Predator Pets (2018) Season 1 Episode 8
Getting a 500-pound lion to do what you want is no mean feat; getting that lion to do what you want repeatedly and on-cue requires a talent. In this week's episode we'll learn the tricks of the trade from respected animal trainer, Steve Martin. We'll also meet the Snake Man of La Perouse. His family have been treating visitors to the area to an amazing snake show for more than 100 years.
#documentary #animals
Getting a 500-pound lion to do what you want is no mean feat; getting that lion to do what you want repeatedly and on-cue requires a talent. In this week's episode we'll learn the tricks of the trade from respected animal trainer, Steve Martin. We'll also meet the Snake Man of La Perouse. His family have been treating visitors to the area to an amazing snake show for more than 100 years.
#documentary #animals
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00Humans have had a close relationship with animals for thousands of years.
00:26Scientists agree the domestic dog has been a trusted pet for around 15,000 years, and
00:31cats became part of the household from 10,000 years ago.
00:35And now it's estimated there are at least 600 million pet cats in the world.
00:41Exotic pets have also been kept for thousands of years.
00:46It's well documented that the Egyptians kept baboons as pets, and exotic animals kept in
00:51the home feature in many ancient texts.
00:55In modern times, the keeping of exotic pets has increased.
00:59A staggering statistic is that there are more tigers in the U.S. alone than there are in
01:04the wild.
01:09Animal owners truly believe they are playing a role in preserving the numbers of exotic
01:13animals.
01:14But on the other side of the debate, there are those who believe it is a cruel practice
01:19to keep any animals in captivity.
01:22This series explores the issues from both sides, from those who know the dangers, but
01:30see the benefits, to others who condemn the keeping of exotic pets.
01:35Their stories follow.
01:36You can go take him over to the log there, Chris.
01:51In the course of raising animals and having certain ones, sure, I've gotten bit before.
01:57You can't be in it 50 years and not have had an incident here or there for whatever reason
02:04it might have been at that time.
02:06And generally, it's been my own fault.
02:09Here.
02:10Come here.
02:11Easy.
02:12Ah, ah.
02:13Easy.
02:14See, that's him.
02:18He's actually very happy about that.
02:21He just wants to play in the worst way.
02:23Although this attack was unexpected, for Luke the lion, this was apparently playtime.
02:29See, like that, jumping on me, that was all, he's all happy, but you see how he was stalking
02:34in the bushes.
02:35He thought, oh, and it's a big game to him.
02:38Yeah, it's all him saying hi.
02:41He has his claws, but he didn't use them.
02:44I mean, because a lot of times, just in play, ah, ah, ah, ah, you see that, that's hot.
02:51You can't go under the trailer.
02:56Steve isn't too bothered by the game Luke is playing.
02:59He's worked with exotic animals for around 50 years, and he's seen this kind of behavior
03:04before.
03:05Lions are quite social animals, and within their pride, they are often affectionate with
03:10head rubbing, licking, and purring.
03:12However, no matter what your experience working with lions, these animals are quick, and they
03:18are predators with speed on their side.
03:21Very, very quick.
03:22Say, if you were clear at the other end of this pen, and he was here, you would never
03:28outrun him.
03:29He would catch you, for sure.
03:30I mean, they are extremely fast when they want to be.
03:34A lion can run up to 50 miles per hour, but only in short bursts, so they need to be close
03:39to their prey before they attack.
03:50But generally, lions are a sleepy bunch, and they like to lay around with their pride for
03:55around 18 hours a day.
03:57They look at us as the dominant member of whatever species, we're talking about lions,
04:02so it's lions.
04:03They want to do what they do to their fellow lions.
04:07We just don't like it when they bite and claw us, so we curtail that.
04:14Chris Edrington works alongside Steve Martin, training animals to work in film and television.
04:20This is a job that requires incredible skill, knowing what makes these beasts tick.
04:25He's like a teenage boy, they stretch the limit sometimes.
04:30It's the energy you see is a lot of that.
04:33By the time they're five or six, they're much more mellow.
04:36They might be more mellow as they get older, but getting up close to a lion isn't for the
04:41inexperienced.
04:42If you didn't know what you were doing, it could be very dangerous.
04:45I mean, because he's, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, you got to watch that.
04:49He'll jump up and grab it.
04:51Oh, he's watching the rabbit in the sky.
04:56Oh, no, he eventually will jump at it and go crunch, crunch.
05:02The boom is a great game for Luke.
05:05Luke is an experienced animal actor, so the boom is a familiar sight.
05:09But Steve knows he needs to keep the boom well away from Luke's reach.
05:14This is all part of professional animal training, and Steve Martin is one of the best trainers
05:19in the business.
05:20See, we teach him a mark.
05:21It gives him a place to go to, like if the director said, we need him to come out from
05:27behind the bush and come stop there and then run off.
05:30We teach him a mark so we can call him to an exact spot, and I tell him, all right,
05:35and then Chris would call him off.
05:36If you watch a lot of shows, you'd start picking up on that, that, oh, okay, I can get it now.
05:42Because you see him come up, skid to a stop at an exact spot, usually it's always a trained
05:46behavior to go to that.
05:50When it comes to training, it's all about repetition.
05:53If you want to train a lion to perform on cue, it needs to be second nature for them.
05:59As they get older and as they learn stuff, he wants to rub on me and say hi.
06:10As they get older and they learn stuff, they learn how to learn, and where that might have
06:15taken us 20 or 30 times of doing it before, he goes, oh, I got what you want now.
06:20You notice how he went out and got on it right away?
06:23After a while, you get on set and they go, oh, can you do this or that, and I say, well,
06:29he doesn't really know us.
06:30Give us a few minutes, and usually we can get him to do it.
06:35Lions have been used in the film industry for many years, from Leo, the MGM lion, and
06:39the black and white era, to a wide variety of blockbusters still being made today.
06:43The lion forgot his lions.
06:44Maybe he was tired of retakes, but he suddenly turned on Bickford and gave him a bad mauling.
06:50To Bickford, however, it was all in a day's work.
06:56Lions have long been associated as the fierce aggressor in popular culture, but there's
07:00also a softer, more endearing side, as well as being the star of slapstick comedy.
07:09In the business we're in, we don't say they're pets.
07:11They're working creatures, even though we have a very strong attachment with them and
07:16them with us.
07:18Usually we always try to get an animal and hand raise it, because it's not like getting
07:24an animal.
07:25Oh, this one's no good.
07:26We'll get rid of him.
07:27Get another one.
07:28Yeah, get rid of him.
07:29Usually when they come to us, they're here to stay.
07:31We do this as a business, and also I've been in it, I hate to even admit, since 1967.
07:40So I've been in it a lot of years.
07:42We like our animals.
07:43We spend a tremendous amount of time.
07:45These guys are here every day, seven days a week, and I have other trainers, too, that
07:49are very dedicated to all of them.
07:52So you build up really strong bonds and relationships with these guys, as you can see.
07:59Luke was donated to Steve as a baby from a park in South Carolina.
08:04So this young cub has grown up with Steve by his side.
08:08This relationship makes it hard to believe that in the wild, a lion can be so dangerous.
08:13Oh yeah, he'll be a real good animal.
08:17He's, you can see how excited he is all the time.
08:21As he gets older, hopefully the excitedness will settle down a little bit, because I've
08:27been gone for three weeks, so this is pretty normal for him to constantly want to greet
08:33you.
08:34Oh, I know, it's okay, just relax.
08:40The relationship between Steve and Luke, like all Steve's animals, is one of great respect.
08:47And for Steve, he prides himself on being able to create such a wonderful bond with
08:51his movie stars.
08:54I'm relaxed, but I'm also aware of what's going on.
08:57I mean, there's a lot of people that really think they know what they're doing, and don't.
09:02I mean, unfortunately, a lot of the private sector that do have animals, you know, they
09:09get these animals and they raise them as babies, and they're real rambunctious, and they think,
09:14because my little girl was around it when it was this size, that she can be around it,
09:18my daughter, my son, or whatever, when they're full size.
09:21It's a whole different mentality.
09:24Animals, like humans, grow through varying stages of maturity, playful when young, but
09:29when the predator instinct kicks in, these trainers need to be on their game.
09:35The cats are a bit more of a predator than a lot of animals.
09:40Bears, for instance, they're not necessarily a real predator like these guys are, and they're
09:45a little more intelligent in that direction, where these guys basically, they respond out
09:52of contact, and their main drive is being fed for what they're doing.
10:01You see what he's doing right now?
10:03He's going, he's begging.
10:05He says, Chris, Chris, give me a piece.
10:08That's it.
10:09Come here.
10:10Was it a good boy?
10:13No, quit.
10:19Juan Stewart is a vet with American Humane, and part of his role is to ensure the safety
10:25and well-being of all animal actors.
10:27I frequent sets and even the animal companies that provide these dangerous animals to the
10:33films.
10:34I've had experience and time around a lot of them.
10:36You can go back and forth, and you may have a moment where you're with someone who's very
10:41experienced, has the expertise, and you would say, I feel safe.
10:46I think the people around these animals are safe.
10:49And then you'll have a moment with someone else who doesn't have the experience or the
10:53wherewithal, and you know immediately that that animal poses a threat, potentially a
11:00lethal threat to that person and the people around them.
11:04For Steve and his team of professional animal trainers at Working Wildlife, every animal
11:09is special, whether it's a big cat, chimpanzee, or even a bear.
11:14This is one of the top go-to companies for animals in high-end TV commercials and blockbuster
11:19movies.
11:20For such a setup, being vetted is important for their reputation.
11:26The American Humane, we have them come up all the time.
11:29They brought somebody from Australia, from New Zealand, and around the world.
11:34And they want to see how you handle your animals, because they have humane departments throughout
11:38the world.
11:40And we call them and ask them to come, because there are certain groups out there, which
11:45I won't say their names, but are highly against what we do, because they think we starve and
11:52beat our animals and all that.
11:55I don't know how you could take an animal you abused on a set with, like, 200 people
12:00and not have it kill you.
12:02So it's all a positive reward system in all the training that we do.
12:09With so much experience, the Working Wildlife training is a slick operation.
12:13But for the animals, it's often about playtime and fun.
12:17They know there's a reward on offer if they hit their mark.
12:20These creatures leave it up to the trainers when it comes to the serious side of the business.
12:26When we're on set, we usually are pretty strict.
12:28Like, I always take three people.
12:30Those other two people, they're not just watching what I'm doing.
12:33They're watching what's going on.
12:36I'm watching exterior things.
12:39And sometimes I'll see somebody, like with these guys here.
12:42If you used to have somebody, one person, you have 50 people here, and one person out
12:46over there, like, peeking behind a tree or something, they pick up on that right now.
12:52And right away, you'll see them like this.
12:53Uh-oh.
12:54I said, who's...
12:55And you can see them out there.
12:56So we try to keep a handle on all exterior stuff that's going on when we're working.
13:02One of the stars in the animal lineup is a Kodiak bear named Tag.
13:07He's obedient, playful, and likes a crispy treat or two.
13:11But when you're working with bears, it's always best to be cautious.
13:18Bears can be very dangerous.
13:19I mean, under the wrong circumstances.
13:28Even though he's real nice, very...
13:32He's very good about things, very forgiving.
13:36No matter what, he's still a bear.
13:41And you always have to take that into respect.
13:43You do the wrong thing at the right time, and you could set him off for one reason or
13:48another.
13:49So we're very careful about what we do and how we do it, and we've actually had him in
13:52houses and various things, but we go and check everything out before we are ever gonna do
13:59a job in certain situations, and make sure it's safe for him and for the people.
14:05Tag is clearly one of Steve's most beloved bears, and he is so switched on that he's
14:10worked out, it's very much to his advantage to be well-behaved in order to get a few extra
14:15rewards.
14:16He's not real keen on chocolate, usually.
14:17Look at that.
14:18It's good he's got peanuts in him.
14:19I mean, sometimes I offer him, like, a chocolate bar, and he'll put his nose on it.
14:31Well, bears are very, very smart, and you can teach them a lot of things.
14:35One of my favorites is lions.
14:36I really like cats, but these guys are, they have a different intelligent level compared
14:43to a cat.
14:44A cat's more primitive, where these guys are, the primitiveness isn't as strong in them
14:50as it is in the cats, so they're a little smarter.
14:54I think they definitely think about, if they didn't like somebody, it's always back there
15:00in the back of their mind, you know, and if the opportunity arose, they could probably
15:05take advantage of it.
15:07But you have to be careful, because they do have their claws.
15:11You know, none of these animals, as you can see, will be clawed.
15:15Tag is so popular, he even travels overseas to take a starring role in the movies.
15:21He's very socialized with people.
15:22I mean, actually, with him, we can work in close proximity.
15:26Like, the thing we just did in South Africa was with Johnny Knox and him, and we taught
15:31him to drink beer.
15:32I mean, it wasn't beer.
15:34We put Dr. Pepper in a beer can, but the two of them are sitting down drinking together,
15:40and they high-five each other with their beer.
15:43We had two days prepped down there, and did all the sequences they wanted, so.
15:47He's a very adaptable bear, because he's had so much exposure that he's, when he goes to
15:53a new place, he knows it's a game.
15:56Come on.
15:57Here's your name.
15:58Here's your animal cracker.
15:59Come on.
16:00You're too lazy to get up and get it, though, huh?
16:08Bears have different appetites depending upon the time of year.
16:11In spring through to summer, they'll eat three to five-gallon buckets of food a day.
16:16But in the cooler months, it's about a half a bucket.
16:19Well, it's, yeah, their whole system slows down this time of year.
16:23You're lazy working right now, aren't you?
16:29It seems Steve has Tag well-trained.
16:32However, these animals all have predator instincts that should never be disregarded.
16:37But with safe practice in mind, the working relationship between animal and trainer can
16:42be full of rewards.
16:44You can see in this guy, he picks up on things real quick, so.
16:49You know, at first, when we start teaching them, like I said before, it's a slower process,
16:55but as they learn how to learn, they kind of, like these bears, they'll just kind of
17:00look at you like, oh, okay, and so you pick it up real fast.
17:04Shake it.
17:05Shake it.
17:06Shake it.
17:07Good.
17:08Good boy.
17:09Good boy.
17:10The animals are always the number one priority at Working Wildlife, and Steve has an incredible
17:15setup where the animals only spend a small amount of time in their enclosures.
17:20On a property this size, the animals get to roam in dedicated open spaces while they
17:26prepare for their next starring role.
17:37The fear of snakes is one of our most common phobias.
17:41But why do we have such an adverse reaction to snakes, even though most of us have never
17:48seen one in the wild?
17:54Snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and there are over 3,600 species
18:01slithering across them.
18:05Most are non-venomous, but the ones that are venomous can kill, which gives all snakes
18:11this bad reputation.
18:13However, John can, in his snake-loving family, find them irresistible.
18:20People are scared of snakes because of the unknown factor.
18:23And even when you fully explain it to them, there's no danger if you're careful.
18:28They've still got that phobia there, their concern.
18:32The main thing is you don't try to pick him up, you don't tread near him.
18:37A lot of deadly snakes, you can tread near them, they'll escape.
18:41A lot of them will put up and have a go at you.
18:43They're not aggressive, they're defensive, and their defense is being aggressive.
18:51Given the deadly reputation of venomous snakes, why is it that snakes are the most common
18:56exotic animals kept in captivity?
19:00John's unique family story goes some way to answering this.
19:08John Can has been living with snakes all his life.
19:13The Can family has worked with snakes for almost 100 years.
19:17And John's father, George, took over the snake show at La Perouse from 1920, which is still
19:23operating today at the same site in Sydney, Australia.
19:31The original show was promoted as the snake pit of death, guaranteed to draw a crowd.
19:39John and his brother, George Jr., have been extremely close to snakes their whole life.
19:45So much so that John is a leading expert and author on the subject of snakes and other
19:50exotics.
19:53Since his retirement from the snake shows in 2010, John has had more time to concentrate
19:59on writing books about these cold-blooded reptiles that have fascinated him since childhood.
20:07Dad started when he'd come back from the First World War, he was still in the army in February
20:1219.
20:13He'd come back from France, there was nobody doing the snake show, and he was a snake man
20:19by then.
20:20So he went and caught a few snakes and set up the pit at the La Perouse.
20:27Mum used to be the Cleopatra, she was the first snake show lady in Tasmania when she
20:32was 13.
20:34Mum worked on the same showground as Dad, and down the track they got married.
20:40Whenever Dad was bush, Mum used to do the show at La Perouse.
20:44Never with real bad snakes, I can assure you, she probably had pythons and a few black snakes.
20:52It's uncommon for exotic pet ownership to cross over many generations.
20:57But for John Canne, the handling of dangerous snakes is a family tradition.
21:04The collection of snakes includes some of Australia's deadliest species.
21:09We got most of our snakes from around here, but we used to travel the country a lot when
21:13we was getting snakes for milking, we used to go to different lake countries in New South
21:18Wales, down into Victoria, but generally speaking, we used to get local snakes.
21:26When they weren't using local snakes in the show, John and his dad regularly travelled
21:31into the countryside looking for new exhibits to include.
21:34When I was a kid, I was in a swamp in Narra one time, I was probably about, I don't know,
21:41eight, nine year old, and Dad used to always hunt with his trowels that would roll up around
21:46his legs, and he was in the water where this big black snake was, he was over two metres
21:52thicker than your arms, and Dad was battling to get that snake in the bag, and he said
21:56pull my trowels down, and before he knew it, I had to buckle his belt and pull his trowels
22:02down.
22:03His trowels were floating in the bloody water, and he didn't see the funny side of it.
22:09Later on, he always said roll me trowels down.
22:16The diamond python has a stunning skin colouration, which makes it an attractive option as a pet.
22:28They can often be found in the roof spaces of houses, an unwelcome surprise for unsuspecting
22:35homeowners.
22:38The keeping of dangerous snakes is a risk, and yet their popularity as pets has grown
22:43worldwide.
22:46In the wild, snakes avoid humans, whereas in captivity, they spend a lot of time being
22:51handled.
22:54But are all snakes the same?
22:56Is it possible to completely tame a snake?
23:00They all have their own temperament, whatever mood they're in, but some of our deadliest
23:10snakes do quieten down in captivity after a time, and people, in my opinion, carelessly
23:17put the venomous snakes around their neck, as I photographed in one of my books, a friend
23:22of mine kissing a tiger snake, and that's the snake that killed him.
23:30You can never be certain they're not going to bite even when they're quiet.
23:34I've had friends of mine in comas for weeks and weeks after spitting by a snake they reckon
23:40would never ever bite them.
23:51Rob, who is one of the current snake handlers at La Perouse, also works as a professional
23:57snake catcher and knows what's required to safely manage these reptiles.
24:03The experience of being bitten by a snake can sometimes be a good lesson.
24:08It's best avoided, but I have been bitten by venomous snakes.
24:12Out of thousands of snake species that are many of them harmless, I could have been bitten
24:16by many harmless species, but I think what people are trying to ask is, have you been
24:19bitten by venomous snakes?
24:21And the answer is yes, it'd be sort of weird if you hadn't in a way, to be so involved
24:29with snakes and never actually experience that part of, and I don't recommend it in
24:34any way, don't go and get yourself bitten by a snake.
24:39Our only highly venomous ambush predator is this historical snake.
24:52It's got the worst name of any snake in history.
24:56This snake is called the Death Adder.
25:04One of the fastest striking snakes in the world, and they are quite venomous if you
25:09measure the toxicity of their venom, and the best way I can describe how venomous a Death
25:15Adder is, is by how many people used to die from its bite.
25:22The death rate from Death Adder bite before the invention of anti-venom was apparently
25:2650% fatality rate before the invention of anti-venom.
25:44Even when you're an expert with snakes, it must be remembered you could be dealing with
25:49a venomous snake that won't hesitate to bite if they feel threatened.
25:54Ben's dad survived the ordeal of being bitten by a tiger snake.
25:58He had a very bad bite from a big tiger snake on the ankle there, and the snake really hung
26:06on and gave him a lot of venom, and all he did was say to his friend who was with him
26:11at the time, don't tell the missus about it, you know, that she knew, she could see the
26:17look on his face that he was bitten.
26:20That bite would have killed a normal person, I would say, could have been within 10 minutes,
26:26it could be an hour or two, but it was a bad bite from a big cranky snake.
26:32Tiger snakes, one of the world's deadliest snakes, are highly venomous and found in subtropical
26:38and temperate regions of Australia.
26:48Tiger snakes are dangerous, but people do keep them as pets.
26:52They appear intimidating and fearsome, but it is mostly a bluff.
26:58Experts will say that you do need a high level of experience in snake handling before you
27:03even think about keeping a venomous species.
27:11Is a snake recommended as an ideal pet?
27:15As with most exotic animals, it requires a special kind of person that's prepared to
27:20provide the right environment for them to live in.
27:24But unlike a domestic cat or dog, a snake will never come looking for any affection
27:29from its human.
27:31If you like snakes, that's the only way you can call them a pet, because they'll never
27:35get to know you.
27:37A lot of people get the impression that snakes do know you, or they don't believe it.
27:42They'll come to you when you open their cage or their door or whatever.
27:46They think you're going to supply them with food.
27:49Some snakes will bite you when they're really hungry by mistake, but soon let you go.
27:55We're talking about non-venomous snakes.
27:57But generally speaking, they make a good pet, you know, as long as you can look after them
28:03properly and you've got the right facilities to do so.
28:06Yeah, I would definitely say snakes make good pets.
28:11Depends on who you are, but they're more catered to somebody who has an interest in
28:15natural history.
28:16See, a dog or a cat is for people who just need something, and it has to do something
28:23for them.
28:24With a reptile, especially a snake, it's more of an interesting creature from a scientific
28:30point of view.
28:31They're interesting in their reproductive biology, in their behaviour, they're low maintenance.
28:40So they actually make quite good pets.
28:46John Cant is a responsible owner with an enormous amount of experience.
28:51He has always been around snakes and other exotics, and in some way, this has definitely
28:57enhanced his lifestyle.
29:00Snakes evoke fear, but for John, they are a constant joy and a pet that in most cases
29:06are easily handled.
29:09Knowing how to handle a snake properly is important.
29:13Allowing them to move freely is recommended, as it will soon let you know if it isn't comfortable.
29:19You never restrict their movement.
29:23If I stopped him from moving, he would get cranky about it, maybe not bite me.
29:29If I held it long enough, he probably might.
29:31I don't know, I'm not going to try it out.
29:34Irrespective of that, you never restrict a snake from moving, unless it's a venomous
29:38snake and you got him by the tail, and you're trying to keep his head away from you, you
29:43hold him by the body.
29:44But as a so-called pet for that python, you don't restrict their movements.
29:53John's diamond python is from the python family, which are non-venomous and known as constrictors.
30:01Tightening slowly around their victim, constrictors coil their body around the prey until they
30:07are suffocated and ready to consume.
30:23Pythons can swallow prey bigger than the diameter of their own heads, which broadens the possibilities
30:29of a hearty meal.
30:36The snake pit at La Perouse provides the opportunity for the public to get up close
30:40and personal with some of Australia's deadliest snakes in a controlled environment.
30:47Rob recalls the impact his snakes have on the public that come to see the shows.
30:53People react here to snakes a lot better than they do when it's in their house.
30:58A snake in a snake show is always, people react to it much better because it's in a
31:04controlled situation and there's a snake handler there.
31:09If you bring the snake over to the wall to show them, they step backwards at the same
31:13rate and some people even scream when the snake heads in their direction.
31:20So the people are as highly variable as the snakes are.
31:29Well they're all very curious, I often used to get the impression at times that people
31:35are a bit disappointed you never got bitten.
31:38This probably could have been true, I'd like to think I was wrong, but they're interested
31:44in the educational aspect of it.
31:47The shows at La Perouse have been entertaining people for generations.
31:53These days the shows educate people about some of Australia's deadliest snakes that
31:58are kept safely tucked away in bags at the snake pit, waiting for their turn to draw
32:03gas from the spectators.
32:10As each snake is displayed, Rob explains the characteristics of the species and exposes
32:15some common misconceptions about snakes.
32:21Safety is always top of mind when working with these reptiles, and even though he knows
32:25their behaviors well, there is always the slim chance he could get bitten.
32:31They have to be respected at all times.
32:38But as far as John is concerned, a lifetime's fascination with snakes proves that even this
32:43misunderstood and often feared predator can become a unique part of the family.
32:49Don't expect them to fetch a ball.
33:04Australia's largest island, Tasmania, is home to some of the world's strangest animals.
33:11And sadly, it's best known for the demise of the most well-known marsupial, the Tasmanian
33:18tiger.
33:21Extinct since the 1930s, it may come as a surprise that they were once kept as pets,
33:28but even this could not guarantee the species' survival.
33:34The debate around exotic animals as pets is now centered on the other recognizable Tasmanian
33:40animal, the Tassie devil.
34:01The keeping of native animals in Australia is a hot topic, but maybe the best opinion
34:06on this comes from someone who works with the devils every day.
34:11Alicia looks after a colony of devils, and one in particular is young Hurricane.
34:17This here is baby Hurricane.
34:24He is a Tasmanian devil.
34:25He's approximately five months old, we believe.
34:29So he is being hand raised by me at the moment.
34:32So he comes to work with me every single day, and then when I go home at night, he comes
34:36with me as well.
34:37He's being bottle fed around five to six times a day, every four to five hours.
34:42So he needs constant care, constant warmth.
34:45He's got a little hutch that he lives in when he's at home with me, which has a heat pad
34:48and lots of blankets and soft toys and things in there for him as well.
34:54Hurricane is cute, but Alicia does know that his bite is as bad as his squeal.
35:00Tasmanian devils actually have the strongest jaw of any animal relative to their size.
35:16The second strongest jaw belongs to the tiger.
35:19Therefore, pound for pound, Tassie devils can actually bite you harder than a tiger.
35:25An average adult male weighs in at around 18 pounds.
35:30Its muscular build and strong jaws mean it can tear into wombats weighing up to 65 pounds.
35:37You pop him down on the ground, and it's natural instinct for him to want to chase you.
35:41So what he'll do is he'll chase me for as long as he needs in order to find my leg and
35:46climb back up my body.
35:47So he comes home with me and terrorises my living room.
35:56He likes to intimidate you.
35:58So that's Tasmanian devil's game, basically.
36:00They like to open their mouth wide and show you their big teeth.
36:03They like to make really terrifying noises in front of your face.
36:12He likes to approach and likes to try to scare you out of his territory if he doesn't want
36:15you to be in there.
36:16If he does bite you, it's going to hurt.
36:17It's probably going to scar as well, so you need to watch those signs really carefully
36:21and make sure that you are safe while you're in there.
36:26Devils could be good pets.
36:28Their size, the sleeping habits and what they eat is similar to that of a pet dog.
36:36But unlike dogs, when Hurricane reaches sexual maturity, a different approach is needed.
36:42He's going to be fine for at least two years until sexual maturity kicks in.
36:46And then he's not going to be aggressive.
36:48He's just not going to be friendly anymore.
36:49So I would not be able to hold him up like a baby with his face next to mine and feel
36:53confident that there isn't a chance that he would bite me.
36:57Once sexual maturity kicks in, he turns back into a wild sort of devil and his sexual instincts
37:02kick in and that becomes his main priority.
37:04If I enter an enclosure where a female is or where he can smell a female, then I then
37:09become a threat to his chances to having that female and he does become a little bit more
37:13aggressive and will want to remove you from his enclosure.
37:18I actually hand raised Hurricane's mum and dad, so I was comfortable with them for a
37:22long time.
37:24His dad was very comfortable with me until sexual maturity hit at around two and a half
37:28years old.
37:29I could still pick him up.
37:30He'd climb up my leg and be happy to have a cuddle, just like your friendly dogs and
37:33cats at home, until about two, two and a half years old.
37:36And then once he started to feel like a big boy, it became very unsafe to go in with him
37:41So that's his natural instinct.
37:48He wants to grab on.
37:49I have a little bit of arm in there, so it's pretty painful.
37:53It's like a vice-like grip at the moment.
37:55He doesn't want mum to leave him behind in the wild, so he needs to latch on with all
37:59his might.
38:00Obviously, if another animal wants to come by and eat him, they're going to want to pull
38:04as hard as they can to get him off mum's back, so once he latches onto something, there's
38:08a vice-like grip there.
38:10So if he gets my finger or if he gets my arm, I've just got to leave it there until he's
38:13done, basically.
38:20There's little doubt that a tight grip could cause serious injury.
38:26Devil's bite force is an obvious deterrent to human contact.
38:30It's less damaging, but when they're adults, you definitely don't want them to bite you,
38:34so you're always watching their behaviour to make sure that they're not showing any
38:37aggressive signs like that.
38:38Sometimes adults, if they were to bite you, it's usually just a warning bite.
38:42They'll bite you in an attempt to scare you, and then they're going to let go straight
38:45away, so they're not going to hold on, which is wonderful, because otherwise you could
38:48end up with some broken bones depending on where they were biting you if they really
38:52wanted to.
38:54Welding gloves is one good thing that you should always be wearing if you are going
38:57to have to handle the devil.
38:58It's not going to help you too much, but it's going to help a little bit.
39:05Having them at the base of their tail is the safest place, if you can get to it.
39:23Although it's illegal to own any endangered native Australian animals, it's more the Tasmanian
39:29devil's temperament that protects it from private animal ownership.
39:35Usually people do try to push the boundaries with things like that.
39:38Probably people are a little bit too scared with Tasmanian devils.
39:41Tasmanian devils tend to have a really bad name.
39:43They'll stand in front of you, they'll open their mouth really wide, and they want to
39:47try to intimidate you.
39:55People will tend to see that sort of behaviour and tend to think, I don't want to go anywhere
39:58near that Tassie devil, so I don't think anyone really even wants to have them as pets,
40:02which is good.
40:03Sure, yeah, so Tasmanian devils, of course, you cannot have them as a pet.
40:09You can't have any native wildlife as a pet.
40:11The Australian government just does not allow you to do that.
40:14It encourages then people to illegally take those animals out of the wild, which you want
40:18to decourage, of course.
40:19So Tasmanian devils, especially, you cannot have.
40:22They're an endangered species.
40:24They're quite a tricky species to look after, and they're dangerous as well.
40:27So if you don't know what you're doing, if you don't know those warning signs as they
40:30get older, a lot of damage can be done to yourself, younger children, other animals
40:34and things like that as well.
40:38Some believe that devils could be taught not to be so aggressive and be as calm and domesticated
40:43as a family pet.
40:47Twinkle was one such pet.
40:49She lived with her owner, Mike Jago, for many years.
40:53Her behavior was perfect, up until just after her first birthday.
40:59Mike came home one day to find Twinkle had destroyed his leather lounge.
41:16When the thylacine died out, the Tasmanian devil took over the title of the largest known
41:22carnivorous marsupial.
41:25But where the thylacine's relatively docile nature made it suitable as a domestic pet,
41:30even hand-reared devils are far from safe to be around.
41:36Some experts say that had devils been domesticated for generations, they may have become more
41:42predictable and better behaved.
41:45Domestication may also help in saving the species.
41:48It is estimated that 90% of all devils in the wild are affected by an aggressive cancer
41:55which is threatening their existence.
42:00Many believe we are witnessing the demise of a species and that captive animals may
42:04be the only way forward.
42:08Private ownership may still be a possible solution to the conservation of other species,
42:14but the issue remains contentious.
42:17Is domestication really a viable solution?
42:20In some states here in America, it is outright legal to own just about anything, but that
42:25doesn't make it okay and it doesn't make it beneficial to the animal.
42:28Just because it's legal doesn't make it right, and we know that.
42:33Animal ownership certainly underscores that and it's an evolution.
42:39The understanding of the care, the welfare that goes into a lot of these animals, it's
42:44an evolution.
42:45It takes time.
42:46Tigers and lions, for example, have been successfully bred in captivity, but none have ever been
42:53reintroduced to the wild.
42:56To save cats, you've got to have that entire ecosystem intact.
43:00Any part of that food chain is out and the cats are going to die, so keeping animals
43:06in their own habitat is by far the best way.
43:10Alicia and Hurricane have formed a bond that may just be a positive sign for this much
43:16maligned species.
43:18I'm mum to him now, yep.
43:20So he knows my scent, he's pretty happy to be hand-raised by me if somebody else has
43:26to give him a bottle for any reason, just for one of those times.
43:29He tends to be a little bit more frustrating because it's a different smell to him, obviously
43:34everyone has a little bit of a different technique as well, so he prefers consistency.
43:39He likes to be hand-raised by only one person.
43:41It does work best for him in order for him to grow and develop as he's supposed to.
43:47I feel like I'm really, really lucky.
43:49Tasmanian devils are obviously an endangered species, so being able to work so closely
43:53with a species that's so special and so unique is really awesome.
43:57And also working with them, you know you're actually doing something to help them in the
44:00wild as well, so I also help run the Devils in Danger Foundation, so Hurricane will be
44:05an ambassador species for that foundation, encourage people to fall in love with him
44:10and Tasmanian devils in general, which is going to of course encourage people to want
44:14to donate and to want to help save them in the wild.
44:17It's really, really important to let people see them and gain such an appreciation for
44:21a really special species that people tend to overlook a lot of the time.