For the team, timing is everything when it comes to helping a giant panda get pregnant. With a short peak ovulation window of a few hours just once a year, efforts come to a head at 4.30am for female Tian Tian.

There is tension in the bird section as Sydney and Billy the six-foot southern cassowaries are introduced - will this be the year that senior keeper Sean finally has cassowary chicks under his care?

Meanwhile, gelada baboon and father of 22, Negus, undergoes a vasectomy under general anaesthetic. In Edinburgh Zoo’s Living Links research centre, there are some squirrel monkeys to catch in order to replace some damaged ID necklaces, and nobody wants a nip from the sharp teeth of one of these little guys.

At Highland Wildlife Park, training sessions with Amur tigers Dominika and Botzman see these magnificent cats learning and practising behaviours that will help the keepers with their everyday care. Show less