Never forget

PAUL O’GRADY: FOR THE LOVE OF ANIMALS - INDIA ITV, 9pm SEEMS Paul O’grady has been let out of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home for good behaviour. The 61-year-old animal nut – his own home is like a zoo – heads to India to see how conservationists are working to help wild animals. So there are monkeys and elephants to contend with this time, rather than just moggies and mutts, as in previous escapades. And, of course, Paul is thrilled to be visiting the sub-continent for the first time. “I’d recommend India – it’s a great place,” he says, adding: “I still haven’t had a bad gut. Been letting off a lot.” A bit more information than we needed. In this two-part series, Paul gets stuck in as usual, keen to experience the job of a keeper as he meets extraordinary animals at sanctuaries and in their natural habitats. Tonight it’s straight into a rickshaw and a hair-raising battle through the traffic before he arrives at an elephant sanctuary south of Delhi. Lakshmi is an obese elephant. She is too heavy to walk to the river, so it’s Paul’s job is to give her a shower, soaking everyone in the process. Down the road, one of Lakshmi’s neighbours is baby monkey Jackson, who has a problem with his back legs. So Paul steps in as masseur. He then meets Mohan, an elephant who spent more than 50 years chained up. And it’s a distressing sight for Paul. “All those pink areas are scars and he has huge abscesses on his legs – it’s too upsetting for me,” he admits. Later, he travels to Assam where he meets nine baby rhinos who are all having trouble going to the toilet. Can he help loosen them up? He also comes face to face with a rare clouded leopard – a moment that leaves even perky Paul dumbstruck.