This Adorable Bushbaby’s Recovery Will Melt Your Heart Malawi Wildlife Rescue
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 At Lilongwe Wildlife Center,
00:04 a bush baby with tummy trouble needs special care.
00:08 - So hard with all that fluff, hey?
00:09 You don't know where the skin starts and the fluff finishes.
00:13 - It's all in a day's work
00:14 for Malawi's only wildlife rescue team.
00:18 It's a busy time of year
00:21 for Malawi's only wildlife rescue center.
00:23 The influx of orphans during the rainy season
00:28 always keeps stuff on their toes.
00:30 It's weigh-in day at the center's orphan nursery.
00:36 - Sorry, waking you up, hey?
00:41 - All the youngsters have to be put on the scales
00:44 to monitor their health.
00:46 - Now you're gonna unroll, bubs.
00:48 So 2.67.
00:49 - Some prove more challenging than others.
00:56 (upbeat music)
00:58 - Right in the corner where you can't reach him.
01:03 So 7.60.
01:13 Sorry, buddy.
01:15 Very cute.
01:19 Okay.
01:22 (upbeat music)
01:25 Okay, back to bed then.
01:31 - Tori's worried about one of the young orphans.
01:38 - So we were just doing routine weights on these guys.
01:40 Zebedee's lost weight again.
01:42 - Oh, bless him.
01:43 - Okay, he still doesn't look great.
01:44 Like he's still got diarrhea.
01:46 He's not really drinking his milk properly anymore either.
01:49 So I think he just needs a bit of a--
01:50 - Hey, little much-a-bub.
01:51 - Hey, little much-a-bub.
01:53 - Zebedee is a bush baby.
01:55 - Oh, what's going on, my darling?
01:57 - Mostly it's like, if you look at him,
02:00 like you can see his tail's filthy.
02:02 - We only had a bath the other day.
02:04 - These bush babies should have like, you know,
02:06 big fluffy, happy tails.
02:09 - Zebedee has a stomach bug
02:11 that's causing him to have diarrhea
02:13 and is making him lose weight.
02:15 - Zebedee was rescued from a village down in the South.
02:18 These guys often get picked up by accident.
02:21 The moms don't bring the babies with them
02:23 when they leave the nest.
02:24 They leave them in the tree hollows.
02:26 So sometimes people find them
02:27 and assume they've been abandoned.
02:28 But really they're just hanging out
02:29 waiting for mom to get home.
02:31 Happens quite frequently with lots of different species.
02:34 Good lad.
02:37 So he just feels very gassy in there and a lot of liquid.
02:42 Not much solid stuff in there, young man.
02:45 You can tell he's not feeling great
02:47 because these guys are normally like, full of attitude.
02:50 He's only little, but when we've got the big ones
02:52 they're really scary.
02:53 - Zebedee is two months old
02:57 and should still be with his mom.
02:59 - When I'm kind of lifting up his skin,
03:02 really if you're well hydrated, it should just snap back.
03:05 It's just taking that little bit longer.
03:06 So it says to me that he is a little bit dehydrated.
03:09 But I think what we need to do
03:10 is just give him a little bit of a helping hand.
03:11 We'll start by giving him some fluids.
03:14 Oh, is that making everything better?
03:16 Never really quite sure where to put the second baby.
03:20 A baby bush baby or a bush baby baby?
03:22 Bush baby baby sounds too much like a Justin Bieber song.
03:24 - Yeah, I think baby bush baby is the way to go.
03:28 (laughing)
03:30 - I'm sorry, sweetheart.
03:31 - So high with all that fluff, hey?
03:33 You don't know where the skin starts and the fluff finishes.
03:36 Good boy. - I know.
03:39 I know.
03:41 - Very brave.
03:43 - We'll get you back home.
03:44 - Zebedee was quiet and timid
03:48 when he had his stomach bug.
03:50 But now he's beginning to show some attitude.
03:53 The little bush baby is recovering well
03:57 and getting stronger every day.
03:59 He's upset that we've disturbed him.
04:06 Charlotte's been monitoring Zebedee's progress.
04:12 Pop him in and get a weight from him.
04:16 All right, young man.
04:17 (gentle music)
04:19 Well, considering he was 350 grams when he started,
04:24 he's clearly making up for it now and putting on the weight.
04:27 He looks bigger.
04:28 Look how fluffy he looks as well.
04:31 He's starting to look like a proper bush baby.
04:33 He's lovely and fluffy.
04:34 He's clearly doing a little bit more self-care
04:37 and hopefully means that he's not having
04:38 any further diarrhea as well, which is fantastic.
04:41 But we'll get him out, we'll have a good look.
04:43 (baby squealing)
04:45 All right, all right.
04:48 I can't believe how different he looks.
04:50 Let's have a look at his tail then.
04:52 Look how fluffy this is.
04:54 Bush babies use their long tails
04:57 to help them jump between trees.
04:59 His condition is so different to how it was.
05:03 Really pleased with how he looks.
05:05 Zebedee has missed out on having a mother,
05:08 but vet nurse, Alza, has been a good substitute.
05:12 I know, I know, I know.
05:14 What would usually happen in the wild
05:16 is once he got to a certain age, a certain weight and size,
05:20 he would go off from mum and start living his life
05:23 on his own.
05:23 (Alza crying)
05:26 Come on, come on.
05:30 That's my hair.
05:31 Is he going for an explore?
05:42 Okay.
05:44 You're fine.
05:45 It's not that bad.
05:47 It's not that bad.
05:48 It's not, it's not.
05:49 The fact that he has had such a big weight gain
05:52 is really promising.
05:54 But the more that he puts on that weight,
05:56 the closer he'll get to being a full-size greater bush baby,
05:59 and the closer he'll get to going into the wild.
06:02 Hey, handsome boy.
06:12 Nighttime brings unexpected visitors to the center.
06:15 It's also the busiest time of day
06:23 for creatures like bush baby Zebedee,
06:26 who's graduated to an outdoor enclosure.
06:28 His big saucer eyes allow him to see in very low light.
06:33 Bush babies are nocturnal,
06:36 so they'll only be up and eating at nighttime.
06:38 So I'm gonna bring him his food for the evening now,
06:41 'cause he should be up and around
06:42 and learning to eat just when it's dark.
06:45 Bush babies only stay with their mothers for a few months.
06:50 So by now, Zebedee would be going it alone
06:52 if he was in the wild.
06:54 When Zebedee came into us,
06:55 he was only a couple of weeks old.
06:57 So he still needed milk every couple of hours from us.
07:00 And because of that,
07:01 he didn't mind being around humans that much.
07:03 And since he's moved out into this outdoor enclosure,
07:05 we've weaned him off the milk completely.
07:07 And he just eats solid once a day, once it's dark.
07:10 And because of that, he's doing really well.
07:12 This bundle of fluff is showing signs
07:16 of wanting to make his own way in the world.
07:19 He doesn't come out when we go in anymore.
07:21 He doesn't want anything to do with us.
07:23 And that's amazing.
07:24 It means he's one step closer to being released
07:26 because he's not humanized anymore.
07:28 (dramatic music)
07:34 (upbeat music)
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