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, let the games begin.

Oh, this is just the best part. A feeding time like no other at Taronga.

It'd be something like chocolates for us.

And a first for this family of lions.

Can't wait to see them eat it.

Me neither.

Oh yeah, so if you can see their muscles working, you can really see them

pulling on that carcass.

Larry and Libby try to turn these unhappy feet... Not often you have to

penguin. ...into happy feet.

Penguins are actually quite tough little creatures.

And a rare bird indeed.

They are a challenging species to breed.

Hair racing times at Taronga.

Just have a look at them. They're probably the most impressive cockatoo

you'll see anywhere in the world.

And her hair is nicer than mine too, so I'm a bit jealous of that as well.

Animals from every continent call Taronga's Tuzus home.

Having such a diverse collection of wildlife means they also have an...

extensive and ever -changing range of needs that must be accommodated.

They are mainly grass -eating rodents, and a single capybara can eat up to

kilos of grass in a single day. They've pretty much destroyed all the grass in

this exhibit. They've absolutely smashed it.

And a lot of that care falls on the shoulders of Taronga's talented and

keepers. Looking after him well as he gets into his more senior years is a

really important part of our job.

While different keepers have different specialities, like the ungulate team.

Good girl. Good boy.

The carnivore team.

Okay, Gunner, there you go, mate.

And the bird team.

Good boy, Echo.

Good. One keeper, Paul, works across almost all of them.

Hey, Eora.

Good morning.

I think I'm one of the luckiest keepers at the zoo, actually. It's fascinating

going from one section to another. You're always learning about different

animals. And you go from exotic to native animals.

And today, it's marine.

And one of my first duties is to look after our pelicans.

Our two male pelicans are Iora and Marnie.

And this is their feed time. Like any zoo animal, they're really expecting

things first thing in the morning.

That's what I'm just about to do. Give them a feed and then get in and clean

with them as well. They're absolutely fascinating animals, by the way. So it's

bit of a thrill. Great way to start the day, too.

Whilst pelicans are found right across the world, these two are native to

Australia. Pelicans are probably one of my favourite creatures. They're really

exciting. They're one of the country's most iconic animals.

But look at their feathers. They're really quite beautiful with their lovely

black and white colouration.

So the fish I'm going to feed them this morning are a variety. That, for

example, is yellowtail.

Now I'll just wait until they get in position.

So underneath their beak is that large pouch. They put their head underwater,

and they can scoop up to around 13 litres of water into that pouch. The

for us, the water leaks from it, and hopefully what's left is a fish or

crustacean.

Once they're nice and relaxed like that, I'm just going to give them the

finished symbol.

So now my job is to go down and do some husbandry and some cleaning with them.

They're relaxed after their feed.

So husbandry is where we take care of the animal's health. Now historically,

seabirds suffer from something that's called bumblefoot. You can see that

he's... feet look really quite healthy but bumblefoot has a bit of a growth

underneath the feet there and it can be quite painful we believe so one way in

which we care for our pelicans feet is to provide this this is tea tree

mulch that's a part of the exhibit right around here so as the pelicans are

walking around the tea tree they're actually medicating their feet so we

that that's got some medicinal benefits for his feet

So while Paul finishes up his husbandry work with a quick clean, right next door

it's roll call for the little penguins.

So here at Taronga Zoo we've got 48 little penguins and they are the

all the penguin species that you find in the world. They're all really funny

little characters.

That's my finger.

They've all got different colour leg bands and they've all got names as well.

Keeping across all the detail is essential for these keepers. So we've

double black, bacardi, black and orange, halloumi. We've got some that have been

bred here. We've got some that have come from the wild with different injuries

and haven't been able to be released.

It provides more genetics for our breeding program and gives them another

at a life that they wouldn't have otherwise.

This little one here, she looks little, but she's our oldest penguin. She's 22.

The penguins in the wild usually only live till they're about seven or eight.

She's been with us her whole life and she's still going well, still laying

You can see when they're molting like this, they look pretty funny.

The one thing all these birds have in common is they're local.

So you find them out in Sydney Harbour and our wildlife hospital.

gets a lot of different animals in every year with different injuries, and they

get a lot of little penguins. There are two little penguins at our wildlife

hospital at the moment that have come in recently.

One of them is a brand -new arrival, having just been brought in by a

member of the public.

Lib, what have we got here? A little penguin that came from Palm Beach on the

weekend. OK.

So the right thigh and then the top of its tail there. So I think what we

do is actually anaesthetise it and give it a full, thorough physical exam.

It looks quite pale looking at its feet and actually Liz from the weekend said

it did look a bit pale.

It is dragging this foot when it moves.

Come on, buddy.

Putting it to sleep is a job for vet nurse Liz.

who's well aware of the games these little penguins can play.

Penguins can be quite difficult sometimes to anaesthetise.

Penguins dive underwater, and when they dive, they hold their breath. So

sometimes when they're being anaesthetised, they'll do the same

So at the moment, the bird's breathing nicely, but I just need the bird to

breathe a little bit more to take in the anaesthetic gas to go to sleep.

He's getting there. He's getting a bit sleepy.

He's got his eyes closed, which means he's going to sleep, but still flapping

his little flippers.

You just have to be patient with penguins.

And finally, that patience pays off.

The penguin's anaesthetised.

That means Larry can start looking at this little penguin's extensive wound.

Feeding time at the zoo comes in many forms.

From lifting hay and leaves for all -day grazing... So we'll actually hang the

leaves up here as well with the hay, and it stimulates giraffe eating out of the

trees. ...to leaving a trail of snacks for the animals to find and enjoy.

So it's lots of these little feeds, and as I spread it out now, they're going to

have to smell to find that food. They're going to walk around the exhibit

smelling for all of this.

But today...

Butcher Carlin and nutritionist Michelle have something new in mind for

Taronga's ever -growing lion pride.

Oh, that looks beautiful, Carlin. Nice and fresh, nice and fresh.

Nice one for safety, my friend, and let us go.

Hey! How are you?

Good, how are you?

I'm very good. Look what we've got. Oh, wonderful.

Where would you like it?

We'll probably just bring it in here because it'll be going out in the

very soon. It's a young lamb, so the bones are going to be soft enough that

can really crush them, and even the little tiny cubs will be able to get a

purchase on it.

I'm really excited about this because carcass feeding is really important,

particularly for young animals. It gets them to use all of those muscles that

would normally be used to take down prey items in the wild, and it helps to

strengthen their jaw muscles and their neck and their shoulders. You can just

imagine as they're tearing that. You can feel the muscles that you're working.

It's prepared beautifully. It's open up, so there's lots of places for them to

hold on. We can have a cub on each leg. We might have mum grabbing at the spine,

but it's extremely important. for their, not just nutritional health, but also

for their dental health, for their muscles, for their skeleton, and also

socializing. We really need them to grow up and get used to eating with other

animals and eating with the other lions so that when they grow up and move to

other prides, they'll be comfortable to eat with those as well.

Checking the lamb one final time before it actually becomes lunch is critical to

avoid any injury.

Safety is the main game for this. We don't want it any sharp.

Bones here to damage their their mouth or their teeth.

We definitely don't want any real hard bones That's going to cause like that

certainly phones that get stuck in their jaw and they can't close their jaw But

this one's nice and clean. Definitely. Yeah, well this carcass feed is a first

for these cubs It's also a first for Michelle.

I Think I've ever been down here All right, so I'm thinking maybe if we put

just around here in the grass So they don't kind of get the soil and stuff on

it. Yeah, that'll be good. But they couldn't drag it wherever they like. All

right, so maybe what we'll do is sort of splay it out there, Carlin. Yeah, we'll

keep it like... So that they can... Okay, you want to spread it or you want

to... Yeah, because then... They can all grab a bit. Yes.

That'll be good. We'll just pose it very nicely. Okay, good?

Yeah. So it's really good to do carcass feeds for lions because they are a

social cat. They're one of the only social cats, in fact.

But having mum and cubs together is very normal and natural, and this is exactly

what would be happening in the wild.

Time will tell if this will be the first of many such feeds for Taronga's lions.

Coming up, the tricks of making food time last longer.

Remember, they're really strong animals, so I've really got to lock that in.

And an audience with one very rare bird.

They're probably one of the most beautiful and impressive birds you've

seen.

Paul is one of the very few keepers lucky enough to work closely with a huge

variety of species.

And today he's been assigned an extremely important task for one of the

high -profile groups at the zoo.

Well, this morning I'm working in the very important primate division.

Providing food, water and shelter is always important for animals.

Providing enrichment is another.

Enrichment is where we stimulate the animals mentally. We give them problem

-solving opportunities.

As you can see, this is not making it terribly easy for the chimps to get

food. Their food today, part of it, is the beetroot puree, but also some

with sultanas. They're high -priced food items. But the chimps now have to work

out how to get them out of these tubes.

Like any section in the zoo, the primate department's really quite busy.

But it's actually a fantastic challenge working across the zoo and in many

different departments.

Learning about the animals is something, but also trying to get in amongst them

and remember what you're meant to be doing in that section is also very

important too.

You can actually hear the chimps in the background getting really quite excited

by this.

They're very observant.

They're a really wonderful exhibit, this one, actually. You can see there's all

the climbing structures, even places for them to escape from each other if they

wanted to, if there was a disagreement.

These locks and chains may look like overkill, but the reality is, without

this enrichment would be over in seconds.

Remember, they're really strong animals, so I've really got to lock that in

because that's the sort of treatment that they'll be giving the enrichment

items. They've got to try and work that around, and sometimes they hang off the

top to do that.

Sometimes they come in from underneath, or as we've seen, they've also used

tools, or even their fingers, to get the food out of there.

And I guess it's just like the enrichment that we provide for the

a human enrichment for me. I think I'm very lucky and I'm very grateful for

I do.

With everything secure, all that's left now is for Paul and the chimps to enjoy

his handiwork.

Oh, this is just the best part.

Taronga Zoo is home to a great number of species of birds, but one of the most

striking is this punk rock -looking palm cockatoo.

Here we have Seisha.

She is one of two female palm cockatoos that we have here at Taronga Zoo.

Seisha is around 10 and Hoppy is around 6 years of age.

As you can see, she is a very impressive species.

Just look at the hairdo on her. It's probably the best mohawk that I've ever

seen on any kind of bird.

The only place that you'll find a palm cockatoo in Australia is in Cape York

Peninsula, which is way up on the very tip of Queensland. It's the only place

Australia they exist, right on that top triangle.

And they are quite hard to see. They're quite an elusive species. They're very

shy.

In fact, they're so rare, Taronga is one of only two zoos in Australia to house

them. So we're very lucky not only to be able to house them, but I feel very

lucky and privileged to be able to work with them as well. They're one of my

favourite species, and just look at them. How could they not be? They're

probably one of the most beautiful and impressive birds you've ever seen.

And aside from the crazy mohawk, their other most prominent and fascinating

feature are their vivid red cheeks. You can just see the tip of Sasha's

side pouches there, or her skin.

You can see that skin there on the side. So when she's really shy, she covers

that with her feathers. But when she starts to get a bit more comfortable,

she'll actually expose those cheeks and the beautiful colour on there as well.

So at the moment you can see that.

Sasha here is getting quite excited so her crest is up and she's exposing those

cheek patches that she has and when they get more excited it's usually a pale

red colour but the more excited they get the brighter red that will go.

So that's letting us know that she's either excited or really happy and when

she's not showing us she's just either relaxed or she's not really sore or just

very shy unlike Poppy who's very loud.

So we've got the enormous beak that you can see here, so the largest beak of all

the parrots.

Their eyesight is very good.

They have to be able to find the pandanus nuts, so that's their favourite

that they feast on in their natural habitat.

And that's why they've got such a powerful beak too. It's such a hard nut

crack that they use that really powerful beak to break in for those.

Like a lot of animals at Taronga, there's a strong conservation reason for

being here.

So their habitat is under threat.

As most cockatoos, they do require log hollows to nest in.

Palm cockatoos are one of the only species that will actually build a nest

within a log hollow, which makes them very unique.

But the log hollows that they require aren't forming up there, so a lot of the

trees are being cut down and their habitat isn't doing so good.

They are a challenging species to breed.

So to be able to say that we've been able to breed palm cockatoos would just

amazing.

Just have a look at them. They're probably the most impressive cockatoo

you'll see anywhere in the world.

And her hair is nicer than mine too, so I'm a bit jealous of that as well.

Down at the wildlife hospital, senior vet Larry is about to check the wound on

rescued little penguin.

It is quite pale, isn't it? Yes, it was pale when it came in.

It is quite thin, this little bird.

Poor body condition.

It looks like it might be anemic.

We know it has got some wounds, but just do a thorough physical exam on it.

There's quite a nasty wound here, and that foot is a little bit thicker than

that one.

Several wounds there.

That was the one I was most concerned about yesterday.

Yeah, that definitely is concerning.

It's obviously got some fairly significant wounds.

So yeah, it's certainly in a bit of trouble, this little guy.

So I'm just going to scan this little guy for a microchip.

It is a wild penguin, but some of the wild populations around Sydney are

carefully monitored, and many of the birds do have microchips in them.

We always check for the wild penguins for microchips and it doesn't seem like

this one has a microchip.

While Larry may not have found a microchip, he has found yet another

So you see there's a tick just there and it's got another one there.

Probably the most important and well -known tick in Australia is the

tick, which can cause paralysis in many different species of animals, but

particularly domestic animals, dogs and cats.

I don't think this bird is affected by these ticks though.

With some ticks collected for analysis, Larry turns his attention back to the

injured leg.

What we'll do now is clear away some of these feathers.

Usually we try and pluck birds' feathers rather than cut them because if you

pluck them, they grow back quite quickly, whereas if you cut them, they

only come back when the bird molts.

Not often you have to vacuum a penguin.

You can see the extent of that wound.

Definitely not a fresh wound. The tissue is very dry, very deep, but they do

heal well, these little guys.

A little bit difficult to know exactly what has caused this, but possibly a

fish, a predatory fish or something like that has grabbed him.

You can see some rake marks on the rest of his foot here.

To suture this wound is not a good idea because there's so much dead tissue in

there. So I'm going to treat it as an open wound.

This beige -y sort of putty, I suppose you can call it, or paste that I've put

in there is the wound healing paste.

It keeps moisture in the wound and it sort of cleanses the wound.

Because of the extent of that wound, we'll probably need several procedures

clean all that up. I think the important thing now is to provide it with some

good supportive care, get it nice and strong, rehydrate it, give it some good

nutrition. There'll be several other procedures before that wound is dealt

Next. Anticipation builds for Taronga's chimp.

Oh, this is just the best part.

And a first for this hungry pride of lions.

This is play behavior, learning how to be a lion.

She's just beautiful to watch.

Today, Taronga's new lion pride is in for a special treat.

Recreating how they feed in the wild, a 40 -pound carcass is being placed in

their exhibit.

So they don't kind of get the soil and thick stuff on it. Enabling them to have

their very first family meal together.

It's really good to do carcass feeds for lions because they are a social cat.

They're one of the only social cats, in fact. They have to learn how to share

any food that's caught. And this carcass, it's a lamb instead of a zebra,

it's not a huge carcass. But at the same time, our cubs are still only small. So

as they grow, the carcasses are going to have to grow as well.

As the cubs are still so young, unfortunately, Dad has to sit this one

Only because this is probably a little bit too small to have dad included as

well. Just that we've seen from Atto that he gets a little bit rough with the

babies around feeding time. So we'd prefer this just to be restricted to mum

her cubs for this stage.

I think it's been prepared beautifully for them. I can't wait to see them eat

it. We need it.

And just like in the wild, mum leads from the front.

While it looks like she's taking it for herself, it couldn't be further from the

truth.

Oh yeah, so if you can see, she's pulled the carcass away and she's pulled it

out so that all of her cubs are safely in the shade. She's not stupid, so she

wants them all to eat in the shade.

It's really great because it's exactly what we wanted to see. We've got a cub

each leg, and they're really pulling at it and playing tug -of -war with it and

trying to get pieces off, which is exactly what we wanted to see.

And you can see their muscles working. You can really see them pulling on that

carcass.

together and eating so closely, it means that they're comfortable eating in

close proximity, and that's fantastic. That's good social behavior.

So they're going to be good, polite lions when they're getting older.

It's interesting to see that mom hasn't actually eaten anything yet. So she's a

really good mom. Maya is a very experienced mother, and she's obviously

let those cubs eat from that carcass first, and maybe she'll come back to it

later. She's just alert and taking care of her cubs as she should be.

But whilst Maya's a good mom, she's also a hungry one.

Okay, so it looks like mom has now taken that one leg piece for herself.

But the cubs won't leave her alone to eat quietly.

Because like any mother who goes and takes a bath or wants to do something on

their own, the kids will always want to get in there and play. And it looks like

they're getting very rambunctious with her.

This is play behavior, learning how to be a lion.

She's just beautiful to watch. Just to see her interacting with those cubs is

amazing, and to see her teaching them how to be a good lion one day.

They're going to be playing with this carcass for hours, and they're going to

take little naps, and they're going to play, and then they're going to eat a

little bit more.

And at the end of it, I doubt they'll be able to find a skerrick anywhere.

I think that the entire carcass is going to be gone. Mom's going to eat those

big, long bones.

Those cubs are going to eat the ribs, and all of it's going to disappear.

So I don't think there'll be much to clean up.

As part of the nutritional program at the zoo, it's a huge success.

We're really getting everything that we want out of this carcass feed.

Up at the chimpanzee exhibit, they're also getting ready for a very special

Keeper Paul has placed out some purpose -built enrichment tubes.

And after hanging them up, it's time to see how they go down.

Oh, this is just the best part. This is just exactly what we want to see. You

can see that in the activity now as they grab the tubes.

They've all headed that way as well.

The first point of interest that we really wanted to get to, our nexus to

them feeding from it.

Of course, amongst the screaming, amongst the yelling, there's obviously

form of communication to telling the rest of the group that there's food out

about for them. This is what would occur in the wild.

There's something that's excited one of them. The rest of the group would then

come over to investigate.

You can even see some of the youngsters getting involved as well. There's plenty

of those pellets that are being spilt, but they're going to have to work a

little bit harder for that puree, that lovely beetroot puree.

Beetroot is a pretty highly prized food item for them. They really enjoy that.

Pellets also provide another surprise too. There were some sultanas that went

there. Sultanas are like at the top of the tree.

It'd be something like chocolates for us.

Chimps are very opportunistic and very observant animals.

So they're finding all those little treats in there right now and licking

digits, trying to find the really enjoyable stuff.

And so, of course, the pellets they like, they're shaking that into their

Fortunately, those locks have helped us out a lot to keep them in place.

From our perspective as keepers, this is really a success for us.

Just what we want. Yeah, it's perfect.

Coming up... Come on, Miss.

..introducing Dubbo's latest addition.

The birth was quite quick. We're never around for a birth.

Sabi, the black rhino.

I might be a little bit biased, but nothing beats a black rhino birth.

Roaming the fast -open plain... is just another day at the office for the

animals out here at Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

But whilst there's time for play, there's also time for work.

Today, one of the zoo's most important residents is in line for a very

training session.

You get set up and then we'll go from there. Good girl, Bakeda.

Here we have Sabi Star. She's a black rhinoceros.

So the trick is to find out what mood she's in in the morning and what takes

fancy. Sometimes it's a carrot, sometimes it's brows, other times it's

interaction with us.

You're okay, Miss.

You're okay.

Being so endangered, Sabi Star's arrival was another feather in the cap of

Taronga's successful rhino breeding program.

So the birth was quite quick.

We're never around for a birth. They're quite secretive. So it was in the early

hours of the morning.

The calf was standing and suckling within an hour, so that was great to

that's one of the things we look for straight away. Is the calf able to

Is it suckling? How long does it take to defecate? Is it building that bond with

mum? Our conservation philosophy and management strategy here at the zoo is

every single rhino or individual is vitally important.

So although she's just one individual, she is an ambassador and represents the

plight of her species in the wild.

Whilst they celebrated her birth, they also know the clock is ticking if they

want to keep adding to Sabi's family.

We're in the middle of a separation session with Sabi and her mum. She's

hit eight months of age and it's something that we've been working

day since she was about a month of age.

So we start off with a minute separation.

We go to two minutes, three minutes, and now they're up to about half an hour.

And we're leading up to a situation in the next few months where we will be

to separate them comfortably for an hour at a time.

And one of the reasons for that is we're trying to get Bikita pregnant again.

So from a very early age, we build rapport with the rhinos, all on their

to make sure mum is comfortable. And if mum's comfortable, the calf mimics

everything that mum does.

So Jake is down with Bakita, and they're both quite comfortable being 30 metres

apart at the moment. We can shut the gate.

So in the wild, a bull would approach the cow, who has the calf at foot,

about two years after the first birth. So we get the cow and calf comfortable

with being separated.

you know, up to an hour a day, we can bring the ball in safely.

And mum is then concentrating on the job at hand.

Hormones are kicking in. And the calf is learning the process from nearby, you

know, relaxed and controlled environment with as little stress as possible to

each. But after half an hour of being away from mum, Sabi's star is showing

signs she's had enough.

Yeah, she's not very settled at the moment.

So I'm not very settled.

So we're going to bring Bakita back.

Jake? Yeah.

Want to come back?

Let's go. Come on.

Keepers know full well results won't happen overnight, but the ultimate

of another black rhino calf roaming these Dubbo Plains makes all their work

worth it. I might be a little bit biased, but nothing beats a black rhino

or a calf.

And to have Sabi as a cow, as another female to add to the breeding program,

the cherry on top.

Back in Sydney, Keeper Paul is continuing his working tour of the many

of Tooronga Zoo.

Today in the reptile department are feed days.

Now as a keeper who rotates from department to department, I have to be

cautious about following and being consistent with what I do.

In this exhibit we've got Phil Nick.

We've also got a blue -tongued lizard that shares the exhibit with them.

Now, I'm going to feed these animals, but I'm going to feed them live food.

What we want to do is stimulate the animals mentally.

So mimic what would happen in the wild. And in the wild, these creatures would

eat insects. And today, they're getting... Oops, there's a couple of

but they're getting some crickets.

For humane reasons too, we only feed out invertebrates. So invertebrates are

animals just like crickets, but also worms and grubs, animals that don't have

backbone.

It's nice and reassuring for the animal that we're all on the same page. So this

is just how they're fed by all of the keepers.

And as you can see, these girls are particularly hungry today.

And one of the reasons that they are particularly hungry, it's a warm day.

Like, I'm perspiring now, but reptiles need heat to metabolise.

Now, that's the way that they will digest their food. On the colder days,

won't be as hungry because they can't really digest their food well enough.

And all this eating has piqued the interest of another resident of this

Well, as the girls were being fed, that aroused the male, and the male's just

turned up. He's become very interested now.

Now, male frill -necked lizards are larger than the females.

So there he goes. He's a little bit slower.

Compared to the girls, he's about as fast as a glacier.

Like the girls, they are all arboreal and found in the trees.

Although today, this one's on the ground.

We have to feed him in a certain way.

Just show him the crickets from the front.

He noticed the cricket is on the ground. That cricket won't get away,

unfortunately, for the cricket.

Oh, he's got it. There you are. Beauty.

Although Paul's work brings him in close contact with many of the more exotic

residents, he always has a soft spot for the local.

I love my job here at the zoo. I really like showcasing Australian wildlife.

You know, we're lucky to have it around us and there's a lot of really unique

and interesting things about Australian fauna that we know as Australians are

around us, we just don't know enough about.

Still to come.

Here you go, mate. Just why Paul is giving Fred flowers. I'm going to reward

with that piece of grevillea that I cut earlier on.

And a birdbath with a difference.

He's having a swim before he has to have his general anaesthetic to treat this

wound.

Down at the wildlife hospital, Libby is preparing for some much -needed

hydrotherapy.

Hello, little one.

What a sore leg.

Ready for a bath?

So this is a wild little penguin that came to Taronga Wildlife Hospital with a

leg injury.

It's a very severe injury on this leg. And as you can see, he's not moving that

leg properly. He's not extending it out the back.

And what I'm doing at the moment is He's having a swim before he has to have his

general anaesthetic to treat this wound.

It's important that he has a swim whenever he can. They love to be in the

environment and it also helps the wound because it soaks the wound and it soaks

the medication that has been put on the wound as well. So ready for his general

anaesthetic. I'd like to make it bigger, but it would just mean he would expend

more energy. And this is a sick bird. So this is a bird that's in bed,

basically, in a hospital situation.

So he is extending this leg more than he was last time he was swimming.

He's starting to pull that leg out a little bit further. Every day that he's

the water, he pulls that leg out a little bit further. So it's good.

A good progression.

This is a severe injury. It'll be a long -term treatment for this bird.

Not just the treatment of the wound, but the rehabilitation afterwards to ensure

that he has full function of that leg.

Penguins are incredibly robust and great animals to work with because they seem

to be able to heal and withstand lots of injuries, quite severe injuries that

we've seen in the past.

So he's been in the water now for 25 minutes.

I take him out and dry him off a little bit, ready for his anaesthetics.

With his wound all clean, it's time for Larry to check and see if this little

guy will have any chance of being released back into the wild.

Okay, let's look at this wound.

As his very busy day draws to a close... Keeper Paul has just one more stop

before he can put his feet up. I'm working in Taronga's Institute and

where we have these animals that act as ambassadors for the wild. And I'm going

to be looking after a ring -tailed possum and a tawny frogmouth. I'm just

to clip this grevillea flower right here.

Ring -tailed possums really enjoy the nectar that comes from a piece of

grevillea like that. I think that's what we need.

This is Grug, our tawny frogmouth. Tawny frogmouths are what are known as

nightshards. They're not exactly owls. Their talons aren't as strong, but their

camouflage is extreme.

And Fred, a ring -tailed possum. Both animals are nocturnal.

Most of this actually is the ring -tailed possum food. We want to make

get that up and make sure the place is really clean so that bacteria doesn't

develop.

Looks pretty hygienic.

Also the water, we've got an automatic water tap, so just to make sure there's

no algae to build, certainly in this warm weather.

While their habitat looks great, it's how the animals look that Paul is really

interested in.

Fred is a ring -tailed possum. He was one of the over 1 ,000 native animals

that... have been brought into our wildlife hospital every year.

I need to be really efficient with this check as well.

Fred's nice and responsive. That's just what I'm looking for. Also to check to

make sure his eyes are nice and clear.

And then finally, I'm checking his tail.

His fur is nice and clear. He's very responsive.

And of course, his tail is doing the job that it's meant to do as well. We don't

want to keep him out longer than necessary because being a nocturnal

We don't want them out in the daytime or the strong light either. So let's put

you back, Fred.

Great job, and thanks for helping me out this morning, Fred.

Because he allowed me to get involved in husbandry with him this morning, I'm

going to reward him with that piece of grevillea that I cut earlier on.

Here you go, mate.

We've also got a lot of browse, but some of this browse now is dry.

Just like that.

You can roll up a eucalypt leaf like that. If it starts getting crunchy and

cracked, you know that it's no longer suitable.

Rental possums, like Fred, like to chew on some of the eucalypt as well. I'm

also going to change the brows.

His workload is beyond hectic, and tomorrow he'll have a completely

set of responsibilities, caring for completely different animals.

But that spontaneity is exactly how Paul likes it.

14 years I've worked at Taronga Zoo, and this is a world away from some of the

other work that I've done over 30 years in the emergency services, like

firefighting and ambulance work. And some of those involve some pretty

days. So I found when I joined Taronga Zoo that even though there's a lot of

hard work involved and you have to be very thorough and very careful with what

you do, it was a fantastic balance for my life. And that's worked very well for

me. And of course, you see, I get to work with some fantastic animals.

You're doing something very worthwhile and means that I find life pretty

rewarding, actually, and very enjoyable. Yeah, it's great.

Next, Judgment Day for this little penguin.

OK, I mean, it's still an awful wound.

There's a lot of healing still to go there.

An injured little penguin that came into the wildlife hospital last week.

has just finished a pre -examination bath and is ready for Larry to assess

badly injured leg.

Hello. Hey, Lib.

Hi.

Penguin just had a swim. Oh, good. But he's definitely extending that leg

than he did on Monday. He's put on 20 grams in three days. That's great. He's

looking much stronger, isn't he? Yeah.

While the bird's overall health has improved, Larry's hoping the same can be

said for the nasty gash on his leg.

Okay, let's look at this wound. So we can see already that the tissue's

a lot cleaner and healthier, and it's not as dry as it was.

I mean, it's still an awful wound.

There's a lot of healing still to go there, but definitely heading in the

direction. If this injury was on a different species of bird...

the outcome is likely not to have been as good as it might be in this penguin

because penguins are actually quite tough little creatures.

They are great patients. They adapt quite quickly to the sort of hospital

environment and I think that is also contributing to the improvement in this

bird. Although there's been significant healing, the wound is still not ready to

be stitched up.

I'm so tempted to at least just pull that across.

Maybe not today. I think it'll be premature.

I'm sort of wondering maybe we can, at least maybe every second day, give him a

swim. All right. Yeah. Because I think the swimming is definitely beneficial.

Yeah. He's getting more movement. Yeah.

And you know what would be great is if he could swim in salt water.

Okay. Okay, great. That looks good.

Yeah, very happy.

The wildlife hospital staff are experts in treating seabirds.

and the zoo's unique harbourside location is their biggest asset.

There is a lot of benefit for him to have access to water psychologically,

but also I think it'll benefit the wound, and particularly if we use

normal seawater, so we have ready access, thankfully, to nice, clean

So we'll just put the dressing back on now.

So the little penguin has finished his anaesthetic and it's just waking up.

starting to move his limbs. Eyes aren't quite open yet. His body is a lot more

muscle toned. So I'm just making sure that he's still breathing nicely, that

he's showing good signs of recovery and that he also doesn't regurgitate any

liquid or food.

Went really well today. Happy with the little bird's progress.

The wound's looking a lot healthier.

The tissue's looking a lot healthier. It's still a very extensive wound, but

there's some good positive signs of healing there.

It's a good start, but there's a long way to go.

Hey, little buddy.

Yeah. But with Libby in his corner, he's one lucky little penguin.

Hello.

Welcome back.

Oh, sweetie.

I'm happier than I was. I mean, it's an awful wound, but the wound's looking

good.

It's very severe, a severe injury, but he's putting on weight.

and he's a lot brighter and seems a lot happier.

So this is going to be a very long -term treatment regime and rehab regime for

this bird, but we'll give it everything we've got. And so I'm really hopeful.

I'm really hopeful we can release this penguin back to the wild.

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