ITV - London Zoo An Extraordinary Year (2021)

In March 2020, ZSL London Zoo and its sister zoo Whipsnade fell silent as potential visitors stayed away. This documentary reveals how a dedicated skeleton staff continued to care for the 20,000 animals in Regent's Park and the Dunstable Downs in Bedfordshire.

Chapter 1

Gemma and Meg must find a way to ensure that the pregnancy care for an endangered okapi isn't thrown off track by the lack of staff. Jamie continues the arachnid breeding programme, introducing a couple of huntsman spiders to each other - but it's a fraught business that could end in love-making or cannibalism. Chapter 2

Jimmy the northern white-cheeked gibbon is missing the visitors and wondering when they will be back to see him again, while keepers Mick and Joe use the quiet time to build the confidence of rare Bactrian camel Genghis, helping him to venture outside of his paddock. The elephant keepers at Whipsnade are desperate for the Asian elephants to mate, although it seems there are no such problems with the small-clawed otters when keeper Laura notices they have had their first babies.

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