All language subtitles for Taronga s03e03 Daphnes Dentist.eng

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

Stretching from the shores of Sydney's
famous harbour. Hello everybody!

To the vast western plain zoo in Dubbo.

Come on girls!

But in a world that's ever changing.

Every single birth we have is vitally
important.

One thing always stays the same.

There comes a time when you just have to
let go.

The love these teams have.

Two little lion cubs.

For the thousands of animals in their
care.

Good boy.

On this episode, the gloves are well and
truly on.

It's a transrectal exam and basically
that means my hand's in a bum and I'm

shoulder deep inside her.

Taronga's rhino breeding program really
hits its stride.

She's moving around and...

There's a heartbeat.

This is really what zoos are all about.

You've got to laugh.

This is my peanut pocket.

As these potoroos make a meal of
mealtime.

I'm going to have to remove a peanut.

And what's up, Doc?

We have noticed with Daphne's teeth,
she's got one of them that's sort of

growing not quite right.

The race to put a smile back on Daphne's
dial.

We could potentially have to take all
six tees out, but I really want to make

sure that it's the right call.

It doesn't matter which direction you
look at Taronga.

There's always a familiar face, yawning,
winking, or just plain staring straight

back at you.

The zoo is a melting pot of diverse
habitats from around the world.

But as you'd expect, one of the most
popular areas is also the one closest to

home, the Aussie Backyard to Bush.

This here is the farm part of our
Backyard to Bush division.

And as you can see, it's the typical
farm. We've got a windmill.

We've got our alpacas there. We have
chickens.

But it is part of a much bigger picture
here on our backyard bush. I think we

have our house area and our bush area.

Here you can get up close and personal
with a roll call of Aussie icons.

We have our red kangaroos. These are all
our female red kangaroos. And they're

the largest of the kangaroo species
we've got here in Australia.

We've got wombats, echidnas, widgie, our
emu, who likes to get out amongst the

public. He's very inquisitive. He comes
right up and gives people a really good

check -out.

The idea is that everything you see here
you can find in any country town

throughout back Australia.

This is the house part of our backyard
to bush area.

And the thing I find a little bit
amusing here, as I've mentioned many

before to a lot of different people, is
I work with some of the scariest animals

that we have here.

And one of the Aussie classics, of
course, is the redback on the toilet

And here we have our outdoor dunny,
which is an absolute classic

place to find...

the classic Australian red -backed
spider.

But there's one animal in this
specifically Aussie precinct which is

backyards all around the world.

This is the backyard part of Backyard of
Bush, where we have a lot of different

animals, but of course we have our
rabbits.

Now, rabbits were the first introduced
to Australia here many, many years ago,

and out in the wild they've become quite
a pest.

but they're also a very, very popular
pet.

And that's the role they play here at
the zoo.

One of the things we like to do is teach
people about responsible pet ownership.

So the kids can come in and they can
learn about how to care for their

what sort of food to give them, make
sure they've got fresh water, a good

to live, how to look after their health,
all that sort of stuff.

So it's really good. The kids can go in
and get to meet them up close.

As you can imagine, it's definitely one
of the more popular parts of the zoo.

Now, in here, we have a lot of different
rabbits, but there is one particular

who's one of my favourites, Daphne.

And they do love their pellets, so we'll
put these down.

Hopefully, they're going to come over.

There we go.

Hello, little girl.

Look at you.

Aren't you pretty?

Same as all the other rabbits here. She
came from a rabbit rescue place.

She's about six years old.

I've worked with a lot of different
animals.

But I do have a bit of a soft spot for
rabbits.

One of the reasons for that is a rabbit
was actually one of my first pets.

But knowing rabbits like he does, Paul
has noticed Daphne has a bit of a

problem.

Looking after the health of our animals
here is very important.

Not only do we have to pick up all their
rubbish, but also too, you know, we

need to check them out almost on a daily
basis.

And teeth are very, very important to
rabbits.

And one thing that we have noticed with
Daphne's teeth is she's got one of them

that's sort of growing not quite right,
a little bit discoloured.

So I'm a little bit uncomfortable with
that.

Some might expect that she might need a
little bit of help from the vets. So

definitely a good idea to have the vets
check them out.

Caring for wildlife and caring for the
environment go hand in hand.

So for Taronga, being an eco -friendly
zoo is a daily requirement.

Our mission is a shared future for
wildlife and people.

So we want to do everything sustainably.
We want to really reduce our

environmental impact, reduce the impact
of our operations on the environment.

And that includes reducing our water
use, making our energy more efficient,

also reducing our waste to landfill.

Water is a big concern for
sustainability and for the zoo. Zoos use

amount of water and we're using it for
filling animal moats, pools which

kind of play in for enrichment.

We're using it obviously for our guests
and for our staff.

So what we're trying to do is we have a
wastewater recycling plant at the bottom

of the zoo which captures stormwater.

and also moat drops and other water from
around the zoo, and it recycles it so

we can reuse the water across the site
for things like toilet flushing.

And then that allows us to have a closed
-loop system.

But water is just one of the resources
that Taronga is investing in. Energy use

is really important.

Zoos use a huge amount of energy. We're
using it to power all of our buildings

and our animal exhibits, you know, like
heat lamps to keep our animals warm.

But we also...

are committing to net zero by 2030, and
that will include moving to renewable

electricity and moving to electric
vehicles.

With over 5 ,000 residents at Taronga,
there's also another messy by -product

they need to deal with.

So zoos generate a huge amount of animal
waste, poo.

So that can be, you know, 25 to 35
tonnes a month that we generate just

this site in Sydney.

And so what we want to do to avoid all
of that going to landfill and creating

greenhouse gas emissions, we actually
take all of that animal waste, collect

and it gets sent to a special facility
where it's composted.

So we really want to focus on circular
economy where possible, and that's all

about preventing waste and thinking of
creative ways to reuse things. And we're

quite good at that at the zoo. We all
talk to each other across the zoo

the keepers and other staff to figure
out where we can reuse things.

For example, we're using eucalyptus
leaves for feed for koalas. When they're

done, we can actually take that and give
it to another animal for a sensory

olfactory experience.

Hey, Freya. Hey, Parni. How are you
going? Good. How are you?

Yeah, good. We've got some nice
eucalyptus here, koalas to finish with.

hopefully your goats should love it.
They will, yeah. Beautiful.

All right, should we take it in? Yeah,
thank you.

You go first.

Even though the koalas have had a turn
of this for a day, it's not going to go

to waste. It's still got another whole
youth left in it before we don't need it

anymore. It's awesome. It just helps us
with being sustainable.

This type of feed is known as browse,
and the goats can't wait to get stuck

You're already getting into the browse
pit, hey?

You can see there's not that many leaves
left on there, but the goats will still

enjoy it. They'll eat those leaves and
they'll have a good scratch on the

branch.

Put this one up here for you.

This is Lottie, and she loves climbing
up here, so that's why I've put the

up high for her. She's going to climb
all the way along here and have a good

nibble at that.

Goats have earned themselves the
reputation of being some of the best

at Taronga, but the next animal is by
far the biggest recycler.

Out at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Staff
are very proud of their work when it

comes to breeding the endangered
rhinoceros.

We are the only institution in Australia
that's breeding black rhinos. We're

currently one of two institutions that
have had the most success breeding this

species in the world.

And after the birth of two rhino calves
last year, they're also very keen to

keep their successful breeding program
going.

There are so few rhinoceros left on the
planet that every single individual

counts and, you know, they're not that
easy to manage for breeding.

Senior vet Ben is checking in on not
one, but two pregnant rhinos. We are

to do a reproductive ultrasound exam on
Mapani, one of our southern white

rhinos. And Mapani is one of our
breeding females.

And, you know, she's been very
successful over the years and had

calves. There are two things that are
essential when checking if a rhino is

pregnant. The first one is teamwork.

The second, a pair of very long gloves.

You know, one of the big challenges with
zoo veterinary medicine is the wild

nature of our patients.

Veterinarians in zoos really rely on the
expertise of keepers to teach animals

and condition animals to behave in
certain ways to present themselves and

themselves available to vets to examine.

Good girl, nice. Steady there.

Oh, beautiful.

Beautiful.

My job is to just keep my party.

in her place when she comes into the
crutch. Make sure she's really steady

calm. Ben and Bobby Joe have their hands
full, for lack of a better term.

Hey, Mo.

So a great conversation starter I have
as a zookeeper is a lot of people think

I'm getting, you know, patting rhinos
all day, which is a big part of it.

But actually the reality of being a
zookeeper is I have my arm fair up a

bottom most mornings.

Good girl.

My job is to basically help our vet,
Ben, prepare her for the rectal

So she has that initial, that trust and
that relationship with me. I start the

procedure nice and slowly, and then once
I'm in there, I just gently massage the

area, kind of mimic what Ben would do
with the scanning machine.

OK. While Mapani appears calm and
relaxed, she is still a two -tonne wild

animal, and any sudden movement could...

have serious consequences.

She can rush out forwards or rush
backwards at any time, whenever she

And, you know, I'm in there with her
and, you know, it's a transrectal exam

basically that means my hand's in a bum
and I'm shoulder deep inside her, you

know, rummaging around in her tummy
looking for the reproductive organs and

getting pictures of them with my
ultrasound gear.

Teddy, back up my party.

Back up.

She back up a bit for you, Lee?

She's backing up.

Coming up, heaving problems for Daphne
on her first ever trip to the dentist.

I'm not 100 % sure that that tooth can
be saved.

And there's nothing rich... We don't
waste anything.

..about Taronga's enrichment team.

It's actually cost Taronga Zoo around
$14.

Keepers down at Backyard to Bush have
concerns with one of their rabbits.

Teeth are very, very important. She's
got one of them that's sort of growing

quite right.

So today, Vet Beck has hopped to it and
organised a full check -up of this much

-loved animal.

Lisa, this is Backyard to Bushkeeper.

One of our patients, Daphne, is a four
-year -old rabbit.

And they've actually noticed that one of
her teeth, her upper incisors, is a

little bit stained, so they're a bit
concerned about that.

Rabbits are prone to getting dental
disease, so it's really important that

have a look at that tooth.

Hey, Paul.

Hello.

Maintaining good dental health in
rabbits is imperative for their

Sorry,

darling. Nice and brave.

Well done.

Well done.

I've had pet rabbits since I was five
years old. All rescues.

I love them.

Rabbits have actually got six incisors,
so they've got two incisors down the

bottom, and this one in particular, you
can see it's quite skinny up the top

there. It almost looks like a little bit
of the tooth's been eroded.

See how it looks a little bit like sort
of decayed and that?

And you can see the wear is a little bit
uneven as well.

Yeah, so it's just sort of that.

What happens is that these incisors will
continually grow and unless they're

chewing on wood or food material, the
teeth don't butt up and grind against

other and wear each other down.

And if there's a bit of malocclusion, so
if these are the teeth, if they're sort

of off to the side, that tooth can
continue to grow and grow and grow into

cheek, into the gums, can cause a lot of
pain, a lot of abscessation.

They start to stop eating and then they
lose weight and it can actually kill

them. And sadly, a lot of people aren't
aware of how devastating dental disease

in rabbits can be.

To avoid such a tragic outcome for
Daphne, the first procedure for today is

take some dental x -rays.

X -ray.

I'll develop those. You can pop it back
on oxygen.

Like it looks like, when you're looking
at it there, it looks like it's

fractured.

It's not good for Daphne.

This is her jaw, and these black lines
are indicating where the root of the

teeth go into her jaw, so really, really
big, long roots.

And these are the two little what we
call peg teeth.

They're little incisor teeth that just
sit behind the big incisors.

But this one's sort of superimposed
overlying that tooth and it's making it

like this tooth's fractured. So I'm just
trying to get the right angle to rule

out that that tooth does have a
fracture.

In rabbits, it's not as simple as taking
out a rotten tooth or a bad tooth.

In dogs and cats and even people, if
there's one tooth that's causing a

or it's diseased or it's not functioning
right, we can take it out. But with

rabbits, they really rely on those
occluding forces and the teeth grinding

butting up against each other to keep
their teeth ground down.

So removing one tooth might mean that I
have to take all those other healthy

ones out as well.

Okay, x -ray.

And I don't want to do that if I'm not
100 % sure that that tooth, can

potentially be saved.

Taronga is always thinking about new
ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

With that in mind, today they've got a
little surprise for the zoo's biggest

residents. These are pineapple tops that
have come down from a farm in

Queensland.

You can see where the pineapple would
grow on top here and they've come

and harvested it and the rest of this
would normally just go to waste. This

stuff can't be used by people.

We may as well put it to use with the
animals. It's all about enrichment. It's

all about encouraging them to do a whole
variety of natural behaviours that they

would normally do.

But with these elephants, there's no
encouragement needed.

They love it.

Yeah, they seem to be ripping the leaves
off.

Enjoying it bit by bit. Yeah.

We really work closely with the keepers
because when we're designing these

enrichments, we want to build them
around the natural behaviours rather

just a bowl on the ground.

They're foraging in different places.

just as they would in the wild. So
again, it's all about promoting those

behaviours. Is it mental stimulation as
well? Absolutely, yeah.

And that's why they didn't just put them
all in one spot in the middle of the

enclosure. They hide them around the
place and they've got to search for

And the way they're manipulating it is
quite important for their physical

as well. So we're seeing them use their
trunk and manipulate it. And so it's

great to see those sorts of things
because not only is that...

engaging the animals. It's also telling
us that they're healthy. We're seeing

the way they're moving and it's a good
indicator of the good welfare that we

have for our animals here as well.

But the elephants don't have a monopoly
on these sweet leaves today.

So thinking outside the box is really
important.

Pineapple tops are great for our
elephants but they're also great for

animals like the capybaras. They love
them nearly as much, probably as much as

the elephants do.

Hello!

Hi!

The pineapple hammer eyes.

Yeah,

the cabbages are absolutely going to
love these.

Do you want to come in here and feed?

Oh, please.

Excellent. This is a really rewarding
part of my day and a rare part of my day

here.

Unlike the keepers, I don't get to get
up close and personal with the animals

this often.

It's really exciting for me because I
get to see their adaptations and their

behaviours.

This tough vegetation is great for them
wearing down their teeth, which is a

really important thing for rodents to be
able to do. You can see Rodney's

already destroyed it. Carlos here is
powering through his pineapple top as

It's not just plants that get a second
chance.

Taronga has found a way to reuse almost
everything.

One person's trash is another person's
treasure, and our animals definitely

think so as well.

The wildlife retreat at Taronga is home
to some very unique animals.

And looking after them is the highlight
of Keeper Natalie's day.

I'm just getting ready to feed some of
our Aussie natives.

These bowls here are for the potoroos.
I've also got some peanut butter. And

some of this is for our paddy melons as
well.

I'm going to head off there now.

So the good thing about the retreat
is...

The guests get to see all these amazing
native animals.

We've got platypus.

We've got echidnas.

We've got a lot of species of macropod
as well.

And macropod means big foot, so they're
all related to the kangaroo.

We try to make sure their life is pretty
amazing while they're here.

And the guests get the best experience
by coming through in the afternoon.

They can also walk through in the
mornings as well.

Okay, so through here is the paddy
melons and the potoroos.

Morning, guys.

I'm just going to put some food in for
the paddy melons.

They love their mulberry.

Hi, everyone.

These are a gorgeous species.

So redneck paddy melons, they mostly eat
leaves.

We have seven of them. They're a
rainforest wallaby.

So they're found in Queensland and in
the north of New South Wales as well.

We've got a bettong species as well. And
after this, we're going to feed the

potoroos, which are kind of like a very
small kangaroo.

Morning, boys.

Hello.

Got your breakfast?

There you go.

Boys, there you go.

Morning, Otto.

Hi, Nick.

Boy.

These are two male long -nosed potoroos.

We have four males at the wildlife
retreat.

So on the left we have Otto.

He's only about two.

And on the right is Nick. He's four and
a half years old.

They're both eating their carrot and
sweet potato, which has been chopped up

nice and small.

When the early settlers came to
Australia, they thought it was a rat.

So the whole family is still called rat
kangaroo, but they are in no way related

to a rodent. They are a marsupial.

But they have a very different lifestyle
to a kangaroo or wallaby, so that's why

they've got some different adaptations,
like a very long nose and very long

claws on their front feet.

This is my peanut pocket.

So Cooper has found it.

He knows where it is.

Cooper's in the middle here. These are
his two sons who he's teaching

to.

I'm going to have to remove a peanut.

So they know I always have peanuts in
this pocket.

But it means that we've got that good
relationship where they're not scared of

me at all.

I've got some peanut butter in here.

A little bit of enrichment.

Apparently their sense of smell is
excellent. You can see with that long

what an advantage that would be.

in the wild so they can sniff out fungi
and truffles in the soil.

I think they're incredibly smart.

Yes, as you can see there, Cooper has
found my stash of peanut butter and he's

trying to help himself.

Potteroos and a lot of other little
native marsupials like these guys are in

lot of trouble in Australia.

Unfortunately, they're extremely
vulnerable to predators such as cats and

They actually compete with rabbits
sometimes for the habitat.

And then, of course, they're very
vulnerable to land clearing. So they

really dense vegetation to feel safe
from predators.

And unfortunately, we've done a lot of
land clearing in Australia.

But the best thing about the retreat is
that we get to show off species people

haven't heard of that they're vital to
the environment.

Out at Dubbo, senior vet Ben is
conducting an ultrasound.

on a very skittish white rhino, Mopani.

She's shy, she's a little bit nervous.
It's taken a lot of sensitive management

from the keepers who have a really
strong relationship and deep level of

from Mopani to progress her to the point
where she's happy to have this kind of

veterinary experience.

OK.

She's backing up.

She backs up quick.

Just give her some time to relax.

Hello. Good girl.

Here's my good girl.

It's okay, my party.

Good girl.

Here's my good girl.

Just back her up when you can, Lee.

Good girl.

What a good girl.

It's all right.

It's all right. With my party more
settled...

Ben tries again.

See, I don't think he's using the tail
as a rudder.

And back her up when you can.

Backing up, Ben.

OK, we're going to call it, I think,
guys.

While tracking the pregnancy of Mapani
is the only way staff can be alerted to

internal complications...

See what she wants to do here. If she
doesn't come back, yeah, we're going to

call it. Sorry.

The need to monitor does not override
rule number one, which is the animal's

welfare always comes first.

Rhinoceros are generally very
claustrophobic, so one means by which we

help them to feel secure during these
procedures is to give them the

to finish up and move away whenever they
choose. So that's what happened today.

It was a little bit windy.

She decided everything wasn't quite
right. That's great. She needed to do

and we set it up so she can.

While there's some unfinished business
today with Mopani, Ben's hoping for a

different outcome tomorrow.

when he's due to perform an ultrasound
on the rare black rhino, Cassara.

How are you going, Ben?

Good, mate.

Nearly there.

Still to come, another kick in some very
big teeth for Daphne the rabbit.

It's not as easy as I thought it was
going to be. The case is actually a

bit tricky.

And Dubbo's vet goes all in for a rhino
ultrasound.

There is always a risk of miscarriage.

Waste is a fact of life for most of us.
But at Taronga Zoo, every effort is made

to reduce it wherever possible.

We are actually targeting to reduce 90 %
of our waste, at least 90 % of our

waste from landfill by 2025, and having
creative ways to reuse things.

So luckily, sustainability and
enrichment go hand in hand.

We're constantly looking at how we can
promote natural behaviours and promote

diversity for the animals.

And one of the things we use is old fire
hoses that come from fire brigade and

would otherwise go to waste when they've
been used too many times to be good for

them anymore.

And they come to us and we've got a team
of people that build them into things

like hammocks and climbing structures.

And that creates a complex 3D
environment in their enclosure.

The Army of Taronga volunteers breathing
new life into these old items.

include retired engineers and tradesmen
like Roger, Colin and Fred.

Everything we make pretty much is all
recycled materials.

So this is another enrichment device we
made for the gorillas. It's all a big

ball of solid fire hose and the keepers
they poke food down in these little

pockets here and this is chained up so
they can't drag it away too far.

We don't waste anything.

So we source all sorts of stuff
throughout the zoo, like this is all

piping from different projects that have
been on around the zoo. So with these

in particular we make tucker tubes for
the chimpanzees out of these. So we

off one end.

We have a removable end in the other and
a series of about 20mm holes drilled

and they poke food in them and then they
hang them up and the chimps have to

come along and get the food out.

The big challenge with enrichment is
maintaining diversity because if we give

them the same thing every day then it's
no longer enriching, it becomes routine

for them. So a challenge for us and for
the keepers is to be able to maintain

and constantly think of new things to
give to the animals to create that

variation. The very latest in design
innovation from the team is a hammock

Mary, the sun bear.

The only thing that we have to buy are
the rivets and so Mary ends up getting a

hammock that we've worked out that it's
actually cost Taronga Zoo around $14 and

most of the other equipment that we've
used for it.

we've resourced from what Taronga Zoo is
about to throw out.

She already has a couple of hammocks in
the back den, but this is to go out in

the public arena so everybody can see
her hopefully using it.

So, now that Roger, Colin and Fred have
made the hammock, the big question is,

will Mary lie in it?

At the wildlife hospital, Daphne is
being examined for problems with her

teeth. And this one in particular, you
can see it's quite skinny up the top

there. It almost looks like a little bit
of the tooth's been eroded.

Okay, x -ray.

And what Bec has discovered could have
big consequences for this little rabbit.

When you're looking at it there, it
looks like it's fractured.

It's not a tooth that we want to remove
if we don't have to. There's a lot

involved in removing that tooth. As I
said, it's not just taking out one bad

tooth. We could potentially have to take
all six teeth out.

Most of their eating is done on their
back molar teeth, so they can survive

quite well without incisors, but I
really want to make sure that it's the

call.

Additional x -rays aren't providing the
good news Bec is looking for.

This that you can appreciate is a
perfectly good root and like there's not

sort of lucency there but it's just, see
how that's just like a little bit

blacker there and because it's lying
over it, see how you get this line that

looks like it's cracked.

So it might be a crack or a fracture
through it or it could just be the

little tooth but see this one's not
really doing it which worries me a

bit.

I was looking forward to sort of being
able to give Daphne a bill of good

today and check that tooth for her, but
it's not as easy as I thought it was

going to be. The case is actually a
little bit tricky. There are some areas

concern because to take that tooth out
is going to be a big process for Daphne

and potentially we'll need to take out
at least one, if not another, two or

three healthy teeth, but I don't want to
take out unhealthy teeth unnecessarily.

So, as Daphne heads back home for the
moment...

Beck calls in some reinforcements for a
second opinion.

So what I'm actually going to do is get
a rabbit specialist and a dental

specialist just to review the x -rays
for me because I want to do the best

for Daphne with regards to the health of
her teeth and I look forward to hearing

what the specialists have to say about
the best thing we can do for her.

Senior vet Ben had a hard time yesterday
conducting an ultrasound on white rhino

Mpani.

Back up.

Okay, we're going to call it, I think,
guys.

Today, he's hoping for a better result
as he attempts to ultrasound another

pregnant rhino, Kassara.

Applying ultrasound technology to
rhinoceros is the final frontier, mostly

because they're very wild, very reactive
and potentially quite nervous and

skittish. Kithara is one of the most
important rhinos

at Western Plains Zoo and Taronga are
doing absolutely everything they can to

ensure this pregnancy is a success.

After much, much work, we managed to
achieve a pregnancy with Kithara.

She's the granddaughter of a wild black
rhinoceros, and that makes her genes

very, very valuable.

They're a very precious species, and
rhinoceros remain a threat everywhere

occur. There you are. Good girl.

Anything to report, team? She's been
nice and quiet.

Yeah, no, she's been good. Yeah? No.

The job is to confirm that their
pregnancy remains because, you know,

always a risk of miscarriage. And so I
want to make sure that that fetus is

still there and is healthy and is
continuing to develop and grow normally.

Here's my good girl. Hello.

Here's my good girl.

Here's my good girl.

I think she's a kind gentleman.

I'm just going to step back a bit. See
if she'll step in towards you.

Lean in, Kathara. Lean in.

Good girl.

Kathara is on her best behaviour,
allowing Ben and his team to all share

wonderful moment.

Little baby there to see.

He's oriented with his rump towards me
and his head away from me, but I'll see

if I can't position him.

I can see little pearls of spinal column
for the first time today as well.

I'll have to do some sums, but we must
be 70 days or something like that.

That's two minutes.

I'll keep trying for the absolutely
ultimate money shot, but look, there's a

lovely little fetus in there, and she's
moving around, and

there's a little bladder back there.

She's moving around, and there's a
heartbeat, and that's all we need.

That'll do, eh?

Yep. What a good girl.

She's a good girl.

All credit to the team. I mean, how
beautifully behaved is she? I mean, it's

hard to... Sometimes I need to remind
myself that she's a wild black rhino.

We did what we needed to do. Kafara was
brilliant, and we demonstrated that the

little fetus is just thriving in there,
and all those things suggest to me that

everything is normal, and that's what I
want and what I need to see.

To think about the broader perspective,
I mean, this is another individual black

rhino to add to the world's total
population. You know, black rhinos are

critically endangered, and every single
individual counts, so this is really

what zoos are all about.

Back at the wildlife hospital, Bec has
finally got some feedback from the

specialist about Daphne's problem teeth.

When I consulted the rabbit specialist,
they requested that I get a couple of

extra views of Daphne. The specialists
were quite concerned about the

malocclusion in the front teeth and that
could be contributing to that

discolouration and that irregular
abnormal tooth.

The rabbit specialist, they advised me
that at this stage we don't need to do

any tooth extractions, which is such a
relief.

I was really worried about doing that
because their teeth are so fragile and

particular the jaw is really fragile.

If you try and take out a very healthy
tooth, there's a real high risk that you

might fracture the jaw. We will have to
monitor Daphne's teeth overall, her

whole dentition, and that will be an
ongoing lifelong thing to monitor.

Now all that's left is to update Paul.

And Daphne. Hey, Paul.

How are you going? Hey, Bec. Not too bad
yourself?

Good, thank you. I'm just here to see
our girl Daphne.

Daphne, yeah, she's over there. How's
she doing?

Really well, actually.

Do you think we can catch her and have a
little look at those teeth? I'm sure we

can. Thank you.

How is my girl?

How are you?

Yeah, so you can see that's the tooth
that I was really worried about. We're

hoping that it's sort of going to grow
out. That little deformed part is going

to grow out.

And that's what I'll probably just keep
popping down every week or two just to

check on that.

All right, good girl. Good girl. Thank
you. That was a good look.

But, yeah, I'm happy with how it's
looking. I guess we're just going to

keep a really close eye on it. The
specialists were most concerned about

her two incisors don't quite meet up
naturally, and she might need to come up

the clinic and have regular teeth
trimmed.

Thanks for all that, Bec.

Great news for her and for us because we
love her. Yeah, she's a great rabbit.

So, yeah, thank you very much. No
worries at all. We'll be in touch.

Thanks, Stephanie. We'll see you next
time.

Being a zoo vet, we do work with all
sorts of species.

People always think that it's the big
iconic animals, the elephants, the

the lions, the seals that we deal with.
But these guys are just as important.

You know, these little ones that are
actually down at Backyard to Bush where

children can come and interact with them
and learn responsible pet ownership

about having your pet de -sexed, about
what to feed them and making sure

nice and healthy. So, yeah, even little
Daphne.

is as important to me as all the other
big, amazing animals out in the zoo. And

looking after her is definitely our
priority here as well.

Next. Mary is a very heavy and very
powerful animal.

The moment of truth.

But will Mary's new hammock be able to
bear it? OK, first leg on.

For the animals at Taronga, enrichment
is a vital component of their daily

routine. So the big challenge that we
have is designing our enrichments to

the behaviours and a lot of our animals
are really big and strong and they're

not gentle with things. They like to
pull things apart because that's how

might, you know, tear apart a carcass of
their prey in the wild.

Watch the poo. Watch the merry poo. I
think you've got some on your shoe,

The volunteer team have been busy
creating enrichment items out of

material.

Okay, in position.

We're about to put up the hammock in the
exhibit. The hammock we've made is out

of fire hose and chain.

Reason, it's out of that kind of
material.

is that Mary is a very heavy and very
powerful animal.

She should be able to roll around on it
and it will be perfectly safe for her.

If Mary enjoys the summit, then it's all
worthwhile, you know.

It's the be -all and end -all.

Once we've secured this corner, this
corner here will then go over to the

on the tree.

We've got about...

An hour and a half, because Mary has to
be on exhibit half past nine when the

public come in.

So we should get it done today.

OK, rock and roll.

With just a few minor adjustments, it's
ready for Mary to finally test it out.

Hanging nice and straight.

Looking good.

The only bit of the plan that we're
still waiting for is Mary to come along

enjoy it herself.

So if Mary comes along and thinks, yeah,
this is a lovely spot to rest, that's

the ultimate goal is achieved.

Over the last nine years, something like
50, 60 -odd

projects we've made for the zoo.

When we make something, we don't know if
the animal's going to like it or not.

We hope the animal's going to like it.

Well, the hammock's all finished up. It
looks awesome, perfect for Mare Bear. So

I'm going to put some enrichment out for
her, and we'll see if she likes it.

Here she comes. She's out.

Cool.

Going sniffing some food first.

Yeah. Is she going to go straight to the
hammock?

Okay, first leg on. Yeah, good. Yeah,
come on. Get in there slowly.

Sun bears like Mary are excellent
climbers and love nothing more than

and sunbaking in trees.

So this new addition is manna from
heaven.

So far, so good. So good? Yeah, yeah,
good. Nothing's moved?

Excellent.

Holds her weight.

That's all we need.

We do this job because we love doing it.

Nobody forces us to come in here. We
come in here because we love coming to

Taronga Zoo. Best place in the world to
work.

But to create something like Mary's
hammock and see it up there, see

her use it, just doesn't get any better
than that. That's really what we're here

for.

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