Original subtitles

You don't get named one of the best zoos in the world by accident.

And a view as magical as this one is only gets you so far.

Good boy!

No, this last year, Team Taronga have been busier than ever.

Boom! Whoo!

With their two zoos now bigger than ever.

Come on, handsome man. Let's go.

So this season, we're taking you closer than ever.

(TRUMPETS)

And as their colourful residents get ready to make some noise...

(TIGER ROARS) Oh, my goodness!

..let us show you exactly who's who in this zoo.

Just always be watching who's who, who's where.

(BELLOWS)

On this episode... Very weak.

..the race to save this little penguin.

Someone's dog actually sniffed him out.

Separated from its colony.

We found him under a rock.

The next 48 hours are critical.

He would die under a general anaesthetic.

Tree gifts for everyone.

Good morning! See if you like this, huh?

No, no. Not 'free'.

This one might be good for pulling apart.

Tree!

The otters are lucky enough to get some of this for their nesting.

And who am I?

They are shy. Really intelligent. Very good escape artists.

Worked it out yet?

Half bear, half cat. Smells like popcorn.

Oh, you'll just have to wait.

Taronga Zoo is globally renowned for its location,

nestled on the shores of one of the world's greatest harbours

in one of the world's greatest cities.

And while that makes Sydney home

to some of the most exotic animals on the on the planet...

Good girl, Mummy!

Its harbour is also teeming with native wildlife.

But when cities and wildlife collide,

catastrophe can strike.

This is a little penguin.

And he came in yesterday. He's very weak and sick.

He's half his body weight.

So 560g. Should be a kilo.

So normally when a bird arrives,

if they're less than half their body weight,

they really don't usually make it.

So he would have been moulting.

A moult is when a penguin completely sheds its old feathers for new ones.

Penguins go through a moult once every year.

It probably hasn't eaten for three weeks now since

the start of the moult.

They have to grow all those feathers out.

And while he's growing those feathers,

he can't swim or hunt for fish.

For that three-week period,

they are very vulnerable to dogs in particular, and foxes.

There's a moulting penguin in the middle of nowhere,

that penguin is probably safe,

but in the urban environment with dogs and foxes,

it is dangerous for little penguins to be moulting.

They have trouble finding safe burrow sites.

Someone's dog actually sniffed him out and found him under a rock,

so it's best if they bring them into the wildlife hospital here.

That way they can moult in safety.

It's too soon to tell if this penguin has any internal injuries,

but right now, Libby's main concern is his terrible body condition.

When you look at the weight, you think, "Wow!"

This is actually a mixture of electrolytes and a high protein,

easily digestible diet.

So I'm going to open his mouth

and I'm going to put the tube right down into his stomach.

Warm fluids. That's exactly what he needs at this point in time.

The tummies can hold quite a few fish,

so they're a lot bigger than you would imagine.

A healthy little penguin

can eat up to a quarter of its body weight a day.

So we're just going to pop him back into his cage now

because he's wriggling around.

While a belly full of food is a good start,

this bird is still too sick to even be properly assessed by a vet.

So the next steps for this little penguin are going to be baby steps.

He's too weak to have a general anaesthetic.

He would die under a general anaesthetic at this point in time,

so he will stay in intensive care, resting.

We don't want him expending any energy that he doesn't have to.

It's just bed rest in the hospital.

You get warmth and fluids and you rest.

I'm hoping that he'll just keep putting on weight and survive.

But you just never can tell.

With around 5000 animals at Taronga,

there's always at least one eagle-eyed critter

watching over every nook and cranny.

But it's not just the animals keeping lookout.

Good morning, Taronga Zoo Security.

There's always somebody watching. And that somebody is Steve.

I've got roughly about 2000 cameras.

It's his job to not only make sure nothing gets in...

Kemiri! ..but that nothing gets out.

Kemiri!

Kemiri.

I see your face. Come on, let's go!

Good man.

Phew! No need to call on Steve just yet.

This is one of our binturongs.

We have two living here at Taronga Zoo.

I had never heard of a binturong before I had worked with them.

They're definitely one of the more unknown animals

we have here at the zoo.

They spend most of their life up in the tree tops,

which makes them very, very efficient climbers

and potentially very good escape artists.

So we keep a close eye on that.

Well, to be fair, STEVE keeps a close eye on that.

These guys are found in forests in Southeast Asia

and are listed as critically endangered in the wild.

So there's not all that many of them left,

which is again, it just makes it more special for them

to be here at the zoo.

They are shy, quite cautious,

really smart and really gentle creatures.

Binturongs are famous for one thing in particular.

They have a really distinctive smell.

Some people say that it smells like popcorn

and you can smell them from a while off.

This tail is incredible.

They're one of only two carnivores

that have a prehensile tail

so he can hang from that tail.

They can almost effectively stand on that tail.

So all in all, amazing climbers

and really intelligent animals.

So we mix up their enrichment every day.

You can see I've got a yellow ball

that has some banana smeared on it,

which is some of his favourite food,

and he's essentially going to have to figure out

how he's going to get that ball to his mouth

and get the food that he wants from it.

Let's just hope that's all he's figuring out and not a WAY out.

You'll notice that some of our trees have tree guards on it,

and they're on specific trees

that get a little bit too close to our fence line.

Well, that's a red flag.

While the keepers, er, and Steve,

keep a very close eye on Kemiri...

I'm running out of grapes, buddy.

Taronga staff must also be on the lookout for any unwelcome

guests trying to break in.

And that's Brian's department.

Do you have a reading on that lower fence at the moment?

At the wildlife hospital...

He's VERY skinny.

..rehab coordinator Libby recently took in

a weak and badly malnourished little penguin.

He's very sick.

The bird was found on a beach -

alone, exposed and vulnerable to dog and fox attack.

Very, very underweight.

You can see how thin this bird is.

So we need to take it very slowly and get some nutrition into him.

And that's exactly what Libby did.

The Penguin has now survived the first critical 48 hours

and is hopefully strong enough for a thorough veterinary examination.

We've got a little penguin that's having a health assessment today

to make sure that he doesn't have anything happening internally.

Apart from its weight,

the penguin doesn't appear to have any obvious issues,

but looks can be deceiving.

A bird's bones are hollow and so fragile.

Even a curious animal could have injured it on the beach.

So we'll pop the little penguin's face on the mask.

Thank you.

And we'll start to give a little bit of gas.

You might need to turn him up.

Yeah, I'll just pop in some anaesthetic.

That's up just a little bit to 4%.

Just to help him relax and have a nice smooth...

smooth induction of his anaesthetic.

But the little bird is using every trick in the penguin playbook.

Because penguins dive underwater,

they are obviously very good at holding their breath.

And refusing to inhale the anaesthetic gas.

So that natural reflex can then kick in

while they're having their anaesthetic.

So often we'll then just pop

the anaesthetic gas up a little bit higher

and give them a couple of assisted breaths to

really get that anaesthetic back in,

and then they tend to relax.

That's better. Nice and relaxed now.

I'm just going to pop this down to 3%.

With the anaesthetic now doing its job,

vet Adelaide can now finally take a closer look

at this sick penguin.

Well, he's got some little lesions.

You'll see it when... Yeah.

He had one on that foot as well.

They certainly don't seem to be causing him any, any troubles.

And I don't think they'll impact his walking or his

swimming or anything like that.

All his joints feel like they move fine around those areas.

So let's have a little look at his eyes.

So I'm just having a look right back through to the back of the eye

to make sure that all of the structures of the eye look normal,

but he doesn't have any eye issues

that might need treatment while he's here.

Just got a nice bright light so I can see everything in there.

So that's a really nice pink colour.

Doesn't have any injuries in his mouth that might

affect him eating.

While the physical examination hasn't revealed

any major issues just yet,

it's still way too soon to say if this patient

is out of danger.

So we'll do an X-ray of him on his back,

and then we'll take another one of him on his side,

because we can see some different things on the different views,

and it gives us more of an idea

and get more of a sort of three-dimensional idea

of what's going on.

We positioned the little penguin in a way that's nice and symmetrical

so we can compare both sides.

X-ray.

So...

can't see any damage

to any of his bones or his joints,

which is good news.

Good news indeed.

Oh, what IS that?

Though the X-ray does reveal one unexpected surprise.

Coming up... What can I see?

..warning! Warning! Warning. Do you copy?

A perimeter breach.

And that something is quite something.

There's a big one over here.

Good morning, buddy!

It's no surprise

some of Taronga's residents,

like Kemiri the Binturong,

are natural-born Houdinis.

Amazing escape artists.

You know, they are amazing at climbing,

so we keep a close eye on that.

But there are plenty of other animals

just as determined to break into the zoo -

though, they have to get through frontline Bryan first.

Today we're looking at our perimeter fence line

and looking for fallen debris.

Vegetation growth that's over the fence line.

We're looking for holes, problems,

anything we can find on the fence line.

We've also got an electric fence line that runs across the top of it.

So this is all a barrier and a deterrent between

animals we want to keep in and the ones we don't.

And the ones they don't want to get in?

Foxes for starters.

Just getting around it.

It's, as I said, 28 hectares of fence line.

It's a big job.

Good morning, Taronga Security.

And helping share that big job is Steve.

Thank you, mate.

Oh, yeah. And his 2000 cameras.

Can you please ensure the gate is closed after you enter.

The eyes and ears of Taronga.

Our Taronga perimeter electric fence is a fox-deterrent.

Something touches it, it will zap it and it'll turn it away.

With so many animals here,

whether they're large, small,

even the uninvited,

Taronga doesn't play favourites.

They're committed to keeping them all safe.

So, Brian, do you copy?

Copy that, Steve. Get back to you soon.

Thank you.

So when any potential breach is detected,

Taronga's response team treat each and every one of them seriously.

Just have a look at this fence line. What can I see?

Brian, to Steve in security. Have you got a copy?

Mate, do you have a reading on that lower fence at the moment?

A low voltage means the electricity may be out,

and if the electricity is out, then wily predators can get in.

Right, Steve? Go ahead. Receiving.

Could you de-energise that lower fence line for us, please, Steve?

Yeah. Copy that.

Brian has detected a breach.

Steve to Brian, confirming that zone nine is off.

Copy that, Steve. Isolation.

Now for me, I'm now going to be able to, easily and safely...

Ah. Did I say 'breach'? I meant 'branch'.

Just a flick and she's gone.

There's a bigger one over here.

I know now it is turned off, but still safely,

I'll just flick that over the edge and it should just go.

Foxes. Foiled again.

The reason we removed the debris is that it actually reduces

the voltage on the fence line.

The bigger branches across all the lines cause the line

to actually short out.

Steve, we finished the work down here at the fence line.

Are you able to re-energise for us?

Yeah. Copy. Stand by.

This time, the breach...er, branch is tiny,

but the potential risk to Taronga's animal family is massive.

So Steve and Brian are forever vigilant.

Advising you a current reading is 7.3 thousand volts.

Copy that.

Each morning before opening time,

Taronga is buzzing with activity. (CROWS)

And directly responsible for a large chunk of that activity...

Come on, Pip!

..are the many and varied residents of the Backyard to Bush Precinct,

which, let's face it, is a bit of a of a circus.

The purpose of Backyard to Bush

is really to take people on a journey

through all the different animals that they might encounter

everywhere from their own backyard,

like lizards, different spiders,

and then our Australian native animals,

and then brings visitors through the farmyard.

Alright.

Hi, girls! Wanna come out for a run?

All those different animals equals a ton of different jobs

for the Ringmistress keeper.

Before I was working as a zookeeper,

I used to work as an executive assistant.

Now I'm working outside.

I'm working with animals.

And as much as I loved my old job,

this is definitely far more fulfilling.

Come on, boys.

In the mornings before the zoo opened, boys, the goats

and the alpacas get to run around the farmyard

and free-range for quite a while.

They're off to go and have a bit of a play

while the keepers get on with cleaning their yards.

Number-one job on Parnee's to do list...

..number twos.

There's a lot of poo to be raked and shovelled.

So, unlike the goats,

who make a lot of mess in their yard,

the alpacas, they actually use a latrine.

So they all use the same spot to do their toileting.

And it's so much easier than raking the goat yard

because it's all in one nice, confined spot.

Task number two?

More number twos.

Gotta get it all looking spic and span before the zoo opens.

The goats give us lots to clean up.

They poop wherever they are

and it all gets collected

and gets composted.

In fact, there isn't much that doesn't get recycled at Taronga.

A lot of it gets used around the zoo in the various garden beds

to keep all the plants looking beautiful.

So yeah, it doesn't go to waste, that's for sure.

Coming up... X-ray.

A shock discovery that changes everything.

We found a microchip!

And this is what happens... Want some endive?

No.

OK, that's alright.

..when you have your own personal chef.

He's sometimes a fussy eater.

Hi, Widge!

At the Taronga Wildlife Hospital,

vet Adelaide is examining a very underweight penguin.

Shall we take some X-rays?

Yeah, I'll just check.

The Taronga team are trying to determine if he has any

internal injuries after being found on a beach by a pet dog.

Penguins have trouble living in the urban environment.

X-ray!

Dogs, in particular, can smell a penguin from a long way away.

They have trouble finding safe burrow sites.

Vet Adelaide has spotted one very tiny

but incredibly important detail.

So there's just a little microchip in here,

which will have a unique number

that the little penguin can be identified from.

It's got a microchip?! Yeah. So we found a microchip.

Yay!

We noticed it on his X-ray,

and then we scanned it and got the number.

Great. I'll look up his records.

The discovery is significant

and also very helpful.

The microchip means this bird

has come into contact with humans before.

So it's either a bird that's been in care here,

or it's a bird from the Manly colony.

So the Manly colony is a colony of penguins that are very special.

They're an endangered colony because their numbers

are dropping due to urban disturbance,

so that colony is very closely managed.

So one or two of those two things -

we'll look up the records and find out!

I'm just checking his body condition over his keel bone.

Um, he's still on the thinner side.

Shall we weigh him and have a look at what his weight's...

Sure.

705.

The penguin has put on just over 140g since it arrived,

but much of that is the food in its belly.

He needs to be a kilo.

That may take quite a little bit of time for him to reach that weight.

Calling this bird a buddy.

But I'm pretty certain it's a female.

Looks like Mother Teresa at the moment, don't you?

On a positive note after a thorough examination,

there are no apparent injuries,

but Libby can see this penguin is still far too unwell to release

and still in desperate need of her constant care.

Penguins don't eat on their own in captivity,

especially when they're sick like this,

so you need to assist-feed them.

But as you can see, I'm feeding quite well.

Is that yummy?

Now we're going to let him in the water.

There you go.

Gonna have a swim.

So I just want to monitor this penguin in the water.

Make sure she can swim OK.

She can manage alright.

She can get in and out of her burrow.

If not, we'll need to take her up to the wildlife intensive care.

She'll need to build up condition and get fit before

she can go out into the wild.

Back at the Backyard to Bush, it's everyone's favourite time -

meal time.

And while these kids continue to butt heads,

carrying on like a couple of goats...

Good morning, Pep. Ready for your brekkie?

..over on the other side, Keeper Pahnee is turning heads,

serving up a feast to the local marsupials.

This is Pep. She is our quokka.

She is a very small marsupial.

She's kind of like a very small kangaroo.

That's the way. Come on!

Pep has gotta be one of the slowest eaters here at the zoo.

She does like to take her time.

Quokkas, in the wild, they eat mainly vegetation.

And so here at Taronga, we feed them vegetables.

They also get a get a special pellet diet.

Make sure that they're getting all the nutrients that they require.

We also provide them lots of browse, lots of native leaves

and flowers so that we're fulfilling that part of her

natural diet.

With Pep now fuelled and full of... well, pep...

Was that a nice brekky? Good girl, Pep.

All done.

..not everyone on Pahnee's breakfast rounds just takes the food.

Some are real givers.

Chook! Chook! Chook! Chook! Chook! Chook!

We've got our silky chickens here.

Hello. Good morning.

A lot of animals in the zoo have egg as part of their diet.

So the silky's eggs go up there,

and they get included in a lot of those diets

for other animals around the zoo.

It's all about keeping Taronga sustainable,

using the resources in the zoo for the zoo.

Good morning, Wedgie.

Though one other feathered Backyard To Bush resident

has no intention of joining in on this EGG-stravaganza.

This is Widgie, our emu. He is a real character.

Would you like some breakfast?

Emus are obviously a very large bird.

They're related to ostriches and cassowaries.

They're able to survive in most ecosystems and habitats.

Widgie's doing a little more than just surviving.

I mean, that's what happens when you have your own personal chef.

But it must be said he has particular tastes.

No? OK. It's alright, bud.

Bye, Widge!

He is sometimes a fussy eater.

Is there any chance you could bring some mealworms

down to Widgie for me?

WOMAN: Sure.

That's like a real favourite.

Thank you.

Mm. I mean, who could resist?!

Yeah, he's a lot of fun to work with.

A nice treat, isn't it?

To work with these amazing animals every day,

being involved in conservation work

and getting to help connect people with wildlife and nature,

it's the best job in the world.

Coming up, what's REALLY involved...

It's about a thousand trees we need on our plantations

to sustainably feed one.

..in feeding a koala?

That's a lot of trees.

And decision day approaches for this little penguin.

She has to be really fit to catch fish in the wild.

When a problem pops up at Taronga no matter how small...

Easily flick. And she's gone.

..or tall, everyone pitches in.

We've been monitoring this tree for about four years now,

and we've had concerns about the tree's root system and its decay.

This once majestic old grey gum is on its last legs.

So before it becomes a hazard for the locals that live under it,

horticulture manager Ben has marshalled the troops

and ordered a big trim.

One of the main things we want to recycle out of this tree

is the leaf for the koala.

So when you do the cuts,

can you cut them approximately two metre branch heights?

That's no dramas. Yeah, we'll cut them down.

And he has big plans for every last bit.

Sustainability is one of our core values at Taronga,

so we try to live that through our practices every day.

So is that the limb he's going to start working on?

MAN: Yeah.

We'll aim to recycle almost the entire tree itself.

Whether it'll be the furniture for our habitats.

We use the branches for perching within the zoo,

the actual trunks,

we use them for everything from habitat inside exhibits

to furniture for the animals.

Virtually every leaf, branch and log will be dispatched

to all corners of the zoo.

OK!

And keeper Amy has called first dibs

for the zoo's fluffiest residents.

So unfortunately for us, it was one of the koala's favourite trees,

so it was cut down to size.

And today it's on the back of the truck

for feeding out to our koalas.

So you can't get any more local than that.

Local produce.

OK. You ready, Rez? Yeah.

The sheer volume of browse required

to keep Taronga's koala population well-fed is extraordinary.

Good morning. See if you like this, huh?

As you can see, madam is enjoying

the spoils of the Hort team's labour at the moment.

It's a really, really difficult task feeding our koalas.

So yeah, per koala, it's about a thousand trees we

need on our plantations to sustainably feed one.

So that's a lot of trees. Sure is!

And with those numbers,

it's crucial to extract every tasty last morsel

from every last branch.

So we make sure that we respect every leaf.

It is the reason koalas are in trouble in the wild.

Not enough food, not enough places to put their bottoms on trees.

So it's really, really important

that we look after the browse that we have.

Their huge appetites aren't the only challenge Amy faces

when feeding her koala clan.

They're a little bit like us.

If you eat too much pizza, you get sick of pizza.

So we're trying to give them at least three choices of browse.

I'll deny I ever said this, but almost as fussy as Widgie.

So the rest of this stuff that they've eaten a lot of the leaf off

will go to other areas around the zoo,

and we'll go and feed some more mouths.

Three weeks ago, a little penguin was brought into

Taronga's Wildlife Hospital, critically underweight

and unable to feed on her own.

Hey, little girl!

Wildlife rehab coordinator Libby

has been monitoring her intensively every day.

I'm splashing her to make her swim.

I want her diving and swimming around as much

as possible at this stage.

And now we're building up her fitness levels.

She has to be really fit to catch fish in the wild.

She usually dives when I splash her,

she dives under the water rather than just swimming on the top.

So I contacted National Parks and Wildlife and they

looked up their records.

And she's from Lion Island,

which is an island colony of penguins,

which is not far from here.

If Libby can get this penguin stronger,

the dream is to take her home and release her.

But it's not guaranteed.

Sadly, not every rescued penguin regains enough of their strength.

And that's when Taronga rolls out plan B.

Fortunately for a lot of penguins that come into our

wildlife hospital, if they have an injury, that means they're

not able to evade predators or hunt for their own fish,

that means they wouldn't have

a very good chance of surviving out there in the wild.

But luckily, they're able to find a home with us in our colony.

And one such lucky penguin is one-flippered Juan.

So who was actually found bobbing around in the harbour.

And he was missing a flipper

and he was actually out there for so long he was covered in algae.

So he'd been out there for quite a while.

So when he arrived at Taronga, he went to our wildlife hospital,

and the amazing team there took care of him for a while

and nursed him back to health.

And then he came down and joined our colony.

I think, unfortunately,

Juan wouldn't have met a very nice end out there in the wild.

Eventually he probably would have starved to death,

or he could have been taken by a predator.

He's able to swim around and move around our habitat really well,

and he's able to feed with the rest of our penguins.

He's having a much better quality of life

here in our colony.

Nice one...Juan.

I'm not sure you want any more.

As for Libby's still-recovering patient,

the jury's still out on whether she'll be staying or heading home.

At Taronga, as an old grey gum on its last legs is removed,

plans are being formulated

for every piece of the tree.

This one might be good for pulling apart

and trying to eat some of the ants inside of it.

Keeper Dannielle isn't interested in the ants,

but she is about to give Taronga's resident otters a tree gift.

This browse came from the tree that was rotten

that they needed to cut down,

so the otters are lucky enough to get some of this for their nesting.

They're a great pair.

They get along incredibly well

and they are really good nest-builders.

In the wild, they will nest along riverbanks.

While they're creating the nest,

they'll actually forage or search for their own nesting materials.

And the really cool thing is

as the nest sort of naturally decomposes,

the greenery that they've put in there actually

creates heat.

Sounds cosy!

Pia and Ketut will definitely love this browse.

We don't get browse like this very often for them.

And neither does Konira the Andean condor,

who'll be the fourth animal today delivered a tree gift.

So we're hoping that she'll use it as a bit of enrichment.

What I really want to see is her using her beak and her feet.

Kind of like how she'd hold down a carcass,

hold it down with her feet,

and then tear it up with her beak.

Should make for a bit of fun.

A bit of a flower-arrangement.

Just got to wedge it in this crevice here.

Make it a bit tougher for her to get out.

She is very strong,

so she should do it with quite a lot of ease.

OK, cool. She's going straight to it.

Inspecting it. Having a little look around.

She's kind of standing right in the middle of the browse,

hidden amongst all the leaves.

And she's actually preening down her chest,

down her neck, under her wings.

Not really what I was expecting to see at all...

..which is fine.

I mean, you can never predict what an animal is going to do,

at the end of the day,

we can go in and hope for what we want,

but it's not always what they're going to do.

Here's hoping animal number five will be a little more impressed.

Rehab expert Libby has been helping a malnourished little penguin

get back on its feet.

I mean, flippers.

Very weak and sick.

Found by a concerned dog-walker,

the penguin was critically underweight

and vulnerable to dog and fox attack.

560g - should be a kilo.

So normally when a bird arrives,

if they're less than half their body weight,

they really don't usually make it.

But after six weeks of Libby's TLC, this little fighter has made it.

So it's a really big day for a for a little penguin today.

She's going home to North Curl Curl Beach,

where she was found under a rock.

Really weak.

Half her body weight.

And now she's perfect.

And she's really keen to go.

So she's going to be released back into the wild today.

Hi!

What's happening? Oops!

Do you wanna come out here?

Going back in the ocean today.

Oh! Little girl.

That's it.

That's it!

Yay! Here we go.

I'm going to take her up into the other building to weigh her.

This is exciting.

Seeing what her little patient tips the scales at

will really show Libby just how far she's come.

I'll just pop her in here.

If we're lucky, she'll stand still and not jump out.

Although we can't be sure.

Oh, yay!

One... Ha!

In case you've ever wondered what tipping the scales looks like,

that was it.

1.06 kilos. Look at that!

That's fantastic. She was 520g.

Oh!

I think she's keen to go.

So from 520g to 1.06 kilos.

So one kilo is the perfect weight for her.

She's raring to go. Aren't you?

She's beautiful.

If you're very, very careful

and you do all the right things, you can get them through to release.

Look at that view. Yeah. So this is Curl Curl.

A lot of work from everyone in the team to get her to this stage.

The whole hospital team, really?

The veterinary side, the rehab side.

It's been a long journey for her, so I'm very happy

to get her back out into the wild again.

And at Curl Curl on Sydney's northern beaches,

wild it is.

Well, it's very rough today.

Um, sea's quite big,

so it'd be nice if it was calm for us.

But it won't worry the penguin.

She'll just dive under the waves.

Yeah. Look at this. You're home!

I love my job.

This part, releasing them back into the wild is by far the best bit.

Look!

(LAUGHS)

Look at her! There she is! Whoo-hoo!

So at the moment, she's swimming down the beach,

making it look easy out there in the rough surf.

But to her, this is home.

This is perfect.

And with one final look back, she's off.

I've been doing wildlife rehab for a very long time.

Many years. But every single release is different for me.

And it's always wonderful.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah. Very special.

Next, the king of the jungle steps up.

Here they come!

To show everyone how it's done.

That is some incredible jaw strength.

Recently at Taronga,

horticulture manager Ben

ordered surgery on a giant, decaying grey gum.

And so far, it's been given a second life.

We can take it and feed it to our animals,

knowing that it's not just going

straight into the trash heap or anything like that.

And a third...

I think it's very beneficial to them and their welfare.

..a fourth...

It's just something different. Hopefully she enjoys herself.

..and now it's time for a fifth.

Today, we're bringing these lovely logs in that we salvaged

from the tree that cut down

for the lions.

Hopefully, they really enjoy it.

OK, let's put this one on top.

Like this. Yeah. So it's sort of...

Yeah.

Where do you want this one?

Maybe across the top with these bits sticking out?

Yep.

So if we put it...

Try and get some height out of it.

Yeah. That's nice.

That's nice.

This weight for a lion is easy for us.

A little bit more challenging,

but lions are incredibly strong.

It's amazing seeing their power

and what they can actually do.

This is the first time that the lions have had smooth-bark logs.

Different shapes. Sizes.

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens.

Here they come.

Straight away, they've noticed that pile

is different in this habitat to what it was before.

Zuri is the most interested.

Not surprising.

Young female Zuri does have a reputation

for being the most curious of the big cats.

Oh, my goodness.

I cannot believe Zuri is trying to pick up

that log in her mouth.

That is some incredible jaw-strength.

Oh, Zuri!

The log's gone down the hill.

And like most annoying brothers,

Luzuko decides he wants in on the action.

Luzuko is now picking up the same log Zuri had.

He's really, really looking up to his sister there.

Sorry, mate. Time's up.

Your sister logged on first.

I think those logs have been an incredible success story.

Gone from the tree to the lions.

The otters have had a chance.

Nothing goes to waste here.

Captioned by AI-Media ai-media.tv

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0