All language subtitles for Inside Taronga ZOO s01e03.eng

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, the fire's front line.

I think his heart has now stopped. I
think he's dying.

As Australia burns, Taronga vets answer
the call.

You want to save everybody, but you
can't. You can't sometimes.

A desperate around -the -clock effort.

So that's like six animals we've just
put back out to the wild successfully.

But just as backup arrived.

Oh my God, I'm so glad you're here.

So did more badly injured animals.

I heard you had two more.

Australia's on fire and it's really,
really hard to see it.

The mystery of Murphy.

Larry and the team pull out all stopped.

Good job, man. Just a little bit to see
how his head is straighter, actually.

That's the way, that's the way. During
this unusual house call... You have to

improvise all the time, working outside
the box.

..and an early morning walk... OK, come
on, Twinkie!

..certainly turns some heads.

It's just incredible to kind of see
those really social interactions between

animals.

When people think of Australia, they
think of spectacular landscapes and

animals.

We've been isolated as a continent for
such a long time, but our animals have

evolved and they're crazy to look at,
definitely.

But this year, the postcard images have
been replaced by a country in crisis.

The bushfire ripped over the mountains
straight towards packed holiday spots.

Midday.

Record heat and record drought has led
to record bushfires.

The sheer scale of these fires is hard
to comprehend.

The amount of land destroyed by the
fires is larger than the area of Denmark

and the Netherlands combined.

of flames coming down this hill here and
it was coming straight at us and that

had led to catastrophic loss of wildlife
a koala makes a dash from burning bush

but frightened and confused runs
straight into more danger over a

billion creatures have been killed this
has been an ecological disaster

Taronga Zoo and other animal hospitals
across the nation have been inundated

with burnt and injured animal.

But unfortunately when they walk across
the fire grounds they do cause some

really nasty burn, but you can actually
see the singed fur on the side of his

paw there.

It really hurts to think about what
these animals have gone through.

All koalas have copped a bit,
unfortunately.

But Taronga vets aren't just waiting to
receive injured animals.

They've taken the fight to save
Australian wildlife to the front line.

Hey, it's Kimberly.

I'm currently down in Barrensdale,
Victoria, helping out with Wildlife

Group. So just want to give you a little
bit of a look around at the situation

we're dealing with.

I was speaking with my mom in America,
and all of America is asking.

what's going on with these bushfires,
and I let them know I'm down in another

state helping with wildlife triage down
there, and it's intense.

The urgent need for veterinary help has
led to the RSPCA setting up mobile

animal hospitals.

We've got a range of vets who are coming
to help from a range of different

agencies, and it's been such a godsend
to have people who are experienced and

skilled be able to help with the
animals.

And Vet Kimberly has eagerly swapped the
Sydney Harbour views... His heart

sounds really clear. ...for a cramped
van in a country car park. I have to

sure there's no evidence of burns or
insulation problems.

So far, with the help of Emergency Vet
Caroline... 120?

They have rehabilitated dozens of
koalas. This will help get his guts

Hopefully he'll be interested in eating
on his own soon.

There is one koala who's caught their
attention, and he's in a particularly

way.

But Kimberly and Caroline refuse to give
up on him.

He's a lot of work, but he's worth it.

One of those bandages has just come off.
You can see he's got quite raw pads.

The worst burns are the ones that we've
seen.

We just thought we'd give him a chance.
Hopefully he will heal.

Sadly, this little koala has been
through so much.

that his body is starting to give up.

New for him, he's got some diarrhea.

And that's the problem.

While their burns are easily visible,
the damage caused on the inside is not

easily seen.

Once their intestines get imbalanced,
sometimes it's really hard to improve

that.

Just cut it right here.

They know they've done everything they
can for this koala. The abrasion's on

nose. I'm just going to put some
solosite protective.

That's good for now. The fluid bag is
finished, so I'm going to turn that off.

And we'll let them wake up.

They fear all they can offer now is
compassion.

I'm just rubbing them to stimulate them
to breathe because they'd like to hold

their breath.

It's normal, but it can be very
disturbing if you're not used to that

koalas.

Yeah.

Come on, my friend.

But sadly, for this koala, compassion
may not be enough.

That's a nice breath, thank you.

Yeah, I can sit up. Sit him up in line.
Sometimes

I like to breathe a little better in a
more

erect position.

Good one.

He's fighting hard, but the odds are
against him.

I'm going to just have a listen or a
feel of his pulse and see if he's still

track.

I can't hear it.

Despite the heartbreak of the bushfires,
back at Taronga, life must go on. And

there are plenty of hungry mouths to
feed.

From fruit to fish, grub to worms, and
everything in between,

all the animals menus at Taronga are set
by one person.

Nutritionist Michelle Shaw.

I'm Australia's first and only zoo
nutritionist. There are only about 30

the world that have nutritionists on
staff, so we're kind of a small group.

Michelle's certainly got a handful.

It's different every day. There's
constantly a mystery and there's

solve. And because of the record hot
summer Australia has just experienced,

she's about to get a whole lot busier.

Drought and bushfires are destroying
farmland and sourcing food for the

is becoming harder and more expensive
each year.

In preparation for a difficult future,
Michelle has helped develop an

grass, one that needs much less water to
grow.

So how do you think the tigers will like
it? I think they'll like it. I'm really

curious to see what that comes to
actually.

Oh, my goodness. Thank you.

So what do you think, Ben? Does it look
good?

It looks amazing. I'm really excited to
see what the cubs are going to do with

it. Me too. Yeah, I think they'll have
fun.

So this is hydroponic fodder. It was
grown without any soil or anything, just

with water. And it retains all the
water. You can see how moist it is,

You can taste it up here. Very moist.

Very nice.

I'm trying this hydroponic barley fodder
with a number of different species

because I want to see how this food
could be incorporated into their diet.

Hydroponics take about a liter of water
to make one kilogram of this fodder

grass, and hay could take 200 liters of
water to make one kilogram of grass.

So I want to see if this hydroponic
fodder could replace maybe 5 % of their

dried grasses, their grass hays, or some
of their pellets.

and that'll help us in the future when
we're... Sometimes hay is very difficult

for us to get in a drought, so it's nice
to have something that's consistent all

year round.

Part of her trial today is to see how
different animals around the zoo react

the grass, whether they use it for food
or enrichment.

Now, these are in kind of big mats, but
do you need it cut up at all, or are you

just going to put it into... I think we
can just pop it in in a big mat, and

we'll see how they go with it. I think
they'll have more fun playing with

something. that they can tear apart. I
think so, too.

I can't wait. It'll be exciting. Cool.
Thanks, Ben. Have fun. Thank you, guys.

First to trial the new grah are the
Sumatran tiger cub.

Put one there.

Anyone over here? There's no arguments
over it.

Cool.

Let's see what they do.

In Victoria... Come on, my friend.

Taronga Zoo vet Kimberley is on the
front line to save koalas injured from

catastrophic bushfires.

Sitting up in line, sort of forward.

And during a check -up, this young male
koala took a sudden turn for the worse.

So he has been improving over the past
few days.

and we were really hopeful that he would
continue to improve.

But when we anesthetized him to change
his bandages and check him today, we

noticed that he had developed diarrhea,
which can be problematic for koalas.

I think he's not breathing very well,
and I think his heart has now stopped.

I don't hear anything.

No, I don't hear any heartbeat.

Yeah. Is that you or him? That's him.
I'm not hearing his heart. Yeah, I think

he's dying, and that's fine for you to
film it.

So this may be our first fatality.

It's when we have a really sick koala in
this triage situation.

It's a do not resuscitate because
they're already quite compromised.

We're trying to give this guy a chance.

It's not looking too promising.

Even the most experienced vets struggle
to remain unaffected in these moments.

Do you hear a heartbeat?

No, I don't either.

I think he's just taking some last sort
of agonal or

reflexive breaths.

But there's no heartbeat yet. Put that
on.

That color's terrible.

Yeah.

Well, he's possibly choosing his own
time.

All right. No, he's colored.

Yep. Okay.

He's gone.

So, unfortunately, he's passed away.

Pretty sad.

Yeah, he had a few things going wrong
with him.

Yeah, that's what's happening down here
in the bushfire triage.

You want to save everybody, but you
can't sometimes.

It's sad, and it's hard at the time, and
we just have to remember that we're

trying to do the best that we can for
these animals.

Yeah, it's...

We're both actually usually quite stoic.

But we've been working such long hours
and so intensely with these patients

we're exhausted.

We're exhausted.

It's so rewarding, this work, but it's
so exhausting.

I'll be thinking about him for a little
while.

Yes. But yesterday we had two moms and
two smaller, like back young

size. joey that went up back to the wild
really happy and another mom with

uh joey and her pouts yeah so that's
like six animals we just put back out to

the wild successfully so and it's very
good first time he was always on the he

was on the cusp cusp yeah the cusp of
should we keep him or not yeah it's

not real because we're so it's been
there's been such long days and We're

and the reality of what happened today
with him, we'll probably think in the

next couple of days when I'm heading
back to Sydney.

Yeah.

As distressing as it is for Kimberly and
her team, they can't let their emotions

slow them down.

The pace is relentless, and they've just
heard that more injured animals are on

the way.

When it comes to giving care to its
animals, Taronga is world -class.

But there's a special type of care at
Taronga reserved for those that have

it all.

The elderly residents of the zoo.

And one of the most beloved is the
oldest resident of the marine precinct.

Murphy,

the 16 -year -old Californian sea lion.

Good boy, Matt.

Come on in, Ray. Over the last few
months, Taronga staff have been keeping

very close eye on Murphy.

Ray's going to stick you, OK, right in
there.

As they've noticed he has a limp when he
walks and pain in his slippers.

Good boy.

Beautiful and relaxed.

Excellent. But they've also noticed he's
not getting better.

Nice and slow.

Good boy.

So senior vet Larry has come down to
conduct an X -ray.

Over the past few months, he's sort of
had this strange fallen gait.

Sometimes he's a bit lopsided.

Sometimes he spreads his front flippers
out, not quite right.

But what we'll do before we actually X
-ray him, I want to see him... Watch his

gait. Yeah, yeah, that's fine. We'll go
and do a few runs.

What we're looking at now is whether he
might have a problem in his neck, for

example. The bones in the neck, there
might be some degeneration there. That

could be pressing on a nerve or
something like that. The challenge is

so huge.

And getting a decent x -ray through the
massive amount of tissue that we've got

to go through is probably the biggest
challenge for today.

Oh, that's crazy.

295 kilograms.

It weighs several hundred kilos.

So we're not going to be able to get him
up to the hospital. It's much better to

come out here where he normally lives
and we do the procedure here. We've got

some good portable x -ray equipment and
it's certainly much easier to do it

here. But manoeuvring a massive feline
into an exact position is far from a

simple process.

And it all hangs on the relationship
between Keeper Jacob and Murphy.

A bit further forward so that just the
back of his head is on the edge of the

plate, okay?

Good boy.

Tiny bit more.

Jacob can position him perfectly on this
plate.

Better than parking a car, you know.

How precise he can position Murphy on
this plate is incredible to see.

Okay, stop.

Good boy.

That's good. Let's get that.

While the first set of x -rays seemed
easy...

It's the second set that's really going
to test the team.

If I stand this side of him like that,
Larry?

I mean, that's perfect.

If he does that, that'd be brilliant. I
can even do that. That's easy enough.

So we're going to try and do a side view
of his neck. So Michelle's going to

hold the plate and I will be positioning
the x -ray beam and Jacob will position

Murphy. You have to improvise all the
time.

You know, the textbooks are written for
dogs and cats and domestic animals, but

our animals are so different that we're
always improvising and, you know,

working outside the box, so to speak.

And up.

Good job, Murph. Just a little bit to
see how his head is straighter,

That's the way, that's the way. Hold
there, buddy. I'm just... Murph.

No, no, you stay exactly where you are,
Michelle.

Stay exactly where you are.

Good job, buddy. You could see how
amazing Murphy is and the training that

and the rest of the team have done with
him. I mean, he's so disciplined. It's

incredible. Okay, we all ready?

Good.

I think we've really got the technique
is actually spot on now because I've got

a great image of the vertebra right in
the middle. The interesting thing is his

vertebra are really big.

So in that whole image, I can only see
three vertebrae. So there's a lot more

his spine that we could be looking at.

And hopefully Larry's captured enough to
solve the mystery of what's ailing

Murphy.

Tackling the drought and bushfires head
on, Taronga's nutritionist, Michelle, is

testing out some easy -to -source...
hydroponic graft on various animals.

Hydroponics take about a liter of water
to make one kilogram of this fodder

graft, and hay could take 200 liters of
water to make one kilogram of graft.

She's trying it on animals all across
the zoo, starting with the tiger cubs.

Oh, yes, yes.

Oh, look how we go. Oh, there we are.

Oh, so cute.

Oh, my God, they're stunning, aren't
they?

Come on, babies.

Come on, babies.

Do it.

After some initial hesitation, the first
test is a roaring success.

They're really ripping it apart. And the
good thing about this grass is that

it's so dense. When they grow things
hydroponically, the roots are so dense

you can't just, it doesn't pull apart
very easily. So they really have to work

at it. And we want them to use all of
those natural instincts of pawing at

things and pulling at things with their
teeth.

and really exercising all of those
muscles around their jaws and interact

with it like they would possibly a prey
species.

They could have come in here and ignored
it completely. There's grass in their

exhibit, so there's other things that
look similar to it. But they went in,

you can see they're interacting with
each other over it as well, and that's

really what we want, behavioral
enrichment.

We want them to have something that they
can destroy because they really love to

destroy things and something that the
keepers will find fun to clean up later.

While the grass went down a tree to the
plaything, the real test is getting the

animals to eat the grass.

So her next stop are the cappy boroughs.

So where do you think the sun's where
they're... I think a good spot is where

the hay is at the moment, yeah.

Okay.

So we'll just put it out on the rocks?
Yeah, just on the rocks there where the

hay was.

What do you think?

Is that going to be good for you?

Bon appétit, guys.

With the hydroponic grass, that's
something that is much more natural in

of the moisture content that they would
be getting. These are swimming animals.

They like to eat water plants and things
like that. Their diets are really high

in moisture normally. So adding some of
that moisture would be good for them.

There we go.

Rodney's all over it. That's successful.

Yeah, he looks pretty comfortable.

He does. He hopped up on the rock quite
easily and is quite happily munching

away on the grass.

Yeah. That's Sanchez, just there.

Okay.

That's our boy. And with this, it even
floats.

So at some point, we might be able to,
like depending on how the waterway is,

we'll be able to actually add it in the
water and they can eat more naturally

like they would. Excellent. So you'll be
able to see all that natural behavior

where they're...

Swimming and then grazing and swimming.

The capybaras were a success.

So they really take into the barley
fodder. They ate it right down to the

which is what we want to see with them
because that grass is so full of

and nutrients.

It's something that will be a high
energy source for them if we're trying

weight on them in the winter or if we
need them to improve their kind of

behavioral enrichment as well.

Well, that's good, Johnny. Thanks. I
think we'll let you do your paper talk.

Awesome. Thank you. Thanks, John.

So far it's two out of two, and Michelle
is keen to see if she can keep the ball

rolling on the next stop.

With the devastating bushfires raging
across Australia, hundreds of

groups are helping to save endangered
animals, including Taronga, who have

on 12 koalas, rescued from bushland four
hours north of Sydney.

From the moment that we heard that we
would likely be receiving these wild

koalas from Kanangra, we instantly had
to start setting up facility for them.

Where they're living at the moment
wasn't set up, wasn't ready to go, so we

to source furniture for them, which is
the branches in which they sit on, work

out the logistics of acquiring browse to
feed 50 % more koalas than we currently

have. So it was a huge task to get done
in such a short time frame.

So the 12 koalas that have been brought
to us, you know, they're in the line of

fire and a mammoth effort on part of
Science for Wildlife.

They have a major crew there that have
done an amazing amount of work just out

in the bush. They managed to get
climbers in to retrieve the koalas from

height.

It took hours and hours to do, in fact.

By the time we received the first koala,
it was well into the evening.

So it was a 48 -hour task that just felt
like it was never going to end.

Obviously they were shaken. They've just
done a three -and -a -half -hour trip

from Kanangra, plus however long it took
to actually capture them from the

trees. So, you know, they were very
nervous animals, very quiet. You know,

were drawn inward a little bit. You
know, they weren't engaged at all with

And they were slightly dehydrated, so
the first thing we did was weigh them,

give them fluids and then move them to
the new facility.

Given the sheer volume of the koala
population that's been wiped out due to

bushfires... These 12 koalas are
extremely significant, and they will

vital role in future repopulation
efforts.

The 12 koalas that have been saved were
from a very genetically valuable

population. Their chlamydia -free, and
in fact the first koalas found living

over 1 ,000 metres elevation.

The enormity of this fire is massive. If
these animals weren't removed from it,

it is highly likely that they would have
been lost.

Although the koalas are now safe, the
keepers can't relax.

They now need to find a way to feed an
extra 12 hungry mouths.

Taronga has a vast collection of animals
from all over the globe.

But it's one of the less exotic parts of
Taronga that's one of the most popular.

The backyard to bush.

Here at Backyard to Bush, this is our
farm area.

These are all of our goats and our
alpacas. So this is some of our farm

In the morning, they're all running
around, having fun, playing with each

While they all enjoy each other's
company... OK, come on, Twinkie.

Let's go for a walk.

..part of their enrichment comes from
going on walks throughout the zoo.

Yeah, we take our goats for walks quite
often here in the zoo.

We do that usually before the zoo opens.
All right, let's keep going.

And so that's a chance for our goats to
leave their home and just really stretch

their legs. It's really important for
some exercise.

And today, it's Mother Goat Twinkie's
turn to hit the road.

Or more like, the buffet.

Being a goat, she loves food, so on her
walk she stopped and I think she ate

food that was a little bit of a luxury
for her. So she had food that she

probably doesn't get every single day,
so she was a little bit spoiled.

She's going to be eating this for as
long as I let her.

No, not my pouch.

First stop on Twinkie's tour of the zoo
are the ever -curious meerkats.

What do we have here?

The meerkats straight away came over to
the glass. They had their paws up

looking at her. What are these?

Good girl.

This is a meerkat.

But this walk isn't just important for
Twinkie.

It's actually a really nice experience
for the meerkats at the moment to have a

really unusual animal that they've never
seen before.

And they're working as a mob to work
out, is this goat a threat or...

Is he just kind of inquisitive and they
want to go and check him out?

There were times where Twinkie felt a
little bit unsure about seeing the

meerkats and so you saw her move away
from the glass.

Twinkie, let's say hi to the meerkats.

There was probably a little bit of an
unsettling feeling there for her, but

that's actually a really cool enrichment
to have and for her to experience.

After a quick bite to eat, Twinkie's off
on her next adventure.

From the very small...

To the very tall.

Who's saying hello to you this morning?

Hello. The giraffes stuck their head
over the fence and had a really close

at Twinkie.

Just for them also seeing a goat walking
past their home is something quite

unusual. She doesn't usually walk past
them and so they couldn't help but also

be curious and say good morning to
Twinkie as well.

A few more snacks.

And it's off to visit the final animal
for today, Kabali, the western lowland

gorilla.

Oh, you definitely haven't seen this
before.

You're very curious.

Good girl.

Definitely having a look at you, isn't
he?

This is a really dominant male. You saw
him come out and check to make sure

that, yep, everything's okay. I'm
actually still really interested in you,

though. So he sat there and kept
watching her. And you saw that from

well. She stood still. Eyes were quite
alert. So for her, she was also thinking

and experiencing the same thing.

My heart was also pounding. I was really
excited for the both of them and just

to see and experience that they were
totally aware that they were meeting an

animal that they've never met before.

And just watching that behaviour is why
we do the job that we do. It's just

incredible to kind of see those really
social interactions between animals.

While it may have been more of an eating
tour than a greeting tour...

It's still been an important part of
Twinkie's life at the zoo.

It's really important when we're looking
after our animals here in the zoo. We

want them to be accustomed to everything
and she's completely comfortable where

she is.

All right, Twinkie, come on, we're
heading home.

But one thing's for sure, she can
probably skip lunch.

Oh, you want more pellets?

Had a bit of a buffet this morning on
your walk?

Let's go back home and see all the other
goats.

Murphy, the eldest statesman of the
Marine Precinct, just underwent a series

x -rays in an attempt to work out what's
causing his inability to walk

correctly. Good.

Now, back at the animal hospital, Larry
is hoping to rule out any serious spinal

issues. What we've got here is the back
of his skull and the first vertebra and

the second vertebra there.

So if we look there, so this is the
skull. We just happen to have a...

bones from another California sea lion.

So if you look at that, you can match it
up to what's on the x -ray, you see?

So we've got some reasonably good images
of the vertebrae in the back of his

spine. I mean, obviously it's not as
clear as we would like because he's got

massive amount of tissue to go through.

But there's just one little spot that
sort of piqued my interest.

Is that a little odd bit of bone that
just seems to be sitting out there?

what is that?

It's a suspected fractured spine.

I'm just wondering whether that little
bit of bone belongs more to the hyoid

rather than actually the vertebra. It
would be hard to imagine how he could

possibly fracture a bone in his neck.

Who knows? I don't know. Maybe it's
something he's had for years.

So what kind of plan should we go about
this and how to actually manage this?

Yeah, I mean, I think there's several
things we can do.

We know already that we've given him
some pain medication from time to time

he does seem to get better. Obviously,
getting his weight down a little bit

would help. Yeah, that would help. Also,
just manage what you do with him. Don't

put him through things where he's going
to have a lot of activity. It's going to

be hard for him because he's just so
keen to do everything.

Because of his age, the risk of surgery
is not an option.

So all Taronga can do now is make his
remaining years as pain -free as

Murphy's an elderly animal, and we pay
particular attention to ensuring the

quality of life of our ageing animals. I
think what we're doing with Murphy is a

good example of that. We have a plan. We
can put him on medication.

We can manage his environment, manage
his activity to make him comfortable.

Right. Hey, buddy.

With Murphy, I work with him every day.
I see him more than I see my family, so

I will do anything to make sure that he
has a comfortable, healthy life.

It's been two days since the rescued
koalas were saved from the bushfires,

Keeper Nick is checking in on their
progress.

Due to the fact that they are wild
animals, we really need to keep hands

much as we possibly can.

These animals are obviously not used to
people. In fact, some of them probably

haven't even seen people before, which
would be a bit quiet.

This is one of the adult males that have
come in from the bushfire area.

All of the animals that came in,
obviously, they've come from prolonged

as well as these bushfire issues.

So they are actually a little under
-hydrated.

So some of the things that we look for
first up is just his eyes, looking

straight onto him, seeing...

whether or not he's actually vibrant,
looking for his responsiveness to me.

So koalas will quite often, when they
greet another animal or a koala, they'll

actually greet with their noses. And
crazily enough, it actually works with

as well. So when I first look at a koala
in the morning, I'll often greet it

like that, and it gives me a bit of a
gauge as to how that animal's tracking.

And if he wasn't feeling comfortable, I
would most likely get no reaction at

all. So the fact that I've had that
little bit of engagement there tells me

that, although he's not amazing, he's
doing a lot better than he was when he

first came in.

The koalas continue to improve and
Taronga will allow them to recover in

own time.

It takes a lot for these animals to
adapt to such a dramatic change from

obviously in the wild, 12 metres up a
tree, not ever having seen anybody, to

then being in such close proximity.

different type of leaves as well.

Eucalyptus is actually quite different
depending on the elevation in which it

grows. And these koalas are actually
from 1 ,100 metres. So the food that we

have in our plantation that we provide
to our zoo koalas is grown at around

about 50 metres. So there's quite a
distinct difference there. So we need to

and get these animals transitioned onto
our local available browse.

Koalas are one of the most fickle
eaters.

and Taronga has had to go to extreme
lengths to ensure a continuous food

is readily available for them.

So they acquired three eucalyptus
plantations 90 minutes west of Taronga

foot of Sydney's Blue Mountains Range,
where a whole team of zoo staff work all

year round growing and harvesting trees.

All good, Toby? Yeah, mate. Two.

Two punctata.

And the amount of food a koala needs to
eat is staggering.

They're talking about 200 to 300 grams
of tip. So if we were to cut that down

and weigh it, you're talking about 200
to 300 grams of tip per koala per day.

So when you magnify that into terms of
how many sticks we need to get, branches

-wise, it adds up to a lot. So we're
talking roughly 600, 605 sticks a week,

it roughly averages out 1 ,000 trees per
koala a year to get a sustainable

amount of food.

But since Taronga has taken on 12
rescued koalas, it now means extra

be put on this plantation to keep them
all fed.

We're probably looking at an extra 300
sticks a week just to deal with these

koalas. So we'll have to talk about how
we manage it workload -wise, but it's

going to be more, mate. We've got to, I
guess, just band together and do what we

can to see them through.

Our team needs to step up and do their
bit to help the recovery of these

animals. And at the end of the day,
we're a conservation society and

everybody...

in the whole organisation, including our
team, are committed to providing that

service.

While the koala team are busy working
through the effects of record heat, so

Michelle, who's testing a new type of
grass that requires much less water to

grow.

OK, so I got two, but that's way too
much for them. Yeah. So what do you

How many do you think it would be cut
into? I reckon if we do three, so cut

there and one there, then we can spread
it out a bit.

She's come to the wildlife retreat to
see if our Australian native animals

the new food as much as the exotic
residents have.

So we'll just feed on these two stations
here. On these two? Yeah, so maybe one

on that one and two on this one, I
think.

So this is our group of rednecked
padamelons. So we have five adult

of them have pouch young at the moment,
and then two of them also have joeys at

their foot.

So that means they've emerged, but
they're still hanging around mum a fair

They're an Australian macropod species,
which is macro meaning big and pod

meaning foot. So they're the big -footed
marsupials. So your kangaroos,

wallabies are the ones that people
typically think of. These are just

branch of that family tree.

They definitely melt hearts.

Oh, they come out right away. Yeah,
they're so good.

Very food motivated.

Now, where's mum with the little joey?

I believe that's her on the left. Yeah,
Pictose is on the left. She'll usually

eat by herself because she'll push the
others away.

Patermelons would normally get something
that's high in moisture in their

natural environment because it's a
growing plant that they'd be eating. So

would be grazing, they would be browsing
on living plants.

And so we want to give them something
that's higher in moisture, it fills

bellies, but also provides a pretty
energy dense nutrient package as well.

It's definitely a winner. So I think
that the hydroponic fodder is something

that could potentially be a supplement
to their diet. It would be something

we could provide as consistent nutrition
year round. So during the winter when

we don't have a lot of browse available,
when there's just not a lot of growing

going on, then we can provide something
fresh for them then.

And Michelle's last stop for today is
the biggest of all.

Lex, here it is. Thank you.

Here, I'll give you a hand.

The elephant.

Yeah. Oh, it floats so nicely. I was not
sure if a full pad would float.

So we have tried the hydroponic grass
on...

So many species. We're trying it on
everything.

Because when you're feeding a zoo as
well, you need to be very flexible and

as many species as possible with very
few feed items. So this is one of those

feed items that's versatile. We can feed
it to many different animals.

Whether it eats grass or not, it's
something that could provide something

enriching for their environment.

While mixing up food sources is
something Michelle is always keen to do,

also trying to future -proof the food
supply for Taronga's hungry residents.

We're having...

Many more extreme heat events than cold
events in Australia. And we're also

having much less rainfall than we would
normally have. And it means that in the

future we're going to have a lot more
trouble growing hay.

We're going to have a lot more trouble
growing grains that we need to make the

pellets that we give to some of the
animals.

And so we have to look for alternatives
and look for innovation.

And one of those is hydroponics.

So obviously we have to look for things
that we can reduce the amount of water

that we're using.

And we need to find alternatives so that
we're not competing with the human

market as well. So we're getting the
most out of this water.

Fires continue to rage across Australia.

They've been burning for several months
now.

The exact amount of damage caused by the
fires may never be known.

But what is certain is that Australia
will be dealing with the fallout for

to come.

It's really hard to get your head
around. It's almost overwhelming to even

conceive of all these bushfires.

Australia's on fire, and it's really,
really hard to see it.

I think a lot of people are having
difficulty accepting what's going on.

While the houses can be rebuilt, roads
can be repaired.

and the bush will regenerate over time.

It's the loss of wildlife, estimated at
over one billion animals, that could

take decades to recover.

I do worry that we're helping these
animals, and we're doing great work for

these particular individuals, and we
have to cover their welfare and make

they're healthy and comfortable.

I do worry about putting them out there
because it is early in the bushfire

season. We could see this going through
a long extended summer.

But Taronga won't let that thought stop
them. They will continue to treat and

rehabilitate these injured animals until
the last one comes in.

It is Taronga's role, obviously, to be
leaders in conservation, and I think

that's what we're doing right now. We're
not only preserving habitat, but we're

actually saving populations of animals.

It doesn't really matter how much it
costs. It's something that we certainly

weren't ever going to turn our backs on.
It's so vital that these animals were

saved.

The resource implications in feeding is
astronomical.

So the burden is huge, but it's
certainly one that we absolutely had to

and certainly a challenge that we
couldn't pass up.

Like all the other animals at Taronga,
the wild koalas only get the best care

while they wait out the fires.

We absolutely are providing temporary
accommodation for these guys. You know,

well -hydrated leaves, misting systems,
perch to themselves.

They really don't have much to worry
about here.

But the wild koalas in Victoria don't
have the luxury of being accommodated at

Taronga. They have to go straight back
into the bush.

All of the other koalas we've worked
with, They've been released.

And are we putting them back in an area
that might then get burned?

And it's a struggle in the face of such
trauma to remain upbeat.

But it's exactly what Kimberly is doing.

It's really hard to even think about it.
It really hits me when my family and

friends from America check in and go, we
see what's happening.

And it's around the world. And the
smoke's going around the world.

So everybody's affected and everybody's
concerned.

And that's like I'm getting all choked
up. That's when it really, really hits

that this is so big and so real. It's
not just a little regional problem down

here. It's not just a problem in New
South Wales.

We're all sharing this burden. The whole
world's going to share it.

So, yeah.

It's big.

It's big.

I can't think about it. I've got to go
fix some koalas.

Okay.

Hold on, I'm here.

I heard you had two more. And on Pew,
another two koalas arrive, delivered by

the army, and the cycle begins again.

So this young one was on its own?

Yes. He was way up on the train by
himself, all burned out everywhere, and

was no registration for him.

Okay.

Good, I'm glad it's just two, because
it's been a busy morning already,

and we have the new team coming in.

Oh my God, I'm so glad you're here.

As Taronga vet nurse Liz arrives to take
the reins from Kimberly, all they can

do is exactly what they've been doing.
Two koalas just arrived.

I'll go in and get started. Just come on
in and we'll show you guys around.

And that's treating these animals with
the care, dignity and respect they

deserve. Look at how cute.

Yeah, yeah, sure.

I'll hold that part. Okay.

That's so cute.

What do we have?

It's a little girl that's got a pouch.

Okay.

It's really hard to even think about it.
Like, I've got to go fix these koalas,

so I've got to stay focused.

Oh, it's really hard. I get quite
depressed when I think about what's

with the environment, so I'll do what I
can.

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