Episode One

This week:

Brendan Walsh will soon be swapping his uniform for a tuxedo after signing up to be the first ever zookeeper escort in the Rose of Tralee.

In this episode he meets the press and introduces the Dublin and Cavan Roses to some of his animal friends, including some particularly friendly ring tailed lemurs….

Jenny the Giraffe has some painful abnormal growth in her hooves and the zoo staff need to operate urgently. A team of twenty keepers and assistants gears up and prepares for the first of several procedures to repair her two deformed hooves. But what should normally be a simple operation turns critical when Jenny has a bad reaction to the anaesthetic….

At the start of the Summer Dublin Zoo welcomed its two newest arrivals into the world, a pair of critically endangered twin Sumatran Tiger cubs, but concerns are raised that the female cub doesn’t seem to be doing quite as well as her brother. Team Leader Gerry Creighton has noticed a deformity in her chest and takes the cubs off to the veterinary hospital in UCD to investigate…

Animals Featured:
Sumatran Tiger Cubs
Giraffe

Also Featuring:
Tapirs
Red Pandas
Burmese Python
Ring Tailed Lemurs

Episode Two

This week:

On his morning rounds zookeeper James Creigthon notices that Mayani the gorilla seems to be in a lot of pain and on closer inspection it turns out she’s got a major problem with her teeth. It looks like someone might need a little visit from the dentist….

Down at the Rose of Tralee Brendan is adjusting to life in the spotlight and finally gets to meet his Rose, the beautiful Sarah Sullivan from Toronto. They both share a love of wildlife but will Brendan’s animal magnetism be enough to ensure fireworks?....

With Brendan down in Tralee, Zookeeper Yvonne is taking care of Brendan’s duties until he gets back, including looking after the 15 species of exotic bird housed in the Zoo. It’s a busy time for Yvonne and her section with many of the exotic bird species raising chicks, including the Zoo’s ever-expanding colony of Chilean Flamingos and most exciting of all, the first chicks of the extremely rare Waldrapp Ibis to be born in Dublin Zoo for several years....

And in the African Plains section, the keepers are struggling to bring Jenny the Giraffe round after her unexpected reaction to the anaesthetic. What the team thought would be a routine procedure has suddenly turned into a battle to save Jenny’s life….


Animals Featured:
Gorilla
Giraffe
Waldrapp Ibis
Flamingos

Watch a video overview of episode Two

Episode Three

This week:

It’s a big day in the African Plains. Last summer, the birth of a white rhino calf at the Zoo was the first event of its kind in fourteen years. Team leader, Helen Clarke Bennett has been hoping for a repeat performance ever since. A specialist team from Germany, headed up by vet Robert Hermes has arrived to assess the rhinos’ potential as a breeding group. It’s important for the health of female rhinos that they reproduce, but so far none of the herd has shown much interest in mating. First, the specialists need to establish that the rhinos are all fit, healthy and capable of reproduction. All going well, they might even lend a hand to get the whole process started….

It’s been a few weeks since the female Sumatran tiger cub was diagnosed with a perforated heart and since then she’s been on a strict course of physiotherapy to help develop her chest, under the watchful eye of Gerry and his team. The cubs are going to meet the public for the first time, but first they’ll have to get used to the new sounds, smells and sensations of their habitat so that they’ll be as calm and comfortable as possible when their big moment arrives….

And Dublin Zoo celebrates its first wedding ceremony when John Clarke and Noreen Walls tie the knot in the historic surroundings of Haughton House, but first Events Executive and on-site wedding planner Aoife Keegan has to make sure that everything runs smoothly on their special day….


Animals Featured:
White Rhinoceros
Sumatran Tigers

Also Featuring:
Elephants

Watch a video overview of episode three

Episode Four

This week:

Dublin Zoo’s large troop of Sulawesi Crested Macaques has been a single sex colony for quite some time, and the females are getting restless. But the Zoo thinks it may have found the perfect male to join their troop. The only problem is he’s all the way over in Somerset in England. Keeper and veterinary nurse Aisleen Greene travels to Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park to collect Sumo, a large male Sulawesi Crested Macaque, and bring him back. With so many females he may feel like he’s gone to heaven when he sets foot on his new island home, but will he be accepted into the troop?....

Team leader Eddie O’Brien, a keeper with overall responsibility for some of the most exotic species in the Zoo, and some of the most familiar, is in charge of the City Farm section of Dublin Zoo. Eddie takes us on a tour of the farm and the animals which live there, including goats, ponies, donkeys and cows and gives viewers a first peek of the newly born piglets of the City Farm’s very own Kunekune Pigs….

The City farm is also home to three Labradors, all of whom are part of the peata project and work as care dogs, visiting people in their local community with Zoo volunteers. This week two of the dogs, Honey and Ruby, are going on a very special visit to Ashtown Grove nursing home with Eddie and Zoo volunteer Mary Neville….

The world renowned elephant habitat in Dublin Zoo occupies two and a quarter acres and, with human access strictly limited, they’re given every opportunity to make it their own. Home to a healthy herd of five Asian elephants, Zookeeper Ciaran McMahon and his team try to provide them with the best possible care with the least amount of human contact. This week Ciaran and his team introduce the herd and take the elephants through their training and a somewhat luxurious maintenance routine, including showers, stretching exercises and a pedicure….



Animals Featured:
Elephants
Sulawesi Crested Macaques
Kunekune Pigs
The Zoo’s Labrador dogs

Also Featuring:
Ponies, Goats, Donkeys, Cows and the other animals of City Farm.

Watch a video overview of episode four

Episode Five

This week:

Sometimes love hurts, and, in the case of zookeeper and life-long lover of reptiles Garth de Jong, sometimes it hurts a lot. Garth takes us on an up close and personal tour of Dublin Zoo’s reptile house as he feeds and introduces some of the zoo’s reptiles, including the Burmese pythons, Nile crocodiles and newly born baby chameleons. He also lets us in on the history of his association with all things scaly, and why for Garth the phrase ‘Once bitten, Twice shy’ has particular relevance….

Robert Hermes and his specialist team of vets are back from Germany and since they first arrived to assess the breeding potential of the Zoo’s white rhinos a week ago there’s been some good news. All four adult rhinos are fertile, and so Robert and his team are back for the next stage of the process – artificial insemination….

Last time the female Sumatran tiger cub visited the veterinary hospital in UCD, she had a clearly audible heart murmur. Since then, the cub’s been receiving constant care from Zookeeper Gerry Creighton and his team, and Gerry’s hopeful that the vets will notice an improvement in the cub’s condition, but only after a series of tests and scans will they be able to see if there’s been any improvement. And after a summer of growing up fast, the little tiger is proving a little bit more of a handful than she used to be….



Animals Featured:
Sumatran Tiger Cub
White Rhinoceroses
Nile Crocodiles
Veiled Chameleons
Burmese Pythons

Episode Six

This week:

Plans are in place to move the Gorillas from their old habitat to a new one on the other side of Dublin Zoo, but for now, the old place is going to get one last radical overhaul. While zookeeper James prepares their food and gets their indoor habitat ready, curator of horticulture Stephen Butler has grand plans to move an enormous poplar tree into the habitat for the Gorillas’ enjoyment, but it’s not going to be a simple task. And most importantly, how are the gorillas going to react to the latest renovations?....

The female Sumatran tiger cub is back at UCD’s veterinary hospital and after examination by vet Barbara Gallagher the cub is sedated for further tests and an appointment with cardio-specialist, Anne French. As the cub undergoes a full health check and a battery of tests, Gerry and the other keepers wait anxiously for her results. For Dublin Zoo, these results are hugely important. If the prognosis is good, it will be a positive result not just for the little cub but for the future conservation of the Sumatran tiger species….

And there’s enormous excitement in the African Plains section as the keepers wait anxiously for Hailey, the oldest female in Dublin Zoo’s giraffe herd, to give birth after a fifteen month long pregnancy. If the birth is successful this new addition to the giraffe herd will be especially significant after what has been a difficult year for the African Plains team. They’ve done everything they can to prepare for this day. Now, all they can do is wait and hope that they get to see Hailey’s new baby giraffe take those first crucial steps….


Animals Featured:
Sumatran Tigers
Gorillas
Giraffes