All language subtitles for Inside Taronga ZOO s01e02

Famous the world over, Sydney Harbour is
home to some of Australia's most iconic

landmarks and one of the world's most
celebrated zoos.

Throughout its 101 -year history,
there's never been a more exciting time

granted access to both of Taronga Zoo's
locations.

From caring for a single animal... Just
hang on to him and keep calm.

...to saving an entire species.

She's a gorgeous little frog and one of
our most critically endangered.

We'll take you inside Taronga.

On this episode, if at first you don't
succeed... There's nothing there. ...try

again as the team cross their fingers
for a new batch of little penguins. Bit

poo, but no net.

Elephants won.

Ice blocks none.

The elephants absolutely love the ice
blocks. As Australia swelters under

temperatures, keep a search for new ways
to beat the heat. A great treat on a 40

degree day.

And Project Platypus.

We just have been anticipating this for
so long. Taronga attempts to create

history by successfully exporting a
platypus to America.

Getting a platypus isn't just like
getting a new tiger from another zoo or

shipping a bongo. A platypus is a
totally unique creature.

Running a zoo of Taronga's size and
animal diversity takes hundreds of

working around the clock.

Some animals are active during the day,
others are awake at night, and it's a

never -ending job keeping all of them
fed.

And for the marine team, that means
starting every day at 6am.

We're arriving at our office to get all
of our gear ready to start our day.

grab all our boots, radios and gear, get
ready to check the diary to see if

there's any updates for us and head over
towards our fish kitchen where we're

going to prepare all the food for today
for our marine mammal.

For every animal at Taronga, the food is
always of the highest quality.

We separate all of our fish and seafood
in species.

We basically have sorted out overnight,
but this just allows it to get a little

bit more defrosted for us to work with.
Most of this fish is used for the seals,

but also some for our pelicans and
penguins.

But there's more to keeping animals
healthy than just giving them the right

food.

Now what I'm doing is actually preparing
to put the vitamins for all the animals

into their fish. So these ones are for
our marine birds. So penguins and

pelicans get these small ones.

And these larger ones are made for our
seals. And they're just a multivitamin.

And then all we do is we just slide the
vitamin in underneath the gill of the

fish so that the fish doesn't look like
anything's different. And then we just

put it to the side so that we know that
that's for those animals.

Let's do it.

All right, we'll be back.

Yeah, so this is just half of the bucket
that we're delivering today.

These are all going up to our seal
theater.

And we have other buckets to deliver
around the section later on.

Prepping the food is just the first part
of a busy day.

Good morning, buddy.

With more than 20 keepers in the Marine
Department, making sure everyone knows

their role each day is crucial.

We've got no Joe to see our volley
today. She's still off with that feral

fight. Feral cat fight?

Yeah.

Jo and Mel's doors time.

I wrote down 11 .30.

Dubbo keepers are coming for a behind
the scenes between 11 and 12.

Crystal, little penguin burrow checks
this morning. You guys on top of that?

That's it?

All good?

Okay,

so let's head on up and check the
burrows.

Today, keeper Crystal is learning how to
check the little penguin burrows for

eggs.

Hi, guys.

So we have minimal disturbance.

We'll get Pani and Liv to feed the
majority of the group while we do the

checks. That means there should be at
least one parent out of the boxes so

there's less disturbance. I don't know
what we're doing while they're eating.

Taronga breeds little penguins to share
them with other facilities, ensuring

captive penguin populations are
genetically diverse.

Hey, let's head on in.

We have to be really careful when we're
doing the burrow checks.

They're very slighty little birds.

If they feel threatened at all, they're
just going to leave their burrows, and

we obviously don't want them to abandon
their eggs, so we want to give minimal

disturbance.

So far, the penguin breeding season
hasn't produced many eggs.

OK, so we'll check burrow two.

Lindsay is hoping Crystal brings a bit
of luck to this nest check. OK, so we've

got a parent there.

Have a little look underneath.

Away from the gorillas, sea lions,
giraffes and other high -profile

Keeper Paul has spent 30 years working
on one of Taronga's more peculiar

collections.

This is one of the areas where we keep
all of our off -display invertebrates,

what most people probably think of as
bugs.

But the real sort of, I guess,
definition of it is an animal that

backbone. We've got far more species of
invertebrate than there are anything

else on the planet.

And in here, we've got all sorts of
different animals. We've got some

spiders. We've got plenty of handsome
spiders. They're great. Love having

handsome spiders around the house.
They're fantastic.

Then around here, we've got our baby
phasmids, what people think of as stick

insects. So what we do is we hatch them
out here, grow them up so they're a bit

bigger, and then we can put them on
display.

Very, very cool indeed.

Got a lot of growing left to do on this
little one.

But where some people see squashable,
creepy crawlies... This is what I really

love. So wait for this.

Check this out.

Paul only sees beautiful creatures.

Have a look at this little beauty.

So these are giant barren cockroaches.
This one's a male.

And I can tell he's a male because he's
got this little tiny sort of scoop there

on top of his carapace there. These
cockroaches give birth to live young.

only give birth once a year.

And the female will actually look after
the young for up to about a year.

So it's a cockroach that actually has a
motherly instinct.

But the prized invertebrate in his
collection is the world's most venomous

spider. The Sydney funnel web.

Funnels are definitely an animal that
sort of get me in because a lot of

invertebrates have this real sort of
negative association for a lot of

But I'd never pick one up in my hand
because, well, to be perfectly honest

you, that's just stupid. I'm aware of
the danger there, but rather than a fear

for me, I'd say it's probably more a
healthy respect for them. That's

better way to put it.

And like all animals at Taronga,
invertebrates are also entitled to

And Paul has noticed that one of his new
arrivals isn't looking so good.

She's going to be uncooperative.

The question is, how do you treat a
thick funnel -web spider?

Australia has some of the most distinct
wildlife on Earth.

You can see he's really starting on the
leaves now nicely, really tackling the

big ones.

Without doubt, one of the most unique is
the platypus.

Platypus are native to the East Coast
rivers of Australia.

And while they're common in Australian
zoos, not one platypus exists outside of

Australia. But that may soon change.

Taronga is planning to send a male and
female platypus overseas.

If the pair successfully breed, they'd
be creating history.

They have historically been very, very
tricky animals to work with and

transport. There's an interesting story
where during the Second World War,

actually Winston Churchill requested a
platypus be sent to the UK. It died

before it actually got there. So there
is a bit of anxiety.

For us to be involved with this is very
significant.

And the lucky recipients of two of
Taronga's platypus will be the world

-renowned... San Diego Zoo.

We've been working on this project for
quite a long time and we just have been

anticipating this for so long.

Keepers Laurie and Savannah have just
arrived from San Diego to learn all they

can about this Aussie icon.

We're very excited to be here and can't
wait to actually be able to transport

him to his new home.

They won't have to wait too long because
the platypus are scheduled to leave for

the United States.

In just two weeks.

Well, at the moment over here, we've got
two on display and two off display.

Okay. And there's a lot of learning to
be done in that time.

Okay, so in here we have our female.

Come on up.

We've, you know, done everything we can
on the other side of the world as far as

reading and researching, but there's
nothing that comes close to being here

person and being able to work with the
keepers that know so much about them.

would never handle any other platypus
like this.

A, she's a girl, so she doesn't have the
spur, but she is somewhat special. She

was hand -raised.

She came in after a really rough start
to life.

She was attacked by a dog when she was a
baby and came into the zoo as an orphan

and was the first platypus ever hand
-raised, to my knowledge. We had no idea

what we were doing, but you are fed up
with being held at the moment, aren't

you? So we'll put you back down here.

And we'll open this door so you can go
to work.

Off you go, little one.

Come on up. Okay.

The male platypus that San Diego Zoo is
receiving is young Birra.

So we've got Birra in here, and he's a
really feisty little platypus. You can

see the way he's wriggling around in
here.

He's an excitable little brat.

But males have venomous spurs on their
heels, and one mistake could mean a

of pain for the handler.

Like anything that you're working with,
it has the potential to do you harm.

There are good ways of learning and bad
ways, and make sure you don't get

spurred.

Okay, one platypus.

So I'll show you quickly before we bag
him. You can see the spurs on the inside

of the back legs there. They're folded
up against the femur.

That's the bit you're really watching
out for.

Let it slide a little bit more. Let's
get your nice deep pocket and straight

into the bag.

Beautiful. We now have one safely
contained platypus.

You've been here for quite a while.

25 years tomorrow.

Oh, my goodness. Happy anniversary.

Yeah. I wish I could absorb all of your
knowledge and experience working with

the platypus.

Rob's decades of experience make it look
easy.

There he is.

But Laurie and Savannah have just two
weeks to master his secret.

It's breeding season at Taronga for the
little penguins, and Keeper Crystal is

joining Lindsay to learn how to check
their burrows for newborns. Okay, so

checking for chicks in this one.

After a slow start to the season,
they're hoping that today they finally

some eggs. Okay, so we'll check burrow
two.

I don't think there's any activity in
this.

OK, there's a nest in there, but, yeah,
no penguins.

It's not the start that they were hoping
for, but with 14 other nesting boxes,

there's still plenty of chances for
success.

No, bit of poo, but no nests.

So what was happening in this last week?
So just a really good nest. We know

that there is a pair in there, Chomp and
Drill. Chomp and Drill. No eggs have

been sighted as of yet. Okay, so there's
potential for eggs in this one because

we've got a pairing.

So we'll duck in our book.

So no one in there. That's a great nest.

But, yep, no parents, no eggs.

for the keepers.

Somebody's obviously living there, but
it might just be a single female.

Today has been one disappointment after
another.

OK, we've got two parents here.

So we just need to have a little look.

But finally... Got two eggs. Did you see
those?

..some good news.

OK, so now number 10.

Fingers crossed.

After a slow start...

OK, so we've got a parent there.

Have a little look underneath.

The rest of the nesting boxes produce
some great results.

Oh, still got an egg.

Very nice.

Two eggs. But it's the next burrow that
gives keepers an unexpected surprise.

OK,

so we have a very, very protective
parent and two little chicks.

Aw.

We have 15 burrows, we have a population
of 43 birds, and to have the majority

of those burrows filled with partners
and eggs, not to mention the chicks that

are already hatching, that's a really
successful start to our breeding season.

While there's now plenty of eggs and
some new chicks, there's one nest box

has the keepers concerned.

Two platypus are being sent to an
overseas zoo.

It's an ambitious undertaking.

Platypus don't jump, but they certainly
are good climbers. One that requires a

huge transfer of information between
Taronga and the receiving zoo.

Before we open up the nest box, one
thing that we want to do is just slowly

it to ensure that the plat isn't up
high.

For the past two weeks, two keepers from
the San Diego Zoo have been at Taronga

Zoo to learn as much as they can in the
remaining days that they're in Sydney.

And then we just locate.

locate where the animal is within these
chambers. So it looks like she's down

here. Restraining a male platypus has
some inherent risks, so it's pretty

important that we absorb everything that
we can so that we can adequately train

our staff once we return to the state.

We want to try and grab hold of it quite
quickly. You don't want to second

-guess yourself.

While Laurie and Savannah are put
through their paces... There we go.

..up at the wildlife hospital... I'm
going to let you do most of this today,

Meredith, because you've got to...

Got to know how to do it when we... Vet
Meredith, also from San Diego, is

starting her intensive training on Eve,
one of the platypus she'll be looking

after back in the States.

Here's the head.

Sleeping up? Oh, she's still pretty
active.

Just get her head out and just pop that
little bill in the... That's the way.

But unlike the keepers, Meredith only
has one week to learn everything she can

about this most unusual animal.

Getting a platypus isn't just like
getting a new tiger from another zoo or

shipping a bongo. A platypus is a
totally unique creature.

At 140, heart rate.

A platypus lays eggs but is a mammal.

It has this bird -like bill, which it
uses to actually see underwater.

And this is where a lot of the little
pores are for their sensing, right? And

along the edge as well. That's a very
sensitive area.

I mean, you know, they're really just a
cross between a beaver and a duck.

With some lizards thrown in for good
show, yeah. You don't learn about

veterinary medicine when you're in
university.

It's something that we can only really
learn from those who have learned before

us.

So see how she's got food in her pharynx
there? Yes, and that's... So that's,

you know, quite normal that they'll
store some food in their cheek pouches.

There's plenty of pressure on Meredith
to take it all in.

OK, those are good saliva.

Once back in the US, she'll be the only
Taronga -trained platypus vet in the

Northern Hemisphere.

It's quite a big milestone to send
platypus outside Australia, which is a

event in its own right.

And actually, Meredith did a lot of
homework before she even got here, which

fantastic in terms of her preparation
for this. And of course, she's absorbing

as much as she can while she's here with
us.

Yeah, so the eyes are very quite small,
really, considering... Yeah, tiny eyes,

very tiny eyes. So they don't use vision
at all to navigate or detect their food

underwater. That's all done through the
electro and mechanoreceptors.

in the bill. It's a solid start to her
education.

Interesting to see her nails. They're
the best platypus nails I've seen all

week. Quite a lot of excitement and
quite a lot of work and a bit of stress

make sure that these animals are going
to thrive and do great under our care.

And not surprisingly, the enormity of
this project is sinking in. Alright,

you go.

Keeper Paul has a problem.

A new addition to his invertebrate
collection, a female Sydney funnel web,

unwell. She's got these little tiny
cream sort of colour spots on her. These

little mites that we quite often see
with the wild funnel webs that get

in. So it's up to vet Kimberly to give
this very venomous spider a once -over.

Hey, Paul.

Thank you. At best, we work with all of
the animals in the zoo, from the big

elephants all the way down to the
invertebrates. So that includes the

That is a big funnel web. That's not a
bad size.

And any time we get a new funnel web
spider or any spider into the zoo, we

examine it before we add it to our
collection.

Extra care is needed when examining the
spider.

She has a bite that can kill a human
within 30 minutes if left untreated.

I'm not afraid of spiders. I completely
respect them.

But he's really good at handling these
venomous spiders, so they're not going

hurt me.

And as you can see, she's got these
mites in her, which we find fairly

with the wild funnel whips that come in.
Yeah.

She's got a lot of mites on her, more
than we typically see. Yeah, a few more

than we normally see, for sure.

Okay. She's got all of her legs. Can you
have her stand up a little bit? Yeah,

try and get her to... There we go. Yeah.

She's definitely got her fangs, doesn't
she?

She's actually been quite relaxed, all
things considered.

Well, you're so good at handling them.

I'm glad you're here.

I don't put my hands in there.

No, why would you?

So from a veterinary perspective, I'm
looking if the spider looks robust, in

good condition, if it's got all of its
legs.

But what's going on with her abdomen?
She's got a bit of a, looks like a bit

a blister there. She does. It's a bit
white on the left side.

We don't know what causes that in these
guys.

We have a theory, just over time, it
seems to be stress -related.

Oh, yeah.

So you think you're seeing these
blisters come up from spiders that are

too often? Yeah, yeah. Okay. It would be
good to aspirate her.

We can look for viruses, look for
bacteria.

Okay. But for now, I'm going to leave
her in your hands to take care of the

mites, and let's keep her in a
quarantine situation until we're happy

Not a problem. Can do it. All right.

Paul has this little task of brushing
off the mites and making sure that

all off of the spider.

So we can't really use any kind of
insect control because we don't want to

the spiders as well. But I'll leave it
to it.

Thanks, Kimberly. No, thanks, Paul.

No, I'd be happy to do that, but yeah,
that's Paul's job.

I'm going to go off and look at some
other animals in the zoo.

Keepers Lindsay and Crystal have reached
a nesting box that they know from

previous checks contains eggs.

but they may not be fertile.

Okay, so these ones are overdue
hatching, so if they haven't hatched

take them.

Penguins who sit on unfertile eggs won't
breed again, so Lindsay needs to

intervene. Both cats, beautiful in
there.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, so I'm going to take the egg.

Oh, gosh, they're normally...

More protective than that.

I guess maybe they know that it's not
quite right. Yeah, I'd say it's not

fertile, but we'll check it downstairs.

These eggs, they are way overdue
hatching. Same with these ones. We give

little bit longer to see if they might
hatch, but then we take them because

they're just going to keep sitting and
nothing will happen.

To be absolutely sure, Lindsay conducts
a light test on the egg.

Yes, I'll have a look at this one.

And, yeah, it's as I expected.

There's a yolk and a bit of egg there,
but there's no development.

You're looking for membranes and sort of
red vessels and things like that, but

there's nothing there. So, yeah,
infertile, unfortunately.

Look at the others.

Yeah, so same there again.

Hopefully, by removing those eggs,
they'll mate again and then produce...

The more eggs, it's still early enough
in the season for them to have another

clutch, so we'll give them another go.

It's not unusual.

They are new pairings as well, so
sometimes it can take them a season to

work things out with each other.

So even if they're not successful this
breeding season, it's likely they'll

again next season, and hopefully we'll
get chicks then.

A new arrival at the zoo, a Sydney
funnel web, the most venomous spider on

earth, has a mite problem.

And it's Keeper Paul who has to remove
the tiny mites by hand.

Okay, and what I'm going to do now is
I'm going to get the spider out here

the bench so I can start getting some of
these mites off.

Being a spider, of course, they're not
necessarily always all that cooperative.

So what I'll do is once I get her out,
she should just sit there like that.

And if she decides to move, what I can
do is just annoy her like this, and when

she feels threatened, she's going to sit
up, and she should just stay like that.

But no matter how comfortable Paul may
be with funnel webs, he still leaves

nothing to chance.

The reason I'm doing this on a nice,
clean bench like this, I've got a nice,

big, white bench, which means, you know,
I can see what's going on.

She's got nowhere to run and hide.

The bench is nice and slippery, which
makes it a little bit harder for her to

get any sort of traction to get any real
speed up. So it's a lot safer for her

and me. And we are talking about the
world's most venomous spider, so I'd

make it as safe as I possibly can.

So what I'm doing here, I just get a
little bit of water on my paintbrush and

brush her.

And what happens is these little mites
get caught in the water droplet there.

and I can literally just wash them off
like that.

She's been quite relaxed, which is a
little bit of a surprise considering

going on here.

These mites, I've been led to believe,
are not necessarily parasitic, but one

way or another, it's going to be a
little bit uncomfortable for her to have

these things climbing around on her.

It's really hard to see exactly how many
are there in there, but at a rough

guess, I'd say there have to be at least
100.

Having all these things crawling around
in here, it's got to be annoying.

But now I've pretty much got all the
mites off that I can get for the moment

anyway. So what I'm going to do is I'm
preparing a home for her.

With some fresh peat moss here.

So just putting this bit of paper towel
in here.

Make it nice and damp for her. So they
need to stay cool and damp in order to

survive.

So it just means that if I have a bit of
paper towel in there, she'll make a bit

of a home under it.

So I do need to check her out.

Anything like that. I can do it with as
minimal disturbance to her as possible.

And there you go. She's all ready to go
back and join our collection.

Unfortunately, she still has some on
her, so it's going to take at least

go to try and get the rest of them off.

But if nothing else, she's going to be a
lot more comfortable.

She's definitely going to be a lot
happier now that they're gone.

In less than a week, Taronga is going to
make history by sending the first

breeding pair of platypus overseas.

Keepers Laurie and Savannah have been at
Taronga for the past two weeks,

learning how to handle this cute but
dangerous animal.

A great experience.

Yeah, so this is our last training
session with the platypus.

So do you want to just check that he's
in the box first, and then we can grab

our equipment to do it away?

And he is inside.

We are now getting ready to head off to
the United States. We're heading home,

and then eventually they will be joining
us.

So I'm picking him up, and I'm switching
positions.

I'm removing this towel.

I'm keeping the spurs away from my
mate's face.

And I am bagging.

Perfect. All right, and we're twisting
the top of the bag, securing it with a

rubber band.

I'm holding him away from my body. Yep.

Excellent. So that is a platypus in a
bag ready to be weighed or transported.

And we're aware of where his head is
from the movement.

So when I replace this platypus into the
nest box, I'm going to make sure that

he has an easy exit so that he's
comfortable.

Yep. So the face will be pointing away
and towards the opening.

And I am removing the pillowcase gently.

Perfect. Nothing else left to teach you.

Yes, yes. We passed platypus boot camp.

I think our platypus are in very capable
hands.

We're very grateful for the
collaboration and the camaraderie that

while we've been here at Taronga.

Yeah, we just can't wait to see them in
San Diego and to see them in their new

exhibit, their new facility. We hope
that they're going to love it. And now

we know them as individuals, we feel
pretty confident that they're going to

happy over there with us in the States.

Yeah.

Eastern Australia is experiencing one of
the longest droughts on record, with

temperatures regularly breaking 40
degrees Celsius.

And at Taronga's Western Plains Zoo,
keeping the animals comfortable in such

brutal heat is a huge challenge.

While the three female Asian elephants
and their calf cool down with a swim,

Zookeepers Christina and Stephanie have
another heat -beating surprise for the

two young bulls.

We have two Asian elephant bulls. Luk
Chai is 10 years of age and he was

actually the first Asian elephant born
in Australia.

And we have Paddy Han who followed a
year later.

So they're pretty much like brothers.
They've grown up together and they spend

four times a week in this front paddock.

At the moment I'm putting out some
spices as a part of our enrichment

Elephants are natural foragers and their
sense of smell is about eight times

stronger than a dog.

So they'll forage with their sense of
smell.

The boys will pretty much find their
spice in no time. But we try to hide it

little spots, make it a bit challenging
for them as well.

But a three -ton elephant needs more
than a bag of nutmeg to keep it going

day. So in the wild, elephants have to
eat up to 100 kilograms of food a day.

But because we give them higher
nutrition, such as hay, they only need

about 60 kilos a day here. So we just
drop their hay net so it's above their

level.

And then they can eat it like they would
eat high trees in the wild.

But the biggest treat of all, especially
on such a scorching day, needs to be

put out last.

So we're just putting out some ice block
enrichment today.

OK, so we'll just place them on these
three rocks and we'll try to put maybe

on top of each other as well.

Every single week on a Friday we go
collect from a juice store in town. It's

just pulp and leftover fruits and
vegetables that we add water to and then

freeze it.

This one has watermelon in it and also
banana peel, and it's definitely a

favourite.

A great treat on a 40 -degree day.

The first thing that they do is pretty
much check out their whole enclosure and

find all the yummy treats that we may
have hid for them.

Our Asian elephant, Paddy Hunt, is going
about and exploring.

He's foraging.

He'll wander far and be like, well, did
they hide anything here?

I'll get it first.

While the two bulls get on well, there's
still a social hierarchy.

He wants to get the best of all the
foods.

And Luke Chai is a bit less dominant, so
he'll just let Paddy have first dips.

And it happens in a herd as well, in the
female.

There's a dominant female who's the
matriarch and she gets first dibs of all

food. But on such a hot day, it's the
ice blocks that get the most attention.

The elephants absolutely love their ice
blocks.

The elephants here, they weigh about
three tonnes on average.

Sometimes they can't break it and they
use their whole weight to try and break

it with their foot.

If they get frustrated, then they just
slam it on the ground.

While Dubbo are dealing with the heat in
their own way, back in Sydney... Hey,

mate, how are you? Good, mate.

..Platypus keeper Nick has a temperature
problem of his own.

So this is our second box.

Yep. Platypus box for Eve, hey? Yep.

That's brilliant, mate. It looks so
good.

He's had to come up with a way to safely
transport two platypus halfway around

the world.

One of our biggest concerns for the
platypus for this trip was just making

that we keep our temperatures below that
20 degree mark. It's huge, mate. We've

never sent flats in my time before
overseas.

Yeah, so this isn't just your typical
transport box. It actually has three

layers of reflective foam within it to
try and keep the ambient temp from

outside without getting in.

We obviously did have to try and address
the airflow with that because we've got

such an insulated box. We had to make
sure that we had enough airflow

the crate to ensure that the platypus
would arrive 24 hours later doing well.

Now they have to get the platypus used
to their temporary home.

Yeah, push forward.

Yeah, that's great.

That's good there.

Yeah. So now we've just finished
installing the transport box for the

for ease.

So Eve has just come back from her 72
-hour pre -shipment exam and our vets

deemed her as suitable for travel. Her
condition is great. The tail volume is

really good. She's got a great body
weight. So now the next step is to just

her into the transport crate for
transitioning.

So she'll sense it up, she'll make it
her own.

It means that on the day when we
actually come along, close off this

basically it's no different to just
being locked in her nest box for a

while. So it is ultimately going to be a
very comfortable space for her.

So I'm very confident that we've done
everything that we can. I don't think

we've ever put as much thought into a
transport crate before.

So certainly on the day, we'll give one
final check just to make sure that she's

tracking okay, give her a once -over,
close the box off, and we won't steer

again to the other side.

The platypus wasn't born to fly, but
that's all about to change.

This week's penguin nest checks are
nearly done.

Oh, cute.

So darling.

That looks like just one chick.

One chick? Yeah.

And the breeding season is going from
strength to strength.

Oh, hello, Bubba.

So two really good -sized chicks there.

Same sort of size as well sometimes.

One a lot smaller and not doing, you
know, not getting as much food. They

usually patch up, but they're doing
really well. So we'll leave them alone.

So we have two new chicks.

An extra egg. An extra egg.

An egg left to hatch.

Another burrow left to hatch. So, yeah,
we're doing really well.

Good season. Good season. Yeah, really
good season. Excellent.

The first chicks to hatch this season
are already starting to explore their

home. So we're in our penguin crèche and
this is an area that we use when we've

got little chicks that we need to teach
to feed from us.

We want

them to come out and be comfortable with
us.

We hand feed them every day because
that's a good way to help check them by

getting them to come to land and feed
from us. And you can see it's still got

its fluffy little feathers around its
face there.

And once it loses those, there we go, it
will be ready to go out into the

exhibit and swim in the pool for its
first time.

So you can see that fluff around its
neck and that's its juvenile baby

basically. And you can see that
beautiful adult plumage that has come

there, those beautiful blue feathers on
the back.

So the fluff is not waterproof.

So once that's all gone, you'll be ready
to swim.

So the average adult penguin weighs a
kilo, right?

This guy, when he came out of the
burrow, he was 1 .3 kilos.

In all my 23 years, I don't think I've
ever seen a penguin chick that big.

Yeah, amazing.

That's huge. 1 .3.

Once they've accomplished feeding really
well from us and they've locked all

that down, Then they'll go out into the
exhibit and become adult penguins.

So it's a really fast growth rate. These
guys, they're eight weeks of age when

they go out there, and so they're close
to that at the moment.

With feeding school almost done... There
we go. Oh, that's excellent, Liz.

Great. Well done.

You want to stay out?

Yes. Oh, that's fantastic.

Okay, back in.

Swim school is just around the corner,
but they may need some convincing.

Come on, little one.

It's the day of the big move.

How is the time?

Yeah, we've got to move.

Two platypus are being transferred from
Taronga Zoo to San Diego Zoo in

California. Because of the size of the
crate, we actually have to come out

through the back way here. We have to
come out through the back door,

unfortunately.

Hopefully they're both in their nest
boxes already that they've had a bit of

time to get used to.

All right, so that's great. So we're in
there.

For keeper Tony, today is especially
important as he'll travel with the

on their history -making journey.

I'm feeling pretty good, actually. You
know, obviously tense. There's always

going to be tension, but I'm feeling
quite confident.

I'll just put this end forward.

I'm actually more calm than I expected
to be, to be honest.

Yeah, that's perfect. She's just sitting
under the tower there.

I won't overly disturb her, but it's...

You know, she's just spent the night in
the pool.

She's eaten at least three yabbies in
there and I'm sure a whole heap of

mealworms. So I think it's the best
start possible for this trip.

Good.

But packing the platypus is the easy
part.

All right, mate, let's get to the
airport.

Now all the platypus have to do is
survive the flight.

Lift up, lift up.

What we're going to do is put the
animals in the forward hole. Yeah.

access to them. The animals will go in
last, so they'll be first off. First

yeah. That's perfect.

It's absolutely fair to assume that a
platypus should be in water, but in

fact, they'll spend...

13 hours easily asleep in a burrow as
part of their normal day. So the fact

we're extending that episode slightly,
we're not concerned about. You know,

we've set those transport crates up for
Eve and Vera exactly the same as their

nest boxes are that they've been living
in for the last few years. All right.

Yeah. Good.

I'm happy with it.

While Nick says his goodbye.

On the other side of the globe, Laurie
and Savannah are waiting patiently to

g'day. Oh, we can't wait.

We're getting very excited for sure.
Things are starting to come together and

our facility is looking good and we're
eager and ready to receive them.

We've been designing a habitat for over
two years now and we're very excited

about having them introduced to that
habitat and make sure that they're

comfortable and enjoying it and we can't
wait to see them swimming in the area

that we have for them.

We have food ready, temperatures are
set, the lighting's all ready for them.

yes, we just need the animals.

Here she comes, big wide world.

It's been eight weeks since the first
little penguins hatched.

So tasty and halloumi around your
cheeks.

And they're doing very, very well. Don't
go back in.

They're so used to being in the crate.
It's their safe place. But it's time to

grow up.

Come on.

They've lost their baby coat and are now
fully waterproof.

So the next milestone in their
development is to go for their first

They're both new chicks, first time out.
So you can see they're looking around.

I'll just encourage them into the water.
They'll feel safe in there.

Come on, little one.

So we'll really have to keep a close eye
on them today, just make sure that

they're able to get in and out of the
pool, that they don't get picked on by

of the other penguins, because they can
do that sometimes.

And when a penguin hits eight weeks old,
they're instinctively drawn to water.

There's so much for them to take in. I
mean, this is the first time they've

the whole world. It's a big, wide -open
sky, so they're doing really well,

though.

While Halloumi is straight in, Tasty
isn't quite as sure of himself.

So Halumi is speeding around, having a
great time.

Tasty is a little bit more nervous.

But with a gentle bit of
encouragement... One little one.

..Tasty finally joins his sister in the
water.

First swim ever.

It's amazing, isn't it, how they just
know what to do?

Just instinct.

Fantastic.

So you can tell they're a little bit
more uncoordinated.

This is their first time. So they're
just finding their flippers, getting

to the water, getting used to diving
deeply.

Yeah, look at Looney go. Amazing.

I think she's loving it.

And Chasey's getting really into it.
Look at that.

I love it when they go for their first
swim.

Out on land, you know, there's so many
things going on and birds of prey and

things. So that water is their safety
net. And of course, in the wild, that's

what they do. So they come out of their
burrows straight to the ocean and they

spend days out there. Yeah.

So it's been another really successful
breeding season here at Taronga. We've

had eight chicks so far, but another
probably eight on the way. So huge fun

season for us. Our parents have done an
amazing, amazing job.

It's a great start for these little
penguins.

Some will continue to call Taronga home,
and some will be sent to other zoos to

boost their breeding program.

San Diego Zoo is a home away from home
for many Australian animals.

Now, after years of preparation, the
only two platypus outside of Australia

coming to join them.

The fact that platypus are here and
outside Australia for the first time in

years is a pretty significant experience
for all of us to be a part of.

It's taken a lot of collaboration
between our facilities and it's been a

work to make it happen, but we're so
thankful that it has and that they're

now and enjoying this facility.

Vera and Eve have been in their travel
packs for nearly 20 hours.

And Vet Meredith is impressed with how
well they've handled the journey.

And they quickly settled into their new
surround.

This is a species unlike any other that
we've ever been able to exhibit for

folks in America. And this facility has
a lot of features designed to kind of

optimize their welfare and our ability
to care for them.

So we have a pretty state -of -the -art
light support system to maintain water

quality. We have a pretty elaborate
lighting system, so we're able to

cycle them so that we create a twilight
nighttime event for them during our

daytime so that it enhances the
opportunity for people to be able to see

during their active hours.

Vera really seems to love being in here
in this middle pool.

Yeah, it's been a long, long effort, and
it's great to be on the other side of

it now, to have them here, to have them
healthy and safe and happy in their

environments. And now the energy is
definitely rising. You know, the

anticipation is building that we're soon
going to be open to the public and able

to share them with the world.

But they didn't come all this way just
to be looked at.

I've seen both of them get up several
times on the logs. You're right, the

-outs are working perfectly.

The entire platypus project is part of a
much bigger picture.

It's an extraordinary honor and, of
course, responsibility for us to be able

share their conservation message and the
conservation message of Australia and

how comparable that is to the
conservation message that we have here

California, how we're facing similar
threats even on opposite sides of the

world. I think having the platypus here,
they're going to be great ambassadors.

for that message and to gain awareness
and to draw people in to learn about the

threats that all these animals are
facing.