Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom (2020–…): Season 2, Episode 9 - Giant Leap for Rhinokind - full transcript
An addax emergency, a baby rhino grows up, and a manatee has a toothache.
♪ ♪
ERIN: Hello.
MAN: Hey, there he is.
WOMAN: Good morning.
WOMAN 2: He's so handsome.
ERIN: The keepers spend
so much time with these guys,
continually building
our relationships.
They're intelligent animals,
so they know what's happening.
We're very proud of him,
and all the elephants.
(elephant farts)
Oh.
KEEPER: Ew.
What do you think of that?
(gurgling)
ERIN: It's part
of the job, like...
(laughter)
Oh, I'm gonna move.
WOMAN: Good boy.
ERIN: Don't tell him good boy!
(laughter)
(snorts)
(theme music playing)
(snorts)
NARRATOR: At Disney's
Animal Kingdom Theme Park,
an expanding crash
of southern white rhinos
lives on the savanna of the
Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction.
26-year-old dad, Dugan,
has his work cut out for him.
KATIE (off-screen): He was able
to have a little one with Kendi.
They had a little
boy named Ranger.
Jao and Dugan also had
a little boy named Mylo.
(squeals)
NARRATOR: And Dugan's
newest bundle of joy...
KATIE: Logan, come here, babe.
NARRATOR: Logan.
KATIE: You're so cute!
(laughs)
We have had so much success
having little baby rhinos here,
it's something
we're very, very proud of.
It's so exciting.
A huge win for us and for
the rhino species as a whole.
NARRATOR: At four months old,
Logan is almost ready
to join her rhino family
on the savanna.
ROBYN: There are several gaps
on the way to savanna,
so we want to make sure
that she is too big to get out,
and that she can hold her
own against her big brothers.
ROBYN (off-screen): So, today we
are going to check Logan's size.
16 inches.
All right.
If you want to go ahead
and let Lola and Logan in.
Logan.
NARRATOR: As soon
as Logan grows too big
to squeeze through the
spaces between the columns,
she's ready.
ROBYN: Logan.
(click)
KATIE: Stay still.
NARRATOR: Still
some growing to do.
ROBYN: Savanna rhino.
ROBYN (off-screen):
Logan is almost big
enough to be on savanna.
Are you ready to go out
on savanna, little one?
But not quite ready yet.
Logie-Lou.
KATIE (off-screen): So, we're
holding Logan back in the barn
for a little bit longer,
we just want her to put
on a little more weight
and then she'll all
ready to go out on savanna.
(growling)
(roars)
(squeaks)
NARRATOR: Over at Disney's
Animal Kingdom Lodge...
CASSIE: Ostrich, they're
just silly and ridiculous.
CASSIE (off-screen): Carefree...
And funny.
They're one of my
favorite out here,
'cause ostrich are
super easy to talk to.
'Cause they don't talk back.
(chirps)
Camilla is 25 years old.
She is one of the first animals
here to stay at
Animal Kingdom Lodge,
and she has been
here since 2001.
She will follow us around
on savanna just for no reason.
She's very, very flirty.
If you've never
seen an ostrich flirt,
just does a little wing.
Very graceful
butterfly wings with them.
Usually their head's
kind of down, they're pecking.
Yeah.
(laughs)
NARRATOR: Ostrich necks
contain 17 vertebrae,
ten more than a giraffe,
making them highly flexible
for foraging roots,
fruit and flowers.
But Camilla's natural curiosity
may have caused a problem.
CASSIE: Her right eye
has been swollen.
CASSIE (off-screen):
We're not sure what happened.
We're thinking she
scratched it on something
during all of her
flirting and pecking,
and she needs her
eyes to be healthy.
WHITNEY: Ostrich's eyes
are one of the largest eyes
of any land animal
on the planet;
five times the size
of a human eye.
And it's very important to them,
it helps them with
predator detection,
food and everything.
So, we need to make sure
that Camilla's are okay.
CASSIE: Hi, can you just drop?
Are you gonna come in?
Hi. Are you gonna drop?
WHITNEY (off-screen): Ostriches
can be a little sassy, so,
we want to be aware of her
behavior and our surroundings
so that we can be
as safe as possible.
CASSIE: There you go,
there you go.
Get down. Yeah.
WOMAN: Good! Very good.
WHITNEY: Nice. Good job!
NARRATOR: Fortunately, Camilla
trusts her keeper, Cassie.
WHITNEY: I'll make
this nice and quick.
Her conjunctive eye
is quite swollen.
Good job, just
a little bit of stain.
WHITNEY (off-screen): And if
there's any type of an abrasion
on the eye surface itself,
it will pick up that
stain and I can see that.
I am seeing a superficial
abrasion on her eye.
It's minor.
A scratch like this
should heal itself,
but we just want to make sure
that there's no other signs
that would indicate
there's an infection going on.
So, I'm gonna put
in some antibiotic,
see how she is in a week.
CASSIE: Okay.
WHITNEY (off-screen):
She's calm, she's relaxed
through this whole thing,
and that's because
of the relationships
and amazing training
that goes on.
CASSIE: You gonna stand up?
WOMAN: You guys can come around.
CASSIE: There you go, good girl.
CASSIE (off-screen): I would
like to think there's a bond.
Does she think there's a bond?
I hope so, but, maybe.
See, all is well.
WHITNEY: All is well.
NARRATOR: Camilla's friendly
behavior calls for a reward.
CASSIE: Soybeans are number one.
(laughs)
It's just the issue
is it makes a mess.
So, soybeans everywhere.
She's just an easy,
fun-loving ostrich...
Who eats forever.
♪ ♪
GEOFF (off-screen): I've been a
vet at Disney's Animal Kingdom
for eight years now.
This was one of a number of
stops on my gratitude walk,
where I walk around just looking
at the animals that I've helped.
Amber's a cotton-top tamarin.
They have that
very characteristic
tuft of white hair on the top.
These are monkeys that live in
the forests of South America,
and their habitat is threatened
every day by deforestation.
GEOFF (off-screen):
By connecting our guests
with animals like Amber,
it allows us to
support conservation work
beyond Animal Kingdom,
and I'm really proud of that.
It's fun to watch 'em
run around and exploring,
looking for the food
that the keepers have hidden.
A few years ago,
Amber broke her leg.
So I pinned that.
It healed up really well.
Sometimes being a vet
can be a pretty tough job,
not everything goes perfectly,
and so it's great to see an
animal like Amber doing so well,
years after I repaired that leg.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The savannas at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
have many special residents.
One of the most beloved
is seven-month-old Juniper.
She is one of seven addax
on the property,
a critically endangered
antelope species
from Africa's Sahara Desert.
She had to be hand-raised
after a sad twist of fate.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
Juniper had a rough start.
She was born in August of 2021.
Unfortunately,
Juniper's mother passed away
while giving birth to her,
and so she was
brought to the hospital
for some pretty intensive care
during those first
few weeks of her life.
It was difficult
getting her onto the bottle.
It was a little touch
and go there for a while.
NARRATOR: Not giving up,
Jennifer showered
Juniper with love.
JENNIFER: Finally, she
was able to figure it out.
She kept showing us signs
that she wanted to survive.
She's a fighter.
She's our miracle baby.
NARRATOR: But recently,
Juniper's health causes concern.
NATALIE: In the last few weeks
she hasn't been
feeling very well.
Good girl.
Just wasn't eating well
and started losing
a little bit of weight.
All right.
One morning, keepers found her
not willing or able to stand up.
NARRATOR: It's crucial
they figure out what's wrong.
To carry out a thorough exam,
they sedate Juniper.
With just 100 or so
adult addax left in the wild,
this species cannot
afford any loss,
especially a young female.
NATALIE: You guys,
you guys rock.
I could start shaving
her and prepping her.
RYAN: Okay.
NATALIE: She's skinny.
Something's not right with her.
She's gotten very thin.
(clippers buzzing)
MAN: Okay, guys,
transfer her over.
JENNIFER: Sounds good,
whenever you say.
All right, one, two, three.
LINDSAY: Awesome.
NATALIE (off-screen):
We're gonna go ahead and
put her into our CT scanner.
Put one of those...
MAN: Got the stretcher?
NATALIE: Yep, I've got her head.
NATALIE (off-screen):
It'll help us with being able
to tell what we need to do next.
(scanner whirring)
JENNIFER: Is that better?
MAN: Yeah, that's better.
NARRATOR: The
results are alarming.
NATALIE: This
foreign body is blocking
her intestinal outflow,
and that's making her sick.
NATALIE (off-screen):
It's strange.
It's perfectly round
in every plane.
Exactly the size
of a ping-pong ball.
Maybe if this ended up
near her and she thought,
"Oh, what is
this unusual thing?"
And then put it in her
mouth and swallowed it.
Juniper has been
getting much worse.
We need to get it out now.
NARRATOR: In
Juniper's weakened state,
surgery is a major risk.
But it's the only option.
NATALIE (off-screen):
She's a baby that has
potential for a long life,
and you're the person
that's in control of that.
JENNIFER (off-screen): I'm
really nervous for Juniper,
because anything can
happen at any moment
in a procedure like this.
NATALIE: They're a
part of your family.
JENNIFER: She's got
to get through this.
NATALIE: All right,
let's go find it.
NATALIE: Are you ready
for initial incision? Okay.
RYAN: Beautiful.
Well-executed incision.
NATALIE (off-screen): Everybody
today is on a higher level
of nervous energy.
Okay. You guys ready?
I'm going in.
NATALIE (off-screen): As
an SSP animal,
so that means
the Species Survival Plan,
she is critical.
And she's a female, so that
makes her even more critical.
RYAN: So we're
actually in the abdomen
at this point in time.
NATALIE: There's
about a gallon and a half
of hay and fluid,
that foreign body's
floating somewhere in there.
Ohh.
I'm trying to be
so careful here.
♪ ♪
Oh, I think I've got it.
Got it.
What is this thing?
It really feels like it's
some sort of squishy foam ball.
♪ ♪
LINDSAY: What is this?
I think this is hair.
This is hair.
NATALIE (off-screen):
I was convinced it was
a small sponge ball,
but it was made
full of her own fur.
NATALIE (off-screen): Juniper
lost her mom when she was young,
and so she had to
be assist-reared,
and sometimes calves
like that over-groom;
that is a
self-soothing behavior.
These guys have
very complex stomachs.
This hairball can
completely screw that up,
and it can make
her very, very sick.
It was definitely
the right decision
to take that out when we did.
NARRATOR: The
blockage is gone.
NATALIE: That's a good thing.
NARRATOR: But Juniper still
has a long road to recovery.
NATALIE: Hey, you.
Reversal's going in.
Woo-hoo.
LINDSAY: Hey.
Step one, right?
Wake up from surgery.
NATALIE: Hey, baby.
Anytime that you go
into an anesthesia,
let alone a surgery,
with an animal
that's not feeling well,
that brings my level of
concern much, much higher.
But Juniper's a rock star.
She's recovered so beautifully
within just a few
minutes of reversing her.
LINDSAY: I'm so relieved.
She's already been
through so much in,
in her short span of life,
but I think she's
proven that she's a fighter.
NATALIE: All right,
big girl, now it's up to you.
Here you go, Juniper.
♪ ♪
ERIN: Good morning, guys.
CAITLIN: Guys, good morning.
ERIN: All right, Logan.
CAITLIN: Ready, Lo?
NARRATOR: Backstage
in the rhino barn,
just a short distance away...
ERIN: It's time to wake up.
CAITLIN: Yeah, you ready?
ERIN: She says, "Nope."
She says,
"Is there food involved?"
NARRATOR: Before little Logan
can join the rest of her family
on the savanna,
she needs to pack on pounds.
KATIE: We are gonna get a milk
sample from Lola, Logan's mom,
and it is helpful for our
Animal Nutrition Center partners
to make sure Logan's
getting everything she needs.
You ready?
CAITLIN: All right,
are you ready?
(laughs)
She's like, "Absolutely not."
Come on, Lola!
(rhino grunts)
KATIE: Good girl, come on.
There you go.
Good job, kiddo.
Let's go in and see if we can
get some milk from her today.
CAITLIN: Okay, cool.
So, this is their sweet spot,
and if we rub the sweet spot
they'll kick that back leg out.
Sometimes.
There it is.
All right.
I don't really have a ton
of experience milking animals.
(laughs)
KAITE: Logan's coming
to show you how it's done.
CAITLIN: Okay.
NARRATOR: This
job needs an expert.
CAITLIN: You're here
to show me how to do it?
NARRATOR: During
Logan's first six months,
her mom produces more than
three gallons of milk every day.
KATIE: We're thrilled,
especially with Lola
being a first-time mom
that she took so
well to nursing,
and she caught on really quick,
and Logan caught
on really quick.
NARRATOR: By learning
from Lola and Logan,
the team can help
other managed populations
of this near-threatened
species to thrive.
KATIE: This is fantastic.
The more natural we can
keep it for mom and baby,
the less stressful
it is for them,
and more nutritionally
dense it is for Logan.
CAITLIN: Okay, thanks,
Logan, I get it now.
You kind of have to
move back and forth.
Here we go.
Good girl.
Got some milk.
KATIE: Awesome.
KATIE (off-screen): Now
that we have the sample,
we're gonna send it off to
our Animal Nutrition Center,
they're gonna run some tests,
and we're gonna make sure that
Logan is getting
everything she needs
to get nice and big and strong.
You're beautiful.
CAITLIN: Good job.
KATIE: You getting comfortable?
CAITLIN: Good girl.
KATIE: Good girl.
(laughs)
NARRATOR: Her
belly full of milk,
little Logan takes another
step closer to the savanna.
All the more reason
to catch up on those Zs.
(rhino groans)
♪ ♪
At The Seas with
Nemo & Friends at Epcot,
new faces appear every day.
But old friends
are never far away,
like guest favorite Lil Joe.
This guy was found alone
in the wild as a baby,
but the team took him in
and gave him the
chance to flourish.
JEN: I love Joe the manatee.
JEN (off-screen): He
is one of my favorites.
Joe is very charismatic.
I think he's very handsome.
His face is adorable.
He's pretty easygoing.
What is not to love about Joe?
NARRATOR: But recently,
there's been a problem.
Despite his name, Lil Joe
shouldn't be so, "Lil."
JEN: Joe's weight is under
where we would like it to be,
so that's concerning for me.
Yesterday he ate
about 30 heads of lettuce,
and usually he would eat 90.
We want to be able to help him,
and we can't help him if
we don't know what's wrong.
NARRATOR: If only manatees
could communicate with humans.
Well, turns out this
clever guy kind of can.
JEN: Lil Joe started taking
both of his pectoral flippers
and putting them in his mouth
and kind of chewing on them.
Sometimes what that
behavior tells us is
he may be
uncomfortable in his mouth.
(squeaks)
NARRATOR: Time for
some manatee dentistry.
And at this dentist,
head protection is a must.
Joe may be underweight,
but that huge tail
still packs a punch.
JEN: First I'm gonna
put these under his head.
NARRATOR: An x-ray may
reveal anything unusual
with Joe's mouth.
JEN: Wow, what is that?
Look at that.
KAREN: Weird.
JEN: You see this?
KAREN: Yeah.
JEN: Something
doesn't look right in there.
JEN: That looks fractured.
JEN (off-screen): I
can see through the tooth,
I shouldn't be able
to see through the tooth.
It should be pretty solid.
There might be
an infection in there
eating away at the, um,
base of the tooth,
and that tooth
may need to come out.
We've been searching for
the reason why he is not eating,
and that tooth
certainly could be it.
You can't really
force a 2,000-pound animal
to open his mouth
if he doesn't want to.
So, we're gonna ask very nicely
and hope that he
cooperates with us today.
Okay.
MAN: Okay, here we go.
JEN: Yeah, I
wouldn't stick my hands
in just any manatee's mouth.
But I do trust Joe much
more than any other manatee.
Hold that, yeah.
I can easily move
this first molar
back and forth with my finger,
which means that
it needs to come out.
KAREN: All of his treats.
JEN: Last time
I felt this tooth,
it was not mobile like this,
so this is different.
I'm trying.
KAREN: Slam the door.
JEN: Oh.
KAREN: Did you take it out?
You got it?
JEN: I think I got it.
WOMAN: I'd say high-five, but.
JEN: I don't
have a hand to spare.
WOMAN: That's awesome.
JEN: Sorry, buddy, let
me have it, give it to me!
KAREN: Can I get some forceps?
Oh, my God, that'd be awesome.
JEN: Oh, my God, I got it.
KAREN: You got it?
JEN: I got it,
it's in my fingers.
I'm just trying not to drop it.
KAREN: Don't let go!
JEN: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
KAREN: Don't drop it
when you take it out.
JEN: Aah!
MAN: There you go.
KAREN: Oh, wow.
JEN: Oh, my gosh.
KAREN: We just
pulled that tooth out.
Do you want to
pull my tooth out?
JEN: Wow.
So, I think it was just that one
tooth that was giving trouble.
JEN (off-screen): They're made
to lose their teeth frequently.
Usually they lose
them on their own
and you don't need to
go in and pull them out.
If this manatee starts eating,
we are throwing a party.
Good job, Joe.
The next step is to
get him back in the water
and see if he wants to eat.
Should be very exciting.
You can do it, big guy.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Out on the
Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction
lives Animal Kingdom's
wrecking crew.
♪ ♪
RAIN (off-screen): Warthogs
are an intelligent species,
but also very destructive.
All of this used
to be a nice grass.
(flies buzzing)
And then we put warthogs in it.
NARRATOR: Three warthogs
call this place home.
Two sows, Charo and Regan.
RAIN: What good pigs.
NARRATOR: And
11-year-old boar Bodie.
RAIN (off-screen): Bodie
is a really special warthog.
He is very handsome,
in my opinion.
He's shy, but once he warms up
to you, you'll have a friend.
He's a great pig.
You can't help but love him!
Common warthogs are grazers,
so out on the savannas,
they spend most of
their time walking along
digging up little
tubers and roots.
NARRATOR: As well
as digging for food,
warthogs open up
abandoned aardvark burrows
for a cool spot out of the sun.
And big boy Bodie
takes his destruction work
very seriously.
RAIN: Bodie has
dug up everywhere.
Our horticulture partners
do not care for this.
NARRATOR: But his urge to dig
affects more than
just his habitat.
RAIN (off-screen): Somehow,
in all of his digging,
we think that Bodie has
damaged one of his feet.
Our veterinarians
want to get that fixed.
NARRATOR: This little piggy
needs a pedicure.
MAN: Hi, bud.
RAIN: Hi! How are
you this morning?
It's good to see you.
NARRATOR: Bodie needs sedation
for the vet team to
safely care for his feet.
RAIN: Ah, there you go.
I've been working with Bodie
and getting him to a position
where he's going to
lay down, um, on his belly.
Right here, hey,
here you go, right there.
Oh, we're a little nervous,
a little nervous.
RAIN (off-screen): So
that a veterinary technician
then could do an
injection in his rump.
Good boy.
Come, come on down.
Down.
All the way down.
What a good boy!
A little nervous.
It's different people.
All sorts of
things going on here.
(snorting)
Oh, my goodness.
RAIN: Here, come on over.
Come here, bud.
Oh, there you go.
See, we're okay. We're okay.
NARRATOR: The team at
Disney focuses on animals
voluntarily participating
in their own care.
RAIN: Down.
NARRATOR: And they
wait for Bodie the warthog
to be completely comfortable
before sedating him.
RAIN: Are you ready?
(whistle tweets)
Good boy, what a good pig,
what a good pig!
All right, come on, Bodie,
here we go, back.
You're gonna go
in your room now.
NARRATOR: The sedative
takes effect in minutes.
DAN: Let's go
ahead and move him.
Keep our voices down.
RAIN: One, two, three.
DAN: Mercy.
NARRATOR: And while
Bodie dreams about
whatever warthogs
dream about...
DAN: We're good.
NARRATOR: The
team transports him
to the veterinary treatment
room for his pedicure.
RAIN: Still good. Yup.
We have an animal in the back.
Watch his tail.
Here, yeah, you
want the usual spot?
I think I pulled his tail.
DAN: Heart rate is 60.
That's good, settling in.
NARRATOR: They have limited time
before the sedative wears off,
so Doctor Dan moves fast.
DAN: Ah, the
washing of the feet.
Why is he so stinky?
He has like
cheesy smell today.
When you're inches
from a pig's foot,
you just have to
ignore the odor.
(file whirring)
There's some liquid coming out.
It's black goo,
black, smelly goo.
Explains some of the odor
we've been identifying,
he has an abscess in there.
It's concerning because he could
end up in
significant discomfort.
Because we found this
new development in his feet,
this one needs to be protected.
NARRATOR: To help
Bodie's little piggies heal,
Dan molds some
custom acrylic caps.
DAN: Little bit of
chemistry lab here.
This is basically a powder
that mixes with a solvent.
And then over the course of
a few minutes, it will harden,
so you have to
work pretty quickly.
It is extremely messy.
Sort of like
icing a cake, I guess?
Uh, I do not, I don't
frost a lot of cakes,
which you could probably tell.
So, I'm just trying
to make sure it's smooth
and that there's no gaps
where stuff can get caught.
RAIN: This is looking great,
we got the new caps on,
and his feet are
looking fantastic, we're,
we're on the road
to recovery here.
NARRATOR: Bodie will be up
on his newly
treated toes any minute.
♪ ♪
RAIN: All right.
Here's a good spot.
Okay.
What a good pig.
He's the best pig ever.
NARRATOR: With the care
team's love and attention...
RAIN: Oh, what a good pig.
Look at that. Atta boy.
NARRATOR: And his
brand new sneakers,
Bodie will be back
to digging in no time.
RAIN: All right, there's
a good pig right there.
Look at that.
(growls)
(elephant trumpets)
JENNIFER: Okay. Juniper!
Hi, boo-boo. Let's go.
Good girl. Scale.
Today we have our recheck exam
on Juniper, checking her weight,
make sure that
everything is all right.
NARRATOR: Since her
hairball was removed,
Juniper's appetite has improved.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
The Animal Nutrition team,
they come over and
they check on her,
they even, like, write
special labels on her food
that they deliver her each day.
When I get little
hearts on her labels,
so I only wish that
Juniper could read,
because she would know how
loved and cared for she is.
Good.
Oh, wow.
She was 39.85 yesterday.
JEN: That's awesome.
JENNIFER: Can you believe it?
Seeing that weight gain,
it's pretty incredible.
I'm sure if she could talk,
that she would
also be overjoyed, um,
in her progress.
She looks so good.
Have some treats.
Isn't it funny
that she,
she already
knows which one she likes?
She's like, "Don't
give me the lettuce,
I want the good stuff."
Good girl.
It's a big deal, because
we're finally getting ready
to let her back
with her herd and, um,
see her out onto the savanna.
NARRATOR: Back on the savanna,
Bodie puts his
best foot forward...
So he can dig it.
RAIN: There he is.
The handsomest warthog ever.
NARRATOR: To see if
Bodie's fancy new toe caps
are up to the task,
Disney teams have created
a special treat for him;
an indestructible tree root
packed with treats.
♪ ♪
RAIN: He's gonna have to roll
that log and flip it around
and do some digging under it
to actually get the
treats out of there.
Yeah, it's a new log for ya.
Extra yums for ya!
Oh-ho, good boy!
NARRATOR: Bodie's
super sensitive nose
tells him there's
something good inside.
RAIN (off-screen):
That log takes two of us
to get up and into position,
because it's really heavy.
He makes it look so easy!
He's digging, he's doing all
those wonderful warthog things
that before, when his feet
weren't really feeling
quite their best,
it really kind of limited him.
NARRATOR: Bodie is back.
RAIN: Good job, Bodie.
You're the best pig ever!
NARRATOR: Over at
the Land Pavilion at Epcot,
cast members tend to crops.
More than
27,000 heads of lettuce
are produced here every year.
And today, a whole
boxful makes its way
to The Seas and Lil Joe.
Doctor Jen returns to
see if the painful tooth
was the root cause
behind his loss of appetite.
JEN: Joe, look at this, buddy!
Look at this!
This looks like freshly cut.
Only restaurant quality
for our manatee.
If he just eats
one head of lettuce right now,
I will be thrilled.
Take two.
Oh.
MAN: Come on, Joe.
JEN: Get it, buddy, get it!
Oop, get it, there it is!
NARRATOR: They say
that the third time...
JEN: He did it!
NARRATOR: Is the charm.
JEN: He is eating lettuce!
Good job, buddy, you did it.
You're feeling better,
you're eating.
Keep eating all your lettuce.
NARRATOR: And why stop there?
How about some
tasty alfalfa cubes
made especially at
the Animal Nutrition Center?
JEN: Oh, you coming?
(laughs)
His little manatee whiskers,
I love them.
Oh, my gosh, that was so fun.
JEN (off-screen): I'm
so happy
that he decided
to come over and eat today,
not only because it shows that
he's feeling better and healthy,
but also maybe
that he, uh, he likes me okay.
We're gonna keep
close eye on him,
make sure he keeps
eating and doing well.
All good news,
and he's doing great.
Bye, Joe-Joe!
(squeaks)
Love you, big guy.
(squeaks)
He's so cute.
♪ ♪
(boing)
NARRATOR: Back over at
Disney's Animal Kingdom,
about a month after
her first size test...
KATIE: Ooh, I love
your silly little face.
NARRATOR: Logan waits to
see if she finally measures up.
KATIE: That's perf, open
it up just a little more.
Sorry.
That's good
right there, perfect.
DOMINIQUE: Perfect.
KATIE: All right,
so that's 16 inches.
See if she can
squeeze through there.
KATIE (off-screen): So now that
we got the milk results back,
we know that Logan is getting
everything she needs from Lola,
which is really great news.
Hopefully she'll be able to make
her big debut on the savanna.
All right, Dominique, go ahead
and start opening door two.
Logan!
Good girls, come on down.
Come here, Logan.
DOMINIQUE: Rhino cookies.
KATIE: Miss Logan!
You're too big!
All right!
Look at you,
you're all grown up.
She's too big!
DOMINIQUE: Too big!
KATIE: Good job!
KATIE (off-screen):
She is plenty big enough
to go out on savanna.
She can't even get
her shoulders through,
she can only
barely get her head.
DOMINIQUE: I didn't realize
she was this big already.
KATIE: I know, you're huge!
We know that she
is definitely too big, um,
to squeeze into any
little gaps out on savanna,
which is
absolutely what we want.
Gonna be a big party for sure.
That was awesome,
great job, everybody.
Yeah!
Woo!
JENNIFER: Hey, big girl.
Come on over.
NARRATOR: Now
that Juniper is well,
she can finally
return to her herd.
JENNIFER: Today's
the day that all of us
have been kind of waiting for.
We've all been
caring for her for so long.
I can't believe it.
WOMAN: We're
making magic today, Jen.
JENNIFER: We're making magic.
For Juniper, it's
like going back home for,
you know, the
first time in a while.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
We're all really excited
we're hoping that
things will go well.
I think, um, try to
get a weight on her.
All right, Lindsay's
gonna open the door.
So, this should be her head.
LINDSAY: Yeah.
JENNIFER: And you
should be good to go.
LINDSAY: You ready, little one?
Welcome back, Juniper!
JENNIFER: Good luck, Juniper!
Good job.
BETSY: Oh, I love
the little jumps.
JENNIFER: That's adorable.
NATALIE: That's really cute.
JENNIFER: Said I wasn't
gonna cry, but there I am.
LINDSAY: I know!
Wowie.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
And Juniper has such a
huge fan club at this point,
everyone wants to
say their goodbyes,
everyone wants to wish her well.
I'm getting emotional at
this point, because, you know,
now it's our
final goodbye, um, you know,
the next time I might see her is
from a truck out on the savanna.
She's a happy girl.
She's been through a lot.
NARRATOR: It's
been nine long weeks
since Juniper was
removed from the savanna.
JENNIFER: Really, the
biggest challenge is,
is just to introducing
her back to the herd;
will they accept her?
Will she remember
that she's an addax?
♪ ♪
LINDSAY: All right, big day,
Juniper is finally
back on savanna.
So I'm very excited.
Something we've all
been looking forward to.
JENNIFER: Her reaction is great!
"This is where
I belong, this is home,
real dirt, in
the sunlight again."
NARRATOR: And
accepted by her family.
JENNIFER (off-screen): It's
great that we can continue
the conservation for them.
Hopefully one day
she'll become a mama.
LINDSAY: This is better
than we could have hoped for,
this has been one of
the happiest days in my career.
It's very
exciting that she's back.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Over at
the rhino barn...
KATIE: Lola, Logan,
come on, kids.
NARRATOR: It's
little Logan's big day.
KATIE: You gonna get up?
You got to get excited, come on.
Yeah, let's go. Good girl.
NARRATOR: She plans to
meet her family on the savanna
for the very first time.
CAITLIN: There she is.
Logan, come here, babe.
(laughs)
KATIE: Hi, kiddo.
What's up? You ready?
You're gonna be the star.
This her first time
going on savanna,
she's gonna get to
explore the new space
and meet a few of our
other rhinos in the crash,
so it's gonna be very exciting.
All right, little one, we'll see
you for your big day, all right?
CAITLIN: Bye, Lola.
RAIN: As you know, we are gonna
be introducing Lola and Logan
to the savanna.
Logan's a little more shy
than some of our past rhinos,
so she may be a little
bit more tucked to mom.
I think Lola is gonna be
fired up and so delighted.
It's very exciting.
KATIE: My job in the
rover truck right now
is to maintain a
visual on Lola and Logan.
KATIE (off-screen): It
really does take a village
to make sure these little ones
are happy and
healthy with our herd.
(radio chirps)
CAITLIN: You are
clear to send rhinos.
DOMINIQUE: Shipping
Lola and Logan on the show
for the first time.
Logan is a little nervous.
She stepped out
a couple of steps
and she's making sure all of
her surroundings are normal.
WOMAN: Logan, have a good day.
DOMINIQUE: Looks
like they're heading out
straight to the savanna now.
So, perfect.
KATIE: There they are.
Lola's leading the way out
and Logan is sticking
pretty close behind her,
which is good.
She's never been in a
space this big before.
NARRATOR: And there are
plenty of unfamiliar faces.
KATIE (off-screen): Logan
does look a little nervous,
any little noise or movement
might spook her
for a little bit,
until she gets
the lay of the land herself.
It's a lot to take in.
Moving a little bit further away
from mom now, which is good.
She's very curious about
the truck we're in right now.
I think she's starting to become
more comfortable in this space.
Slowly starting to
gain her confidence,
starting to have
some fun out here.
She's just running
around like crazy.
This is so cute and so much fun.
It's going really,
really well so far.
NARRATOR: But the
day has only just begun.
Cue the rest of the crash.
KATIE: Kiama is coming join
the party in the wallow area.
(rhino whines)
She's contact calling.
Looks like she's
gonna approach Lola first.
NARRATOR: Seven-year-old Kiama
is the first adult rhino
Logan has met outside the barn.
And at just over 4300 pounds,
she's more than
six times bigger.
KATIE: Kiama's getting a little
bold and started to chase Logan.
But Logan is quick
to get out of the way.
NARRATOR: Mom to the rescue.
KATIE: She's saying,
"This is my baby,
and you keep your distance."
This is exactly the kind
of behavior we want to see
from a first-time mom.
♪ ♪
(snorting)
Logan's still staying confident.
So, that's good to see.
NARRATOR: As the
family crashes in,
Logan's one-year-old
half-brother Ranger
brings up the rear.
KATIE: Logan's a little unsure.
Ranger is really trying to
get Logan moving and playing.
Ranger's just very excited
to have another
little one out here.
NARRATOR: Looks
like these siblings
will become fast friends.
KATIE: I'm really glad
that they've settled in
so quickly together.
NARRATOR: Logan is
one of the family now.
KATIE: My heart is
so happy right now.
I am so proud of Logan.
I really hope that
our guests see the babies
and see the adults
interacting with them,
and just see how
cool rhinos are.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.
ERIN: Hello.
MAN: Hey, there he is.
WOMAN: Good morning.
WOMAN 2: He's so handsome.
ERIN: The keepers spend
so much time with these guys,
continually building
our relationships.
They're intelligent animals,
so they know what's happening.
We're very proud of him,
and all the elephants.
(elephant farts)
Oh.
KEEPER: Ew.
What do you think of that?
(gurgling)
ERIN: It's part
of the job, like...
(laughter)
Oh, I'm gonna move.
WOMAN: Good boy.
ERIN: Don't tell him good boy!
(laughter)
(snorts)
(theme music playing)
(snorts)
NARRATOR: At Disney's
Animal Kingdom Theme Park,
an expanding crash
of southern white rhinos
lives on the savanna of the
Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction.
26-year-old dad, Dugan,
has his work cut out for him.
KATIE (off-screen): He was able
to have a little one with Kendi.
They had a little
boy named Ranger.
Jao and Dugan also had
a little boy named Mylo.
(squeals)
NARRATOR: And Dugan's
newest bundle of joy...
KATIE: Logan, come here, babe.
NARRATOR: Logan.
KATIE: You're so cute!
(laughs)
We have had so much success
having little baby rhinos here,
it's something
we're very, very proud of.
It's so exciting.
A huge win for us and for
the rhino species as a whole.
NARRATOR: At four months old,
Logan is almost ready
to join her rhino family
on the savanna.
ROBYN: There are several gaps
on the way to savanna,
so we want to make sure
that she is too big to get out,
and that she can hold her
own against her big brothers.
ROBYN (off-screen): So, today we
are going to check Logan's size.
16 inches.
All right.
If you want to go ahead
and let Lola and Logan in.
Logan.
NARRATOR: As soon
as Logan grows too big
to squeeze through the
spaces between the columns,
she's ready.
ROBYN: Logan.
(click)
KATIE: Stay still.
NARRATOR: Still
some growing to do.
ROBYN: Savanna rhino.
ROBYN (off-screen):
Logan is almost big
enough to be on savanna.
Are you ready to go out
on savanna, little one?
But not quite ready yet.
Logie-Lou.
KATIE (off-screen): So, we're
holding Logan back in the barn
for a little bit longer,
we just want her to put
on a little more weight
and then she'll all
ready to go out on savanna.
(growling)
(roars)
(squeaks)
NARRATOR: Over at Disney's
Animal Kingdom Lodge...
CASSIE: Ostrich, they're
just silly and ridiculous.
CASSIE (off-screen): Carefree...
And funny.
They're one of my
favorite out here,
'cause ostrich are
super easy to talk to.
'Cause they don't talk back.
(chirps)
Camilla is 25 years old.
She is one of the first animals
here to stay at
Animal Kingdom Lodge,
and she has been
here since 2001.
She will follow us around
on savanna just for no reason.
She's very, very flirty.
If you've never
seen an ostrich flirt,
just does a little wing.
Very graceful
butterfly wings with them.
Usually their head's
kind of down, they're pecking.
Yeah.
(laughs)
NARRATOR: Ostrich necks
contain 17 vertebrae,
ten more than a giraffe,
making them highly flexible
for foraging roots,
fruit and flowers.
But Camilla's natural curiosity
may have caused a problem.
CASSIE: Her right eye
has been swollen.
CASSIE (off-screen):
We're not sure what happened.
We're thinking she
scratched it on something
during all of her
flirting and pecking,
and she needs her
eyes to be healthy.
WHITNEY: Ostrich's eyes
are one of the largest eyes
of any land animal
on the planet;
five times the size
of a human eye.
And it's very important to them,
it helps them with
predator detection,
food and everything.
So, we need to make sure
that Camilla's are okay.
CASSIE: Hi, can you just drop?
Are you gonna come in?
Hi. Are you gonna drop?
WHITNEY (off-screen): Ostriches
can be a little sassy, so,
we want to be aware of her
behavior and our surroundings
so that we can be
as safe as possible.
CASSIE: There you go,
there you go.
Get down. Yeah.
WOMAN: Good! Very good.
WHITNEY: Nice. Good job!
NARRATOR: Fortunately, Camilla
trusts her keeper, Cassie.
WHITNEY: I'll make
this nice and quick.
Her conjunctive eye
is quite swollen.
Good job, just
a little bit of stain.
WHITNEY (off-screen): And if
there's any type of an abrasion
on the eye surface itself,
it will pick up that
stain and I can see that.
I am seeing a superficial
abrasion on her eye.
It's minor.
A scratch like this
should heal itself,
but we just want to make sure
that there's no other signs
that would indicate
there's an infection going on.
So, I'm gonna put
in some antibiotic,
see how she is in a week.
CASSIE: Okay.
WHITNEY (off-screen):
She's calm, she's relaxed
through this whole thing,
and that's because
of the relationships
and amazing training
that goes on.
CASSIE: You gonna stand up?
WOMAN: You guys can come around.
CASSIE: There you go, good girl.
CASSIE (off-screen): I would
like to think there's a bond.
Does she think there's a bond?
I hope so, but, maybe.
See, all is well.
WHITNEY: All is well.
NARRATOR: Camilla's friendly
behavior calls for a reward.
CASSIE: Soybeans are number one.
(laughs)
It's just the issue
is it makes a mess.
So, soybeans everywhere.
She's just an easy,
fun-loving ostrich...
Who eats forever.
♪ ♪
GEOFF (off-screen): I've been a
vet at Disney's Animal Kingdom
for eight years now.
This was one of a number of
stops on my gratitude walk,
where I walk around just looking
at the animals that I've helped.
Amber's a cotton-top tamarin.
They have that
very characteristic
tuft of white hair on the top.
These are monkeys that live in
the forests of South America,
and their habitat is threatened
every day by deforestation.
GEOFF (off-screen):
By connecting our guests
with animals like Amber,
it allows us to
support conservation work
beyond Animal Kingdom,
and I'm really proud of that.
It's fun to watch 'em
run around and exploring,
looking for the food
that the keepers have hidden.
A few years ago,
Amber broke her leg.
So I pinned that.
It healed up really well.
Sometimes being a vet
can be a pretty tough job,
not everything goes perfectly,
and so it's great to see an
animal like Amber doing so well,
years after I repaired that leg.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The savannas at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
have many special residents.
One of the most beloved
is seven-month-old Juniper.
She is one of seven addax
on the property,
a critically endangered
antelope species
from Africa's Sahara Desert.
She had to be hand-raised
after a sad twist of fate.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
Juniper had a rough start.
She was born in August of 2021.
Unfortunately,
Juniper's mother passed away
while giving birth to her,
and so she was
brought to the hospital
for some pretty intensive care
during those first
few weeks of her life.
It was difficult
getting her onto the bottle.
It was a little touch
and go there for a while.
NARRATOR: Not giving up,
Jennifer showered
Juniper with love.
JENNIFER: Finally, she
was able to figure it out.
She kept showing us signs
that she wanted to survive.
She's a fighter.
She's our miracle baby.
NARRATOR: But recently,
Juniper's health causes concern.
NATALIE: In the last few weeks
she hasn't been
feeling very well.
Good girl.
Just wasn't eating well
and started losing
a little bit of weight.
All right.
One morning, keepers found her
not willing or able to stand up.
NARRATOR: It's crucial
they figure out what's wrong.
To carry out a thorough exam,
they sedate Juniper.
With just 100 or so
adult addax left in the wild,
this species cannot
afford any loss,
especially a young female.
NATALIE: You guys,
you guys rock.
I could start shaving
her and prepping her.
RYAN: Okay.
NATALIE: She's skinny.
Something's not right with her.
She's gotten very thin.
(clippers buzzing)
MAN: Okay, guys,
transfer her over.
JENNIFER: Sounds good,
whenever you say.
All right, one, two, three.
LINDSAY: Awesome.
NATALIE (off-screen):
We're gonna go ahead and
put her into our CT scanner.
Put one of those...
MAN: Got the stretcher?
NATALIE: Yep, I've got her head.
NATALIE (off-screen):
It'll help us with being able
to tell what we need to do next.
(scanner whirring)
JENNIFER: Is that better?
MAN: Yeah, that's better.
NARRATOR: The
results are alarming.
NATALIE: This
foreign body is blocking
her intestinal outflow,
and that's making her sick.
NATALIE (off-screen):
It's strange.
It's perfectly round
in every plane.
Exactly the size
of a ping-pong ball.
Maybe if this ended up
near her and she thought,
"Oh, what is
this unusual thing?"
And then put it in her
mouth and swallowed it.
Juniper has been
getting much worse.
We need to get it out now.
NARRATOR: In
Juniper's weakened state,
surgery is a major risk.
But it's the only option.
NATALIE (off-screen):
She's a baby that has
potential for a long life,
and you're the person
that's in control of that.
JENNIFER (off-screen): I'm
really nervous for Juniper,
because anything can
happen at any moment
in a procedure like this.
NATALIE: They're a
part of your family.
JENNIFER: She's got
to get through this.
NATALIE: All right,
let's go find it.
NATALIE: Are you ready
for initial incision? Okay.
RYAN: Beautiful.
Well-executed incision.
NATALIE (off-screen): Everybody
today is on a higher level
of nervous energy.
Okay. You guys ready?
I'm going in.
NATALIE (off-screen): As
an SSP animal,
so that means
the Species Survival Plan,
she is critical.
And she's a female, so that
makes her even more critical.
RYAN: So we're
actually in the abdomen
at this point in time.
NATALIE: There's
about a gallon and a half
of hay and fluid,
that foreign body's
floating somewhere in there.
Ohh.
I'm trying to be
so careful here.
♪ ♪
Oh, I think I've got it.
Got it.
What is this thing?
It really feels like it's
some sort of squishy foam ball.
♪ ♪
LINDSAY: What is this?
I think this is hair.
This is hair.
NATALIE (off-screen):
I was convinced it was
a small sponge ball,
but it was made
full of her own fur.
NATALIE (off-screen): Juniper
lost her mom when she was young,
and so she had to
be assist-reared,
and sometimes calves
like that over-groom;
that is a
self-soothing behavior.
These guys have
very complex stomachs.
This hairball can
completely screw that up,
and it can make
her very, very sick.
It was definitely
the right decision
to take that out when we did.
NARRATOR: The
blockage is gone.
NATALIE: That's a good thing.
NARRATOR: But Juniper still
has a long road to recovery.
NATALIE: Hey, you.
Reversal's going in.
Woo-hoo.
LINDSAY: Hey.
Step one, right?
Wake up from surgery.
NATALIE: Hey, baby.
Anytime that you go
into an anesthesia,
let alone a surgery,
with an animal
that's not feeling well,
that brings my level of
concern much, much higher.
But Juniper's a rock star.
She's recovered so beautifully
within just a few
minutes of reversing her.
LINDSAY: I'm so relieved.
She's already been
through so much in,
in her short span of life,
but I think she's
proven that she's a fighter.
NATALIE: All right,
big girl, now it's up to you.
Here you go, Juniper.
♪ ♪
ERIN: Good morning, guys.
CAITLIN: Guys, good morning.
ERIN: All right, Logan.
CAITLIN: Ready, Lo?
NARRATOR: Backstage
in the rhino barn,
just a short distance away...
ERIN: It's time to wake up.
CAITLIN: Yeah, you ready?
ERIN: She says, "Nope."
She says,
"Is there food involved?"
NARRATOR: Before little Logan
can join the rest of her family
on the savanna,
she needs to pack on pounds.
KATIE: We are gonna get a milk
sample from Lola, Logan's mom,
and it is helpful for our
Animal Nutrition Center partners
to make sure Logan's
getting everything she needs.
You ready?
CAITLIN: All right,
are you ready?
(laughs)
She's like, "Absolutely not."
Come on, Lola!
(rhino grunts)
KATIE: Good girl, come on.
There you go.
Good job, kiddo.
Let's go in and see if we can
get some milk from her today.
CAITLIN: Okay, cool.
So, this is their sweet spot,
and if we rub the sweet spot
they'll kick that back leg out.
Sometimes.
There it is.
All right.
I don't really have a ton
of experience milking animals.
(laughs)
KAITE: Logan's coming
to show you how it's done.
CAITLIN: Okay.
NARRATOR: This
job needs an expert.
CAITLIN: You're here
to show me how to do it?
NARRATOR: During
Logan's first six months,
her mom produces more than
three gallons of milk every day.
KATIE: We're thrilled,
especially with Lola
being a first-time mom
that she took so
well to nursing,
and she caught on really quick,
and Logan caught
on really quick.
NARRATOR: By learning
from Lola and Logan,
the team can help
other managed populations
of this near-threatened
species to thrive.
KATIE: This is fantastic.
The more natural we can
keep it for mom and baby,
the less stressful
it is for them,
and more nutritionally
dense it is for Logan.
CAITLIN: Okay, thanks,
Logan, I get it now.
You kind of have to
move back and forth.
Here we go.
Good girl.
Got some milk.
KATIE: Awesome.
KATIE (off-screen): Now
that we have the sample,
we're gonna send it off to
our Animal Nutrition Center,
they're gonna run some tests,
and we're gonna make sure that
Logan is getting
everything she needs
to get nice and big and strong.
You're beautiful.
CAITLIN: Good job.
KATIE: You getting comfortable?
CAITLIN: Good girl.
KATIE: Good girl.
(laughs)
NARRATOR: Her
belly full of milk,
little Logan takes another
step closer to the savanna.
All the more reason
to catch up on those Zs.
(rhino groans)
♪ ♪
At The Seas with
Nemo & Friends at Epcot,
new faces appear every day.
But old friends
are never far away,
like guest favorite Lil Joe.
This guy was found alone
in the wild as a baby,
but the team took him in
and gave him the
chance to flourish.
JEN: I love Joe the manatee.
JEN (off-screen): He
is one of my favorites.
Joe is very charismatic.
I think he's very handsome.
His face is adorable.
He's pretty easygoing.
What is not to love about Joe?
NARRATOR: But recently,
there's been a problem.
Despite his name, Lil Joe
shouldn't be so, "Lil."
JEN: Joe's weight is under
where we would like it to be,
so that's concerning for me.
Yesterday he ate
about 30 heads of lettuce,
and usually he would eat 90.
We want to be able to help him,
and we can't help him if
we don't know what's wrong.
NARRATOR: If only manatees
could communicate with humans.
Well, turns out this
clever guy kind of can.
JEN: Lil Joe started taking
both of his pectoral flippers
and putting them in his mouth
and kind of chewing on them.
Sometimes what that
behavior tells us is
he may be
uncomfortable in his mouth.
(squeaks)
NARRATOR: Time for
some manatee dentistry.
And at this dentist,
head protection is a must.
Joe may be underweight,
but that huge tail
still packs a punch.
JEN: First I'm gonna
put these under his head.
NARRATOR: An x-ray may
reveal anything unusual
with Joe's mouth.
JEN: Wow, what is that?
Look at that.
KAREN: Weird.
JEN: You see this?
KAREN: Yeah.
JEN: Something
doesn't look right in there.
JEN: That looks fractured.
JEN (off-screen): I
can see through the tooth,
I shouldn't be able
to see through the tooth.
It should be pretty solid.
There might be
an infection in there
eating away at the, um,
base of the tooth,
and that tooth
may need to come out.
We've been searching for
the reason why he is not eating,
and that tooth
certainly could be it.
You can't really
force a 2,000-pound animal
to open his mouth
if he doesn't want to.
So, we're gonna ask very nicely
and hope that he
cooperates with us today.
Okay.
MAN: Okay, here we go.
JEN: Yeah, I
wouldn't stick my hands
in just any manatee's mouth.
But I do trust Joe much
more than any other manatee.
Hold that, yeah.
I can easily move
this first molar
back and forth with my finger,
which means that
it needs to come out.
KAREN: All of his treats.
JEN: Last time
I felt this tooth,
it was not mobile like this,
so this is different.
I'm trying.
KAREN: Slam the door.
JEN: Oh.
KAREN: Did you take it out?
You got it?
JEN: I think I got it.
WOMAN: I'd say high-five, but.
JEN: I don't
have a hand to spare.
WOMAN: That's awesome.
JEN: Sorry, buddy, let
me have it, give it to me!
KAREN: Can I get some forceps?
Oh, my God, that'd be awesome.
JEN: Oh, my God, I got it.
KAREN: You got it?
JEN: I got it,
it's in my fingers.
I'm just trying not to drop it.
KAREN: Don't let go!
JEN: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
KAREN: Don't drop it
when you take it out.
JEN: Aah!
MAN: There you go.
KAREN: Oh, wow.
JEN: Oh, my gosh.
KAREN: We just
pulled that tooth out.
Do you want to
pull my tooth out?
JEN: Wow.
So, I think it was just that one
tooth that was giving trouble.
JEN (off-screen): They're made
to lose their teeth frequently.
Usually they lose
them on their own
and you don't need to
go in and pull them out.
If this manatee starts eating,
we are throwing a party.
Good job, Joe.
The next step is to
get him back in the water
and see if he wants to eat.
Should be very exciting.
You can do it, big guy.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Out on the
Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction
lives Animal Kingdom's
wrecking crew.
♪ ♪
RAIN (off-screen): Warthogs
are an intelligent species,
but also very destructive.
All of this used
to be a nice grass.
(flies buzzing)
And then we put warthogs in it.
NARRATOR: Three warthogs
call this place home.
Two sows, Charo and Regan.
RAIN: What good pigs.
NARRATOR: And
11-year-old boar Bodie.
RAIN (off-screen): Bodie
is a really special warthog.
He is very handsome,
in my opinion.
He's shy, but once he warms up
to you, you'll have a friend.
He's a great pig.
You can't help but love him!
Common warthogs are grazers,
so out on the savannas,
they spend most of
their time walking along
digging up little
tubers and roots.
NARRATOR: As well
as digging for food,
warthogs open up
abandoned aardvark burrows
for a cool spot out of the sun.
And big boy Bodie
takes his destruction work
very seriously.
RAIN: Bodie has
dug up everywhere.
Our horticulture partners
do not care for this.
NARRATOR: But his urge to dig
affects more than
just his habitat.
RAIN (off-screen): Somehow,
in all of his digging,
we think that Bodie has
damaged one of his feet.
Our veterinarians
want to get that fixed.
NARRATOR: This little piggy
needs a pedicure.
MAN: Hi, bud.
RAIN: Hi! How are
you this morning?
It's good to see you.
NARRATOR: Bodie needs sedation
for the vet team to
safely care for his feet.
RAIN: Ah, there you go.
I've been working with Bodie
and getting him to a position
where he's going to
lay down, um, on his belly.
Right here, hey,
here you go, right there.
Oh, we're a little nervous,
a little nervous.
RAIN (off-screen): So
that a veterinary technician
then could do an
injection in his rump.
Good boy.
Come, come on down.
Down.
All the way down.
What a good boy!
A little nervous.
It's different people.
All sorts of
things going on here.
(snorting)
Oh, my goodness.
RAIN: Here, come on over.
Come here, bud.
Oh, there you go.
See, we're okay. We're okay.
NARRATOR: The team at
Disney focuses on animals
voluntarily participating
in their own care.
RAIN: Down.
NARRATOR: And they
wait for Bodie the warthog
to be completely comfortable
before sedating him.
RAIN: Are you ready?
(whistle tweets)
Good boy, what a good pig,
what a good pig!
All right, come on, Bodie,
here we go, back.
You're gonna go
in your room now.
NARRATOR: The sedative
takes effect in minutes.
DAN: Let's go
ahead and move him.
Keep our voices down.
RAIN: One, two, three.
DAN: Mercy.
NARRATOR: And while
Bodie dreams about
whatever warthogs
dream about...
DAN: We're good.
NARRATOR: The
team transports him
to the veterinary treatment
room for his pedicure.
RAIN: Still good. Yup.
We have an animal in the back.
Watch his tail.
Here, yeah, you
want the usual spot?
I think I pulled his tail.
DAN: Heart rate is 60.
That's good, settling in.
NARRATOR: They have limited time
before the sedative wears off,
so Doctor Dan moves fast.
DAN: Ah, the
washing of the feet.
Why is he so stinky?
He has like
cheesy smell today.
When you're inches
from a pig's foot,
you just have to
ignore the odor.
(file whirring)
There's some liquid coming out.
It's black goo,
black, smelly goo.
Explains some of the odor
we've been identifying,
he has an abscess in there.
It's concerning because he could
end up in
significant discomfort.
Because we found this
new development in his feet,
this one needs to be protected.
NARRATOR: To help
Bodie's little piggies heal,
Dan molds some
custom acrylic caps.
DAN: Little bit of
chemistry lab here.
This is basically a powder
that mixes with a solvent.
And then over the course of
a few minutes, it will harden,
so you have to
work pretty quickly.
It is extremely messy.
Sort of like
icing a cake, I guess?
Uh, I do not, I don't
frost a lot of cakes,
which you could probably tell.
So, I'm just trying
to make sure it's smooth
and that there's no gaps
where stuff can get caught.
RAIN: This is looking great,
we got the new caps on,
and his feet are
looking fantastic, we're,
we're on the road
to recovery here.
NARRATOR: Bodie will be up
on his newly
treated toes any minute.
♪ ♪
RAIN: All right.
Here's a good spot.
Okay.
What a good pig.
He's the best pig ever.
NARRATOR: With the care
team's love and attention...
RAIN: Oh, what a good pig.
Look at that. Atta boy.
NARRATOR: And his
brand new sneakers,
Bodie will be back
to digging in no time.
RAIN: All right, there's
a good pig right there.
Look at that.
(growls)
(elephant trumpets)
JENNIFER: Okay. Juniper!
Hi, boo-boo. Let's go.
Good girl. Scale.
Today we have our recheck exam
on Juniper, checking her weight,
make sure that
everything is all right.
NARRATOR: Since her
hairball was removed,
Juniper's appetite has improved.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
The Animal Nutrition team,
they come over and
they check on her,
they even, like, write
special labels on her food
that they deliver her each day.
When I get little
hearts on her labels,
so I only wish that
Juniper could read,
because she would know how
loved and cared for she is.
Good.
Oh, wow.
She was 39.85 yesterday.
JEN: That's awesome.
JENNIFER: Can you believe it?
Seeing that weight gain,
it's pretty incredible.
I'm sure if she could talk,
that she would
also be overjoyed, um,
in her progress.
She looks so good.
Have some treats.
Isn't it funny
that she,
she already
knows which one she likes?
She's like, "Don't
give me the lettuce,
I want the good stuff."
Good girl.
It's a big deal, because
we're finally getting ready
to let her back
with her herd and, um,
see her out onto the savanna.
NARRATOR: Back on the savanna,
Bodie puts his
best foot forward...
So he can dig it.
RAIN: There he is.
The handsomest warthog ever.
NARRATOR: To see if
Bodie's fancy new toe caps
are up to the task,
Disney teams have created
a special treat for him;
an indestructible tree root
packed with treats.
♪ ♪
RAIN: He's gonna have to roll
that log and flip it around
and do some digging under it
to actually get the
treats out of there.
Yeah, it's a new log for ya.
Extra yums for ya!
Oh-ho, good boy!
NARRATOR: Bodie's
super sensitive nose
tells him there's
something good inside.
RAIN (off-screen):
That log takes two of us
to get up and into position,
because it's really heavy.
He makes it look so easy!
He's digging, he's doing all
those wonderful warthog things
that before, when his feet
weren't really feeling
quite their best,
it really kind of limited him.
NARRATOR: Bodie is back.
RAIN: Good job, Bodie.
You're the best pig ever!
NARRATOR: Over at
the Land Pavilion at Epcot,
cast members tend to crops.
More than
27,000 heads of lettuce
are produced here every year.
And today, a whole
boxful makes its way
to The Seas and Lil Joe.
Doctor Jen returns to
see if the painful tooth
was the root cause
behind his loss of appetite.
JEN: Joe, look at this, buddy!
Look at this!
This looks like freshly cut.
Only restaurant quality
for our manatee.
If he just eats
one head of lettuce right now,
I will be thrilled.
Take two.
Oh.
MAN: Come on, Joe.
JEN: Get it, buddy, get it!
Oop, get it, there it is!
NARRATOR: They say
that the third time...
JEN: He did it!
NARRATOR: Is the charm.
JEN: He is eating lettuce!
Good job, buddy, you did it.
You're feeling better,
you're eating.
Keep eating all your lettuce.
NARRATOR: And why stop there?
How about some
tasty alfalfa cubes
made especially at
the Animal Nutrition Center?
JEN: Oh, you coming?
(laughs)
His little manatee whiskers,
I love them.
Oh, my gosh, that was so fun.
JEN (off-screen): I'm
so happy
that he decided
to come over and eat today,
not only because it shows that
he's feeling better and healthy,
but also maybe
that he, uh, he likes me okay.
We're gonna keep
close eye on him,
make sure he keeps
eating and doing well.
All good news,
and he's doing great.
Bye, Joe-Joe!
(squeaks)
Love you, big guy.
(squeaks)
He's so cute.
♪ ♪
(boing)
NARRATOR: Back over at
Disney's Animal Kingdom,
about a month after
her first size test...
KATIE: Ooh, I love
your silly little face.
NARRATOR: Logan waits to
see if she finally measures up.
KATIE: That's perf, open
it up just a little more.
Sorry.
That's good
right there, perfect.
DOMINIQUE: Perfect.
KATIE: All right,
so that's 16 inches.
See if she can
squeeze through there.
KATIE (off-screen): So now that
we got the milk results back,
we know that Logan is getting
everything she needs from Lola,
which is really great news.
Hopefully she'll be able to make
her big debut on the savanna.
All right, Dominique, go ahead
and start opening door two.
Logan!
Good girls, come on down.
Come here, Logan.
DOMINIQUE: Rhino cookies.
KATIE: Miss Logan!
You're too big!
All right!
Look at you,
you're all grown up.
She's too big!
DOMINIQUE: Too big!
KATIE: Good job!
KATIE (off-screen):
She is plenty big enough
to go out on savanna.
She can't even get
her shoulders through,
she can only
barely get her head.
DOMINIQUE: I didn't realize
she was this big already.
KATIE: I know, you're huge!
We know that she
is definitely too big, um,
to squeeze into any
little gaps out on savanna,
which is
absolutely what we want.
Gonna be a big party for sure.
That was awesome,
great job, everybody.
Yeah!
Woo!
JENNIFER: Hey, big girl.
Come on over.
NARRATOR: Now
that Juniper is well,
she can finally
return to her herd.
JENNIFER: Today's
the day that all of us
have been kind of waiting for.
We've all been
caring for her for so long.
I can't believe it.
WOMAN: We're
making magic today, Jen.
JENNIFER: We're making magic.
For Juniper, it's
like going back home for,
you know, the
first time in a while.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
We're all really excited
we're hoping that
things will go well.
I think, um, try to
get a weight on her.
All right, Lindsay's
gonna open the door.
So, this should be her head.
LINDSAY: Yeah.
JENNIFER: And you
should be good to go.
LINDSAY: You ready, little one?
Welcome back, Juniper!
JENNIFER: Good luck, Juniper!
Good job.
BETSY: Oh, I love
the little jumps.
JENNIFER: That's adorable.
NATALIE: That's really cute.
JENNIFER: Said I wasn't
gonna cry, but there I am.
LINDSAY: I know!
Wowie.
JENNIFER (off-screen):
And Juniper has such a
huge fan club at this point,
everyone wants to
say their goodbyes,
everyone wants to wish her well.
I'm getting emotional at
this point, because, you know,
now it's our
final goodbye, um, you know,
the next time I might see her is
from a truck out on the savanna.
She's a happy girl.
She's been through a lot.
NARRATOR: It's
been nine long weeks
since Juniper was
removed from the savanna.
JENNIFER: Really, the
biggest challenge is,
is just to introducing
her back to the herd;
will they accept her?
Will she remember
that she's an addax?
♪ ♪
LINDSAY: All right, big day,
Juniper is finally
back on savanna.
So I'm very excited.
Something we've all
been looking forward to.
JENNIFER: Her reaction is great!
"This is where
I belong, this is home,
real dirt, in
the sunlight again."
NARRATOR: And
accepted by her family.
JENNIFER (off-screen): It's
great that we can continue
the conservation for them.
Hopefully one day
she'll become a mama.
LINDSAY: This is better
than we could have hoped for,
this has been one of
the happiest days in my career.
It's very
exciting that she's back.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Over at
the rhino barn...
KATIE: Lola, Logan,
come on, kids.
NARRATOR: It's
little Logan's big day.
KATIE: You gonna get up?
You got to get excited, come on.
Yeah, let's go. Good girl.
NARRATOR: She plans to
meet her family on the savanna
for the very first time.
CAITLIN: There she is.
Logan, come here, babe.
(laughs)
KATIE: Hi, kiddo.
What's up? You ready?
You're gonna be the star.
This her first time
going on savanna,
she's gonna get to
explore the new space
and meet a few of our
other rhinos in the crash,
so it's gonna be very exciting.
All right, little one, we'll see
you for your big day, all right?
CAITLIN: Bye, Lola.
RAIN: As you know, we are gonna
be introducing Lola and Logan
to the savanna.
Logan's a little more shy
than some of our past rhinos,
so she may be a little
bit more tucked to mom.
I think Lola is gonna be
fired up and so delighted.
It's very exciting.
KATIE: My job in the
rover truck right now
is to maintain a
visual on Lola and Logan.
KATIE (off-screen): It
really does take a village
to make sure these little ones
are happy and
healthy with our herd.
(radio chirps)
CAITLIN: You are
clear to send rhinos.
DOMINIQUE: Shipping
Lola and Logan on the show
for the first time.
Logan is a little nervous.
She stepped out
a couple of steps
and she's making sure all of
her surroundings are normal.
WOMAN: Logan, have a good day.
DOMINIQUE: Looks
like they're heading out
straight to the savanna now.
So, perfect.
KATIE: There they are.
Lola's leading the way out
and Logan is sticking
pretty close behind her,
which is good.
She's never been in a
space this big before.
NARRATOR: And there are
plenty of unfamiliar faces.
KATIE (off-screen): Logan
does look a little nervous,
any little noise or movement
might spook her
for a little bit,
until she gets
the lay of the land herself.
It's a lot to take in.
Moving a little bit further away
from mom now, which is good.
She's very curious about
the truck we're in right now.
I think she's starting to become
more comfortable in this space.
Slowly starting to
gain her confidence,
starting to have
some fun out here.
She's just running
around like crazy.
This is so cute and so much fun.
It's going really,
really well so far.
NARRATOR: But the
day has only just begun.
Cue the rest of the crash.
KATIE: Kiama is coming join
the party in the wallow area.
(rhino whines)
She's contact calling.
Looks like she's
gonna approach Lola first.
NARRATOR: Seven-year-old Kiama
is the first adult rhino
Logan has met outside the barn.
And at just over 4300 pounds,
she's more than
six times bigger.
KATIE: Kiama's getting a little
bold and started to chase Logan.
But Logan is quick
to get out of the way.
NARRATOR: Mom to the rescue.
KATIE: She's saying,
"This is my baby,
and you keep your distance."
This is exactly the kind
of behavior we want to see
from a first-time mom.
♪ ♪
(snorting)
Logan's still staying confident.
So, that's good to see.
NARRATOR: As the
family crashes in,
Logan's one-year-old
half-brother Ranger
brings up the rear.
KATIE: Logan's a little unsure.
Ranger is really trying to
get Logan moving and playing.
Ranger's just very excited
to have another
little one out here.
NARRATOR: Looks
like these siblings
will become fast friends.
KATIE: I'm really glad
that they've settled in
so quickly together.
NARRATOR: Logan is
one of the family now.
KATIE: My heart is
so happy right now.
I am so proud of Logan.
I really hope that
our guests see the babies
and see the adults
interacting with them,
and just see how
cool rhinos are.
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.