All language subtitles for Taronga s02e16 Gimme Shell-ter.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 its many monumental challenges.

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

Atta boy, Jen. Nearly home, mate.

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

on.

And our cameras are there to bring you
every magic moment.

On this episode, face -to -face with
Franklin and Audrey.

Everything about them is slow.

An audience with Taurongus galapagos
tortoises. So this is Turbo. And this is

his dad.

And their ever -growing family.

NJ here with the first Galapagos
tortoise that we've ever had hatched

the Australasian region.

Ever wondered what it would look like
crossing a kangaroo with a rat?

Good, yeah.

Well, meet Babs. So Clay is learning
about Babs and she's learning about how

get her to do this routine.

They just look like a little scientist.

And a crazy -haired monkey.

Like they've sort of stuck their finger
in a socket.

Called Perfect Petey. I call them little
Albert Einsteins. You know, look at

that crazy hairdo.

It's no secret the Taronga Zoo is
committed to conservation.

This is an area that the bilby's been
extinct for a very long time now.

So for the zoo to be a part of the
reintroduction of this species is just

incredible.

And it's proud of its work with
dedicated research and breeding programs

have already brought some species back
from the brink.

But there are many more in jeopardy.

And one of these is a little -known bird
native to southeastern Australia.

Regent honey eaters are absolutely one
of the prettiest Australian birds.

They're a small passerine, which means
they're a perching bird. They're

beautiful, gold and black.

And they've got a patch of skin just
around their eye, which has little

on it, which is one of the reasons they
used to be called the warty -faced

birds. Regent honey eaters love to eat
the nectar out of eucalypt blossoms.

They've got a little hooked beak and
they've got a fairly long tongue.

which they can stick into the eucalypt
flowers so they can steal the nectar.

Regent honey eaters are really
struggling in the wild. The numbers

low as 300.

One of their biggest threats is habitat
loss.

It takes 20 or 30 years for a eucalypt
tree to grow large enough to be able to

sustain the right kind of flowers for
not only Regent honey eaters, but for

of the nectar species that we have.

Over the last 20 years, Taronga has been
fighting on the front line to help save

this critically endangered bird.

They've already bred more than 280 birds
for release back into the wild, and the

aviary in Sydney could not fit another
feather.

Luckily, Taronga's sister zoo in Dubbo
has plenty of room.

and it's ready to welcome a collection
of breeding females from Sydney.

But before the birds take off, they've
got an appointment at the wildlife

hospital.

What we're about to do today is do what
we call pre -shipment examinations on 12

beautiful region honey eaters.

We'll do a physical examination on each
bird while the keeper is just holding

the bird and make sure that it's nice
and healthy.

So basically checking, you know, eyes,
mouth, feathers, body condition, feet,

just a quick physical exam.

Three out of five, body condition.

We're sending females only to Taronga
Western Plains Zoo and of course they

the capacity to lay three clutches of
eggs a year, around two or three chicks

maybe per clutch.

So if they all breed well, there'll be
quite a significant contribution to the

numbers in the breeding program and that
will then allow us to have more that we

can release back to the wild.

This little bird looks excellent, great
body condition, pristine in fact. We'll

just get a body weight on it and then
it's good to go.

But before they head to Dubbo, there's
just one more test they need to pass.

And for these female honey eaters, it's
by far the most important.

So this will tell us possibly if there's
any differences between captive and

wild birds. And we want to see what
we're doing right.

Taronga's Institute of Science and
Learning is an education hub with a

endangered animals.

And getting to know them all is the
first hurdle for aspiring new keepers.

We have the biggest variety of animals
that we work with. It's about 40

different species, ranging from a
burrowing cockroach...

to our red roos and koala, to our pygmy
momsets and our cotton -top tamarins.

It's just the biggest variety.

So with 200 animals calling the
Institute home, giving them all the

care they need is a constant challenge
for the Institute keepers.

So I'm just going to start some food
prep.

Instead of being a specialist keeper,
we're sort of a generalist across the

board of a many different taxa.

And this zoo within a zoo has a new
recruit, Keeper Clay.

I started off as a student and then I
became a volunteer and I loved it. And I

never did it thinking I must get a job
here. I just loved being here. I loved

being around animals.

I loved the keepers. I loved everything
about it, basically.

But working at the Institute is a whole
new ballgame for Clay.

So before I came to the Institute, I
pretty much worked exclusively with

And so coming here now means that I have
to learn to work with a broad range of

animals. Go meet our monkey boys. Yeah,
okay, cool.

And today, showing her the ropes is
Susie, who's starting off orientation

with something exotic.

It's lush in here.

It's a bit of a jungle.

Our rainforest room is very unique.

It's very dense.

And the animals that we have in here
aren't Australian.

Absolutely superstars of the room are
our little monkeys. They're a cotton

tamarin. Ready to meet some monkeys?
Yeah, absolutely.

Come on, boys.

So they're pretty cute little guys.
They're very sort of unique looking with

those hairdos. I call them little Albert
Einstein's. You know, look at that

crazy hairdo. They just look like a
little scientist.

Like they've sort of stuck their finger
in a socket.

Exactly, that's what I thought.

How many have left in the wild now?

There's only about 3 ,000 left in the
wild because of habitat loss,

deforestation. The illegal pet trade
definitely affects their numbers.

In the 70s, they actually took a lot of
them from the wild for medical research

and the numbers just haven't been able
to build back up.

As a keeper, it's really important to
get as much knowledge about.

The animals, you know, the species as a
whole, but the individual personalities.

And we need to know who's who, not just
for when we're doing a health check, but

we weigh these guys all the time and you
need to just know who's on the scale so

you can match the weight to the
individual.

So it's a very important skill to have
pretty much from the get -go.

They look so similar, though. So how do
you tell the difference between them?

What are the characteristics you look
for?

Yeah, so I guess we're looking at
certain...

visual and physical characteristics and
then behavioural as well.

So generally the first one that will
come to you will be Tricky, the dominant

male. Now Tricky also has some really
obvious white lines coming down his

forehead and he's got the shortest mane.

You tend to sort of look at individual
features before you learn the whole

animal. They might just have a slightly
different hairdo, a little funky kick to

the side or something.

See how these guys have about an inch of
brown on their shoulders?

Yes. If you look at JD, he has white, so
pretty much his mane goes all the way

around.

Now, Petey is this one here, and I call
him Perfect Petey.

Okay. He's a very pretty tamarin, so I
call him Perfect Petey. Perfect Petey.

There you go.

Juan, who you're feeding at the moment,
we call him Worried Juan, and that's

because he's got the biggest brow line.

They look so similar but being able to
ID them is going to be one of the things

that I really need to be able to do but
also one of the most challenging things

here, working with them.

Once she knows who's who...

Clay will need to recognise the clues to
keeping them healthy.

First thing you sort of look at is their
eyes, making sure their eyes are clear,

not watery.

Ears are clear, there's no wounds or
scratches on their face.

You can see his tongue there looks nice
and healthy.

You can see his body. You can see, you
know, he looks like he's in really good

condition. We do weigh them weekly, so
we get a really nice, close look.

Can you hear that vocal? Oh, wow.

38 different vocalisations.

Is that them basically saying, hurry up
and give me some more?

Pretty much, yeah.

It was awesome to meet them up close,
learn about how to ID them. I'm hoping

that by the end of my rotation, I'll be
able to identify all four. We'll see how

that goes.

But not all the animals Clay needs to
learn to handle are this cute and

I feel excited and just a little bit
nervous.

In 2015, a devastating virus swept
through the Bellinger River on the New

Wales north coast, decimating the local
turtle population.

Taronga stepped up, took in the last
remaining Bellinger River turtles and

breeding tanks that have been
instrumental in saving the species.

In the wild, there's no breeding, so we
have the last 16 remaining breedable

adults in this facility.

This is it. This is the future of this
species.

Look at him. He's so happy.

Over the last three years, Taronga has
released 20 turtles back to the river

system. I see.

And this year, they're on track to break
all records.

That's what I love to see.

It's the biggest pond you've ever been
in, mate.

So first year, 10 turtles. Second year,
10 turtles. This year, we're getting to

release 32 turtles.

You know, that's pretty exciting to know
that we are, you know, going to

release. three times more than we've
released previously.

While releasing animals to the wild is
the end game, the long

journey for these turtles starts here.

This is our Bellinger River hatchling
quarantine area. So these little guys

pretty much from some eggs that we...

collected up in our adult facility in
those big green tubs that we keep the

adults in. The girls lay in that nest
box in the middle of the pond and we'll

take those eggs out, bring them back
down here and we hatch them in our

incubator. And then once they've
hatched, we bring them in here and set

and this is their future for the next
year.

And while these guys look forward to a
big future, they sure do start out

So in here we have one of the babies.

That's the reason why I wear the gloves
is just so I don't introduce any little

bugs.

This little guy's around seven months
old.

Being in captivity, they do grow a lot
faster because we're able to give them a

high -quality food, so they will grow a
lot faster. You know, an animal at this

age in the wild would be a lot smaller.

This one's doing really well. You can
see, you know, his shell's nice and

and as they get older, it will oval out.

It's very common for them to be quite
round when they're...

First come out.

Underneath, his belly is quite yellow,
which is really nice. His legs are quite

formed. They're really little, tiny
little spindly legs.

You can see his tail.

He looks well. He moves good in the
water.

And, you know, I think he's doing really
well.

There you go, buddy.

Once they mature a little more, they'll
move to the next tank, which will

hopefully prepare them for their
homecoming.

We've set this one up as a natural sort
of river system, similar to where they

would be found in the wild, just to sort
of see how they act and how they grow

and how they respond to it. Yeah, so
we're using gravel, similar to what's

in the river, the plants which are found
in the river, to replicate a small part

of the river where they would naturally
occur.

And these six are doing extremely well.
They're growing, eating, doing

everything we would hope for them to do,
if not more.

I'm really proud of what we're achieving
in here. You know, we're breeding the

future of this species, so it is
something to be proud of.

We put in a lot of work and a lot of
effort.

We all get the smile that we're doing
things right.

While breeding turtles is a major
challenge, here at Taronga's Western

Zoo, the team has managed to breed one
of the trickiest species in the world.

Not just once, but three times.

So this is Turbo, and this is his dad.

Rookie Institute keeper Clay is learning
all it takes to care for the 200

animals that call the Institute home.

So this one is JD.

Yep. Yesterday she started off with cute
and cuddly. He looks feathery. Yeah.

But today, Keeper Gray is introducing
her to some more challenging residents.

All right, so we're going to start
working on some snake handling. How do

feel about that?

Excited? Yeah. Okay, so we've got quite
a few different snakes up here, but I

think we'll start with the spotted
python.

Snakes are going to be something a bit
different for me. I do have to learn the

skill of handling them, making sure
they're comfortable, and I need to get

comfortable too because it is different
for me.

So every snake has its own bag.

For quarantine, each one has their own
individual one. Now, we're not actually

going to bag the snake, which we would
do if we were taking it somewhere.

But we still use it when we're getting
the snake out. We use it to let them

that we're coming so that we don't
startle them.

And there he is.

And I'll just give him a little touch
with it.

Just very gently. Again, it just lets
him know that I'm coming and that I'm

going to be picking him up.

And I want to make sure that I support
as much of his body as possible.

Here we go.

So this is Spot? Yes, this is Spotnik,
one of the spotted pythons. And Spot is

an adult?

Yes, this is full size. That's full
size. Yeah.

I think a lot of people have a really
healthy caution regarding snakes.

He's got beautiful coloring.

Yeah. And you can see, being a
constrictor, he's quite strong, just

larger pythons or boa constrictors.
Yeah. They wrap around their prey to

it. Yeah, yeah.

We're much too large for them to do
that, too.

They're non -venomous, so they're
completely safe, and they're a great

start with.

You'll be fine.

Okay.

One of the most important things for
Clay to learn is actually just being

comfortable handling the snakes.

So many people are afraid of snakes, and
it's up to the education team who work

up here at the Institute with us to be
helping people get over those fears.

Nice thought.

It's like trying to handle a slinky
that's being activated.

You're constantly having to move your
hands in order to keep up with where

they're going. They can end up going up
your sleeves or in the neck of your

shirt or your jumper. So those are all
things that you want to be aware of.

Obviously, that's not going to be an
issue for Spot right now. He's sitting

comfortably. But you just want to be
aware of where they're at at all times.

So I'm going to put him back now, and
then you're going to get one out.

Clay is going to have her first snake
experience with Winningay, another

python.

How are you feeling about handling your
first snake?

Pretty good.

I just want to make sure that I do right
by her and happy to give it a go and

hopefully make friends.

This morning, 12 critically endangered
region honey eaters are in the wildlife

hospital. These birds are destined for
Taronga Western Plains Zoo. And prior to

them going, we like to give them a full
check -up.

Looks great. All of them checked out
perfectly.

Okay, good.

While they're here, it's an ideal
opportunity for some research.

Two, three.

For example, zoo nutritionist Michelle
and her team are collecting data on

feather coloration.

The reason that we do that is because we
can change some birds' feathers with

diet.

And we feed them diets full of
carotenoids, different pigments that

the colors of the birds' feathers.

And we play around with different
carotenoids to see if it changes the

changes the yellows. But we're not good
enough at distinguishing between color

with our own eyes. We need a machine to
do that. And that's where the

spectrophotometer comes in.

So we're measuring the colors of the
birds' feathers with a spectrometer.

Yellow primary one.

Two. Three.

So we're getting three readings per
feather color. We're trying to look at

yellow and the black.

Black primary one.

Birds are tetrachroma, so they see four
colors, and that includes blue, red, and

green, but also UV.

As humans, we don't see UV. So even
though we see black on a region honey

chest, another region honey eater might
see a psychedelic rainbow of colors.

that we can't see.

Tidal yellow one.

What we're looking to do is actually
find out what those colors are in the

birds so that when we're adding pigments
to diets, we are achieving the same

color for birds that we're trying to
breed as well.

Do you have a number on that?

Saving a species takes a whole zoo.

While Michelle is responsible for
setting the diet, bird unit supervisor

Michael is in charge of dishing it up.

So this nectar supplement is replacing
all of the nutrients that you'd find in

wild flowers, the box flowers, iron box,
yellow box, white box.

We would never be able to collect that
many flowers every single day. So what

can do is we can provide them with this
artificial supplement.

And Michelle's natural colour -changing
ingredients are all in the mix.

In the wild, naturally, they would get
those teratinoids from eating insects

and, you know, flies or crickets or bugs
or moths.

And those cheritinoids is what enables
us to be able to give the region honey

eaters such vibrant yellows and such
vibrant blacks.

We can provide that inside this
supplement and every single bird gets

dose for that day.

While the correct food is essential for
the honey eaters to breed, the other

vital element is a nest.

This is a crucial part of building their
nest.

And to help them feel at home, Keeper
Harmony is staring down her fears.

That's definitely not my favourite job
to do because I've had a fear of spiders

for quite a long time.

But it's for the region honey eaters, so
I'll happily go out and collect spider

webs any time of the day.

A lot of people like the slower pace of
country life.

And out at Taronga's Western Plain Zoo
in Dubbo, the world's largest species of

tortoise, the Galapagos, takes the whole
slower -paced thing down to the next

level. So these guys are from the
Galapagos Islands, so they're an

of islands about... 500 kilometres off
Ecuador, South America, and they are

so unique.

They are up to 300 kilos for the males.

Franklin here is about 260 kilos, so
he's very, very big.

And here at Dubbo, at Taronga Western
Plain Zoo, we have eight Galapagos

tortoises, so we actually have five
adults, so three males, two females, and

then we have three little hatchlings.

So NJ here, he was the first Galapagos
tortoise that we've ever had hatched

in the whole Australasian region. So we
were the first zoo to breed them. And

since he was born, we've actually had
two more hatchlings born six years ago.

Penna and Turbo, they weigh about a kilo
each.

It's definitely been a team effort to
breed such a challenging species.

And I feel very, very grateful to work
with them every day.

But astonishingly, these youngest
tortoises actually came from the zoo's

resident. So this is Audrey.

She is about 95 years old and she is the
proud mum of our three little

hatchlings. So pretty amazing, 95 years
old and a mum.

But everything about Galapagos tortoises
is just incredibly slow. They move very

slowly. They move at a top speed of
about 0 .3 kilometres an hour.

And here lies the main reason they are.
so difficult to breed as they really,

really take their time doing anything.

It takes them about 30 years before
they'll generally start breeding and

often be even longer than that before
they're in the prime of their breeding

age, before they feel comfortable and
before they actually lay that first

clutch.

The Galapagos tortoise is a perfect
example of evolution, ideally

how they've evolved to be able to breed.

Basically, the tortoiseshell is made up
of two parts, the carapace, which is the

top part, and then that connects all the
way through to underneath the plastron,

which is just the bottom half of the
shell.

The plastron, so the under part of the
shell there, for males is quite concave,

and that's just for mounting the
females.

So they fit together when they mate with
the females, they fit together like two

spoons. So quite an amazing shell, I
think.

Evolution has also given them another
strange quirk.

But this one is more to do with
cleanliness.

So, this very handsome fellow is
actually our largest Galapagos tortoise

the zoo. This is Albert. He is 50 years
old and I'm going to get him to do a

very impressive behaviour.

And he's already done it. He knows the
drill.

So you can just see he was in a total
sitting position there, just grazing on

this hay. And then as soon as I
approached him and started to give him a

bit of a tickle, he's raised up into
this really impressive finch pose, as we

like to call it. And you can see he's
got his neck stretched as far as he can,

his legs stretched up as far as he can,
and he's staying incredibly still.

So on the Galapagos Islands, they have
this symbiotic relationship with finches

that live on the island.

And basically what they'll do, the
finches will fly up to the tortoise.

elicit this behavior and they'll raise
up like this. And the finch can then

off dead skin and bugs from the
tortoise.

Here at the zoo, if there's anything we
need the vets to come down and have a

look at, they can come down. We'll get
the tortoises up like this in the exact

same pose. They're the best patients in
the zoo.

The vets love them because of how
willing they are to participate in all

health checks.

And they're even able to take blood from
the tortoises in this position.

We'll just give the tortoises a really,
really good scratch, which will distract

them, and they'll be able to take blood.
So amazing patients and amazing to work

with.

And after spending time with these
gentle giants... Here you go, Wilbur.

..how could their zen lifestyle not rub
off on the keepers?

It is an awesome experience being a
Galapagos tortoise keeper. You learn

patience very, very quickly.

Everything about them is slow, but
you're just in awe the whole time you're

here. You can't believe that a tortoise
can be this big, that they can have so

much personality.

It is such a nice way to spend some of
your day.

You can just come down here and just
chill out even. They're just calming to

around and they remind me to take things
slow.

Keeper Grey has just shown trainee Clay
the rope on how to handle the

Institute's creepier residents.

All right.

Now it's her turn. How are you feeling
about handling your first snake?

Pretty good.

All right.

You'll be fine.

Okay.

So?

Are you going to touch with the bag?

Is it good?

How do you feel?

Yeah, I felt like that was okay. Did it
look okay from your perspective?

All right.

So are we going to take her outside for
a bit of funny?

Sure, yeah. Let's do it.

Gray, is this okay? She's kind of going
down my shoulder there. Are you

comfortable with it? It's okay for her
to be there.

As long as she looks comfortable.

Yeah. She's just exploring. She's okay?

Having a little explorer over my
shoulder.

It can get awkward if too much of them
disappears over your back. Yeah.

And so you might want to bring her back
around to the front before that happens.

But she's just checking out everything
right now, seeing what's happening in

world. Here we go.

So one of my favorite things about the
spotted python is that when we're inside

in the artificial lighting, there are
brown snake with spots.

But if we had better sunlight, you would
see that they actually have a beautiful

rainbow sheen over their entire body.

And it reminds me of the aboriginal
dreaming stories of the rainbow serpent.

Yeah, right.

Even the most experienced handler can be
rattled by a snake.

But Clay seems to be taking it all in
her stride.

She's looking pretty comfortable.

I just heard her hiss in my ear. That
was so cute.

I don't like them in my face. It gives
me the heebie -jeebies. That was the

cutest sound, though. I'm not squeamish
about snakes. I don't like them when

they're in my face.

I just can't deal with it.

I love them.

Well, you're doing a great job.

Aw, thanks, Gray.

Today was really fun.

I'm stoked that I'm learning to handle
some of the snakes that are up at the

Institute, like the spotted pythons.
They are a smaller python, so even

feel relatively confident now with them,
hopefully I'll be able to work up to

some of the larger snakes soon.

Well done, Clay.

You're a snake handler.

With the snake handling ticked off,
Clay's next stop in her orientation week

to meet one of Australia's most
mischievous macropods.

When it's breeding season for the
critically endangered Regent honey

takes a zoo -wide effort to make sure
they have everything they need.

Because the Regent honey eaters eat
nectar in the wild, we're going to

that so that they get the absolute best
nutrition that we can give them.

From food to accommodation, keepers go
to great lengths to set the right mood.

This is a crucial part of building their
nest.

In zoo aviaries, honey eaters don't have
access to the full range of building

materials they would normally find in
the wild.

So keepers like Harmony help out with
some honey eater home decorating.

Looking good. And there's a real art to
it.

So not every single spider produces the
web that we can use. This one isn't a

spider that we would take web from
because it's too strong. So the

web is not one that we...

would hunt for. We're looking for the
white, fluffy, clean, sticky spider web

that mostly comes from the house spider.

I've got spider web in my eye.

Each day, Harmony hunts for web, and her
search takes her to every corner of the

zoo. We can find our spider webs
anywhere, from trees, near the bins, or

the dunny, which is where we're headed
right now.

The toilet block is a treasure trove of
spider webs.

So that actually looks like there's
quite some good spider web out the front

here. It's really good stuff.

The regent honey eunuchs are going to
love this stuff. It's super fresh, super

sticky. They're going to definitely want
to put this into their nest. Oh,

there's a spider.

Not a fan of that. Let's leave that guy.

There is that Australian story of the
red -backed spider that lives in the

dunnies. That is definitely true. I
haven't seen any yet.

So hopefully we won't come across any.

Oh!

Sorry.

There's a spider.

Spiders, definitely not a fan of them,
so I don't want to disturb them. So I

would rather not freak them out so I
don't get freaked out.

But for Harmony and the honey eaters,
The web expedition has been well worth

risk. We've done quite well today. This
one's really good. Quite white, fluffy

and sticky, so they're going to use this
to stick the rest of their nesting

material in. So they'll wind this in to
stick the dry grass, emu feathers, small

twigs. Spiderweb kind of sticks that all
together.

So this is definitely a perfect example.
It's very sticky, so they're going to

love it.

It's a big effort for a little bird.

Hi, buddy.

But here in Dubbo's breeding aviaries,
it's all about to pay off.

Hi, Miss Pink.

Where's your babies today?

Come on, boy.

Very cool hairdo. Keeper Clay's sharp
learning curve continues during her

training week at Taronga's Institute of
Science and Learning.

There are so many awesome and unique
animals that I've never worked with

so many different requirements, and I'm
learning new things every single day.

It's a massive challenge, but so
rewarding, and I'm really loving

about it so far.

All right, so we're going to go see
Babs. Yep.

Susie is making the latest introduction.

Babs is just another animal up here at
the Institute that I'm getting to know

and another species I haven't worked
with before, but I'm excited to learn

about.

Babs is a little -known Australian
marsupial called a rufous bettong.

Hey, Babs.

You going to come out?

Think of sort of like a small kangaroo
crossed with a rat, and actually their

name, their common name, other than the
rufous bettong, is a kangaroo rat.

Good girl. After you come.

Good girl.

Hello. Good morning.

Once he's up, I'll usually give her a
piece to say thank you for getting out

bed, and then we'll move over to her pet
pack, tap on the back and say pet pack,

and hopefully she will load into the
transport box and we'll take her into

classroom. Sounds good. All right.

Like all animals at the Institute, Babs
is an ambassador for her species.

Thank you.

And it's the star of the interactive
classroom, which of course she enters

the stage door.

And this is a very cleverly designed
release hatch.

So you see that this whole line's up
here. It's all magnetised, so I've got

button which will basically open that.

The Woodlands Room is a multi -species
interactive educational space for school

children.

All right, so I just heard the door
open. Can you see where she's coming

Yep, she's just coming out of the hollow
now. I can see her head.

Babs has been trained to come out of a
release hollow, out onto the rock right

in front of the kids.

It's very exciting for the kids, you
know. They're sitting in here and then

of a sudden, like, whoa, what is that?
Animal appears.

Yeah. So Clay is learning all about
Rufus Betong. She's learning about Babs.

she's learning about how to get her to
do this routine.

Babs knows it quite well.

Babs, come on.

Babs.

But Clay then has to learn, if Babs gets
a little bit lost along the way, how to

guide her in the right direction.

Babs. But today, it seems Babs is a
reluctant performer.

Today's session with Babs and Susie was
a good one for me. It was valuable

because I got to see how I manage Babs
when she doesn't do exactly what we're

expecting of her or what we'd like of
her in an ideal situation.

Babs!

Luckily, food is always a great
motivator.

Good girl.

Let her come all the way to the end of
the rock.

Okay, come on. That's it. Bring her all
the way out. Off we go. Up the top.

That's what she's meant to do.

All right. So, corn. Corn. That way the
kids get to see how dexterous they are

with their little hands. So she'll pick
up the corn, have a good munch on it.

Yeah.

Yeah, so it wasn't the greatest session,
but that's okay. As a keeper and

working with animals, you know, it's
about allowing them to show their

of choice.

Then that's fine. She wanted to go and
have an explore of all the enriching

smells.

She's just not feeling it today. Yeah,
she's a little bit out of sorts.

While Diva Bab calls it a day.

She done.

She done.

She's done. I think she's done, yeah.

Clay doesn't have that luxury.

Still waiting patiently to greet her is
the Institute's largest python.

Saving a species takes dedication and
hard work from many departments, working

in harmony across the zoo.

Yeah, babies are doing awesome. They
sleep a lot and they suckle a lot.

And a great example of this teamwork is
helping these 12 female regent honey

eaters.

The bird team are responsible for
breeding these endangered animals.

Two, three.

The vet team combines to ensure they're
in tip -top shape for breeding.

Great body condition, pristine in fact.

And countless people from other teams go
to great length to make sure they are

well nourished. Every single bird gets
the right dose for that day.

And comfortable.

This is very sticky, so they're going to
love it.

But the culmination of all this work
happens here at Dubbo.

You ready for some food?

The 12 females that arrived from Sydney
three months ago have been welcomed with

open wings by the eager males.

And for this endangered species, the
results have been quite extraordinary.

Hello, welcome to the world.

So we've got 10 chicks.

Very exciting. Hey, Miss Yellow's first
baby.

Here at Taronga Western Plain Zoo, we're
in the process of welcoming a new

clutch into that family and certainly
look forward to releasing them back into

the wild in the not -too -distant
future.

Hi, Miss Paige.

Where's your babies today?

Well, the birds that came from Sydney
will stay here to breed.

Where's Dad?

Oh, there's Dad. You are so big.

It's these chicks that will go on to
repopulate the wild.

He'll contribute to the larger part of
this region honey recovery program, and

that's exactly why we're here.

And as you can see, he's rearing to go.

But before they can be released, they've
got a lot to learn.

This little one is going to go into the
flocking aviary with a lot of other

juveniles and learn how to be a fully
-fledged adult region honey eater.

Get ready to join the flock.

Okay.

Well done.

So this is the future of the species.

We've seen this juvenile hatch out from
an egg, grow up in the nest with its

parents, and now it's gone on that next
stage of its journey into a big area

like this to learn how to be self
-sufficient and join the flock.

You can see the colour difference with
the chicks and the parents.

The juveniles are a bit more of a
duller, washed -out grey and yellow, but

enough they will have those beautiful
bright colours just like Dad.

We are really proud, proud as punch.

This is why we're here, to protect these
birds, to conserve them and get them

back into the wild where they belong.

Taronga has helped release more than 300
Regent honey eaters back to the wild.

That's a lot of feathers in their cap
and they're only just getting started.

So it is a long road to recovery for a
species such as the Regent honey eater.

But for every egg that hatches, every
hatchling that comes out and fledges,

is definitely a sign of hope that this
species has got a chance. And we hope to

be there to help that chance turn into
reality.

Learning all the moving parts of
Taronga's Institute is a daunting

So do you know where cotton tops are
found?

Columbia, small pocket in Columbia.

Oh, gosh, you've done your research.

And new keeper Clay has spent a huge
week getting her head around it all.

Hey, winning gay?

Being an institute keeper, there really
is a lot to learn because there's such a

wide variety of animals. My background
is birds, and that's what Clay's is as

well. And we do have those up here,
which is great. But there's

there's reptiles, there's amphibians,
there's macropods. There are so many

different things.

Yeah, I have to say, like, the variety
of animals and different species is just

amazing up here.

Having successfully handled a smaller
spotted python... Are you ready to do

first big snake?

Yeah, I think so.

Clay is graduating to something a bit
more intimidating.

Hey, buddies.

Meet Ink, the black -headed python.

Of course, small snakes are going to be
different to large snakes. The way you

hold them, the way you manage them while
they're slithering around on your

hands. All right.

Bye.

All right.

I guess he's going to be a bit heavier
than the last few I've handled.

Yeah, just a little bit.

Pythons aren't venomous, but they have a
razor -sharp bite. The clay must move

slowly to avoid irritating ink.

I was thinking if I just kind of open
him up a little like that. Okay.

Hold him over.

Just relax your arm a little bit more.
Bring it down.

He's still a bit sleepy.

Yeah. I think he was fast asleep.

Yeah. Sorry, buddy.

So we've got him around your neck just
because he's a lot heavier. He's a lot

longer. We want to make sure more of his
body is supported so we don't end up

inadvertently causing any injuries to
his spine.

All right.

Sounds good. All right. Should we get
some sun ink? Yeah, let's go take him

outside and get some sun.

Thank you much, Lee.

So how are you feeling?

Yeah, good. I mean, it feels different,
obviously.

Yeah. Ink may have been sleepy earlier,
but now he's wide awake and ready to

wriggle, making holding him a real
challenge.

He is, like, very long. He's very long.
It's hard.

Like, it feels... And they're not
typically an arboreal snake, which he'll

little bit more comfortable on the
ground.

It's like amazingly heavy, so the arms
are starting to get fatigued.

I think he's ready to go down and get
some sun.

Clay has clearly learned a lot in her
orientation week.

Clay's done really well today, and we'll
do this with her a few more times, and

then we'll sign her off so she can do it
all on her own.

But there's still a long road ahead on
her journey to joining the

elite team of Institute Kipu.

With such a diversity in species, there
is still so much to learn about the

individuals themselves and about the
species.

So I'm still asking a lot of questions
and probably annoying the other keepers

by asking so many all of the time. But
that's how you learn. And these guys

so much. So it's great to feed off them.
And yeah, I'm really loving my time up

here.

Thank you.

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