REVIEW: Inside The Zoo, Series 1 Episode Three

 REVIEW: Inside The Zoo, Series 1 Episode Three

One of the sad things about this programme is seeing the visitors all gathered in the park, as it brings to mind how such large crowds would never be allowed now. It would be nice to think that sometime soon these zoos will be able to get back to large gatherings of people shown in the shots of the zoo here, especially after having watched another zoo show last year called 'An Extraordinary Year', which went inside London Zoo during the first lockdown and showed the stark contrast of an empty zoo with one that's thriving like Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park are in this documentary series, filmed before the pandemic.

This episode shows the importance that these zoos hold, as we are told of two breeding programmes. The first, concerning the endangered asiatic lions (quite shocking to hear there are only 250 right now), sees lion cubs when they are grown into adults being sent to other zoos as part of a collaboration platform, where these zoos work together to try and inflate the population. It's quite an impressive-sounding project, and it is great that these programmes exist to help boost these populations.

The second concerns swift parrots, who are also under threat of extinction, prompting one keeper to go on a one man crusade to try and get their two swift parrots to breed. It's a shame it doesn't appear to have been successful as of this episode, as it would be amazing to think they could achieve a population boost for this species of parrot.

The reindeer and deers get their fair share of troubles in this episode. I felt so sorry for that poor reindeer whose antler broke off, and that poor deer that had to be put to sleep was very hard to watch. It was so emotional watching the zookeepers come to such a heartbreaking conclusion, and that keeper trying to discuss it to the camera in the car. You could tell that keeper was getting quite emotional. Elsewhere, seeing the keepers enter a sweepstake over the genders of the penguins was fun. It's an interesting fact that the only way they can tell the genders of the penguins is by getting a blood sample. I'm glad Nessie was okay in the end with his curve, and that he was revealed to be a boy so he won't die from trying to carry an egg as a pregnant adult female later in life. That must have been relief for all of the staff at the zoo. This episode was another great piece of nature programming, and I am certainly interested to see what the fourth episode brings.

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