Original subtitles

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 eye.

Hello. What's it doing?

From their devoted keepers. I watched him being born, so him and I have an

amazing relationship.

to their first -class vet team. So just here, that's the lump.

Taronga's passionate staff... To be laying on that dirty floor was so worth

...are themselves a special breed.

Not a slobber there, bud.

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

So impatient.

Good girl. Hang on.

On this episode... Hi, sweetheart.

Done. You're okay, darling.

Hairy time for Taronga's vet.

There's a big fluid -filled pocket here.

It could be an abscess, it could be a cyst.

As Raz the camel lumps them with a real mystery.

Disgusting. No way!

A potentially fatal hook -up for a turtle.

It looks like the hook is halfway down the animal's neck.

Come out, you darn thing.

It's not working.

I'm not getting anywhere with this.

And the very cute new kids in town. He absolutely loves meeting people. His

desire is to lick every face of everyone he ever meets and roll over for belly

rub.

Would you like this?

For most of Taronga's keepers, feeding time at the zoo is their favourite time

of day.

Oh, that's very gentle. Thank you.

And whether it's meat on the menu, fish, greens, or even something a little more

gourmet, a lot of effort goes into ensuring every animal eats a balanced

just right for them.

Hang on.

So impatient.

Good girl. Hang on.

Inside the camel exhibit, the food never comes quick enough for 18 -year -old

Raz. Let me put this up here for you.

She is a very sassy camel. She's kind of strong, independent woman style where

she'll come over and she'll definitely interact on her own terms.

But as soon as she's fed up with it, she'll quite happily wander off and do

own thing.

It's hard to look past those big, big eyes that she kind of looks straight

your soul at. She's not going to win a beauty contest, but she is very special

to us.

But so -called sassy Raz is not quite herself lately, which has Tim a little

concerned. We did start seeing that she was being a little bit more standoffish

with us and getting quite snappy when we were trying to do training sessions.

She's starting to be a little bit crabby with us over the last few days. Very

much not in her nature to be like that at all.

Camels are quite well known for getting lumps and bumps all over their face

because they love sticking their head in amongst brows and in amongst hay. So

they get little pricks and prods all over the place. So as we're kind of

around, giving her a nice health check, give her a brush down, get some of that

wool out, we kind of saw this lump and noticed that it's most likely the cause

of why she's feeling this way.

It's obviously something that's impacting her a little bit. So it'd be

nice to get the vets down to come and have a look.

But with Raz weighing in at over half a ton and capable of kicking at any time

in any direction, the vet team will have their work cut out.

Yeah, I'm just going to drop the anesthetic so we're ready to go when we

down there.

As Kimberly gets the sedation ready, even she admits she's not exactly sure

to expect.

They can be a little tricky with their anesthetic, so it needs to be really

smooth or a bit up and down.

Sometimes they react to the drugs really well, and sometimes they just don't

react as well.

So we think she's about 540 kilograms, which is quite a big animal.

So it's about 5 milliliters of anesthetic.

So I'm hoping she'll allow me to give that to her just with her standing, and

can inject her. But we'll see.

I haven't tried to anesthetize her before.

You've got scalpel handles and scalpel blades, surgical gloves are in there.

I'm always really nervous before a big sedation because we don't have our

creature comforts out there.

Everything's in here, so I need to know everything, where it is and what we've

got. I'm extra nervous now, but that's okay.

You need to sort of prepare for things that are not actually charted for. So

even though we're dealing with an abscess, we do a lot of opportunistic

diagnostics as well. So we literally try and implicate everything that we've got

in the hospital to be able to take it out in the field.

Don't want to miss anything. We don't just anaesthetise for the sake of it. So

when we do anaesthetise something, we want to go through the whole shebang. So

we're pretty prepared for just about everything in here.

I'm just keen to sort of get down there and get started. The wait makes me

nervous. We're going.

Muridea, Australia, is an exciting new native animal experience that is six

weeks away from being completed.

There will be four paths, kangaroo and wallaby country, a new nocturnal house,

treetop koala exhibit and a dingo habitat.

Animals for these different areas either already live at Taronga or will be

moved in from wildlife parks and other zoos across the country.

And first to arrive were these two gorgeous dingo pups. And it's fair to

everyone has fallen in love.

Hey,

Kip.

Look at that.

Something to play with.

So we've got our male and female dingo pup here at the moment.

They're now seven months old. This is our male. His name is Kep Kep.

So that's an indigenous word from Victoria.

We picked the language based on where we got him from, a dingo sanctuary down

there. That word means sweet or sugar, and I think it's very appropriate.

He's a very, very affectionate dingo. He absolutely loves meeting people. His

desire is to lick every face of everyone he ever meets.

and roll over for belly rub.

I just planted that.

Come on.

He's going to rearrange it the way he wants, I think.

This is our female Warida. She's actually 12 days older than Kep Kep.

means beautiful, so it's kind of like Warita the flower, but with a D.

She's from another zoo in Sydney, so we based her name on an Indigenous language

from the Sydney region.

This adorable pair already have an inseparable bond.

They're such good friends. They spend a lot of time wrestling, as they are now,

playing. They're best of mates.

So we did get an unrelated male and female.

Fortunately, they turned out to be very compatible.

We're not planning to breed at this stage, but that means it does give us

opportunity to breed in the future if we change our mind.

The dingo is one of Australia's few remaining apex predators.

but is more similar to a domestic dog than you may think.

Good boy.

We're at a station.

Good. They are really good to train. They're really intelligent animals. We

aren't trying to train them really to do really lots of tricks. It's basically

conditioning like this to make it easier for us. This helps us put a lead on, to

move them around. It helps us weigh them and helps us distract them from things

that we don't want them to do.

chasing bush turkeys. We find they learn these new behaviours really, really

quickly.

They've been digging again.

Yeah. We've just thrown a little bit of kangaroo jerky in the water.

Kep Kep's favourite thing is to go in there and then use his paw to pull the

jerky out and then he will stick his whole face in. Warrida is a bit less

about water but she will go in particularly on a hot day.

This is the temporary home while our new exhibit is being built. So it's been a

good space for them. There's a lot of different smells around here as well.

Before these two go on public display, they need to be as comfortable in their

new surrounds as possible.

And that involves a daily walk around the zoo before it opens.

So who are you going to take today?

So I can take Tep -Tep today.

Sort of. Thanks, Tom.

Let's go.

Yes, you ready for your walk? Hey.

New South Wales is home to seven native species of turtle.

The most common being the eastern longneck, with its unusual side

neck. You're very tiny and cute.

This one has been brought into the wildlife hospital after swallowing a

discarded hook and fishing line.

We're not quite sure how the hook is embedded or where it's sitting at the

moment on the X -ray that I've taken, but it looks like the hook is halfway

the animal's neck. And so it'll be a case of anaesthetising the turtle,

look and then making a plan as to what we're going to do to get the hook out.

With a blocked throat and noticeably underweight, it's quickly clear this

guy... has not been able to feed.

Without having to pull his head out, because that's obviously a little bit

uncomfortable for that animal, I'm going to see if I can get into this vein.

But that's easier said than done.

Can I invite you?

You won't invite me.

Can you just balance in there?

Just let go.

He should be relaxed. Let's just get his little leggies out.

He's got a little bit of damage on the sides of his mouth. You can just see in

the corner of his mouth on both sides, there's those slight little sort of

yellowy, crusty bits either side, and that's where that line, when it's been

coming out of his mouth, has been sort of digging into the sides of his mouth.

He's not in a good way, and if Frances can't remove the hook, She won't

Coming up... She's a big animal.

What you need to know when sedating a half -ton camel.

Stay away from her sides in case she does go down. You don't want a camel to

fall on you. That would not be a good place to be.

And the fight to save a turtle's life.

I have removed hooks from turtles where you just put that line down, you loosen

it and you pull the whole thing out and it's all over in one or two minutes.

Not this animal.

A mysterious lump on Raz's ear has got everyone stumped.

So it's time to investigate.

But sedating a camel weighing half a ton is not the simplest procedure to

undertake.

How quickly do you think the drugs will take effect? Take about 15, 20 minutes.

Okay. And they can have some variable reactions to the anesthetic. Okay.

I'm not expecting that we're going to give her enough to fully put her out.

Yeah. And we can always reverse her if she gets too deep.

Yeah. But the big safety thing for us to realize is she's a big animal. She's

560 kilos.

So if it is a standing sedation, still be mindful of where you work around her.

She could be quite wobbly on that. She could be quite wobbly. So for that

reason, let's stay away from her sides in case she does go down. You don't want

a camel to fall on you. That would not be a good place to be.

I'm a little nervous. That's why I'm a bit quiet.

About the camel?

Yeah, about the anesthetic part.

Come here, darling.

Yeah, I know. There's a lot of stuff going on. Looks like Kimberly is not the

only one nervous.

There you go.

I know a lot's going on.

So as soon as the perfect opportunity presents itself, Kimberly quickly

administers the sedation.

Nice, sweetheart.

Done. Good girl.

All done, darling.

Good girl, sweetie.

All done. You're all right. You're getting very sleepy. You're okay,

Good girl.

Good girl. You're getting a little droopy there.

You're okay. You're okay. I know. It's a big boo -boo. It's okay. It's okay.

8 .56 was injection, and we're at 9 o 'clock.

So around 15 minutes, I'll start coming in and working on the abscess. As the

anesthetic takes effect, there's a real risk that Raz could crumble under her

own weight.

You guys watching?

Because if she starts to go down, we need to keep her...

In case she goes down funny.

Her legs are getting wobbly though.

Yeah, you got the shakes, huh?

Back at the animal hospital, a wild turtle has been rushed in after

fishing hook.

There's a few little lesions in there. The people who found the turtle left the

fishing line coming out of its mouth.

hoping that it would make it easier for Taronga's team to remove the hook.

Hopefully it will be relatively easy to get out without having to do a surgical

procedure. I'm just going to see if I can feel where the hook is.

Let's take a super quick X -ray.

X -ray.

I'll make this X -ray look nicer. The hook is in the animal's neck.

I imagine it's going to be sitting inside its esophagus, which is the tube

takes food down to the stomach, and it's probably caught in there, but it is

just where the neck meets the shell there.

Luckily, we do still have the line, so I'm going to have a look and see if I

manipulate that out without having to do any surgery.

Given the state of the turtle, avoiding any invasive surgery is Frances's goal.

OK, I think I can see something right there.

See, we don't have an awful lot of line to play with, so what I might... And

it's a very fine line. I don't want to break it.

To give herself more leverage, Frances is attaching string to the end of the

fishing line.

Take the other end of that.

Yep. Pull it.

Yep. OK, just keep that tension.

The difficulty with getting hooks out is the fishing hooks have got that little

barb on the sharp point, and that means that the hook doesn't want to move

either way, like it's got sharp ends as you're trying to back it out, so it

makes it a little bit more tricky to do.

What I'm going to try and do is thread the line through this, and then this is

sort of reasonably stiff. I can actually push the hook a little bit further in

to unhook that barb.

and hopefully then be able to bring it out.

It's certainly worth a try.

Can you lift his head up?

Yep. Just how you had it before? Yep.

I'm going to hang on to that bit, keep it as long as I can.

Does it feel so good?

Yeah.

Yeah, but this is just taking too long now.

It's fiddly work, and one slip -up could be fatal for the turtle.

It's catching there.

Come out, you darn thing.

It's not working.

It's anchored down there.

I'm not getting anywhere with this.

Next.

I wasn't expecting that. He's going to roll over you. You may now pat his

It's nearly time for Kep Kep and Waradah to go public.

Oh, belly rock.

Hello. We often have to factor more time into our walk. Got to stop and meet

everyone on the way.

And the inside story of Raz's mystery lump. Oh, yuck. It's gross.

What the heck?

Good boys.

Mess away.

They know where they're going.

Before the zoo opens each day, animals are sometimes taken for what are called

enrichment walks through the zoo.

Good girl.

That's it.

Good girl.

That's it. It mixes up their routine and stimulates them with different sights

and sounds.

Go, Kep. All right. Bye. This morning stroll is important for Taronga's young

dingoes, Kep Kep and Waradah.

It will help when they soon transition to being on display to the public as

of the zoo's new Nuradea native animal exhibit.

The walk's not about only walking, it's about sniffing and smelling.

That can be 90 % of the enrichment in a walk.

They love this garden. I think it's a little... Lots of water dragons here.

We don't want them to catch little water dragons, but if they want to sniff...

Oh, he's got himself a feather. He's got a feather.

This will be fun. They love that.

We're also getting them conditioned to things that might otherwise be a little

bit scary or a little bit stressful.

So we've actually been able to condition them to be used to vehicles,

umbrellas, people they haven't met before, and that's going to be really

valuable for when they move into their new exhibit.

While Kep Kep seems to be taking the new surrounds in his stride, Waradah is a

little more wary.

Warret is much more of a wild -type dingo. She has those natural wild

behaviours. She's more of a neophobe than Kep -Kep. That means she's scared

new things. When she's nervous of something, if she's unsure, she'll stop,

she'll back off.

The tail goes between the legs, which is a very natural way to be for a dingo.

We think she'd survive out there in the wild a lot better than Kep, who would

end up on someone's veranda as soon as he could.

She's more like a wild one. She even looks more like one with her lovely lean

physique.

We've done a lot of work on these walks, getting her to experience new things.

Good girl.

Right now, I think she's doing really well.

These two are almost the same age. In fact, she's 12 days older than him.

But you'll see an enormous size difference. So he's almost 20 kilos now

she's 12 and a half.

The main reason is that he's an alpine dingo.

They are from a colder region, so it makes sense to be more solidly built

thicker coat of fur.

If their popularity with the keepers is anything to go by, these two are going

to be a hit with visitors. I wasn't expecting that. I'm going to roll over

Okay. All right.

You may now pat his belly. You've done it right. Oh, belly roll.

Hello.

We often have to factor more time into our walk. Got to stop and meet everyone

on the way.

Raz, the camel, has a mysterious lump on her ear, and until they investigate,

the team have no idea what's inside.

Vet Kimberly has just given her a sedative.

Now the keepers are struggling to guide her safely to the ground as the

anaesthetic takes effect.

See, I don't really want her like that. There we go. There we go. There we go.

Good girl. Perfect.

Nice.

Perfect.

Lucy, I'm going to approach her. Yep.

So I'm just going to shave the hair away from this abscess or whatever this is.

It's a big food -filled pocket here.

It could be an abscess. It could be a cyst.

The team are constantly on their guard when performing procedures on animals as

big as Raz.

And nurse Annie is running tests to ensure she's still breathing.

Can everyone just be quiet for just one sec?

Sorry.

48 is the heart rate.

I'm just trying to get an ECG probe on her just to make sure she's oxygenating

well, having the anesthetic on board, and it double checks the heart rate.

though I check the heart rate manually, this is kind of like a double check.

It could be an abscess or a cyst.

I'm just going to open it up and get some samples and see if we can't make

feel a little bit better.

So, guys, I'm just about to, like, stab her. I don't know if she'll react, but

if she does, just be ready.

Definitely smaller than, oh.

God, it's gross. Oh, yum. It's gross.

Disgusting. No way.

For three years, Australia's elusive nocturnal critters have been in hiding.

So how many ghost bats do you think you'll have in this exhibit? Well, we'll

start with six, and I think we could probably go ten.

But that's all about to change.

Soon, visitors to Taronga's brand -new Neuridea, Australia, will be able to go

on a night walk, catching glimpses of 15 species, including platypus, echidnas,

gliders and chittich, also known as western quolls.

Oh, great.

My insects have arrived.

And the man responsible for breeding and caring for them is Australian fauna

keeper, Paul.

Whoa!

How's that?

So this is all for the bilbies.

And in here, we've got a mixture. So we've got dog kibble and we've got

insectiform mix.

And today, the vegetable du jour is sweet potato.

And we've got a smattering of banana in it, which they really like. So it's a

good diet. And then all their insects, so they have a really good diet.

There we go.

I've got two of my boy bilbies in here. I've got Booster and Andy Panty.

Hello.

What's he doing?

Oh, my gosh.

So this one is Booster.

And the one on the right is Andy Pandy.

There we go. Look, you can go back in. You can go back.

Andy Pandy, the younger one, he is such a beautiful bilby. He has the longest

ears ever.

And do you know what? If he had been a female, I think I would have called him

Bambi. He's just got these lovely long ears.

Greater bilbys are sometimes called the rabbit -eared bandicoot.

But unlike rabbits...

the bilby isn't doing so well in the wild.

Until recent efforts by Taronga Zoo, they were in fact extinct in some

When bilbys are wanting to conserve heat and they're in their burrow, what they

do then to conserve heat is their ears deflate because these guys lose all

their, just like we lose all the heat through our head, bilbys lose it through

their ears.

Alongside the bilbies, two species of glider and the secretive ghost bats will

also be showcased in the new Night Walk home.

They're all sleeping right now, they're in their cave, but I'm going to put

their chicks and mice on this artificial rock that we have, so it's not real.

We wanted to encourage the bats to feed off a rock rather than eat out of a

bowl, particularly in the new nocturnal house where we keep everything looking

really as natural as possible.

And I'm very proud of the fact now that we don't have to worry about silver

bowls in an enclosure. They swoop down, and it'll be near the viewing panel, so

it'll look awesome.

And ghost bats are a carnivorous bat.

They're Australia's only carnivorous bat, quite an interesting animal.

So they love chicks, mice, in the wild, any small mammal that they could catch,

any bird that they can catch as well.

Sometimes they're referred to as a...

fourth vampire bat, but they're not vampire bats at all.

I believe it's really important to showcase nocturnal animals because

never seen.

And to put them in an environment where they are going to be seen, what better

way is there than to make people excited about some of our native wildlife

that's on our doorstep that we just never see.

The team at Taronga's Wildlife Hospital are in the middle of a life -and -death

struggle to save this eastern long -necked turtle.

It's more difficult than I thought it would be if I did this.

Don't move, Tammy.

Passing the fishing line, still attached to the hook, through a tube down the

turtle's esophagus, Frances has managed to dislodge the curved part of the hook.

I'm not getting anywhere with this.

Okay.

Every time I tried to advance it, I could get it up about a couple of

centimetres up the animal's neck, but then it was continually lodging itself

the sidewall of the esophagus again.

So this is about where the hook is.

Somewhere here.

Can you see it?

I have removed hooks from turtles where you just put that line down, you loosen

it, and you pull the whole thing out, and it's all over in one or two minutes.

Not this animal.

After trying her hardest to take a less invasive approach, vet Frances has now

run out of options.

I think we're going to have to resort to pulling the barb out.

So what I think I'm going to have to do, which I was hoping not to, is to poke

the barb out through the skin and cut the barb off because the barb is getting

stuck as I try and pull it out.

it'll be less of a traumatic injury for the animal than where the hook has been

in his neck.

Let's hope there's a ta -da moment after all this.

That's the point of the hook.

We want to get there's that big little barb that's hooking on everything.

After two agonising hours, Frances and Tammy's determination has paid

off. That was a little bit more of a struggle than I was expecting it was

to be. So, yeah, it's a great relief to get it out. He does have damage to his

esophagus where that was seated. I can feel it's swollen.

So he's going to certainly need some supportive care and, you know, some pain

relief from here. So he's not an animal that's going to be able to be released.

straight away, but hopefully he'll be okay in a couple of weeks' time.

All that for a little hook that if only people were, you know, looking after

their fishing line, doing the right thing. You know, somebody has found this

animal with line coming out, but somebody caught it.

So if people would do the right thing, look after their waterways, then we

wouldn't be seeing these sort of fishing line injuries.

He didn't deserve to be caught in a fish hook.

Coming up, it's time for Taronga's Creatures of the Night... Hello.

What are you doing?

..to step into the light.

I've seen the enclosure they're going into and I want to get to it now. I want

it.

In just a few weeks' time, over 160 animals will move from their makeshift

to the new Night Walk at Neuridea Australia.

And Paul can't wait to share with visitors all he knows.

about lesser -known creatures, like the fat -tailed dunnart.

These guys would be found in central Australia, so they like really arid, hot

areas, and they would be very opportunistic about what they eat, so

be eating small insects, other small mammals, if they possibly could.

There we go. Hello.

And they can bite. Yes, I know you can. Yeah, you know, you're not going to do

that.

They're such an incredible little animal. They're so fast.

And because they're a carnivore, they've got a different attitude. They're

individuals. And they seem to have separate personalities. Whereas when

the hopping mice, they're kind of, to me, they're just like one giant amoeba

that moves around, spreads out, comes back together. And these guys, they come

over and they stare at me and they go, what's your game?

Hello.

What are you doing?

In here I've got three gorgeous irresistible yellow -bellied gliders,

got ten of these going into the new nocturnal house.

Oh, who's this? This is Petra.

Come here, have a little dish.

So this is an artificial nectar that we give them. Obviously they would take a

lot of nectar from flowers, but giving them this nectar with all the nutrients

in it, it sort of ensures that every day they have a totally nutritious diet.

No, no, no, you can go back in your box.

I can't believe that I'm still doing what I love.

There you go.

And the last critters on Paul's feeding tour today are the not -so -patient

hopping mice.

Hello. Hi, guys.

These are Spinifex hopping mice. They are a desert species.

Now, I understand that this doesn't look like a desert, but it kind of works.

This is what we started. This is the whole plan was...

to encourage them to sit on my feet so that I can do a presentation, use this

the wow factor.

And now it's just ridiculous.

I love it.

Next step for them is to go to the nocturnal house.

And with these hopping mice, there is going to be action.

Amazing.

And I've seen the enclosure they're going into, and I want to get to it now.

want it.

When all the night dwellers are moved into the new facility, it will take them

little while to reset their body clock.

They probably will be jet -lagged for a couple of weeks, just as if we were

going to the northern hemisphere for a holiday.

So, yes, they're going to be a little bit out of kilter for a few days.

This is something I always wanted to do. For all the years I've been a zookeeper

here... I've always imagined that there would be a new nocturnal house, and

there was talk of it, and as time went by, I thought, I'm probably going to

retire before we have a new nocturnal house.

And here we are now, and we have got one.

She's got to get her front legs down.

After an anxious wait for the sedation to take effect... There we go, there we

go, there we go. Raz is now seated, and it's finally time to find out what's

inside the mysterious lump in her ear.

Definitely smaller than... God, it's gross.

It's gross.

It's like thick brown.

Oh, that's the... That's what was... What the heck?

It looks... What?

It's a hairball. Does that feel better?

Disgusting. No way.

That is awesome.

It's gross, but...

That's zookeeping. We're never clean. We're never covered in the best kinds of

things in the first place. So seeing this kind of stuff is, yeah, unusually

exciting for us.

It's very satisfying. She is so rumbly right now. She must be like, yes. Thank

you. You are so rumbly right now.

There's a lot of hair in there, so it could be that this is just a big ingrown

hair cyst.

Well. Is it because, I mean, she is currently molting? Is it just molting

wrong? I don't know. We'll find out more. Maybe this is something camels

You know, we haven't had camels for a while.

It's hairy on the inside.

That's the lining of the cyst.

You see how the hair is growing inside it? And that whole area was full of

like a matted ball of hair.

Very interesting.

Just a bit of a surprise. I wasn't expecting that.

We've removed all of the lining of that cystic structure, so we'll take that

back to our pathologist, and they'll be able to look at it under the microscope

and tell us what type of skin that is.

While Raz is still under sedation, she's vaccinated, blood's taken, and given a

complete dental check.

I can help her file them down a little bit to make them a little more even.

There's a big piece of carrot or something there.

Routinely with ungulates, we look at the teeth because often, especially as they

get older, they don't grind their teeth and wear them down evenly.

So often we get some excessive growth on the outside of the top bits of the

teeth, and you can help bring them back to a bit more of a normal, you know,

conformation. You guys, just be aware she is starting to get light. So I'm

to do what I can on the teeth, but just watch yourself.

Liz, I'm just going to spray it with some antibiotic spray.

And then you guys can put some fly repellent around the area.

Let me reverse her.

I feel actually really relieved. The sedation went really well.

That's the only thing I was nervous about.

And just like that, Raz is back. Nicely done.

We're done, sweetie.

Oh, your tongue.

Oh, dear.

Overall, it went really, really well.

I think a good part of that is because this team is so used to working with

these camels, and they're so calm, and the animals are really relaxed with

So to be honest, we couldn't do it without their amazing help.

So our first standing sedation on a camel. It's our first big anesthetic

together since we've put them back.

Nothing like jumping straight back into it. Jump it in. Yeah, I'm very pleased.

I'm very pleased.

Another job well done.

Thank you.

And Raz seems to be shaking off the sedative, ready for some post -op TLC

her camel companion.

Storm, our other camel, she's been watching, seeing everything that's been

on. Raz is going to smell pretty weird at the moment. She's covered in all

of disinfectants and vaccines and her ear especially is going to look pretty

weird as well. So we're expecting Storm to go over and kind of suss her out, see

what's been going on.

They are a nice social animal, camels, so the girls always check up on each

other, make sure that they're okay.

Even though Raz is still a little bit sleepy, she can come over and have that

support as she is waking up and feeling a little bit groggy as well.

Next. Yeah, thank you, Raz.

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

She's pretty much come back to her nice sassy self over the last few days.

Raz's results are in. She's giving Storm a little bit more of a push around and

a little bit more of a fight back for her food now.

Definitely lets us know that what we did was worth it.

It's been 10 days since Francis removed a fishhook from the throat of this

eastern long -necked turtle.

Manoeuvring the hook up and out of the turtle's throat didn't work.

I'm not getting anywhere with this.

so the barb had to be pushed through the skin and cut off before the rest could

be pulled out.

Since then, he has been able to rest and, most importantly, feed.

So hopefully, Flea, this is going to be a final check.

Yeah. If everything's all right, it's going to go. Yeah, it's going well.

Back in the corner.

So he's been swimming around. Well, it's quite an active turtle, isn't it?

So over the past week he's been eating well. Yep, eating and pooping. Yep,

excellent. So we know food couldn't go through okay. He's got a good appetite.

So we'll bring him through to the table so I can get a good look at him.

I'm sure I'll get you to weigh him.

Yep.

445 .2. Good.

Came in at 408.

So in particular, what I want to check is there was a bit of swelling in the

lower part of the turtle's neck. I want to make sure that swelling has gone

down. And also the site where, you know, we have that tiny little puncture on

the side of the neck, I need to make sure that that's all healed up and looks

fine. So we haven't even really got any scab or anything like that on the neck.

Let's check the other side.

It looks really good.

It's a nice, active, healthy animal.

Yeah. And there's none of that sort of puffiness and swelling at the base of

neck that I was concerned about when we took the hook out. I'm really happy with

him. Yeah. Good to go.

Let's get him released. Yeah, he's good to go. That's great.

A volunteer from Sydney Wildlife Rescue will return him to where he was found.

It's been three days since Raz had a rather nasty hairball removed from her

God, it's gross.

It's gross.

No way.

It looks... What?

It's a hairball. It's disgusting.

We're just popping in some of Raz's pain relief medication for after the

procedure. So she's still a little bit sensitive with that ear.

Obviously it was a nice big cut that we put in it, so this is just to make her

feel a little bit better at the end of the day.

You're sweaty.

Oh, good girl.

You can see she's still got a tiny little wound on her ear from where we

obviously did the procedure, but it's draining really nicely. It looks really

nice and clean.

And we're not seeing too many issues from her behaviourally at all.

Just a little bit tender, which we completely expected, which is why we

a little bit of meds just to make her feel a bit better.

Otherwise, yeah, we're really, really happy with how she's progressing.

You're a good girl.

The pathology on the mass that came out of her ear was thankfully just as Vet

Kimberley suspected, a hairball that probably started with an infected

hair.

Yes, thank you, Rat.

Yeah, she's still pretty much come back to her nice sassy self over the last few

days She definitely feels a little bit brighter She's giving Storm a little bit

more of a push around a little bit more of a fight back for her food now Which

definitely lets us know that what we did was worth it and she's feeling a lot

nicer as well We love camels. They do have something a little bit extra

about them because they are a little bit weird nice little bit they're goofy and

they are awkward and they're lanky but that's kind of what makes them really

unique and really quirky as well even though the general person might walk

and say that she looks funny and you know what's the hump for and why is her

all dangly and her teeth all weird those are all things that make our animals so

so special and every keeper will say that about their animals but camels are

definitely up there as one of our favorites