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 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 head on.

And our cameras are there.

every step of the way.

On this episode... Hi Meredith, how are you?

Sydney's calling.

How are the platypus going?

Platypus are doing great here.

Twelve months on, and Project Platypus is flying.

They're settling in nicely, and I think they're thriving.

So just what have San Diego done to make these fussy Aussie visitors feel so

welcome? So this is the earth tank, or sometimes we refer to it as their flat

heel.

The dentist who loves it. As you can see, his teeth are quite black.

When his patient's teeth are black.

So still, that's actually a healthy set of teeth.

And make no mistake.

Most people would see this and think, well, that's a snake.

This is not a snake. This is the world's largest legless lizard.

Almost a year ago, Taronga Zoo made history.

Looking really good, so I'd say we are good to go.

Sending the first platypuses overseas.

In half a century.

Bound for the other side of the planet.

Destination, San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.

Joining an already impressive lineup of Aussie icons, the platypus have been an

instant hit in their new home.

Eve and Vera have been doing really, really well here. They're settling in

nicely and I think they're thriving.

And the first thing that people should be aware of is that when they come in,

it's going to be dark.

Platypus are nocturnal and to some degree crepuscular, meaning they're most

active at dawn and dusk. So that's why we have a dark environment in here to

kind of mimic when they would be most active.

So it seems like it's kind of a fun process for the guests to be able to

and have to find where they are.

And we definitely hear a little bit of an uproar from a group when they do

sight of the verbera and they're able to spot them.

San Diego Zoo has gone all out to make sure everyone gets a chance to see these

elusive monotrees.

In addition to the folks that are able to come and visit in person, we also

the platypus webcam so people can watch at their leisure from the comfort of

their couch and see what even beer are up to.

The monitors enable us to see where the platypus are, and so I can see we have

somebody floating around in cool sea right now.

Based on our knowledge of their behavior, I can pretty safely assume

Bira. And the little expats are also enjoying some unique American

Crayfish is slightly different here than it is in Australia. So that was one of

our bigger concerns and, you know, our focal points in the beginning when we

were preparing to receive even Bira was to make sure that they were going to be

okay eating the species of crayfish that we have here. But they didn't skip a

beat. They were very happy to adjust to the American version.

This is their gorging season, and so we're seeing that. They're going through

huge numbers of crayfish in comparison to what we had seen before.

Keeper Laurie is now fully at ease, being one of the only platypus keepers

outside Australia.

So one important component of our day is to check their nest boxes.

We check in here to confirm their locations, and if we did need to handle

at all, this is how we would be doing it.

We don't tend to handle them all that frequently. When we do, it's typically

we can check their tail volume index, which is a key indicator of their body

condition.

But we do that as infrequently as possible just for the sake of their

they don't feel too manipulated by us and they know that they're free to go

about their business without any impact from us.

One of the main reasons Vera and Eve travel to San Diego is to breed.

So this is referred to as the earth tank, or sometimes we jokingly refer to

as their flatio.

It's about three feet of dirt that either, but particularly Eve, can burrow

and create natural dirt burrows as they would in the wild.

We've also selected specific plants that are native to Australia that they can

use for nesting material. So Eve in particular, if she were to want to build

nest, she'd have everything that she would need at her disposal.

There was definitely an enormous amount of responsibility, I would say, and

certainly some degree of pressure, too, to make sure that we got it right. So

much research to do ahead of time. It involved so much collaboration for quite

long while to make sure that we were in the best possible position to receive

even Vera.

But, yes, it's definitely not a responsibility that we take lightly, and

also grateful to have the opportunity to be able to do it.

Just because they've settled in doesn't mean Larry stops checking in.

Hi, Meredith. How are you?

I'm great. After all, there's so much riding on their welfare. How are the

platypus even beer going?

The weird and wonderful world of the reptile kingdom is on full display at

Taronga. They range from the very familiar to the very alien in their

appearance.

And sometimes they're just downright confusing.

like in this species case.

Most people would see this little guy here and think straight away, well,

a snake. In fact, this is the world's largest legless lizard, known as a

Sheltopusik. This is our male Sheltopusik.

This lizard is a subterranean species.

Being underground, they can avoid predation and they can have a good

food. They have a ferocious appetite. The two we have here, they are hungry

the time, especially the big girl.

If you have a look at his body structure, actually, you may see a line

all the way along his body. This is an expansion line. It gives them the

to expand their body when they're having a deep breath or swallowing a large

item of food. And it really is just skin, which is folded or concertinaed on

itself to allow it to stretch out when it swallows something large or needs to

take a deep breath.

Not surprisingly, people often confuse legless lizards with snakes.

But there are a couple of subtle differences. When he sticks out his

has a big, broad, fleshy tongue, not a forked tongue like a snake. So that's

of the big differences right there.

The other difference is he's got ear holes.

So he has external ear openings.

No snake in the world has external ear openings.

Okay, this is our big female Shelter Pusik. One of the first things you'll

notice is the difference in colour and she's also a fair bit bigger. She's

probably one to 200 grams heavier than our male Shelter Pusik.

With a male and female in their collection, Taronga's reptile team

tried to breed them.

But nothing about this lizard has been a textbook experience.

This species here was a very tricky one to keep and to breed.

The clues to breeding them successfully lay in this strange lizard's origins.

There's your girlfriend back, mate.

These guys, being from Eastern Europe, it gets cold in winter. It gets so cold

it snows. We don't get snow here in Sydney. We're a temperate zone.

So even though we were cooling this animal down in Sydney, it only got to

8 or 10 degrees Celsius. That just wasn't cold enough. After doing more

research, we decided to get them really cold.

So we put them in a couple of enclosures, and we literally put them in

on site and set that to four degrees Celsius.

Started to warm them up after two and a half weeks, put them together, bang, we

got mating.

Now, this is the result of our successful mating, breeding, and

young shelter pusics.

Now, our female laid six eggs.

We got 100 % hatching rate, so we got six baby shelter pusics out of those.

We kept several of them here at the zoo, and the others were distributed through

zoos around the country.

So this little guy will be fully grown in approximately three to four years.

They have a longevity of over 30 years, so they're quite a long -lived reptile.

And we hope that she goes on to breed and have many babies as well, just like

her mum did.

This really was the result of a lot of hard work with a lot of our reptile

keepers, and the day that that first little head sort of hatched out of the

was one of the most excited times I've ever been as a reptile keeper.

Being a little guy like this, I don't want to keep him out and exposed for

long, so I'll put him back into his shelter.

And not too far away, another reptile keeper is also getting things

ready for some new additions.

But every birth in this room comes with the added pressure of saving an entire

species.

Sea lions are astonishing animals and keepers from the marine team love

closely with them.

To see them playing and being a happy animal is just such an amazing thing.

But keeping them healthy is a huge undertaking.

Their home needs frequent cleaning.

We do a lot of the cleaning before the guests arrive to make sure that the

exhibits are looking good and that the animals are staying healthy as well. Can

we start a pool drop on the encounter pool, please?

They need a constant supply of fresh seawater.

And they have a voracious appetite.

Murphy, one of our Californian sea lions, is eating 10 kilos of fish in any

given day at the moment.

Charlie, our big male Australian sea lion, is getting up to about 9 kilos of

fish. And depending on the time of the year, that will change as well.

But they are an animal that responds well to regular training.

Good job, mate. Stay.

Good girl.

Making them one of the easiest animals at Taronga to conduct health checks on.

Good girl, honey. Good girl.

Nala's great at this kind of stuff. She's so comfortable and trusting of all

our keepers that it makes this kind of procedure much easier for the vet.

Murphy, this way. Good job.

Good boy.

All right, on your bed.

And they seem to have no fear.

Nice turn. All righty. Let's have a look at those teeth, eh?

With a trip to the dentist, either.

Today we're with Murphy, one of our California sea lions.

Now, Murphy is 16 years old, and he turns 17 in December. So this makes him

the older side of the seal.

So he's getting to that age where we have to really look out for things,

especially with his dental health.

So Murphy here, as you can see, his teeth are quite black. They're born with

white teeth, and as we start to get older, they start to turn the darker

mainly due to they don't have the enamel that we have on our teeth.

They have a bacteria layer that actually helps protect them. So they might look

a bit unhealthy.

Oh, yes. They may look a little... bit unhealthy to us, but to a seal that's

actually a healthy set of teeth.

So as you can see here, I'm able to brush Murphy's teeth.

This is really important for us to be able to inspect his teeth, not only

but to be also be able to brush them if they ever have any harder buildup or a

receding gum line as well. It's important for us to be able to brush

keep them nice and clean. It actually enables us to keep them healthier.

So here we have another little bit of a dental tool. It's called a scaler pick.

And we use this to actually get any buildup on Murphy's teeth. And we can

actually scrape it away.

So you see there, we can actually get him nice and close.

And with the sharp edge of this scraper, this little pick, we can kind of scrape

it. Good.

All right, Murph, let's go. Good job, buddy.

Come on.

While there's no problems with Murphy's teeth... In you go.

And a big fish.

The next patient in the dental chair today isn't so lucky.

Good boy, Diego.

All right, let's have a close look.

One behind there, hey?

That's the one, the broken tooth.

Looks quite loose.

Yeah. Just that second canine in from that large front canine.

creates a problem because if it's got an exposed nerve or it has an exposed

hole, which is the centre of the tooth, that can actually become infected. That

infection can then lead into the bone and that's certainly not going to be a

good thing for Diego.

So we're going to have to have a close look, maybe enquire with the vet, see if

they can come down.

So yeah, let's investigate and get to the bottom of it sooner rather than

Vera and Eve, the two platypuses sent from Taronga to San Diego, have called

America home now for nearly 12 months.

Eve and Vera have been doing really, really well here and I think they're

thriving. But part of the information exchange between the two zoos means that

if San Diego Zoo ever has a question, Taronga is only a short call away.

And what better resource to have on standby than Taronga's senior vet,

and platypus keeper, Tony, who accompanied Vera and Eve to San Diego

Hi, Meredith. How are you?

Hi, Meredith. I'm great. It's good to see both of you guys.

Yeah. How are the platypus Eve and Vera going?

Platypus are doing great here.

Eve and Vera have both been adjusting great. It's hard to believe that they've

been stateside now for 11 months.

I know, it's incredible.

That time's just flown.

Did they enjoy Thanksgiving?

Yeah, I'm sure they got a turkey full of yabbies. A turkey full of yabbies. When

we took a look at Bira most recently, you will both be very happy to know that

he is quite a robust tail.

He's been taking full advantage of all of his California native crawfish.

So Meredith, are they hit with the zoo visitors?

You know, I think that the people of Southern California and beyond have been

amazed to see them. I think some of the typical things we've heard are just, you

know, oh, I can't believe I got to see a real -life platypus. Or, oh, I kind of

thought it would be bigger.

But I think on the general aspect, we had lines, you know, out the exhibit

waiting to be able to see them. And it's been really exciting to see how people

have taken a shine to the platypus in the way that we all have. That's great.

Oh, well, they're such amazing, unique animals.

Thank you so much for filling us in. It just sounds so fantastic.

And, you know, as you may have been aware, it was a stressful time for all

us. It was a monumental sort of event, really.

It was a high -stress time, I think, for all of us, and it was just so worth it.

When I get to, you know, go see a guest that gets to experience a platypus for

the first time, we really appreciate all your expertise, and it's been wonderful

having... Far away, but very close communication to help adjust. Brilliant.

right. Well, great to see you. We've got our days just starting here, so we've

got animals to deal with.

Yes. I hope it's a wonderful day. It was lovely seeing you. Great seeing you.

Bye -bye. Bye.

And while Taronga has relocated two platypuses to San Diego, they may be

to gain another, as a sick and injured juvenile has been transferred to the

wildlife hospital.

Someone found it on their property not far from Wagga in southern New South

Wales, and it was found on the bank of a river, so they were concerned about it

and contacted a local wires carer group who organised to have it sent up to

Sydney. Larry performs some initial checks to find out exactly what shape

platypus is in.

Our investigation has revealed actually that it's got a nasty skin infection.

How that came about is a little bit difficult to know, so we started on some

treatment for that.

But Larry's main concern is that this platypus should still be with her mum.

I think this little platypus has not long emerged from the burrow. It's only

about 500 grams.

It's still pretty small.

So if she's ever going to be released back into the wild, she must put on

weight.

which means she faces a long and hard road to recovery.

In a back room at Taronga live some of the most precious lizards on earth.

We're in one of the two quarantine facilities that we have here at Taronga

It's home to two very special lizards. They can be quite fast and hard to pick

up.

This is a blue -tailed skink. You can tell by his blue tail. His isn't as

vibrant as it could be, but it's quite blue. Sometimes when they're hatched,

it's really iridescent.

It's around about 10 centimetres fully grown.

They're a beautiful little skink.

And they share this facility with another little lizard from the remote

Christmas Island region, northwest of the Australian mainland.

There's one.

So this guy, the Lister's gecko, is a small gecko. It only grows to maybe, I

guess, eight centimetres, depending if it's a male or female as well. These

have the softest little pads.

They're very agile.

They're great at climbing.

Sometimes when they're scared or if there's a predator chasing after them,

guys have that unique ability to drop their tail.

They're actually a really cute lizard.

They've got a tiny little chiselled nose, I guess, which is pretty cute.

And all up at the zoo, we have around 300 at the moment of the blue -tailed

skinks, and we're looking at about 150 geckos at the moment that we're housing.

And that's not including all the eggs we're starting to hatch too, so we've

a lot to look after.

And giving these lizards the best possible care includes simulating the

tropical weather of Christmas Island.

Temperature is the most critical in this facility that we run. We do keep it

between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.

It keeps them at the perfect temperatures. We mimic it all through

the sun's rising and setting, so we change it throughout the day as well.

The other thing that is so crucial to these guys is humidity. We're trying to

mimic that.

Spraying these guys daily does that. It raises the humidity, gives them droplets

to drink like they would on Christmas Island.

The other secret to raising these lizards is simulating their food supply,

complex task that requires daily planning and attention.

In the wild, they would eat anything from ants to crickets to spiders.

We don't have that luxury at the zoo. We have to feed them out a quarantine

diet, so we get them crickets ordered in.

So this is our cricket room. This is where all the crickets are kept to feed

the Christmas Island lizards.

So these guys are what we call weaners. They feed the blue -tailed skinks.

These are pinheads that will feed the adult geckos in the first half of the

week. These are what we call mini -pins that will grow up and by the second half

of the week feed the adult Lister's geckos.

Here we have an egging tray, which we collect every day, and then what we do

hatch our own crickets.

which are tiny, that will feed out the juvenile hatchling blistered geckos and

even the blue -tailed skinks.

A lot of effort is required to keep these lizards thriving here at Taronga,

the harsh reality is that this effort is the only thing keeping these two

species on the planet.

Keepers have just discovered Californian sea lion Diego has a loose tooth.

All right, let's have a close look.

Very nice.

One behind there, eh?

That's the one. Just that second canine in from that large front canine.

So vet Gabby has been called down to have a closer look.

Hello. Hello.

There's only one way to be certain of Diego's problem.

The biggest worry is that bacteria get into the tooth socket and that's what

we're monitoring him for today. We can tell that by looking at x -rays of the

bone surrounding the tooth root.

So his trainers have trained him to put an x -ray plate in his mouth so that we

can get a radiograph of his tooth root to make sure that his bone...

not infected and nice and healthy.

Basically, it's going to fit inside his jaw, and on the other end is going to be

a camera. So as funny as it looks, it actually does do a very good job.

Over the last few weeks, keepers have been getting Diego accustomed to the

process. You just wrap it around the front.

Oh, thank you.

By using a highly effective but very low -tech prop.

This is the dental X -ray camera,

Jose is going to hold the film inside Diego's mouth and I'm going to come up

from the other side, just like taking a photo.

And they've been practising with a mock -up. Oh, wow. See?

Look at that.

We've made an identical copy.

Obviously, we have a very expensive piece of equipment with our X -ray

We don't want to obviously always bring that down. So we make up what we believe

to be something similar in a version that, you know, obviously is going to

create...

Something that looks similar enough that Diego's probably going to notice a

little bit of difference, but, you know, it's exactly the same as what we're

going to do.

I think next time you can just spray it with some gold.

Yeah, well, you know, time frame.

With the team all set, now they hope Diego's training will

allow this X -ray to go off without a hitch, as the alternative involves a

degree of risk.

It might mean that Diego needs to go under an anaesthetic so they can go into

what's called a dive response.

Their heart rate can be consistently lowered, and for a seal that can't

alter their own heart rate, then that means it can actually be quite a

experience. So we certainly don't want to go there unless we really, really

to. Good point.

Ready? Yep.

Down at Taronga's retreat, it's been five months since Maranda, the juvenile

platypus, arrived.

And the early signs are looking good.

Let's say good morning to Maranda.

The facility here is perfectly designed to monitor her progress.

which is vital when making decisions about her recovery.

The CCTV gives us really great insights into what she's getting up to, not only

in the box but at night time. So it records 24 -7. It's really valuable

information. A lot's unknown about the species in general.

After she comes back from the pool, she'll often jump on her back and she'll

her back off and she'll crawl across the back of the tower. So she gets all

those spots that are hard to reach and she can dry off thoroughly.

Do you want me to get scales out?

Yeah, if you could set the scales up for me, that would be great.

Over the month, keepers have been monitoring her weight gain, which is a

factor in whether or not she'll ever be fit enough to be released back into the

wild. She's good to go.

All right.

Into the bag.

All right. You ready, Jane?

Yeah. I'll just chuck that lid on for you.

So she's come up at exactly 900 grams.

Fantastic. So that's a huge increase from when she arrived.

What was it, about 500 to 550 grams when she arrived?

Yes, tiny, teeny tiny.

We'll just have a good look at her. So, Lou, do you just want to check her bill

for me? Yeah, sure.

She's looking great. That bill has grown so much.

She was found not long after the bushfires. So she was washed out in

floodwaters, we believe, and she wasn't able to find enough food. So she came in

very light, very emaciated.

She was missing a lot of hair. She had some injuries to her body.

She also had a fungal infection.

So right at the base of her hair follicles, a fungal infection was

there. So the vets worked for a long time to treat that, and we continue

treating it here on section.

All right.

Back inside.

And she can make herself comfortable, and we're about to let her back into the

pool. All right, ready?

Ready to go.

There we go. Miranda has access.

Another important part of her recovery is regular supervised feeding.

The keepers can ensure she's eating everything she needs to gain that vital

weight. So she gets a diet of maggots, white pupae, baby yabbies, and, of

course, deer worms, which are her favourites.

Typically, they would find invertebrates in the wild, so we're just replicating

that diet for them.

But unfortunately, it's during these feeds that keeper James has noticed a

problem, one that could seriously jeopardise Miranda's release.

She currently is unable to eat some food groups, so for Yabby, she still

struggles to eat, which normally would expect a platypus to be able to...

consume an entire adult yabby, particularly at the size she is now, and

not something she's capable of. So she currently doesn't have that skill set

that she would require in the wild.

In a back room at Taronga, keeper Lisa works tirelessly, offering a lifeline to

two tiny lizards.

So the blue -tailed skink and the listless gecko have been here at Taronga

for 10 years now.

They're both here as an insurance population, number one. So what it does

ensures that if something goes wrong on Christmas Island, that we will always

have a population still alive here at Taronga Zoo.

These 450 individuals at Taronga, along with another smaller group quarantined

on Christmas Island, are all that remain after a disease swept through their

tropical home.

This one's incredibly severe.

So this animal was just emaciated and it had lesions all throughout its internal

organs, liver, kidney, spleen, and then up around the teeth.

Wow. That bone muscle organ.

Now we've got large portions of the kidney that are just replaced.

with this bacterial infection, so bacteria just taking over.

So this is a critically endangered blue -tailed skink, and although we can only

see a small little ulcer, when we look closer, we find that their internal

organs are almost completely replaced by this new bacterium. So it's a

devastating impact, both on individual animals and on the populations as a

whole.

Now, we're not completely sure what happened to these reptile populations

why the population just bottomed out. The island is a really fragile

and there have been a lot of changes. There's been wide -scale phosphate

on the island, a lot of habitat change and regeneration, but we've also had the

introduction of a lot of different insects and a lot of different potential

predators.

One of the reasons why Taronga is taking this fight so seriously is if this

disease was ever to reach the Australian mainland, it would be disastrous.

Australia, the continent, has the biggest diversity of reptile fauna of

on the world. So we're so lucky to have so many reptiles. But if this bacterium

got into the mainland population, it would spread very quickly across the

country and across species.

So the population losses could be quite devastating.

Vet Gabby and sea lion keeper Jose are about to conduct an X -ray on Diego, who

has a loose tooth.

Diego's compliance is paramount, as the alternative is a full anesthetic, an

extremely dangerous procedure for this species.

Ready? Yep.

And just like that... Yep, perfect.

Good boy.

It's done.

So this is the X -ray plate, which is what the image was taken onto.

What I'm going to do is put it through this processor and then the image will

come up onto the laptop screen.

And there we are.

But unfortunately for Diego, it's not over just yet.

We haven't quite got to... We need to get further down to the root.

It's almost there, Jose.

I just need to get further down so the whole thing moves down.

Because we're trying to get the root, not the crown of the tooth, we need to

the film pressed quite deep down the side of his jaw, which is difficult.

Much easier in an asleep animal because no animal really likes having that done.

So in order to get to the root. So I'm just going to try to change the angle of

the beam to see if we can physics or fix it.

Animals are unpredictable at the best of times.

So the team hopes Diego will willingly replicate his previous behavior so Gabby

can get the shot she needs.

Ready? Yep.

Reptile keeper Lisa cares for two vitally important lizard species at

The blue -tailed skink and the lizard gecko have been here at Taronga Zoo for

years now.

They're both here as an insurance population, number one.

And the only way to ensure a future population is to have it grow larger.

And that's the most hands -on part of this critical role.

This is a blue -tailed skink.

If I flip him over, I can see that...

what sex he is, and there we go. I can see two hemipenes, which reptiles have.

They have two penises.

So that tells me he's a boy, and they popped out quite easily. So I think he's

quite probably a sexually mature boy, and he'll be ready for our breeding

program now.

I don't think there's anyone else I know that sits down and sexes lizards for a

living. It can take up a part of my day.

Once they're sexed, Lisa pairs them up.

And hopefully nature takes its course.

So these are our listed geckos. They're set up in pairs.

So I'm just trying to find a gravid, which is a pregnant female

with eggs. They are fast and agile.

It's quite challenging because they are small enclosures.

So here we have an adult.

Female, listed as gecko. She's mature.

Two eggs in a tiny belly like that.

She's tiny and they fill up her whole belly. For them to be that big and that

visible at the moment, it means she's getting quite close to laying in the

week or two.

So from when she lays them, approximately 90 days later, that's when

to see.

a little juvenile Lister's gecko. So this little tacker has the potential in

year to have three clutches, which would be six babies a year.

With so many lizards producing so many eggs, Lisa is one busy surrogate mum.

This is a juvenile Lister's gecko. It's a hatchling. It's only a few days old.

We're increasing numbers every day, and this is just proof of increasing the

numbers. It's been a long...

journey getting to all these little babies. There's so much work that goes

it but at the end of the day this little guy is representing his species.

He's in captivity but he's still representing and giving us hope that one

we'll get these little packers back into the wild.

The importance of this job is not lost on Lisa who knows full well that through

her role at Taronga She's making a massive difference for these tiny

Some days you just forget how crucial and important it is to these two little

guys. You know, it's amazing. You do forget your job some days, but then you

back and realise, wow, these guys do not exist in the wild.

You know, they're in our hands. We're the carers. You know, their fate is in

hands.

Today is another important day for Miranda.

It's now nine months since Taronga welcomed the rescued platypus.

She's off to visit Larry, who will perform hopefully her final check before

can be released back to the wild.

We haven't actually examined her for a little while now.

A bit wriggly.

So we just put a little Marunda in this little chamber here and we are feeding

the anaesthetic gas into the chamber and she'll breathe that in and just fall

asleep quietly in there.

It's been quite a journey for Marunda who likely wouldn't have survived had

not been found and brought to Taronga.

It's a great success story actually. She came to us during the height of the

bushfire crisis.

She was on death's door, essentially.

And she was very thin. She had terrible skin disease.

And our keeping team and nursing team put an enormous amount of effort into

And she's recovering really, really well.

Yeah, that's really good. And as Larry is about to discover... I'll just say

three. Yeah, I think it's more than three.

She's thriving as well.

So you can see her tail is quite plump. When she first came in, there was

absolutely no fat at all, and these two margined edges of her tail, you could

push together and just fold her whole tail up.

And now you can see I just can't get those edges to touch, so she's got quite

bit of fat in that tail now, which is a great result, really.

The main areas which were affected by the fungal infection were around her

here, and it was really thick and crusting, the skin, and it just feels

beautiful.

We're taking a little sample of her skin because that's the only way we can

really confirm if the fungal infection has cleared or not.

Vacuuming her platypus.

Not something you do every day.

So these are the two

samples of skin.

and I will divide them up and half will go to our pathologist to look at the

histology of the skin and then the other will go to our lab to be cultured to

see if the fungus is still there.

So let's hope it all looks like nice normal skin. Let's hope that there's no

fungus left and we can stop her treatment.

What we might do is actually get some blood right here at the margin of the

bill.

Very tiny little eyes. In fact, when they're underwater, their eyes are just

closed, and they use that bill to detect the electrical impulses that are

emitted by their prey items.

So they have no teeth.

Baby platypus do, up to a few months of age, but adults have no teeth, and they

just have these grinding and cutting plates in the mouth that allows them to

break up and grind their food.

And then they have these little cheek pouches just to the back here.

where they store a lot of the food.

So then these little filtering structures here, when they swallow their

they grind it up and then they just squish the water out of the food.

Quite amazing.

While the examination of this curious critter shows her to be in excellent

shape, when it comes to deciding where she'll ultimately live, there's a lot to

weigh up.

Some big decisions had to be made about little Marinda in terms of whether she'd

be released back to the wild or stay in the zoo to contribute to our breeding

program.

And I suppose given her history of this terrible fungal infection, also because

she came in when she was very young, she became habituated to people.

On balance, we felt that her survival back in the wild was probably not going

be 100 % necessarily, and her value and importance of keeping her in our

breeding program was very significant, and so the NSW National Parks and

Wildlife Service agreed that we keep her here at the zoo.

So with her final health check cleared and her future now set, all that's left

is for Miranda to move out of rehab and into her forever home.

Vet Gabby has just taken the second X -ray of Diego, the Californian sea lion

with a loose tooth.

While she initially struggled to get the right shot... We need to get further

down to the root.

She's hoping the latest X -ray will give her the angle she needs to make an

accurate assessment of his toothy trouble.

She was hoping for a better angle. We just needed to go a little bit lower so

could get into the arcade. And that looks like, see how it's lower down

Because she was higher before, but now we're lower and where Gabby wants to

That's it.

Nice. The X -ray is good.

But unfortunately for Diego, his tooth isn't.

Even though it's really wobbly.

It's still held in place by some gum.

And so what we're doing is monitoring the bone around the tooth root because

what can happen is if you fracture a tooth and there is a bit of a fracture,

bacteria can get down through the pulp and then out through the root and then

cause a lot of nasty bone infection.

So that's what we're trying to monitor.

Diego seems completely oblivious to all the fuss he's creating.

He shows absolutely no sign of pain.

He's amazing.

He's really comfortable.

You would never know that he had a tooth loose in his jaw.

You would never know.

And nor would he ever know that he's currently undergoing treatment, as this

looks a lot more like play.

So we've been talking to a specialist veterinary dentist in the US and we

to know if it was okay to get him to play tug -of -war to try to get that

to come out.

And they were very encouraging of that.

We're not too worried about Diego's tooth.

Nature's going to take its course. If this happened in the wild, it would have

to take its course.

And time will tell. It will come out eventually.

Just how long that is, we don't know.

Today is moving day for rescued platypus Miranda, who after nine months is

finally leaving her rehab area and starting her new life in Taronga's

wildlife retreat.

All right, let's see how Miranda's going today.

All right, we'll just give you a check first.

Look at that lovely fur coat. There's no sign of fungus left now. She looks in

great condition. Her eyes and ears and nostrils are all clear.

Beautiful and sweet.

You can see what amazing conditions she's put on. She's enormous compared to

what she was, aren't you little one?

So this is a really exciting next step in her life. It's almost a new life

up into the retreat and seeing everything for a first time. It's going

really exciting for her and for me as well. I can't wait to see what she gets

to out there. So she's been given a clean bill of health by the vets, so

ready to go and she's raring to go as well.

And so are the platypus team, who are busy rolling out the welcome mat in

preparation for her arrival.

And off goes Miranda, off for a new life at the retreat.

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