Original subtitles

VIRGINIA GAY (NARRATES): Looking out across Taronga,

you can't help feeling time stands still.

What are you doing, my beautiful boy?

But that's about the only thing.

(GROANS)

Because here, there's always something happening.

(CHUCKLES) I love this.

So, as you join this latest Taronga adventure...

(SEA LION GROWLS) Everyone out. Everyone out.

..buckle up and try to keep up as the animals move in

and out of the zoo.

You're OK.

And the staff move mountains...

Oh! Roll her.

..to save species...

Hey. Here we go.

..and provide love and care.

So small.

Come with us...

Who's that there?

..as we discover exactly...

Mwah. ..who's who in this zoo.

(TIGER ROARS)

On this episode, Murphy's roar.

(SEA LION ROARS)

Vet Frances...

You are stopping him biting me.

..goes all in...

It's difficult to predict what's gonna happen.

..as this sea lion's life...

Can we get everyone out who doesn't need to be in here

at the moment?

..hangs in the balance.

(SEA LION ROARS)

Alright, get up.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

Tool time.

So, this is Sudi, one of our young males.

Teaching Taronga's chimps...

Lots of fingers.

..to keep their fingers out of their food...

We've changed the design to make it slightly more difficult.

..and back to the future.

What we're doing here is trying to create

what the atmosphere is gonna look like at about 2050.

The epic plan to save our national icon.

We really do need to find a solution.

(THEME MUSIC)

(SEA LION ROARS)

At Sydney's Taronga Zoo...

I'm just worried that

he's not ventilating very well the moment.

What happens if we pull that up?

(SEA LION GROWLS)

..this 240kg sea lion called Murphy is fighting for breath.

Can you stand on that possibly?

Yep.

The anaesthetic he's just received is doing its job

putting him to sleep,

but it's also shutting down his airway.

We need to get him intubated.

Vet Frances needs to insert a breathing tube.

I need somebody to hold that.

The entry to Murphy's airway is quite a long way back

and there's a lot of tissue to get past.

Straighter is good.

You are stopping him biting me by having that in place.

So, it makes it more difficult to get it in the right place.

Are you ready?

(SEA LION ROARS)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Good boy, Murph.

Earlier that day, Keeper Jake was preparing the sea lion

for this last ditch operation to save Murphy's sight.

Stay. Yes. (CHUCKLES)

That's 'cause you got your bad eye.

Murphy's currently struggling with an eye condition

in both of his eyes.

He's squinting, uncomfortable, and he's been a bit withdrawn.

So, Murphy's been my best friend for the last probably ten years.

In the wild, they usually live up to around 18 years old.

Murphy is now 22, so he is quite an aged animal.

(SEA LION ROARS)

But now we can see health concerns.

Good boy, Murph.

How's your eye looking today, bud?

See, it's quite cloudy.

Couple of spots on it.

Yeah. I just want him to be better.

Yeah.

I reckon he's only got probably 10 to 15% vision.

We try to avoid surgery at all costs,

but unfortunately it's gotten to a point now

where we have to intervene.

(TENSE MUSIC)

The surgery is risky, but the real danger

lies in keeping Murphy safely under anaesthetic.

There's a lot of possibilities of things

that can go wrong.

You can go up to the whole 4mm, but that's a lot of Flumazenil.

We know he's an older seal.

He's also big heavy male seal and that makes it difficult for him

to keep his airway open and stable during the anaesthetic.

And any compromise to Murphy's breathing

could be life-threatening.

So, in the event that he has a cardiac arrest

to get that chest compression, it's gonna be difficult.

We might need somebody sort of standing

behind his shoulders just to stop him sliding away.

It's difficult to predict what's gonna happen.

Alright, you got the ultrasound machine?

Yeah, I got it.

So, that means that we have to bring all of our veterinary equipment

to him rather than him coming to us.

If we're down there and there's an emergency,

we've gotta make sure we have everything ready to go.

Mobilisation box you've got, animal emergency bag,

Betsy got the drugs.

With an animal which has a high-risk category of anaesthesia,

you really have to make sure that you've got your wits about you

and that you're prepared for anything that may happen.

The stakes are very high.

I really hope this procedure goes well.

(CHUCKLES) Me too.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Every day, Taronga's keepers are ensuring the zoo's residents

have every opportunity to play and express themselves.

Very excited.

And there's one particular community that likes to turn their

playtime into serious tool time.

Creating a tool out of a branch is something that chimps

can instinctively do.

We've actually never taught our chimps to use tools,

but it's something that our chimps are very good at.

So, Keeper Holly has come up with a plan to put their tool

using talents to the test.

I wanna create something that our chimpanzees

can use their tools for,

but also work on extra cognitive skills.

A chimp uses its cognitive skills to solve problems,

using its memory, reasoning, and a little trial and error.

And that's where Taronga's DIY dream team come in.

Fred and John, they're our enrichment volunteers,

and they help us build different items.

Not just any items, tricky ones, like real professionals.

(LAUGHS)

Well, we've been called a lot of things.

(LAUGHS)

But I don't think we've ever been called professionals.

These relatively capable craftsmen

have already whipped up all sorts of clever contraptions.

Like the brushturkey-proof red panda feeder.

Those turkeys don't stand a chance

with getting those feeders off.

And who could forget the sea lion secret swinging fish dispenser.

I think you got all the fish out.

Thank you so much, guys.

So, what are these two geniuses cooking up this time?

Genie I. (LAUGHS)

Wow. You two are particular.

So, we come up with the idea of making a puzzle feeder

for the chimps.

OK. How does a puzzle feeder actually work?

Perspex front with holes so they can take their twigs,

their sticks, and manipulate the food

to holes in the shelves that will keep dropping down

to the collection point at the bottom.

So, there'll be about four levels down, so...

And they'll manipulate it along.

And when they get it to a hole in that level,

it'll drop down to the next level,

and then they'll have to manipulate it

so that it goes down level by level by level

till they get to the bottom.

Well, I guess they don't call it a puzzle feeder for nothing.

Right. OK. Rock and roll.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) (MACHINE WHIRRS)

Any sort of enrichment for chimps is challenging...

This is really annoying.

..simply because they are intelligent

and plus that they are so strong to go with it.

You're gonna smell out of this.

Anything you make has to be robust because they're...

If it's not, they'll destroy it within five minutes.

There's no point in just giving them the food to get bored.

They've got to work at it. They have to move it to the hole.

Make them use their brain more.

Yes.

It started off really well.

This is harder than I thought it was gonna be.

Back at the marine mammal section,

the vet team have arrived to perform major surgery

on sea lion Murphy's eyes.

(VEHICLE BEEPS)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

We can potentially get his attention from that side.

But first, they have to sedate him.

In and out. Yeah.

That in. Everyone out. Least stress on Murphy.

Only Murphy's most familiar faces will enter his habitat

to administer the anaesthetic.

With a high-risk anaesthesia, you really have to make sure

that you're prepared for anything that may happen.

(TENSE MUSIC)

And several minutes later...

(SEA LION GROWLS)

We need to get him intubated.

..the anaesthetic is taking effect, but Murphy is struggling to breathe.

Gosh. Where's the other rope? Sorry.

It's a dangerous, but not unexpected complication.

It would be so nice to...

Can you stand on that possibly?

Yep.

Vet Frances needs to slide her arm into this giant carnivore's throat

to insert a large breathing tube.

There's a lot of tissue, so it makes it more difficult

to get it in the right place.

(SEA LION GROWLS)

There's a bucket with longer ropes like the blue rope.

A longer rope. Longer rope.

What you can do is take that out.

Take the red one out. Put that one in like that. OK?

Just at that angle so I can get my hand past.

Are you alright, Kresen, if I put my hand in?

Just gonna get another rope on.

Yeah.

So, Jacob.

Yep. Right there.

Can I angle it like that? Got it?

Yeah. Are you ready?

Just relax.

Don't know why the tubes not sliding in.

The tube just doesn't want to slide in.

I don't know why this wouldn't.

Oh, going?

It's better. Yep.

Good look. OK. Just relax.

Relax his mouth.

With the tube in place, the team watch closely

for signs that Murphy is now able to breathe on his own.

Here you go.

There's a lot of slag back there.

Was that a breath?

Yeah. That is his own breath.

But it came out, like, moved the bag.

He just moved the bag then.

He is breathing, but his respiration is erratic.

And Vet Frances isn't confident he can do it alone.

So, they continue to assist him. Breathe.

What we are doing is taking over the regular breathing for Murphy,

squeezing the bag that delivers the oxygen,

basically breathing for him.

Breathe.

Now, all the team have to do is keep him breathing

while they move him into surgery.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

Nice and flat. OK.

Three, two, one. One!

(GRUNTS)

Let the stretcher down.

Everyone, spread out a bit.

Jacob, don't let your arms...

Alright, gonna pull...

OK. Grabbing.

So everyone's clear?

Oh, it's clear.

Liz, I'm not happy with his neck.

Like, it's right on his throat.

The edge of this right on his airway.

Still to come...

Keep coming.

..it's all hands on deck.

Take the stretcher away.

But while Murphy sleeps...

His breaths are not good enough. Do ten breaths. Do ten.

..Team Taronga are on high alert.

And... So, here we are.

..can this forest from the future...

We're increasing carbon dioxide by 150 parts per million.

..save Baxter the koala.

Morning, Baxter.

Every year, Taronga's 18 koalas munch their way

through over 18,000 eucalyptus trees.

It's a critical food supply.

Oh, Mum. Let's get you some food.

But something strange is happening to the eucalyptus.

Eucalyptus is changing all over the world,

and it's changing the nutrient composition of leaves.

And those changes have wildlife nutritionist,

Michelle, looking for answers.

Koalas are a concern for me because they eat a 100% eucalyptus.

So, we're providing them what we call browse,

which is the eucalyptus leaves.

How's the browse quality been, Rez?

It's been alright.

Not as much tip on it, but hopefully with spring coming up,

we'll have more new growth.

Mmm. They're hungry.

Yes. (BOTH LAUGHS)

What kind of behaviours do you see?

What are we looking for

if you're not feeling like they're satiated?

First thing in the morning when we feed them,

they will be quite active and moving around a lot.

We also notice that they'll go down onto the ground,

which is something that they don't usually do

because they're like, we're ready for breakfast.

Less nutritious leaves mean hungrier koalas

increasingly looking for more and more food.

That is a big concern for me

for any animal that is a browsing species,

any animal that predominantly eats leaves.

These changes in behaviour

are especially concerning given the koala

is already on the path to extinction in New South Wales

due to urban development, disease, and climate change.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Here we are.

So, Michelle has come to Cumberland Forest

in Western Sydney to understand exactly

why the climate is affecting the koala's food.

So, which one are we gonna go in?

That one? Yep. Ring 1. Yep.

It's the site of an epic experiment on an epic scale.

The whole area with the...with the cranes

and the rings is about 5 or 6 hectares.

OK.

Ben is one of the lead scientists carrying out this

potentially lifesaving study.

I'm an Associate Professor here at Western Sydney University.

My role is mostly an animal ecologist

and I'm interested in understanding

how the quality of leaves here changes

and what it means for animals like koalas.

Going up.

What we're doing here is trying to create

what the atmosphere is gonna look like at about 2050.

And that's where these giant rings come in.

They're pumping a whole new atmosphere

into this eucalyptus forest.

So, each one of these rings is a portal into the future?

Exactly. Yeah.

Oh, my goodness.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Back at Taronga,

enrichment volunteers Fred and John are on a mission.

There's no point in just giving them the food,

they get bored.

Finding new ways to test the problem

solving abilities of Taronga's 21 chimpanzees.

(CHIMPANZEE SCREAMS)

After a few false starts...

This is harder than I thought it was gonna be.

..they built their first ever finger proof,

chimp-friendly puzzle feeder.

Right. OK. Hopefully, it will work.

But there is one tiny step left,

and Keeper Holly's confident she's got it covered.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

We'll have to do that again.

Maybe we should have checked if it fits properly.

I thought it went on the front and then on the top and then down.

Just like that.

OK. It looks great.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

But let's see what the chimpanzees think of it.

So, they'll be able to sit on their side

and their stick hopefully will come through the hole

and then manipulate them down to the next level,

and then they'll be able to push their food down the levels,

and into the drop zone at the bottom there.

They have to think about

how to get the food out of the puzzle feeder,

but only using tools.

So, I'm really excited to see how this goes.

And right on cue.

So, this is Sudi, one of our young males,

come to check it out.

Hey, guys. This is fantastic.

So, the chimps are using it,

but they are doing it quite easily.

So, we've got lots of fingers.

Lots of fingers,

lots of interest, not a lot of tools.

So, Sule's just grabbed a bit of the browse.

Hoping that Sule's gonna use that. (CHUCKLES)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

So, at the moment,

they're able to use a tool and their finger,

they're doing it quite easily.

So, I'm thinking that if we can make those holes smaller,

it will encourage more tool use to make it

just a little bit more challenging for them.

So, version one of the finger proof

chimp-friendly puzzle feeder isn't quite so finger proof.

Oh, boy, have to take it apart again.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board boys.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

The edge of this right on his airway.

OK.

At Taronga's Marine Mammal section, Murphy is being moved

from his habitat to a makeshift

operating theatre for urgent eye surgery.

Yeah. That's good? OK. That's better.

But this rather large sea lion isn't making the job easy.

Left is gonna face that way.

Keep coming.

You can just rest it on there.

If we just bring him up to here. Yeah, more forward.

Take the stretcher away.

OK. Let's move that out.

He's breathing.

His breaths are not good enough.

It's really important that he keeps breathing adequately,

that he gets good air exchange,

and we're still unhappy with his breathing.

Do ten breaths. Do ten.

We don't want him to end up in a position

where he can't get air in properly,

so we're going to keep assisting him manually.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

That was him, yeah.

With Murphy's erratic breathing stabilising...

Can we put the cuff on?

Just it's really hard to get the cuff on here.

I wanna put the cuff on this side.

..the vet team begin preparations to insert an IV line.

If we have his head about here, is that OK?

It's not easy to find a vein on a sea lion.

Right there. His-his fat folds as well.

Yeah, true.

So, rubber gloves filled with warm water

are used to help draw the vein to the surface of Murphy's flipper.

Pretty good one, isn't it?

Just there.

18 gauge, yeah.

And while the IV is being inserted...

Yeah.

I'll just scrape him and then I'll take a...

..visiting Eye Specialist Will begins the delicate procedure

on both of Murphy's eyes.

Can I get a towel and then some cotton buds, please?

We're gonna do something called a diamond burr debridement.

So, part of this condition is they get a very unhealthy surface

of their eye and we're going to use a Dremel tool

encrusted in diamond to try and strip off

all of that unhealthy tissue.

Also, we're gonna place small implants in his eyes

to try and settle down the inflammation.

Can I get some alkane on his eye, please?

It doesn't sound great, but this surgery is Murphy's best

and perhaps last hope.

Unfortunately, there is a risk he could lose his eyes

if this procedure doesn't go well.

And some adrenaline, please?

Very unhealthy cornea.

Hello, handsome.

Of all the animals across Taronga's two zoos...

Alright. Happy?

..the fussiest eater by far...

Hungry, buddy?

..is our eucalyptus loving national treasure, the koala.

There's about 800, 900 species of eucalyptus.

Koalas across Australia are known to eat about 30 to 50 of those.

But of 30 to 50,

they're really gonna prioritise 5 to 10.

Wildlife Nutritionist Michelle is responsible for making sure

the zoo's 18 koalas are fed exactly the right eucalyptus.

Koalas eat a 100% eucalyptus, but eucalyptus is changing.

And those changes are putting the koala's diet at risk.

So, here we are.

So, Michelle is on the hunt for a solution with Ecologist Ben...

Oh, my goodness.

..high above the Cumberland Forest in Western Sydney.

What we're doing here is trying to create

little circles of-of what the atmosphere

is gonna look like at about 2050.

While there are no koalas here, this forest is a living research lab

with six giant steel rings soaring up into the forest canopy,

each able to pump carbon dioxide gas onto the trees.

We're increasing the amount of carbon dioxide

by 150 parts per million.

So, it sounds like a small amount, and it is for us,

but it's a...it's a large amount for trees

which consume carbon dioxide.

And normally, you'd come above this level.

Yeah.

And you would actually do some leaf sampling from here.

Exactly. We can come in here and pick leaves directly.

Any preliminary results?

Unfortunately, increasing amounts of carbon in the atmosphere

dilutes the amount of-of the good stuff

that's in there from the perspective of a herbivore like a koala.

For trees that already have low levels of protein,

it's gonna make the going tougher for koalas in terms of nutrition,

getting the protein that they need to-to be able to grow

and produce more young.

Put simply, increased carbon dioxide means eucalyptus leaves

are producing less protein and moisture.

So, the koalas need to eat more to satisfy their appetite.

Alright, time to get us back on the ground.

If we're going to have koalas

at Taronga and in other zoos around the world,

we really do need to find a solution.

And it looks like that solution might be right back

where we started at Taronga.

That's eucalyptus. That's what we feed to our koalas.

That's a 100% of their diet.

In 15, 20 years, they might have to eat

something much larger.

They might have to eat something like this.

They'd have to eat 30% more to get the same amount of protein,

and they may physically not be able to take that much in.

So, we're going to try and fill that gap with a supplement.

And to make that supplement, Michelle and Karley are attempting

to turn these leaves into a tasty eucalyptus paste.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

This is not the final product that we want them to eat,

but by freezing them, we can make something that shatters

and that will be able to potentially blend better.

The idea is that a supplement

will provide a concentrated hit of protein,

a bit like a protein powder you might drink after the gym.

So, this will take care of that 30% of protein gap

that we need to fill.

But they're not gonna eat that, are they, Karley?

Not like that.

No. I'd love to see them try and lick that up.

(BOTH LAUGHS)

That'd be amazing.

It was never going to be that easy, was it?

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Taronga's puzzle pros, also known as enrichment volunteers,

John and Fred, have been issued a challenge.

(CHIMPANZEES SCREECH)

Create a puzzle feeder

for the zoo's 21 highly intelligent chimpanzees.

They have to think about how to get the food

out of the puzzle feeder but only using tools.

But their first attempt wasn't very puzzling,

at least not for the chimps.

We've got lots of fingers. They're doing it quite easily.

So, it's time for the A-Team to come up with a new plan.

Alright.

So, make the original one better.

Yeah.

Right. OK.

Sounds better already.

Right.

We've changed the design to make it slightly more difficult

for the chimpanzees.

22mm.

Big enough for the stick to get in, but small enough that

they can't get their finger in.

They have to use the tool to go through the process

of going down to the very bottom.

That's basically finished.

But is it better?

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Good morning, Holly. How are you?

Hello, Holly. Hi, guys. Welcome!

I'm excited. Let's put it on and give it a go.

OK. Let's get it.

You put that on much easier than I did.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

I'm really excited about this.

I'm hoping by having the smaller holes,

it will create that extra challenge for them.

Fine. Fine.

With all these things, we're fairly confident it'll work,

but you can never tell.

(CHUCKLES) Fingers crossed.

Alright. Let's see how this goes.

So, Sudi's actually trying to use his finger.

He can't quite get it in.

So, this is Sule, our alpha male.

So, Sule's got his stick.

Oh, there you go. He's got it down.

Yeah. Just working south. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect.

Yeah.

Yep. Another one.

Well done so.

So, he is now solely using the tool.

Yeah. He's flicking down the hole.

There we go.

It's definitely more challenging.

Well done.

I think overall, the chimps are interested

and are challenged by it.

So, this is fantastic.

There's nothing better than coming up with an idea

and seeing it work.

Oh, I think for us, it's great. Great to see it work.

Yeah. Fantastic.

How many more are you building?

(CHUCKLES)

Depends how much money you pay.

(LAUGHTER)

From what I can see, the pay is probably peanuts.

(CHIMPANZEE SCREAMS)

Meanwhile, in the depths

of the Great Southern Ocean's habitat...

Yep. He's breathing over the top of this.

Yeah.

..Murphy the sea lion is sleeping deeply

under anaesthetic.

Very unhealthy cornea.

Can I get some alkane on his eye please?

His breathing is now under control

and Eye Specialist Will has begun delicate surgery

to treat a serious disease in both eyes.

There is a risk he could lose his eye

if this procedure doesn't go well.

Unhealthy epithelium, just stripping off.

Essentially this procedure is like peeling back paint on a house,

so then he can lay down new healthy cells on top of it.

The whole epithelium stripped off here.

As we started pushing the epithelium,

so that outermost cell layer, with the cotton bud,

the whole thing just stripped off basically.

He's got the same condition on this eye,

it's just at a lesser extent.

Can I get a little bit of saline flush

just to clean the burr tip?

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

The surface of each eye

is gently polished with a diamond tip,

scraping away any remaining damaged cells.

And I'll take the implants, please.

Part of this condition is inflammatory as well,

so we're gonna place small implants in his eyes

of a drug called cyclosporine.

Just placing the implant now.

And then it will just be cross-linking.

Do you wanna do cross-link this eye?

And we'll start on the other one.

Essentially, we place riboflavin, our vitamin, into the eye

and put a UV light on it and it causes the cornea

to form new bonds and to help to strengthen

the health of the cornea.

I haven't seen anything like it.

Yeah. Yeah. It's just-just amaze, really.

He's in good hands.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Gotta put a few more stitches in.

Two hours later...

We're done.

..and the surgical part of the procedure is complete.

Now, that we're able to get rid of all of that unhealthy tissue,

I'm really hoping that this will have done the job

and get him to heal.

Only time will tell, but for now,

Murphy is carefully returned to his habitat.

Alright, we're at the back, guys.

Lower. It's not finished yet.

This is the most critical part of the whole procedure.

So, let's all concentrate.

We're gonna tip the stretcher

and we're gonna pull him...pull him over.

Nice and slow. OK, all ready?

Anything can go wrong at any stage through an anaesthetic,

but the recovery time is the time

where we tend to see most complications.

One, two, three.

Can we get everyone out who doesn't need

to be in here at the moment?

I'm gonna try and keep his tube in as long as possible

and only extubate him last minute.

I'm gonna give him the flumazenil.

So, we've just given Murphy the reversal drugs,

and the idea is to keep his breathing tube

in as long as possible to ensure that

he can wake up safely.

Can somebody count the heart rate?

We'll want to move the breathing tube

as soon as possible before he regains consciousness.

Unfortunately, there's a very short window,

and they can suddenly wake up.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Just got a slight blink.

Yeah.

(SEA LION GROWLS)

Alright. Get out. Get out.

Hang on. Hang on. Wait. We gotta get that. Take this.

He still got his tube in.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

In Taronga's African Savannah,

it seems some of the feline residents

have been getting a little too interested

in one of the zoo's rarest residents.

Here we've got a Kigelia africana,

or as it's commonly known, a sausage tree.

Its name comes from these unusually large seedpods.

Some say they resemble sausages.

Some say they also resemble cucumbers.

Call it what you like. It certainly makes an impression.

It's quite a rare tree, especially through Sydney.

We only have a few here on-site at Taronga,

so we do our best to try to preserve them and showcase them.

But sadly, one of Taronga's sausage trees

is looking a little cooked.

Inside the lion habitat,

we have one that is seriously suffering.

The lions have been using it as a giant scratching pole.

They're-they're clawing it. They're sitting in it.

The lions have debarked a lot of it.

About 40% of the canopy has been reduced.

It's truly suffering,

we're quite worried about its health.

Georgia, we'll be coming in shortly for the meeting about the tree.

So, just be careful as we come around

'cause obviously the lions are right here.

Hello, little one.

Curious.

A crack team has been assembled to get to the root of the problem,

all under some very close supervision.

You can see the little indentations where they've been coring at it

and what that's done is it's-it's damaged the health

and the ability for the tree to grow and it really is struggling.

OK, so what we need to do then is come up with solutions

based on this location.

Some logs standing up there might work,

fix them to the tree so they can actually use those to climb.

Sure. Rather than damaging the tree.

So, we've got Ato, the larger male here, he is 210kg.

He is a big animal, alright.

Yeah, if you've come face to face with him there,

you'll-you'll remember that for sure.

So, potentially, he has to be able to climb the structures that

we're gonna build to hold the logs in place

without dislodging them or without doing any damage to himself

and or the tree.

(ATO ROARS)

But before they fix anything to the tree,

the team will first trial a prototype

attached to the shelter in the line's backyard.

My plan is to clad this post here...

and hopefully, they'll protect the-the tree that needs protecting.

There? Yep.

(MACHINE WHIRRS)

Hopefully, that will stay in place.

Yeah.

Well, they'll have access to this tonight.

It'll be interesting to see what they think of it.

And to help keep a close eye,

the keepers have installed a camera pointed right

at this very curious pride of lions.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Australia's koala populations are in decline.

And to make things worse,

climate change is making their food less nutritious.

You think that's enough? Yeah.

OK.

So, the Taronga Nutrition Unit is creating a eucalypt supplement

they hope will keep their koalas happy

and healthy well into the future.

But koalas are a fussy bunch.

I'd love to see them try and lick that up.

(BOTH LAUGHS) That'd be amazing.

So, first of all, they gotta be trained

how to eat from a syringe.

Yeah.

To get them to eat it is the tricky part.

That's the tricky part.

So, Karley has to do something to that to make it

edible for these koalas.

Yep.

So, we're just gonna add one scoop of water,

and I'm gonna turn it into kinda like a thick paste.

Yep. So, that's not really what we want.

No.

So, it's quite a long process, and it really takes

all of us working together in order to get it working properly.

It's very thick,

so you can really control the syringe feeding

with the koala.

Definitely better.

Well, I guess the proof will be in the paste.

Good morning, Baxter.

Over to Taronga's chief eucalyptus taste tester.

Baxter's very special koala.

He's very chill. He's very relaxed.

So, he's always happy with us working in his enclosure.

Come on, Baxter.

Here we've got some syringes with a supplement for Baxter.

It might look a bit yucky,

so what we'll do is we'll do a light squeeze

and see if he'll just lick it out of the end.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Baxter is really keen on his supplement.

He does really enjoy it.

Got his tongue out, licking absolutely every last bit of it

off the end of the syringe.

Well, Baxter's on board,

but what about Taronga's other koala residents?

They pretty much all took to the syringe.

We could test the stress hormones, and there didn't seem to be

any significant difference between the animals

when they weren't syringe fed for when they were syringe fed.

And so that means that we don't think

there was any-any stress related to the syringe.

It was a very gentle process.

Good boy.

So, here you can see Baxter's got an option

for all beautiful eucalyptus leaf here in his pots,

but he is preferring the syringe here.

All of these things are very, very positive.

We're lucky that we had the opportunity to do this here

with so many animals and to be able to have something

that can prepare us for the future.

Thank you, Baxter.

Next...

It actually looks like she's chewing it.

..the sausage tree culprits are caught on camera.

Cheeky girl.

And just how much can this sea lion now see?

Hey, Murph. Coming in.

(MACHINE WHIRRS)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

At Taronga in Sydney,

there's always a stack of projects going on.

This isn't something we do every day, right?

All in the aid of enriching the lives of the 5,000 animals

that reside there.

Oh, and the odd sausage tree.

The lions have been using it as a scratching pole,

and we're quite worried about its health.

So, the carpentry team are testing a prototype

tree protector overnight in the lion's backyard.

OK.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

And 12 hours later...

Look at that.

What cheeky lions... So cheeky.

They've pulled that piece off right off here.

I'm not surprised, to be honest,

'cause that is almost like a new toy for them.

Anything new in their environment, they'll find out.

And this obviously was way too tempting

for our beautiful cats.

So, it's a win. The lions love it.

Unfortunately, that's not what we wanted to protect

our sausage tree.

Oh, yeah. It's a loss.

Probably not so great for the tree.

The fire hose copped the brunt of it here.

Oh, wow. Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

They're very... It's still a bit wet actually.

They chewed it this morning.

Oh.

Yeah.

The last thing we want is for them to actually ingest it.

It's pretty disappointing

that it hasn't come to a good result.

Yeah.

A quick review of the overnight CCTV reveals the culprits.

It looks like we've got Zuri here.

She's having a really good chew, a bit of a pour.

She's actually playing with it as well,

which is pretty cute.

She's chewing it. She's pouring it. She's even rolling upside down.

So, she's probably having the time of her life.

And Zuri isn't the only one to check out

the new big cat scratcher.

I can see Ayanna.

She looks like she's having a pretty good investigation

and it actually looks like she's chewing it.

Cheeky girl.

So, yeah, she's actually... She's gone up to it.

She's having a bit of a sniff, having a bit of a-a lick possibly,

but definitely chewing it.

Slightly disappointed.

I thought that may have been a bit more resistant for the-the lions,

but that's why they're the king of the savannah.

We really do want to protect and save our sausage tree.

It's a beautiful tree,

but our lions' welfare does come first.

So, what we're gonna have to do is think about other ways

of protecting this tree.

So, we're gonna remove the straps,

and we are gonna remove the logs as well

and go back to the drawing board.

So, it looks like it's lions one,

sausage tree nil, at least for now.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

In Taronga's marine recovery unit...

It's got a slight blink.

Yep.

..Murphy the sea lion jolts awake from his anaesthetic.

Hang on. Hang on.

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

Take this. Still got his tube in.

Alright. And the team need to act fast.

(SEA LION GROWLS)

It's OK.

Luckily, the breathing tube comes free.

Is everything out?

Give me that, Kresen. That's what I was worried about.

Mm?

OK, that-that's what I was worried about.

Let's just back slowly away from him with the boards.

So, Murphy's woken up very suddenly.

Let's just make some space...

and just, yeah, close-close him up.

He basically sat up and spat the tube out,

crease and quartered, which is good.

So that's actually probably the best recovery we could hope for.

It's one of the fastest bounce backs I've seen from a seal.

He's a little bit unsure still, but, yeah,

he's bounced back really fast, which is great relief

because, yeah, I was really worried about him

for there for a bit.

I think we can probably move this stuff out.

And two weeks later, it's time for Murphy's close-up.

Come on, Murph.

Up. Good boy.

Hey, buddy. Good boy. Hey, Murph. Coming in.

Good boy.

So, what Michelle is doing is taking photos for the vets...

Good boy.

..and the ophthalmologists.

We've been working closely with them to make sure they're updated

with how the eyes are progressing and how they're healing.

But, yeah, I think his eyes look quite good today.

Best they've looked this week.

Even though they're still cloudy, he's opening them on cue

when I'm doing his chin target.

He's looking directly into my eyes, so that's quite good.

Good boy, Murph.

That left eye is looking really good.

Water.

Hopefully, the next few weeks, they start to get better and better.

Murphy.

(SEA LION ROARS)

Yeah. What?

(SEA LION ROARS)

Once we're out of it,

it'll be back to life as normal for us too.

(CHUCKLES)

Hey, Murph.

(SEA LION ROARS)

Captioned by AI-Media ai-media.tv