Original subtitles

Australia is home to one of the world's most iconic zoos, Taronga, stretching

from the shores of Sydney's famous harbour... Hello, everybody!

..to the vast western plain zoo in Dubbo.

Come on, girls!

But in a world that's ever -changing... Every single birth we have is vitally

important. ..one thing always stays the same.

There comes a time when you just have to let go.

The love these teams have.

Two little lion cubs.

For the thousands of animals in their care.

Good boy.

On this episode.

We don't know what the genders of the cubs are just yet.

It's a big day for a very big reveal.

Once mum's out happily eating on exhibit, we go in to the nest area and

them. As keepers finally discover if these precious lion cubs are girls or

It's female one.

Female one.

Make sure it can walk okay.

A very prickly situation in the wildlife hospital.

Just a little guy.

So cute.

That's so cute.

For this sticky -beaked echidna. It's tricky to get it on the nose without

curling up.

That's their defense mechanism.

And incoming.

This one here has found its leaves already.

They're quite relaxed.

Taronga's newest residents make themselves right at home.

Seeing those koalas today enter in their exhibit and run up the tree into their

new home is just an amazing feeling. That's what I do it for.

Yeah, it's fantastic.

Taronga's plan to produce lion cubs... has been in the works for many years.

They're playing.

Yeah, they're playing.

Boosting numbers of this declining but important species was the main driving

force behind putting lions Atto and Maya together.

Maya is pregnant.

That's pretty exciting.

But the results were way more than anyone at Taronga actually expected.

She's looking... Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my gosh!

She's got five cubs!

That is...

Oh my goodness, I seriously would not have thought that she was going to have

five.

As soon as they were born, staff began around -the -clock monitoring to ensure

these precious cubs' lives were off to a perfect start.

What I'm looking for on the cameras is to see if May is toileting them and

tending to them, grooming them, looking after them.

If the cubs are suckling, drinking from her every one to four hours.

four teats, so having five cubs can be quite tricky.

And it seems like there's pretty much always a cub on one of Maya's teats, so

she's a pretty busy mum at the moment.

While a big litter is good, having female cubs to mother their own pride

is crucial to the breeding program's success.

We don't know what the genders of the cubs are just yet.

We won't be going in to check those cubs until they're about 12 days old.

And when we do that first check, that's when we'll get a better idea of what

their sexes are.

And time flies when you're a young cub with only one thing on your mind.

So today, after 12 days of watching and waiting, it's finally time for keepers

to get their very first close -up look at Taronga's five little miracles. Once

Mum's out happily eating on exhibit, we go in to the next area and weigh them.

It's female one.

Female one.

A female for Taronga. The perfect start.

She's 1 .3.

Female two?

Yep. Female two.

And the news just keeps getting better and better.

4 .5. Yep. Female three.

Because with three female cubs, the future of this breeding program is

very promising.

And they've got two healthy brothers to play with as well.

Their weights are wonderful. They're ranging between 5 .5 and 6 .5 kilos,

is just fantastic for such a big litter.

Then we sit in there with the cubs and spend 15, 20 minutes with them.

to have little cubs that feel comfortable and confident in our

they're going to have a life of living around people.

We've created this beautiful nest to keep them contained, but they're

now to want to see what's outside the bounds of that little maternity nest.

They're starting now to get more mobile, and it won't be long before they're

jumping over the edge, running around, agile, climbing and playing.

With lion populations dwindling, the pressure's on to raise these cubs

successfully.

So the next step for these little guys is that we want them to experience life

outside the world of the nest.

When these babies are ready to move to the next steps, we've got to be ready as

well.

At Taronga, it's not just the keepers and the vets that look after the

There's another team working behind the scenes that are essential in keeping

things running smoothly.

From exhibit maintenance to moving animals and everything in between.

They're called the Backyard Crew.

When it comes to moving any type of big units like pallets, even animals when it

comes down to it, it's a backyard team that does that. We drive the forklifts,

the front end loaders, the trucks. We've got a 16 tonne truck, a 6 tonne truck,

a couple of 4 .5 tonne trucks.

Good morning.

This team have a diverse range of skills and have to be ready to take on any job

that comes their way.

So I've been at Taronga Zoo now for 22 years.

I enjoy what I do. I feel like I accomplish something every day and I

I'm part of this great organisation, caring for the animal.

Today, the team have an extra heavy workload.

It's really important to rotate our enrichment items, whether it's a log or

tyre or a blue barrel. It's a lot easier to utilise the backyard crew with their

tractors to get our enrichment up because they are so large, just like our

elephants.

Frozen barrel has coil in it and we're going to stick it up there. So we're

going to encourage those natural abilities of pushing and shoving. It is

basically a huge ice block. And to make it a bit more fun for them, when it

actually defrosts, they can turn it upside down and they can drink it if

want or they can bash it while it defrosts. So it's a bit of fun for them.

So what they'll do, they'll get their trunk underneath it, they'll flip it up

and they'll pretty much hold it there or pin it against the bollard and they'll

drink from it there.

But elephant -sized ice blocks aren't the only thing the crew are moving

Being big animals, they definitely love large objects, especially logs. It's a

natural log. Instead of having it high up where it can just move side to side,

we're going to actually put it in our mound. And Maddie loves to hide it, so

they kind of have to dig at it to get to the log.

In the wild, they'll naturally knock down trees, utilising their trunk to do

or their feet, whether it's to move it so they can make a track or collect

But it's not just the large objects like this where we need a tractor to move.

It can be smaller ones such as a cocos palm log, which they love to eat.

And so it's another great enrichment, whether it's food -based or even just

-based.

It's a really exciting game to play, hide -and -seek, because they really

investigate the enrichment.

We also do the mud wallow to ensure the elephants can come out and have their

mud bath.

We move the tires up towards the pole.

The backyard crew, we have them come in at least twice a week, sometimes more.

We're all in it together, and we all love to marvel when the animals, you

are benefiting and are happy from our work. So, yeah, we're all one big team.

know. This looks like fun to me.

I've got some peanuts that we can put around and all encourage them to

investigate it. Yeah, so eventually these will all be pushed out, and the

elephants will kind of get in there and move things with their feet and have a

good old time. They'll definitely love this. Yeah.

For Taronga's elephants Pak Boon and Tang Mo, it's time to put the

crew's hard work to the test.

While the elephants get to enjoy their enrichment, for the backyard crew it's

just another day at the office.

Seeing the elephants enjoying themselves and their natural behaviour, That gives

us good job satisfaction.

Now I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

But tomorrow, there's an even bigger challenge in store for this crew.

Taronga's litter of lion cubs are now over a month old.

They're growing so fast. They're going to be big before we know it, but we've

got to try and remember to take every day as it comes at the moment because...

they're not going to stay this tiny and cute forever.

Caring for the cubs is the sole job of their mum, Maya.

While mum's doing a great job, keepers need to gently help her along.

So today, they're assisting Maya to prepare for a little family outing.

Today's a pretty important day for the lives of the little cubs. It's the first

big step for them.

We decided to put them out into the holding yard for the first time.

When she first brought them out, she's walking really, really slowly so that

little cubs can keep up with her.

I thought that they might be a bit tentative about going out, but they were

out within a few minutes.

Previously, they've just known their nest and they've got grass, so this is a

whole new world for them to explore.

They're playing.

They're rough and tumbling with each other.

They're investigating the environment.

This is such a great environment for them where they can find their feet,

get used to the outside world. It's going so well.

But mum's never far. She's watching and she's trying to keep the cubs together.

While the cubs enjoy their new environment, for the moment their father

still being kept separately for their safety.

Atto currently hasn't actually seen the cubs. He can hear them, but because

they're still all contained in the birthing area, he hasn't had the

to see them. He can certainly smell them on Maya.

If Atto doesn't recognise the smell of his cubs when they first meet, it could

be fatal.

So for now, he can only see them through a mesh gate.

The first time that they wandered over to see Atto, she was over there at the

mesh, putting herself between the cubs and him, just to make sure that he knew

that they were her little precious things and that she would protect them.

They can see their dad. Their dad can see them really clearly.

But we've seen some really beautiful signs between Atto and the cubs.

The cubs really, you know, they want to be near him. And Atto uses a gentle

contact vocal when the cubs are around.

And he lies down on the ground so that he makes himself much smaller for them.

They work with lots of different mothers from lions to snow leopards and tigers.

The bond that she has with these cubs is extremely strong.

She will protect these little cubs with her life.

So from here, the next big step will be that we will introduce them to their

father. That will be the really major event that's going to be happening down

the track.

Coming up, a serious problem for a seriously cute echidna. I'm worried

whether it's had any damage to the brain.

And anxious staff hope for the best as Atto meets his cubs.

for the very first time.

Down at the wildlife hospital, a short -beaked echidna has been rushed in after

being hit by a car.

As you can see, it does have quite a significant wound on its head and an

to its beak.

The wound is quite deep and we want to make sure that it doesn't go down to the

skull and that there's no skull injury or any trauma to the brain.

It seems very bright.

That's so cute.

Just a little guy.

I'd like to put it on the floor, Liz, though, and just see how it moves

Let's make sure it can walk okay.

I'm watching how it places its feet. I'm watching its gait.

Because if it's been hit by a car and it had a fractured leg, we might see some

abnormal foot placement.

For an echidna, that looks good.

While he's walking fine, for an echidna, it's the nasty gash to the head that

really has vet Kimberly worried.

It's big, and you can see down to the skull, so it needs to be closed up.

Before they can begin, the echidna needs to be anesthetized.

And as always at the wildlife hospital, they're thinking outside the box.

It's like a little echidna mask that we've made out of a syringe cover.

And the trick is to get it on the nose without them curling up.

That's their defense mechanism, just to curl up.

I think he's relaxing.

Clean this wound up. We've got to get all of that road debris out of there,

of that nasty dirt.

We're going to sew it together.

We're going to try to see if we can't get that to heal.

So I need fresh tissue that's bleeding so it can heal and form a seal, and then

I just need to freshen all of the edges. But it looks good. It's coming clean.

So I'm going to close it in a couple layers. I'm going to close the muscles

so that covers over the skull, and then I'll close the skin up.

You can see how thick this skin layer is.

So that trauma, that car,

caused a wound that went through that much skin. They have really, really

skin. It holds the bottom of those quills.

So that was quite the impact.

Although the echidna survived the accident, it's the unseen damage that is

concerning.

So I'm worried about whether it's had any damage to the brain.

Sometimes if the brain is impacted,

It can get swollen, so then we worry a little bit more and have to be really

careful to try to get some of that swelling down.

Taronga is now home to five African lion cubs.

And as they grow, keepers need to ensure they stay in perfect health.

So our cubs have just reached... Eight weeks of age. Now we've got to start

preparing them for the exhibit.

In order to do that, this morning, vet staff are joining the carnivore team to

help get these cubs vaccinated.

Morning. Morning.

It's really important for us that they get their vaccinations to prevent them

getting diseases.

It's part of their preventative health program and it's a really important

to do for these lion cubs.

All right, Princess Maya.

As well as a vaccination, They'll need to give the cubs a microchip, but only

time allows.

She's out.

The exhibit door is locked.

We wanted to keep her as busy as possible, but we have a short window of

because as soon as she finishes that meat, as soon as she's ready to come

to her cubs, we need to respect that and we need to get her back in. So we were

under time pressure as well.

Hello, baby.

It's a bit cute.

And to make matters worse, this is a very delicate process.

with some very nervous subjects.

It was quite challenging.

Gabby, come on.

Opportunistically, as one walks past us, just gently pick up the skin around the

shoulder blades and just do the vaccine.

Oopsy doopsy, oopsy doopsy, you're all right, baby.

They weren't their normal relaxed selves that they've been just with the keepers

that they've known.

Usually with us, they're far more comfortable, they're relaxed, they're

Good boy.

any fast movement it was making them startle yeah they're all starting to get

worried all right guys we'll give them a moment to warm up do you want this bone

what do you reckon as the cubs adjust to the vet team they're able to vaccinate

number two the bruise is done yeah then three good

girl

Girl three, done.

Then four.

So brave, so brave.

He's like, I don't feel brave.

It's great going.

Four out of five cubs vaccinated with their very first attempt.

Hey, beautiful girl.

What's going on, darling?

One of our little girls, girl number two, she didn't even want to approach.

just stayed way back in the corner for the entire time.

Yeah, just a little girl. Female two.

How's our time going?

Maya's breakfast won't last much longer.

So with time running out, they need to think and act quickly.

We kind of went away and we rethought our plan.

We decided to do the microchips in the kitchen.

Okay.

We wanted to get them away from the other cubs.

Come on, Bubba.

Good boy, good boy.

I am pleased to say little girl number two who was really worried, we managed

vaccinate and microchip her.

Done? Happy?

Pretty happy with that.

Good.

With some tweaks to the plan, the team are able to get the job done. Happy?

Yep, sure.

And just in time.

Now that we've seen that they are a bit worried about unfamiliar people, we now

need to step up what we're doing with them, help them be a bit more confident,

bit more resilient.

With their first health check out of the way, they're now ready for their next

big step.

A face -to -face meeting with their dad.

Today

the

backyard crew have a very special road trip to make.

Headed out to Dubbo.

It's a bit of a drive, about five and a half hours, so I've just got to check on

our vehicle.

My job isn't actually to wrangle up the animals, that's the zookeeper's job, but

I'm a driver in the backyard.

So part of my job is transport and I do a bit of everything.

Yesterday I was up in the Blue Mountains collecting logs for ironbark, logs for

the langurs.

The day before I was out at the markets in Plymouth and Western Sydney picking

up pineapples for our elephants and today I'm headed to Dubbo with five

wallabies and five plains wanderers. So yeah, in the backyard we get a bit of

everything.

We're considered the muscle of the zoo. We do all the heavy lifting, we do all

the transport for the animals. Pretty exciting role.

With the van checked and ready for the long drive ahead, it's time to load some

very precious cargo.

Yeah, it's a big load today.

We've just got to make sure it all fits in the van and that they're comfortable

and they're not going to be stressed.

The AC's going to be on the whole way, so we'll be fine.

Each of them have had a dose of a sedative to keep them calm for the trip.

Plus a few other bits and pieces going along because some animals are actually

coming back.

A couple of koalas and an echidna are coming back, so we're sending them some

boxes.

I'm just securing the crates to the van now just to make sure that they don't

move when we're on transport.

So if they...

As long as they're secure, the animals won't be irritated if there's any kind

movement that's not expected.

Transporting live animals from Taronga to another zoo is very important for the

breeding and the programs we have.

But yeah, definitely my favourite part of the job.

So with the passengers strapped in and ready to roll, it just leaves one final

decision to be made.

Yeah, yeah, I've packed my music. John Denver, Country Roads, we'll be

to that on the way out there. The wallabies are going to love it. Well, if

don't, they're too bad.

Yeah, get them a shy.

Oh, wow.

Taronga's lion cubs are breathing through their first few months of life.

brave, go brave.

Which has been made nice and easy thanks to all the efforts of Mum Mayor.

Wow, such a good mummer.

and Taronga staff.

Up to date, we've nurtured these little babies. We've made sure they've had

absolutely the very best start to life.

But for the next milestone, staff are well aware the only thing they can do is

watch.

You've got a massive male lion. He's 180 plus kilos.

And then you have these little kind of 10, 12, 15 kilo cubs.

And now we're about to hand all of that over to Dad. It's pretty terrifying.

Although this is a process Louise has gone through before, she's not taking

risks with these five special line cubs.

We're only here in an emergency. Let her try and control all of the intro.

Use the hose only if absolutely necessary, and the fire extinguisher

the cub's in imminent danger of being killed.

With the safety brief out of the way... All right, we're good to go, Mayor.

It's now all up to Atto.

We have to trust the fact that he is very bonded to the female.

Okay, opening the slide.

He's heard them, he's smelt them, so he's known of them for the last nine

So today we're going to trust all of that.

Of course, though, there'll always be that fear that something could go wrong

and that he may very seriously injure one of those little cubs.

Maya got up instantly and went and positioned herself between the cubs and

Good girl Maya.

She literally showed him their five little cubs.

Hey Atto, these are your babies, aren't they?

Maya is much more relaxed than what we were, but she knows what she's doing.

She's very experienced, so we're trusting her.

Atto, he did exactly as I expected. He was quite nervous of them. He was

worried. He was very tentative.

That was a bit nerve -wracking for us because we didn't know what his response

was going to be.

Good boy, Atto. Be nice and gentle with the baby.

Gentle, gentle, gentle.

Oopsy -doopsy.

Gentle, gentle.

So he put his mouth around him, didn't he?

So he's obviously just assessing what they're going to do.

It was like he was doing a mock bite, and he may well have been, just to see

reaction. He's certainly got a reaction every time.

Gentle, Atto, Atto.

Don't taste them.

There's a couple of times when Atto was a bit rough with the cubs. It was almost

like he was batting his brother Luwazi, but instead, you know, he's batting a

little 10, 12 -kilo cub.

Gentle. Oh, he's a naughty baby.

Maya was instantly up and intervened straight away, just to say, hey, these

our cubs, just.

Relax. So it helps us to relax as well, knowing that she is going to be so

proactive.

Good girl.

There's one little girl that was particularly approaching him more than

others. Oh, good boy, Atto.

Kari really likes him. Yes, I know.

That's your daughter, and I think she really likes you.

Good boy.

It seems like... She's a bit of a daddy's girl and there might be a nice

special bond that's going to grow between these two because Atto was

surprisingly tolerant of her getting that close.

She's a brave little cub. I don't know if I could have done that if I was her.

As concerned as they are about the first meeting, one of the more aggressive

displays by Atto is actually a very positive behaviour.

See how he does the Fleming response?

He does that quite a bit after touching them. He did what we call a Fleming

response. It's taking scent straight up through an organ in the roof of their

mouth called the Jacobson's organ or the vomeronasal organ, and that's got a

direct pathway to the brain, almost like a way of Atto recognizing his cub. So

he's taking that scent in of that individual cub, and hopefully that's

trigger something in his brain so that he knows that that cub belongs to him.

With Atto learning the scent and personalities of his cub... We've got

there, Matt.

Keepers are over the moon that today's introductions went off without a hitch.

I'm glad day one is done. I'm pleased with how it went.

So hopefully from here it'll get a little bit easier every day and that

relationship is going to start to grow between him and his cub.

OK, Maya.

But the cubs are going to need a rest after all that excitement as tomorrow

their world gets a whole lot bigger.

Still to come, a wet welcome for Taronga's newest resident.

They look really settled, the way they're just sampling across the

there. And Kimberly finds out just how tough an echidna can be.

This skin is so thick, it's actually making my needle a bit dull.

At the wildlife hospital, vet Kimberly is working on a young echidna who's been

admitted with a severe head injury.

Lift it up a little. Yeah.

The quills fit quite deep in the skin, but sometimes that makes it a bit hard

sew the skin together because you've got to avoid going around the quills.

So it's taking me a little bit longer.

This skin is so thick, it's actually making my needle a bit dull.

Let's put him flat again so I can see what our end result is.

This is where the incision ends. It's right close to the eye. There's the eye

right there. He's lucky it didn't get to his eye. Okay, so put a piece of glue

there in the hole, and this will glue the rest of that tissue close.

When those little quills grow back in, we won't even know that he's had a

problem. With the wound sewn up, Kimberly turns her attention to its

damaged beak.

They use their nose for smell. They need to smell for the food, but they also

have these, like, receptors.

lining this area that helps them to find food.

They rely on the nose for breathing. They can breathe through the mouth, but

it's a real struggle, it's really hard.

You hear this little tongue, if I pull this tongue out. Long tongue.

Long tongue.

They have a very long tongue for getting ants and termites and insects, because

that's what they like to eat.

While its long tongue is fine, its short beak is clearly fractured.

The fracture is well aligned.

So as long as the beak is in fairly good alignment and those little fine bones

that make up the beak stay in one place, it should heal fine.

The beak sort of acts as a cast and keeps it stable.

We've just got to be careful not to dislodge any of the pieces.

Obviously, we can't put a bandage over its beak. It needs to still be able to

open its mouth and to breathe properly. So we're just putting a bit of a...

barrier cream on there to help it heal.

There you go.

Guffies.

Yeah, not the prettiest of foreheads at the moment, but the rest of this animal

is absolutely gorgeous.

Not uncommon for echidnas to blow bubbles.

They can actually swim as well and they use their little beak as a snorkel.

While the echidna was under anaesthetic, we didn't see that happening.

So the fact that it is blowing bubbles now is a good sign that it's waking up

and recovering well.

All right, we'll get it to bed.

This little echidna is all patched up, but he has a long and difficult recovery

ahead of him.

High above the bustling waterways of the harbour, Taronga Zoo is preparing for

yet another milestone as the five lion cubs embark on their next big adventure.

Today is the very first day of the beginning of having a lion family out in

gorgeous big habitat.

This is what we planned for. This is what we built this exhibit for.

It's exciting because this is a really important step for the baby.

I mean, I feel a bit nervous. I don't want the little cubs to get lost. I

want them to panic.

Obviously, we know that they can't really get lost in here, but to them,

so tiny. You know, they're still so little.

But it's a giant step for this lion family and for Taronga Zoo as well.

With the final touches on the exhibit complete... Yes, all good to go.

..it's time to let these tiny adventurers loose.

Oh, here she comes.

Here they come.

Are they all there?

Yeah, all five are there.

It's going to be challenging.

There's five little cubs. They could go in all different directions this

morning. So we've got Mum who's just come out, and I can see a couple of

cubs. There's a few cubs just up on the hill, but Mum's just standing there at

the moment, so she's a little bit tentative, which is totally

This is a massive, big exhibit.

Massive, big habitat for these little babies.

Very smart little cubs. Sussing out the terrain.

Oh, Mum.

May, you're leaving your babies behind.

So naturally, the little cubs, they're looking.

A little bit worried, a little bit tentative, as they, you know, should be.

is a pretty big day for them. This is huge because they don't know what's

the corner.

Yeah, call Mummy.

Hey, Mummy. Yeah, look.

Hello, Mama. Yeah, you forgot about your baby, Sally.

She's just realised and up she goes.

She's like, that's right. I've got children to look after.

Trying to keep them all together. I don't know how.

I would be a stressed mother being out there with five little cubs.

But Maya is taking it all in her stride.

And now she's rounded her family up, it's time for take two of their tour of

new exhibit.

Where are they now?

Oh, they're over at that window. Over at the other window.

Oh, great.

Perfect view.

Oh, my goodness.

She's being amazing the way she's exploring, purposely taking them on a

the exhibit. Yeah.

Because she doesn't normally do this when she comes out.

Well, don't go down there. Goodness.

Oh, my God.

Maya, you're choosing the most difficult path for the babies.

Toughen them up.

Gosh, I tell you what, it's just like seeing lions in Africa. We've got these

little tiny cubs. They're peeking through the bushes, trying to navigate

rocks. And there's some really big rocks there that they need to navigate.

They're trying to, you know, work out where mummy is and get down to her.

And this is, it's amazing.

Gorgeous to see, exactly as you would see if it wasn't for, you know, the

beautiful building skyline next to us. Like, this is just like looking at lions

in Africa. It's wonderful.

They've done well so far, though. Yeah.

Getting around all the... Oh, go find Mummy.

There you go.

Wow, they're having a good old explore.

Mm.

But all good things must come to an end.

She knows that they're probably getting a little bit tired. It'd be exhausting

for them. It'd be so tiring. Time for a little cub nap, I would think.

Despite this morning's outing being short, this is a long game for the

keepers and they couldn't be happier about how it all went.

What we've seen today, this is the culmination of years and years of

and now here we are at the day that they get to go out onto exhibit. So, yeah,

it's... Very, very special.

This is what we do. This is our job. But this is like one of the best days of

our job.

Once Dad joins them, that's going to be even more exciting.

And that's probably the final step, really, in our whole lion breeding, of

getting Dad here with them.

24 hours since he left for Dubbo, Dylan's returned to a wet and rainy

Having dropped off his delivery, he's arrived with some new residents.

Yesterday we took out five wallabies and five plains wanderers out to Dubbo, and

today we brought back two koalas and an echidna. So yeah, we try to get the most

out of our transport, so there's never an empty van going to or from Dubbo, and

it was just an exciting trip.

It's been a long drive, so Dylan's keen for his koala friends to stretch their

paws and settle into their new home.

Seeing those koalas today enter in their exhibit and run up the tree is just an

amazing feeling. That's what I do it for. I enjoy doing it. It's my job and,

know, it's fantastic.

That looks amazing.

Just going back into the trees as if nothing had happened, you know. It

seem to... What was it, nearly six hours, I think? Yeah, just on six hours.

Six hours, and look, they look really settled, the way they're just sampling

across the branches there.

I found this one here, it's found it's leaped already.

They're quite relaxed.

I love my job. I think my job is fantastic.

Even though I'm soaking wet, it is what it is. The backyard crew, we always get

our job done. The mission is complete.

Well, for today at least, because who knows what tomorrow holds.

Over the last few weeks, Taronga's lion cubs have really grown in confidence.

Every day that they're getting older, they're learning more about their

environment, they're learning more about each other.

They're also learning more about the habitat that they're going into. So

exploring more, they're feeling more outgoing.

And they're starting to be a bit more independent from their mum.

But while mum and the cubs have been exploring and playing, the cubs' father,

Atto, is not quite ready to join them out on exhibit just yet.

We need to know that everything's going to continue to go well and that with

five little cubs running and playing, that dad is still going to be able to be

calm and protect them rather than be overly playful and potentially hurt

Oh, you're right there, Miss.

So like the initial introduction, they're approaching this next step very

cautiously.

We're in the early stages of putting Atho and Maya and the cubs in the

together. The first process is tested out in the holding yard.

He is this huge male lion that they've

seen through the mesh and slowly got to know.

So they're testing their boundaries with him. They'll chase him, they'll stalk

him, they'll play with his tail.

And Atto has to navigate all of these different behaviours from the cubs, so

it's exactly what we're looking for.

In fact, Atto has behaved so well, there's now only one thing left to do.

The final big hurdle, the family, as a unit of seven, will go out into the big

habitat for the first time.

And once they're all out on exhibit together... It's all up to Maya to keep

cubs safe.

It's been a month since the echidna with the head wound was admitted to the

wildlife hospital.

And rehabilitation manager Libby is keen to get an update on his progress.

This guy didn't seem to even notice that he had a huge problem to his head.

He's a really young, robust thing. He just had an incident with a car.

They're amazing animals, what they go through.

Yeah, and he hasn't shown any significant signs of stress. He's been

pretty relaxed here. He's been eating really well.

He'll go home to where he came from, back out into the wild.

And he'll be perfect before he goes.

Except for his scar on his face, which will never be perfect.

We'll be able to recognise him if he ever comes back in again.

For now, it's off to a much larger yard where he can begin the next phase of his

recovery.

Yeah, today's the first day that he's been allowed to come outside, so it's a

really big step in his progress. And now he'll be in this rehab environment,

which is quite large, until we deem him ready to go back home into the wild.

Although that could still be a while off...

Thanks to Kimberly, all signs point to this echidna making a full recovery.

Next, an incredible moment.

I'm excited.

First day of many.

18 years in the making.

Oh, Mama!

Hours before opening to the public, Taronga Zoo is a hive of activity with

workers, cleaners and keepers going about their early morning chores.

But it's extra busy at the lion exhibit.

Today has been a long time coming.

This is the culmination of years and years of planning.

So much work went into the design of the African savannah area.

You know, getting a purpose built, lion building, maternity den, selecting the

lions that we're going to have as our new breeding pair and generation.

Introductions. Good girl, darling. Waiting to see if there's a pregnancy.

Oh, my gosh, and there is one. There's one there. Birth of cubs, and now here

are, having a beautiful pride out in this gorgeous big habitat.

First day of many.

So I'm excited.

As is the fast -gathering crowd, because for the first time in nearly two

decades, everyone is getting a chance to see Taronga's newest family.

Oh, Mama.

Look at her.

Little baby.

It's OK.

We built this brand -new savannah exhibit knowing that we were going to

great Taronga bread prize, and they're here.

It's wonderful, it's spectacular.

We want to treasure every moment because they do grow so quickly.

As the lion cubs play and Dad takes a little break from the kids,

keepers take a minute to reflect on what it took to get to this moment.

As keepers, we are so proud.

It's just all the effort that we've put in over the years and all the time

and... and hours that we've put in is just so being worth it.

To see them together at Pride is incredible and to actually have a family

a beautiful Pride here at Taronga, it is so exciting. I'm a Leo, I have a little

soft spot for a lion, so it's just made my day.

But this is not just a big moment for Taronga.

It's incredibly significant for lion populations worldwide.

Because they are vulnerable, their numbers are decreasing.

In Australia, we're breeding lions to help educate people and also for that,

know, insurance population.

And these five cubs, they've got ties back to South Africa.

That's pretty amazing. So they're very, very special cubs.

But there's still one very important formality left.

And it's one Louise has waited a long time to share.

So we've finally been able to name all five cubs, which is very exciting. So

we don't have to call them male one, male two. Now we actually have real

for them.

So we have Kari, and his name means like a king.

Luzuko, which is the lighter male, his name means glory.

The three females, we have Zuri. Her name means beautiful, and she certainly

Ayana, meaning beautiful flower.

and Malika, meaning like a queen.

To actually be able to have bred these five cubs and then have the family

together as a pride, a cohesive unit, just like you would see in Africa, is

so fantastic.