Hugely popular TV series which goes behind the scenes at Chester Zoo returns for 9th series

A hugely popular TV series, which gives viewers a glimpse at the private lives of some of the world’s most endangered animals, returns for a ninth series this week.

Episode one of the brand new series of The Secret Life of The Zoo begins on Thursday 13 February at 8pm on Channel 4.

Now in its ninth series, cameras once again lead viewers into the lives of the Chester Zoo’s 35,000 animals that visitors rarely get to see.

The new series is narrated by acclaimed British stage and TV actress, Tamsin Greig.

In the first episode, dominant male chimpanzee Dylan’s 15-year rule is in jeopardy when the females in the troop prove a distraction, and a new generation of males take the opportunity to challenge the pecking order.

In the pudu habitat, one of the zoo’s sweetest couples, Serena and Odin, are expecting a new arrival.

These delightful animals are the world’s smallest species of deer and naturally shy – apart from big brother Lucas, that is, who seems intent on terrorising his new-born little sister!

In the aquarium, there’s a battle for survival amongst the extraordinary Indian mudskipper fish, who can exist both in and out of water.

Gentle Danny is bullied by alpha male Arnie, and blacklisted from the food supplies. Will he survive to fight back?

And there’s tension among one of the zoo’s most unpredictable couples, the Andean bears, which no amount of honey can diffuse.

The Secret Life of The Zoo, series 9, starts on Thursday 13 February, 8pm, Channel 4.