Original subtitles

The great British seaside - millions flock to the coast

for sun, sea and sand.

But that's not why I'm here.

I'm here for the elephants,

because a herd of Asian elephants is being re-homed here in Blackpool.

And these are the girls who are off to start a new family

and help protect this endangered species.

It's an ambitious plan.

We've never had a breeding herd before.

We've never had a male before.

But how do you move four of the world's largest animals

from their Midlands home, up one of our busiest motorways?

We can do all what we can do with them but, at the end of the day,

if the elephants don't want to go in there,

they don't want to go in there.

Good girl, Minbu!

It's all going to happen at the elephants' pace.

How do you move an Asian elephant?

BOTH: Slowly!

And it's vital to get this move right,

as elephants have been known to die in transit.

It's the biggest challenge

this dedicated group of zookeepers has ever faced,

and we'll be there every step of the way,

with the Elephants On The Move.

Twycross Zoo in the heart of the Midlands,

home to the herd heading to the seaside.

For over 50 years, animals from all over the world

have been on show to the public here in Leicestershire...

..and one of the biggest attractions is Elephant Creek,

where Minbu, Tara, Noorjahan and Esha live.

Baby of the bunch is little Esha.

Born and brought up here, she's just four years old.

Esha is just your typical toddler.

She's literally running around, she's causing havoc,

she gets under Minbu's toes and Minbu doesn't like that.

Her mum is Noorjahan. She's the quiet one.

She kind of keeps her distance from most of the other elephants as well.

That's kind of just Noorjahan's personality.

Boss lady of this herd is Minbu.

So, Minbu's our matriarch. She's 33 years old.

Her personality, I always say,

definitely the most stubborn elephant you would ever meet.

HE LAUGHS

And finally, meet Tara.

This teenager's lived at Twycross all her life.

Tara, to me, I always see Tara as a cartoon elephant.

Do you know what I mean?

She's rounded and she just looks like a cartoon.

She's just fun to be with. She's always the one that breaks stuff.

You come in in the morning, you find something broken,

you're always like, "That's definitely Tara!"

And we go back on the cameras and, "Yeah, we're right, it's Tara!"

Elephants are very bright. Keeping them amused is quite a challenge.

Yeah, yeah, really intelligent.

Sometimes more than the keepers! HE LAUGHS

It's January, and leftover Christmas trees are coming in handy

as elephant entertainment.

So, yeah, you prepare something, you do something,

and then they destroy it in seconds.

These girls have probably spent their last Christmas

in Elephant Creek.

They'll soon be off to the seaside, where this all-female herd

will get the chance for a bit of romance

as part of a European breeding programme.

But how do you move a herd of elephants 140 miles

to the north-west of England?

Well, for starters, you need some huge containers.

So, this is one of the crates in which just one of the elephants

will be transported all the way to Blackpool.

They've been specifically designed for the purpose.

And they're over three metres tall, two metres in width,

7.5 metres in length.

And with an elephant in, it will weigh over 13 metric tonnes.

But persuading an elephant to get into a big metal box isn't easy.

Good girl.

Steady. OK.

They've been training the girls for nine months.

It's taken a lot of coaxing, and a lot of fruit.

Oh, and Albert, an elephant-moving specialist flown in from Barcelona.

I've been involved in a couple of elephant moves before.

But obviously not

as big as moving four elephants at the same time.

But, yeah, all of this past experience is helping

in this next move.

Moving elephants has its dangers.

Sadly, one died in transit from a UK safari park only last year.

In extreme cases, stress can be a killer

with these huge but sensitive creatures.

So Twycross are working at the elephants' pace.

The animals have to be ready to leave.

Forcing them into the crates just isn't going to happen.

Why would you not sedate or anaesthetise the elephants

and move them that way? Because it's a lot of risks.

There's a lot of things you can't control.

And with the training and doing everything volunteer,

it's less stressful, it's better for the animals.

So you have more control over what's going on,

and they know what's going on.

So getting into the crate

has become part of the elephants' daily routine.

But one thing they can't practise is hoisting them

onto the back of a lorry and driving up the motorway.

No-one can predict how they might react

so a team of vets will be with them all the way.

The elephant could become stressed during the transportation,

we might need to think about sedating them.

Hopefully not - that's like our worst-case scenario.

They're going to be having lots of food and water on the truck,

to basically keep them entertained,

just like you would children in a car on a long journey.

With just a week to go, they're as ready as they'll ever be.

But it's bittersweet.

Keepers build really strong bonds with their animals,

and Chris has been with these girls for six years.

How are you going to feel, saying goodbye to the elephants?

Very, very sad. Why?

Oh, don't!

Come on, tell me why.

The whole team will be sad.

Very sad.

But they're only down the road.

But we're not working with them.

They're going to a good place, though. They are.

They're going to a very good place.

But, yeah, we will miss working with them. For sure.

I can see it's a big, emotional decision, letting the girls go.

And they will be missed here.

So why are they allowing them to leave?

Well, it's all about letting the elephants live out

the rest of their days in the most natural way possible,

even though they are still in captivity.

There used to be elephants right across Asia.

But over the last 100 years, as their habitat has disappeared,

their numbers have halved.

They're now more endangered than their African cousins.

In the wild, Asian elephants live in large family herds.

Traditionally, zoos have kept their elephants in small female groups,

like at Twycross.

But modern zoos want to make life in captivity

as close to the wild as possible

and that means bigger herds, with a male bull elephant to breed with.

Which is why Twycross has decided it's time to let the girls go.

So, Sharon, end of an era. Mm-hm. Elephants leaving Twycross.

Yeah. A big decision for you, hey?

Well, end of an era and start of a new one, I think,

is how we're looking at it. Yeah.

It's a big decision for us to make but it's the right one.

They need to be with a bull and be bred more naturally

and kept in a more natural herd situation.

And we don't have the resources to do that right now.

And we could hang onto them but I don't think that's right.

Bulls are much bigger and stronger than females.

The enclosure here can't contain a bull

so they're going to a place that can.

But they have to stay together.

We've got a family group here

so it is a stipulation of ours that they move together.

And they're bonded, and they're very intelligent,

long-lived social animals, so it was an absolute prerequisite for us

that wherever they went to, they stay together.

There aren't many places that can take in four elephants

and Twycross are picky about where the girls are going.

And they're coming here, to the seaside.

Lots of things spring to mind when you think of Blackpool,

but probably not elephants.

Blackpool Zoo wants to change that

and the Twycross girls can help.

The zoo wants to start breeding Asian elephants.

They've built a huge, state-of-the-art elephant habitat,

and now need a group of girls and a bull to join their only resident.

This beautiful old girl is Kate.

She's already making herself at home in this L5 million facility.

I know it's stating the obvious, but that is one enormous animal.

Hello, Kate! Hello!

Kate's lived at the zoo for most of her 49 years,

and is looked after by keeper Adam.

She means the world to me. She's absolutely incredible animal.

She was of the first elephants that I ever worked with.

She basically taught me my trade,

if that makes sense.

So, in that respect, she's probably a teacher as well.

Kate's pretty pampered.

But back in the 1970s,

life for captive elephants was very different.

I have much pleasure in declaring this zoo open. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE

Television presenter Johnny Morris actually rode a circus elephant

to the opening of the zoo in 1972.

But that was almost 50 years ago

and so much has changed since then.

And with elephant care, Blackpool Zoo is leading the way.

In her twilight years, Kate's enjoying her new luxury pad.

You know, she's 49 years old,

so she's quite in her sort of geriatric years, if you will.

When you're younger, you'll go to the park and play around.

And if you go when you're older,

you'd rather sit on the bench with a coffee and a paper.

I think she's kind of at the coffee and paper stage.

I can relate to that!

Kate's lived alone now for two years since her companions died,

and doesn't know she's getting some new housemates.

Her new home was built to house a herd.

That is a massive door!

It certainly is. That's what it needs for animals of three, four,

upwards of four tonnes.

This is enormous, Adam. It's the size of a football pitch almost.

Yeah, that's it. I mean, it needs to be, you know?

We've got animals that live in herds,

and that's the way we want to keep them, that's more natural for them.

Erm, so they need the space.

And there's plenty for them to do, so they've got lots of choices

to exercise their muscles and their minds.

So, Adam, I'm your assistant today.

What kind of jobs can we do to make Kate's day more exciting?

First things first, we're going to clear out all the muck,

and we're going to replenish all her feed stocks,

her options to feed.

We've got some bamboo to stick around, so we can encourage her

to move around the facility and move around the exhibit.

And then we're going to change

the actual landscape of the habitat itself, as well.

Picking up poo, moving logs, building sand castles -

it sounds like the perfect job!

Well, you are in Blackpool! HE LAUGHS

The elephants won't be walking on the beach,

but they will have this floor of deep, soft sand

to protect their feet.

And keeping it clean is quite a job.

Dung coming through!

They produce a lot of dung!

And dung is helping Kate and her new housemates get to know each other.

Swapping poo between the two zoos means the girls

can get used to each other's scents before they meet.

She'll know that it's not hers. Yes.

So she can start getting used to something else being here,

and actually another elephant. Not in a physical presence,

but in a sort of chemical presence, if you will. Fantastic.

That's the poo done. Next? Almost. Almost?

My next job is sorting out the food.

And in the wild, she'd have to forage

so we're going to make Kate work for it,

putting that all-important trunk to good use.

It's their world, really. It's what they smell with, it's their hands,

it's their nose, it's what they drink with,

it's what they communicate with a lot of the time as well.

Kate will be investigating this

in about five minutes, hopefully. She will, yeah.

OK, Adam, hoist away!

Changing the landscape every day

makes life more interesting for Kate.

Last finishing touches.

By the looks of it, Kate is itching to get in.

So, it's time for us to get out.

In she comes!

Look at this! HE LAUGHS

She's just moved the trunk to the perfect position...

Sorry to interrupt! That's all right. ..to reach the browse.

Look at that mouth! She's using the log

to give her the position to get higher as well.

The funny thing is, when you put their browse bag there in position,

I thought, "You've put that too high." Yeah.

But it is designed to test her and get her using her grey matter.

Absolutely. And that log wasn't put there, we didn't put it there.

She's moved it over there to be able to gain that extra height.

Obviously, within a captive environment,

we can't put the wild in there every day,

but we can change the habitat so it's different for them every day.

The way elephants are treated has completely changed.

Just look at these being moved in the 1940s.

They're clearly terrified and very distressed.

And just a few months ago,

five circus elephants were involved in this accident.

Sadly, one died.

Four were left battered and bruised at the side of a Spanish motorway.

It's a horrible reminder of what can go wrong.

It's move day at Twycross Zoo.

All those long months of planning

come down to what happens in the next few hours.

It's a cold January morning.

Matriarch Minbu and teenager Tara are due to leave today.

But there seems to be a problem.

Tara's going to be the first and the only, because Minbu's not ready.

Minbu, the most nervous of the girls,

has been spooked by the whole affair,

and has decided today's not her day.

So Tara's going to have to go to Blackpool on her own.

And she's going to be missed.

She's a Twycross girl, born and bred.

This is the first time she's left the place.

So, there won't be many dry eyes later on, I think.

But for now, it's all about getting Tara on her way.

They want to make sure at least one elephant does move today.

These bracelets will help to keep her on her feet in the crate.

Good girl, Tara. You're putting them on your foot.

Once she's out in the yard, all the keepers can do is watch on

to see if all those months of training pay off.

And they do.

Practice really does make perfect.

It's all going to plan.

But when the bars go in, it seems to spook her.

She drops to her knees.

If she stays like this, she won't be able to travel.

But, with encouragement from her trusted keeper, Lisa...

Good girl, Tara. She's getting up.

..she's soon back on her feet.

Really good, really good.

She did what we expected her to do.

So, she's calm, she's relaxed.

We have an elephant to go, to Blackpool?

Yes. Well done. Thank you. OK.

So, now she's in, it's time to get her hoisted onto the truck.

That's 13 tonnes of elephant and crate

so it needs moving very gently.

OK, Tars?

Hot air will be piped in to keep Tara warm all the way

on her three-hour journey up the motorway.

And she'll need to drink plenty of water and eat plenty of fruit

to make sure she stays hydrated.

Is she hungry? Is she eating the carrots, no? Good.

Yeah, try and get as much of that fluid into her as possible.

Alan Roocroft is an old hand at this.

He's moved elephants all over the world.

He's seen and done it all before.

And that extra pair of eyes is exactly what they need

to make sure Tara's move goes smoothly.

Basically, what we're doing with her is just allowing her

to take all the information she needs to settle down, to understand.

She's the best elephant to go first, really, then?

Probably. Yeah, we'll see.

I mean, she might not be. We'll see. We're not there yet.

With elephants, you never know. So they'll check on her all the way.

This is where Albert will be sitting for the duration

of the journey to Blackpool.

And the great thing is he'll be able to monitor Tara's progress

the whole way by CCTV.

And you can see here, Tara's derriere!

It looks like she's doing fine.

I'm pretty sure no-one driving past this lorry on the motorway

has any idea that they're overtaking an elephant today.

Tara's got to travel 140 miles

across some of the country's busiest motorway networks.

Luckily, today, the roads are clear.

No-one wants to be stuck in a traffic jam

with an elephant in the back.

Three hours later and the famous Blackpool Tower is in sight.

Welcome to the seaside!

Adam, there's an elephant in there, and it's in Blackpool Zoo.

I know. How are you feeling?

It's a mixture of emotions, cos she's still on there yet.

Let's, you know, we want to get her in and get the doors shut,

and we'll be happy then.

It's not until you watch

that you realise what a massive operation it is,

moving an Asian elephant from one zoo to another.

Astonishing, isn't it? Yeah. Many, many people involved.

And all that effort is worth it

when Tara takes a first few tentative steps into her new home.

Well, what a brilliant end to a long and tiring day.

Tara has arrived in Blackpool.

And the great thing is, she's settling in really well.

Seeing Tara arrive safely is a huge relief for everyone.

But someone else wants to know what all the fuss is about,

and who's moving in next door.

It's not just a monumental day for Tara.

It is for Kate, too. She has spent so long on her own.

I would love to know what she's thinking,

because she can smell and hear Tara just a few metres away.

Adam, Blackpool has just doubled the number of its elephants.

How do you feel? Tired, exhausted, relieved, happy.

It's a mixture of emotions, it really is.

I mean, it's been a long day.

It's Tara's first night in Blackpool.

After such an eventful day, how is she getting on?

The zoo's CCTV shows she's doing just fine.

The next morning, she's telling anyone who'll listen she's arrived.

TARA ROARS Oh! What does that mean?

That's Tara. That's Tara. She's, eh...

She's either attention seeking there or, eh,

there's an element as well that she will do that,

and naturally the rest of the herd would come.

But of course they're not here at the minute.

But someone is. It's time for Kate to meet Tara.

These are big animals with big personalities.

They need to work out who's boss.

And with animals this size,

it needs to be carefully managed through bars to start with.

Because at some point they will have potentially an altercation

to sort out pecking order. Yeah.

And that's fine, because that's part and parcel of elephant life

and that hierarchy and that matriarchal society.

What we don't want is any aggression that is too much, too hard.

They live in a big, physical world,

but we don't want to end up treating any injuries unnecessarily.

There's no trumpeting or untoward noises between the pair.

All very calm, very relaxed. It's really good.

We couldn't really have hoped for a better first meeting.

Hopefully it's the start of a beautiful relationship?

Yeah, absolutely. That's what we hope. Friendship. Yeah, yeah.

They're only baby steps, but all in the right direction.

Elephants live a long time,

so a breeding herd is a massive commitment for Blackpool Zoo.

Just feeding an elephant for a month costs L1,500.

Yeah, the cost of the zoo is, you know, is vast.

But, to actually maintain these animals in the right way,

in the way that they deserve to be looked after,

is a commitment that all good zoos should be making.

Modern zoos play an important role in conservation.

These elephants are part of a European breeding programme.

Yeah, well, I think with all species in zoos,

what we're trying to do is to keep a captive population

where the genetics are viable

erm, so that we can maintain these animals for the long-term.

If there is ever an opportunity to put them back in the wild,

we need to be able to make sure that we've got genetically viable animals

that can go back and assist a population.

But to breed, they'll need more elephants.

So, what's happening back at Twycross?

It's five weeks since teenager Tara left.

Matriarch Minbu didn't move as planned

but training has been going well

and the zoo thinks she's ready to try again.

Will she make the move today?

If she decides she's not up for it, we'll have to abandon everything.

She's been really good the last couple of days.

But, yeah, Minbu is, for us, the one that's most unpredictable.

We've just got to wait and see what mood she's in this morning, really.

We are trying to do it for her best interests.

She probably doesn't understand that right at the minute.

But when she gets to Blackpool tonight, she's going to meet Tara,

and she'll go, "Ah - I get it."

Good girl, Min.

But maybe she does get it,

as she surprises everyone when she gets in with no fuss.

Steady. It's a big relief for all.

Yeah, because, with Minbu you never know.

She has good days, she has bad days, and you don't know what to expect.

So she had a good day this morning.

As Minbu's such a nervous animal,

the vets are worried she may get stressed and collapse in the crate.

But again, Minbu surprises everyone,

and, after getting her balance, takes it all in her stride.

In Blackpool, Minbu's eager to explore her new surroundings

and it's a major milestone for everyone.

Half the herd are here.

Getting the girls here was just the start.

The new housemates had to settle on a pecking order.

They've been a big hit with the visitors to the zoo.

One, two, three! Wow!

But what about with the original Blackpool resident, Kate?

It took a few weeks to get them all moved into the same living area

and this CCTV footage

shows just how they worked it out.

Although rarely seen,

dominance tussles are normal behaviour in elephant herds.

This is Tara and Kate's first full-on meeting.

Kate's on the left.

She's swinging her trunk at Tara, making sure she knows who's boss,

and youngster Tara submits with no arguments.

But when Minbu met Kate, it was a different story.

And with Minbu, she's used to being the matriarch at Twycross.

She's been a dominant animal for most of her life, really.

So that's what she was looking to achieve when she came here.

But little did she know, she hadn't met Kate at that point,

and Kate is also very similar.

That's Kate, closest to the camera.

They faced each other up,

which is more of a threatening stance,

particularly when they meet.

Then Minbu tried to push Kate back,

and move her and displace her physically.

Minbu soon realised Kate wasn't having any of it.

You can almost see it in her eyes, that she's made the wrong decision.

HE LAUGHS

And then... So she didn't back down straightaway,

but slowly Kate turned her around

and got the submissive sort of behaviour from Minbu.

And that was it, really.

It looks like Kate's going to be the top girl in this gang for now.

The last two Twycross girls and that all-important boy are still to come.

How long can we expect before the big bull arrives?

Hopefully he'll be certainly in before the end of this year.

That's the aim.

And the pitter-patter of huge feet?

A couple of years after that! THEY LAUGH

If he gets to work quickly, a couple of years.

But what about the other two girls back at Twycross?

When the move first began,

everyone thought the herd would be transported quite quickly.

But the days have turned into weeks, and weeks into months,

and Noorjahan and Esha haven't budged.

It's late spring. Four months have passed since Tara left,

and there's one growing problem.

Initially, mother and calf were going to travel in the same crate.

But as time has gone on, Esha has got so big

she's going to have to travel in her own crate,

which means she needs a whole lot more training.

Mum and calf have never been apart.

They both have to travel on the same day and they aren't quite ready yet

so the move's been postponed again.

This is what happens. You can make the best plans on paper.

If the animals say no, they say no!

The last thing we want is to force them and have it be

a really negative experience for them.

That's not great, not what we need to do. And don't forget,

they're really long-lived animals with long memories.

I know it's always a bit of a joke, but they are.

So, they know each other, they'll reunite in a few months' time.

So, they'll stay put till the end of the summer.

And that means Esha gets some quality time with mum.

The bond of the mother and daughter

has got a lot better, a lot stronger.

Noorjahan, normally when Minbu and Tara were here,

she kind of kept herself away and left the aunties to look after Esha.

But we've actually seen now they seem much closer,

which is really nice to see.

Mother and daughter should join their friends in a few weeks.

Although, when it comes to elephants,

nothing's ever guaranteed.

The half of the herd who have moved

are having a great time by the seaside.

Well, it's brilliant news

that Kate, Tara and Minbu have settled in just fine.

And hopefully it won't be too long now

until they're joined by Noorjahan and Esha,

and the Blackpool herd continues to grow.