REVIEW: Inside The Zoo, Series 1 Episode Six

 REVIEW: Inside The Zoo, Series 1 Episode Six

There's something magical, when you're a kid, about visiting a tourist attraction and seeing a show. When you're a child, it feels an event, as though you are experiencing something that occurs within the bubble of the zoo, or theme park, or castle that you happen to be in.

So it was great to see an episode focused largely around one such show at Edinburgh Zoo. This show is called Animal Antics, and features what appears to be a whole range of animal stars, from pygmy goats to armadillos.

And speaking of armadillos, I really felt sorry for the armadillo in this episode. The poor armadillo suffered a miscarriage in her pregnancy, which is something you tend to forget can happen to both humans and animals. That must have been a truly sad moment for the keepers, but the show goes on, and so she must still make her appearance in the zoo's live performance.

It is really clever the way they keep track of the eagles that feature in this show. In this episode we are shown how they attach a tracker to their feather in case they fly away, and also told about how they occasionally have had to visit other households too in their quest to track them down. You can imagine it being something of a logistical nightmare when it happens, but it shows how they have to prepare for every eventuality.

We also see in this episode the training of two owls for future appearances in Animal Antics, and it's incredible how far they come, from their initial schooling, to their dress rehearsal in front of volunteers, and finally to being able to perform in front of bigger crowds of visitors. It really demonstrates how much they have to consider, from the speakers because of their sensitive hearing to the moods they happen to be in on the day.

But it's not just about the visitors needing to be entertained. The animals need their own forms of amusement, and here we are shown how the otters are kept busy. A keeper gives them their food in a caged wooden box, and it is up to the otters to use their mental capacity to work out what the food is, and find their way inside.

Zoos often are seen merely as providing entertainment for human beings, so it's good to see this show prove those who use that as an argument against these places wrong, and show that it is just as much about looking after the animals too, and ensuring that they get the care and attention they need. The staff at these zoos put in a lot of hard graft and dedication into providing the animals with the love and support required to ensure their constant survival, and it's about time that zoos were not just seen by some as just 'animals in cages for 'humans to gawk at'.

You can really see this kind of affection in the intern who joins one of the keepers in helping with the polar bears. She seems a really passionate sort who just wants to do all she can to help the animals in the park, and you can really feel her love for animals shine through in her time with the keeper.

It's really amazing how they use the target in their hand to train the polar bears to show them what they need for their health check. You wouldn't in a million years think that these kind of dangerous animals could be trained in this way, but evidence is here, in this very episode.

The tiger who was a reluctant learner, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of the polar bears. She didn't seem to have time for any sort of training at all! That tiger seemed like that kid you'd always have in the same class as you at school, who would just lie in his chair at the back of the class and chuck a couple of paper planes at the teacher whilst she tries to get on with the lesson.

One thing's for sure: that tiger won't be appearing in Animal Antics, and not just because she'd tear the entire audience to shreds.

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What are your thoughts on Inside The Zoo's sixth episode? Let me know in the comments.