All language subtitles for Taronga s02e07 Pup, Pup and Away.eng

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 as 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

on. And our cameras are there.

Every step of the way.

On this episode, the Great Migration
continues.

Super excited to have zebras back at the
zoo.

As the zebras make the long trip to the
savannah. The smoother I drive, the

smoother they ride and the smoother they
should unload at the other end.

Fingers crossed it all goes well.

A heavyweight fight.

Look, Chai.

Look, Chai and his dad battle it out for
top spot in the herd.

And with that comes an increased level
of aggression.

And an overnight sensation.

You know, we can see this little baby
growing inside her, which is incredibly

exciting. As Taronga awaits to the
patter of little Flipper.

To be here for the birth of a puppy is
incredible. It's a bit earlier than what

we're expecting.

At Taronga Zoo, keepers love to
celebrate birth.

New babies at the zoo is always
exciting. They are incredibly cute.

And with 5 ,000 animals across their two
zoos, there's always a baby arriving.

Our family group is growing very, very
quickly considering we only had two just

over a year ago.

But in the case of the Australian sea
lion, their babies can take a very long

time to make an entrance.

Hello, Brad.

Hello. How are you going? Good.

We all good to go?

Ready to go.

We're going to do our hair out here?
Yeah, she's much more comfortable out on

the exhibit. Yeah, cool. Let's get set
up. All right, let's get set up.

So we're just setting up for an
ultrasound on Nala, our beautiful

lion. She's actually heading towards the
end of her pregnancy.

Nala was paired up with male sea lion
Charlie 15 months ago.

We saw a little bit of that nuzzling up
on the rocks, which is a really positive

sign that everything's going to go quite
well with this introduction.

And just six months later, the team was
overjoyed to discover she was pregnant.

Very exciting. I mean, I think that is.
We couldn't have asked for anything

better. Yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely.

You know what?

There's not a lot of Australian sea
lions in zoos within Australia, and

Taronga's one of the few that are
actually actively breeding the species.

yeah, it's really important for a
regional breeding program for Australian

lions. I'll just get the ultrasound
machine set up.

Because Nala is such a genetically
important sea lion, senior vet Larry

keep a close eye on this pregnancy.

We've been ultrasounding her about once
a month so that we can use those

measurements to age fetuses in any
future pregnancies we have and other

institutions have in Australian sea
lions.

And so it's really, really valuable
information that we're gathering from

I'm good to go, Brett. And fortunately
for Larry and the Thiel team, after nine

months, Nala's ultrasound had become
ultra easy.

Good girl.

Oh, careful now.

The guys do so much amazing training
with them and they're so compliant and

forgiving and we can scan them for quite
a while and get some really good images

of the developing fetus.

The pup is very active and it's moving
around a lot so it's quite hard to get a

decent image but I've found where the
head is, it's right here.

In this image, you can just see that
dark circular structure just there is

actually the pup's eyeball.

Yes, that's sort of through the skull
there.

All right, that's good. At least we've
got something to compare measurements

against.

The fetus is huge. I mean, this is only
a very small segment of the whole fetus

that I can see on here.

There's much more of it. I mean, it
would be like here and here.

It is huge.

We just want to turn it around.

But Larry is searching for one image in
particular.

Good girl. All right. Stay there.

Is that close enough for you, Larry?

And it's always a huge relief when it
looks healthy.

So you can see there the heart beating.
Look at that.

Massive. Yeah, wow.

So let me just quickly get a measurement
of this heart.

About six centimeters.

A little bit more.

Nearly done, sweetie.

Oh, don't go, don't go.

Okay.

I think she's called it. Yeah, she's
only got three fish left. We might have

call it a day.

Thankfully, Larry has been all he needs
for today.

We can see, you know, this little baby
growing inside her, which is incredibly

exciting. And then, of course, knowing
that it's probably not too far away

coming, you know, being born, it's going
to be a great moment to see it out.

It'll be interesting to see your
variances in your measurements in the

Yeah, well, hopefully, I mean, at least
we've got the good heart measurements

and then that one skull measurement.

And, you know, based on what we've got
so far, we reckon she'll be due in the

next couple of months. Yeah. But it's
always a bit, you know, there's a bit of

error in all of that.

Good.

Now the waiting game.

Yeah.

Now everyone's got their flippant
cropped.

for this zoo favourite.

Nala is just one of those exceptional
animals.

You know, I've worked with a lot of
seals, and she is just pretty much

Never puts a flipper on, and that makes
our job more rewarding because we can do

things like this voluntarily.

And this may look like a simple health
check for our vets, but there's not a

of data out there.

So these kind of procedures and the fact
that our vets can work so closely, we

learn a lot about them as a species as
well.

But Nala has one more surprise for her
keepers, something that none of them saw

coming.

There are two main species of elephant
in the world, but Taronga is home to

one of them, the Asian elephant.

Unfortunately, they've been a bit of a
poorer cousin to the African elephant.

Much more is known about them. Most
people know and understand a little bit

about African elephants and poaching and
the threats to them.

What they do have in common is they're
very, very big.

They eat a lot and certainly all of that
comes out the other end as well. So

we're kept very busy every single day.

So here at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in
Dubbo, we have a herd of eight Asian

elephants, four males, four females, and
they form part of the larger regional

breeding program that exists in
Australia for Asian elephants. Whilst

population in Australia is a small one,
it's certainly a very important genetic

one moving forward into the decades to
come and why the birth of all of these

calves have been terribly important.

Our region is focused solely on the
breeding and conservation for Asian

elephants and trying to create sort of a
self -sustaining population here in

Australia.

Much of the success of Taronga's
elephant breeding program is due to the

of one male elephant, Goong. As part of
the import back in 2006, we brought in a

young male elephant called Goong.

Goong is now 20 years of age and, you
know, he's a big boy, four and a half

tonne, and he is the only natural
breeding male elephant here in

Look, Chai.

Eleven -year -old Look Chai is one of
Goong's son.

Go and get some more breakfast.

Good boy.

Look Chai is a very important elephant
in our program. He was the very first

calf born in Australia in July 2009.

And he was the smallest calf that's been
born in the program overall at 96

kilos. He now weighs in at over 3 ,500
kilos.

OK, Look Chai, you ready for your buff?

Keep it Brad and Cheryl look after every
aspect of Look Chai's care.

Good boy, mate.

The trust in a relationship or a really
strong relationship with an elephant can

take a long time, years.

We've been fortunate enough to know
Lookjoy ever since he was born, so every

single day of his life we've been doing
these routines.

So these bars are a very important part.

Of our program. I mean, this is
basically the foundation of our

with all of our elephants. So we do the
bars every single day.

Not necessarily to get them clean. It's
really a trust and cooperation exercise.

You know, looking behind his ears, you
know, looking at the ear veins there in

case he gets sick one day and we need to
take a blood sample.

Lifting his foot up, checking his
toenails, things like that.

So it's a bit soft, like a leather pad.

So stepping on rocks all day out in the
yard, they can get them stuck in their

pad. So every day we have to check them
to make sure there's no rocks stuck in

them, see if they have any nails that
need filing, check their pad, make sure

they haven't pulled up any pieces of it,
because then we can cut that away so

they don't catch it on anything.

Good boy.

Very good, mate.

Thank you, Luchai. Good boy.

From a baby to a bull, Brad has seen Lok
Chai mature to the point where he is in

musth, meaning he's ready to breed.

So a musth period with bull elephants is
a period of heightened testosterone,

about 50, 60 times more than what is
normal. You see some draining from the

temporal glands, the veins down the
cheeks there, and also dribbling urine.

And with that obviously comes an
increased level of aggression.

Hello? We're talking about you.

Again.

We're always talking about you.

The problem is, Luk Chai and his father
Kung are now both in Ma.

And that is causing some family friction
in the herd. This condition of must,

basically we've now got Look Chai, you
know, coming into must as well to try to

challenge Goong. And now there's just a
little bit of sort of, oh, I want to see

if I can take on Dad. And whilst that's
healthy competition, there's a breeding

program and a group of unrelated females
in Melbourne who much require their own

breeding bull. And so it's time for Look
Chai to...

Depart.

Lokchai.

Here, Lokchai. So, after caring for
Lokchai since his birth, it's now time

to say goodbye.

Down at the marine precinct, everyone's
buzzing.

Word has quickly spread around the zoo
that pregnant Australian sea lion Nala

has some big news.

Hi, Nala.

Her pup isn't due for another two
months, but Nala has other ideas.

Hi! Hey, Nala. And only three weeks
after the last ultrasound, the SEAL team

welcoming an early surprise.

What's your puppy doing?

Nala has actually given birth overnight.

It's a bit earlier than what we were
expecting from our ultrasound

and our mating observations.

And it's a little female, which is
exactly what we were hoping for.

Nala's early arrival is due to the
Australian sea lion's unique breeding

They have this period of what's called
embryonic diapause. So the embryo will

develop to a certain size and then it
stops developing.

And this is diapause. And in the
Australian sea lion, it's not a fixed

time either. It can be anything from
four to six months or so.

That made it tricky to nail down a due
date.

But the great news is that so far...
Nala's new pup seems perfect.

This is Nala once more. She's eaten a
bit this morning already.

There you go.

Super healthy little pup. She's about
seven kilos birth weight. And, you know,

she'll grow quite rapidly in the early
weeks because mum's milk's fantastic.

So far, so good.

And Nala is happily doing everything
that a proud mum should.

Mom's very protective over the pup, so
she'll always generally keep herself

between us and the pup.

And Nala's chosen that bed for her
pupping area, and so she wants to keep

pup as close to that point at the moment
until she gets a little bit older and

can adventure a little further away.

In the wild, you'd be seeing the same
kind of behavior.

In this early stage, Mom would stay with
the pup. It's that important bonding

stage.

Around day three, day four, mum will go
out and find some food.

But in that time, she would stash her
pup in a little rock cave or crevice or

under a bush or something like that.

That's why in Sonala, we're seeing that
behavior where she thinks that that bed

is her safe zone.

So, you know, that's where she can stash
her pup. It's a nice, comfortable area

for her, and so she's happy to keep the
pup there.

She definitely watches it, doesn't she?

Going for a walk again.

Yeah, that's in trouble for a mum from
wandering.

Going too far.

If the pup starts to venture too far
away, you'll find Nala will actually

her. So like a lot of animals and seals
don't have hands to pick up their young,

so they scruff them, so they'll actually
lightly grab them and drag them back.

Not allowed to go too far.

Oh, you scared yourself.

But new mum Nala isn't the only one
beaming.

I'm fairly new to our marine team, so to
be here for the birth of a puppy is...

Incredible. It's definitely a career
highlight. And the fact that we've got a

beautiful, healthy baby girl is just,
we're all over the moon. It's amazing.

very, very exciting time.

Previously here at Taronga, Nala was the
last female we had born in our breeding

program. So we've had three boys since
then.

So it's great to have a girl.

Now, all this little one needs to do is
clear her very first vet check.

Look, Chai, come on, bud.

Good boy.

11 -year -old Asian elephant Look, Chai
is ready to breed, and this is causing

competition and friction between other
elephants in the herd at Dubbo.

Hormonally, his body is telling him
that, you know, oh, gee, I'm raring to

I'd like to sort of see, I'd like to do
what my dad does.

So Look Chai is being transferred to
Melbourne Zoo to hopefully breed with

females there.

The move to Melbourne will give him
plenty of fun opportunities ahead, we

All right, Look Chai. Keep it Brad and
Cheryl have been training Look Chai for

four months in preparation for his move.

So we're four days away from the journey
and the transport of Look Chai from

Dubbo down to Melbourne Zoo.

And this has involved a lot of
logistical work and a lot of training

conditioning of Luk Chai to enter the
specially designed crate that we have

him to undertake this journey.

So we're about to start Luk Chai's crate
conditioning session and to do that we

need to put these bracelets on both of
his front feet and they will just allow

us to restrain him into the crate on the
day of the move. So we practice with

this just like we will for the real
thing on the day.

When dealing with a three -and -a -half
-ton elephant, safety for animal and

keepers alike is paramount.

Steady.

And to ensure no surprises and that Look
Chai isn't spooked, Brad does the exact

same routine he's been doing for the
last four months.

Trunk.

Atta boy.

Steady.

Steady.

Steady, steady. Look high.

Foot.

Steady.

Steady.

Steady. These conditioning sessions are
important. So even if it's weeks or

months ahead, it's really the
culmination of his behaviour and

throughout that time, making sure that
he feels safe and secure and

And that's the ultimate goal here, is
just to make sure that his confidence

increases every single time that we do
this. So we don't want to take a

step. Every single time we do it, we
want him to feel fantastic and leave the

session feeling, oh, that was no big
deal.

Atta boy, let's try.

Once the braces are on, Lookchai has
been trained to walk into the crate,

will take him to his new home in
Melbourne.

Good boy.

Come on, bud.

All right, Lookchai, let's see your
foot.

Good. Steady. And the reason that we
want his foot up here is that we have to

attach a chain to these bracelets for
the move.

And on the day, it's just a matter of
linking this chain up with the bracelet

he is safe and secure. And it's the
exact same as our seatbelts. When you

travelling at speed or you want to keep
yourself safe, you have to be restrained

in. And we want that for Look Shy during
this transport as well.

All right, other foot.

Well, it's important that the
conditioning sessions replicate the

Any professional sportsman will tell you
the way that they train is to make sure

they replicate sort of match conditions,
and that's what we do. And it's

important that we replicate exactly what
it's going to look like on the day.

Steady. All right.

Very nice.

Good boy.

With Lukci's big move now only days
away, just a few paddocks over, two

more passengers await their turn in the
departure lounge.

We have a male and female, Buona.

And Kaya, they're travelling to Sydney
to become part of the new Savannah

exhibit that's just recently opened.

The plain zebra lives on kind of the
plains areas of Africa, which is similar

here in Dubbo.

All the zebras here and everywhere
around the world are black and white.

have a very striped pattern, and every
pattern on every zebra is different, a

bit like our fingerprints.

So when zebras get together in a big
group, I believe it's called a dazzle

because it creates kind of like an
optical illusion. Because of that stripy

pattern, if you're a predator, it makes
it more challenging to pick out an

individual to prey on.

Zebra are easily spooked, so they're
notoriously risky to transport.

Like a horse, a broken leg spells
disaster, which puts a lot of pressure

Roger, who's driving them to Taronga.

I guess one of the biggest challenges
for me is there's no seatbelts back

for zebras.

The smoother I drive, the smoother they
ride. And the smoother they ride, the

smoother they should unload at the other
end.

And Roger heads off.

Back in Sydney, keepers are busy putting
the final touches on the zebra's new

home. Shavings in all of them. Shavings
in all of them. Okay.

Let them work out where they're most
comfortable.

Which they'll be sharing with their new
housemates, the giraffe.

Well, the good thing about giraffe and
zebra is that they don't compete for

out in their natural environment, out on
the savannah.

The giraffe obviously eat from high up
in the acacia trees.

They're browsers, whereas zebra are
grazers, so they eat the grass off the

ground.

These two animals can actually act as
sentinels for each other, and as they

don't compete, you quite often will find
herds of giraffe mixing with herds of

zebra.

They may coexist in the wild, but the
Taronga giraffe haven't shared their

in years, so keepers are hoping to avoid
any confrontation.

They've all got their own individual
temperament, so fingers crossed they all

get along and we don't have any issues
with rivalry or competition, but they

should be okay. I hope so.

There you go. Make it nice and
comfortable.

With their new home ready and their
first meal waiting... I'm going to fluff

this up to make it a little bit easier
for the zebra to get their muzzles in

eat. It is a really high -quality
loosened hay, so hopefully they'll find

delicious.

Keepers are about to find out exactly
how easy this zebra introduction is

to be.

This morning, vet Kimberly has a very
special job.

So, I'm off today to see one of our new
arrivals.

I'm very excited because I haven't seen
this little guy before.

She's heading down to the Marine
Precinct to conduct the very first vet

Nala's newborn pup.

So I just want to confirm she's at Seal
Bay.

Thank you.

As Taronga will be tracking the pups'
health over the coming years, it's vital

to get benchmark readings as early as
possible.

I hear them talking.

But they'll have to be quick, as this
will be the first time that Super

Protective Mom and her pups have been
separated.

I hear a lot of noise, Brad.

Yeah, yeah, we can hear it.

And by the sounds of it, she's not happy
about it.

Okay, so the plan is you're going to
grab and I'll microchip and we'll be

Yeah, I mean, everyone's probably a
little bit stressed out because no one

hearing them call.

You know, we want them to be as happy
and content as possible. So naturally

us, we're a little bit heightened
because we're trying to get the process

as quickly as possible.

Wow.

So how old is she now?

Two weeks tomorrow.

Two weeks tomorrow.

All right, we just need to give her her
microchip.

We're putting the microchip in now when
she's only two weeks old because we can

still restrain her, we can still handle
her.

Once she gets bigger, it's going to be
really, really difficult to get our

on her.

We put microchips in most of our zoo
animals for identification.

It comes in a big needle, but it's
pretty much standard for zoo animals.

And it's the same thing people use in
their dogs and cats to identify them.

With the microchip in place, Kimberly is
keen for a quick look at the latest

addition to Taronga's family.

Can you just lift her up? Let me just
have a look at her. She looks great,

Oh, yeah, everything looks good. Her
umbilical cord looks fine.

Right in the line of fire.

Okay, good. Let's put her back with mom.

Oh, she's gorgeous.

She's exquisite.

She's perfect in every way.

This is just a real blessing for us
because we've recently lost one of our

adult males.

So it's been a real sad year in the
field department.

And we're really excited to have this
new life brought into our group.

So I'm very excited. I feel a bit
emotional about it, actually.

I heard she was very cute.

And I was like waiting for my time to
come down and see her.

So, mission accomplished in this quick
once -over. Thanks, Kimberly. Glad we

actually hear you now.

Now there's just one thing this pup is
missing.

A name.

Atta boy, let's try.

11 -year -old Luke Chai has been trained
to enter this crate in preparation for

his move to Melbourne Zoo.

Good boy!

Good, Luke Chai. But after months of
preparation,

at the last minute, world events have
brought plans to a sudden halt.

Unfortunately, Lookchai's move has been
postponed due to the current pandemic

situation with state borders being
closed and everybody's lives being

into turmoil.

Unfortunately, that's affected Lookchai
as well and that won't change until this

pandemic allows borders to reopen and
things to get back to normal.

Lookchai, move up.

Lookchai, come here, bud.

Well, all the positives that were going
to come out of this move still remain.

I mean, this is really just a temporary
setback. You know, Lukci still needs to

find a herd of his own to be able to
take that next step in his development

become a breeding bull. And whilst, you
know, the development of Lukci and

becoming a breeding bull is important,
we certainly are appreciative of the

extra time that we're going to get to
spend with him also.

And its keepers aren't the only ones
happy that Lookchai is staying put for

One elephant that won't be complaining
with Lookchai staying is Sabai.

Lookchai's been an elephant that his
younger brother Sabai has looked up to,

obviously, ever since he was born. And
so the delay has meant Sabai's going to

learn a little bit more about
interacting with other members of our

that's certainly going to only be a
positive for Sabai.

So while it's good for his younger
brother Sabai, Luk Chai must wait a

longer for the next stage of his
journey.

Today, Taronga's African Savannah
Precinct welcomes a couple of new

The zebra are arriving really soon, and
it's really exciting.

It always comes with a little bit of
worry from us keepers, though.

Thankfully, Roger's long drive from
Dubbo was uneventful. Generally, once

are moving in the truck, the animals in
the back usually settle more. When you

stop, they become a little agitated.

But once the truck's moving, they tend
to go into their prance.

The finish line is now in sight.

We just want to make this as smooth as
possible.

It's easier if you're back in here.

We can go this way and then reverse in.

All that's left is to get them out.

But with every new step, there's a new
concern.

It always comes with a little bit of
worry from us keepers, though, because

are a flighty animal, they are a very
strong animal, they can kick out, they

also potentially bite.

They do take fright quite easily.

Yeah, babe.

He's had to open the crate now, so
fingers crossed. Looks good though.

To keep the area as calm as possible for
the zebra, all extra keepers are moved

away, giving them the space they need to
unload.

Super excited to have zebras back at the
zoo.

Hopefully they'll unload well and settle
in quite quickly.

Best case scenario for us here at
Taronga Zoo now is that the zebras have

arrived, that they unload nice and slow.

And after seven hours on the road, they
happily oblige.

Oh, they're so little.

We'll give them a couple of days period
for them to make their way into their

stools or their barns. So we won't push
them into their barns. We'll just wait

till they're comfortable in their
environment.

They've got a food trail leading into
their barn.

We just let them relax in their barn for
a bit, give them a week, then we put

them with the giraffes. Fingers crossed
it all goes well.

It's been two months since her birth,
and Nala's pup is settling right into

Taronga family.

She loved a little sand mound the other
day.

It's her mission to conquer the summit
by the end of the day.

She has everything she could ever need,
but there is one thing missing.

And that's about to be fixed. So today
we're announcing the name of Nala's new

pup. There was a competition held for
zoo guests to enter to help us select

name.

The name Amali has won in a landslide
and it's also a winner for the keepers.

I love the name. It's the name the
keepers were hoping for because it is a

of a tribute to the pup's late
grandfather, who unfortunately was a

was really special to a lot of the
keepers here at the zoo, but he did pass

earlier this year.

Cool. Ready to go?

Actually, I'll grab a couple of toys to
pique her interest in that space.

So armed with a shiny new name, Amali,
as always, is ready for some fun in the

sand.

It's great for the guests that come
because she's right in prime viewing

and she's totally fine with all the
guests that have come up.

She absolutely loves it. She rolls
around in it. She's generally completely

covered head to toe in sand.

Sea lions like Amali, they're generally
living on beachy environments, unlike a

lot of the fur seals that tend to haul
out on more rocky areas.

So, you know, it's very natural for her
to enjoy the sand as much as she is for

her species.

But for the moment, the sand is her
limit.

Nala's pup still hasn't taken to
swimming out in the exhibit.

Hasn't built up the confidence to go for
any more of a bit of a dip off the

edge. And as you can see from Nala's
behavior, she's really encouraging doing

those slow swim -bys and hanging close
to the edge.

You might see little air bubbles popping
up, and that's just her exhaling before

she pops up and grabs another breath.

I don't think it'll be too long, and I
think Nala will be really happy if she's

in swimming sooner rather than later,
but that's completely her choice. We

her to develop that at her own pace
because it's all that confidence

that comes naturally in her own time.
And for now, we're totally happy for her

to hang out here and play in the
sandpit.

But all that sand needs to be washed off
somehow, so keepers will be eagerly

awaiting Amali's first plunge.

It's been six months since bull elephant
Look Chai's move was put on hold, but

Keeper Brad has just received some good
news and is keen to share it.

Look Chai, come here, bud.

We've just got word, mate.

The move's back on, so pack your bag.

With the current pandemic, the
situation's normalising a little bit

borders being reopened, clearance has
been granted that the move for Lookchai

will now proceed.

This is not farewell. Once he leaves
Dubbo, he's still a huge part of our

program and from a personal perspective,
I'll always cherish all the time that

I've spent with Lookchai.

4 .30 the next morning, and keepers are
going through Look Chai's daily routine

here in Dubbo for the very last time.

Morning breakfast. So this is some horse
pellets, some wheat germ, and a mix

that they really enjoy. We also are able
to put a bit of vitamins and mineral

additives in there for their diet, and
that's catered to each individual

depending on their age.

Yeah.

Look Chai trunk.

Today, Look Chai is off to Melbourne Zoo
as part of an Australia -wide breeding

program.

This is essentially Look Chai's last
breakfast with me. And so, you know,

been almost 11 years of doing this every
single day.

And, yeah, so it's quite a poignant
moment for our relationship.

And, yeah, this is the breakfast that
he'll eat in the crate before we

the journey down to Melbourne.

Months and months of hard work and
training have led up to this moment.

Look Chai, move up.

It's really the culmination of the
relationship that both Cheryl and I have

with Look Chai. So it all comes down to
this morning and we're just about to put

these bracelets on for the last time.
This is for the real thing.

Foot.

Chunk.

Look Chai, chunk.

Good ball.

Steady. Good.

Steady. Foot.

Chunk.

Very good.

Daddy?

Good boy, Look Chai. Very good.

Okay, let's do it.

And just as they practised over and
over, Look Chai loads into the crate.

Yeah, you're right. It's open. Three.

Good boy, Look Chai. Good boy, Look
Chai. Come on, mate. This is the last

Good boy. Move up.

Good boy. Put your foot up.

Excellent, Look Chai. Very, very good
boy.

Good boy. Steady.

Steady, Look Chai.

All right, Look Chai, other foot.

Good boy. Good boy. So just fixing the
restraints now. We've got one more to

One's on.

All right.

Good. Very good, boy.

This morning's gone great.

Both the restraints are on.

And you can see he's nice and calm in
the crate here. He's eating his

which is exactly what we expected.

And, you know, his behaviour's been
fantastic this morning. All the

has all come down to this and it's all
paid off.

I'm very proud of Lachai.

He's just taken it in his stride as he's
done everything throughout his life. So

we need to get the truck down here, the
crane. Just need a little bit of light

on the situation.

And whilst all of we wait for that to
happen and the wheels to...

get in motion, so to speak. He's just
going to sit here and enjoy some

breakfast.

What a good boy.

All right, Look Chai, we're just going
to shut the doors, mate, and then we'll

be on our way, okay?

Good boy, Look Chai.

It's going to be a long journey for Look
Chai, but a beneficial one.

When he arrives at the other end, he
will have all the space and opportunity

needs to be the successful breeding male
elephant he was born to be.

You want to have a look?

Take a look.

Down at Sydney's brand new African
Savannah precinct, the Dubbo zebra are

settling into their new home.

Usually a move is quite stressful for an
animal, however these two here, they

really don't seem to have minded that
much.

This is Kaya, younger of the two zebra
and she's our female.

She's the cheekier of the two
individuals and also a lot smarter and

more motivated to work with us and also
challenge us as well.

This is Buana. He's our fully intact
stallion. He's got a lot smoother of a

than Kaya and he's also got a lot
thicker black stripes.

He's a very sort of calm, chilled
individual.

Doesn't really get bothered by much.
He's more interested in food than

else.

Initial concerns were that the giraffe,
who haven't shared their space with any

other animals for years, might not
welcome their two new housemates.

Us as keepers, we were quite worried.

However, what we've actually seen is
that these guys here are really, really

calm individuals and the giraffe have
responded really well to having a zebra

around them again.

But in fact, they're getting on so well,
they're almost inseparable.

So what the zebra have actually worked
out is if they hang out underneath the

giraffe, they get to eat their food. The
giraffe don't mind because they don't

have to share. They're just getting all
the leftovers.

And basically now wherever the giraffe
go, the zebra are quite close behind.

The giraffe and zebra live happily side
by side on the African plains.

And now Taronga have achieved that same
dynamic.

on the shores of Sydney Harbour.

It's a big achievement, but an even
bigger relief for all involved, and

them one step closer to their end goal,
to fully populate their own African

savannah.

Ten -week -old Amali is learning
everything she needs to know to be an

Australian sea lion.

But the only skill left she needs to
master, It's sort of an important one.

It's how to swim.

And every day, keepers encourage Amali,
giving her every possible motivation to

dip her flippers in the pool.

Today, Amali's swim coach is Keeper
Lindsay.

Hello.

So this is a really important step,
getting a pup used to deep water. When

they're first born, they can't swim and
they just start paddling around the two

weeks of age mark.

She looks a bit tentative today.

She's wandering around there, not quite
taking the plunge yet, but we'll give

her a chance. She's usually pretty
confident with mum around because she

mum keeps her safe.

So hopefully she'll jump in very soon.

So, with a little nip of courage, she's
in.

Oh, there she goes. Yay.

Has mum just making sure she's okay and
not getting herself into any trouble?

You can see she's swimming just like a
big seal.

Has totally worked it out.

One thing she hasn't learnt to do yet,
but that will come, is dive really

deeply. So as her confidence grows and
she sort of finds her flippers, you can

say, she'll start to dive a little bit
more deeply and search around the whole

pool like her mum Nala does.

Australian sea lion pups have a really
long maternal care, so their mums will

look after them for 12 to 18 months. And
during that time, they have to teach

them things.

Teach them how to swim, teach them how
to hunt.

You can see she's starting to even
explore up the wall now.

She's getting very confident.

She's swimming just like a pro, really.
She's doing so, so well.

And as Lindsay watches on, a
breakthrough.

She's actually diving down really deeply
with her mum, which is the first time

I've seen her do that. So she's
obviously learning how to hold her

they do forage along the bottom of the
ocean in the wild. So learning to go

and search and hunt for food is really
important as well.

Next step after this will be the big
exhibit pool. So that'll be really great

see her out there. Here she is.

Hello.

With Amali's confidence high from her
dip in the training pool, within a week,

Lindsay's wish is granted.

And Amali has taken her place by her
mum's side.

This important and precious Australian
sea lion is now a fully fledged part of

the SEAL team.

And guess what? and keepers alike can
look forward to enjoying this cheeky

little sea lion's antics as the newest
member of Taronga's ever

-growing family.

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