Original subtitles

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, a rare day at the zoo.

I deal with humans. There's no way I thought I'd be working at Taronga Zoo

helping out with the chimps. Three chimpanzees are on the hospital

table at the one time.

We've definitely got our A game on.

Hit and run.

There's some bony change in the area of the pelvis.

A badly injured owl learned to fly again.

Oh, flying very well today.

And keepers rein in a very randy red panda.

We don't want to have another round of cubs at this stage.

So Piper's about to go into his new home.

My name is Gray Fisher. I'm a senior keeper here at the bird show at Taronga

Zoo, but originally I'm a hillbilly from West Virginia.

My history with birds started when I was really young. My grandfather raised

birds. As I was growing up, I started keeping birds myself. At one point, I

47 birds in my bedroom, which my mother wasn't very happy with.

I love being a bird keeper.

When you're ready, Brendan.

Birds are my passion. There she is. Birds are my favorite.

Animals, bar none.

Andean condors are one of the largest flying birds in the world. They're so

amazing, such an incredible diversity of birds.

There are birds that fill pretty much every niche that any other type of

can fill.

Gray may be an expert on all things feathered, but one Australian bird in

particular has a special place in his heart.

I absolutely have a favorite bird. I'm an owl geek. Owls are my favorite.

Griffin is a studio. He is one of the members of the collection here at the

Institute. His senses are so much more acute than ours are.

His hearing, his eyesight, he's able to pick up on so many different things in

his environment because as a wild animal, he needs to be able to identify

things. Is this a threat to me? Do I need to be afraid of this? And if I

that's something I could eat.

Griffin is special to me for a lot of reasons. One of them is obviously

I love owls. But another reason is because I actually have a bit of history

his family.

This is his sister, Dragon, who sadly passed away just before her fifth

birthday. I raised her from eight days old, so she was only about that big.

She was an amazing bird to work with and very, very, very special to me.

And so I wanted to be able to memorialize her and have her with me for

times.

When you work with animals as closely as we do, when they do pass away, you're

losing somebody very close to you, whether it's a friend or a family

And we do take it very hard. I still get emotional thinking about it. It's

probably one of the most difficult parts of what we do.

As Gray and his team prepare for today's bird show, a badly injured owl has just

been brought to Kimberly and her team at the animal hospital.

Found on the side of the road by a passing motorist, the male owl has a

pelvis and a badly damaged tail.

So we'll just do a physical exam on him, check him, want to feel his leg. The

pelvis is still going to need some time to heal. Okay.

But hopefully it'll do that down below.

And maybe in about a week or two we can x -ray him and see how that healing is

going. If there's no improvement, he'll never be able to survive in the wild.

The views from every vantage point at Taronga Zoo are simply breathtaking.

Good boy, up we go.

But right at the top of the hill, one species undoubtedly gets the best view

all.

The chimpanzee.

We've got a nice big group of chimps here at Toronto. We've got 21 chimps in

community. Six different families within that group.

They range in age from 59 years old, and our youngest is little Safiri, who's

almost six months old.

They're actually one of the largest and most successful groups of chimpanzees in

zoos anywhere in the world.

And with so many chimpanzees, it's a full -time job just keeping them

challenged.

So we're just in the chimp kitchen and we're making some enrichment for the

chimps. This is part of their daily food.

Chimps are incredibly intelligent.

So part of our job is to keep them mentally stimulated throughout the day.

So by putting their food in their cube, they have to work out how to get to it.

And yeah, the chimps are very good at using tools.

So we also give them sticks.

In the wild we use a stick to stick into the termite mound and the termites

latch onto the stick to protect their nest and then they pull it out and they

eat the termite.

Here we don't want termites running around the enclosure obviously so

eat some pureed fruit.

One of the reasons we are so successful with their behaviour is that we actually

allow them to manage themselves.

So chimps naturally sort to speak that easy aggression.

That's how it is out in the wild and that's how it is here at the zoo as

So what you see happening in our group here today at Taronga is very similar to

what you'd see if you were lucky enough to be trekking through the forests of

Kibale National Park over in Uganda.

But unfortunately, seeing chimpanzees in Uganda is becoming increasingly

difficult. So breeding at Taronga Zoo is taken very seriously.

They historically have bred really well. Our oldest chimp is Spinner.

She's 59 years old and she was one of the first chimps to be born here at

Taronga on the 1st of July 1960.

Over the years we've had a lot of babies grow up in the community and they've

been sent to zoos all over the world.

And as some animals leave, Taronga also welcome new chimpanzees in.

Naomi is 17 years old.

We imported her a couple of years ago from Denmark. She came over with her

sister, Ceres, to bring new genetics into our community.

She currently has a two -year -old niece.

Her sister, Ceres, had a little baby.

She carries around on her tummy. She gives her food. She's always looking out

for her.

She's very maternal.

Just like humans, chimpanzees can have problems conceiving.

Naomi hasn't been successful in having a baby yet.

Reproductively, she's in her prime at the moment.

She has had two pregnancies.

Unfortunately, both those pregnancies resulted in stillborn, where they were

born pre -term.

Genetically, we really want her to reproduce because she is so valuable.

So we want to take Naomi to the vet block to investigate what's causing

miscarriages. We're also going to bring Ceres, Naomi's sister, up to have a look

at her as well and examine her reproductive system.

But you can't separate a chimp from its child.

So vets will also use this time to conduct the first examination of young

Salibi.

It's an ambitious plan.

Three chimpanzees in the wildlife hospital on the same day.

We need to get answers so we can help Naomi.

We need to do everything we can and get as much information as we can so that we

can help her be successful at the end of the day.

Not only genetically, but for Naomi as well. She's very maternal and she's

a lot of signs that she really wants to be a mother.

What the zoo is about to embark on will require absolute teamwork from all of

Taronga's staff.

One of the cutest animals at Taronga are the red pandas. Red pandas are found in

places near the Himalayan region, so like Nepal, even parts of China.

But being cute doesn't mean they don't face problems in the wild.

Unfortunately, they are endangered just due to population growth, low logging

and deforestation.

So Taronga launched a red panda breeding program, and it's been a huge success.

Here at Taronga, we have a red panda family that consists of mum, her name is

Amawa. We have dad, his name is Pabu, and triplets. Yeah, first time we've had

triplets here at Taronga Zoo.

So we do call them our treetop trio, two boys and one girl.

The two boys' names are Ishwa and Rohan, and our young girl is called Mishri. So

they all have Nepalese names, and that's obviously the origin that they're found

from. But breeding red pandas is very different to raising them.

So while dad Pabu needs to be there from birth... He does play an important role

in terms of teaching the young cubs some social behaviours.

The zoo doesn't have the space to support any more red pandas.

We don't want to have another round of cubs at this stage. We're giving mum

to focus on the new cubs.

But potentially next year, he may give the opportunity to breed again.

So to prevent any unexpected pregnancies, Pabu is moving next door to

renovated bachelor pad.

So yeah, so he put the last logs in, made sure they were all at a good height

you guys can get underneath them, but still gives the pandas good access to

the trees.

That's perfect in terms of making Pabu work a bit on his balance and using all

those muscles. Yeah, definitely.

I think once Pabu gets into the enclosure with the refurbishment that we

think he's going to be pretty excited. It's going to be amazing. You can

definitely tell. It's always fun when you see the first time that they come

out into the exhibit.

checking out all the new stuff, you know, getting up to the high points,

up to the points where they're hanging out a little bit further.

You can see that there's just more enjoyment in the animal.

This is going to be amazing, so I'm even keen to climb around if I could, but

yeah, it's pretty cool.

Keeper Maz has finished his final inspection.

Morning, Pabu.

And it's time for Pabu to pack his bags and move to his new home.

As the sun breaks over Sydney, across the harbour at Taronga Zoo, it's the

of what will be a very busy day.

Caddy, are you good for us to come up? Inside the animal hospital, there's

excitement and tension in the air.

Mary, can you just give us 10 minutes and I'll read you?

OK, no worries. As the team of vets and handlers prepare for a procedure that is

rarely done at Taronga.

We do need to bring our A game today and every day in fact when we're dealing

with dangerous animals. But yeah, chimps I think are a nice challenge for us.

But nothing is more challenging than working on three chimpanzees at a time.

adult females and then one of the adult females has a little baby about just

over one year old.

Definitely got our A game on and the A team.

Okay, should we head up the hill?

Under your top button, mate. Oh, sorry. Geez.

Unless that's the look you're after. No, absolutely not.

A big part of today's procedure on Naomi is to assess her reproductive system

and then when she falls pregnant again, we manage her through the pregnancy,

ultimately with the goal of having a successful birth.

Chimpanzees are one of the most dangerous animals kept at Taronga due to

combination of their intelligence and raw strength.

So senior vet Larry briefed the team to ensure this operation goes off without a

hitch. In terms of safety, obviously the usual sorts of things, you know,

obviously she'll have the usual secondary restraints on her, the cargo

feet will be shackled, chained to the table, the usual sort of situation.

Everyone in the room at least has to wear masks, but anyone touching the

has to wear gloves as well. So apart from that, let's go.

Okay, we'll get the dart ready.

It's been a nervous wait for Kimberly and her team.

You ready for me to go in and get him? I am.

As they race to save a badly injured boobook owl.

Okay, you got him?

You got him restrained? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm going to let you out.

Okay. Are you? Yeah.

All right, come on out.

Oh, good.

Looks very calm.

Was it hard to catch?

A little bit. A little bit.

All right.

I think we can take him next door.

Okay. See how he fares.

A week on, there's small signs of improvement, but he still has a long way

go. Get you down there soon.

All right.

We'll have a look at his wings. He flies okay in there, doesn't he? Yeah.

He is missing a few little tail feathers. That's right.

Happy to weigh him? I'm happy to weigh him. Okay.

He weighs 265, which I think is the weight that he came in on, which has

good. That's really good. And you said he's eating well. Yep.

Be good to see him in that large den.

Give him some exercise.

Well, it's a moment or two until we release him. We'll see.

The end game is to release the owl back into the wild.

But first, they need to see how he flies in a controlled environment.

This is one of the wildlife rehabilitation yards.

So we're going to release the boo book into this area to see how he manipulates

the environment.

We want to make sure he can fly okay.

We want to make sure that his lameness doesn't recur.

Are you happy for me to... I'm happy for you to release him, and we'll see how

he goes.

Well, he's looking a little bit bedraggled at the moment, but he has

out of a bag, so... Oh, there you go.

We do think his left leg really well.

We're only having half a towel.

Yeah. That's pretty good to be able to get up onto that log.

It's a great first flight.

All right, well, we'll just let him settle in for the next day or two, and

we can start exercising a little more as long as his leg's okay.

He looks good. He's holding his left leg a little bit in, but we'll see how he

goes with that.

Pabu, the red panda, is being separated from his family to stop him breeding

anymore. Yeah, so Pabu's about to go into his new home, and we are quite

but also quite excited for him too just to ensure that he does like it.

Bringing down Pabu is a challenge.

Pandas naturally feel a lot more comfortable being up high, so having

come down is quite vulnerable for them.

They do

have a natural instinct of where predators may come about.

So it's always taking little steps to ensure that Pabu is nice and

Get up.

Good boy.

All right, Pubs.

Pet pack.

Good boy.

All right, Babu.

Showing pet pack. Watch your tail. Good boy.

Good stuff, buddy.

Hey, Louise. Just letting you know, Pabu's pet packed and he's on route to

Panner exhibit.

Brilliant. Well done, men.

The only way to successfully inject a chimpanzee is with a low -powered dart

gun.

Chimps, of course, as you can imagine, are very clever, and they know exactly

what's happening, so they know how to avoid the dart as well. So it's quite a

challenge making sure that we pick the moment when the chimps sort of still, we

try and aim for a good muscle group in the upper arm or in the leg.

So I'll just go in on my own to dart her.

So if they're bouncing around, of course it can take a little while to pick that

moment to make sure we hit the right spot.

Hey, come on.

Come on, sweetie.

Come on.

Don't follow me.

One of the challenges with these guys, of course, is there's a sort of a metal

mesh and the end of the barrel has to be like through the mesh to be able to

avoid hitting the mesh.

I mean, might need a distraction, I think.

But they know that we've got to do that, so they're continually there putting

their fingers through.

And we've had several occasions where, of course, the chimp grabs the barrel of

the pistol, which doesn't end well usually for the barrel because they

break it. But there are no such problems today.

She's done.

Naomi is the perfect patient.

Come on, give us the dart.

Come on, drop the dart.

Oh, good girl, good girl.

Oh, she is so clever.

Unbelievable.

And then she just handed the dart back.

Now, Larry and the team are hoping that the rest of this procedure goes

smoothly. I mean, she just knew.

Oh, my God.

Oh, it's raining.

A badly injured booboo gal has spent the last four weeks at Taronga recovering

after being hit by a car.

and Libby and the team are hoping he'll soon be well enough to return to the

wild.

Hello.

Look at you.

So the rehab period for this bird will probably be quite extensive. We need to

get it right, because when the bird goes back out into the wild, it has to be

able to catch food and survive in the wild.

Oh, flying very well today.

Encouraging the bird to move around is an important part of watching the way

that the wings are moving. You need to be able to see that both wings are

evenly and you need to be able to watch that the bird is grabbing onto the perch

properly as well.

I've just left the enclosure because birds behave very differently when

actually present. They will even look sick. sometimes when they think you're

there and look well when you're looking at them.

Yeah, so today's checkup's been really favourable. He's landing quite well on

the perch, which is really good, quite even when he's landing, which he wasn't

doing before, and he's a little bit crooked in his pelvis.

He's dropping one wing, so he's probably still a little bit sore.

Next, we need to make sure that both wings are functioning properly, that the

pelvis is restored to normal.

And then he needs to go on a fitness regime, making sure that he's as fit as

needs to be to catch his food in the wild.

It's a massive day for Taronga's vets.

They're examining three chimpanzees in a morning, and Naomi is the first to be

sedated.

Part of the procedure today is to do an ultrasound examination of Naomi's

reproductive tract, and we'll do that with Sarah's as well.

Naomi is having trouble carrying her unborn baby to term, and the team is

desperate to find out why.

She's a very important animal in terms of genetics of our group. We brought her

in specifically from Europe for genetic management of our group.

So we've got 62 .2.

OK, most of the great apes, as we're great apes as well, we're all very

in our anatomy and physiology.

One, two, three. So we do call on human specialists quite often to help us out

with great apes. One, two, three, lift.

Dr Paul Fowler has been called in to solve the mystery of Naomi's failed

pregnancy.

It's as fascinating for them as it is for us.

I'm an obstetrician and I deal with humans.

Obviously. Just slide her down. And we're going to slide her down.

Okay. A little bit different, but she'll be interesting. Yeah, it'll be a new

experience, basically.

So she may move a little bit, so don't be too alarmed.

She's gotten pregnant, and then when she's been close to delivering, the baby

has died.

One of them died a number of weeks before she was due.

Both of them were stillborn and they were small as well.

A little bit of local anesthetic spray.

So what we're trying to do today is try and investigate why that may have

happened. We'll get on her back.

And we're sort of taking a human slant on it and we're transferring some of the

investigations that we would perform in a...

human person who has a greater restricted baby and trying to transfer

relationship to the chimps.

Today they're hoping to get the answers they need by gathering samples

and performing an ultrasound.

And helping Dr Fowler is one of his colleagues, sonographer Petrina Roussel.

Blood vessel?

Aorta?

Yeah,

you'd think the uterus would just jump out.

I mean, in the non -pregnant, it was only quite small. Yeah.

Oh, beautiful.

That is gorgeous.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah, that's beautiful, yeah.

The similarities with the human anatomy are astounding.

So, cervix, this little area here.

And then this is the uterus here.

These are little follicles on it.

Lovely follicles on it, lots of follicles.

There's a little bit of fluid around there.

The ovaries were of normal size and texture. Everything under ultrasound,

couldn't really see a difference between a human or a chimpanzee. I found that

very, very surprising.

Oh, she's really lovely.

There was nothing under ultrasound that is causing her miscarriages. So we can

say that she's healthy, she should be able to fall pregnant again easily.

She's got plenty of follicles on her ovaries, so she's perfectly fertile.

With the ultrasound not showing anything unusual, the team run a comprehensive

series of tests and take the rare opportunity to conduct a full health

So this is the vaccine we're giving her?

for encephalomyocarditis virus.

Of course, with a chimp, we have limited opportunity to do any of that without

anaesthesia. Look at that, full service.

It was a great anaesthetic procedure, and we got full investigation, a

health check, got all the samples we needed. One, two, three.

There you go.

That will help us then formulate a plan to manage her next pregnancy when she

falls pregnant.

This is actually probably the trickiest path is taking her back because a lot of

the anaesthetic drug would have worn off. But she's nice and fast asleep, so

we'll move swiftly to the chimp house.

But for the Taronga vet, Naomi is only the first of three chimps to be examined

today. This is a great opportunity because to have Naomi, who we're

investigating her reproductive problems.

and having a normal, healthy animal that has bred successfully as a comparison.

So it's a perfect opportunity for the obstetrician -gynaecologist to examine

another chimpanzee as a comparison.

It's now Ceres's turn.

Ceres and Sibelius and Susie's turn.

OK, so we're going right next to them? Yes.

Hopefully her examination will help explain what's happening to her sister,

Naomi.

Red panda Pabu is moving to his new enclosure right next door to his partner

three cubs.

Ready to see your new exhibit?

Never a dull moment here at the zoo. We're always moving animals and Pabu

going to his newly renovated exhibit.

Animal transfers and movements is something that happens throughout the

at Taronga Zoo.

And that's from our tigers, how we're moving around to different exhibits.

It's all part of our enrichment program as well.

Although he's only moving next door, a completely new environment offers a

of enrichment for a curious animal like Pabu.

So, yeah, we're just about to place him into the exhibit, so watch how he goes.

All right.

Ready, buddy? Here we go.

There we go.

Typical male panda, set marking everywhere.

Maz to Louise, gentlemen.

Hey, Maz.

Hey, Louise, just letting you know, Pabu has safely returned to the paddock.

Wonderful.

Pretty cool to see.

And now we're, like, trying to figure out all the new logs, and it's like a

almost. So he's problem solving, trying to figure out all the routes of how to,

you know, come down or how to cross over. So all very stimulating for him,

is amazing to see. As you can see as well, he's set marking while he does it.

And that's him just, you know, establishing his area, which is typical

panda.

There you go, bud.

You want some apple? No?

He's more focused on the set marking and you can see he's quite busy. So this is

all exciting.

He might actually go and check out that pipe, actually, to see next door. They

can sometimes talk to one another.

Pabu was so prolific at reproducing, Taronga had to separate him from his

partner because they simply couldn't fit any more cubs in the panda pad.

We do have a tunnel between the two exhibits that has kind of a mesh through

so both pandas from either end can still come in and still interact with one

another, but obviously they can't go through to each side.

Bob would sometimes go in there just to see how the wife and kids are.

He's still socialising, which is an important part, particularly with the

development.

So yeah, so Papa's now got this amazing or what we call George's Palace.

It's awesome that to see him. He's very active and enjoying it. He's walking

around and you can see a lot of problem solving there as well because all those

tracks have been changed up for him, which is great. And that's part of our

here at the zoo to ensure that these animals that we have are always being

challenged and also enriched day to day.

Just brought the owl up to have another x -ray. This is the owl that we were

looking at with the fractured pelvis.

And I was really impressed with the way it was flying yesterday and the way it

was perching and maneuvering around the enclosure.

Now Kimberley is going to take another x -ray, which she took an x -ray earlier,

and now she's going to see, hopefully, some improvement in the owl and the

pelvic area.

So one of my concerns is the lack of tail feathers.

There's three tail feathers remaining.

Tails are critical for manoeuvrability.

So they get the lift and the power from the wings, but the manoeuvrability is

from the tail. So when they're snatching at moths or beetles or coming into

land, they're using their tail feathers. So that's why they're so important for

this owl.

I think they've been pulled out, which is a good thing. It means they'll grow

out and he'll have a tail before he's released.

Are you happy with the anesthesia? Yeah. All right, let's put her on the plate.

Okay, well, I'm going to leave you to it, so I'll see you. Okay.

As Libby departs, another bird lover, Gray, drops by to check on the progress

his precious owl.

Just peek over your shoulder. You can.

It's always hard to see an animal come in that's been injured, particularly for

me, the owls, because they're the animal that I really feel the strongest about.

But it is part of the job. And the thing that is really great here is we have

such an amazing team of vets and vet nurses and wildlife carers that really

look after these guys to make sure that they're going to be able to make it out

into the wild and be successful.

Thanks, Gray.

That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me.

And you've got it on tape. Yeah.

Okay, so let's take that radiograph. Can everybody step out so we don't expose

you?

So we've just taken a radiograph again of the bubogal that had the fracture of

the left side of the pelvis.

And I can see here there's some bony change in the area of the pelvis, so it

looks like it's healed, but it's definitely not straight. This pelvis is

perfectly symmetrical.

I can see that the bone has healed in a bit of an irregular pattern in such a

way that it's not allowing that leg to fully extend.

which is crucial if the owl is to be released into the wild.

We're going to have to see how he can eat in his rehabilitation yard.

It'll probably take another few weeks just to see how he can get his own food

and if he's going to be suitable for release to the wild.

I'm hopeful that he'll go back out to the wild, but I'm not sure.

Yeah, we'll see.

I really don't know.

At Taronga's Wildlife Hospital, vet Larry and his team have two more female

chimps to examine today.

So we've just finished Naomi's procedure. She's back at the chimp house

up. And now we're going to anaesthetise two other chimps.

The mother and baby, actually.

Sarah's in her belly.

Come through, pet pack on the scale quickly.

To anaesthetise three chimps in one day is extremely rare at the zoo.

The belly is one year and eight months old. Just bring her in.

She's still dependent on Sarah, so when we anaesthetise the mother, we'll have

to anaesthetise the baby as well.

What's your weight? 6 .4. 6 .4.

So a great opportunity to do a full examination on little Sibeli as well.

The little chimps always lose a lot more heat than the bigger chimps when

they're anaesthetised.

So we're just trying to keep the bear hugger on her all the time to try and

maintain her body temperature where we want it.

I'm just going to take this X -ray and see how we go.

We want to make sure that we can pretty well do everything that we need to do to

keep her healthy in the way of vaccinations and things like that in one

her. So this is just a vaccination similar to what a child would have,

particularly for tetanus.

And then she doesn't have to have anything else done for quite some time.

But she looks so far like a beautiful, healthy little baby.

In an adjoining theatre to Libby's mother, Ceres is also healthy.

It's hoped the examination of Ceres will help explain why her sister Naomi has

twice fallen pregnant but both times delivered stillborn.

This is a great opportunity because to have Naomi, who we're investigating her

reproductive problems, and having a normal healthy animal that has bred

successfully as a comparison. So it's a perfect opportunity for the obstetrician

-gynaecologist, Dr Fowler.

to examine another chimpanzee as a comparison.

So we're going to do the same test on the second chimpanzee to see if there's

any differences in them, because we're still trying to sort out why Naomi's

placenta hasn't worked very well during the pregnancy, because we know that the

second chimpanzee has successfully breeded. So across the tummy itself.

That's what we usually see is the uterus bulging into... Yes, that's exactly...

And so human, exactly like...

It's amazing.

It's similar, very similar.

The position of the womb was the same.

The lining of the womb all looked the same.

This is a full bladder, and this is an ovary here, and the little black dots

the follicles that contain the eggs.

So the uterus is identical.

So is the lining. I mean, one chimp is actually on the pill, so her lining is

exactly like what a human's lining is like on the pill.

They need a sample of urine anyway. With no obvious differences between Ceres

and Naomi's reproductive organs, the team will rely on the extensive tests.

and samples collected today for clues to why Naomi's been unable to carry a baby

to full term.

That'll take a few days to get all those results back.

When we do, we'll regroup with Dr Fowler and the rest of the team to come up

with a plan for Naomi when she falls pregnant next.

You need a bigger gauge, don't you?

Yeah, we could easily probably put a bigger one in there.

When I was starting to become an obstetrician, there's no way I thought

be... working at Taronga Zoo, helping out with the chimps or the gorillas. But

it's been a great experience.

I'm now angling up to her tummy and I'm angling towards her back there.

It's a bit different to my day job. There's not so many people in the room

my patients are always awake.

But, yeah, it was a wonderful experience and I wish her all the best for her

future pregnancies.

Were we ready to take her up? Are they almost done? Yeah. OK. A huge day, huge

morning. To knock out three chimps in one morning is a big deal. Look at that

face.

It's pretty cute.

Everyone did a fantastic job and it's great teamwork, great to have

involved and all the keepers involved and, yeah, very successful.

But as successful as the day has been...

Larry and the team won't really be satisfied until Naomi is cradling a baby

her arms.

So today we're going to band and release the booboo cow.

Sarah, we're just going to catch the owl and come back out and band it.

This owl came to us with a pelvic injury, so quite a severe injury, and

been in care at Taronga Wildlife Hospital for two months.

which is enough time for the injury to heal and enough time for physiotherapy.

Now we're really happy and the owl's ready to go home.

Yeah, isn't he?

That's fantastic.

So I'm just going to wrap him up in what we call a burrito just so that we can

weigh him so he's contained in the towel.

Pop him in there and we can get an accurate weight on him.

He weighs...

It's 276 grams.

So before release, the bird needs to be in perfect condition. Not only is its

weight got to be perfect for a bird of that age, it needs to be able to fly

well so it can catch its food.

He looks so cute, Sarah.

It's been a long road to get to the point where it can go out for release,

we're happy with his progress.

As part of a worldwide monitoring system, a band is placed on the owl's

Just got to tighten it up, it's stainless steel.

The bird will have that band for the rest of its life and it will enable us

monitor its progress after it's released.

And we have really good success rate.

The return of this boo book owl to the wild isn't just a victory for the carers

at Taronga Zoo.

It's so important to get them back out into the wild, but it's also a community

effort for the people that found him, the families involved, the rescue group,

the vet that he was taken to, and then us. It's not just this one little owl.

It's about spreading education about urban wildlife out into the wild.

He's in perfect condition, which is what we want, not too fat, not too thin.

Sarah gave him a lovely meal, and he's nice and ready to go.

He's got a little bit of feathers missing just on his forehead here, which

of makes him even cuter, really.

It's like he's got a bit of bed hair happening there.

He's really cute and, yeah, very happy with his pelvis and we're really happy

with his flight. So we're going to put him in the box now because he's ready to

go.

Bye -bye, Mr Boo Book.

It's got ventilation holes in it.

As you can see, it's got a stick for it to perch in. And the reason I like to

use cardboard is because it's very soft.

And that way the bird won't hurt its feathers while it's being transported.

Because it might jump around and there's obviously going to be noise in the car.

It's a very stressful time for animals to be transported to release.

So I'd be happy in there, can hopefully settle down in a minute, sit on the

perch. And it needs to be after dark that we release the owl.

You can hear him jumping around in there at the moment.

All right, let's do this. Let's do this thing. The months of rehab have all paid

off. Okay, so finally going home. I know. Bye -bye. Have fun. Bye.

And now there's just one more step in the owl's journey home.

Libby has driven to a nearby national park.

to finally release the now healthy boobook owl.

So I've just come down to a walk in the bush, just walking around a little bit

to find the perfect release site for this owl.

For a boobook owl, the best release site is a site with lots of trees and this

area has lots of trees and lots of understory as well. So there'll be lots

insects here. So this is a really good spot here.

The booboo cow is found very close to here, less than a kilometre up the road.

We don't want to release him near the road, but he will know this area very

because this is where he lives.

So he's coming home.

I'm always anxious transporting animals.

You never know what's going to happen in the transport box. They get really

nervous. And then at release, you never know what's going to happen.

Perfect, not too much wind.

And it's very dark. You want it to be very dark when you release owls.

Not dusk. Dusk is a very busy time.

And then also the nocturnal animals get up and they're very hungry. So it needs

to be pitch black and a little bit quieter time, which is perfect now. It's

really dark now and I'm happy with this.

So it might be a good time to switch to the night vision camera now because owls

don't like bright lights.

I'm going to put the towel in front and grab him.

Okay, I've got him now.

Oh, sweetie.

That was a bit tough, wasn't it?

Oh, look at his feathers.

Oh, sweetheart.

He's looking a bit shocked at the moment.

Just been in a box, travelling.

wondering where he is, but pretty soon I'm sure he's going to be really glad to

be home.

How are you?

What's happening?

I'm excited now.

I get so excited when they're just about to be released.

It's just the best feeling.

This is what it's all about.

I have to say goodbye now though.

Okay.

Safe travels. No more cars.

Okay.

He's just trying to focus.

I think it's a bit bright for him at the moment.

Gone.

Just like that.

That was good though. He flew into the tree.

Oh, there he goes.

There he is. He's up in the tree right on the edge of the branch.

So perfect.

Oh, cute. Oh, look at that.

It's amazing.

So now he's home.

Nursing animals and getting them back out into the wild is just a great

achievement. And what an amazing veterinary team we have at Taronga.

Yay!

I'm happy now.