PARK LIFE!
BEN FOGLE & KATE HUMBLE HAVE SOME NEW FRIENDS TO SHOW US…
In this moment, Inside TV hasn’t ever been happier. We’re at Longleat to cover the new series of BBC1’S Animal Park, and currently standing about three metres away from two real-life koalas, Dennis and Violet. Longleat has recently acquired them and two other Southern koalas – Maisie and Coorong – and the four have now become a star attraction at the safari and adventure park. We caught up with the show’s presenters Kate Humble and Ben Fogle for a chat – and the pair are clearly as thrilled to see the koalas as the visitors are…
“There’s been an enormous amount of excitement over the koalas,” enthuses Kate. “In the past few years, there has been this real move to bring in new animals and for the park to take part in these big international conservation breeding
programmes. So that’s why it’s so exciting to have the koalas here, and particularly Southern Australian koalas which are a little quirky – they’re bigger, hairier, and adorable!”
“I’ve been to Australia many times, but I’ve always been there for non-nature-based shows, so this is the first time I’ve seen a koala, and they’re magical!” says Ben. “It’s a real coup for Longleat to have the only collection in the UK. But I didn’t get to hug them this morning, that was Kate – she always grabs the best jobs!”
STAR TREK
However, bringing the koalas to Longleat from Australia in the first place was a major logistical challenge, and every effort was made to ensure that the 15,000km journey to get them here was as comfortable as possible for the marsupials – which will be explored in the opening episode. Having the koalas at Longleat also gives British scientists a chance to study them, and hopefully make breakthroughs to tackle the problems that the species is facing…
“They’re challenging animals,” Kate points out. “Koalas were hunted a lot during the early 19th century, and that puts pressure on numbers, so you then have a genetically poor population. And that means you end up with diseases which they’re less resilient to, such as kidney disease.”
THORNY TOPIC
Of course, as exciting as the new arrivals are, they’re not the only animals at Longleat. So Ben and Kate have been kept busy checking in on a wide variety of creatures.
“To be honest, it’s the first time that I’ve wandered around here, and there were at least three animals I’d never seen before and would have struggled to identify,” admits Ben. “Like the American porcupine, I’d never seen one of those. And the potoroo – I hadn’t even heard of them!”
“There’s a baby giant anteater called Bella,” chips in Kate. “We had to sex her just to make sure, and, well, Bella is now Basil. I have officially sexed a giant anteater, which is exciting! So if anyone has got one and they’re not quite sure, call me – I’m your girl!”
PRIDE & JOY
Animal Park has been a staple of the BBC1 summer schedule for a number of years, and Kate and Ben are both proud to have been presenting the programme since 2000 and 2001, respectively. In fact, they now have proof of just how influential it has been…
“The show travels, so I’ve had some extraordinary scenarios,” shares Ben. “Once, when I was filming in the wild in Uganda, I had rangers come up to me saying, ‘I love watching Animal Park,’ which is a very strange notion!”
“I’m so old that there are keepers who actually grew up watching the programme and are now working here because of Animal Park,” grins Kate. “That’s kind of
THESE NEW KOALAS ARE BIGGER, HAIRIER AND ADORABLE!”
KATE
lovely, but also makes me feel like their grandmother!”
“There can’t be that many TV shows where you’re still working on them and there are people who are now involved purely because they watched it when they were youngsters,” agrees Ben.
“Caleb, the big cat keeper here, used to watch the show when he was a kid,” recalls Kate. “His hero was Bob Trollope, who used to look after the big cats and very sadly died in 2014. When Caleb and I were working together the other day, he said, ‘I’m doing the job of the person who was my hero!’ – then a week later, Caleb had a letter from a five-year-old boy saying, ‘You’re my hero’. Caleb said, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if in 15 years’ time that boy is the next big cat keeper here?’ It’s so lovely that the series has really inspired people in a positive way.”