BEST OF THE REST
THE SECRET LIFE OF THE ZOO
Channel 4, 8pm
WE’RE going back behind the scenes of Chester Zoo for another series of this fascinating, funny and often emotional look at the animals who live there and the people who look after them.
It’s tugging at the heartstrings from the very beginning, as we see the 37-year-old matriarch elephant Thi, who is pregnant with her ninth calf and suffering from joint pain. The effects of a 22-month pregnancy sound tough enough, but keepers think Thi is now three months over her due date – and fear that things won’t end well.
Elsewhere, staff are playing matchmaker for widowed giant anteater Bliss, by introducing new male Oso who’s arrived from another zoo. And when Marco the clown fish is injured during a fight over a female, he has to be put into a tank to recuperate – and ends up undergoing quite the transformation. It certainly puts a whole different complexion on Finding Nemo…
PAUL O’GRADY: FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS
ITV, 8pm
THERE’S a double dose of animal aaaaws on the box tonight, as Paul heads back to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home for a seventh year.
There’s a whole new batch of furry faces for him to meet, and no doubt fall in love with. Then again, it’s hard not to – first up this week is a Dachshund mum and her five pups, who were found on a golf course and who staff suspect had escaped from a puppy farm. Seeing those tiny furry sausages squeak and feed, we defy anyone to watch and not turn to mush.
You couldn’t get more of a contrast between them and the huge Cane Corso called Sophie, who was found abandoned and who’d had her ears and tail illegally docked to make her look more aggressive. She might be scary to look at, but Sophie is a great big slobbery softie, as Paul soon discovers.