Original subtitles

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

VIRGINIA GAY (NARRATES): They say don't ever work

with babies or animals...

(MONKEYS COO)

..but what if they're baby animals?

Oh, no.

It was only born this morning.

On this all new season...

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

..welcome back

to the ever changing world of Taronga...

(UPLIFTS MUSIC)

..where you'll witness things you never thought possible.

You can actually hear her breathe.

And meet new faces...

Oh, hi, buddy.

..you'll never forget.

So good.

It's time to discover...

Oh, my god.

..exactly who's who in this zoo.

(TIGER ROARS)

On this episode...

He's really trying to intimidate...

..silverback in waiting, MJ...

..staring her down.

..flexes his muscles...

(GORILLA THUMPS)

..but dad Kibali is having none of it.

So, Kibali's now come out.

He's not happy at all.

As one favourite face returns...

Hello, big fella.

..it's time to say goodbye to another.

I'm gonna miss him.

Oh. Hey, we'll look after him.

(LAUGHS) Thank you.

And the Australian Navy delivers...

Oh, wow. ..big time...

They're gonna love them. (LAUGHS)

..for Taronga's biggest residents.

Oh, it's gonna pop. It's like Christmas.

(THEME MUSIC)

(CALM MUSIC)

At the dawn of a new day in Sydney,

one of Taronga's largest families is waking up.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

Hello.

These seven western lowland gorillas

are crucial to Taronga's ongoing effort

to protect this critically endangered species.

Just doing a scatter feed at the moment for the gorillas,

just something to keep them foraging through the morning.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Western lowland gorillas are found in forested areas

in the Congo area in Africa.

They live in groups referred to as troops,

a singular adult male

living with multiple females and their offspring.

A gorilla troop is a family,

peacefully living together

with every member falling into a rank structure or hierarchy.

And at the very top of that hierarchy sits Kibali.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Kibali, our silverback male, 23 years of age.

He's got a lot of power.

He's very, very strong.

He weighs just under 200kg at the moment.

The silverback's role

is the most important in a gorilla troop.

They're the ones that lead and protect that family,

always on the watch in his environment,

making sure that his family is safe.

Kibali's family consists of three growing boys

and three adult females.

And Mbeli is the highest ranking female in our group.

Frala is our eldest adult female in the group.

She's 43 this year.

She's more low ranking than Mbeli,

and Johari is our lowest ranking female in the group.

Mbeli has produced the most offspring, two boys,

and that combined with her confidence,

puts her near the top of the social group,

while Johari, who currently has no offspring,

is destined to sit at the bottom.

And then there's the boys. (GORILLAS GRUNT)

So, we have Mwamba who's a six-year-old,

Fabumi who's nine years of age,

and we have MJ who is ten years of age.

So, we're really interested in the ten-year-old.

He's just beating his chest at the moment.

He's a bit frustrated.

As the boys, and in particular MJ grow older,

they're getting bolder.

And while they can beat their chests all they like,

200kg Kibali is still the boss.

The boys can be quite rowdy.

They're getting very boisterous and challenging the family.

At the moment,

they're nowhere near as strong as Kibali,

so, that's why they tend to pick on the females a little bit

to see how far they can push it.

When it comes to rank,

the boys aren't keeping to the rules.

One of those boys could get seriously injured

if they don't back down.

And Kibali is very protective of his three female companions...

(GORILLAS THUMP)

..which means drastic action might be required.

We may have to move our boys out soon.

This could affect the troop.

It's gonna change the dynamics a lot.

Trouble is brewing in paradise.

(TENSE MUSIC)

There are many occasions at Taronga

when an animal or animals are transferred into...

There's a good girl.

..or out of the zoo.

It's always a big operation.

They are a dangerous animal,

so, we do a lot of preparation around safety.

Hello.

When an animal leaves, it's a difficult time for everyone.

It's bittersweet, but it's just sad for us.

But that's always tempered by those times

when an old resident returns.

Good boy. Very good job.

Yes, Taronga favourite,

the Australian sea lion Moby, is coming home.

So, Australian sea lions are one of the endangered species

that we have endemic to Australia.

Unfortunately, for the species,

it's only 10,000 of them left in the wild.

(WATER SPLASHES)

So, there's a strong focus on managing the species

and making sure that we don't get to a really problematic number.

So, every Australian sea lion

that is in care at the moment is part of a breeding program.

That breeding program involved Moby transferring

to a partner zoo 18 months ago for a sea lion swap.

We had our Australian sea lion male,

Moby, go up to Coffs Harbour for breeding.

Hey, buddy. We're gonna miss you.

You're gonna come back so big.

It was goodbye, Moby.

Hello, Storm.

Storm, good job.

Fast forward to today, and while Storm is still in Sydney,

a much bigger Moby

has finished his stud duties up north.

And wildlife sanctuary keepers Tiga and Stacy

are delivering him back home to Taronga.

We're almost there, Moby.

He's been such a trooper this whole time, actually.

He has been an amazing boy.

Taronga keeper Jose is clearly excited

to be reunited with his old mate.

So, we're down here waiting, um, for Moby's arrival.

It's been about 18 months since he's seen me,

but I was there for the first six years of his life.

We're officially back in Taronga.

Back in the city. We're back in the city.

The city boys back in the city.

I'm hoping having that much history,

he knows and remembers who I am, I hope.

But maybe he spent a lot of...a lot of good times

while he's been up in Coffs Harbour,

so, you know, I can understand

if he doesn't remember me straight away.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

Mobs. It's your old mate, Jose.

Yeah. Look.

We might try and go straight in,

and then the forklift's gonna come up,

and then we'll unload from here and then drive in.

At the time that he left,

he was actually going through a bit of a maturity change.

Good boy, Moby.

Young males start to turn brown at the age of about five or six.

Good?

Uh, yes. Alright.

Well, we haven't seen him in, like, 18 months,

so, we don't know what we're gonna get.

(CHUCKLES)

Just up the hill from the sea lions

live seven western lowland gorillas,

23-year-old silverback dad, Kibali,

three adult females and three boys

also known as blackbacks, Mwamba,

Fabumi and the eldest boy, MJ.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

So, we're really interested in the 10-year-old MJ.

He's got the long arms, and he's just a bit stockier.

He's got prominent wrinkles under his eyes.

He's a very confident gorilla,

always has been even since a youngster.

MJ's adolescent confidence

is starting to challenge the silverback Kibali's status...

Kibali is gonna always be stronger than those boys.

..and that could spell trouble.

A few months back,

MJ was really pushing the boundaries and seeing what he could get,

and the response from Kibali was that

he was gonna just show his dominance.

Keeper Bec recorded the tense faceoff

between father and son

after MJ challenged one of the females.

So, Kibali,

he's hovering over MJ

who's kinda cowering in the moat here,

just intimidating MJ,

cornering MJ in a portion of the shallow waters telling him,

"Hey, what you've done is not OK."

(GORILLA GRUNTS)

Kibali's just had a swipe at him,

and this is really the first time we've ever seen Kibali,

you know, intimidate MJ.

MJ's behaviour raises a difficult question

for the keepers.

How do they know when it's time to remove these

highly spirited boys to another zoo?

At the moment, there's very limited research about

these blackback males and their dispersal within zoos.

So, we really wanna know what those behaviours are

before we make any decisions.

Thanks for coming in today. Please.

So, we've employed a uni student, Stefi,

to track these behaviours that we are seeing.

The boys this morning have been really high energy,

running back and forth, playing, sort of been picking up the straw,

and kind of throwing it around and being,

you know, a bit boisterous.

So, there's a-a lot of energy

that they're looking to, you know, expend.

Are you all set up on the iPad, ready to go?

Yep. All set up. Ready to go. Great.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

For the next few months,

every gorilla interaction

will be monitored by both keeper Bec...

Keep a close eye on MJ.

..and conservation student, Stefi.

MJ...

The behaviour that's concerning with the young males

is where they're kind of threatening,

showing aggression towards the females,

staring them down, trying to pick a fight.

And right now,

it's the lowest ranked female, Johari,

who is the focus of MJ's unwanted attention.

He can be a little bit more dominant over Johari.

He's got a very stiff body language.

He's really trying to, you know, force himself to look bigger

so, he can intimidate Johari.

And it's exactly this kind of intimidation

that the silverback Kibali won't allow.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Still to come.

Here comes MJ.

MJ takes things to another level...

Doing these displays to intimidate Johari.

..but Kibali's had enough.

He will step in and discipline those boys.

Oh, you're so handsome!

What a difference 18 months makes!

I said I wouldn't cry.

And the true meaning of big boys' toys.

Get it, Boons.

Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Yes.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

In Sydney,

while the city is still mostly sleeping,

Brendan is on an early morning mission

across the Harbour Bridge.

I am the Behavioural Husbandry Supervisor at Taronga Zoo,

which means I oversee the training and enrichment programs.

Kep Kep is licking a massive snowball.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah.

Yeah, they're going at it again.

He's getting... He's getting there. (CHUCKLES)

Brendan's job is to make sure all the animals at Taronga

are living their best lives.

You could say Brendan is the good time guy.

Oh, look at that.

We have gotten up nice and early

to make our way off to HMAS Kuttabul in Potts Point

to speak to some personnel from the navy

that are gonna help us out with some enrichment for elephants.

It's actually a really exciting day because the navy,

they are partnering with us

to provide some fenders to our elephants.

(GROOVY MUSIC)

Yeah. Yeah.

A fender is an electric guitar,

but I don't think we're talking that kind of fender.

Hey, friends. Good to see you.

Hey, Jess, lovely to see you.

You're helping us out with some stuff for the elephants?

Yes, so, we've got two of our old tyres

and three older pneumatic fenders.

We're talking these kind of fenders.

We have a disposal system with any navy equipment.

Equipment can't be utilised for anything else

besides usually navy use.

But probably about six months ago,

Taronga Zoo reached out and asked if we had anything to donate.

So, rather than throw them into general waste,

we'll recycle them with you guys.

I know. We love that. Thank you so much.

When they reached out, I-I knew it was an opportunity

that I really wanted to follow up and see what I could do.

So, these are the two-two of our fenders

that we- we got for the pneumatics.

Oh, wow!

They're awesome. Yeah.

And these ones are super easy to inflate.

Yeah. That's awesome.

(CHUCKLES) Love it.

Are they gonna love them? Yeah.

I hope so. We'll see how long it lasts...

Yeah. . .before they destroy them.

They should be able to withstand

the bulk of the elephants for a while

'cause they can withstand the... withstand the bulk of a ship

landing on them, so.

Yep. Yep. Yeah.

No, these are amazing. Thank you.

Alright, well, let's give these a wipe down,

bit more of a blow up and...

Yep. ..we'll get going.

Awesome. Thank you.

Aye-aye, Captain.

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

So, anyway,

while you probably won't find too many fenders in the wild...

Beautiful.

..these giant airbags are perfect for providing stimulation

for Taronga's two Asian elephants, Pak Boon and Tang Mo.

When we look at an animal like our elephants,

there are so many different behaviours

that they're capable of expressing.

So, we give them strategies to meet that.

For foraging, it might be pineapple tops,

and that's great 'cause it's not just about eating,

but they've potentially got to use their trunk

to sort through things.

It uses their mind.

They're mud wallow, big pit, boggy. The elephants like to get in that.

They'll roll around in it.

And coating themselves in that, not only is it fun

but it also serves an important maintenance behaviour.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Good.

Yes.

One of the elephants apparently is very, very playful,

and we're hoping that they'll interact with them

in a really fun and positive way.

It's like Christmas.

Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

Obviously, it's-it's for the animals,

so at the end of the day, we just wanna see them have fun

and-and do what they need to do with them, so yeah.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

Back at the gorilla habitat...

(GORILLA THUMPS)

..keeper Bec and conservation student Stefi

have been monitoring the ape family

to determine just how dominant the young males,

in particular, MJ, are becoming.

He's just testing to see where he lies in this hierarchy.

The Taronga team want to know

whether the time has come

to move MJ or any of the boys to another zoo.

MJ loves to approach Johari.

He loves to make himself look bigger in front of her,

really stiff posture, outstretched arms,

fluffing himself up, staring her down.

Johari is low ranking

and those boys inherit the rank of their mum.

So, MJ has inherited a really high rank from Mbeli,

which means that he can go straight for Johari

knowing that she's low ranking

and he might get a reaction from her.

MJ might be higher ranking,

but the silverback Kibali won't tolerate

any misbehaviour towards the quiet Johari.

Johari really loves the hay and the wood wool.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

She loves to rub it on her head

and, you know, she likes the feeling of it.

She really gets into making her nest.

Gorillas are nest builders, which surprises most people.

You don't think that a big gorilla is gonna build a beautiful nest,

but they do.

While Johari enjoys her nest,

the young male, MJ, tries his luck again.

MJ is just kinda testing the waters a little bit.

He's really trying to intimidate.

"Is she gonna submit and run away? Is she gonna fight back?"

And she is getting annoyed with it.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Johari has had enough,

and MJ has made his point.

But now, little brother Mwamba enters the scene.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

He's putting pressure on Johari

'cause he sees his older brothers do it.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Oh, my god.

And if one wasn't bad enough,

two of the three young males are now intimidating Johari.

Moby the Australian sea lion

is being delivered home to Taronga by wildlife sanctuary keepers,

Tiga and Stacy,

after participating in a breeding program

in Coffs Harbour

on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.

Mobs, your old mate, Jose.

It's been 18 months

since keeper Jose last saw the sea lion.

I'm sure he's gonna be the same lovable guy that he was,

just there's probably been a bit of growth in his stature.

(CHUCKLES)

Hello, big fella.

Look at you. Wow. Golden boy.

He's a real man now. A real man now. (CHUCKLES)

When you think 18 months ago,

he left us as a mottled grey seal.

Good boy. Very good job.

Maybe about 60kg less. (CHUCKLES)

Look at him, he's just a completely different seal.

Go on.

Yeah.

Basically, all the...all the transformation

that has occurred in 18 months is quite staggering, really.

When you think about it,

he's left a teenager and he came back a man.

Hey, bud. You know, where we are.

Like any doting keeper would, Jose has prepared Moby's pool,

ready and waiting for his return.

It's probably all flooding back, I guess.

Moby has a very, very strong place in our heart here at Taronga.

Here he is.

There's a huge emotional connection.

Look at you. (LAUGHS)

That's our Taronga seal.

Yeah. (LAUGHTER)

You do your waving there.

(LAUGHS)

Although he's helping out the Australian sea lion species,

we're extremely happy that he's back.

Look at him.

Keeper Jose and the Taronga team

aren't the only ones who love this suave sea lion.

Good job.

During his 18-month stay in Coffs Harbour,

keeper Stacy has also formed a very close bond with Moby.

Since he's been at the sanctuary,

he's had three different girlfriends,

Adelaide, Athena and Mary.

Seems Stacy's not the only one to take a shine to Moby.

Boy.

So, we're crossing all of our fingers, toes, and flippers

that Moby has left us with a few pups.

Now, that he's returned to Taronga,

keeper Stacy will have to say her goodbyes.

It's bittersweet to see him go.

Hey, Mo.

The staff at the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary

really just fell in love with Moby's personality.

He's a real goofball.

I see a nosey nose.

Good boy.

And over the last year and a half,

he's become a really special part of my heart.

Good boy.

So, I'm gonna be so heartbroken to say goodbye.

But Stacy won't be leaving empty-handed.

I'm gonna miss you.

After all, this is a sea lion swap,

which means it's time

for another big boy, Storm, to leave.

Alright. You ready?

That's a yes.

He's like, "Yes. I am".

"Yes, I am ready".

Well, that's if they can get him into his travel crate.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Good boy.

Don't...

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Up at the gorilla habitat,

keeper Bec and conservation student Stefi

are monitoring two young males,

Mwamba and MJ,

as they try to intimidate a female, Johari.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Oh, my god!

Gorillas assert themselves

through a behaviour we call posturing.

That really stiff body language, they might fluff themselves,

showing dominance.

Johari's coughing in response, so she's moving up and down.

So, that's that, "Hey, like, leave me alone" behaviour.

The low ranked Johari won't retaliate,

and the head of the troop, silverback Kibali,

is inside the den,

unaware the young males are misbehaving.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

If Johari moves away while those boys are standing around

her doing that, it's really, really reinforcing.

It's like, "Hey, you know, we've got what we want.

"We're more dominant. We're stronger. We're intimidating."

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Johari is sitting there.

She's not reacting too much.

It's a stalemate.

As the headstrong boys finally retreat,

female Johari takes the opportunity to do the same.

She's moving away from those boys.

I think she was waiting for MJ to kind of leave her alone.

But when Johari eventually settles on the other side of the habitat...

Johari's sitting back just eating.

..you know who makes another appearance.

Here comes MJ doing these displays to intimidate Johari.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

Another female, Mbeli, now emerges from the cave.

She is also paying close attention

to her son's unwelcome displays of dominance.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

MJ's beating his chest again.

It's this sort of behaviour with the females

and those young boys that Kibali doesn't particularly like.

And right on cue...

(INTENSE MUSIC)

So, Kibali has now come out.

..the 200kg silverback returns.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

If he feels challenged

or his females are getting challenged,

Kibali will intervene. That is his role.

He will step in and discipline those boys.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) (BOAT HOOTS)

It's bright and early

around Sydney Harbour,

and a donated shipment of old tyres and fenders

is being transported from Garden Island Naval Base

to Taronga Zoo.

A fender is those big floating devices that you see

that protect the boats from each other or the wharf.

This retired naval equipment is destined for a second life

to entertain Taronga's two Asian elephants.

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

It's awesome to provide them something like this

because it's novel, so it's different.

And when something is different,

especially when it's something like this...

Alrighty.

..animals gonna respond to it differently.

An elephant's gonna use his head to push into that item.

It's a natural behaviour,

and this is one way we can see that expressed.

And keeper Koray

is pretty stoked the elephants are about to try out

some brand new toys.

Nice.

You good? Yeah.

Elephants are very intelligent animals,

so, we have to always think of different ways

to kinda keep them engaged.

Where are they going?

So, Johnny, do we want one at the front there

and then one here?

Yeah, I reckon one here, one on the apron.

We're expecting these elephants to smash them about,

chase them up and down the hills,

stomp on them, squash them,

do the best they can to try and pop them.

Quite often, elephants are generally

the largest thing in their environment.

So, any large sort of thing that you put in there,

they get very engaged with

because suddenly it's like, "What's going on here?"

Pak Boon loves to smash things.

Tang Mo, which is a bit more dainty when it comes to that sort of thing.

Dainty?

Not a word you'd normally associate with a couple of Asian elephants.

Oh, get it, Boons.

Whoo! Get it, Boony.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC) Go. Go. Yes!

First thing they go to that. Mate!

(LAUGHTER)

Yeah. Yeah. See that?

The hope is that they last a while before they destroy them.

(CHUCKLES)

But they're 4 tonne. Right, Koray?

Yeah. Pak Boon is 3,900. Tang Mo is 3,700.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

The behaviours we're seeing today are quite varied,

and that is a good thing.

You see the elephants coming with their head

and pushing down with things,

which, um, I'm led to believe from other elephant experts

is a very, very cathartic thing for these individuals to do.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

Oh, hello. (LAUGHS)

I guess it really impressed them. Yeah. Yeah.

Get it moving.

You can even see, like, the way they're thinking about it.

"How what if I do this? What if I do that?"

(LAUGHTER)

This is amazing.

They're kicking it.

They're both into it too. This is awesome.

You'll see that the elephants are also manoeuvring their body,

and they're pressing down on these fenders.

They're actually so playful with it.

Oh, it's gonna pop. Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

You're essentially seeing them do elephant yoga

with these things,

and then it gets them to activate all different types of their body.

Yeah.

She's like, "I'm gonna test the limits here."

I'm so scared she's gonna go bang. (LAUGHS)

I mean, even if that happens, I...

It's just the joy that that's brought them.

It's worthwhile to me

but I'm-I'm really hoping it lasts longer.

It's a good massage as well.

(ELEPHANT SQUEAKS)

You can hear her squeaking? Yeah.

What does the squeaking mean, Koray?

So, that's just Pak Boon communicating.

She's really excited.

When she gets worked up,

she lets out these little squeaks in particular.

Tang Mo is a much more of a trumpeter.

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

Oh! Yes!

Made my whole day. Oh!

Today has been very much a high point in my career

for the elephants as well.

She's having a blast. Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

See the girls happy, excited,

being all vocal, being amazing in that way,

just displaying all these different natural behaviours.

At the end of the day,

like, we're doing it all for the animals,

so, I'm really happy that we're able to, uh,

yeah, to make this happen.

(CHUCKLES)

One of those days that just gets you a good feeling.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

Down at the marine habitat...

Alright, Storm.

..keeper Jose is preparing sea lion Storm

for a six-hour road trip

to the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary

on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

You ready, buddy? Let's go.

Storm is part of the breeding program.

We had our Australian sea lion male,

Moby, go up for-for breeding up to Coffs Harbour,

and Storm has come down to us.

Storm has spent a very busy 18 months at Taronga

doing his duty and hanging with the lady lions.

And now, he's heading home,

courtesy of his chauffeur and biggest fan, Tiga.

Ready to meet your oldest friend?

(SEA LION BARKS)

About six years ago, I watched him be born.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

It's been hard not seeing him for the last 18 months.

I really missed him,

but I'm so excited to see him today

and see how much he's grown and developed.

Oh! (CHUCKLES)

Oh, you're so handsome, Storm!

(LAUGHS)

Oh, my goodness! (SOBS)

I said I wouldn't cry.

(LAUGHS)

Oh, Storm! You're a big boy!

Do you remember me?

Oh... Yeah. Yeah. Give him a pat.

..buddy. Jump in.

Good job.

Oh, look at him. He's a real man. Yeah.

You've grown up to be a big boy.

All the ladies are gonna love you now.

(LAUGHS) They- they got a lot to grab onto.

Yeah. (LAUGHTER)

Well, even the colour changed, really.

All the grey to the brown as well.

Yep, Oh, you've done all this work...

Ah. ..I have to hug you.

(LAUGHS) Oh, no worries.

But Storm won't be going anywhere

unless he agrees to enter the travel crate.

Hold it. Yep. We'll leave it there.

So, this is pretty much the most important thing

Storm's going to be doing, um, the next couple of days.

So, making sure that Storm's comfortable in the crate.

Making sure that he really wants to go into the crate.

Is this lock open?

Just hang on there, Storm, for a second.

(CHUCKLES)

Yeah.

Well, he is hoping the team

can figure out the whole complicated door thingy first.

Gently. Yes. Yeah.

Yep. Big, single movement.

Oh! Never doubted you.

Nice. Alright.

So, two reps of him going in. .. Yep.

..and I'll just pay him in there, get him to hold.

I'll probably come around the front, make sure he stays.

Good job. Come back out, pull him out.

I'll send you back to the pool, um, and then we'll do that...

Yep. ..hold it up.

You just tell... Make sure it works well.

..us when. Cool.

Good boy. (CHUCKLES)

You ready? (WATER SPLASHES)

Yes. That's a yes.

(CHUCKLES) He's like, "Yes. I am."

"Yes. I am ready."

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Hey, big man.

Box.

Good boy.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

It smells like Moby. Storm!

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Oh, careful of your head.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Good boy.

Excellent.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

He's very brave. Do you wanna try it again?

Yeah. Alright. Ready? Go.

Box.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC) Mmm.

Maybe he's not quite ready to leave just yet.

That's MJ.

Simmering tension...

Kibali's out there too.

..becomes guerrilla warfare.

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

Things are heating up inside Taronga's gorilla habitat.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

Primate keeper Bec and conservation student Stefi

are monitoring the headstrong young male MJ

as he continues to intimidate the female gorillas

while the silverback Kibali isn't watching.

Kibali's come out.

If his females are getting challenged,

Kibali will intervene,

and he will discipline those boys.

In that silverback role, he's always gotta be on his toes,

making sure that, you know, everyone's in check.

He knows what's happening in the environment.

He's in control of everything.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

MJ's beating his chest again.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

As MJ moves closer to the females...

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

..it's on.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

Silverback Kibali is quick to intervene.

This is his role, though. He has to mediate this.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Kibali has done his job.

But while this scuffle was resolved quickly enough,

MJ's behaviour continues to test the silverback's patience.

Kibali's relationship with the boys

is in a transitional phase at the moment.

Some days, they'll play,

and then other days, it's purely, like, discipline.

As they get older, that wrestling and testing,

that is a huge amount of stress for the silverback.

That's the whole reason for the study,

to track these behaviours that we are seeing,

so, we can make a really informed response

when it's time for those boys to leave.

And it's that question conservation student Stefi

will be hoping to answer next.

Here in the results, you can see incidents divided into, like...

Mm-hm.

..positive and negative behaviours.

Do all the boys stay, or will some of them have to leave?

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Meanwhile, in the marine habitat...

Alright. Ready? Go.

..it would be a stretch to say that Australian sea lion Storm

is loving his crate training session.

All the way in. Storm.

There is a bit of pressure

to make sure that Storm gets into this crate.

Good boy.

Until he feels comfortable entering the crate,

he can't be transported back to his home

in Coffs Harbour.

Do you want to try it again? Box.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Yeah. Good boy.

So, Storm, probably a little bit less motivated than,

um, we were expecting.

(SEA LION CLICKS) Good boy.

He's thinking a little too hard about it,

whereas normally we would expect him just to jump straight in.

So, an extra hurdle.

Alright. You wanna try it again?

Box.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

Good boy.

Now, I just want to apologise before I say this next line.

Crate job, Storm. Crate job.

Alright. The main part is that he got in.

Oh, oh, oh, good boy.

And, hopefully, that's exactly

what's gonna happen tomorrow morning.

Straight.

But it all comes down to his motivation

and-and how he's feeling at the time,

so, we're hoping for the best.

And as another spectacular sunrise breaks over Sydney...

I think they're about 5 away.

..a large storm is about to hit Coffs Harbour.

I'm hoping Storm thinks it's just another normal morning.

Yeah.

And we just happen to be here a little bit earlier.

(CHUCKLES)

Hey, Storm. You ready?

Just another day.

Not quite. It should be Storm's final farewell.

Even the Taronga marine team

have all come in to say their goodbyes.

Hopefully, he's thinking more exciting

rather than anything to be concerned about.

Well... Good boy.

..here's hoping it goes better than yesterday.

Same as yesterday.

Here. Yeah. Good boy. Here.

And, of course, like you'd expect from any headstrong sea lion,

today, Storm decides to, well, storm it in...

It was always gonna work...

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

..which means he's going home.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Storm, since arriving 18 months ago,

he's basically been the one seal

that I've worked with from start to now, really.

I've really developed a strong bond with Storm.

He has been an amazing animal.

Yeah, we're going on another big adventure.

Loves cuddles, very, very easy to work with.

Yeah. So, obviously, saying goodbye.

I'm gonna be shedding a tear or three.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Yeah. It's-it's hard.

I'm gonna miss him.

Oh, we're gonna look after him.

(CHUCKLES) Thank you.

You can come see him anytime. (CHUCKLES)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(SEA LION SQUEALS)

You can visit him. I know.

(SOMBRE MUSIC) See you soon.

(LAUGHS)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

We'll look after him.

There's just a lot of emotion,

but, um, couldn't have asked for a better transfer

because Moby and Storm have done amazing work

for the Australian sea lion breeding program.

Alright. See you, guys.

We've helped the species

by helping with the genetic diversity

and- and at the same time,

um, trying to get more of these guys out there.

Everyone is happy, although emotional.

We're always gonna be sad every time

one of our...one of our individuals leave.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Next...

It's finally time to decide...

That's a really big sign.

..if MJ will be leaving Taronga.

The data that we've got suggests that...

For several months now,

conservation student Stefi

has been studying the behaviour of Taronga's gorilla troop,

paying close attention to how aggressive the young males,

Mwamba, Fabumi and MJ are becoming.

That's MJ. Kibali's out there too.

I started focusing on the three young boys,

looking for certain behaviours that may signal that

they would want to leave the group, or...

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

..if they're trying to push the boundaries

a little bit with Kibali.

The time has come to hear the results.

Stefi is actually doing a big presentation to our team

on what her findings have been.

So, we have more of an idea

of where we're sitting with those boys

and their behaviours.

Here in the results, you can see incidents divided into, like...

Mm-hm.

..positive and negative behaviours.

Can I just ask what you define as a negative interaction?

From Mwamba and Fabumi,

it was mostly active avoidance of others,

while MJ actually involved displacement...

Mm-hm.

..and threatening posture towards another individual.

MJ's displacement is when he takes himself away

from the rest of the gorilla troop.

Majority of the positive interactions

are observed between the adolescents and the free females,

which is about 37% of all the positive interactions.

But it's the negative interactions

that will help decide whether any of the boys,

yes, MJ, I'm looking at you,

are destined to leave Taronga sooner rather than later.

MJ loves to tease Johari

because he does get a rise out of her,

but the type of annoyances always goes away quickly.

It's not damaging to their relationship at all.

Stefi's research shows

that while MJ had a few negative interactions with Johari...

(GORILLAS GRUNT)

..he clashed far more frequently with his dad, Kibali,

clocking up 13 negative interactions.

That's pretty high.

Signs that we're seeing at the moment

is that MJ is spending a lot of time distancing himself from the troop.

He doesn't want to be around Kibali that much.

When those boys really start separating themselves

from that group naturally

and they want to be further away from them,

that's a really big sign that, you know, they're ready to-to go.

While MJ is clearly showing more independence,

is Kibali displaying any signs

that he's actually feeling threatened

by MJ's behaviour?

The negative interactions were just around, like, 8%.

Kibali is seriously exerting his dominance over MJ,

only 8% of all the times that they interact.

So, overall, the data that we've got

suggests that the negative interactions are low.

Yeah. Yeah.

It is interesting.

There's nothing obvious from Kibali

that would indicate to us that we're in a situation

where we would need to plan immediately...

Yeah.

..for the removal of MJ or any of them.

Yeah. Seems Kibali is doing his job.

He's controlling the boys without too much aggression.

This is really helpful.

It's a baseline for us to. .. Yeah.

. .continue this as well.

And it just helps us progress...

Yeah. . .as this progresses...

Yeah. ..as well.

Yeah.

So, all in all, what we have is a large family

with that one slightly annoying,

slightly moody kid

that basically likes to pester everyone else.

(GORILLA THUMPS)

Sounds pretty normal, really.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

We've got about a year to two years up our sleeve

before we have to make any big decisions, I think.

But, yeah, the-the boys are safe for now.

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