Original subtitles

Sydney Harbour is home to one of the world's most iconic zoos, Taronga.

Everyone stand as far apart as possible.

But never before... Make sure you've got your mask on. ...has it faced a year

with its many monumental challenges.

It's really hard to see because I'm fogging up.

Atta boy, Jim. Nearly home, mate.

The teams across both of Taronga's zoos... Open.

...meet every challenge head on.

And our cameras are there.

every step of the way.

On this episode, looks can be deceiving.

They have a dagger -like claw that sits on the inside toe and they can do a lot

of damage with that claw.

So here comes Macca. But be very wary of the cassowary.

Because they are dangerous animals, you always want to make sure that padlocks

are actually secure.

So this is bamboo.

Strike a pose.

They absolutely love to sunbake. As these lemurs take sun worship.

Here we've got Julian and McKillie.

To a whole new level.

It's a very social thing to do for a lemur.

And. Hi handsome.

Open. Open wide.

They've been known to actually bite crocodiles in half with that mouth.

Up close and personal with one hungry, hungry hippo.

Good. Excellent.

Good boy.

Taronga Zoo is home to 11 species of primates.

They come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments.

And while they all like to hang out in family groups, there's one species that

takes this to the next level.

There are over 100 different species of lemurs, all very unique from each other.

But I guess ring -tailed lemurs are pretty distinct.

You might notice they have 13 blacks.

and 13 white stripes on their tail, and it always ends in a black tip, which is

just a fun fact.

They use their tail for balance. They also keep their tails high up in the air

when they're walking on the ground, a little bit like a flag.

So they can all band together as a group.

And for these very social primates, being in a close -knit group means they

everything together.

Grooming is really important within a lemur troop. It's how they bond with

other. They do have a grooming tooth comb with their teeth at the bottom, so

basically they're able to groom fur through that tooth comb.

They tend to sleep in huddles together, so often you can't see how many lemurs

are actually in a huddle. They kind of tuck all their heads in and they really

hold on tight.

So this is Bamboo, one of our lemurs.

Every day, keeper Rebecca conditions the group with some human interaction.

Good boy.

He's a great leaper. He's very agile.

Good boy.

But when it comes to lemurs, not even their preferred treats can drag them

from their favorite pastime.

Actual behavior for a ringtail lemur is that they absolutely love to sunbake. We

call it sun worshipping.

They sit on their bum, they hold their hands out in the air, and they soak up

all that sun.

They love it.

Here we've got, you know, Julian and McKillie. We've got Zia and Andre here,

they're all sitting around sun worshipping together. So it's a very

to do.

for a lemur.

But, just like us, a day in the sun doesn't come without risk.

This is Andreeba. He's 21.

About a week ago, Andreeba presented with a wound on his back.

The wound hasn't healed too well, which is quite unusual.

The wound is especially concerning because of Andreeba's history with

So today, he's got an appointment with vet Kimberly.

Once he's stabilized, we'll get you to do a temperature.

And Dream is a 21 -year -old male who has had a malignant melanoma removed

six months ago. The tumor he had before was quite big. It was maybe about four

centimeters, really round and raised.

And I didn't get great margins, so the fact that that tumor could come back

is very real.

Just have a feel of his abdomen.

And Kimberly's on the lookout for any signs that the cancer's returned.

So with these types of cancers, they can spread to the lungs and the liver and

some of the other organs.

All right, lungs sound good.

It's always hard bringing your animals up to the vet block, especially when

have to undergo a procedure like this, but they're in the best care here. I've

got every faith in our vet team.

We're just going to intubate him.

Given his age, the return of a melanoma could be terrible news for this senior

lemur.

Taronga's two zoos have around 250 keepers, all working closely with the

Good ball.

There you go. It takes years of training to get to this level.

But like any job in any industry, You have to start somewhere.

As a training keeper, you do the dirty work.

There's so much to learn. I'm learning something new every single day. I've

here for almost three years now and I'm still getting surprised on a daily

basis.

I started my traineeship on the bird team.

Trainee keeper Harmony has been learning how to look after our feathered friend

for the last few months.

As a training keeper, it's great to learn all the different techniques of

working with all the different types of species.

This is John. He's a budgie. He's a native budgerigar.

What are you doing, buddy?

But not all birds will sit on your shoulder and eat from your hand.

Today, Harmony is getting up close with the most dangerous bird in the world,

the southern cassowary.

They are the second largest bird in Australia, so they're definitely not a

in the park to work with.

And taking Harmony under her wing is keeper Corinne.

All you have to do is look at them to just be in complete awe of them. They're

our direct link to dinosaurs.

Those prehistoric feeds, there's something else to look at.

and they have a dagger -like claw that sits on the inside toe. Now that claw

grow up to 12 centimetres long and then they can use those powerful legs to jump

up and kick out and they can do a lot of damage with that claw.

So that's what classifies them as dangerous. I personally, if I saw them

the wild, I would keep my distance because I know the damage they can do.

Because they're so dangerous, Trainee keepers must be closely supervised at

times. All right, Harmony, so this is the large den. This is where we feed out

their morning food.

Yep. They also come in here to seek shelter from the rain. Got a lovely

in here, keep them warm if the temperatures drop too low at night.

I'm teaching her how to safely work with the cassowaries, all the protocols that

we have to follow.

Because they are dangerous animals, you always want to make sure that padlocks

into the den are actually secured.

We also always want to split their food between the two bowls here so then they

can disperse, they can pick what they want out and they don't need to compete

for the food at all.

One of the notes that Kareem said to me was remain calm when they're entering

the den and that's because they are quite a nerve -wracking bird to be that

close to. Their height is pretty impressive.

The apple and pears we're going to empty into the food hopper here. Okay.

We actually have a little viewing window here through the door, so we can

actually see where they are in the exhibit when we need to call them in. So

you want to just have a look, they might actually be out there at the moment.

So you can see our male and our female both there.

She's going to come up and have a little look at them. So we know they're out

there, they're ready, they're keen, so we're going to let them in.

So here comes Maka.

She's our female.

Our female.

Okay.

And if you'll notice, she's a lot larger than the male. Okay.

So is that how you tell the difference between them?

Absolutely.

So come on in, Mac.

Mac is very interested in eggs, one of her top favourite foods, and it's part

of the protein in their diet. So as a reward for her coming in, just gently

that through the mesh. Oh, she's very gentle. She is a very gentle bird.

She's dropped the egg, but that's all right. She'll pick that up in her own

time.

They eat better than I do. I would not eat this healthy. No.

We might just sprinkle a little bit of the food in here for her. Yep.

So because she is gentle, you're able to open that while she's in here.

Absolutely.

Can I ask what that thing is on her head? The thing on her head is actually

called a calf.

Okay.

I've been calling it calf for two years. That's embarrassing.

There's a few different theories going around as to what the cats are actually

used for, but most recent studies have shown it's to help them regulate their

body temperatures.

Wow, that's pretty impressive.

It is pretty impressive. So it's not hard and bony like you would think. It's

quite soft and spongy on the inside, and the outside layer is made out of the

protein called keratin that is found in your fingernail. Yeah, that's pretty

soft.

There's a lot of things that need to be ticked off, a lot of competencies.

and we're getting there. We will still train with Harmony for a few more months

before she's qualified to look after these animals, and we will watch her

closely in that time to make sure she's following all the procedures safely.

And as you can see, she's done, so she's heading out as well.

And the next part of catheter care that Harmony has to learn is a bit more hands

-on.

It's part of being a zookeeper.

You can't get around it, so you've got to have a strong stomach for this job.

Taronga Zoo prides itself in recreating environments that animals would inhabit

in the wild.

Whether it's on land, in the water, or

a bit of both.

Hi, Lana.

Hi, handsome.

Six common hippos call Weston Plain Zoo in Dubbo home.

Lana.

Open.

Hold. Hold.

Good. Good boy.

But when it comes to hippos, they are living proof that you can't judge a book

by its cover.

Hippos are fantastic animals to work with.

My favourite thing about working with them is their personality. A lot of

think they're quite thick -skinned, and they are, but they're actually quite

sensitive in their personality as well.

This is Mana. He's our breeding bull that we have here at the zoo. He's 23

old. He's our biggest hippo that we have here.

Hippos in general are quite large, quite powerful animals. In particular, their

feet, they can actually run very, very quick on land and they can swim very

in the water. But the most impressive thing about them is actually their jaw,

my opinion.

These guys can open their mouth almost straight up and down like that.

Good. Excellent.

Good boy.

They actually have a bite -down force of 800 kilos.

So that's like having a small car sitting on your chest if you were in a

mouth, which I hope none of us ever are.

And so they've been known out in the wild to actually bite crocodiles in half

with that force.

Good. Good boy.

Excellent.

All right.

At the only ball at Taronga, Mana has already fathered two calves, and

female cuddles is pregnant again with a third.

And keepers are counting down the days until the big arrival.

We're not sure whether it's going to be a little boy or a little girl, but I

really hope that it's going to be a boy, because it will be the first male calf

born in our region in about 24 years, and that's going to play an amazing,

important role in the hippo breeding program in our region.

And it seems they're not going to have to wait too long to find out.

Back in Sydney, lemur keepers have noticed a wound on the back of 21 -year

Andreeba. It's concerning because he has a history of melanoma.

When the keeper said they saw another mass, I was really worried that the

melanoma had come back.

28 for respiration.

Vet Kimberly has decided to do a thorough examination of Andreeva under

anesthetic.

Do you want the light on?

Sure.

I'm trying to find the incision from where we removed the prior melanoma

it would be good to just recheck that spot.

But the fact that I can't actually find it is a good indication that it's not

recurred right there.

The fur is so thick and dense that if I have a little tumor, it's kind of hard

to see it. Do you want to have a look? Yeah. Do you want to have a look as you

know?

I cannot find it. Yeah, I couldn't either.

Today, I could not find the incision where I removed the melanoma before.

So that's great news because that tumor could have come back in that same spot.

That's a good sign. That's good.

There's nothing there that I can see.

No. So while the outside of Andreeva may look good, Kimberly wants to make sure

the cancer hasn't spread internally.

There we go. It's fine. Okay.

Everybody step out, please.

X -rays will give Kimberly a clearer picture.

Oh, that's actually good.

Often you don't get a very good view of the lungs.

I'm checking the lungs because a lot of times cancer and melanoma.

can spread to organs in the body, like liver, but also to the lungs. So if I

worried that the melanoma had spread to his lungs or his liver, I'd expect to

see, like in the liver area, some masses, some like white nodules.

And then in the lungs, you can see little white spots along the lungs.

I don't see that at all. The lungs look pretty clear.

So I'm really happy.

That's a good sign.

Done for x -rays? Done.

Okay. One, two, three. Now that Kimberley is happy and Reba's heart and

are clear, she moves on to examine the current wound.

But his new one is around here. Let's put him on his front.

Do we lay him on his... His journal?

Yeah, his journal.

So here's a wound here. So if we can get in there.

He might have to have a bit of a shave.

Yep. Sorry.

He's going to have a haircut.

He might have a bit of a haircut.

Don't become a hairdresser.

Definitely not my forte.

Oh, my goodness.

Once the area is fur -free, the new wound is obvious.

This is a new lesion. I can see that it's raised.

And it's got Kimberly worried.

It's a big gooey. It could be another melanoma.

Because they are a dangerous bird, we always want to make sure our locks are

locked. So we just want to check this padlock.

Trainee Keeper Harmony is learning how to care for the world's most dangerous

bird, the southern cassowary.

So here comes Macca. She's our female.

So if we want to walk a little further down here, I might encourage them to

in a little bit.

Today I'm lucky enough to be learning how to work with our southern cassowary.

As they are such a large, impressive bird, there's definitely the nerves that

come along with it, but you've got to really focus on what you're doing to

sure that you're doing the safety procedures properly and correctly to

yourself, everybody else and the cassowaries safe at all times.

After watching from the safety of the viewing area... Checking.

Good. No cassowaries inside.

Today she will be going into the exhibit for the first time.

Alright, Harmi, so the cassowaries are safely locked in now? Yep. So we can

on out to the exhibit.

To learn about one of the cassowary's most important roles in their ecosystem.

So around 20 different species of plants rely solely on being ingested by the

cassowary. They're being referred to in the past as the gardeners of the

rainforest. And this is because of their gentle digestive system.

The cassowaries are a keystone species. They're important to the diversity of

the rainforest.

Without the cassowaries consuming fruits and seeds and dispersing them through

the rainforest, a lot of those plants in the rainforest would not exist.

Therefore, we really need to keep these birds around.

So what we'll be out here looking for is just some of their scats just to tidy

up. So we want to do a bit of a rake and a shovel if we find any.

And just to avoid any confusion, a scat in this context is cassowary poo.

touching, gats, it's part of being a zookeeper.

You can't get around it, so you've got to have a strong stomach for this job.

All right, I think we've found some over here, Harmony.

Yep.

So if you want to have a look, this is the perfect example of how well and

gentle their digestive system works. Yeah, there's whole chunks of fruit.

So there's still whole chunks of fruit in there.

So I think we can see...

Maybe a little bit of rock melon still there. You've got rock melon skin, some

pear, and the blue condom berry here. That's the tree that's grown in this

right? Yeah, absolutely.

You can actually see that their digestive system has actually started to

down the flesh around the seed, but it leaves it completely intact and

That is really germinate. It's completely unharmed. It's sitting in a

of fertilizer and is ready to go.

It was so impressive to see how their digestive system works and how gentle it

can be and how important they actually are to the rainforest.

So what I've got here are actually eggs from the cassowaries. That's so amazing.

So they're pretty incredible.

The sheer size of them, they come out even... Can I hold them? Of course.

you. They come out even brighter than this.

If there's lush plants around, you'd be hard -pressed to find them, I think.

But, yeah, something that you probably won't get another chance to see unless

you're working with the casseroles.

It's beautiful.

I'll have to take it back off you, though. You can't have it.

What a shame.

The training is quite a lengthy process.

It's not done in one day. It's a babysit process.

So every day it's something new.

So as we were talking about before,

Great kiwi pawpaw.

Maca, Chuck, really love their grapes.

And down the bottom, sultanas, which is one of Maca's favourites.

And although Harmony still has a lot to learn... I'm getting really close to

getting fully signed off, which is really exciting.

Training to work with the cassowary has been a real feather in her cap.

I have been really enjoying it. I've learnt so much.

I'm definitely on the right path to start working with the cassowary.

And it looks like the bird team is somewhere she'll enjoy nesting over the

coming years.

I'm so happy here. I've found my home and I want to work here for as long as I

can.

Six months ago, Lima and Dreeba had an operation to remove a malignant

and vet Kimberly is concerned she may have found another one. So here's a

here, so if we can get in there.

So he's also got now another mass on his back.

It's raised. It's a bit gooey.

It could be another melanoma.

But Kimberly needs to take a closer look.

to find out exactly what it is. We've got a vacuum.

Vacuuming a lemur.

You can see the skin is really thickened and raised.

It's got two punctures there. Do you reckon that looks like to be lemur's

This looks more like a bite to me.

But that's not saying it's not, because tumors can actually get necrotic and

open up.

Let's measure the distance between his teeth and see if that looks like a lemur

bite. Do you want calipers?

Yeah, let's get the calipers.

Do you want tip to tip? Yep, tip to tip.

Okay, that's close. Let's leave it there and see if that looks like similar to

that distance.

Yep.

All evidence seems to be pointing to one obvious thing.

I reckon maybe somebody spit in him.

Yeah.

Wouldn't be impossible.

There was tension in the group that week and there was a few aggressive

encounters with the lemurs.

Where it's located on the back, it seems like a sneak attack. So it's where a

lemur jumps on another lemur's back.

They grab a hold and they bite and then they'll jump off.

But it's very suspicious of a bite wound given the distance between those two

marks.

And the aggression history.

And the fact that we can't find the old scar. And that's not come back. So I'm

really, really happy with that.

So we'll start them on some anti -inflammatories and some antibiotics.

I'm going to take some biopsies just to make sure.

So we're just taking some circular biopsies so we can look at the cells.

And the biopsy will tell us a lot.

I am pretty.

Sure, it's probably just a bite wound, but with his history, I want to be

certain. So we'll look at the cells at a microscopic level to see if it's just

inflammation or if there's tumor in there.

If it's melanoma, it'll show up in there.

Once the site of the biopsy has been stitched, the team take the opportunity

do a thorough examination of 21 -year -old Andreeva.

I can see to the back of his eyes, which means he can see out.

His eyes actually look really good.

He is an old guy, but his eyes look nice and clear.

He's got a beautiful little mask, very classic ring -tailed limber face.

He's got these beautiful teeth.

On the bottom, they usually have lower incisors that act like a comb, but he's

missing some of his teeth.

He's going to have to cope with it. We're not going to give him dentures.

Because he's doing okay.

He's got a bit of tartar there. We'll take that off.

Apart from his back wound, Andreeva is in surprisingly good health for an old

lemur. And with his medical complete, it's

time to wake him up.

Starting to wake up?

Andreeva's breathing really well, recovering nicely.

Starting to lift his head up, look around a little bit. So it's a slow but

steady recovery, which is really nice. You don't want it to be too erratic or

too fast.

Once he's fully recovered, Andreeva will go back to join his troop.

But Kimberley will be waiting anxiously for his result.

He's a favourite.

And I just really want him to do well. And he's made it to 21.

I want him to just have a lovely life and continue to live it out here without

having to deal with tumor.

Out at Taronga Western Plain Zoo in Dubbo, there's some exciting news at

Lake.

Our beautiful female hippo, Cuddles, gave birth to a little male calf.

And we've named him Kani, which means strength.

Huddles actually gave birth in the early hours of the morning.

That's quite natural for hippos to give birth in the shallows of the water.

precious little hippo calf.

He is the first male calf born in 24 years within our region. So he's going

play an extremely valuable and important role within the future breeding

program.

Today, keeper Caroline is doing the rounds.

Checking in on baby Connie's daily development is an important part of her

Look down, Puddle.

Connie, are you hiding?

He's thriving.

He's approximately 150 kilos right now, so he's developing really well.

As you can see, he's putting on quite substantial weight, and that's just due

his mum cuddle being very nurturing, but her milk is really high in protein.

So they tend to pack it on quite readily.

The first few months of a hippo's life are hugely important.

During this imprinting phase, you know, mum cuddle likes to keep little Connie

away and protected from the rest of the group.

Little Carney, as he develops, he needs to learn how to behave as a hippo as

well. And this is where mum is really important.

Firstly, when he meets dad, and of course, when he meets his elder sisters

his aunt.

So everything from body posturing, vocals, how he moves in the water as

pretty important for his development.

Hippos are naturally an aquatic species, even though they come out on land quite

a lot to go grazing.

Hippos have these remarkable features where they are able to close their

nostrils because they're very, very muscular, and that stops all the water

down into their respiratory system.

Connie, for the first few days in the pond system, was very clunky. He was

trying to get coordinated, but now he's starting to fine -tune it, and he's

actually quite acrobatic in the water system now, and he can hold his breath

a lot longer too.

At the zoo, keepers are always making seasonal adjustments to care for the

animals. So for Connie and Cuddle, it means today they're going to enjoy the

hippo version of a spa treatment.

Hippos in winter tend to be out of the water a lot more as opposed to what they

would be in summer. So that means that their skin dries out a lot more readily,

which forms lots of cracks and they can be quite susceptible to little bacteria,

spores and so forth. So we need to apply what I call is some Hippo Beauty

Lotion.

It's just a mixture of some QV oil, so it's a little bit more hydrating on the

skin, mixed with water of course.

Hippos need a bit of pampering. I think they're probably the most pampered

hippos that I know of.

It's clear that Kani is being well cared for and is one of the only two males in

the region.

Kani will have a big future as a breeding bull.

But for now, life is just one big adventure.

Taronga Zoo Wildlife Hospital are always ready to receive all sorts of

emergencies through their doors, from animals both inside and outside the zoo.

And today, they've received a rather rare patient.

An adult loggerhead turtle.

Some fishermen rescued it from an entanglement in nets out in the ocean

brought it in their fishing boat to the Taronga Wharf. A nursing team have just

gone to pick it up and they've just brought it to the hospital here. Really

impressive animal. It's about 50 kilos. It's not full grown actually, even at

that size, but it's a pretty big animal.

Quite old in years, maybe

40, 50 years, I'm not sure.

All the turtle species are in danger to some degree.

See that there? That's probably where the net was caught.

Sadly, most of the dangers that the turtles face out in the ocean are

us. You know, we really need to do something about that to be able to save

beautiful animals.

All right, it looks like he's ready to go.

One,

two, three. When dealing with such a heavy animal, the team have to work

together. OK, so he's still now, so we can all head out.

Larry wants a detailed set of x -rays, so it's all hands on deck.

OK, so we're going to move in this way. Moving forward. One, two, three.

Dealing with these large, heavy turtles is very challenging for us, even taking

the x -ray. We do it on the floor because the animal's too heavy to lift

table. Anyway.

These are the challenges we love to have.

About two centimetres towards the table again.

Part of being a zoo vet or a zoo veterinary nurse is you've got to think

the square and adapt whatever your knowledge is and skills are to any shape

size of animal that comes in.

So looking at this

turtle, there's certainly no hooks, which is great, no sinkers. We wouldn't

able to rule out the possibility of plastic or fishing line.

That is a big issue, obviously, ingesting fishing gear.

But so far, the indications are that this was a completely healthy turtle

unfortunately got tangled up in net.

Happy there's no internal injury, Larry wants a

closer look at the damage caused by the net.

So I think that these marks here, they're sort of welts in a way.

and they're pink and there's some purple, and that's a typical part of the

that we see net entanglement in because they're swimming along and they get

caught in the net, their front part gets caught.

She's quite lucky, to be honest, that she was found because if she wasn't

rescued from the net, she would almost certainly have drowned.

One, two, three.

But while this lucky turtle has been spared any major injury from her fishing

mishap...

There's still one more test she needs to pass before there's any chance she can

be released.

The plan is that we're going to lift and put into the water. This is salt water.

We'll see how her buoyancy is and hopefully get her out within the next

two.

There you go.

So she'll probably panic a little bit, which is quite typical of them initially

when they go in, until they orientate themselves.

When we put them in here, often they do float for a while and then they equalise

and then she'll go down to the bottom and that's what we want to see is her

ability to submerge and stay on the bottom. So hopefully within the next few

hours she'll settle and submerge to the bottom.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

The penguins are one of Taronga's most popular attractions.

They're excellent swimmers and really at home in the water.

But when the zoo is closed to the public, they don't mind stretching their

little legs.

Okay, Michelle, let's see who would like to go for a walk today.

Gary, Dusty.

We'll start seeing who wants to come out the fairy gate and go for a walk.

Dusky's more interested in food. All right.

We've got dairy.

Dusky.

Good. Dairy, mate. They don't have to go on a walk if they don't want to, so

they choose to do it. If they stay inside, then that's fine. They're still

to get fed.

This morning, two of the Fjordland crested penguins have chosen to take a

stroll. Clever.

Come on, Giza.

These daily waddles are all part of a bigger program that Taronga has in place

for every animal under their care.

The walks are really great for them just to get a little bit of extra exercise.

It's also a fantastic mental stimulation for them because they get to see things

that they wouldn't normally see. And it's just a really fun training exercise

for them. It's great bonding for us as well with our penguins.

In the normal course of events outside of COVID, we would take them for walks

the morning before the zoo guests arrive.

But at the moment, because of COVID -19, it means that we can do it any time of

day and we have a lot more opportunities to sort of have some fun with our

beautiful birds.

Gary came to us from Wellington Zoo originally.

She was brought in from the wild injured.

And you can see when she walks, she has a little hop and you can see her foot.

This is why she was not able to be released out into the wild.

Are you going home?

Are you ready to go home, girls?

While these happy feet may have called it time on today's walk... We reckon

they'd get a bit of a kick out of it.

You never know.

They may appear tomorrow for the sequel.

That's it. Good girls.

It's been two weeks since the biopsy was taken of Andreeva's back wound.

And in order to rule out melanoma, it was sent to the lab for analysis.

This biopsy is an important one for Andreeva and we're all a bit anxious, to

honest, about it because whatever we find in this biopsy could tell us

or not he's had a recurrence of a malignant cancer, melanoma, or whether

just got a simple bite wound.

And those two diagnoses could have very different implications for him and his

health.

And with the results straight from the microscope.

They're back. Hi, Kimberly.

How are you going?

I'm good. Kimberly heads down to the Lima forest to share them with keeper

Rebecca. I've got the results of the biopsy.

And remember, we thought it might be a bite wound, but we weren't sure if it

could have been the recurrence of the skin cancer, the melanoma.

So the first one was definitely a malignant melanoma. Okay. But the

took on his recent skin lesions were actually just inflammation and just

of infection, so very consistent with the bite wound.

So there's no signs of the melanoma.

Yeah. Awesome. I'm so pleased.

So, so pleased.

Share the news with Andreeva.

Not a tumor?

With cancer ruled out, That looks fabulous.

Kimberly checks how Andreeva is healing.

I'm looking at the area where we took the biopsies where we see those three

purple stitches.

And I can see that those are nicely healed and that infection and that

has reduced significantly.

So it's looking pretty normal now. It's just going to be a matter of time for

all of the hair to grow back and for those sutures to dissolve.

He's finished the antibiotics and the anti -inflammatories.

It's fine. I don't think we need to continue anything.

Perfect. But that's good.

It's Andreeva's lucky day.

And for Rebecca and Kimberly, it's sheer relief.

I'm so happy.

I was really worried that we might have a recurrence of the melanoma.

And if that was the case, his future wasn't going to look so good. So it's

really good news.

Yesterday, a female loggerhead turtle was brought to Taronga after being

up in a fishing net.

Despite no real visible injury or internal

trauma... She's quite lucky, to be honest, that she was found.

There's only one test left for her to pass before she can be released.

There you go.

That's what we want to see is her ability to submerge and stay on the

You know, if she settles down and gets down to the bottom and her buoyancy is

normal, then, you know, I think we will want to get her out soon.

And all she needed was a few hours to get confident enough to fully submerge.

And today, vet nurse Sarah is happy with what she sees.

We've checked her faeces, we've taken blood, and everything is A -OK.

So, yep, the next thing now is just to get her on that boat and back into the

water.

Before any turtle is released from Taronga, they're given a unique tag.

So we've got the pliers. I've got the tags inside.

Tags are here. So this will be registered with National Parks and

Service. This is a valuable tool.

giving any researchers that may come across her in the future an insight into

the lives and habits of these amazing turtles.

Treating and caring for the wildlife and then being able to release them back to

the wild is one of the most rewarding things we do. Nice work.

Two.

Okay. Okay.

All right. Need to get those front flippers well and truly in there.

One, two, three.

You won't be very busy.

OK, we'll see you soon.

Releasing a turtle calls for a multi -agency approach.

And today, the water police are more than happy to step in and help.

How are you guys?

How are you going?

Yeah, so she's quite active at the moment and a lot of the time.

You know, they actually do smell the ocean and start to get really excited

move around and get all that kind of stuff, especially once we get onto the

boat. Yeah, she'll start really getting excited and ready to go.

I'll just hand it to you, mate.

There you go.

Yep.

Thanks for going along.

Excellent. Thank you so much.

Thanks.

Oh, we don't know how old. I mean, she's not fully grown.

It could be 20, 30 years. I don't know.

So we're just heading out of the heads at Sydney Harbour. The reason why we go

about 5km off the coast is because it just gives them that little bit extra

to come back into the harbour, stay away from the boats and the ferries and

stuff like that, and just to be in deeper water.

It's so great that we can be able to do this for her to be going back into the

ocean hopefully to be able to reproduce and better the species is a great thing.

With the boat in position it's time to let this turtle start the rest of her

life.

I think essentially guys we'll just get to the end of the slickway, and then

just unwrap her there.

Take your radio off, lad. Yeah, no, I've done that already.

Just in case we go swimming.

If anyone's going to go in, it'll be you guys.

Okay, that's excellent.

All right.

Okay,

Sarah. Go, lad.

Next one.

And then just... And slip her off.

Well,

not very elegant, but anyway.

Straight under the boat.

As soon as we took the turtle carrier off her, yeah, she just kind of, they

the taste of the water, get the smell, and then, yeah, straight in. They know

what they're doing, and off they go.

Over time she'll be heading north and ultimately during turtle breeding season

hopefully she'll end up on the beach that she usually turns up on, wherever

might be, and lays a good clutch of eggs next breeding season and many more to

come.

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