THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES documentary on Dublin Zoo returned to RTÉ last night – and from meerkat home improvement to the Gorilla rainforest, it was an excellent start to the series.
For the animal-lovers working there, it’s “the best job in the world”:
Vet John was featured last night, working on the elderly male two-toed sloth.
“No other animal apart from the bat spends so much time hanging upside down”
“It sleeps for 16 hours straight and is only active for about a third of the day”
People in the midst of a lazy Sunday could relate
“He’s now getting on in years, and the female sloth with him is even older and we figure that they’re not going to breed – they’ve never bred with us”
They were checking if he’s fit enough to mate, and while they were there they needed to check on his health too
To run an ultrasound, they shaved a little section of his hair off his belly, but were very aware that he needs his warmth:
We’ll have to knit him a little wooly jumper.
The results threw up some interesting observations:
“I’m a little astounded as to how much poo they can hold in their system”
“He’ll be even more sluggish than usual over the next few hours”
Everything was grand following the tests – he was described as a “healthy fellow”.
“With a clean bill of health, the sloth is back in South America House – eager to get back to what he does best: hanging around.”
It looks like he is slow motion <3
Along with the meerkats, the sloth was the star of the show
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
The return of The Zoo just reminded everyone of their dream childhood occupation
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
And had admirers tuning in around Ireland
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
We’ll all be visiting again soon to stake out the TV stars
And the sloths will be the first port of call
Welcome back, The Zoo.
COMMENTS