All language subtitles for Taronga s04e02 Lwasis New Family.eng

Taronga, the zoo with the head -turning
view.

But dig a little deeper.

I just planted that.

And you'll discover there's a lot more
to Taronga's two zoos than meets the

Hello. What's it doing?

From their devoted keepers. Look out. I
watched him being born, so him and I

have an amazing relationship.

To their first class vetting.

So just here, that's the lump.

Taronga's passionate staff.

To be laying on that dirty floor, it was
so worth it. Are themselves a special

breed. A lot of slobber there, bud.

Ensuring nothing but the best for the
animals in their care.

So impatient.

Good girl. Hang on.

On this episode.

There's a new man in town.

We've got five females out there, so he
would be picking up on so many different

smells right now. A big welcome for Lion
King Luazi.

Luazi has arrived.

He's one cat. I have to say, he's an
incredibly polite lion. I know that

sound odd.

Who's definitely out of the box.

A very big day. This is our first
opportunity to do a full health check on

The little MJ.

He is the life of the party. MJ can be
quite a handful.

And when it's dinner time, you don't
have to ask Ed twice.

Yeah, hello.

Would you like some food?

Taronga Zoo is all about families.

The human ones who come to visit and the
animal groups who live here.

But whether it's a pack of wild dogs,
the meerkat mob, or the magnificent

pride of lions, there's always some sort
of drama unfolding.

Until recently, the zoo was home to two
young male lions, Ato and Luasi.

They were brothers and best of mates.

But when female Maya chose Atto as her
partner, brother Luazi discovered the

meaning of three's a crowd.

Being the unpaired male, Maya decided,
Luazi, you're not welcome here anymore.

While Maya and Atto set about producing
five perfect cubs, Luazi found himself

on the move.

We want to do everything in our power to
make it.

The least scary it can be, because he's
obviously very scared. He doesn't know

what's happening to him. We know what's
happening to him. He has no idea.

Bye, guys.

Lazy's destination,

Taronga Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo.

It's bittersweet. We love this cat. He's
gorgeous. We've only had him for a

year. But, I mean, he's just a
beautiful, really lovely cat.

So it's sad, because we're not going to
have him here anymore. But for him, this

is an incredible opportunity to have his
own pride.

Sydney's loss was Dubbo's gain.

And six hours west, the keepers
nervously await their new arrival.

Taronga staff slowly and gently
manoeuvre the crate to position it at

entrance of Luazi's holding pen.

As careful as the keepers are, The
journey is daunting, and even once the

gates are opened, some lions have been
known to remain in their crate for

Yeah, good to go.

Hello.

There he goes.

But not Luazi.

Luazi. He's not that sort of cat.

You were keen.

Hello.

Hey, Louise, it's Megan calling.

Just wanted to let you know that Luazi
has arrived and he's come straight out

the box just in the last 10 minutes.

It came out quite quickly.

But now he's just taking his time
wandering around.

A few processes went into making sure
today went nice and smooth for humans as

well as life.

Loise was very quiet through all of it.
Sometimes you find once they start to

hear the voices and the movement again,
after having that in the morning, they

can get worked up again and start
roaring. But he just remained nice and

bit like when you take maybe your pet
cat to the vet and they just kind of sit

in the bottom of the pet pack and go
quiet.

He was very much doing that, just
staying nice and calm and quiet until we

opened that slide and he came out
straight away.

And now he's moving around the holding
yard very, very calmly. And for him at

the moment, it would be very much a
sensory overload.

We've had a male living in these holding
yards. for the last few years, and at

the minute on our two exhibits, we've
got five females out there.

So he would be picking up on so many
different smells right now.

As I said, a little bit of a sensory
overload.

Oh, gosh, he looks so young.

He does look so young, doesn't he?

He's so little.

Hello. At just four years old, Luazi is
not the most imposing lion ever to strut

the savannah.

But there are grand plans for this lion,
who, with a little luck... is about to

make a big contribution to his species.

Taronga keepers are a tight -knit family
too, and they are all hopelessly

devoted to their animals.

I've been at Taronga this year.

It'll be 27 years. There are some who
could be described as fanatical.

And... I've been looking after Fiordland
Crested Penguins probably for 20 of

those years at least.

Then there's Jo.

It's no secret around Taronga Zoo I get
called all sorts of penguin names

because I love penguins. They are my
most favourite animal in the world.

And they're a species that I have almost
seen every single one of them out in

the wild. And that's been my life dream,
is to see penguins, every single

species, all of the 18 species in the
wild. I have one more left to go.

The species Jo sees most of is the
Fiordland crested penguin.

Hello.

Hello. They all have very individual
personalities.

Eh?

Yes, hello.

Hello, Mr. Ed.

Yes, hello, Dusky.

You might just notice here that Ed's got
a little hooked beak.

He was injured out in the wild. We don't
know what happened, but you can see

that he has what we call like a scissor
beak. It doesn't stop him from doing any

of his normal tasks, especially eating.

So Dusky's molting at the moment, so
she's just come out of her burrow to

investigate what's going on.

There's six species of crested penguin
in the wild.

Our Fiordland crested penguins are
really easily identified. They have

white stripes on their cheek.

And because Ed has just molted, it's
really obvious with him.

They ultimately go through this molt
once a year where they get a whole brand

new coat of new feathers.

And then they get a beautiful oil sheen
and they're ready for life back in the

water and getting ready for next season.

Ed has just malted. He's completely
finished. He looks beautiful.

Dusky, however, she's still got a little
way to go.

Ed's beak injury means he cannot be
returned to the wild in his native

of New Zealand.

He's one of the rarest penguins in the
world, with fewer than 3 ,000 breeding

pairs left due to habitat loss and
predators like dogs and rats.

As we keep overfishing our oceans...

The penguins will have to go further
afield to get their food. This can also

impact on their breeding.

Taronga is the only zoo in the world
with a Fiordland crested penguin

program. The plan is to pair Ed with one
of Taronga's three females.

And he's making his mark in his new home
already.

We've had Ed the least amount of time,
but it seems like he's going to be the

ruler of the roost.

He likes his territory. He doesn't like
us being in his territory for too long.

And certainly he'll let us know if
there's a problem.

He might vocalise.

Or he might chase us as well.

Dusky here, she actually quite likes
people.

She'll hang out with you, find out what
you're doing. She's very curious. So I

think... The two of them together make a
perfect vat.

And zoo staff will soon see just how
perfect.

Never is the family dynamic of who's the
boss more obvious than with the troop

of gorillas.

Here at Taronga Zoo, we have eight
Western lowland gorillas. The Western

gorilla is from West Equatorial Africa,
and they are critically endangered.

So here at Taronga Zoo, we are part of
the international breeding program, and

the troop is led by our silverback,
Kabali. He's the one who decides what

they're up to for the day. He's the one
who, you know, dishes out the

discipline. Kabali is the boss.

Of Kabali's children, our oldest infant
is Emuku. We call him MJ for short.

And he is the life of the party. He's
the biggest. He's the oldest.

He's the king of the kids. So he's the
one who is wrestling. He's throwing the

straw, trying to get a reaction.

And then he'll have periods where he's
quiet and then he's on the go again. So

MJ can be quite a handful.

At six years old, MJ is still a
juvenile, but is more developed than a

-year -old.

So, old enough to face his first big
test alone.

It's important for us to do health
checks on them to ensure that they're

tracking as we would expect them to
track as they grow.

And it's MJ's turn now. He's now at an
age where he's independent enough from

his mum, so we can take him out of that
group for a short period of time and do

that health check.

For gorillas, it's not that
straightforward to do a health check. So

gorilla needs to be trained for a hand
injection.

And so on the day, I'm going to give him
that hand injection. So fingers crossed

that everything goes smoothly.

It's always an anxious time for us. We
can control as much as we can in

preparation for that anaesthetic, but on
the day it's up to how he reacts. It's

up to me controlling my nerves. It's up
to the other troop members doing what we

expect them to do. There's quite a lot
of anxiety in the lead up to this

anaesthetic. We are a little bit
concerned about how Kabali will react.

Coming up.

While Ed is a little slower out of the
gate. It did take several months of

introductions for Dusky and Ed to get
used to each other.

The main game. The darker a mane, the
more likely they are to attract the

attention of the ladies.

He's mating right now. That was the
sound of him mating.

Kicks off for Luazi.

At Taronga Western Plain Zoo in Dubbo,
it's fair to say Luazi is loving his new

life.

After being separated from his brother
in Sydney, his fortunes have taken a

for the better.

Luasi has been with us now at Tarong
Western Plains Zoo for four months and

settled in really well. I have to say
he's an incredibly polite lion. I know

that might sound odd, but he's very well
-mannered, well -socialised and just a

lovely cat to work around.

Polite maybe, but he's also becoming
more confident and imposing.

He's growing into his new role.

He's now quite happily moving around our
facility. And physically, to look at

him now, he's really flourishing. Now
that there's no other male within his

territory, we're really starting to see
his mane develop.

So not only is it getting longer, but
it's extending further down his belly,

under his front arms as well.

And it's starting to darken up a little
bit too. And that's all signs that we

would expect to see of a dominant male.

There's been studies to show that the
darker a mane, the fuller a mane, the

higher the testosterone and the more
likely they are to attract the attention

the ladies.

Here's our main man now out here in
Dubbo and our breeding program is

solely on his shoulders.

No pressure, Luasi.

Fact is, over the last 50 years, the
world's lion population has fallen from

more than 100 ,000 to less than 20 ,000.

So, if it's to survive, the species
needs every new lion cub it can get.

He came into a facility here that had
five females.

So he's gone from living with his
brother as a young three -year -old,

out here on his own, five new females to
get his head around.

So there was lots of new sights, smells
and sounds.

There are two females in particular that
keepers are keen for Luasi to hit it

off with, Marion and Evelyn.

Now, they came to us all the way from
San Diego Zoo over in America, and they

are highly valuable to our breeding
program here in Australasia because, as

their genetics are not represented in
the region.

So Luazi's the main man. He's got to
step up to the mark.

The attraction between Marion and Luazi
is instant.

Long, lazy walk, dozing in the grass.

But when it comes to the finer points,
it's fair to say for a young lion with

breeding experience, the learning curve
is steep.

She would get a little bit too full on
with him, circling him. She was showing

all the perfect behaviours and when it
got a bit too much for him, he'd just

down, have his paws out in front and put
his head down between his front paws.

Kind of almost saying, oh no, she's a
bit too much now, I just need some time

out. But while he struggled to keep up
on his first attempt...

Second time around, it's apparent Luasi
is a fast learner.

He's mating right now. That was the
sound of him mating.

Hi, you pair.

So Luasi's in there at the moment with
Marion.

Marion is the one he's preferring at the
moment. He's certainly much more calm

and relaxed around her.

What you're seeing right now is Luasi,
you can see, sniffing the rear end of

Marion. And that's all very natural. See
how he's flemmoning? He lifts that top

lip, almost looks like he's smiling in a
way.

That is actually his way of finding out
as much information as he can about

Marion and where she is in her breeding
cycle.

That is the exact textbook behaviour
that we are wanting to see, where Marion

presenting, lowering herself, crouching
down.

Luasi is mounting.

And that really interesting vocal you
just heard is what happens after the

mates. That's quite a natural sound to
hear. And that signals to us that it's

been a successful mating, for want of a
better word. And then just on cue,

Marion does that roll onto her back in
submission as well. So everything we're

seeing here is perfect textbook lion
breeding behaviour.

They've done everything by the book.

The question now is, has it worked?

Back in Sydney, there's hope the colony
of five Fiordland penguins will also

soon add to their number.

Hello, you two. How are you feeling
today?

It's not been an easy matchmaking
process here either, as newcomer Ed took

while to bond with resident female
Dusky.

It did take several months of
introductions for Dusky and Ed to get

other. So what we did first...

is we let Ed into this area and to own
this as his territory.

And then we introduced Dusky into the
area.

Dusky and Ed certainly have got a
wonderful relationship together.

However, we do have another female
called Gary.

And Ed was quite interested also in her.

So it was very interesting to see that
he had established this area, but he was

going off and investigating her burrow
as well.

Now, the commonly held belief is that
penguins mate for life.

Turns out, not so much.

They will only have one partner, but
that's not to say it's always the same

Penguins out in the wild tend to stick
to the same mate because they want to

pass on their genetics.

And if all's going well and they're
raising chicks, they will seek out that

partner year after year.

However, the divorce rate is high.

So this surprises a lot of people, but
it is because if they lose their partner

and their partner doesn't come back for
a season, they're certainly going to go

looking for someone else because they
need to pass on their genes.

Gary's a very special bird and has not
been able to produce eggs.

And so, therefore, we didn't want Ed
pairing with her because we knew that

was never going to be viable for egg
production.

At first, he was quite... He didn't
really know what to do, it seemed like,

which is probably what happens in the
wild. They sort of, you know, they have

learn how to be gentle with the eggs.
They have to learn how to be gentle with

their partner.

Fiordland crested penguins lay two eggs.

and hopes were high for checks.

Unfortunately, this time, that wasn't
the case.

They weren't fertile.

We're not worried because we saw lots of
mating with these guys, so we just

figured that he is this young and
practising year one, and we're looking

to what's going to happen in year two
this year.

He's just called her back in the burrow
now.

The oil and crescent penguins are really
close to my heart because you cannot

see them anywhere else.

You can only see them here at Taronga.
So I feel really grateful and very

blessed to be able to look after such
gorgeous birds.

Hopefully there will be good news in the
next breeding cycle and Jo will have

even more of her precious penguins to
fuss over.

Back in Dubbo.

Things looked promising after Luazi and
Marion appeared to successfully mate on

her second breeding cycle.

But it's taken several weeks to confirm
just how promising.

So really exciting news out here at
Taronga Western Plains Zoo. We are

lion cubs hopefully in the next few
weeks with Luazi and Marion, our male

female lioness.

It was very obvious that...

Marion is Loise's favourite.

We've noticed over the last couple of
months as well that there's been a

in her belly and also in her nipples. So
those are two very obvious signs for

us.

Marion's behaviour has changed quite a
bit and it has fluctuated. So a couple

weeks ago, we were not her favourite
people, neither was Luazi.

And then a week later, she liked us a
little bit more and the same with him.

she is a hormonal female at the moment.

The news is caused for celebration.

It's been five years since we've had
Cubs here at...

Taronga Western Plain Zoo. It's also the
first for Marion and Luazi, so it's a

very exciting time for both of them as
well as for us.

But it's also important that we make
sure and manage Marion as she is a first

-time mother. So lots of firsts that
will be happening this time around.

And lots of potential risks for both
Marion and her litter.

There's a long way to go before there
are new lion cubs prowling the Dubbo

Plains.

Coming up, it's survival of the fittest.
They'll give birth to about 30, only

four generally survive.

For Taronga's born fighters.

And then the rest, they actually get
eaten up by mum.

It's the big day for little gorilla MJ.

Just like with human kids, the vet team
needs to know he's healthy and

developing well.

But today will be anything but child's
play.

This is our first opportunity that we've
had to do a full health check on him.

We're also going to give him some
vaccinations and test him for a few

diseases like TB, for example.

Anesthetising any animal can be
challenging, particularly a gorilla,

a dangerous animal, so we've got to take
all the precautions to prevent any

risks, injury, escape, obviously. The
last thing we want him to do is wake up

and get away or anything like that.

The really important aspects of any
procedure such as this is preparation.

So what we have here is a stretcher that
we're going to put young MJ on.

We've got a pulse syringe and we've got
the dart gun.

Because he's a dangerous animal, we're
going to have to put some hobbles on him

just to secure him. We always have
secondary restraints such as also the

we'll put over him.

Most of these things are just in case he
rouses or stirs while we're

transporting him or during the
procedure. We always put these secondary

restraints on.

The first part of the process is the
most nerve -wracking.

MJ needs to be anaesthetised.

Primate keeper Nat will do it by hand
and they've been training him for months

for this moment.

Alright, thanks guys. See you soon.

Bye, good luck. Bye, thank you.

Okay.

To avoid spooking MJ, only the keepers
head to the gorilla habitat while the

vets hang back.

Nat, the keeper, has the injection with
her and so she is preparing and going to

be injecting little MJ soon.

So we are waiting here about probably
50, 75 metres away from the gorilla

facility. We don't want to get any
closer.

You know, the gorillas are very
sensitive animals, they're very aware of

going on, and we don't want to make them
suspicious at all that something

unusual is happening.

They're always a little bit suspicious
of the vets anyway, so if they sensed

anything unusual happening this morning,
the whole thing could go pear -shaped.

MJ may not present for his injection.

MJ has had conditioning training to come
to Nat at the rear of the habitat, just

close enough for her to inject him.

And all their hard work pays off. He's
had the injection at 7 .55.

Excellent. That's great news.

I'll be up there shortly.

Okay, he's had the injection.

All right, so I'll head up there now and
give you guys a call when he's down?

Yeah. Okay.

It's always great news to hear that call
that the animal's received the

injection. So basically now Liz has gone
up to just monitor him initially as

he's falling asleep, and as soon as she
gives us a call that he's getting

sleepy, we'll drive up there.

and go in and retrieve him.

He's only 44 kilos, but MJ is already
much stronger than an adult human.

He's firmly secured in case he
unexpectedly wakes up.

The hardest part is over. MJ is safely
sedated and transferred to the hospital.

But what will be revealed?

in the first ever medical examination of
this precious young gorilla.

All animals at Taronga Western Plain Zoo
deserve respect.

The big ones get it naturally.

But one of the most fearsome creatures
here is one of the smallest.

The carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian
devil.

They have a really strong bite force.
They're designed to crunch on bone,

part of the animal's body.

They're scavengers, so they specialise
in the animals that are already dead.

And they don't waste any bits. They'll
eat fur, feathers, all that sort of

thing. These fierce creatures are born
after a short 11 -day gestation, and

they're fighting for their lives from
the moment they arrive.

They'll give birth to about 30 joeys.

Tasmanian devil only have four teats. So
out of that 30, only four generally

survive if they're lucky.

And then the rest, they actually get
eaten up by mum.

Yeah.

Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo has four
Tassie devils.

While generally they're solitary
creatures, they get along with others

push.

But these ones aren't getting on at all.

And everyone's pointing the finger at a
feisty female called Bronte.

We just keep finding she's not being
accepted into the group.

We see a lot of tasting and a lot of
biting, which has resulted in a few

injuries.

To keep the peace, Bronte is being moved
to a new home at Taronga, Sydney,

which seems like a good idea.

But there's just one problem.

They have to catch her first.

At Taronga, MJ, the young gorilla, has
been anaesthetised ahead of his first

ever medical check -up.

He's well secured for his own safety and
the staff.

Under the net.

In the wild, gorillas live up to 35
years old. In zoo care, it's north of

Tip the stretcher. Two, three.

Partly because of the medical attention
they receive.

Let's get this connected quickly.

Just like a human operation, the first
priority is to intubate MJ.

Popped a tube down his airway, so that
will maintain his anaesthetic now on the

gas, his anaesthesia, and of course it's
also much safer to have that airway

accessed in case it's an emergency.

We're going to collect blood.

We'll run a whole lot of tests on his
blood. This is our first opportunity

we've had to get these samples from MJ,
so all the information we get today will

be a baseline for him.

Because gorillas are genetically so
close to humans...

they can catch nearly all the infectious
diseases that we carry.

We're testing for various diseases like
TB and viruses.

So just checking his teeth.

So we're on the right mandible.

Certainly that one's fallen out and
there must be a permanent coming through

there and there.

So their first incisor is a tick.

The second incisor is just erupting from
the gum.

Okay, his tonsils look good.

So basically now I'm just feeling all
these lymph nodes.

So his lymph nodes under his arms,
around his neck.

That can be an indication if they
enlarge that there's infection.

Nice little wobbly belly. I'm just going
to check his joints.

Again, being such a young animal, they
really wouldn't expect any arthritis or

anything like that.

Just checking his feet and his toes.

Very similar anatomically to humans,
with a nice big toe there, but it's a

digit that they can actually use to
grasp things. Unlike us, we can't really

grasp things with our feet.

Just always good to look at the
genitals.

I suppose gorillas are quite interesting
in that they're very large animals, but

it's got quite a small little penis.

But it does the job.

Like a human child, MJ will be
vaccinated against several illnesses.

So this vaccine is for EMC virus,
encephalomyocarditis virus.

And this is the tetanus vaccination.

For primate keeper Nat, this is a rare
moment to be so close to MJ.

MJ is a special gorilla.

As a six -year -old, he's really
playful. He's never still.

So it's nice that he's still and we can
actually have a really good look at him.

We never actually get our hands on them.
They're in training and we have a great

relationship with them, but we never
actually get our hands on the gorillas

we can when they're under anaesthetic.

Okay, there you go. So we put his
microchip in now.

It's exactly the same as what a dog or a
cat would get.

These days, wild gorillas aren't
captured for breeding programs.

So zoo -bred gorillas like MJ will often
be moved around the world to help boost

numbers at other zoos. For that reason,
it's crucial they're clearly identified.

So he is now officially 7C7ACE.

Okay, so we're done.

It's always very, very special, I find,
doing procedures on the great apes.

It's essentially like working on a very,
very hairy human, especially the

chimps, but the gorillas as well.

And we're very fortunate here at
Taronga. We've got a fantastic chimp

population, so we do a lot of procedures
on chimps.

We don't get to do as many on gorillas,
so today is very special. I feel very

privileged to be able to work with these
guys, that's for sure.

Is everything OK? The van's ready?
Everything's ready?

After a little over an hour, MJ's exam
is over.

He's passed with flying colours and been
given a clean bill of health.

It's time to return him to his gorilla
facility and wake him up.

Back out at Taronga Western Plain Zoo,
tension is high.

After gestating for 110 days, Marion's
cubs want out.

But the vets and keepers could never
have foreseen the tough 48 hours that

ahead. We saw her go into labour, lots
of straining and quite a long labour for

what we were expecting. But we were
watching very carefully and starting to

a little bit worried into the evening.
She'd been in labour probably since

around the middle of the day.

A normal birth should last about three
hours.

Marion's labour dragged on and on.

She was in trouble.

We had CCTV set up to allow us to be
able to monitor Marion's progression in

cubbing den because we didn't want to
disturb her.

She did struggle with the first one
naturally giving birth and then the

one came pretty quickly afterwards.

She then had quite a substantial break
between the second and the third cub and

after a certain number of hours our vets
determined that...

the best thing for us to do would be to
actually knock her out. Any time that we

intervene during the birthing process,
we're causing stress.

And it's not uncommon for lion mums,
particularly a first -time mum, if

stressed, they may...

abandon their litter or they may
actually kill the babies and eat them.

not a decision you make lightly. You
don't go and intervene just to check. So

had to give her an anaesthetic to
examine her and quite quickly we could

from feeling her belly that there were
still cubs in there. We weren't sure how

many so we took an x -ray to check and
we could see that there were two little

skeletons still.

So we decided to bring her to the
hospital and the best thing for her and

cubs was to have a cesarean and deliver
those cubs because she was just so tired

by then.

Unfortunately, one of those cubs was
stillborn and the other little girl

made it. She was okay.

We had two healthy cubs born naturally
and then a third one by Caesar, so we

three little cubs.

As the third cub's airway is cleared and
given oxygen, her sisters are brought

into the operating theatre.

Even though Marion is still asleep, it
seems a mother's work is never done.

We knew that it might be a few hours
until the cubs were able to have a good

drink from mum because she needed a few
hours to recover from the anaesthesia.

So after she was all ditched up and all
cleaned up, we gave the cubs an

opportunity to have a suckle.

So popped them on just gently on the
teats and let them have a little drink

that they had some nutrition in their
tummies for the next few hours.

But the big unknown for everyone...

It's just how Marion will react to her
cubs when she wakes up and returns to

den. There's a risk she may not
recognise them as her own.

Anything can happen at that point. Those
cubs are very vulnerable.

If she didn't like the situation, she
might abandon them, she might attack

she might eat them.

All sorts of things can happen.

MJ, the six -year -old gorilla, has come
through his first ever medical exam.

It's been a stressful day, but at least
he was asleep.

Keep a gnat has been a bundle of nerves.

It's such a relief it's all over.

It'll be more of a relief this afternoon
when he goes back in with the others.

We'd like him back with the comfort of
mum, back with his brother, you know,

back with Kabali. Kabali knows that he's
safe and that he's fine. So that will

be the real relief this afternoon.

He had a great health check and he got a
clean bill of health, so that's

excellent. And now we're just waiting
for him to wake up.

With all the resilience of the young,
soon enough MJ is back on deck.

A little subdued, but none the worse for
wear.

This morning's work is a small price to
pay for the promise of a longer,

healthier life.

At Taronga Western Plains Zoo, it's
suspected a Tassie devil named Bronte is

disturbing the peace with the three
other devils.

So she's being sent to a new home in
Sydney.

And she's not going quietly.

When I caught up Bronte, I caught her by
the tail because that's the safest way

for us keepers and for Bronte to catch
her. It's not painful for her

She'll vocalise, but that's just because
I'm in her space.

But just how much of a devil Bronte
really is, is up for debate.

Turns out she might not actually be to
blame for all the ruckus.

Bronte was born here at Taronga Western
Plains Zoo in 2020, so she's just coming

up to her third birthday.

And when we introduced our girls, Bronte
always seemed to be a little bit on the

out.

This is absolutely normal behaviour with
devils. We see it all the time in the

wild. We're just lucky that between the
two zoos, we do have the space to be

able to manage disagreements like this
to make sure that the devils stay nice

and healthy.

Sometimes the only solution is
relocation.

For a long -term thing, especially in a
human care environment, we want to make

sure that all of our animals are quite
safe.

So they've asked us to take her on.

We're really excited to welcome a new
devil. It was a nice surprise. We

really planning on it, but we've got the
space.

So, yeah, the team are quite thrilled
that we get an extra one.

With Bronte safely packed and ready for
travel... There's only one more hurdle

to be jumped.

Someone has to get this angry devil out
of her box when she gets to Sydney.

As one animal leaves Dubbo, three more
precious bundles have just arrived.

New mum Marion experienced difficulty
giving birth to her last cub.

so was rushed to theatre for an
emergency caesarean section.

This meant she was instantly separated
from her newborns in the birthing den.

Now there's a real risk when she's
reunited she may reject them or kill

And then there was the heart -stopping
moment where the keepers opened the gate

and let her in with her babies who were
in the den.

That's the point where we have no
control.

You know, anything can happen at that
point. Those cubs are very vulnerable.

If she...

didn't like the situation she might
abandon them she might attack them she

eat them all sorts of things can happen
um but she was the perfect mum she'd not

done this before this was all first time
mum for her so adding that stress to

her it's a credit to her and her keepers
of her mothering skills and how she'd

been conditioned to that den and she was
very comfortable there that she took

those babies back exhausted stitched up
and sore but at all times a Perfect

mum. Look, we are over the moon to have
these three cubs born here with us.

It's been years of work coming together,
a lot of behind -the -scenes activity

going on, many people involved, and we
couldn't be happier.

After two weeks, their eyes were open.

Blue to start with, and then over the
next two months, changing to gold.

About then, Marion was ready to show her
cubs to Dad Luazi.

Turns out Lawazi is a natural -born
parent too.

As a dad, Lawazi, he is super
affectionate and he's just absolutely

besotted with his girls. He loves them
to pieces.

Marion and Lawazi's first cubs and also
the first litter here in Dubbo for five

years. It's the start of a new pride and
a huge step forward for the breeding

program. Loise came out here as our new
breeding male and he was paired up with

Marion and she was originally imported
into us from San Diego Zoo. So a new

genetic bloodline into the region, which
is really exciting.

Next, all grown up and on the prowl. So
lots of good fun for them.

And is Bronte's devilish reputation
fair?

She didn't eat her. That's always a
bonus.

There's a new arrival at Taronga Zoo in
Sydney.

The rowdy, tazzy devil, Bronte.

She's very much handle with care.

Keepers Rob and Mel... Knock, knock.

Has she arrived?

are preparing to let her out into her
new home.

She's been nice and quiet since we
brought her in. I don't know what she's

but our other female, I can go in there
with a broom and a shovel and I'll be

using both to fend her off if she's
having a bad day.

They're taking no chances.

It may turn out to be a complete
overreaction, but I'd rather be

than having to put my first aid skills
into use.

We just aim it straight up the hill.
Hopefully she'll run away from it.

Okay, here we go. Release the bee.

Welcome to the devil house.

There's food up there if your nose is
working properly, or you can just walk

straight past it.

She's like, I'm going to check out my
new dig.

But Bronte...

doesn't live up to her reputation at
all. In fact, quite the opposite.

She's cool, calm and collected.

Looks happy enough. She's found her
first bit of food. She's found a hidey

to eat it in. So she didn't eat it.
That's always a bonus.

I love that. I love that part. No
paperwork for us on a Friday afternoon.

Yeah.

The next steps are just letting her
settle in her environment.

Moving house is always hard and you need
to get into that routine.

So she'll get to know the keepers,
she'll get to know her food, how we're

to deliver that food and just get used
to that environment. And then we'll

probably talk about introducing her to
one of the other devils and then

eventually we might look into breeding
them.

If Bronte doesn't get along with the
resident devils Regina and Kruger...

she won't be forced to share a habitat.

Half the yard, half explored.

I'll open up the other side in a minute
and she can find the rest of it and

hopefully she'll find her way into a den
where it is nice and cool.

This is probably the most amazing animal
in the zoo.

It's always reassuring when they behave
like this. You think, I could go and

give her a pat and then you decide that
that's probably not the best idea.

Here he comes.

It's now been a year since three lion
cubs were born at Taronga Western Plains

Zoo and the family is heading out for
the day.

They've just had their breakfast and now
they're quite eager to head on out. So

we're going to move them through our
raceway system.

They're over 50 kilos each now and play
by stalking and wrestling with each

other under the watchful eye of mum and
dad.

The cubs.

They're playing with Dad and some of the
behaviours that we'll see is them

jumping on his rump area, also smooching
up under his chin and it's just

establishing bonds.

Jumping on the rump of Mum and Dad is
also how they practise their hunting

skills. So lots of good fun for them.

By mating with Marion, Luazi has
expanded the genetic pool of the

program.

It's hoped one day he will have another
litter with Marion.

In the meantime, Luasi's little pride is
thriving and it's hard to ignore the

romance of a happy ending.

Atho found love down at Taronga Zoo and
Luasi came out here to Taronga Western

Plain Zoo and found love himself with
our lioness, Marion.

So delightful to watch. It was a great
thing to watch every day.

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