New TV show gives up close and personal look at life in the zoo

IF a trip to the zoo always leaves you wanting to know more about the star attractions, then RTÉ has just the show for you next week.

Running over three successive nights on RTÉ1 at 7pm, starting on Tuesday, June 7, Zoo Live will go behind-the-scenes with zookeepers in the Dublin attraction, to look at some of the most interesting and unexpected aspects of their work and find out more about the animals they care for.

The series will broadcast live from a purpose-built studio at Dublin Zoo’s African Savanna for three nights.

Sinead Kennedy will chat to guests from the unique studio setting which is home to zebras, giraffes and scimitar-horned oryx, while Ella McSweeney will meet the people and animals that make the zoo a success.

Wildlife conservation, climate change and the major threats facing species in the wild will be key threads running across all three evenings.

We’ll look at the history and cultural importance of Dublin Zoo and see archive footage of its early days.

Each episode also features a celebrity who becomes a zookeeper for a day. Doireann Garrihy, Kevin McGahern and pop duo Jedward all take on the work, from food prep, to feeding time, to cleaning habitats.

Education and science workshops are located in the Congo Camp, and over the three days, children will get to have fun, ask questions, meet stick insects, and see a reptile up close.

There will also be satellite link-ups with projects around the world that the Zoo is working with, from rhinos in Zimbabwe to orangutans in Borneo.

Other topics, such as sustainability and evolution are introduced through watching the work of the zookeepers and learning why they do what they do.

A competition to name a red panda will give one lucky viewer a chance to win an annual pass to Dublin Zoo, and experience the wonder and magic of seeing wild animals in the wonderful parkland location.

From cheeky Sulawesi crested macaques to exuberant sea lions, and from majestic elephants to the beautiful red panda who arrived at the Zoo in May, all of these and more will feature over the three days.