72 Cutest Animals (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 11 - 72 Cutest Animals - full transcript

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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.

(SEAL BARKS)

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)

Taking centre-stage
is a rather cumbersome animal

who's hell-bent on keeping its nose
in everyone's business.

(SNORING)



BOB HUMPHRIES:
They're the biggest predator actually,

other than whales.

They're much bigger than lions.

A big male goes more than four tonnes

and they're five to six metres long.

So they're a really huge animal.

NARRATOR: At face value,
there's nothing about a bull elephant seal

that is in the neighbourhood,
even in the same postcode, as "cute".

Especially with that trunk-like proboscis.

In fact, an adult male is almost as big
as a neighbourhood,

or an entire postcode.

If anything, the elephant seal

always looks like it's slowly recovering
from a massive party the night before

and just wanted to be left alone.



(SEAL BARKING)

But maybe it's that cranky outlook
that is so endearing.

Then again, perhaps
we're being a little unfair.

They're incredible deep divers.

They can dive to about
one and a half kilometres deep,

stay down for 30 minutes and they have
all sorts of nifty adaptations

to allow them to do that.

And then during breeding

they have their pups
and then mate almost immediately

and stay for probably five to six weeks,
weaning the pups

and then both the males
and the females have left

and the pups just hang around for
a couple of months before they go to sea.

NARRATOR:
For wildlife lover, Bob Humphries,

it's definitely the behaviour of the pups,
not the lethargy of the adults

that makes him a fan of the elephant seal.

HUMPHRIES:
The pups are incredibly engaging.

They're probably my pick
for cutest animal actually.

About four to five feet long and heavy,

they're 150-200 kilos
and they're very tactile.

They lie next to each other.
They put flippers around each other.

They play gentle fighting games.

They flop around in shallow water,

on the beach and go into the surf
or into little melt water streams

that are coming off
the glaciers of South Georgia.

What surprised me, probably most,
is how curious they are.

They seem to be bored

and so any new thing in their environment,
they will investigate.

They quite often get feathers
stuck to their nose

because all of the penguins
around them are malting.

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

If you sit down on the beach sand

they will come right up and sometimes
lie across your lap.

Which is a bit difficult
because they weigh 200 kilos

and they're hard to get out from under.

NARRATOR: Even Bob, a distinguished doctor
of environmental biology,

is not immune from going gaga
over the baby elephant seal,

even proposing a new scientific scale
for measuring cuteness

and it all has to do with those eyes.

HUMPHRIES:
It makes their faces very appealing.

They have a high cuddle coefficient.

Absolutely delightful,
engaging little animal.

(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.

Although the elephant seal can hold
its breath under water for half an hour,

there's no need for such anticipation
when you're first in the show.

It's heading straight to number one.

However slinking into the arena next,

is an animal that may not
take your breath away,

but certainly represents the "acquired
taste" version of incredibly cute.

For any young animal lover,
this could be Christmas.

Santa Claus,
revealing a fascinating creature

that will hopefully become
a loyal companion.

MARC LANE:
This is a central bearded dragon.

And they're one of the most popular
lizard pets in the world now.

JAMES HABERFIELD: Bearded dragons
were my first pet as a young boy

and the first dragon I ever had
was called Quasimodo.

And he is really what got me into,

you know, reptiles, in a big way.

I was just fascinated by it.
I couldn't sort of get enough of him.

The way he fed
and he's got this big tongue,

that comes out and grabs the cockroaches.

Dragons will be, you know,
running around, you know,

chasing each other around
or they'll be hunting food

or they'll be interacting with you
one way or the other

and I think that's probably
my favourite thing about them,

is you can build those relationships
with those dragons

because they do have those activities.

When they get excited or scared
or anything like that,

they drop a flapper skin down
underneath their chin

and it becomes quite black.

That's where they get their name of
bearded dragon.

He's a member
of the dragon family of lizards

and he does have a beard.

And they can change their colours slightly

to blend in quite well
with their background.

NARRATOR: A pet, that can change colour?

That's mesmerising,
no matter how old you are.

The central bearded dragon
could be the ultimate reptile companion.

But is it a contender?

They've got these huge heads.

Their heads are massive and these
tiny little bodies when they're born

and they come out of an egg
that's probably, you know,

it's smaller than that.

They look like these tiny little adults
with really big heads.

And man, from the first day
they're ready, raring to go.

So yeah, they're very cute.
Very cute, when they're little.

NARRATOR: Okay, what if you
actually were a tiny little adult?

Say hello, to the knob tailed gecko.

What it may lack in stature,

it substitutes
with an equal lack of awareness.

HABERFIELD: They fit in the palm
of your hand when they're fully grown.

And they're packed full of attitude.

So they act like they're seven foot tall
even though they're, you know,

probably less than 10 centimetres
in total length.

They've got
their own little personalities.

They're quite active and I just think
they look really cute as well.

But they're tiny and big eyes
and yeah, just really cool animals.

NARRATOR: Ah yes, those eyes.

They are practical measures,

not just instruments
of immense irresistibility.

This gecko's oversized eyes
are important assets

and are maintained accordingly.

They use their tongue to lick their eyes,

because they have no sort of eyelids.

So they use their tongue to sort of
wipe their eyes down.

NARRATOR: Eye licking aside,
what could possibly be more adorable

than a miniature ambush predator
with delusions of grandeur?

I just love it when they get
sort of a bit worked up

because they stand on their all fours

and they get up really high and try
and make themselves look massive

and they're, you know, they're tiny.

Yeah little bite-sized geckos really.

NARRATOR:
Almost love at first sight,

but maybe you need to be a lizard lover
with a fondness for quirky

to rank these critters highly.

They're sneaking in
behind the elephant seal at number two

and hoping to hold tight to that position.

However, keen to mark its territory

is a creature who can hear
pretty much every word you say.

So be careful,
you wouldn't want to get in its way.

(GROWLS)

LUKE MASSEY:
Imagine, a pack of dogs in 35 degree heat,

all bringing back dead bits of meat.

Fourteen puppies, 14 adults,
all doing their business in the same area.

Lots of flies around.
It doesn't smell too good.

NARRATOR: Yes, African wild dogs
can be a bit stinky,

but you won't find any
that are about to go changing

for a favourable ranking
on this programme.

Their loyalty is to each other

and that's exactly what Luke Massey,
finds so endearing.

MASSEY: They just show amazing behaviour
and interaction with each other.

They are an extremely tight-knit group.

You've got your alpha male
and your alpha female

and then usually the rest of the pack
is males.

The females are the ones
that actually leave

once they reach adulthood.

And they all hunt together

and before they go for a hunt
they'll kind of get up together...

All sniff each other, lick each other,
do this yelping and then they'll head off.

And they've got these huge ears
and when they hunt,

if they get split up and one's 10
kilometres away from the rest of the pack,

it does this long hoot call.

And kind of faces down to the ground
and does it,

hopefully so the sound
reverberates across the ground

and the others will pick it up
and that's how they'll link it across.

NARRATOR: Add incredible endurance
and leg speed to the equation

and you get arguably the most efficient
predators on the African continent.

MASSEY: Wild dogs can actually go
60 kilometres an hour for a long time.

That's why they are
Africa's most successful hunters.

They have huge territories.

A pack of wild dogs can move
about 75 kilometres a day.

So even if someone
filmed them the day before you,

they could be,
75 kilometres away the next day.

A hundred and fifty the day after that.

NARRATOR: As brilliant as they are
at collaborating as a unit

and strategising
to organise their next meal,

each African wild dog is unique.

The packs all have an individual.

You'll have a dark pack,
you'll have a light pack,

you'll have a mottled pack
but they all have different coats.

So it's like a fingerprint almost.

Every coat is different.
No wild dog is the same.

NARRATOR: They may be all business
out on the open plains,

but back in the den,

their affection and dedication to family
is lovely to watch.

I was lucky enough to spend some time
with the wild dogs at the den

and was the first person to kind of
see the pups emerge

when they're about this big,

maybe 10, 11 days old.

And they just, they look like a dog,

maybe like a Bull Terrier puppy almost.

It's quite funny because most of them
would come out

and they'd suckle on their mum

but then you'd have
the odd adventurous one...

Even at that age that would kind of
try and head off

and one of the other dogs would have to

either pick it up in its mouth
and bring it back to the den.

Or actually, I have seen, sometimes they
just put their nose underneath it

and roll it a few times and kick it back
down the hole into the den.

I myself find them very cute
and the pups are incredibly, incredibly,

incredibly cute, like any puppy.

I mean name a dog species
that doesn't have cute puppies.

NARRATOR: Yes, sometimes
delightfulness is simply undeniable

and while these little African wild pups
will grow up

placing absolutely zero value
on grooming and hygiene,

for Luke, their ingrained devotion
to family puts them on the podium.

Yeah, I'm biased
because they are definitely

in my top three favourite
animals in the world.

I mean, they're just
such fascinating animals to watch

and they're constantly doing something
to surprise you.

They do boxing with each other,

they play with each other,
they chase each other.

They're incredibly fast.

Just everything about them is amazing.

NARRATOR:
It's a big wrap for the African wild dog

but this stinky pants predator

isn't even going to knock
the loveable lizard from number two.

The African wild dog
is going in at number three.

While the lumbering elephant seal
will continue to loll about at number one.

However one of the hot favourites of
72 Cutest Animals

is about to take centre-stage.

Well, as soon as it can
on its adorably short stubby legs.

DERMOT O'GORMAN: They're black and white.
A big ball of fluff

and certainly, their cuddly nature
is really what appeals to so many people.

In my experience, working in WWF in China,
on panda conservation...

There is not a panda story
that people around the world do not love.

This animal is Kai Kai...

And I mean just look at him.

He is chubby, lazy, yeah.
He's black and white.

NARRATOR: Kai Kai may be idle, but this is
just part of the panda's appeal.

And really, for Andre the zookeeper,

Kai Kai is very much
a sentimental favourite.

TALEON:
It's just their personalities.

Like Kai Kai, his personality
is very chilled, like he doesn't care.

He likes to scratch his behind.

And he likes to face his behind
to the people.

He sleeps in very un-glam positions.

Very funny.

A typical day in the life of a panda
is very relaxing.

They just basically
eat and sleep the whole day.

NARRATOR: Ah yes, eating.

Pandas like to eat
and they know what they like.

O'GORMAN: In the morning they come down
to drink in the streams.

And they work their way back up the hill,

as the temperature gets higher,
eating bamboo.

But it's only about 17% of what
they actually eat, they digest for food.

So as you can imagine,
they consume an awful lot of it.

NARRATOR: They may have
a voracious appetite for bamboo,

but there's always time
for good table manners.

Oh, I think the most interesting feature
for me, is the thumb.

It's actually amazing how they,

like, grasp the bamboo like a primate.

For a bear to do that,
it's quite amazing.

NARRATOR: Contrast that dexterity
with their overall dimensions,

it's a combination
that is simply beguiling.

It's so easy to lose hours

just looking at pandas doing
what pandas do.

O'GORMAN: Despite their image of being
sort of slow, lumbering, bamboo eaters,

they're quite fast.

They're quite good tree climbers...

And you've got to remember
that in the winter

they're able to move around the mountain
quite well, in heavy snow,

digging through the snow to eat bamboo.

NARRATOR: There it is again,

the panda's absolute
and unconditional dedication

to the humble bamboo.

But there are occasions
when they will look past their next meal.

Yes, pandas are willing
to put the bamboo down

if romance is on the menu.

During the mating season
they make this sound.

Like a... Kind of like a goat sound.

Like... (MIMICS BLEATING).

NARRATOR:
Now if the panda gets a reply,

after an epic five minute,
frenzied panda lovemaking marathon,

plus three to five months later,
this is the result.

A colossal adorability count
that is simply off the scale.

O'GORMAN:
Having held a baby panda,

I think I'm particularly fond
of the small pandas.

I can tell you, there is nothing cuter

than a six month baby panda
sitting on your lap,

eating a stick of bamboo shoots
like a lollipop.

The babies are very childish
and playful and energetic.

But even the adults,

there's a sense of fun around a panda.

NARRATOR:
And you'll find that this is the consensus

no matter what corner of
the globe you call home.

The giant panda,
with its sunny disposition

and irresistibly huggable
black and white coat,

seems to be a touchstone,

symbolising how important
the entire animal kingdom is to us.

Well, when we were set up in 1961,
the founders of WWF

looked for an iconic animal

that really represented
what our mission was,

which is about saving the world's
biodiversity and species

and the panda really represented that.

O'GORMAN: And really has galvanised people
around the world into, you know,

a species that the people love
and that is really cuddly as well.

Oh, it's very impossible to not,
like, fall in love with them.

TALEON: The giant pandas
are very beautiful animals

and they're very endangered

and I hope people come to, like,
appreciate how special these animals are.

I know I work for WWF,
but for me, panda is number one.

NARRATOR: Move aside everyone else,
the delightfully playful giant panda

is taking its bamboo
and heading straight to the top.

It's not bothered
what anyone else thinks.

This critter knows it's cute
in capital letters

and doubts any competition
will get in its way.

However, our next animal has been
watching the panda antics from afar

and thinks it may have a shot at the top.

CHADD BANFIELD:
These guys currently sleep

in a burrito box at the end of my bed.

Just so that I can keep an eye on them.

Make sure they get enough feeds
throughout the night and kept warm.

I currently play mum and dad
to both of these

and the two smaller ones.
So, I'm a proud father.

NARRATOR:
Like any doting dad of four youngsters,

Chadd Banfield's work is never done,

even after clocking off from his day job
at an Australian wildlife park.

The little guys he's taken under his wing
are laughing kookaburras,

an iconic bird in the land down under
that starts out looking like this.

BANFIELD:
It's a lot of fun hand-raising them,

which is why I love them so much.

They're not exactly very cute...
(CHUCKLES)

But they will be cute.

They'll be fully feathered
in a couple of weeks

and look like real birds.

At the moment they look
a little bit like dinosaurs.

Don't you, hey?
(CHUCKLES)

NARRATOR: Before Chadd can offer them
around the clock care,

these hatchlings stay in
what looks very much like

the heated cabinet full of roast
chickens at your local supermarket,

because maintaining
body temperature is critical

while waiting
for those feathers to appear.

At the moment,
they're on seven feeds a day.

So they just get
small chopped bits of meat.

They're quite interesting to feed in that
they haven't got their eyes open yet.

So they're very sensitive
around the beak to touch.

As soon as you touch the tip of their beak
with a bit of food,

they'll open it up and try and jam down
whatever is on the end of the tweezers.

NARRATOR:
In the wild, kookaburras mate for life

and these little ones would not just be
reared by their monogamous parents.

Older siblings will often pitch in
to help raise the new brood.

The favourite thing
that I like about kookaburras

is mainly when they're at this age
and they are first learning to laugh.

It's quite funny to hear them,

especially at night
when you're trying to sleep in your room

and you've got them
at the end of your bed.

It's quite funny to listen to.

NARRATOR: But once they get it right,

that laugh will become an indelible part
of the Australian soundscape

and an important instrument

in establishing
the kookaburra's social order.

BANFIELD: So the laugh is there
as a territorial call.

Where most mammals will scent-mark
their given territory,

birds use colour
and in also a lot of cases, their call.

The kookaburras
aren't a very brightly coloured bird.

They use their loud laugh in order to
let the neighbouring families know

that they still hold that territory.

Their whole family will join in
in the laugh

and if the neighbouring families
want to enter it

then they'll put up a fight.

NARRATOR: Going hand in glove
with what we'd like to think

is a marvellous sense of humour
is the kookaburra's brashness.

They don't have to be hand raised
to show absolutely no fear of humans.

In the wild they can be quite naughty

especially around barbeques
at camp grounds.

Wild kookaburras have become quite known

to taking steak or sausages
off the hot plate.

Stealing the lunch or the dinner
from the tourists around there.

NARRATOR:
Having the complete self-confidence

to commit brazen daylight robbery,

may have something to do with size.

But when you're the largest member
of the kingfisher family,

you can probably afford
to be a bit cheeky.

BANFIELD:
Well these guys are adorable.

Laughing kookaburras have great character.

Of course their iconic laugh is what
makes them famous across the world.

But hand-raised
they can be really friendly.

NARRATOR: Laughing is by far
one of the best qualities to have

and it will take
the cheeky kookaburra far,

but not to the top.

It's flying into the third position

bumping the rather unusual lizards
to number four...

And the African wild dog into five.

However, keen to show off its resume
is our next animal

with a rather magnificent tail to tell.

Perhaps the most recognised bird
in the world,

peacocks and peahens,
collectively known as peafowls,

are large colourful pheasants commonly
found in India and Southeast Asia.

BRETT MCKECHNIE:
I just love their tail feathers.

They probably have the best
feather pattern on any bird in the world.

Even though I see them
on an everyday basis

and they're usually just calm and relaxed,

when one opens their feathers out
you've got 20 people around

with their cameras trying to get photos.

NARRATOR:
These flashy fantails belong to the males,

which are designed to woo their women
better than anyone else.

So what they do is they rustle them up

and they shimmy their bum up in the air

and all their tail feathers come out,
flailing around.

If they spot a female they run up to them
and put it into a cone shape

and harass and chase them around
until she gives in and...

Hopefully he finds himself a partner.

NARRATOR: It's quite the dramatic affair.

The puffing, the turning, the whirring.

This is courtship at its best.

The way to impress a female
is to shimmy their feathers

as fast as he can and make a big racket.

It sounds like you're beating a whisk
in a bowl or something like that.

It just goes and goes and goes.

NARRATOR: The bigger the train and longer
the display, the better the attraction.

Add the number of eyespots and overall
colour of the peacock's beauty,

and you have the finest example
of sexual selection.

Which is a bit of bad news
for our friend here.

So albinos can mate,
they're not sterile or anything,

it's just a colour deformation.

But usually in the animal world
things go by looks.

So a female has to be
attracted to the male

in order for them
to want to mate with them.

Unfortunately they don't have
the consciousness

to look past that white skin
and see his blooming personality.

They go straight for the male
with the genetics that look right.

NARRATOR: Luckily there is more to life
than simply shaking your tail feather,

when you're a cute chick anyway.

We've got five
baby peacocks at the moment.

They're about
maybe six to eight weeks old now,

so they're still in that chick stage

where they hang around mum.
She scratches up the dirt

and they pick out all the bugs and worms
and anything they can find.

At about three months of age,
so 12 weeks,

they'll start venturing off a little bit,
finding their own things.

NARRATOR: A peahen has a big job
raising chicks on her own

and her more discrete colouration

is great camouflage
to hide them in the wild.

When you've got several balls of fluff
following you around,

there's never a dull moment.

No matter the age,
they're always sure to catch your eye.

But there is even more
that catches theirs.

I bought a new car
about three or four months ago.

Nice and shiny, very dark blue,
it looks great.

Peacocks are renowned
for scratching things that are shiny.

I had one on the bonnet of my car,
scratching and dinging away,

pecking it and tore my bonnet to shreds.

(LAUGHS)

So I don't park that
on the street any more.

I rang the insurance company,
I told them what happened

and they don't believe a word of it.

NARRATOR: It seems peafowls
just can't help themselves

when it comes to
the flashy and the pretty.

And really, who can blame them?

That's the one thing that sets them apart
from everything else.

They're elegant, they're beautiful

and they take your breath away
every time they open up.

Even the little ones,

if they've got little baby feathers
coming through

they don't look like much
until they start fanning out

and they certainly surprise everyone.

NARRATOR:
Attractive, show-stopping, enchanting,

the tail feathers of the peacock
aren't going to be enough

to take this magnificent creature
to the top.

The peafowl is sliding into number five,
behind the quirky lizards

and pushing the African wild dog to six,

leaving the giant panda,
oblivious to the fuss, at number one.

From the peculiar lizards
and big eared African wild dog

to a huggable giant panda
and cumbersome elephant seal,

with a couple of
feathered friends in between,

it's an unusual mix of loveable animals.

Will they fit the bill
to take a spot in the top 10?

It's a hard pack to infiltrate

with so many fluffy and endearing critters
holding on tight to their spots.

However when you bring a giant panda
into the arena,

the rest of the playing field
know the cute card has been cornered.

The polar bear hasn't been
at number one for very long,

but even it would have to agree

that if it was born
with a couple of black patches

and a much friendlier disposition
to humans

it too would be considered
cuter than cute.

Thus, the giant panda is going to
knock the pack flying

as it somewhat awkwardly but ever so
convincingly slides into number one,

causing the mischievous spider monkey

to scamper out of the line-up
in a little bit of a huff.

However, will the giant panda
be able to hold onto this spot?

The top 10 is a delightful bunch
and it's hard to imagine

any other wonderful animals
that could alter the state of play.

But it's not just about being fluffy.

There's a shake-up on the way
in our next episode of 72 Cutest Animals.

Only six more animals to go,
but there's a wild card or two.

The biggest question is,

who will be coming back to the pack?

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.