation of the species.

So, to have something potentially going wrong, it's a little...

A bit of a bummer.

Narrator: Just a couple of days later, tricia gets some news.

The egg didn't make it.

Tricia: We haven't had the best luck, but every year we learn

a little bit more and every year, we've been able to build on it.

One day carri and bones will be a mom and dad,

and on that day, you won't be able to hold me down,

I will be so incredibly excited.

Narrator: At the bridge on the Savanna...

And we wait. (Laughs)

Narrator: Erin gets ready for nadirah's big moment.

You know, we... everything that we do here is for the animals.

So, we're just really trying to just increase her confidence level

and go with what she's comfortable with.

There she is.

She's actually the first one out here.

Narrator: Maybe this time a relaxed and happy nadirah can cover new ground.

Erin: Come on, nadirah. You can do it.

Here she comes.

I know. Good girl. Just keep running look!

Keep going. You can do it.

Come on.

Keep the momentum going. You can do it, come on.

I know, let's go. Come on.

Good job, nadirah. You got your front feet up there.

Atta-girl!

- Narrator: Nadirah makes it. - Erin: Good girl!

Narrator: At least her front feet do.

Erin: She has her front feet on the concrete.

So, that's as far as she's ever gone so far.

Come on, keep going, you can do it.

Nope, okay. (Laughs)

Narrator: Nadirah is conquering the bridge one step at a time.

Taking her first two steps onto the concrete is a huge win for nadirah.

Eventually the goal is to get her all the way across the bridge,

but right now, any steps that we make is fantastic and I'm super proud of her.

Good girl, nadirah. Good job.

Narrator: Back at gorilla falls, zahra's baby gets to head outside

for the very first time.

With a name specially chosen for him by the primate team.

So, Douglas has a name... it's Douglas!

(Laughs) Um, he is doing great.

Narrator: Keepers, Wendy and ko, await Douglas' first public appearance.

It's a brand-new world.

And not just for Douglas.

- Ko: Oh, that's okay, sweetie. - Narrator: For mom, zahra, too.

Ko: Slow down. Slow down.

It's gonna take a little bit, uh, different momentum and movement

when you're holding a baby. So, you gotta kind of learn

how to navigate the whole enclosure.

Narrator: And as the weeks go by, big sis, alika, begins to play her part.

Ko: Alika is just super interested, she comes over and she grooms him.

Douglas is just beyond adorable.

And alika and him are playing just a ton now.

He's very curious.

And he is really interested in big sister, alika.

So it's very fun to watch.

(Monkey screeches)