All language subtitles for Inside Taronga ZOO s01e05.eng

Famous the world over, Sydney Harbour is
home to some of Australia's most iconic

landmarks and one of the world's most
celebrated zoos.

Throughout its 101 -year history,
there's never been a more exciting time

granted access to both of Taronga Zoo's
locations.

From caring for a single animal... Just
hang on to him and keep calm.

...to saving an entire species.

She's a gorgeous little frog and one of
our most critically endangered.

We'll take you Inside Taronga.

On this episode...

Situation critical for an orphaned baby
wombat. There are certain things here

that don't seem quite right.

Can a mother's love get him through?

Just worried about him.

She took about 30 minutes to fly from
her release the other day.

We need to build up her confidence
again.

for a very rare bongo.

This is an incredible accomplishment for
the species.

Taronga has such a diverse number of
species across their zoo that the only

to give them the care they need is to
split them up into groups.

While the names of the groups are pretty
common, like carnivores,

primate, aviary and reptile.

There's also more obscure names such as
Australian fauna, invertebrate and the

oddly named but extremely common
ungulate.

So here at Taronga Zoo I'm an ungulate
keeper and ungulate's just a fancy name

for a hooved mammal. So at the zoo here
we've got giraffe, they're our biggest

draw card.

But I also look after pygmy hippo, I
also look after bongo, and we're soon to

get zebra back again.

Every morning, like all the other teams
across the zoo, Jimmy and his team do

the rounds of all the animals in their
care.

My day starts really early. We arrive at
the barn, obviously set up their food,

but that's not the bulk of their day.
The bulk of their day for me would be

their training and also the care of
them.

What I'm making up here is the giraffe
training pouches. So this is the

giraffe's daily food intake. What we do
is divide this up amongst as many

training sessions as we're having. So
today I think we've got three training

sessions on, so we need to spread this
out amongst three training pouches.

All right.

Let's do this.

I love giraffe and I've always loved
giraffe. I never once in my wildest

believed I'd be working with them, let
alone up this close and this personal

with them and actually caring for them.

Here you go, buddy.

Good boy.

Good.

Target.

Hold. Hold.

Good boy.

But there's also the less glamorous but
equally important work to be done before

the zoo opens to the public.

Our typical morning, obviously, we've
started off here this morning. We've

our training. The paddock's been
cleaned. Now we put up their food. So

you'll see how high this goes. You've
got to get it up pretty high for these

giraffe. Our male here is nearly five
and a half metres. So you can't feed him

at ground level. You have to feed him up
high. We put out feed and we pick up

their poo.

That's the cycle of life here at the
zoo.

And voila, done.

Every animal needs food and water.

But the ungulates have a unique need
that no other animal at the zoo has.

Now my main thing for these guys, or for
being an ungulate keeper, is hoof care.

Nyota here is just on a tonne, and those
tiny little hooves have to hold up a

tonne. So for me, every morning I'll
come in and the first thing I want to do

check out their hooves.

It'd be like being a podiatrist for
giraffe, really.

For us, hoof care is the most vital
thing, especially for a giraffe, a

animal carrying all that weight on what
looks like a dinner plate. That dinner

plate needs to be maintained.

So I'm just going to assemble this hoof
block.

But what we want our male to do, we want
him to come in, we want him to present

his foot, and then basically he needs to
roll his ankle or his hock onto here so

we can actually work on the underside of
his hoof.

All right, Jimmy.

Station.

Jimmy Yu, who's our youngest male, he's
also our biggest, he does have a

tendency for his hooves to roll a little
bit, so he's our priority for hoof care

at the moment.

Okay. Good.

Good.

Touch.

Roll.

Good. Good.

Station. Brush.

Excellent boy, Jimmy Yu.

Good job, Jim.

This is to me like being a rock star in
the zoo, you know what I mean? Every

kid's dreams to work with a giraffe or
to work with megafauna is a dream come

true job for me.

But Jimmy's day is only just starting
and already this rock star has another

to attend.

Australia is world renowned for its
wildlife.

the likes of which can't be found
anywhere else on the planet.

We've been isolated as a continent for
such a long time, but our animals have

evolved and they're, you know, they're
crazy to look at, definitely.

Kangaroos, the way they move.

Koalas, the giant sort of cuddly thing
up in a tree. It's wild, definitely.

But one animal that's a little
misunderstood.

and doesn't get the same international
exposure as the other Aussie icon, is

wombat.

Wombats are not slow and clumsy, they're
fast.

They can run 40 kilometres an hour when
they want to, and they've got this

curiosity about them.

We've got southern hairy -nosed wombats
here at the zoo, and we've got a family

of four.

Southern hairy -nosed wombats have this
hairy nose.

So when you see it, it's kind of a boxy
nose, and they definitely, even from

young joeys, they've got this
considerable fur around their nose.

They're a bit of a smaller wombat, and
potentially a little bit less aggressive

than the common wombat.

This is incredibly rare for a male
wombat.

He seeks it out, so he comes to me, and
he loves a scratch behind the ear, and

then he voluntarily rolls over and just
loves this scratch on his belly.

Southern hairy -nosed wombats are found
in arid parts of Australia, down south.

They're vulnerable, as well as the other
species, due to mange, which is a mite

that infests the skin of the wombats.
And they really suffer before, in the

they can die from it.

Oh, you love a scratch, don't you?

They've been a challenging animal to
learn how to breed.

We've been fortunate enough to have bred
six joeys.

Over the past eight years, nine years,
surprisingly, we've had all females up

until now, yeah.

Cora, which has been the mother of also
the other joeys, unfortunately, she

passed while her little boy was inside
her pouch, and keepers have had to hand

-raise that joey from now on.

Hi, little man.

Hello, Wauru.

Are you waking up? Yes.

So this little guy is Wauru.

He's about seven months old now.

Andrew and myself here are very lucky to
be able to be helping him and hand

-raising him at the moment.

Oh, good boy.

We would only ever hand -raise a wombat,
Joey, if we absolutely needed to to

ensure his survival.

He will be particularly important
because he is the first boy that's been

part of the breeding program here at
Django Zoo.

Wauru actually means fire in a number of
Indigenous dialects and he was given

that name pretty much because of his
personality. He's a very feisty little

and he is definitely very cheeky already
and we call him a little terror

in the most loving way possible.

Yeah, he's just full of energy when he's
out.

Almost feed time, bud.

So we are feeding him at the moment
every four hours. He's getting milk

He also gets a water feed a couple of
times a day as well.

We obviously have to keep him nice and
clean and dry and warm, so changing

whenever we need it.

Lots of laundry.

Lots of laundry.

Tons of laundry.

You going to take it?

Yeah, good boy.

He's such a heart melter.

He's just the cutest little thing.

You're really smashing that, buddy.

It'd be normally about a year before
they're fully independent from mum, so

we'll be looking after him until about
that 12 -month stage.

Oh, buddy.

Very,

very cute.

In the wild, a wombat joey would not be
able to survive on its own. They're

dependent on mum for up to two years of
age. So these guys need 24 -7 care.

Time to go home.

Care for Wauru isn't just confined to
the zoo.

You ready?

We're taking Wauru, the southern hairy
-nosed wombat, Joey, home with me

tonight. That's part of the job when
you're hand -raising an animal is they

often do need to go home with you. Have
you got everything you need?

I think, yeah. Got his milk? I've got
his milk. Got his diaper bag?

Yeah. Clean pouches? Got all his
pouches, his record, his bag.

The problem is the hairy -nosed wombat
is nocturnal.

So Andrew is in for another restless
night.

You'd be good for Andrew.

I doubt that.

At Taronga, there are more birds than
any other animal in the zoo.

Wow!

Many were injured animals that came
through Taronga's rehab facility.

Those that couldn't be released back
into the wild are integrated into the

as ambassadors for their species.

Looks like he's going to go in.

Yay!

Leslie, an Andean condor, is one such
ambassador, but lately she's started to

lose her mojo.

While Matt has been working with her
closely, he's asked Taronga's bird

Gray, who used to run the bird team, to
come down and have a look.

We'll get Leslie and I think just
release her from up on the grass.

We're about to work Leslie, Vandy, and
Condor. She's been out of shows for a

days because she had some issues. She
took about 30 minutes to fly from her

release the other day.

In you go.

Why do I?

When I started the zoo 15 years ago,
Leslie was two years old and still

with her parents.

Luckily, she very quickly came around,
and because I started working with her

such a young age, we've developed a
really good relationship where I

trust her.

Rebuilding a bird's confidence can be a
slow process.

Anytime we train a behavior, whether
it's a new behavior or an old behavior

that's broken down, we always want to
break everything down into small, very

easily achievable steps.

So we need to build up her confidence
again, get her working a lot faster. So

currently Matt is getting ready to
release her. We're going to take her up

release her from the lawns that are just
above the theater. So that helps to

build their confidence with what we're
asking them to do. It may not be easy to

ask her to fly 50 meters, easy to get
her to fly 5 meters. And so we slowly

build those steps up, build that
confidence until she's willing to take

step and do her full routine from her
release tower all the way down the

Hopefully today, because she's had a
little bit of time off, today will go

smoothly. You ready, Gray?

Yeah, we're ready.

Coming up. So this is home for little
Waru. Keepers go over and above.

Got a little bit of grass.

As baby Waru needs around -the -clock
care.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm mum,
dad, or, you know, just the milkman for

little Waru here.

Good job, buddy.

and the secret tricks at bath time for
this family of elephants.

Good.

Jimmy is continuing his daily rounds of
the ungulates, and next up is an animal

that's nearing extinction.

Morning, boys.

So for me, the best part of being a
zookeeper is knowing that I'm making a

difference. We get to do a lot of stuff
here, and we get to educate the public,

and we get to do animal care here, but
we also get to take a lot of what we

learn to the wild, and that's really,
really important.

So we're off to feed the bongo and clean
the bongo exhibit.

Bongo's the largest forest -dwelling
antelope in the world.

But before I do the bongo exhibit, I
have to feed our lovely little chickens.

can't miss out on them.

Chook, chook, chook, chook, chook,
chook.

Chook, chook, chook, chook, chook.

There you go, guys.

Breakfast is served.

And now we go and do the bongo.

Like the giraffe, the bongo is a massive
consumer of hay.

It's dinner time.

And for the bongos at Taronga, it's
nothing but the best.

This is loosened hay.

There's a couple of different varieties
of hay, but Bongo like loosened hay.

And you know what? I never ever dreamed
that I would look at the different

qualities of hay and appreciate it. This
is really, really good hay.

I can tell you why. If I was a hoofstock
or a grass -eating animal, I'd prefer

this. So you can sometimes get hay
that's really, really stalky. This is

really fluffy, which is really, really
good hay.

I'm not sure if you're going to
appreciate it, but I'm sure he's going

appreciate it.

So here's the browse for our male bongo,
Akandu.

He really likes it. This is Celtus. We
try and give him as much variety as

possible. But I can tell you what, he's
going to love today.

With that good hay and this good browse,
it's going to be a good day for him.

But before the food comes the body
check.

It gives me a good indication to have a
good look all over him, make sure his

body's in good condition, there's
nothing going wrong, there's nothing

that's happened overnight, he has no
ticks on his body. It's all about their

welfare and we want to keep him as
comfortable as possible, you know.

Good boy, darling.

Door.

You're all right. Good boy.

Good boy. Impressive, huh?

Touch. Thank you.

So what I'm doing here is I'm not just
brushing him to make him look good. It's

a great way for us keepers to give a
body condition and check on his body

condition, make sure there's no
parasites.

And it's also a good way for him to get
used to us touching him. So if we ever

need to do blood draws or veterinary
procedures, he's already used to people

being around him and touching him.

But at the same time, I still have to
watch my safety. I don't want to get

between those big horns and these bars.

Spray. So what I'm doing now, this stuff
here is repellent. So you can use this

on your dogs at home. You use it on
yourself.

It's basically a fly repellent.

Spray. And you see I cued.

We don't do anything as a surprise. So
anything that is any behavior I'm

even though I'm only asking him to stand
still, I want him to know that I'm

about to spray him. So you'll see when I
started, I said spray.

Nothing's a surprise for him.

You want to scratch? Scratch.

Good boy. So this is Akundu. He's our
male bongo here at Taronga Zoo.

I know that his ex -girlfriend, Djembe,
is out at Western Plains Zoo. And I've

heard on the grapevine, mate, that she
might have a bun in the oven, so to

speak. So don't feel jealous about that,
mate. Feel proud for the species, eh?

A bongo pregnancy is massive news for
the species as they're doing it

tough in the wild.

Bongo numbers are really, really low in
the wild. I think they're less than 100.

So you can think that animal is
critically, critically endangered.

They'll be gone from the wild soon.

So it's up to us to breed up, and then
hopefully one day we can secure their

habitat and release them back into the
wild. But that's a really, really big

hope. And that's what half the problem
is. We can breed these animals, which is

fantastic. We've got nowhere to release
them yet.

So until we can fix the problem of them
being poached or in the wild, we are

just at a standstill.

Such exciting news for bongos that we've
got a new one on the way.

Keeper Andrew is travelling with some
very precious cargo.

He's taken Wauru, an endangered southern
hairy -nosed wombat, home for the

night. Wauru was in a pretty dire
situation, I guess, when he came to us.

just lost his mum. So we've got to do
whatever it takes to get him through.

And because these wombats are so rare,
it's vital that Wauru survives.

He'll be a really important part of our
breeding program.

He's the first male we've had born here
in five years. So it's up to us to make

sure that we give him the best chance of
growing up healthily and making sure

we're doing whatever we need to do to
get him through.

Out you go, little man.

Sound asleep.

Whether that's getting up at 2 a .m. to
feed him, whether that's giving up, you

know, all our free time to make sure
he's supervised and we know what's going

with him. But, you know, that's part and
parcel. That's the job. And while that

sounds like a lot of work, it's also a
lot of fun.

So this is home for little Waru, or home
within a home.

So he's got a nice big bed here.

So we've got a little bit of grass here,
a little bit of turf.

That's really important for him to
transition to solid foods, and grass and

vegetation is what he'd be eating out in
the wild.

I have a little chew toy here for Wauru.

Honestly, it's a dog toy. You know, he
loves to chew things, so it works just

well for baby wombats as well.

And then a little sauce toy for him as
well. So, you know, I'd like to say he

cuddles it, but he probably chews that
just as much as well.

So it's early evening, coming up to six
o 'clock, so time for Wauru to have

another bottle of milk very soon, and
then he'll probably fall straight back

asleep.

Wombats are nocturnal.

So while Andrew gets ready for bed,
Wauru is just waking up.

Yeah, life's pretty strange sometimes
when you're a zookeeper and you're

bringing an animal home to your
apartment.

You ready?

Here you go.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm mum,
dad or, you know, just the milkman for

little Waru here.

Good job, buddy.

It's a lot of work bringing him home,
but hopefully he pulls through, makes it

to adulthood and, you know, contributes
to the breeding program for this, you

know, it's a vulnerable species.

Well done.

No, a big scratch.

So he's a very important little fella
and we're going to do everything we can

get him there.

Right now, life looks good for little
Waru.

Looks like you're going into a milk
coma.

You're a little bit milk drunk.

But unfortunately, that's all about to
change.

Leslie, the Andean condor, has lost her
mojo and is refusing to fly.

So we need to build up her confidence
again, get her working a lot faster.

So Matt and Gray are trying to get her
back on track.

We're ready.

And they plan to do this by starting
small.

It may not be easy to ask her to fly 50
meters, but it is easy to get her to fly

5 meters. And so we slowly build those
steps up, build that confidence until

she's willing to take the last step. You
ready, Gray?

Yeah, we're ready.

There she is.

Give her a little wave. Here she comes.

Yeah.

You're all right.

It's early day, but at least Leslie is
back in the air.

Good girl.

My concern with Leslie's performance
today was that she would be slow to come

down the stage and slow to exit.

She's a little bit nervous today.

She did have a little bit of concern
over some novel objects in the

But what I appreciated about this
session was she recovered very quickly

that. Come on.

She very quickly put her attention back
on me. I was able to get her back on

track and finish off the routine. And
this is, hopefully, job done.

She was very quick out, quick down the
stage. She exited really well, so I'm

happy with that.

I think that Leslie's definitely done a
great job today. I have every confidence

that we're going to be able to have her
back in shows, flying from her release

tower, hopefully within the next week.

Over the last few weeks, Substitute mum
Susie has noticed that Wauru, the

orphaned southern hairy -nosed wombat,
is having trouble walking.

Hello. So she's taken him to the animal
hospital to investigate.

The last couple of days, his gait just
changed a little bit. The way he walks

a little bit different. So we just want
to have a good look at him and see

what's going on.

So as far as this sort of lameness goes,
how was he over the weekend?

I wouldn't say there's been much
improvement.

And last night, maybe a little bit less.

inactive after we spoke.

He still is able to get around.

He just, yeah, he likes to sit down a
lot.

So maybe before we anaesthetise him,
let's see him just walking around.

Yeah. I can really see a

stiff, shuffling sort of gait.

Okay, we'll pop him back in the pouch
and we'll just mask him down with the

anaesthetic. With his walk, he was just
a little bit less active. than he

usually is and just seemed a little bit
stiff and a little bit tentative on his

back legs. So that's what we sort of
want to have a look once he's doing a

Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely concerned
seeing that change in behaviour and the

way that he's walking is a little bit
unusual.

But, you know, I know he's in the best
hands here, so he's going to get a good

check -up and we'll find out what's
going on.

While he's still going to sleep.

Just give him a quick exam.

So just feeling if there's any lumps or
bumps, any what we call crepitus, so

crunching feeling or grating feeling in
the joints.

Yeah, so certainly none of that is
evident at the moment.

Is it normal for the ankle bones to be
quite prominent like that?

It is prominent, and actually his elbows
are very prominent as well, but I'm

pretty sure that would be a normal
thing. Yeah.

Let's do some x -rays. We probably don't
need to intubate him. Okay.

So the x -ray is going to be very useful
to evaluate particularly his skeleton,

just make sure all his bones are
developing properly.

For keeper Susie, Wauru's protective
mum, it's hard to see him in such a

helpless state.

I guess I feel a little bit anxious, you
know, seeing him sort of slayed out

like that. It's a little bit
confronting.

All right, let's take this x -ray.

So we can see all these sort of dark
spots here in the intestines, and that's

gas, so the black bits, and then all the
whiter bits are actually his faeces.

So he's got a lot of faeces and a lot of
gas.

Does he fart a lot?

Not that often.

Yeah.

A couple of times, yeah.

Okay, let's just get his skull, but
actually I might as well do a skull,

him over and do a DV.

He's in a good position and then we
can... I guess it's just the unknown,

knowing what is going on and why he
might be showing this change in gait and

little bit of potential soreness. But
yeah, it's just that having...

Spent the last five months looking after
him 24 -7. You know, we just want him

to do well and get to adulthood, so
we're just hoping that, yeah, that he

well. Did you want to come have a look,
Sue? Yeah.

Okay. There are certain things here that
don't seem quite right.

Hello, beautiful boy.

Animal husbandry is the practice of
caring for animals and is one of the

important aspects of running a zoo.

While the majority of care happens
behind the scenes,

one of the most visible

examples at Taronga is the daily
elephant bath.

So we give our elephants a bath every
day.

It's just an activity that they really
enjoy. Elephants actually love water.

We do our baths roughly about the same
time so they know it's going to happen

and it's entirely their choice.

If they don't want to participate in
something, they don't have to. But they

know the baths are about to happen. We
ask them to come in if they want to.

Every day they come in.

Atta boy.

We've got the three Asian elephants that
are joining us for the bath today. So

we've got our matriarch, Pakaboon. She's
the eldest.

And then we've got her son, Jaidee, who
just turned two.

And his name means good heart in Thai.

And then our other elephant is Pang Mo,
and she loves her bath as well, but she

doesn't quite stick to the routine that
the other elephants do. She's got her

own way of laying down, and I'd rather
do it this way.

Maybe it's got their own little quirks
and personalities and, like, certain

things. So, yeah, it's always fun.

Shadi, move up. Come on, buddy. The
point of the bath isn't to get them

necessarily. It's just for us to have a
look at the skin, make sure they're in

good condition.

Bruno, move up. Good girl, move up.
Jaidee. Good girl. Papu, move up. Come

big boy.

Good girl.

Come on, bud.

So this is our two -year -old elephant,
Jaidee, and he's enjoying his daily

shower. Some of our keywords, just
giving him a good scrub, trying to

the skin, making sure it's in good
condition, but also looking it over and

making sure that everything's looking
good, there's no scrapes or cuts that we

need to attend to.

It allows them to inspect everything and
seeing how they're moving and how their

attitude is.

All right, Jody.

Come on. Good boy. Chunk up.

Good.

Good. Chunk up.

Good boy. Open.

Good boy.

Steady.

Good.

That's it, big girl.

So this is Pakbun, our matriarch, and
she's Jaidee's mother, 27 years old. Now

it's her turn to enjoy the bath, and she
absolutely loves it.

Everything is based on trust. In order
to lay down, that can be a very

vulnerable position for an elephant, so
they're only going to do it if they feel

safe and comfortable around you.

That's it, Pakbun.

There you go.

We invest a lot in that positive
reinforcement training and building that

and respect.

Good. And once we've established that,
then they're totally willing. They trust

us.

There he is.

All right. Look.

This is Pang Mo, which means watermelon
in Thai. So the biggest watermelon

you've ever seen.

And she's just enjoying a drink from the
hose.

Because we use warm water for the bath,
it's kind of novel for them to drink

warm water, so we always offer them a
drink. It's like having a little cup of

tea to start the bath.

So, yeah, we give her time to enjoy that
before we actually start the bath.

We also look at the elephant's feet,
very important to an elephant.

We want to make sure they're in the best
of condition possible.

So we have a look at the bottom, that
pad, make sure that there's no stones or

anything stuck in them because
elephant's feet are very important to

want to make sure they're in the best of
condition.

So the final step in the bath is asking
the elephant to open their mouth nice

and wide so that we can visualize the
teeth, because teeth are very important

an elephant. So they've got big, massive
molars. They've got four teeth in their

mouth on each corner of the jaw, and
they are grinding food day in, day out.

They eat about 18 hours a day. We have
to make sure they're fully functional,

they're not impacted, because that's its
livelihood, is being able to eat all

that hard, dry stuff.

Everything that we do with our elephants
is based on positive reinforcement, and

it's entirely their choice.

If they don't want to participate in
something, they don't have to. But they

know the bads are about to happen every
day they come in. So that lets us know

that they actually do like the activity
and love interacting with us.

As far as the elephant is concerned,
it's just a daily spa treatment. They're

just getting a nice scrub, exfoliation,
and fed treats at the same time. So they

love it. Yeah, it's always fun.

Out at Dubbo, Taronga keepers are
maintaining a close eye on one of the

important pregnancies they've had in the
last few years.

Jandy! Hey little gal!

What we're going to do is we're going to
give them some lunch. So we'll put

their lunch out, they'll make us a
treat.

I've been working with the bongo for
approximately four years now. I'll just

them approach us.

Good gal!

Great!

This is Jemby, our eldest breeding
female.

Jemby was actually born here at Taronga
Western Plain Zoo.

She's very good with her high -value
treat, but that's when you're her

favourite. Otherwise, outside food, she
likes to do her own thing.

She's a gorgeous girl, and she's the one
that's been cuffed due any time.

So, yeah, she's looking really well.

She's got a nice little bloody
condition. The calf actually gets quite

the afternoon. You can see it kicking,
and you'll see its little legs push out,

and she'll feel a little uncomfortable.

But she's doing so well, so, so well.

And it's no wonder the baby is active,
as Jemby is due to give birth any day

now.

Breeding Bongo here at Taronga Western
Plains Zoo is not extremely scientific,

but you do have to orchestrate it.

quite well. Sometimes you'll see them
mate through the day. With Jemby, she's

little bit more private, so we think she
gets mated overnight, which does make

an accurate due date for her a little
difficult to gauge.

So the calf could come pretty much any
day. However, our gestation is about 286

days. That was from mating to birth.

So the earliest possible calving would
be the end of this week.

However, it could be in the next few
weeks as well.

We're just praying for a little female.
The region needs a little female so she

can be a little warrior so we can
hopefully buddy her up with a potential

breeding male in the future.

A healthy female bongo baby will go a
long way to helping the species as the

numbers of this beautiful animal are in
serious decline.

The eastern bongo is found within the
forested areas within Mount Kenya.

However, they're a critically endangered
species.

Predation for the eastern bongo would be
primarily methods within the area, of

course, snaring from man -made snares.

Deforestation is another huge issue and
also domestic cattle diseases that is

wiping out this remarkable species.

But we'd just be very thankful for any
healthy calf at this stage. So, yeah,

it's super exciting. There's nothing
better than a baby. So, have to watch

space.

Still to come... Leslie's been having
some issues lately.

Can Leslie the condor get her mojo back?

She's ready to be getting close back
into show. This is the last step of

checking where her head's at.

All right, Les, in you get.

Wombat orphan Waru is having trouble
walking.

After a series of x -rays, Larry has
found some worrying signs.

Did you want to come have a look, Suze?

Yeah.

You know, there are certain things here
that don't seem quite right.

See how dense the teeth are and some of
these skull bones and the rest of his

bones are quite grey.

So it's possible that there's just not
enough calcium in his bones, which

shouldn't be the case because this diet
is specifically formulated for wombats.

But sometimes there are other factors
which influence the amount of absorption

of the calcium as well.

We've got a good comparison here with
this.

very dense faeces in his intestines. And
if you look at the density of the bone,

it's not quite there.

And so, yeah, low calcium in the bones
is certainly a risk for Wiru in that

the bones may not develop properly.

They might be more susceptible to injury
as well. They can fracture.

They're a bit weak. The bone's a bit
weak, brittle.

And they can also be a little bit
deformed in their shape as well. They

a bit.

Unfortunately today, there's no quick
fix for Waru's problem.

Susie is well aware there's a big fight
ahead for this little battler.

Yeah, you know, you want an answer, you
want to know what's going on, so feel a

bit of apprehension.

Sure.

Just worried about him.

So, Suze, I think we've got everything
we need today.

I'll go have another look at the x
-rays. Yeah. I'll pair it with the

age bare -nosed wombats we've got.
Unfortunately, we don't have other hairy

-nosed wombat x -rays.

And the blood work. So that'll come
through sometime today and we'll be able

look at all of that and then hopefully a
bit of a diagnosis and a plan.

I mean, at least, you know, there's
nothing, like, dramatically obvious on

bones. They're not sort of broken or
bent or anything like that.

Spend a lot of time, comes with me
everywhere and do everything for him.

yeah, just a worried mum.

I do have a feeling that his bone
development is not where it should be.

You know, there are things we can do to
fix that. We can supplement his diet.

Obviously, the gut problem is also
probably something we can fix by

-establishing a normal gut flora.

He does have a big road ahead. It's been
a bit of a tough journey for him, but,

yeah, you know, he's got the best care
that he could possibly have and

considering everything that he's gone
through, he's doing incredibly well.

Leslie the Andean condor has lost her
confidence.

Leslie's been having some issues lately.
She has not wanted to fly from her

release tower. She stood up in there for
about 30 minutes the other day. But

there's no one better to get her back on
track than Gray, who has worked with

Leslie for the last 15 years.

So over the last week, we've been doing
a lot of repetitions with Leslie

building up her confidence. I think she
has that confidence back now. That means

that once we get her into the release
box today, what I'm looking for is that

when the door opens, she flies straight
down the stage, perfect routine, and

then exiting without any hesitation.

Matt is also quietly optimistic about
her recovery.

So Leslie's been really good for the
last couple of days, which looks like

confidence has built back up again.

So the last step is popping her up in
the tower.

All right, Les, in you get.

Howdy, girl. It's about 15 metres off
the ground, probably another 30 over the

stage. She's ready to be getting close
back into shows. This is the last step

checking where her head's at. We have
every confidence that she'll come out

do her thing. But if not, you know, this
is part of what we do. Any breakdowns,

we'll work on it, build a confidence,
and she'll be back on track again.

I'm always a little bit nervous when I'm
putting a bird back in shows after

they've had some time off.

Condors are incredible creatures, and
she's a very unique bird to get to see

in a show. So we're very heavily
invested in her success.

We've had a lot of really good training
sessions over the last week, so I think

we're good to go.

You ready?

And after days of preparation, all Gray
and Matt can do now is watch.

It's all up to Leslie.

There we go.

Here she comes.

Beautifully done.

Leslie did great. I couldn't be happier
with that. She came out of the tower as

soon as the door was opened.

She had really nice flight down.

a bit of height on her way down, which
was really good because an Andean condor

has a very impressive wingspan.

So getting to see that in action is
always an amazing thing.

Once she was on stage, she was very
focused on me, focused on what she

do. Okay, let's go this way.

It couldn't have gone better as far as
I'm concerned.

Good job, Leslie.

Good girl.

Here she comes.

Leslie has definitely built up that
confidence that we've been working so

on over the past few weeks.

That was perfect.

She's ready for shows.

She's ready to face an audience again.

Next. She's been very calm, very
settled. After keeping everyone waiting.

It feels like it's been forever.

The baby bongo finally makes a grand
entrance.

We've just had some really exciting news
come through.

Bongo in Dubbo, she's had a baby, so
that's fantastic.

It's time to get a big nose, aren't you,
buddy? Big schnoz. But he's starting to

grow into it. Yeah, he's actually
starting to grow. It's been a month

was diagnosed with bone development
issues.

He's a good boy.

But Susie and Andrew aren't giving up.

He hit 5 .8 kilos yesterday.

Almost at six kilos.

They're tackling Wauru's problem head
on.

I was pretty upset last time, you know,
very worried about him because he's our

little guy and we want him to do really
well. But, yeah, really hopeful that

he's going to be a nice, strong adult
wombat.

But Wauru still has a fight ahead of him
if he's to rejoin his family of

southern hairy -nosed wombats in the
coming months.

Wauru went back down to the vet to have
a follow -up procedure just to see how

he was progressing on the new diet and
diet changes.

And his x -ray showed that he has had
some development and calcification, so

that's a good thing, that he's starting
to get some good bone growth.

But they did notice that he has some
small fractures in his growth plates in

hind legs.

So that's why he's still a little bit
shuffly and that sort of thing.

Basically, we just have to get his bones
strong enough so that they can assess

how to move forward with that.

It was hard to hear that he does have
some small little fractures in those

legs, but, you know, it's... I don't
really know how to...

It's tough.

Yeah.

We keep doing what we're doing and we
keep hoping that we see him in his last

set of x -rays in terms of the
calcification and mineralisation.

So we keep doing what we're doing and
hope that he keeps improving.

He's a good boy.

And although Waru had problems walking,
as long as he's at Taronga, he will

never walk alone.

He's got a whole team.

Supporting him, the whole zoo is behind
him.

So, yeah, we're just doing our best for
you, aren't we, buddy?

Back at Taronga Western Plains Zoo,
keeper

Caroline is eagerly awaiting the birth
of an endangered bongo.

Hey, Jimby. Good girl.

Good.

By the zoo's calculations...

Jemby is now four weeks overdue, but
she's taking it in her stride. We are

waiting on the birth of this incredible
calf.

It feels like it's been forever, but
naturally calves will come when they're

ready, as you know, like any pregnancy,
which is going to make it even more

rewarding and even more spectacular and
beautiful and magical.

But there's a little moo.

She's been a fantastic mum. She's been
very calm, very settled.

All the physical signs are now present.
Her abdomen is quite extended now.

It's a lot lower.

But also that vulva swelling, which is a
really big sign.

Her behaviour is starting to change.

She has very clear guidelines of what we
can and can't do. So we basically take

all the cues from her.

which is a clear indication that we are
getting so much more closer.

In anticipation of the big day, the zoo
has prepared a birthing suite.

This is a purposely built carving yard
for a bongo.

We need to offer Jemby an area that...

are quite private, very protected for
her as well because they do give birth

privacy. So we need to make her feel
secure, enclosed, and that way she has

to imprint and bond with her calf at
that very significant period of time.

also it needs to be soft and
comfortable.

But we do need to make sure that she's
secure.

It's draft -free as well. We do make
sure we provide lots of extra heat.

We do get a cold snap.

Newborn calves or neonates can't control
their body temperature.

So all these little things we just need
to make sure we're prepared for. So

we're ready to go. Hopefully Jembi is
too.

And Taronga keepers didn't have to wait
too long, with Mother Jembi giving birth

to baby Jabali only two days later.

And word of the newborn male bongo has
travelled quickly to Sydney.

We've just had some really exciting news
come through. The bongo in Dubbo, she's

had a baby, so that's fantastic.

Because, as you know, with any
pregnancies, they can go hit or miss,

an incredible accomplishment for the
species.

For the regional breeding program, it's
fantastic, because it means the numbers

are growing.

Their numbers are really, really low in
the wild, so what we can do here is

increase them, increase the breeding
program, start to disperse them, get

genetics out there and just create a
bigger, bigger bongo population, and

what we're doing.

But just that one being born is so
special for everyone and so special for

special for him as a species, special
for everyone. Couldn't be more happier

those guys.

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