on air diary...
Minus 14, Polar Bears and Tigers...in Scotland!
posted by Lee McKenzie on 22/02/2010
Tigers, Polar bears and temperatures as low as minus 14 all contributed to an absolutely amazing few days filming in the north of Scotland last week.
I absolutely love presenting on BBC Scotland’s outdoor country show Landward – it is very rewarding and the variety of stories covered means there is always something for everyone in the programme.
After my horse power section last year, in the next series I will be presenting from the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore where I get up close, worryingly close, to Amur tigers and Mercedes the Polar bear!
As I flew in to Inverness airport, the view from the plane was wonderful; it was like flying to the North Pole! As we got to work at 8am the following morning, temperatures were struggling around minus ten! Producer Holly, cameraman Colin and I tried to film a feature about snow monkeys but it was tricky to feel fingers and toes!
The tigers were next and this was the feature that I was most looking forward to. The Amur tiger, or Siberian tiger as they used to be known, is severely in danger with around only 450 left in the wild. I was lucky enough to feed not only the cubs but also the father by putting meat on a stick (about 20cm long) and poking it through the fence. The tigers, who are not tame or handled, jump up on their hind legs and it lets the keepers check their paws and pads for any injuries. It was pretty daunting, especially when Yuri, the 16 year old Dad jumped up and was about 8 feet tall! I was very glad of the fence. How over the years anyone could kill such a majestic creature, I have no idea.
After an open fire, some whisky (purely for sleep and warmth purposes of course!) and a good sleep, it was back out into the minus 15 temperatures and to the park to film Mercedes the polar bear in her wonderful 4 acre enclosure. And what amazing shots we got - Mercedes was in her element, as close to being in the wild as she will ever be. We saw her punching the ice on the pond to try and break through so she could go for a swim, which she did and it was fabulous to be so close as she swam, washed herself and played in the almost arctic condition!
Mercedes was an ASBO bear! She was due to be shot in Churchill, Canada after venturing into the town 3 times but on hearing the fate of the bear, a Scottish lady who lives out there got in touch with Edinburgh Zoo who said they would take her. Mercedes Benz transported her over (hence her name) and now she is roaming around in one of the largest polar bear enclosures in the world.
You can see all the features on the new series of Landward which starts the first weekend in April. By that time I will be in Malaysia and already on to the third F1 race of the year! This week I head to Barcelona for the final test before the season starts. My next report will be about who is doing and saying what in Spain.
Thanks very much for reading my diary.
Lee x
