72 Cutest Animals (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - 72 Cutest Animals - full transcript

Are you wondering how healthy the food you are eating is? Check it - foodval.com
---
NARRATOR: Cute is in the eye
of the beholder.

Revealing 72 of the world's cutest animals
is an eclectic list.

They're unique, possibly eccentric
with a touch of the unusual

and of course, totally adorable.

We explore a broad range of the cutest
animals across the world

and in the process, define just how cute
even the quirkiest of animals can be.

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETING)

Dashing and some would
argue sophisticated,

our first animal is obsessed
with looking their best.

LUKE MASSEY: They're constantly
doing something weird

or wonderful and they're
incredibly intelligent.



They're fighting each other.
They're playing with each other.

They're grooming each other.
Just tons and tons of different things.

They're amazing animals.

NARRATOR: Armed with his camera,
Luke Massey has spent hours at a time

with baboons and he is smitten.

LUKE MASSEY: I love filming
and photographing baboons

simply because of their intelligence
and all the different things they do.

It's an amazing behaviour and you're
constantly seeing something new

but it's quite hard to film and not laugh

when you see some of the things
and keep your camera steady.

You get these troops of baboons
that are, like, you can have 20,

you can have 200,
and you can just watch them,

park and just sit and it's like
a soap opera or a comedy almost.

NARRATOR: And like any good soap opera,
the drama is all relative.



MASSEY: Although they're family oriented,
there is this huge, kind of...

You've got your dominant ones,
then you've got the ones at the bottom

that are constantly getting
chased up and beaten.

But they also have their godfathers.

So if one young baboon
beats up another young baboon

or even an adult baboon
beats up a young baboon,

that young baboon's godfather
could come and attack

the baboon and kind of protect him.

NARRATOR: It may seem like
a very traditional social structure

in which you don't mess
with the godfather.

But for baboons, raising babies
seems to be a collective responsibility.

LUKE MASSEY: Everyone kind of
takes their turns.

I've seen baboons almost
sharing babies and they will.

They'll almost...
They'll have a creche, all the baboons,

young baboons will hang out together,

but the mums will kind of sit there
grooming each other,

passing babies between each other.
It's amazing to watch.

They're very like humans
which I think is very interesting to see.

NARRATOR: That's probably why
we're so captivated by baboons,

but it begs the question:

Are they like us,
or do we behave like baboons?

Along with all the other similarities,
they enjoy being sociable,

much like we do.

Baboons are found all across Africa

and usually on large savannah areas

and you'll see them grazing with
other grazers and that's how they work.

So baboons have incredible eyesight
and obviously can climb trees,

so they'll climb a tree and see the danger
but also like an impala,

will smell the danger.

NARRATOR: Well, perhaps baboons
are one up on humans

when it comes to vision
and sense of smell.

And they also seem to live a lifestyle
many of us would envy.

Baboons spend their days,
basically they come down

from roosting up in the trees

and work their way across the plain
just picking as they go.

They'll groom each other,

they'll play with each other,
they'll chase each other, they'll fight.

The end.

NARRATOR: There you go.

Baboons have distilled daily life
down to the essentials.

And maybe that's the key
to our fascination with baboons.

The notion that it's them
that can teach us

a thing or two
about what's really important.

Baboons, I'd say they're in the top 10
simply because of what they do

and their young ones with these huge ears
on these little heads.

I think they're probably number nine
in the scale of cuteness.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)

NARRATOR: There is more to being cute
than just having a pretty face.

Some animals instantly make us smile,
and while others may not be so attractive,

their quirkiness and relationship
with humans can be incredibly charming.

We explore the characteristics that allows
each animal to claim the title of "cute".

Who will be the cutest?

In the end,
it's more than just good looks.

The super social baboon is first up
so it's claiming the top spot.

But we move on from the Old World Monkey
to a very cheeky one from the New World.

Every family has a mischief-maker,
and for this one, it's Arthur.

KERRY BEBBINGTON:
What we've got here is a naughty toddler

that is trying to grab you at the moment.

NARRATOR: There's a reason
for the expression "cheeky monkey"

and we're pretty sure it's because of him.

Spider monkeys are the naughty,
long-limbed, lanky primates

of South and Central America,

-perfectly equipped for misbehaving.
-(CAMERA CLICKS)

BEBBINGTON:
We actually have a lovely family group

of black-handed spider monkeys.

The one that is trying to grab me

is the dominant male of the group,
so he's the father.

Then we have his naughty toddler
son up there who's three years old,

and just in the background
there we have the mother

with her newborn baby
who is only five months old.

NARRATOR: At Gorge Wildlife Park,
Kerry always has her work cut out for her,

particularly when their spidery tail
is basically a fifth limb.

BEBBINGTON: He never let's go of anything.

So, normally even if they're walking
on the ground

they will still wrap it around
some kind of branch,

or hold onto something for that security.

And then they'll grab food with it

and the end of their tail
is very similar to a fingerprint.

It is actually skin.
It is not actually fur.

NARRATOR: In this family of four,
each monkey stands out.

Together they are social,
loyal and loving.

But individually each one is a handful.

It's never a dull moment
in here with them.

(CHUCKLES) You really have
to be on your guard

and make sure you know,
where they are at all times,

especially these two
who like to try your patience. Don't you?

The fun thing is coming in
and playing with them

and also the fun thing is going out
and not being bitten by them.

(LAUGHS)

Actually just playing with this
3-year-old, Arthur, he is hysterical.

He's so cute, but you've just got to watch
Dad who like to be protective.

NARRATOR: Dad does his job
a little too well.

Well, as you can see here, Jake,
he's actually the dominant male.

So his job is to protect them.

So what he's doing is the right thing,
he's not misbehaving.

Oh, until he steals my rake.

NARRATOR: And once he does,
good luck getting it back.

And now everybody has to be careful
including monkeys

because now he might try
to hit them with them.

This is his game.
Yeah, this is his game now.

He'll steal the rake, he'll throw it
around because now he's the big boss,

because I don't have it and he does.

It'd be good if he actually used it
to rake the cage. (CHUCKLES)

It would make my job so much easier.

NARRATOR: Any crazy behaviour however

is counteracted by the soft,
warm nurturing of the mothers.

Aruba is a fantastic mum.
She has a beautiful nature.

NARRATOR: No-one's role is more
important than Aruba's,

who is very protective
and extremely caring.

And when she goes around the cage
and she sort of swings and walks around,

she's always constantly checking
that it's on her back

and its little tail's wrapped around her.

If she's doing something
or the others are being silly,

she'll hold onto it to make sure
they can't pull it away from her.

So, she's lovely.

NARRATOR: Meal times
are the most adventurous

when little bub is allowed to go
for a bit more of a wander.

Every now and then he will do
that little bit of a venture

when they're sitting down as
a family group and having that play time.

NARRATOR:
If you hang out with this family,

you're going to fall in love
with their gracefully swinging,

noisy nature and mischievous disposition.

Just watch out for that rake.

NARRATOR: Naughty but totally adorable,

the spider monkey is going
to bump the baboon

from its number one post
and swing into that spot itself.

However, keen to hop into contention
is a rather chilled out Australian icon.

Standing nearly two metres tall,

the Big Red is the largest
of Australia's kangaroos.

But even the tallest of them

started life as a tiny joey
about the size of a jellybean,

spending the first four months safely
ensconced in his mother's pouch.

There's nothing much cuter
than a kangaroo joey

exploring the world for the first time.

That first time they leave the pouch

and mum kicks them out to go
and have a bit of an explore.

They get out, stretch their legs.

They go a little bit funny
and run around in a few circles.

I'm sure to them it would
be a great experience.

That's what I think makes them cute.

NARRATOR: Sure, the spotlight
is on the little bubba,

but take a moment to ponder just how
well-equipped female kangaroos are

for non-stop motherhood.

BANFIELD: The female can have three
different joeys at the one time,

at three different stages.

She can have a joey at foot,

hopping around beside her,
still suckling milk.

She can have another joey
inside the pouch,

a newborn joey inside the pouch,

suckling a different form of milk
from a different teat,

and she can also be pregnant with another
joey at a paused state of development,

waiting for that joey
that's in the pouch to leave,

so that she can give birth
to that one as well.

NARRATOR: Isn't that simply extraordinary?

For the mother, her pouch
is a very busy piece of real estate,

but for the joeys, it remains a quiet,
safe refuge for as long as possible.

The first time you generally
see their head sticking out of the pouch,

is at about four months of age.

By the time they get to six,
six and a half months of age,

they're actually coming out of the pouch.

Uh, the pouch is getting quite
restrictive by then.

When they get tired,
or if they get a little bit of a fright

they can of course
go back inside the pouch.

The pouch also hold the teats,

so if they get hungry
that's the place to go as well.

By the time they are seven
and a half months of age,

they're too big to fit back in the pouch.

But mum will allow them
to continue suckling

until they reach about 12 months of age.

NARRATOR: And when it is time to get out
there and explore the big wide world,

sometimes the world is introduced
to the unexpected.

When is a red kangaroo
not a red kangaroo?

BANFIELD: The white kangaroos
are quite unique

in that they're obviously a different
colour to the regular red kangaroos.

They don't naturally occur out in the wild

and when a joey does pop up unfortunately
it's picked off by predators.

NARRATOR: There's not a lot of snow
in the deserts of Australia,

so camouflage is at a premium
for a red kangaroo

resplendent in a brilliant white coat.

Life at the park though,
is much more straightforward.

The only danger here is overindulgence.

BANFIELD: Most of the time
they just lay back

waiting for the people to come to them
with the food which is quite lazy.

I'd be doing the same if it was me.

Late in the afternoon, once it cools off
they move in for the more sunny areas

of the paddock and would
graze on the grass well into the night.

NARRATOR: In the
red kangaroo lottery of life,

these little ones are big winners

and are destined to lead
a life of leisure,

something their minders
are just a tad envious of.

BANFIELD: Favourite thing that I like
to watch a kangaroo do is lay back,

as if it's laying on the beach,

sunning itself
with its legs up in the air,

just having a really good time.
Typically Australian.

That's what I'd be doing,
(CHUCKLES)

laying at the poolside
with my legs in the air, having a sleep.

NARRATOR: Laid back, taking it all in,

the kangaroo isn't too fussed
about a pecking order,

which might annoy the inquisitive baboon

who now has to make way
for the big marsupial.

However, putting its
best cute look forward

is an animal who makes way for no one.

(GROANING)

DERMOT O'GORMAN:
I wouldn't say they're cuddly cute

but I think because of their big eyes
and the big strong powerfulness of them,

they're certainly up there
on my cute factor.

NARRATOR: You might have
to admire from afar,

but there's no question that polar bears
are magnificent.

With their distinctive,
white, thick coats,

prying eyes and round little nose,

the world's largest land-living carnivore
is spectacularly adorable.

ALAN HARLEY: Seeing the mother
polar bears with their cubs,

moving around on the ice floes
with the little balls of fur

and jumping after her
from ice floe to ice floe,

occasionally snuggling together,

just seeming to have no cares in the world
is very special.

NARRATOR: Living in the Arctic,
polar bears have to be tough,

especially the babies
who have a lot of learning to do

in order to survive the extreme cold.

O'GORMAN: The mother polar bear
eats an enormous amount of food

in order to feed her cubs and then
she teaches them how to catch seals.

And their catch rate is not very high,
about 2% of hunts result in food.

So, it's not easy.

It takes more than two and a half years
before the cubs leave the mother.

The mother sort of encourages them to go

and in that time she's teaching them
how to catch seals,

how to survive
and how to defend themselves.

NARRATOR: Mum will take incredibly
good care of her babies,

digging a den deep into snowdrifts,

feeding and warming them and aggressively
defending them from any danger.

O'GORMAN: Their cubs are incredibly cute.

Big balls of fluff really,
to keep them warm

and they spend a lot of time playing,
with their mother as well.

There's a lot of rough and tumble.

If there's twins, you know,
between the cubs,

but also giving Mum a bit of a rough up
as well you know.

But I think Mum, you know,
wouldn't be afraid

to give them a clip across the ear too,
to keep them going in the right direction.

NARRATOR: Once a young polar bear
has set out on their own,

it's up to them to utilise
their incredible senses

and skill-set
to navigate the northern pole.

Polar Bears do have
a strong sense of smell,

particularly in terms of being able to
smell seals out under snow and ice.

They're also extremely good swimmers
and very powerful in the water

and they need to be to be able to move
across pack ice, to catch their prey.

NARRATOR: Keeping their white coats clean
and dry is very important,

not to look good,
which they do so effortlessly,

but because wet fur is a poor insulator.

Swimming regularly helps, but in winter
the bears will rub themselves

in the snow to clean and dry off.

Getting close enough
to see this delightful routine

however is a rare
and privileged experience,

one that Alan Harley
was lucky enough to encounter.

It may take up to 45 minutes or an hour,
very slowly, coming up on the polar bear.

They're curious,
as long as nothing spooks them.

And sometimes they will put their paws
on the bow of the ship

or sit there and let you
watch what they're doing.

And they're just an amazing animal.

Beautiful, very hard to describe,
other than that.

NARRATOR: It shouldn't
be allowed for any one animal

to look this cute and cuddly
and be so ferocious.

Not when all you want to do
is snuggle up to them,

even if you know the risks.

I think I'd describe a polar bear
as magnificent.

As powerful,
and perhaps a little bit superior,

because they are, in the Arctic, the king.

NARRATOR: Curious and afraid of nothing,
it's a case of "move over everyone else",

the polar bear is bumping out
the mischievous spider monkey

and going in at number one,
pushing the pack down a rung.

But up next is an animal
keen to climb to the top

in the sweetest possible way.

If you're strolling through
the lowlands of the Andes,

chances are you might see their impressive
tail flicking above the tall vegetation

-before you see their faces.
-(SNIFFS)

The South American coati's tail
can be as long as their body.

JACK MCKECHNIE:
Brown-nosed coati, these ones.

There's a couple of them
we can tell apart.

There's one that'll stay in the box
most of the day

and there's one that has a sniffly nose
that's actually quite friendly.

So the others are all
pretty well inseparable.

NARRATOR: The coatimundi
is partial to the aroma of perfumes,

so the keepers at Gorge Wildlife Park

have discovered a novel way
to satisfy the coati's desire.

MCKECHNIE: Spraying perfume
down for enrichment,

so they'll rub it in their tails like so.

Whether it's just to
impress the other ones,

or just for the sake of it is unknown.

But yeah, they love it so we probably
do it two times a week.

NARRATOR: Eau de Coatimundi.

Their nose bends
in all sorts of directions.

They rely on it a lot for food,
as you can see.

When we spray the perfume, they'll look
around with it and they'll hunt it down.

NARRATOR: Noses twitching, tails swirling,
you'll find the coati foraging

for delicacies to tempt their taste buds.

Personally I love to watch them eat,
just the way they eat.

They grab one piece, they'll go away,
have it and then come back.

Whereas most other animals
will just scoff into the food.

They're very picky with what they'll eat.

They'll only have one thing at a time.

So they're omnivorous.
So they'll eat everything.

So we'll feed them a bunch of vegetables,

but they'll eat anything from insects,
bird eggs, small reptiles.

Pretty well anything
they can get their little hands on.

NARRATOR:
Tarantulas for brunch? Delicious.

MCKECHNIE: So most animals
get used to the keeper,

so you'll come down here
and all six of them

will be along the fence line,
waiting for you to come in.

And, yeah, they're more comfortable
around different people,

so other people
won't be able to get anywhere near them,

whereas some of them will sit on me.

NARRATOR: Related to the raccoon,

their magnificent tail
is used for balance.

They carefully wrap it around trees
for extra support.

MCKECHNIE:
The main feature would be the tail.

As they run around,

their tail will be poked
straight up in the air.

When they're feeling uncomfortable,
it'll be more so downwards.

They rely a lot on their nose,

so they'll smell around,
dig around with it.

And they've got sharp claws,

which you'll see they use for climbing,
hanging upside down and whatnot.

They're ground dwelling
and in the tree canopy,

so they're on both.

NARRATOR: Being double jointed,
their ankles can rotate 180 degrees

which means a coati
can descend from trees head first,

which gives them
a different perspective on life.

MCKECHNIE: In trees, they'll be sleeping
or on the ground as well.

So it really depends on the animal itself.

Each one would have a preferred place.

NARRATOR: In mating season,

an adult male is accepted
into a band of females

leading to a polygamous mating system.

MCKECHNIE: We have a group
of six females that live together.

In the wild, females will be
anywhere in a group from 15 to 30.

The males are a solitary animal.

So they'll move into a group of females,

do their business in amongst them
and then leave.

NARRATOR: Looks like
all that perfume is working.

I love them because
they're just such a cute animal.

I mean they're so inquisitive.
They're so different than anything else.

They're so active,
they're never really resting

and they're just always great to watch.

NARRATOR: You can tell
what's on their mind

by an array of interesting sounds
they make

during grooming, fighting or alarm calls.

(CHITTERING)

MCKECHNIE: The sound, for starters,
they make a strange sound.

Their little high pitched squeal.

And just the terror of them.
They destroy everything.

They can't have a single nice thing
in here, other than bamboo.

In terms of cuteness for me,
they'd definitely be in the top 10.

NARRATOR: Being super flexible
isn't going to be enough of a stretch

to help the coatimundi get to number one,

but it will seize its place
at number three,

sending the kangaroo hopping to four,

and the baboon fussing
and preening to five.

But while we wait for the baboon
to finish its grooming regime,

it's time to meet another critter
who's dressed to impress.

Being a little overweight
is sometimes a good thing.

Just ask the world's
most southerly living animals,

the very cosy Adélie penguins.

These small round birds
are usually seen in their dinner suits.

Not only are they stylish, but the coats
also protect them from predators.

When swimming, they blend in
with the sun from below

and the darkness of the ocean from above,

making it hard
for the leopard seals to find them.

They're an incredibly tough
and gutsy sort of a bird.

You'll see some of them
wandering around here

with horrific wounds
from leopard seals attacks,

but they're just carrying on
doing their thing

as if nothing's happened.

NARRATOR: Anthony Powell
is a New Zealander

who has spent most of his adult life
on Antarctic ice.

He has been fortunate enough
to spend many hours

filming and observing the Adélie penguins.

They're incredibly fun to watch.

You can just sit here
at the colony all day

just watching them do their thing.

You tend to want to anthropomorphise them,

give them human characteristics,
and yeah they're just really entertaining.

In terms of fun and play,

I don't know if they actually do really
have fun and play as we think of it,

because it is such a harsh existence here,

they're just concentrating so hard
on surviving.

You'll see them running around
and doing their various little routines,

but pretty much everything's
got a very good reason for doing it.

You know, there's not a lot of wiggle room
to survive this far south.

In terms of quirks
and behaviour patterns that they have,

as well as being cute,
they're also incredibly, I guess sociable

but anti-social at the same time.

They tend to do things in groups

but they hate being too close
to each other.

You'll often see fights breaking out

and quite some aggressive fighting
going on over territory.

NARRATOR: If the Adélie penguin
is cute as an adult,

what must they be like as babies?

POWELL: The chicks you can see here now
are all about six or seven-weeks-old.

It's the peak of summer right here.

Temperatures are
round about freezing today.

As you can see
it's getting a little bit windy.

So they breed here in the summertime,
in the peak of summer

and then after about two months,

they'll be old enough to go out to sea
to forage for the winter.

To describe the Adélie in three words,

I'd say, cute, very tough,
and little (BLEEP), really.

NARRATOR: Not exactly
a glowing endorsement,

so we will give Anthony another go

at describing these
cheeky little penguins.

POWELL: On a scale
of one to 10 in cuteness,

I'd rate them pretty high,
probably a nine or a 10 actually

because they are incredibly endearing.

NARRATOR: Endearing, noisy,
tough, overweight, well-dressed

and above all else, extremely cute.

It's estimated that there are
over 5 million Adélie penguins,

so their mark on the beauty of this world
is extensive.

So, aside from the occasional scuffle,

these little birds
will always bring a smile to our faces.

Tough, enduring and handsome.

These may be great characteristics,

however the Adélie penguin
is not going to alter the pack.

It's waddling into number six,
which suits this little penguin very well,

as it feels it's quite wise to be
as far from the polar bear as it can.

From the pint-sized Adélie penguin
to the massive hulk of the polar bear,

with all shapes and sizes in between,

this is an eclectic mix
of loveable creatures

and a couple of them
are about to infiltrate the top 10.

The question is, where will they go?

The pack knows there's a change coming

but is the happy-go-lucky orangutan
ready for the big bump?

Well it seems when the animal storming in
is a polar bear, anyone will step aside.

Possibly not an animal you'd want
to get up close and friendly with

but in the Cute Stakes, it's a winner.

As the popular polar bear goes in,
the armour plated wombat wanders off,

in not too much of a huff,
to dig itself a new burrow.

However the mud-wallowing capybara
is looking a little nervous

in its newfound spot at number 10.

It can see the snow monkey
and marmoset behind it

and knows there's a cheeky spider monkey
waiting to swing into the monkey mix.

Too confident to face defeat, the capybara
has decided it's time to move on anyway

as it's eaten all the food it can find

and needs a new menu
to satisfy its voracious appetite.

It's signing out
while the spider monkey dances in.

Everyone else
is breathing a sigh of relief

as they hold their spots in the top 10.

However, it may be short-lived
as the bunch of critters in our next show,

and granted
there are a few unusual inclusions,

may just surprise everyone.

Will the cutest of our 72 animals
be in the line-up,

or will the polar bear hold on
to the top spot for a little longer?

And if you're looking for a clue
as to what the number one animal will be,

let's just say,
it will keep you entertained for hours.

Everyone's idea of cute is different

and we're going to find it hard
to rank the quirky, fluffy and adorable

in our list of 72 Cutest Animals.

But no matter what spot they take,

they'll all win
a special place in your heart.