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...

(UPLIFTING 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...

Their talons can just pop straight through skin like butter.

This eagle has landed.

There's a big swelling here.

Now, the race is on...

He's on a knife edge.

..to see if this majestic bird will ever fly again.

We may have to make a really difficult decision.

All aboard... (MONKEYS COO)

It's really, really special.

..destination, Spider Monkey Island.

Not many people can do this.

Whoo!

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

And...

Incoming.

(CALF THUMPS)

Now, that's what you call making an entrance.

When the calves are born,

it's about a 2m drop to the ground to the start of their life.

(THEME MUSIC)

There isn't a day goes by that Taronga's two wildlife hospitals

don't have some kind of weird...

The hook is halfway down the animal's neck.

..wonderful...

Upper left canine's got a fracture.

..or wild patient admitted through their doors.

Bit of a wriggler.

And today in Sydney, they really don't come much wilder.

We have a white-bellied sea-eagle who was found by a member

of the public with a drooping wing.

It was found about six weeks ago now.

The eagle was being treated at another vet hospital

before coming to Taronga for specialist care.

They found the fracture and unfortunately by that stage,

there had been some healing of the wing

and it was a bit late for surgery.

The bone fracture had already started setting at an unusual angle.

So, the big question is, will this sea eagle

be able to fly again and return to the wild?

Today, we're gonna reassess the fracture and assess

whether we think with the degree of healing

it's likely that he will be able to fly.

Alright, let's just go down and catch it and see.

I'm just going to peek and see.

So, he is holding his left wing a little bit unusually,

that's his injured wing.

Transporting a bird of prey like this to the treatment room

for some X-rays does come with certain challenges.

I'm not gonna worry about anything else,

um, except for the feet.

The beak is nasty but I can handle a bite from the beak.

It's the feet I don't want on me. (CHUCKLES)

When they do clamp down on you, the strength is phenomenal.

Their talons can just pop straight through skin like butter.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

We're gonna need to probably close the door.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Alright.

Alright, alright, alright, sweetie.

OK. Let's go, little snappy.

Alright. Oh, yeah. My darling. OK. Wing.

You're happy with how the wings are? Alright. Yep.

I'll support this and carry this.

We'll go this way.

Yes. Just here.

Without a healthy wing that can handle the aerial manoeuvres

required for hunting prey,

it's unlikely this bird can survive in the wild.

Today's assessment will help determine

what its future is.

Just keep his little nostrils covered

so that he breathes in the gas.

It's really important with birds that their bones heal

almost perfectly so that they're then able to fly.

Nice and asleep.

OK. 138...98%.

Based on this eagle's injuries,

the chances of us finding that the fracture's

healed well enough for release to the wild are quite slim.

In the worst-case scenario,

if we find that the bird is unlikely to fly,

we may have to make a really difficult decision.

We would be looking at euthanasia.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

It's a beautiful spring morning on Sydney Harbour.

And as Taronga's residents wake and welcome the day...

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

..Taronga driver Paul is already up, up and away.

I work as a truck driver for the backyard crew

here at Taronga Zoo.

It's a very diverse job.

There's no two days the same.

Every day offers something a little different,

and today is, well, no different.

Priority is supplying,

you know, in excess of probably

2,500 different animals food every day.

Whether you're a senior vet here or a truck driver

or whatever role you are here, we all work for one mission.

The animals are our number one,

and we all have a great passion for them.

This morning, we're heading out

to the markets across the Harbour Bridge.

In a new world full of fast food delivery,

Paul's mission today is to collect

one of the strangest drive-through orders

from the Sydney fruit markets.

How are you, my friend?

Good, brother. How are you?

I've come back to pick out the pineapple tops.

Yeah. All good to go.

All good? Yep.

I will take the pallets off first.

Yep. Yep. Thanks, mate.

My job is to pick up four pallets of what we call pineapple tops,

which is considered as a bit of a delicacy for our elephants.

While these pineapple offcuts might sit well on these pallets,

they don't sit too well on the palate,

if you know what I mean, unless, of course,

you're a 2-tonne elephant with a sweet tooth.

Whoo-hoo. Thank you, my friend.

See you next week, brother.

Me and the elephants will appreciate that.

We'll see you next week, OK? Yes.

See you next week, Brother.

Meanwhile, back at Taronga...

Alright. So, some nice big chunks for Daiyu.

Keepers Bec and Molly are also preparing to pander to some smaller,

but no less hungry residents,

red panda cubs, Khyana and Keisho.

So, we'll just be weighing Khyana today?

Yeah. Yeah.

And then we can slot it into our graphs.

But little do these cubs know...

Prep some breakfast.

..this mealtime is going to come with some rather

unexpected activities.

Cubbies, station. Let's go, cubbies.

When spring is sprung,

it's not just the season for flowers.

It's also baby time, and I do mean baby time.

Hi.

And while the keepers at Taronga's Western Plains Zoo

let their newest additions get to know their mums...

Hey, Mum. Just a quick peek.

..there are still plenty of these little bundles of joy

that require that extra special attention.

Definitely the highlight of my job

is getting to be able to come on the island

with these black-handed spider monkeys.

Hi, everyone.

We've got 15 spider monkeys on the island right now.

You guys are desperate for attention, hey?

(LAUGHTER)

Stop. We have four baby spider monkeys.

So, yeah, big baby boom happening.

Oh, my god. (CHUCKLES) She's doing it.

Right now, we're just playing with the two-year-olds.

We have four two-year-old females right now.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

And we're just building rapport with them.

So, their mums actually are very happy letting us play with them.

It kinda gives them a break.

While it is called playtime, this important interaction

is actually all about building trust

and it began when these babies were close to one year old.

We're able to play with all the two-year-olds very well.

They're very keen to do it.

Hi, baby. How's it going? How's it going?

You can even see some of the older young ones also still,

like, playing with us as well.

So, they get quite playful up until a certain age.

(SPIDER MONKEY SQUEAKS)

So, I've been here for about half of the baby's life.

But when I came in, these guys were still very much on mum's back.

But since I've been here,

they've just gotten more and more playful.

You can see that they're very happy to-to take...get away

from mum now and be on their own.

The two oldest are even now being able to go across on the ropes

that have joined the island.

So, that's really exciting.

The very first time that we see them get big enough

that they can take themselves over without having to be with mum.

The spider monkey babies, their favourite game

is probably mostly climbing you.

We do try and discourage this as they get a bit older.

As babies, we kinda let them get away with it a little bit more.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Surfing. Whee!

But, yeah, swinging them, when we do play with them,

we don't like to hold their tail or their hands.

We kinda let them have the choice to wrap it around us,

and then we swing them with our palms open.

OK, I'm getting dizzy. (CHUCKLES)

(SPIDER MONKEY SQUEAKS)

It's really, really special to be able to spend time

with these critically endangered animals.

Not many people can do this. Stop biting her tail.

So rough.

It hurts.

It's definitely a highlight of my day every day

to get to play with these guys.

While these spider monkey mums

are clearly happy to leave the child minding to the keepers...

Touch.

..across the zoo, there are some other mums

that aren't quite so keen.

Pouch checking a quokka is pretty tricky.

If I do it wrong,

our quokkas are known for throwing their joeys

out of the pouch and abandoning them.

(DRUMBEATS)

Our elephants eat these pineapple tops a lot.

We feed the elephants about eight times a day here.

Have you ever wondered

what an elephant's favourite meal is?

This is the best part you wanna see as a keeper.

And...

X-ray.

..all hands on deck.

The radius is a bit displaced.

..to try and save this eagle's life.

I don't want him to be in pain.

In Sydney,

driver Paul is still heading back to Taronga

with a truck stacked full of elephant treats.

You see the elephants eating the pineapple tops,

it's almost like a-a kid eating an ice cream.

So, the elephants, you know, certainly-certainly enjoy that.

And while they're going to have to wait just a little bit longer,

breakfast has arrived for Taronga's red panda family.

Come in! Good morning.

So, first thing, we're gonna ask both cubs and Daiyu,

who's mum, to come down to a particular station.

So, we've got Daiyu here, which is mum.

So, normally, she's second to come down,

so she's made it a little bit different this morning.

What I might do is just give her one piece to say thank you for coming.

And then I'm gonna ask...Keisho down here.

Keisho, come on, buddy. You're late. (LAUGHS)

Good morning.

Keisho and Khyana don't know it yet.

Just gonna move some of this bamboo, lovely lady.

But there is an ulterior motive for today's fruity feast,

though we'll need a bit of background first.

Red pandas, you would find in our Himalayan regions,

so Nepal, even like India.

Out in the wild, they're actually listed as endangered.

They could be anywhere as little as 10,000 of them left in the wild,

which is pretty scary.

Every red panda that's born is pretty much a little miracle.

Wanna show us your tummies? Ready? Up nice and high.

Good job, guys.

Red panda breeding,

there's pretty much one day of the year

that our female is receptive to the male

and is actually in oestrus and ovulates.

That means an adult female

can only get pregnant one day in the entire year,

which is why this brother and sister team are so special.

Taronga are actually part of a global red panda breeding program,

so it'll be really cool to see

these guys go up and participate in that breeding program

and do all of the important jobs for those wild populations.

Keisho and Khyana could be transferred to another zoo

at any time to do that important job

with two other red pandas.

I'll hold Keisho here if you want to, Molly,

take Khyana over for her weighing this morning.

Good.

But first, they'll need to pass a series of tests,

and it's study time.

Good.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Over at the Wildlife Hospital,

vet Adelaide has sedated a wild white-bellied sea-eagle

that was brought in after being found unable to fly.

He's intubated.

The large bird of prey has a fractured wing,

but no-one knows how it happened.

Today's assessment will help to determine

what its future is,

whether it will potentially be released

if the fracture's healed extremely well,

or whether it's more likely to stay in care.

But if he can't fly even a short distance,

the zoo won't be able to continue caring for the eagle.

I'm having a feel at the moment of the injured wing.

The fracture is quite close to the elbow.

I can feel where a fracture callus has formed.

It is quite a big fracture callus.

Mm-hm.

A callus is where the bone thickens around the break

to try and stabilise the fracture.

There is a little bit of crepitus.

Crepitus is where you can feel almost like a crackling sensation

where those bone ends haven't met perfectly,

which may just be if the fracture ends haven't completely healed yet.

We'll see what it looks like on the X-rays.

We'll now take an X-ray of the damaged wing.

X-ray.

And we'll see how well it's healing, if it's affecting the elbow at all.

So, this is our-our normal wing, our-our undamaged wing,

and on the other wing, that's where we have the fracture.

There's a fragment that looks like it's

not even within the fracture callus, which is a worry.

We can see on our X-rays that the bone ends

haven't healed together perfectly and that will likely impact flight.

I think the chances of him flying well are fairly slim

just because it has healed-healed quite poorly.

Based on the X-rays, this bird is definitely not appropriate

for release to the wild.

(TENSE MUSIC) (SOMBRE MUSIC)

Well, shame.

Shame.

Shame.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

We need that fracture to have healed well enough

for his flight to be appropriate.

While options are running out for this eagle,

no-one wants to give up on him yet.

So, vet Adelaide asks senior vet Kimberly for a second opinion.

So, this piece that's been broken off is a bit mobile.

Whether that will come good or not, it's hard to say.

What do you think, Adelaide?

Should we give it some more time to see?

I'm happy to explore those chances

and then we can be 100% sure that he can't fly.

For now, the majestic bird lives to fight and hopefully,

fly another day.

But we need to be realistic that this bird

may not come back to flight.

Yeah. (SOMBRE MUSIC)

Mm-hm. OK.

(TENSE MUSIC)

At Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo,

keeper Lou is bringing flowers

to a couple of somewhat nervous new mums.

Come on, girlies.

There we are. Hi.

You could say some Australian natives for some Australian natives.

Our quokkas over in Western Australia are cast as vulnerable.

And that's why these two little cuties

are so important.

Hi. Ms Djinda.

This is Djinda. This is one of our female quokkas.

She's actually got a special little secret for us today.

She has a little joey in the pouch.

Now, over here, we have Murruwa who has come to join us,

and Murruwa actually also has a little joey

in her pouch as well.

Quokkas carry their joeys

deep in the pouch for around eight months.

Can we see our baby?

And while keeper Lou needs to keep track of each of them,

it's easier said than done.

Pouch checking a quokka is pretty tricky.

It's a vulnerable position for our mums to be in.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

If I do it wrong, our quokkas are known for throwing their joeys

out of the pouch and abandoning them.

Just gonna encourage this little bubba.

So, they need to fully trust

that I am not going to put them in a dangerous position.

Quokkas, as cute as they are,

will sacrifice their babies so the mum can escape a predator.

Touch. There we go. Good girl.

So, his head is on this side and his bum is on this side.

So, we've got one of his legs right there.

And then her hands are a bit cold.

And if mum does push its joey out too soon,

even in a calm setting like this,

it's unlikely to allow the baby back into the pouch.

I've been working on pouch checking with our quokkas

for approximately eight months or so.

So, we started very slowly in just getting them

comfortable with my presence.

Good job.

And just getting comfortable with me feeling their bodies

and being in their space.

Are we still drinking?

Whoa! Good girl.

Touch.

And then we slowly worked towards feeling their bellies

and then touching their pouches.

That is his tail. Good girl.

Once we start to see them popping out

and discovering the world

and learning new things every day...

Oh, my gosh, your baby! Your baby's so cute.

..it's, um, there's no greater feeling

being able to see that and know that we've done a good job.

And mums have trusted us enough

to watch their progress and watch their development

from inside the pouch.

While it looks like these two little joeys

will soon make their way out of the pouch

on their own terms, there are some baby animals at Taronga

that come into the world a little more...

(CALF THUMPS)

..abruptly.

At Taronga's two zoos, all the animals

are given every opportunity

to express their natural instincts...

(LAUGHS)

They're getting their faces right in there.

They're sticking their fingers in there.

..including one of the zoo's, quite surprisingly,

smartest species...

birds.

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

Hey, Uma.

Hey, little one.

So, this is Uma.

This is our Bush Stone-curlew.

Bush Stone-curlews are found in all states of Mainland Australia.

They're not found down in Tasmania.

You often will hear these birds before you see them.

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

They were often referred to as wailing woman bird

by some of the early colonialists that came.

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

Yeah, it would be quite disconcerting to hear

that for the first time.

(LAUGHS)

While singing does come easy for Bush Stone-curlews,

that's not all they're good at.

Hi.

Birds like Uma are some of the world's most intelligent animals,

and they thrive best when given plenty of mental stimulation.

This morning, we are going to do some training with her,

acclimatising to transportation boxes,

and hopefully, have her in our free flight presentation.

Taronga's free flight section is just another way the zoo

caters to its animals' natural behaviours,

giving its birds like Uma the chance to interact with the world.

That's if keeper Chris can get her there.

You know what they say about never teaching an old dog new tricks

is completely flipped on its head.

This bird, she's very quick to pick everything up

that we seem to be asking her, which is really quite cool.

So, here, what I'm doing is asking Uma to leave the box

and saying thank you and coming back to the box.

Perfect.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

Perfect.

The free flight section

doesn't just cater to feathered residents like Uma,

it's also where a wildlife rescue like the injured sea-eagle

might find a new home if it's strong enough.

The fracture is quite close to the elbow.

11 weeks ago, the vet team had little hope

the bird could be released or even fly again.

That's where we have the fracture.

But they wanted to give it every chance.

Give it some more time to see.

And now, with so much time past for the wing to heal,

it'll be vet Gabi assessing the eagle's progress.

We'll just put some lignocaine on his glottis.

So, then we'll intubate it. Great.

It's been in our rehabilitation facility

for a few weeks.

I'll just get up the old radiographs.

Mm-hm.

We're just trying to see today how well it's healing.

If Taronga's team of vets believes the sea-eagle

could fly even short distances,

then it may have a home in the free flight section.

His elbow feels thickened,

but it's got good flexion and extension.

Oh, I just felt something then on the way back.

Yeah.

There's a big swelling on the outside here.

Alright, let's get some radiographs. OK.

Three, two, one. Yeah.

These new X-rays will reveal how well the fracture has healed

and whether to continue the bird's rehabilitation.

He's on a knife edge. X-ray.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Everyone's really rooting for him to do well.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

The thought that we may have to euthanise him today,

no-one wants that.

It's awful.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

(LIVELY MUSIC)

When breakfast is over,

you'll find most of Taronga's residents

chilling in the warm springtime sun.

I think she's living her best life today.

But not all.

There is one certain species with a rather large belly to fill.

And to fill that belly, it takes a rather large delivery.

So, we feed the elephants about eight times a day here.

This is their second feed of the day.

And for every second feed, they get pineapple tops.

These pineapple offcuts have travelled a long way

to get to Taronga,

and the final leg of that journey is now up to trainee keeper, Bailey.

So, these pineapple tops come from Far North Queensland,

so they're pretty much a byproduct of pineapples

that you buy in the supermarket.

So, those pineapples grow on top,

and this is the byproduct of the plant underneath.

And it's a great way to reduce the waste of these

from out the farms.

Hey, Bailey. What would you like me to do?

So, if you can hang up the hay nets. Yep.

I'll hang up the pineapples.

Alright. Perfect.

So, we're just gonna set them up now.

Our elephants here, they came from Thailand.

And over in Thailand,

they used to eat these pineapple tops a lot.

Just gonna pop one here. Gonna pop one.

So, we're pretty much doing that now

and keeping that tradition going for them.

And going and going and going for them

because Asian elephants eat

around 150kg of food every single day.

Because elephants are such an intellectual

and cognitive species,

it's really important for us to keep them enriched.

So, just by simply putting them in these hay nets,

it's just gonna make it that much harder for them

to really work and dig them out.

So, it's gonna really get them to stretch their trunks out,

using all those muscles pulling apart these pineapples.

To make it that little bit much harder for them,

we're gonna hang them up really nice and high.

Let's send them out. Let's do it.

It doesn't take Tang Mo and Pak Boon

too long to sniff out their giant goodie bags.

Here she goes.

That's it. (ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

This is the best part you wanna see as a keeper.

The animal is actually coming out and using the enrichment.

You can see the elephants.

It's such an effort for them to actually get those pineapple tops

out of the nets,

using their trunks to really stretch out and rip them apart.

So, just putting those pineapples in that nets,

while it might seem simple,

it makes such a difference for the elephants here.

Such a great way to see them challenged

and using their minds to really do different things.

Definitely means everything to me to be able to put in the work

and to set these things up,

bring in new ideas and think of new stuff,

and then to go out and execute it,

like, it's just such a buzz to see all your work come together.

And while the elephants enjoy the fruits of Bailey's labour...

Good job, guys.

..Taronga's red panda cubs have polished off their breakfast.

I'll hold Keisho here if you want to, Molly,

take Khyana over for her weighing this morning.

And are about to start some practice in preparation

for a very important call that could come at any time.

Alright.

Our red pandas are actually a part of our global breeding program.

Good.

If we do get that call up that they need to go and help out,

then we'll definitely have them as ready as they can be.

Now that Keisho and Khyana have both turned one,

they could be transferred to another zoo

to breed with another pair of red pandas,

which means they'll both need to be well practised

at assisting their keepers with some crucial health checks.

Very inquisitive, our pandas.

And we all know how easy that is with a one-year-old, right?

Were you wanting to work on some of Khyana's

ultrasound training this morning?

Yeah, I'll do a quick session.

Yep.

When she joins a breeding program,

female cub, Khyana, will be asked to present her belly

for an ultrasound to check on her pregnancy.

Anything new is always exciting.

Good girl. Our cubbies, they love to climb.

They love new things, as you can see.

So, introducing novel items like this,

which will then be used in their training is perfect timing.

Tug it.

While there's lots of focus on food,

the belly presentation, not so much.

So, while these sessions

are almost just like play for these guys,

it's good timing for us to introduce these behaviours

so that once they're older and we wanna do ultrasounds on her,

she'll be ready to go.

Good girl.

Well, Khyana, if eating was part of the training,

you'd pass with flying colours.

Not so sure about the ultrasound practice, though.

So, I'm just gonna measure Keisho's kind of nose

to the base of his tail length.

I put his food in there just so it has his nose down that way

so it gives me the full length of his spine.

I go right to the base of his tail, right to the tip of your nose.

Good boy. Stop.

You've grown 3cm since we did that last, mister.

Good job.

An adult red panda's body can grow up to around 63cm long.

So, little Keisho, hmmm...

..not so little Keisho, has almost reached his full size.

We've got the length and then we also work on the girth.

Beautiful. OK. There we go. And 39cm.

So, that's the same.

Awesome. That's the same.

So, that's telling us that he's kind of grown in length,

but hasn't put on any kind of extra fat deposits

or anything like that around those-those rib cage areas.

So, that's perfectly fine.

Well, Keisho's looking pretty trim.

So, that's a plus in his breeding book.

And what about Khyana?

So, it's really important when we're weighing to make sure

that tail is getting weighed too.

There's a lot of weight in that tail.

So, we have a nice little cue, touch,

just to let them know that we're touching them.

So, now we're looking at 3.82 which looks pretty good.

I think we got our weight.

So, I'm giving a nice big reward, and that's her done.

Even at just a year old, Khyana has almost reached her adult weight.

Come on, lady. Keisho. Come here, buddy. Come here.

Not surprising, considering how much she loves those treats.

You stay there.

So, with practice over, albeit with some admittedly mixed results,

just how did our dynamic panda duo do?

If at any point, we do get that call to say that they need to go

and help out with that breeding program,

we've got the diet down pat, that's for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

Alrighty, miss. I'm all out of treats.

Hey, girls. How you going?

Taronga's baby boom...

They come to say hello.

..is in full swing.

Giraffe calves rely on their mums for pretty much everything.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

At the Taronga Wildlife Hospital in Sydney,

a sea-eagle's future hangs in the balance.

We're going into this with,

you know, a degree of trepidation.

The bird's broken wing

hasn't healed well enough for the eagle to be released.

He's still very much a touch and go animal.

And 11 weeks into its treatment, the team are deciding

whether to continue what has been a very long rehabilitation.

X-ray.

If we find that he's got bits of bone

that are gonna cause problems in the future

or if he's ongoing discomfort,

we'll have to probably consider euthanasia.

(TENSE MUSIC)

No. No.

I don't think he's a goer.

(TENSE MUSIC)

There are some things that have improved

and there's some things that don't look great.

The actual fracture has healed, but he's got changes

that I think are not consistent with him living a comfortable life.

I'm worried that the bone is gonna rub on that bone.

There's also the risk that he'll develop arthritis in that elbow.

It's-it's... The fracture site's like...

Oh, yeah. Mm-hm.

..like that's just gonna. .. Yeah.

. .be rubbing on that.

Although the fracture has healed,

the deformed bone is close enough to the elbow

that it might cause more pain in the joint.

Have a feel of it.

I'm gonna have a feel of it. Yeah.

It's not clunky though, yeah?

No, no.

And while the X-rays are the vet team's

best tool to assess the fracture, they aren't conclusive.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

I think he's got really good extension,

and it feels pretty solid, except his wing droops.

There's an occasional clunk, which may be that radius.

Even though no-one wants to actually euthanise,

if...if...if you're faced with an animal

that's gonna have ongoing pain,

that's-that's no life and it's not...

It's poor welfare.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

It's now clear the wing will never heal properly.

Let's see, so it's been 11.5 weeks.

And a drooping wing is a sign the eagle might be in pain.

But you think if he was really. .. Yeah.

..really painful, he wouldn't be stretching that.

Mmm. It'd be like a flinch almost.

It'd be like a... Yeah, like that's-that's the thing.

Like it's just that he's showing other signs

that don't match the radiographs.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

The big fracture of the ulna is healed.

The radius is a bit displaced.

I think we should just give him another couple weeks,

maybe get him into the big aviary.

Yeah, and have him on pain relief.

A move to a larger aviary will encourage the eagle to use

its wing more regularly and will help the vet team assess

if it actually is in any pain.

He might be a good ambassador

and we can use him to educate people about sea-eagles

and birds in our area

if he could fly enough without it being a painful situation.

I'm conflicted. Yeah.

'Cause I want to give him that chance

but I also don't want him to be in pain.

No, of course.

I'm sure he'd like to be given a chance I think if we asked him.

(CHUCKLES)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Meanwhile, there's still plenty to celebrate

as Taronga's baby boom is in full swing.

(CHUCKLES) Stop.

And in Dubbo, some exciting news is spreading across the savannah.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

A couple of proud mamas have their keepers bursting with pride.

Hey, guys.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

We're super excited here in Taronga Western Plains Zoo,

Dubbo, that we've just welcomed the arrival of two brand

new giraffe calves into our herd.

Hey, girls. How are you going?

(SOFT MUSIC)

Hello.

Our three-week-old's name is Miguu, which means legs in Swahili.

He's very, very tall for a baby.

We were really fortunate enough to be able to see him be born.

His mother, Mvita, actually chose to give birth in our holding facility.

And Miguu made his grand entrance into the world

about 2:30 in the afternoon.

And mum delivered that 50kg bundle of fun...

(CALF THUMPS)

..with all the grace you'd expect from a 4.5m land mammal.

When the calves are born,

it's about 6ft or 2m drop to the ground to the start of their life,

which is quite abrupt, but it has been shown that

that is actually what kick starts their cardiovascular system

at the beginning of their life, which is super cool.

Hey, girls.

(LIVELY MUSIC)

Hello, Asmara. What are you doing?

Have you come to say hello?

The mother of our second calf is Asmara,

and her little one's only four days old

at the moment and is a girl.

Currently, she doesn't have a name, but we are working on it.

Good girl.

Giraffe calves aren't overly confident

when they enter the world.

They do rely on their mums for pretty much everything.

But it's not just their mums

who take care of these long limbed little ones.

We are lucky enough here in our herd

that we have a matriarch, Tuli.

She's 27 years old,

and she actually provides a professional babysitting service.

So, a lot of the times if the mums are taking a step back,

Tuli will step in.

And Tuli's services are set to be in high demand

because more big news has just dropped in Dubbo.

I'm super excited to say that overnight

we've just had another calf born into our herd

that now makes three calves in just four weeks,

which is super exciting.

Our newest calf has only just been standing now for about three hours,

so it's still very wobbly,

still realising how long its legs are.

And so, yeah, it will just continue to get more confident

as the weeks go on.

It's judgment day for this big bird.

Sometimes, it's hard as a vet

to make that decision to euthanise.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

One, two, three.

It's several weeks now since Uma, the Bush Stone-curlew,

has been training to leave her aviary.

I'm gonna try and open this door, see what she does.

So, she can take part in Taronga's free flight experience.

Hey, Uma. You ready for your big day?

Oh, too-too ready. Out she goes.

Today, we're gonna have Uma, the Bush Stone-curlew,

in our free flight birds presentation here at Taronga.

So, we're hoping that it all goes according to plan.

But of course, when working with animals,

you never really know what you're gonna get.

Alright. You ready?

Hey. You ready? Alright. Let's do it. Come on, Uma.

Uma. (BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

Taronga's free flight section

gives its birds an opportunity to fly and roam...

Welcome aboard, sir.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

..outside their own habitats.

And it gives visitors an opportunity to learn a little more

about these highly intelligent animals, including...

Drumroll please. (DRUMROLL)

Uma.

Uma?

Uma?

Oh, OK. I give up. Over to you, Chris.

Owls aren't the only birds

that are out hunting in your backyard.

In fact, one of Australia's lesser known predators

is hunting under cover of darkness.

Her name is Uma.

She's a Bush Stone-curlew, and though you might not always

get to see these birds, you are quite likely to hear them.

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

Often seen standing perfectly still

or even lying flat on the ground,

this bird used to be fairly widespread across Australia,

but unfortunately, their numbers have had a massive decline.

And with a perfect appearance as spectacular as it was brief...

Thank you, Uma. Thank you very much.

..this little curlew can call it a day.

Great job, Uma.

Well done, my friend. You did so good today.

Good work.

Oh, I'm so happy. Hey, she did really well.

But of course, that's the whole, you know, fun of this job.

Hey, we're-we're always balancing up where the reinforcement is,

what's she gonna do again, what's she not gonna do again,

so it's all really cool to watch and watch her grow.

While keeper Chris is clearly happy with Uma's progress...

That was perfect. Uma, you're a star.

(BUSH STONE-CURLEW CALLS)

..another bird's progress and future is about to be decided.

This rescued sea-eagle arrived at Taronga several months earlier...

(TENSE MUSIC)

..with a badly fractured wing...

So, he is holding his left wing a little bit unusually.

..with little chance of surviving in the wild.

I think the chance of him flying well are fairly slim.

The vet team decided to give it time to heal

with the hope for a new life at the zoo.

I think we should just give him another couple weeks,

maybe get him into the big aviary.

And now, the time has come for vet Kimberly to decide its fate.

Sometimes, it's hard as a vet to make that decision

to move forward with a case or to euthanise it.

And with a seagull, it's been...it's been a very hard one to decide.

(WHITE-BELLIED SEA-EAGLE SQUAWKS)

We know it's got problems in the wing,

but can it live a comfortable,

happy life as an ambassador for its species

as part of the collection in the free flight?

I've actually just gone down to look at the sea-eagle.

I wanted to assess it.

It looks really good down there. It's flying.

It doesn't seem bothered by it.

(WHITE-BELLIED SEA-EAGLE SQUAWKS)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

We're in this business because we care.

We care about the animals.

As soon as it's trained to go to the keeper's glove,

that'll be OK for our free flight presentation.

If the bird is coping and we can manage it,

if we can give it a good life here, I wanna try to do that.

(WHITE-BELLIED SEA-EAGLE SQUAWKS)

The vet team has done it.

After three long months,

this majestic sea-eagle can now finally call Taronga home.

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