All language subtitles for Taronga s02e10 Too Cant Chew.eng

Sydney Harbour is home to one of the
world's most iconic zoos, Taronga.

Everyone stand as far apart as possible.

But never before... Make sure you've got
your mask on. ...has it faced a year

with as many monumental challenges.

It's really hard to see because I'm
sparking you up.

Atta boy, Jim. Nearly home, mate.

The teams across both of Taronga's
zoos... Open. ...meet every challenge

on. And our cameras are there.

Every step of the way.

On this episode... This is close enough.

Malu, the mighty red.

How a sore tooth brought down this
boxing kangaroo.

So he's already lost a tooth on that
side. Any kangaroo that shows signs that

something might be going on in their
mouth, we take pretty seriously. You can

see that tooth is very loose.

We've got primate pellets. Chicken feed.

The hunt for the perfect pellet. If they
don't eat it, it's worthless.

Taronga conducts a taste test. She likes
them. But it's not to everyone's

liking. And three, the crowd.

As new babies arrive all across the zoo.

I think it's one of the most rewarding
things for a keeper to be able to

an experience just so special.

Trunk. You good?

You can tell a lot about an animal's
health by simple observation.

Good voice, Daddy.

Yeah, it's a bit soft. You can see, you
know, he's got a bit of grooves in here

and rocks have made divots in here. With
a quick once -over, keepers can often

detect the first signs of trouble.

I'm just going to check for any ticks or
sick -class fleas.

All looking really good.

Happy with him.

In some cases, they can check an
animal's health even in their absence.

Nothing too obvious here.

Today, gorilla keeper Amy is on the hunt
for clues.

All right, doesn't look like there's
anything here today.

To solve a delicate problem facing
silverback gorilla Kibali.

Now, often we can find as well, the
gorillas will use this ledge and they'll

off of the ledge. So we can sometimes
find nuggets right here on the edge.

Our animal health and animal well -being
comes in all different shapes and

forms. So behaviour is one way, but also
looking at the animal's physiology,

what they're producing, are they
urinating and defecating? It's a really

important part of our job as zookeepers.

To do this, we need to glove up. So
really important from a biohazard for

zoonotic diseases, to make sure that we
put some gloves on. Obviously, I'm not

going to get too close to the feces, but
I can pick it up and have a good look

at it as well. See the texture, see the
form of it, the size.

Even a strange odor of a gorilla feces
as well can really indicate some health

issues.

Kabali has an extensive history of
stomach problems.

And because gorillas have only a plant
-based diet, keepers are becoming more

concerned as they watch Kabali straining
to pass his feces.

For a Kabali -sized poo, this is a very
small sample.

For a big gorilla like Kabali, he's
weighing in 170, 180 kilos. He's a

big silverback, so we'd expect him to
make quite a substantial deposit.

Right now, this is a really small little
nugget, very dry.

This one is incredibly hard as well.

No one wants a constipated silverback,
that's for sure.

So it's our job now to report it to our
vets and to our nutritionist, Michelle,

who can hopefully come together and make
the pieces of the puzzle click together

and work out a solution for him that if
he is having a problem with defecating

or with draining, how we can help him
out with that.

has 5 ,000 mouths to feed each day.

Every year, zoo kitchens process
hundreds of tons of meat, vegetables,

grains, costing millions of dollars.

And this vast operation is all overseen
by zoo nutritionist Michelle, who

designs meals aimed at keeping all the
animals in the best possible condition.

Up until now, to feed all the zoo's
herbivores, the animals that only feed

plants, Michelle has had to rely on
sourcing a vast range of pellets.

Okay, so this is what arrived yesterday.
But the problem is, there's far too

many of them. We've got some goat
pellets.

We've got what we call like an all
-purpose livestock pellet. So this is

something that would go to our giraffe,
hippo. And we've got our kangaroo cubes,

which is a separate herbivore pellet.

We've got primate pellets. We've got
chicken feed.

We've got various horse pellets of all
different kinds. We have psyllium

pellets. There are so many different
pellets here. And this is just Taronga

in Sydney.

So in an effort to simplify the feeding
process, Michelle has developed

Taronga's very own pellet to replace all
the others.

This pellet is great. It's going to be
something that's really high in fiber,

low in starch, so it's going to be
better for their digestion.

Over the coming week, Michelle and her
assistant Angie will be trialing the

pellet on a wide variety of animals.

Oh, that's very nice. If there's any
left, that is.

That's pretty nice. I can taste the
lucerne. Yeah, I can taste the lucerne

So in that pellet, that's a five -star
three -course dinner.

And we are going to add a couple more
sides to it.

I'm pretty excited to get this out in
the field and start trying it on our

animal because it doesn't matter how
good it looks or how much I like the

of it. If they don't eat it, it's
worthless.

It's taken Michelle five years of
research and development to perfect this

pellet. What a beautiful day for testing
new pellets. Perfect.

So there's a lot riding on this taste
test.

So now this is the very first taste
trial. It's just to see if the taste and

texture and size is good for the animal.

Hey. Hi, Michelle.

Come on in.

Thank you.

First stop is the pygmy hippo exhibit.

where supervisor Gabe gives breeding
female Kambiri her first taste.

She seems to be liking it. Yeah, this is
good, I reckon. She's got her nose down

and is licking them up, which is very,
very normal behaviour for her. She likes

them. Good.

They're going down well.

I like them too. Have you tried them? I
haven't. You have to.

You don't have to, just because I'm
telling you to.

It reminds me of some of the biscuits we
have at home. The savoury biscuit with

grains in it. With, like, grains in it.
Yeah.

The aftertaste isn't as nice as the
biscuit. I need a drink now. That's

Gabe might not be a big fan, but it
looked like Kambiri gave the new pellet

mark. Look at you, sweetheart.

You like it.

I'm so relieved because...

I mean, I knew it was good, the numbers
are good, and everything on the computer

looks good, and I mean, I like it, but
she's the final judge, and we need to

make sure that she likes it, otherwise
we could just throw this out.

So I think it's very promising.

Okay, on to elephants.

Michelle's next customer is the biggest
herbivore in the zoo, and one that eats

around 150 kilos of food a day.

The trunk up.

Open. Good girl.

Nice, Mole.

Hey, Mole, are you going to try
something new? Some herbivore pellet.

You can take that. Good girl.

See how you go with that.

Very first taste.

Australian marsupials are well
represented at Taronga in all shapes and

But there's one that casts a shadow over
all the others.

The mighty and muscular red kangaroo.

The red kangaroo is the largest
macropod. Macropod meaning big foot. And

are the largest species of marsupial in
the world.

When they stand on their hind legs, they
stand over six feet tall, up to 90

kilos, a very large, very powerful
animal. Here at Taronga Zoo, they're

classified as a hazardous animal, so we
have to be very careful working with

them.

A mob of kangaroos like to have a
leader, an alpha male, if you like.

Marley is the biggest and the oldest,
and he's the boss.

This is close enough. I think...

Definitely close enough, and he's aware
of me. He doesn't look like it, but he's

certainly aware of me, and if we get too
close, you'll definitely hear a growl

out of him.

That's his little warning.

Having said that, they're pretty chill.
They're great to work with.

They spend most of their day wandering
through this exhibit trying to find the

sunny patches, and they'll sleep most of
the day.

He's a bit suspicious of me, but he's
now about to settle down and have a bit

a snooze. He's a good boy.

The red kangaroo may be an impressive
species, but they have a surprising

weakness.

They are susceptible to teeth problems,
and that's one of the things we really

keep a close eye on.

Hey, buddy.

Here you go, mate.

Marlou, in the last two weeks, developed
a bit of a dribble, only when he was

eating. And then last week... He was
spitting up food quite a bit and doing a

bit of tongue -slicking, so that was a
real concern.

If Marlou isn't eating his food, he's
not getting the nutrition he needs.

So senior vet Larry and his team are
heading down to the kangaroo exhibit to

if they can find out what Marlou's
underlying problem is.

So this is ketamine, big kangaroo, so
the drugs that we need need to be very

concentrated.

And with an animal as powerful as
Marlou, Nurse Liz needs to be ready for

anything.

So Marlou, he's a potentially hazardous
animal, so we have to be very careful.

He's hopefully going to be nice and
quiet and relaxed when we get round to

And we may be able to put a pulse
syringe in with an extended syringe.

So when the animal is, say, over here,
you can inject them at a distance. Then

they'll go to sleep quite quickly and
they're not stressed.

And if that doesn't work, we'll have to
attempt to use...

The dart would slide out of a pistol.

But I believe this one will work.

Treating a kangaroo out of the hospital
requires a lot of kit, so packing the

van is a painstaking process.

Because he's such a big animal, it'll be
quite a job bringing him down to the

hospital, and if we can deal with it in
the enclosure where he is, that'd be

ideal.

But working with animals is often
unpredictable, and this morning, it

Malu is going to make things difficult.

They're on, guys.

Oh, ready?

Kabali, the silverback gorilla, has been
a bit backed up of late.

For a Kabali -sized poo, this is a very
small sample.

So vets, in conjunction with zoo
nutritionist Michelle, have recommended

course of action for keepers to see if
they can't get things moving again for

the big guy.

Michelle spoke to us about Kabali.
Obviously he's still having problems

pooping. Michelle wants us to give him
some psyllium. We're going to give it to

him a couple of times a day, along with
quite a large volume of fluid as well.

So it's a combination of the psyllium
husk and the fluid. We're going to use

honey water because Kabali has got quite
a sweet tooth, so that will help it go

down. A liter is going to be just pretty
much up here.

And then we will measure out two
tablespoons of psyllium husk.

So hopefully this psyllium husk will
just make Kabali a little bit more

comfortable because we are really seeing
him strain.

He's going from side to side, sometimes
taking several minutes to be able to

defecate. So hopefully this bit of
psyllium husk along with the fluids will

him to have regular bowel movement.

Michelle wants to start with once in the
morning, once in the afternoon.

And then if we can get any extra fluids
into him as well, then that will be a

bonus. So no pressure.

But if you can get that into him, that
would be great. Great. Let's go.

Thankfully, a gorilla's daily routine
provides plenty of opportunity for

to give Kabali his special drink.

We're going to be giving Kabali his
psyllium in a training session.

The other gorillas will get fruit in
their session. Kabali will get a little

of fruit for training, but he'll get a
nice jug of honey water and psyllium

during that training session to make
sure we get everything we need into him.

With Kabali happy to gulp down all the
psyllium hearts, Keepers can settle back

and wait for it all to come out the
other end.

This is an extra one which we can use in
gorillas if you want. But nutritionist

Michelle has another idea that might
help Kabali get the relief he needs.

So we've had really good success with
the species we've tried so far.

And permanents in Dubbo too, so give
them some things in Dubbo seem to like

Let's see how these guys go then.

We're always looking at new and improved
ways of incorporating that nutritional

profile into their diet for those issues
like Cavalli's constipation.

I had a couple of ideas about that. I
can't wait to hear them.

We just got up.

This morning we're going to do an
anaesthetic procedure on one of our red

kangaroos, Malu.

Just over the last few weeks, he's been
dribbling a little bit of saliva and a

bit of food's falling out of his mouth.

We are a little bit concerned that he
might have some dental disease.

Because Malu is so large, the team have
opted to do the procedure in the

exhibit. We always need to keep in mind
that they can be very dangerous, big,

big, powerful animals, and all it will
take is one kick from their hind legs

they could rip your guts out.

They're on to us.

Because of that risk, Larry is using a
pole injection to administer the drugs

Malu.

That's him on the right, Larry. This
one?

Shorts him? Yep. It requires speed,
precision, skill and a

bit of luck.

There you go. Done.

So that was lucky because he just came
up to the door. Fantastic.

And had an opportunity to jab him.

Larry, are you happy now Sam walks past
and hopefully they'll follow him with

the food? Obviously it doesn't disturb
Marlou.

After ten minutes, the keepers are able
to entice the other kangaroos away with

food. Oh, look at them go.

Yeah, follow the keeper.

While the rest of the team must be
patient and wait for Marlou to nod off.

Oh, come on, mate.

Pop a little towel over his face.

We're just trying to keep him really
calm, not disturb him until he's fully

asleep. Particularly with this
combination of drugs, if you interfere

the animal too early, it reduces the
effectiveness of the drug.

20 minutes later, Marlo is finally
asleep.

Okay, Sam, so... And Larry can begin the
procedure. Okay.

Any kangaroo that shows any signs that
something might be going on in their

mouth, we take pretty seriously.

Kangaroos generally are quite prone to a
disease that then can get much worse to

the point of actually infecting the bone
in their mouth.

First thing I'm going to do is smell his
breath.

Smells nice.

That's often a key indicator of dental
disease in kangaroos, in macropods. If

they have any degree of dental disease,
they usually get really bad breath.

So I'm just counting one, two, three.

So he's already lost a tooth on that
side. But this is normal for kangaroos

because they have what's called molar
progression, where the teeth, as they

move slowly forward.

Because kangaroos eat coarse grass
throughout their lives, their teeth have

evolved so that new molars continually
break through to replace old ones that

they fall out.

OK, so this side here.

The left lower jaw is where the problem
is.

And you can see that tooth is loose.

There, very loose.

But probably not infected. I'd say it's
probably part of normal molar

progression.

It's very likely that that loose tooth
and a bit of food that's caught between

his teeth at that point are causing some
irritation for him and also probably

also makes him dribble a bit. The good
thing is there doesn't seem to be any

horrible dental disease in there.

But either way, the tooth needs to come
out.

There you go.

Beautiful. Easy?

Nice. So you can see that's a pretty
dodgy -looking tooth.

It does smell a bit, actually.

The extraction was relatively easy, but
keepers have also asked Larry to examine

Marlou's shoulder, which they've noticed
has been causing him problems.

I'll have to turn him over and just
compare.

It does feel a bit odd in that shoulder,
to be honest.

It's common for male red kangaroos to
spar.

It's what earned them the nickname the
boxing kangaroo.

But keepers haven't seen the usually
chilled Malu suffer any significant

Arthritis is actually not that common in
kangaroos, so I don't think it's just

arthritis. Can we just turn him back
over? Sorry, go on.

Just hold him there for a sec.

Yeah, so you can see that this one
doesn't extend as far.

You see that?

Yeah. OK, we need to take him down for
an X -ray.

What began as a simple dental procedure
in the exhibit suddenly turns into a

military operation.

There is clearly a problem in that
shoulder. Bit of a change in plan,

OK, in you go.

All right, I'll stay in the back.

The team must now race against the clock
to examine Marlu's shoulder before the

anaesthetic wears off.

Zoo nutritionist Michelle is trialing
her new food pellet on all the

in the zoo.

And do we do a little taste test now?
Let's go for it. Okay, let's go for it.

Oh, it's good. Oh, I like that. Yeah.

Next in line for the taste test are the
elephants.

We'll see how our biggest herbivore in
the zoo copes.

It should replace their current pellet
and the vitamin mineral mix that we give

them as well, so you'd only have to give
this.

Yep. So hopefully they like it. All
right, perfect. I'll see how it goes.

You can take that. Good girl.

Yep. Straight in with the treat, and
she's back again.

Very first teeth.

She seems okay.

She definitely likes the pellet. She's
eating it nice and quickly.

To make sure that she gets all the
pellets, she puts her foot behind it or

the tub, scoop as much as she can and
put it back in her mouth. So, yeah,

definitely loves it.

And it's a nice gesture that we always
do ask for the tub to be back. You got

it. Good girl. All right. Thank you. And
we reward that behavior as well. Yes.

So it's just that nice gesture that she
has.

Just cleaning up your plate when you're
done. Exactly.

With the animals loving the taste of the
pellet, the next phase of the trial can

begin. Tangmo is coming up right now,
and she's just going to go on the scale.

Which will determine the volume of
pellets they'll receive.

We're going to see what these girls
score out of nine, and that just means

they holding a little extra weight, and
do we need to reduce their diet a little

bit, or do we need to increase their
diet, and we're just going to assess

So she's weighing in at 3 ,810 kilos.

So what would you call that?

I would probably give that a 6 out of 9.

I think that's about it. So here comes
Pat Boone. She's just got up on the

there.

So she's a bit lighter than Tang Mo. 3
,635.

That's pretty much a good weight for
her. You might have seen Tang Mo a lot

taller than Pat Boon. So Pat Boon's a
bit more wider, whereas Tang Mo's a bit

taller. It's kind of hard to keep them
on the lean side often, so it'll be nice

to give them something a little more
bulk, but still keep them lean.

With the elephants out of the way,
Michelle doesn't have to travel far for

last client of the day.

So our two new camels that have arrived
from Dubbo, we have Raz and Storm on the

other side, the darker of the two, and
they're settling in quite nicely. We're

still getting to know them and they're
still getting to know us. They're mainly

grazers, but they'll give any sort of
plant material a go.

Which is exactly the sort of thing that
Michelle wants to hear.

Storm, Raz, come on, ladies.

That's the way.

You can see Storm there. She's really
getting stuck in. She hasn't put her

up for the last 30 seconds or so.

So it mustn't be too bad.

I don't think we could have hoped for
more. No. This is exactly what we were

hoping to see. This is a good result.

And it looks like Storm's finished.

You done, Stormy? None left?

None left. This is a very good result.
They ate everything.

They seem to enjoy it.

So as far as we're concerned, that's a
winner.

While today's trial has been a huge
success, there's still plenty of animals

Michelle's list yet to sample the
pellet.

And there's one in particular who will
get more benefit than just tasting new

food. This pellet's just going to allow
him to digest all of those wonderful

nutrients much more efficiently.

There you go. Done.

It's been a busy morning in the red
kangaroo exhibit.

What started as a tooth extraction for
eight -year -old Malu... There you go.

Beautiful. This one doesn't extend as
far?

Yeah. OK, we need to take him down for
an X -ray.

..soon turned into a rushed trip to the
wildlife hospital for something

completely different.

The scales.

He's quite blinky up here, though. Yeah,
just get him on the mask there, Liz.

Yep. We just brought Marlou down to the
hospital because we discovered he does

actually have a problem with his
shoulder, so we'll need to take some x

At 82 kilos, Marlou is the alpha male of
the group.

Certainly looks more impressive on the
table than lying on the ground in the

enclosure, doesn't he?

His size and status may be a clue to the
cause of his injury.

Marlou definitely spars with the other
boys that he lives with here at Taronga

Zoo. He puts the other boys in his place
when he needs to. He's the boss in

there.

In order to learn what's going on with
Marlou's shoulder... Let's see if that's

any better.

..Larry and the team set up for some X
-rays.

What we might try and do is get a
ventrodorsal of both shoulders.

So this is going to be a nice challenge
for everyone.

So I'm just going to put him on his back
because I think getting that view from

his chest to his back is going to be
much more rewarding in terms of getting

diagnostic image.

Kangaroos are, just because of their
body shape, quite challenging. But this

one of the things about zoo animal
medicine, you're just dealing with

species every day and you've just got to
improvise and work out ways of doing

these things.

For keeper Tony, seeing Malu on the
table like this is confronting.

I didn't expect this really to happen
today. I was pretty confident about the

whole tooth issue, so this is something
different that's come up.

But I know he's in very good hands, the
best hand.

All right, let's see how we go with
this.

So what we've got up here is the two
images of the right and the left

The left one is the normal one.

The difference between the two is quite
apparent.

This one here has got a nice sort of
socket joint. The bone is nicely rounded

with this sort of protrusion up here,
which...

The clavicle attaches to there.

And on this side here, we can see it's
completely different. The bone is also

deformed. The socket joint is not a nice
round fitting joint.

Fortunately, there's no arthritis.

The extensive damage to Marlu's shoulder
has shocked the team.

We weren't expecting anything like what
we found.

This was something that would have
happened many years ago, I think. And it

might have just been exacerbated
recently by...

Being, you know, sparring with one of
the other males or something like that

it's created a bit of pain in that
shoulder.

Old injuries are notoriously difficult
to treat.

So with the x -rays ruling out disease
and arthritis, Larry makes a call.

We'll leave that. We know now that
there's that abnormality, really not

be able to do anything.

And we know, you know, he's otherwise a
pretty healthy animal.

After two hours under anaesthetic.

It's time to get Marlou home.

Okay, get ready.

One, two, three.

I'll grab this.

To the man.

Marlou's the giant beast of an animal,
muscular, but he's just got this

beautiful personality, very chilled.

It's a privilege in a way to be able to
get so close to them. He'll be wowing

the visitors, I would say, for another
few years yet, hopefully.

Turn him around so his head's that way.

We're just giving him the reversal drugs
now to wake him up.

Giving him an injection that'll last a
couple of days to just make him more

comfortable because obviously
manipulating the shoulder today will

him quite sore for a couple of days. But
beyond that, I think we'll just monitor

him and if at any time he shows signs of
pain, we'll deal with it then.

Okay. Thanks, guys. Thanks very much,
Larry. See you next time.

Taronga Zoo has been operating
continuously for 104 years.

And a zoo can only stay successful for
that long if it really invests in their

animals' care and well -being.

This is the delicious one. Ready?

Yummy. Out at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
in Dubbo, not only do they delight in

caring for all the animals who call it
home, they've been enormously successful

in creating new residents.

For many guests, a visit to the zoo is
just the tip of the iceberg.

So many of the things that go on behind
the scenes is actually what zoos are all

about, and that is the breeding
programs.

Good boy.

And now the spring has sprung.

The team is overjoyed to welcome the
next bunch of zoo babies.

So we've got some massive news out here.
We have a new giraffe calf, Layla,

who's three weeks old now.

She's a high -energy animal, Layla is.

She's always running around and stuff
like that and mucking around with some

the other younger giraffes out there as
well.

She's doing really well out here. She's
very independent.

Really excited to explore the exhibit
with the other animals.

Over at the otter exhibit, the cuteness
factor is tripled.

Three pups that have just recently been
born here, they've just had their first

health checks. They've been given a
clean bill of health from our vets and

now know that we've got one little boy
and two little girls.

So keepers have named them a male tie
and then the two little girls are Suki

Katara.

So that very first day when they start
emerging from the den box, it's the best

day for the keepers, I think 100%.
They're very, very family orientated.

very, very social.

They live in family groups. You'll have
a dominant pair. They'll be mum and dad

and then they'll have their offspring.
They really do everything together as a

family. These guys are classified as
vulnerable out in the wild and breeding

programs and zoos are really important
for that. So we can never be more

than to welcome more otters into our
group.

And keepers over at Primate Island also
shared in some baby joy.

We've got some very exciting news. We've
got a brand new addition to our Spied

Monkey troop.

We've got a new baby to a very
experienced mum, Jai.

She was born about a week ago and coming
in to find her was an absolute joy.

We've worked very hard on our
relationship with Jai. There's a lot of

between us as keepers and Jai. Within a
few days of her actually giving birth to

the baby, she was comfortable to come
right up to us and have a nap right here

next to us. And to have an animal that's
comfortable to sleep with a newborn

baby right next to you is just so
special. I think it's one of the most

rewarding things for a keeper to be able
to witness and experience a lot of the

work in our relationship.

This is the time that it pays off. We
know that they're comfortable, we know

that they're happy and they're able to
breed without any of the stress and fear

that they might have under different
circumstances.

Taronga's nutritionist Michelle is
continuing to trial her new herbivore

around the zoo.

I'm very nervous when we do these types
of trials because it's very likely that

there'll be animals that won't eat it.
And we had that with pellet trial in the

past. Her next candidate for her new all
Aussie pellet has an additional

problem. And Michelle is hopeful that
this new feed has properties that can

contribute to his recovery.

We've had some digestive issues with
Kabali, mainly constipation.

So we've been doing multiple things for
that. We had him on psyllium husk.

I guess for us, we're always looking at
new and improved ways of incorporating

that nutritional profile into their
diet.

And so to be able to get more crude
protein and more loosening to such a

food product is actually really
fantastic for those issues like Kabali's

constipation.

Where would you normally be putting your
pellets anyway?

We're going to do a scatter. Okay. But
we're going to actually scatter in

sawdust today to encourage that
foraging. Oh, good. Eating behaviour,

love.

But because those pellets are quite
small, I'm really excited about what we

do with them in the short life.

Oh, good. Okay?

All right.

Here we go.

Oh, that's so nice.

What other kinds of things do you put in
shavings for them to forage? So we'll

put pellets, shell peas, lawn pieces as
well.

Anything small that encourages that
natural dexterity and also allows them

forage. The older pellets that we had
were probably about four or five times

this size.

So putting them in sawdust like this is
fantastic for that natural foraging

behaviour. And hopefully they don't
avoid this pile because... I don't think

there'll be any avoidance today.
Excellent.

I think it's going to be all in.

With the pellets in place, all eyes are
on silverback gorilla, Kabali.

But he's going to go with the cucumber
first, of course.

After a brief distraction with some
salad, it looks like he's actually...

gets right into the soda.

Oh, he's going to give it a sip? Yeah,
okay.

What is he doing?

He's actually blowing the soda. Oh, he's
blowing the soda? Yeah, he's blowing

the soda off his palm.

That's clever.

Yeah, that is very clever.

When it comes to being able to pick the
tiniest of insects, like the tiniest of

pellets, that kind of stuff is so
incredible.

For us, it's really important that we
can incorporate different food items.

They're not getting the abundance of
leaves that they'd be getting in the

So something like lucerne hay is really
fantastic for roughage in their gut.

They're consuming a lot of fibre.

Lucerne's fantastic for that, and
lucerne's actually in this pellet.

The greatest thing about incorporating a
new food item is that it's novel.

And anything novel for these guys is
really interesting and something that we

can use.

Keepers are amazed.

Kabali doesn't just like it.

He loves it.

You can see Kabali's very relaxed.

He's in his element.

So this is great.

I'm going to take that as a win. Yeah,
that's definitely for sure. That is a

win. Oh, I'm so relieved.

The pellets for the gorillas were a very
big success.

It was a huge yes, big thumbs up. I
don't think we could have...

hoped for a better outcome with the
gorillas. They did a really good job,

we're going to be able to transition
them onto it really easily.

So while Michelle heads off to continue
her trial, the gorilla keepers will

maintain their watch over Kabali in the
hope that this new pellet will help

resolve his constipation.

It's been a couple of weeks since Marlou
was treated for a sore tooth.

There you go. Yeah.

And then, unexpectedly, taken to the
wildlife hospital for shoulder x -rays.

Hey, Marlou, how you going, buddy?

Can I have something to eat? Let's go.
Come on.

Come on. Come on, Marlou.

Turned out that Marlou had a previous
injury before he came here, and that

injury has caused some malformation in
his right shoulder.

It's not affecting his life in any way,
shape or form, as far as we can tell.

We're just going to observe Marley. He's
still the alpha male here. He still

puts the other boys in their place when
he needs to.

How's that mouth?

And as far as his teeth go, they seem to
be doing the job.

This looks to me like perfectly normal
feeding.

He's grinding that food up. He's
swallowing it. I'm really happy with

here. It looks perfectly normal to me. I
think he's a happy kangaroo.

And the boss is back and he's in his
rifle position.

After years in the planning, zoo
nutritionist Michelle is conducting a

trial, taste -testing her new food
pellets designed right here at Taronga.

She got a big tick of approval from the
gorillas.

Now she's hoping to repeat that with
another much smaller and much pickier

primate, the lemurs.

Let's just lay it down.

Brazilians are not great with new
things. And so I'm really, I don't know.

It's going to be a 50 -50 chance whether
this works today or not. But let's see

how they go. So if they don't go after
the pellet, what are we going to do?

Notoriously fussy eaters.

The lemurs will be getting some
additional food to help entice them to

pellets. Just to help with the process,
I've actually made up some sweet potato

and corn puree.

That's something that they love, and so
combining it with the pellets could

actually encourage them to eat it. We're
going to try pellets on their own and

also a little bit with the puree, and
we'll see what the outcome is.

If we can start to add a little bit of
pellets in.

Sniffing, sniffing, sniffing. Yeah, so
we'll see a lot of smelling.

Sniffing, sniffing.

Lots of sniffing going on.

Haven't seen trying yet. No, I haven't.
Yeah,

I know.

So you can see there's an interest, but
I don't think they're too

sold.

While it looks like the first big snub
for the trial, Michelle hasn't given up

yet, and it's time to bring out the big
guns.

Sweet potato and corn. Let's see if this
sweet potato and corn can convince them

a little bit.

So, Michelle, this is really promising.

This is Dia and Toki, the two boys that
joined our group this year from Dubbo.

But they look like they're enjoying it
too.

How's that?

I mean, I'm going to say.

That's a win. That is a win.

That's a big, big win.

Do you want to do a cake trial? I think
we have to do a cake trial.

These toothy primates like to hold their
food as they eat it. Here's the new

cake, and it's a little bit different.

So Michelle also prepped some special
pellet cakes to try to win them over

way. So we've got bamboo up there now.

Again, I'm going to say that's a no from
bamboo, but now we've got salapa.

Salazar. Salazar. No luck with Salazar.

Toki, our youngest.

He's the most inquisitive.

We're still not having a lot of success
there.

A couple of the members of the group
weren't that interested.

We saw Bamboo and Toki not really take
to it.

With Andreeva.

Let's see what happens. Oh, that's the
new cake. Okay. Cake went first.

I'm not even writing this down. I'm so
excited.

The older members of the group taking
the cake, Andreeva and McKillie, that's

really positive.

So I think with Andreeva having the, at
least going for the new one first, that

was good.

The cake has those extra omegas in it,
which is fantastic for their fur.

It's fantastic for their teeth. It's
fantastic for their skin. And for our

animals, they just need that little bit
of extra supplementation in the diet to

support them. So the fact that they are
taking the new cake, for me, is the

best. And the younger ones, we can work
on.

Oh. Oh.

Oh. Michelle, that's awesome.

That's really exciting.

We're going to have to gradually
introduce these pellets into their diet

into the cake as well. But it's
definitely something that they accepted

readily than we could have expected. So
it won't be a difficult thing to add to

their diet.

I'm very happy about it.

So it's a mixed response from the
lemurs.

But Michelle has one more bunch of
animals to test today.

And her lovely brush turkeys. And what
better group to try an all Aussie made

peloton than these true blue creatures.

We've got our three red roos here.

But as Michelle is well aware, these are
some of the fussiest eaters at the zoo.

Taronga's nutritionist, Michelle, is
charged with making sure every animal at

the zoo has a balanced diet.

Yeah, it's just going to replace all of
our herbivore and omnivore pellets. All

on the one pellet. Awesome.

We've got our three red roos here, so
should we give them a try? Yes. All

And her final testers today are the
Aussie inhabitants of the Backyard to

Precinct.

The idea is to trial this pellet with as
many species as we possibly can within

the zoo, because we'll be transitioning
them all onto this pellet at some point.

And now we're trying with some of our
Australian animals. We've got our female

red brews, and I'll cure the swamp all
of these.

What?

What do you think, baby?

What's that?

What's that?

Oh, a cow?

So what do you think, Fanny?

Well, I think our Sierra really likes it
so far. That looks really positive to

me. She's definitely tucking into those
new pellets.

Unfortunately, it's not stopping the
brush turkeys, though. No, I think we've

got the brush turkey seal of approval.
Uh -oh.

Now it's Widge, the emu's turn.

Hey, buddy.

Hello. Hello.

Widge, do you want to try the new
pellets? Widgey, Widgey, Widgey, Widgey,

Widgey, Widgey. It's breathing
behaviour.

Oh.

Not a fan?

Widge?

It's okay.

We might have to work on Widgey. Yeah, I
think so.

It looks like Widgey the emu is a no.

It was a firm no.

It was a no with a shake of a head and a
kind of a eh.

No, I think that's okay. So I think that
the emus are just going to take a

little more time.

And time is the one thing that Michelle
does have on her side.

This was definitely not a quick
endeavor.

It's been five years in the making.
We've had a couple of different

that were not that successful, and so
now we've finally got something that the

animals are actually eating, and that's
a huge relief to me because I can design

something, but if they don't eat it,
then it's completely useless.

While the full results of Michelle's
trial won't be known for months,

one result is ready now.

Kabali has only been on his new diet for
a few weeks, but keepers have noticed

that he seems to be looking better.

All right, so this morning we're looking
for some nuggets from the gorillas, and

particularly we need to find kabali.
These ones don't look like they're

They're a little bit too small, so we're
going to have to keep on hunting this

morning and see if we can find some
slightly larger ones from kabali.

Perhaps it's not something you'd bring
up at a dinner party, but being able to

recognise a stool and the story it can
tell is a very important part of a

keeper's job.

Yep, definitely not Kabali's this one.
Too small for him.

Now this looks more like it.

So this is the kind of size that we've
been looking for. This is a much bigger

and larger poo, which is what Kabali
would be giving us.

Not surprising it's by our dipping pot
because that's where he often enjoys a

little bit of a snack, but also where he
likes to go to the bathroom as well.

It's a little bit more private, but
yeah, this definitely looks like the

that we'd be expecting Kabali to be
producing.

And it looks really good.

It's got a good structure. It's well
formed.

It's not constipated like we have seen,
and it's not really sloppy either.

So we've been really concerned about
Kabali for the last few months,

particularly because his bowel movements
have been really inconsistent.

Sometimes really constipated, other
times really loose. And of course, we

that our own health is very important to
have regular, sturdy bowel movements.

And this is what we're looking for
today, to see multiple movements from

Kabali written all over this poo.

That is for sure. We grade our feces
depending on its structure. So we have a

grade from 1 to 5. 3 is the perfect poo,
so this is a perfect one.

1 being very small and nuggety and
constipated, and 5 being loosey -goosey.

At last, a solid result.

So now keepers, and more importantly
Kabali, have finally got some relief.

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