Born to be Wild (2019)

Series following the goings on inside the Scottish SPCA’s wildlife rescue centre. Today the team have to act as mothers to a litter of orphaned fox cubs whose den was disturbed by a builder’s digger. We’ll follow the team as they raise this furry family and watch as they transform from tiny cubs into fully fledged foxes. Centre manager Colin has an ingenious way of treating a swan who has become badly contaminated by oil using the sort of cleaning products you might well have knocking around at home. The centre bid a fond farewell to Babe – their longest staying hedgehog – and we follow this prickly character’s release by placing camera traps in a wood to see how she gets on – with quite surprising results. And there’s a surprise for the team as a nightjar – one of the UK’s least seen and strangest looking birds - is brought into the centre after being found on an oil rig.

The staff are excited as the season’s first baby badgers have been brought in – April and Sheilagh have to act as mother to these delightful but demanding little bundles. It’s a big day for the Mammal unit as two of their otters are finally ready to release. A group of tiny tawny owls go back to the wild in a rather special wood. The seal centre gets overwhelmed by ducklings and in the bird centre a flock of house martins who came in as chicks are ready to take their first flight outside.

Assistant manager Jonny has his hands full when a bunch of baby pine martens are brought in over the course of a couple of weeks. Jonny will need to use all his experience to bond these orphans into a family unit. If he is successful and can get them released, this charismatic mammal’s population will receive a really big boost. Elsewhere, one of Scotland’s more seldom seen creatures, a slow-worm, needs help from vet Liam to recover from a cat attack, the seal unit battle to release some of their charges, and a concussed woodpecker needs some TLC from the head of birds, Lorraine.

Today the team receive a delivery of a nest of orphaned red squirrel kits, who will need careful looking after if they are to survive and grow into adult red squirrels, fit for release. The Centre’s head vet, Romain Pizzi, uses an ancient falconer’s trick to get an injured bird flying again after severe wing damage. Head of the bird unit, Lorraine, has to work round the clock to give a day old orphaned sparrow a chance of life and in the Hedgehog unit a new staff member helps a hedgehog with a record number of tics get parasite free.

It is the busiest time of year, and the number of orphaned animals being admitted has reached record levels. April is bottle-feeding tiny roe deer orphan Petal, but when she is also given the task of looking after newborn hedgehog Piglet, she needs to call on the help of Chloe and Nicola to help with the mothering duties. Meanwhile two osprey chicks have been admitted to the centre. One appears to have a problem with its leg, which means it will have to take up residence in the centre for the winter, but the second bird soon recovers and is ready to be released just in time for the autumn migration. Nicola and Sheilagh also have their work cut out building confidence in nervous baby weasel Warren

There is excitement in the bird centre as a juvenile raven comes in with a broken wing - the combined experience and expertise of head of birds Lorraine and the surgical knowledge of Vet Romain will be needed if this young bird is to have a chance of flying again. Inspector Bob is out and about around Scotland to rescue birds and beasts that need the centre’s help. And the team work hard to get a rare red-throated diver back into the wild.

In this episode, the team receive not one but two of Scotland’s rarest predators – white-tailed eagles – and have to use all their experience and expertise to try and get them back to the wild. A family of swans from Falkirk come in together for treatment from the centre’s vet, Romain Pizzi. Also one of the country’s cutest and furriest creatures captures the hearts of the team, and we see the release of a group of gorgeous tawny owls.

When a pair of orphaned harbour seals arrive at the centre, the team try a ground-breaking new technique to help rehabilitate them. One of the UK’s rarest water birds, a Slavonian Grebe, is brought into the centre – it is struggling to stay afloat and will need all the team’s accumulated knowledge and skills if it is to have a hope of survival. And the bird unit work hard to raise and release a pair of beautiful orphaned barn owl chicks.

The centre receives an unusual case: an otter from the very north of Shetland that has already failed twice to be successfully reintroduced to the wild. Can they persuade this large male that he is a wild animal? And how will he cope with the 90-minute flight to the UK’s most northerly isles? Romain Pizzi, the centre’s chief vet, has to draw on all his years of experience and skills when he tries to save a vixen whose leg is in need of a life-saving operation. And the bird unit battle to save the life of a peregrine falcon with a gun shot wound.

The centre is plunged into chaos as the harshest winter storms in over 20 years hits. Battling through snow and ice, the staff have to battle to help the wildlife effected by the cold snap. A hypothermic heron needs careful handling to build him up, two otters get released in a secret site in the Scottish borders, and two baby pigeons prove a real handful for the bird unit.