Nature (1982–…): Season 34, Episode 16 - Jungle Animal Hospital - full transcript

A dedicated team

is heading deep into the
Central American rainforest.

Their cargo is precious...

A troop of orphaned
spider monkeys.

Their mission, simple...

To return the monkeys
to where they belong.

It's all in a day's work

for the staff at the
Jungle Animal Hospital

in Guatemala.

Here,

the wards are full
of rescued animals,



all hoping for a
chance at freedom.

Takes a lot of time
and effort to do it,

but that's what we're here for.

Because that one
little animal needs help.

This is animal
rehab, jungle style,

a daily battle to save lives

in Guatemala's
busiest rescue center.

There's a special delivery

for the vets at ARCAS
Rescue Center.

Animals find their way here
from all over Guatemala,

most of them victims
of the illegal pet trade.

With over 700 animals
of all shapes and sizes,

the Center is already
at full capacity.

But they try to
turn no one away.



Will you give me a hand?

Yep.

The latest arrival is
just one month old.

Come on, sweetie.

We got a baby
spider monkey here,

given up to the authorities
in Guatemala City.

They sent her up to us.

People keeping monkeys as
pets is certainly quite common.

The only way to
get a baby monkey

like her is to kill the mother

and then keep this little baby
orphan in a human environment.

Alejandro Morales
has dedicated his life

to saving animals
and trained as a vet

so that he could
make a difference.

All right, yep, bring him in.

His girlfriend, Anna Bryant,

is a zoologist from New Zealand

and takes care of all the
young orphaned animals

that come through the door.

That is a very
traumatic time for them.

They've been ripped
away from their mother,

and they've been stuck in a box

or in a car for God
knows how long,

so it's for the best
that she's here now.

The baby monkey
is now at the start

of a five-year journey
through the Rescue Center

that will culminate

with her release
back into the wild.

After a period in quarantine,

she will join up with other
rescued spider monkeys

to form their own troop.

Here, she will
hopefully find a mate

and go on to rear her own young.

Eventually, her
troop will be moved

into a much larger
enclosure within the forest.

This will be the final
stage of their rehabilitation.

This troop has been
living here for over a year

and is due for release
in just three months' time.

Anna is carrying
out a final study

to see if they're ready
to go back to the wild.

There's one monkey that
Anna is most worried about...

An adult male called Bruce.

He separates himself
away from the group

and doesn't interact as
well as the other ones do.

Unfortunately, he's the
underdog of the group, really,

which does make
you feel a bit more

attached to him,
in some respect,

'cause he is such a distinctive
looking monkey, as well as

we've obviously had
a lot of focus on him.

Bruce is now 7 years old,

and this is his only
chance for release,

but he must learn
to socialize more

if he is to survive in the wild.

Over the coming weeks,
Anna will be keeping a close eye

on his progress.

The jungles of Central America

are among the most
important in the world.

Once the center of
a grand civilization,

this tract of wilderness is
known as the Maya Forest,

stretching from Guatemala,
through Belize, into Mexico.

It's home to a
vast diversity of life,

including some of the jungle's
most celebrated animals.

♪♪

It's one of the largest
tropical rainforests

that are left in the world.

When you get on
top of the canopy,

it's just this green carpet

that extends for
kilometers and kilometers,

and there's nothing
around you but forest.

It's immense,

but it's also so frail

and so threatened.

In the last 30 years,

huge areas of land across
Central and South America

have been cleared
for agriculture.

As a result,

some of the region's
most precious wildlife

is now under threat.

That includes the
iconic scarlet macaw.

♪♪

These magnificent birds
were once a common sight,

but now the subspecies
found here in Guatemala

is rapidly disappearing.

Scientists believe there are
fewer than 300 individuals

left in the wild.

This year, the team
at the Rescue Center

is planning to make history...

By releasing a group of their
own captive-bred macaws

to boost the wild population.

♪♪

With these birds in such danger,

each new chick is precious.

We're looking at a two-day...

Two-, three-day
baby scarlet macaw.

It's this little,
beautiful thing.

And it's got a full crop,

so that means the
parents are feeding him.

It looks very, very
healthy, three-day-old baby.

There's no words

to describe how important
each one of these animals is.

And this is how it all begins.

Once it's fledged, this chick

will eventually
join those waiting

to be released into the forest.

At the Mammal
Quarantine Department,

the Center's newest spider
monkey is settling in well.

She's just starting
to feed from a bottle.

Anna needs to form a
bond so she can care for her,

but she also has to be
careful not to get too attached.

We obviously want
them to trust us enough

for us to be able to feed them

and for us to help them develop
and for them to gain weight

and to not be too stressed,

but we also don't want
them to be too used to us.

If she was with her mother,

she would have
a lot more contact.

Her mother would carry
her constantly with her.

If we were to do that,

we probably wouldn't be able
to release her in the long run.

So that's a...

It's a fine line that
we have to tread,

but those are very, very
heartwarming moments

when they do look
at you like that.

It's very cool.

The baby monkey

has been given a
teddy bear to hug,

as a sort of surrogate mother.

She will remain in quarantine
for the next three months.

♪♪

With so many mouths to feed,

the work at the Center
goes on seven days a week,

all year 'round.

Most of the feeding and cleaning

is done by local
staff and volunteers

from all over the world,

while the vets deal
with the emergencies

in the clinic.

It's a never-ending
conveyor belt

of rescued animals
of all shapes and sizes,

revealing the richness
of the Guatemalan jungle

but also the shocking
extent of the pet trade.

The animals are
treated by the vets,

then nursed back to full health

by Anna and her team.

These prehistoric-looking
creatures are baby toucans

who've fallen out of their nest.

Once all the patients
have been given

a clean bill of health,

hopefully, they can be
released back into the jungle.

♪♪

The Center also
attracts wild visitors

from all over the forest,

drawn in by the
prospect of a free meal.

A flock of black vultures

are regular diners
at the crocodile pool,

risking life and limb for
a piece of fresh chicken.

♪♪

Even the ants are on the take,

making sure nothing
goes to waste.

Occasionally,

some of these wild animals
come to the vets' attention.

A family of howler monkeys
visits the Center every day,

helping themselves to leftovers.

Alejandro has noticed
the baby has a large growth

on its neck,

which could become
serious unless treated.

He wouldn't normally interfere,

but it's impossible
for him to ignore it.

It's a good thing

that we caught him
at the time that we did,

'cause the bigger
the injury gets,

more of a threat it is to him.

He could get a big infection.

He could get, like, a
big mass in his neck,

and that can put some pressure
on his spine and on his nerves,

and you don't want a monkey
with problems with their nerves,

'cause they could
fall down from the tree.

This is a botfly larva.

They're fairly common
in wild monkeys

but could be fatal for a baby.

They become very, very dangerous

'cause they're very, very big,
so that's where we intervene.

We usually don't intervene
in these kind of things.

I'm gonna make sure
that the wound is cleansed

so that he can go back out

and that there is no
secondary infection.

All right. All right.

The baby howler monkey

is finally reunited
with his mother

and should make
a speedy recovery.

♪♪

The spider-monkey troop

has just six weeks left
before their planned release.

♪♪

It's breakfast time,
a raucous occasion

which brings them all together.

All except Bruce.

Bruce is still not mixing
with the rest of the troop,

but that's not the only problem.

He's also spending too
much time on the ground,

picking up any food
that falls from above.

And more worrying still,

having spent his
early life as a pet,

Bruce has never
developed a fear of humans.

He's very used to people.

He'll come close to the
fence, he'll sit beside us.

He doesn't want
to be afraid of us,

and so it's very, very
difficult to be able to try

and get him to understand
that he needs to be.

He also has taken to
sleeping on the ground,

under the bushes.

I do feel a little bit sorry for
him because he's come so far

and he's been given this chance

to be able to go
back into the wild,

and so it's very, very difficult

to see a monkey
that's almost there,

that's got the chance
to almost be free,

to not being able to
exhibit the right behavior.

♪♪

Out in the wild, spider monkeys

have to watch out
for a wide range

of predators,

so they are naturally
very cautious.

They spend over 90%
of their life in the canopy

and rarely go down
to the forest floor.

If they do,

it's for the shortest
possible time.

♪♪

One of their greatest
enemies is the jaguar,

the jungle's top predator.

To survive in the wild,

spider monkeys need to
be on their guard at all times.

Bruce must spend
more time up in the trees

if he's to stand any
chance of being released.

Having tried
everything to help him,

Anna is now taking
extreme measures.

♪♪

She's using firecrackers to
scare Bruce off the ground.

It's a very loud noise,

a very sharp noise,
and they get scared,

and they will therefore
associate being on the ground

with bad things,
with negative things.

We want to give them
the best possible chance,

and in order to do that, they
need to be up in the trees

for the majority of their time.

Bruce won't be set free
with the rest of the troop

unless he can
change his behavior.

♪♪

At the clinic, an
unusual patient

has been brought in
with a nasty fracture.

We received a
baby northern potoo,

which is a very, very rare bird.

Potoos are secretive,
nocturnal birds,

closely related to nightjars.

This is the only one they've
ever seen in the clinic.

He has a broken leg,

so we're going
to anesthetize him

and see if we
can repair his leg.

With so many
different-shaped animals

to treat, the vets often have
to improvise on the spot.

No one makes standard gas masks

for baby northern potoos.

We have a makeshift one

that we use with
recycled materials.

He's quite young.

This species don't
really do well in captivity,

so we'll do as
little intervention

in as little time
with us as possible.

And we'll push
in, push in, push.

The potoo will not
survive in the wild

with a broken leg,

as he can't forage
for his own food.

His only chance is
immediate surgery.

This is the first time

Alejandro has ever had
to operate on a potoo,

and it will require
all his skill as a vet.

♪♪

This is very, very painful.

Once the potoo is safely asleep,

Alejandro's first job

is to try to straighten
the broken bone.

Okay.

Right now, it's aligned,
and it's in a good position.

Keep the leg at that height.

♪♪

Can you turn off
the light, please?

Okay.

And a piece of gauze?

The operation has worked.

- Yeah, hold him.
- But the potoo

can't be released
until he's fully healed.

It's not the most
stable of fractures,

but it will— it will
hold. It will hold.

And now all we need to do

is find out what we're
meant to feed him.

Alejandro is mixing
up a cocktail of fruit

and flies to tempt
the potoo into eating.

If you touch their
beak, they open.

Have a very, very big mouth.

Up to now, I don't
think that he's liking

what we're feeding him,

because he's not
swallowing completely.

So we're gonna keep trying

because there's really
not much we can do but try.

We need to make him eat.

He has to eat, 'cause
if he doesn't eat,

he's not gonna get
better from his fracture,

and we're not gonna
be able to release him.

The next 24 hours

will be critical for
the potoo chick.

And it's also a very important
day for the scarlet macaws.

They're taking a major
step closer to freedom.

Today, nine of these birds
are being selected for release.

The vets need to take a
good look at each individual,

but they have to
catch them first.

♪♪

It's a stressful time for
both staff and macaws,

but it's unavoidable if they're
to move on to the next phase.

It is our job to
catch them right now

in order to get a good
health assessment

and to get everything
that we need

in order for this process
to actually move forward.

To avoid any risk to
the wild population,

the birds must first be
screened for diseases.

As each individual
is so precious,

they must be handled
with extreme care.

They're actually quite
dangerous animals.

We need to be very careful,
especially about the beak,

because these guys
break nuts for a living.

They can break a nut
about the size of our fist,

so he has to restrained
with enough technique

to make sure that the
animal is not injured

and you don't get
injured, as well.

The driving force
behind the macaw project

is senior vet Fernando Martinez,

director of the Rescue Center.

For Fernando, the release

is the fulfillment of
his lifetime's ambition.

The nine chosen macaws

are now going to live in
a much larger enclosure.

Their new home is 130 feet long

and will give them space to fly.

This is the macaws' final
cage before they're set free.

♪♪

It's really cool to be
able to see them fly out

and be in a cage
that has trees in it.

It's really, really important
for them at this stage

to build up their
muscle development.

We need to give
them power of flight.

They know how to fly, but we
need to give them that capacity

to fly long distances,

having their wings
completely spread out,

and being able to
just have that exercise.

If all goes well, in
a matter of weeks,

these will be the first
captive-bred scarlet macaws ever

to be released into the
Guatemalan rainforest.

♪♪

It's 6:00 A.M. on
a Sunday morning,

and Alejandro is
worried about the potoo,

so he's heading into the clinic.

Today's my day off, but
the potoo needs to be fed,

and he's very weak,

so I'm not having
anyone else feed him,

so I'm coming in in the morning
and the afternoon to feed him.

Even after 10 years' experience

and hundreds of patients,

Alejandro finds some
animals hit a soft spot.

He started having
dreams about the potoo.

There's those.

Early this morning, I
dreamt about him being dead.

So first thing I did was
just grab my bicycle,

and I rode to work to
make sure that he was okay.

'Cause it was quite
a hideous dream.

I actually haven't
had that for a while.

As the hours pass,
Alejandro stays in the clinic

by the potoo's
side to keep watch.

♪♪

The potoo still hasn't
gained any weight,

and Alejandro is
taking it personally.

Right now, it's just
getting some fluids

and I...

And I hope that he can
actually have a bit of fight in him

and I can give him a hand

and get him back
to full strength,

the way he was a few days ago.

♪♪

You can just see
him fade, little by little,

and some animals do get to you

for the most unexpected reasons.

And it was... It was
just heartbreaking.

♪♪

Despite all Alejandro's efforts,

the little potoo
doesn't make it.

♪♪

Life in the forest is fragile,

and fresh casualties
arrive every day.

The staff here
fights for every life,

but the battle against
the illegal pet trade

is never-ending.

Wildlife trafficking

often takes place under
the cover of darkness.

One of the most common
methods for smuggling animals

out of the forest is
by public transport.

The vets from the Rescue Center
are trying to combat the trade

by working with the
authorities at checkpoints

on the main route
out of the jungle.

♪♪

It is breeding season
for all the parrots

and some of the
mammals, as well.

So there is a very high chance

that a lot of little
baby orphans

that have been taken
away from their mothers

who are away from their nests

are gonna be found in one
of these vehicles tonight.

As the operation goes on,

the officers find more
and more baby parrots.

This batch were hidden
in the hold of the bus.

A young couple is apprehended
and taken into custody.

This kind of scenario
is quite common

for someone to get
a bird into their bag

and try to
transport it in a bus,

because that's easy money
for them... illegal easy money.

It's our job to
protect the animal.

The animal now becomes evidence,

and that evidence
is under our care.

These baby parrots
are the lucky ones.

They will be given the
best possible chance

to be free again.

Whenever new patients
arrive at the Rescue Center,

the first job is to
get them checked in.

The priority for now

is to rehydrate and
feed these baby parrots

after their traumatic
journey out of the jungle.

As long as we can
undo their malnutrition,

we will have a very good
chance of success with these guys.

We can still teach them
how to be proper parrots

and not have to
depend on humans.

In one month alone, the Center

can receive more
than 100 baby parrots.

We do tend to get a
lot of baby parrots in.

It's the season when
they start hatching,

and that's the time
when it's very easy

for people to grab them.

It's really, really sad,

and it's unfortunately
quite common.

Most baby parrots
never make it to market.

The vast majority die en route.

The way that people
carry these animals

is completely inhumane.

They're wrapped
up in plastic bags.

They usually can't breathe,

and that is why
there's a lot of fatalities.

Up to 70%, 80% of
the animals die in transit

in order for people
to please themselves,

and that is...

That's just... It just
makes you angry.

If all goes well,
in two years' time,

these baby parrots will
be returned to the forest.

♪♪

Anna's Mammal
Quarantine Department

is filling up quickly.

Her latest patient
is a baby gray fox,

found alone in the jungle.

He'll now stay under Anna's
care for the next six months,

until he's old enough
to fend for himself.

He's eating incredibly
well, which is great.

I just gave him a little
bit of a run-around.

Obviously, he needs a
bit of exercise, as well.

But the less handling that
we do of him, the better.

And he's still quite aggressive
and still a little bit scared,

so it looks good for him

being able to be
released in the future.

Working with baby spider monkeys

brings its own challenges.

They're highly social animals
in constant need of attention.

The cages are
quite close together,

and she's wanting to grab,
and so what spider monkeys do

is, when they can't
reach with their hands,

they'll use their tail, which is
what she's doing quite well.

No matter how hard Anna
tries not to get attached,

the spider monkeys sometimes
prove impossible to ignore.

The troop of spider
monkeys due for release

is now on the final
countdown to freedom.

Bruce has started
to mend his ways.

He's spending more time

up in the trees interacting
with the rest of the troop.

Today, his fate will be decided.

Over the last month or so,

he's definitely showing
some improvements...

Interacting with
the young babies

as well as with the males.

It's still unsure

as to whether or not he
will be able to be released.

Luckily, it's not my decision.

But we'll see how it goes,

and we'll be able to
hopefully release him.

The only alternative for Bruce

is to spend the rest of
his life alone in captivity.

So after much deliberation,

the vets finally give Bruce
the go-ahead for release.

The next challenge is to
capture the whole troop

and attach radio collars

so they can be
tracked in the wild.

Now that they have been
trained to avoid people,

this won't be easy.

Alejandro needs to set a trap.

They're gonna have
some food inside,

and, ideally, that
will lure them in.

And when they try to get out,
they're gonna pull this rope,

and that rope
will close the door.

The last thing that they'll
remember from people

is that, if people feed
them, they get trapped.

That is the last image of
people that they will have,

and it's a good thing,

because they're meant
to stay away from us.

The spider monkeys
seem to know something

is not quite right.

But the food is irresistible.

The alpha male
is the first to try it.

He gets away scot-free.

Now the others follow his lead.

♪♪

This time, the trap works,

and the first two
monkeys are captured.

Alejandro now has
to enter the cage

to administer a sedative.

This is something no
one on the team enjoys,

but it has to be done so
the monkeys can be given

a full health check
before release.

The final captures are
tough, psychologically,

on them and on us,

because as much as we know
that it's the right thing to do,

it's very stressful for them.

And you can see the suffering
and the fear in their eyes.

The toughest bit is for
them to not understand

how much we love them.

♪♪

As the remaining members
of the troop get caught,

there is one monkey who
is refusing to cooperate.

Bruce.

Having finally learned
to stay up in the trees,

away from people,

he's now in no
rush to come down.

But eventually, Bruce also
succumbs to temptation.

♪♪

The troop is leaving the
enclosure for the last time.

After their health check,

the monkeys are
fitted with radio collars

so they can be
monitored post-release.

The decision to let Bruce
go was a difficult one,

as there are still doubts
over whether he's ready.

He has been interacting
with the juveniles

and doing a lot
of positive things,

but there's still
a slight concern.

We do everything

we can to give
them a fighting shot,

but it's entirely up to them

once those cages are
no more in their life.

♪♪

It's D-day for Bruce
and the rest of the troop.

Though they don't yet know it,

they're on their
way back to the wild.

♪♪

They're heading into
Rio Azul National Park,

as far away from
people as possible.

But it's a 15-hour drive
through challenging terrain.

♪♪

Across their range,
spider monkeys

have declined by over 50%

in the last 45 years.

This is now the eighth troop

to be released by
the Rescue Center

to help boost the
wild population.

It's been a very— A very
long journey with them,

with various ups and downs.

These are monkeys that
have had an awful start to life.

They've been ripped
away from their mothers,

from their families, and
now here they all are.

So you couldn't ask
for anything really better.

They don't know what's going on.

They're just looking through

what they can see
through the cages.

But it's finally sinking in now

that we're only minutes
away from letting them out.

It's the last minutes that
they're gonna be in a cage

for the rest of their life.

We've done pretty
much everything we can,

and this is... This is
the culmination of it.

And there's not much more

than Godspeed and
good luck, monkeys.

♪♪

♪♪

As the troop starts to
explore their new world,

there's one monkey who
is refusing to come out.

Bruce.

He's not quite ready
to head into the wild

and needs a bit of encouragement
to leave the safety of his cage.

♪♪

Seeing them up there, it's
where they're meant to be.

So it couldn't... It
couldn't be a nicer feeling,

to be honest.

It's one of those
things that you kind of

dream about that
never actually think

is gonna happen,

and it's...

It's really happening.

It doesn't look
like it's happening.

It's... it's just incredible.

It's... I can't stop smiling.

Over the next few months,

some of the team
will stay in the forest

to follow the monkeys' progress.

After that, they're
on their own.

♪♪

Back at the Rescue Center,
the baby spider monkey

is starting on the first
stage of her training...

Learning how to climb.

It's very, very important

that she learns her coordination

and learns how
to hold on to trees.

She doesn't quite know what
to do with all her arms and legs

and that she has a tail to use.

But she'll develop,
and in no time,

she'll be playing
on this all the time,

and it'll be a
lot more difficult

to get her off it.

♪♪

Six weeks after the
spider-monkey release,

the radio-tracking team

brings the first reports
back from the forest

with news of the
monkeys' progress.

We got good news,
and we got bad news.

Good news is that 11
monkeys actually have made it.

It's over a month now,

and they're doing
fantastically well.

Sadly, two collars

were retrieved next
to two dead monkeys.

One of the monkeys that
didn't make it was Bruce.

They're not sure how he died.

They just found him
on the floor, dead.

It could've just been another
monkey group attacked him

and he didn't
have the protection

of the rest of the group.

At least he did have those
several weeks of freedom

and he did have the chance

to be wild and to do
what he was meant to do,

and, unfortunately,
he just couldn't adapt

as well as we'd hoped.

♪♪

There's better news

from the macaw
breeding enclosure.

The chick that was
born three months ago

has finally fledged.

With her brand-new plumage,

she is now scarlet
macaw number 91.

In two years' time, she
will be ready for release.

It's a fantastic sight.

This little thing that you
saw when they were born,

coming out of the nest
fully feathered and flying,

it just draws a big
smile on your face.

It gives you hope.

The scarlet macaws'
flight enclosure is empty.

The birds are being prepared
for their journey to the forest.

Five of them are having
satellite collars fitted

so they can be
tracked in the wild.

It's time for them
to head upriver

and into the jungle.

♪♪

The location has been
specifically selected

because there have
been several sightings

of wild scarlet macaws
here at this time of year.

♪♪

This is the culmination of
20 years' work for Fernando,

the Center's director.

It's one of the most
important days of his life.

♪♪

From the riverbank, it's
roughly a three-mile hike

to the release
site, mostly uphill.

♪♪

This is the last time

these macaws will ever
see the bars of a cage.

The macaws are being
released from the top of a hill,

overlooking the forest canopy,

with plenty of fruiting trees.

The hope is that they'll
find food straightaway

and soon encounter
members of the wild population.

♪♪

The team is making history.

This is the first
time in Guatemala

that captive-bred scarlet macaws

have been released
into the wild.

♪♪

With these new individuals,
the wild population

has just increased by around 5%.

♪♪

They don't need to be in cages

to be able to see them.

And this is just the beginning.

The plan is to
release 40 individuals

over the next five years

and gradually bring
these majestic birds

back from the
edge of extinction.

♪♪

At the Rescue Center,
life goes on as before.

The next batch of macaws

have started on
their path to freedom.

And there's good news
for the baby spider monkey.

After four months on her
own, she has a new friend.

He's a little male, also
rescued from the pet trade.

Together, these two
will form a new troop.

Over time, others
will join them,

and when they're ready,

they'll be returned
to the jungle.

Illegal trafficking
is still happening,

and animals are still coming in.

We will still be here,

fighting the battle
for the animals.

What keeps you
going is making sure

that you win small
battles every time.

There is hope at the end,
and we are part of the hope.

To learn more about what you've
seen on this "Nature" program,