All language subtitles for Taronga s03e05 Pygmy Hippo

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, this may take a while.

In you come, Kaya.

A keeper's discover is not all black and
white.

We'll just give it two minutes and reset
completely.

When it comes to working with the most
skittish animal at the zoo.

Patience is a virtue.

The real reason why this hungry hippo is
putting on weight.

You have put on 21 kilos.

And, yeah, baby.

Well, actually, there's no baby.

Don't know why he picked that up.

Just a bird making a liar out of all of
us.

A lot of people think they're called
liar birds because they lie, because

mimic.

They may be hard to spot from this
bird's -eye view, but nestled amongst

trees at Taronga are a huge number of
African animals.

All the big names you'd expect are
represented here, as are some of their

-known friends, like this little guy.

Hi, Fergus.

Okay, you ready to have your shower?

You'll have to move forward a little bit
for me, hey?

Well, this is Fergus. He is a pygmy
hippo.

Time for your favourite part of your
day, getting your nice warm shower.

He is a very, very nice character. We
have had him with us for quite a while

now. Pygmy hippos do differ from the
river or common hippo.

They're only around a fifth of the size.

He weighs in at around 257 kilos.

They are my favourite species. I can't
deny that.

And look at that face. How could you
not? How could you not love a face like

that?

While Fergus loves the hot showers he
gets here at Taronga, he's one of the

lucky ones.

Pygmy hippos are critically endangered
in the wild and it's very hard to get an

estimated number of how many are left
because you just can't get the

to the areas where they live. They live
in countries that are very dangerous for

researchers to try to work in and
they're also a very elusive species.

They are crepuscular, they're more
active from dusk till dawn. They live in

rainforest and they are solitary.

You could just lie there all day and be
hosed.

But Fergus isn't alone.

There are actually two pygmy hippos here
in Sydney.

And it's not luck. It's all part of
Taronga's plan to help stop their

dwindling numbers worldwide.

Camby, all right, it's your turn to have
a hot shower.

Are you ready?

There we go.

Good for your skin, isn't it?

Good for the complexion.

So this is Kambiri. She is our female.

And you can see that she is really
enjoying it. She's trying to splash me

Thank you.

She is the one who bred with Fergus and
had a daughter in 2017.

And we're ready for the next chapter.
We're ready to take it to the next level

and look at breeding our pair again.

Glad we have strong infrastructure here
at the zoo. She obviously has an itch

she wants to scratch.

And what better way to do it than to rub
your bottom against the nearest hard

thing you can find. Good job, sweetie.

That's it.

So what we're doing now with Fergus and
Kambiri, we're giving them what we call

a fence session.

Now this shows us their behaviours to
judge if Kambiri is an estrus or not.

Say hello to Fergus.

There's Fergus.

Say hello.

You've still got an itch.

You're more worried about your itch.
Okay.

Kambiri was more interested in
scratching her bottom than she was in

her bottom to Fergus. But that's all
about to change as Kambiri is developing

different type of itch that only Fergus
can scratch.

When people think of animal enrichment,
it's the more obvious species that first

come to mind.

I hope the lions really enjoy this.

But the fact is that almost every animal
at Taronga receives it in some form or

another.

It's about mental stimulation, getting
these guys using their brain.

Including the reptiles.

And keeper Del just loves to give it to
them. Not many people know that we do

some enrichment for some of the
reptiles. Of course, we can't do it for

single reptile, but it's only for the
ones that are quite curious creatures

also ones that are quite food -motivated
as well. So today, being a feed day,

instead of giving the crickets that I'm
going to feed out as a scatter feed or

just throwing them in, I'm actually
going to make them work for their food.

The enrichment items that Del is using
range from household products... to

feeders normally used by cats and dogs.

So this puzzle feeder is for our
Cunningham skink. These open up like

We're going to be putting in crickets in
a couple of these random ones. We're

going to close it up for them. They need
to figure out how to open it up and

then all the crickets will come out. I
won't lock it in place because it is

quite hard for them to get it open.

So I'm going to try and put some of
these crickets into these puzzle

I'm going to have to go fast because
these crickets are...

Very fast as well. So I'm going to
choose a couple of these.

Put them in. This is going to be very
embarrassing when they come out. Oh, no.

And no. That didn't work. There you go.

There's a few in there. And there's some
running out as well. The perks of

trying to get live food into a food
parcel for these animals.

Sometimes they'll just get out instead.

It's enrichment for me too.

Okay. So these four have crickets. This
one doesn't.

And that's going to be good to go.

With all the feeders full, this pair of
very curious Cunningham skinks are going

to get the first crack.

Oh, you're keen.

Back it up there, little dude.

Excuse me, I haven't finished yet. Let
me unclick these a bit, just to make it

bit easier, just because these guys are
a little bit smaller than a dog or a

cat, so they won't be able to open these
as well.

So this enrichment benefits them because
it's encouraging natural behaviours.

They would be foraging out in the wild.
It's cute to watch and it's also cool to

be able to see them working things out.
You can see their little minds ticking

away. After a slow start, the skink's
interest seems to be growing.

That's very cool and that's very fast.

Crickets are fast, but Cunningham skinks
are faster.

No more food for you. No more. No more.

Let me just take this away from you.
Thank you. Bye -bye.

While enrichment is all about
encouraging animals to exhibit their

behaviours, all around the zoo keepers
spend their days teaching animals a

variety of learned behaviours.

These are essential as they enable staff
to get up close and provide daily

maintenance and all important health
care.

While most take to this training with
ease, We need to just check them all

and make sure that they're healthy and
in very good nick.

There are some animals that have other
ideas.

Target. Hold.

Good job.

Zebras are very different to your stock
standard horse.

They are a herd animal.

Their herd instincts are very, very
strong. So trying to work them as an

individual can be difficult because they
want to stay together.

But sometimes for a procedure, they
can't be together. So it is important to

train those individual behaviours for
those occasions.

Let's go back this way.

He's the standard slow self.

Zebra training is never the same every
day.

They're very alert animals.

They're attuned to everything in their
surroundings. So even like a visitor

wearing a funny hat might be something
that puts them off.

So nothing's ever the same when you're
working with animals, especially

ungulates.

So our two zebras, we've got our male is
Buana and our female is Kaya. They came

to us from Taronga Western Plains Zoo
out at Dubbo.

To train zebras correctly, the keepers
will need all the patience they can

muster. So target stick, basically just
a tennis ball on the end of a stick.

The idea is that we ask them to touch
their nose to the end of the tennis

We'll then bridge and they'll get their
reinforcement for touching the tennis

ball. And then we've got their station
block as well. So it's very similar. The

idea is they, over time, will learn
their station.

So we're able to hold this up.

and they'll know instantly that this is
their station to be called over to. So,

for example, this is Bwana's station,
our male zebra, so he should see over

we'll hold up this red station.

He'll see it's red, he'll be able to
come over straight away and we'll be

to separate him off.

And then finally, the last piece of
equipment we have is the clicker. This

what we use as our bridge. So in the
training world, there's lots of

bridges that are out there, verbal
clickers and whistles. So this one,

you click, and then you'll reinforce.

It's a slow and repetitive process, but
it's the only way to work with such

timid animals.

Long -term aim for us is to be able to
work on their feet and their hooves. So

we'd like to be able to do tactile all
over their body, down to their hooves,

able to actually roll their hooves so we
can do hoof work on them, get the

farrier in if we need to. That's one of
our long -term goals.

Other training goals might pop up over
time, depending on if we've got

procedures coming up that we're able to
train for.

So we might work on a voluntary blood
draw in the future as well, which helps

our vets get some really crucial
information.

So who's the cross that when needed, the
zebras will be ready?

Good girl.

Coming up, Fergus gets frisky. But is he
making all the right moves?

I think Fergus is a little bit rusty.

And liar, liar, the cheeky bird keeping
visitors on their toes. He likes to

rummage through pram. He's a big fan of
sunglasses.

Over at the pygmy hippo exhibit, keeper
Tracy is dealing with the aftermath of

Fergus's redecoration.

So this is our male hippo Fergus's side.
And as you can see, they can really

spread their faeces a long way.

Now he started down here. He seems to
love to poo in his bed area.

He started down here. It sprayed out
like a fan, but it actually even

right up the wall.

But there is a reason why he's making
this mess.

And it's a sign Tracy's been on the
lookout for.

It's not just for fun, it's to send a
message. So he's sending a message, this

is my bedroom, my place, male hippos
stay out, but female hippos, hey, if

wandering by, why don't you pop in?

And that's exactly what female hippo
Kambiri is hoping to do.

But before they can be put together,
there's another messy job to take care

first.

We hope to breed our two hippos in the
future. It's very important when you're

breeding animals to be able to observe
their behaviour.

So we need to see what's going on when
they're together. We need to see their

behaviour. So having crystal clear water
and beautiful clean windows is going to

help with that.

So this is what we call our special
mating ledge.

Pygmy hippos don't actually mate in the
water or on land. They need something

that's a little bit in between.

And this ledge is the perfect width.
It's the perfect depth. It's actually

water level, as you can see, goes up to
that green line. So they're just in

nice, shallow water that covers their
bodies.

And it's very handy for us because we
have the big window right there so we

observe them perfectly, study their
mating habits, learn more about the

positions that they prefer, and that way
we can always improve our facilities

and give advice to other facilities as
well.

So with preparations now complete and
Fergus and Kambiri showing all the right

signs, it's time to bring these
lovebirds together.

It's been 11 months since keepers began
training these extremely flighty zebras.

There's no question it's been a
monumental effort from the team and it

zebras are finally overcoming their shy
prey mentality.

But now their training needs

to become much more specific and step up
a few notches.

So our current training program with
both of our zebra is to get them

vaccinated. They do succumb to illnesses
that domesticated horses would succumb

to. So things like the Hendra virus and
tetanus are things that we need to

protect our zebras against.

Our female zebra, Kaya, she also needs
to have a contraception once a year as

well. So that is also administered via a
needle. And so we need to prepare them

to accept all of those needles in the
least stressful, least invasive way

possible. Before training like this
became the norm, keepers used to

from a distance with dark guns.

But through consistent training, it's
become a much more stress -free process

for both the animals and the keepers.

Our first step was just to desensitise
Kaya to being touched in general.

She'd never been touched before, so just
having a brush on her, any sort of

tactile or movement over her skin was
very, very foreign. Once she was used to

being touched with a brush, we used
other things as well. So we want to get

really used to getting a whole lot of
different sensations touching her rump.

on the day when we actually do need to
push a needle in and inject it, that

little bit of pain that's associated
with it, hopefully she's able to combat

that better than she would. have been.
This jacket's all secure, ready to go.

Today, Emma and Gabe are conducting a
training run with a blunt vaccination

needle. Now let's do this. We're good.

And it's pretty clear, despite the many
months of training, keepers and zebras

aren't always on the same page.

Kaya, not you, not your station.

They just need to be in the right order.
It's so much easier when she comes out

first.

In you come, Kaya.

We'll just give her two minutes and
reset completely.

Patience is a virtue.

She wants to work, but...

And

with a gently, gently approach to these
skittish prey animals, keepers have

decided there's always tomorrow.

Down at the reptile house, Keeper Del is
dishing out some enrichment for some

unlikely candidates.

All right, so now it's feeding time for
our monocled cobra.

I'm going to be using this puzzle
feeder. I'm going to be putting in some

pups into this, and we're going to make
it a bit of a puzzle for her. So let me

just put this little rat pup in here.

I'm going to slide it close, so I might
just even sense it a little bit with the

rat on top.

Put it in here.

Filling it is the easy part.

Positioning it correctly in front of
this dangerous cobra is a little

So Keeper Dean's just put the enrichment
board in and she's just cruising

around. She can smell him, she can smell
food, she smells all these different

things.

And Dean's essentially enrichment as
well because he's come in smelling a

bit nice and she's looking around going,
where have you been?

Okay, see that tongue flicking? She is
so, so close. She knows something's up.

She's tasting the air with her tongue.

This is essentially hunting for her. You
can just imagine a small mammal, like a

rodent or something like that, out in
the wild, buried around in a tunnel or

something like that. She needs to get
that animal out. That animal's moving

around, so she's pretty much doing the
same thing. She's digging around, trying

to figure out where this little, nice
-smelling animal is.

Here we go.

Now, I've never seen this before.

She's never seen this before.

I've tried to make it a little bit
easier for her as well, so hopefully it

and she gets her treat real soon.

This health award, being the first time
she's ever used it, is a little bit

risky. She may not even like it.

That was my worry. She may not think
it's interesting or it's too difficult

her as well.

There's no question she likes it.

Now she's just got to find it.

This is definitely what I wanted to see.
I wanted to see these natural

behaviours. This is engaging everything.

It's engaging brain power. It's engaging
her entire body as well.

Jackpot! Look at that.

She's found it.

Oh my gosh, that is so cool. Look at
her, the way that she's actually trying

mouth that now. She's trying to swallow
it. She's hoovering that down so quickly

because she knows that there's a couple
more. She can smell it all and it's

just... So, so cool to be able to see
this.

She's a very, very smart snake, so I
imagine that this should be quite an

puzzle for her to crack.

It is important for us keepers to be
able to provide enrichment for our

So I wouldn't be giving this to her
every single day. I don't want her to be

able to figure it out all the time, you
know. I want her to be thinking. So I

might put this back in with her maybe in
a month's time, and it might make it a

little bit difficult for her as well. I
might not scent it completely. I might

just hide maybe one in there.

Our cobra found every single rat pup and
I think she's pretty happy with

herself. She's gone. She's happy. She's
going to go for a sleep now.

Before this enrichment day is over, one
more reptile needs Del's attention.

It's a brand new day and keepers are
trying again to train the zebras to

their vaccination needles.

But this time they've decided to try a
different approach.

Okay, we're going to do a training
session with Kaya.

Al, if you can hold Buana up that end at
his normal starting position, that'd be

awesome. And then I'll pull Kaya away
with her station down into the raceway.

Yep, no problem.

Great. And then Gabe, I'll get her nice
and calm in the raceway.

And then once she's in a nice position,
I'll ask you to come up. And you've got

the brush, the ice block, and the needle
with you? Yes. Awesome. Brush, ice

block. And syringe. We're going to cap
on or cap off today? I think cap off.

Let's push it and see how she goes so
she's really prepared for vaccination

Great. Cool.

That's it, Debbie.

So they're here now, which is fine.

They haven't tried to separate them
before, but if it works today, this

the breakthrough they've been chasing.

That's a girl. Up you come.

Nice job.

Nice. So she's in the race. Nice and
comfy, Gabe.

Coming in, darling.

There we go.

Just me coming up.

That's it.

That's a girl.

All right, Gabe, do you want to get out
the brush first?

Yeah, sure. Get her used to the feeling
of that.

Brush.

So far, so good.

A little bit nervous, but okay.

It's okay. We'll work through it.

Brush.

Nice. She seems to be relaxing into the
session a bit.

That was really good. Good.

Shall we move on to ice block?

Yep, ice block.

That's a bit more of an unusual
sensation, so we'll see how she goes.

Touch.

Nice. Okay.

Shall we move to a needle?

She's doing pretty well.

Okay, syringe cap off. Yep, let's do it.

Touch.

Lovely. That was awesome. Yep. I could
have jabbed her then, I reckon. You

have jabbed her then. Awesome. Well,
she's nice and prepared.

You happy to end the session there?

Yeah, that was perfect.

Finish.

Even though the training went as well as
it could today, with the vaccinations

still a few months off, keepers know all
too well that with an animal as

unpredictable as the zebra, on any given
day, anything can happen.

It's been five years since pygmy hippo
Kambiri was last pregnant.

But now she's at the peak of her
fertility cycle.

Keeper Tracy is hoping that all changes
today.

OK, so here comes Kambiri. She's going
to come down into her exhibit, have a

look around.

Fergus is on his way out and he is
looking very excited.

He hasn't been in with Kambiri for a few
years now, so...

He knows what he's here for and he's
very happy to be doing his part.

So Kambiri is excited to see Fergus.
She's bobbing her head.

Fergus is bobbing his head as well and
he's lowering himself into a crouch

position. Now that is a very important
part of body language between pygmy

hippo. He has to ask to be invited into
her territory and that is what he's

doing. And she is giving him the okay
that, yes, I want you here.

As they get closer and closer to one
another, things are starting to heat up.

So you can see that they're being very
tactile. They're touching each other

their muzzles.

They're rubbing their bodies against
each other.

They're really reaffirming that bond,
that they know each other, they respect

each other, and that genetically they
make acceptable mates to each other.

So these two, though, they've known each
other for a long time. They've bred a

genetically valuable offspring, and they
look pretty excited at the prospect of

repeating that event.

You always learn new things watching
your animals interact like this.

Hippos don't usually mate on land, but
Fergus is certainly giving it his best

shot.

I think Fergus is a little bit rusty. I
think it's going to take him a few hours

to get his groove down.

But there's no rush on Fergus today,
because very clearly, Kambiri isn't

anywhere.

From Tracy's perspective, everything is
going according to plan.

Kambiri, as you can see, is lathering
up. Now, that's natural. They do secrete

natural chemical that stops them from
being sunburnt. And also, too, it has an

antibiotic in it that helps heal small
wounds and scrapes.

So now we have them going into the
water.

And just as predicted, they're straight
on to the mating ledge.

So obviously they've decided that that
would be a good place to try to mate.

It's a little hard to tell what's going
on from this angle.

At least he's got his second wind before
he was really panting.

While they'll spend the next week
together, keepers will have to wait a

longer before they know for sure if a
baby hippo is on the way.

It's hard to tell from watching them
physically.

We have to wait for future actions, the
way they behave between each other, to

know if she has fallen pregnant or not.

And you also look forward to the day
that you are able to add a new pygmy

to a species that really is in decline
in numbers, and I couldn't be more

excited.

The syringe bent.

The syringe bent, did it? And why the
littlest animal has the biggest ego.

It's a bit embarrassing when your
animals are more popular than you are,

just go cop that on the chin.

If you're in the Blue Mountains, Avery,
you'll hear some amazing sounds.

But all is not as it seems.

If you ever hear... If you're in the
Blue Mountains, Avery...

you'll hear some amazing sounds.

But all is not as it seems.

If you ever hear a baby crying, chances
are what you're really listening to is

an Australian bird species that
practices the art of mimicry.

So this is Echo, our male superb
lyrebird. Echo is around...

Six years old?

Echo, come on, buddy.

You may have seen some footage of him
online where he is crying like a baby.

Don't know why he picked that up. Makes
me a bit sad to know that there are lots

of children crying at the zoo.

A lot of people think they're called
liar birds because they lie, because

mimic. but it's actually because of the
feathers on the outside of his tail. The

tail looks like a big musical instrument
called a lyre, and that's actually how

they get that name, lyrebird.

Females have pretty boring, basic brown
tails, and males have very detailed

tails, obviously for impressing those
ladies.

Lyrebirds are winter breeders, so unlike
other birds who prefer the spring, they

breed during winter.

Females will only lay one egg, so...

The male only has one opportunity to
make sure that he gets offspring.

And so when he throws that tail over his
head, he's pretty much going to shimmy

it in that lady's face.

So he does a little bit of a dance, and
every lyrebird has their own individual

repertoire of calls that they will
learn.

And if she likes his calls, then she
will breed with him, and if not, she

on and will find someone else with a
better call.

And it seems it's not just female
lyrebirds that love Echo's screams.

Echo is a pretty popular bird. He
actually has more Instagram followers

It's a bit embarrassing when your
animals are more popular than you are,

just to cop that on the chin.

People really seem to love Echo, which
is lucky, because some of his habits are

a little annoying, to say the least.

He likes to rummage through pram. He's a
big fan of sunglasses, especially if

they're polarised, because he can see
himself in them. And he just thinks he's

the most handsome creature on the
planet.

So, yeah, he has been a bit of a problem
child, but a problem I'm happy to have.

It's been a few months since Kambiri and
Fergus spent time together in the pygmy

hippo habitat.

And Tracy, who is keeping a close eye on
Kambiri, has noticed some exciting

changes. Just about to go and weigh
Kambiri.

She's very easy to weigh. She knows how
to do it. And I've got real deep

suspicions that she's pregnant, so I'd
really like to get a new weight on her,

see how much she's put on.

OK, Kambiri, good morning.

How are you this morning?

You good girl? Are you going to come and
get weighed for me?

Can you slide?

She's a very active animal. She doesn't
really put on much winter weight.

So any extra weight, I'm going to hope,
is baby weight.

Over you come, sweetie.

Pop up. You know what to do.

Come on, Kimmy. Good job. Good girl.

Good job.

Motherhood is such an enriching thing
for the animal.

Kambiri loves being a mother. She's been
a mother before.

So the best thing in the world for her
would be to have another calf.

And let's have a look.

278 kilos.

Goodness me, you've put on some weight,
haven't you? You have put on 21 kilos.

Look at that stomach.

Good girl. Good job. Touch.

Oh, getting quite round there, aren't
you?

Touch. Good girl.

We'll have to get the vets down and do
an ultrasound and just confirm that. But

looking at this tummy of yours, I am
pretty convinced already that it's

baby weight.

It's fantastic news. So Tracy waits no
time calling down the vet team for

confirmation. Hi, Tracy.

Hi, Frances. Come on in.

Very exciting.

Favourite part of my day.

Deb,

how are you?

Well, thanks. Okay, if you want to make
your way along, she's all ready and

waiting for us.

It's really exciting to be able to work
with animals where the keepers have

spent so much time getting her
comfortable with us, being able to do

ultrasound. Makes my job really easy.
Let's go.

Kimmy, let's go.

If she comes in here and she's closer to
the mesh, I'm happy to try again from

this side like I could see quite well.

Head up there. If she's in tight like
this, it makes it so much easier.

Pygmy hippo, sometimes really, really
early on, it's hard to see the baby

because she's very round and the baby's
kind of hidden right in the middle.

On this case, more or less as soon as I
put the probe on her, I could tell.

So what we're seeing here is a spine and
little rib cage.

While she can see the baby...

Frances wants to get a better angle just
to be sure everything is perfect.

So we're going to turn her around and
try from the other side.

Yep, we're right.

Cut. That's it, darling.

That's it.

Good job.

So what I'm trying to do is get a good
view of the baby's heart.

So far it's got its head tucked away
from me.

So I can't actually, I can see the
beginning of his neck, but I can't

see his head.

I can see his heart beating nicely and
regularly.

And because the baby was moving around,
I haven't been able to get a really good

video image of the heart beating, but
the heart is sitting up in here.

Tracy, for this session, I think we've
achieved what we set out to, which is to

confirm that she does indeed have a
baby.

It's a great outcome from today.

It's just so great because you know
what's at the end of it and it's the

adorable little calf.

And just looking forward to now watching
a new calf growing up and learning to

swim and learning to run around and
interacting with us. It's so much fun.

that's something I'm really looking
forward to now already.

Vaccination day has arrived for
Taronga's female zebra, Kaya.

And keeper Emma is hoping everything
will go smoothly after an intensive 13

months of daily training.

We've never pierced her skin with a
sharp needle before. We've practised

blunt ones, but we've never actually
gone through the hide.

So that's going to be the final hurdle
that we haven't yet tested, is to see

she reacts to proper pain as a little
needle top goes through that skin.

Leading into the vaccination, there is a
few concerns that I have Firstly, I

want her to react well. I don't want her
to go running off and hurt herself.

I don't want her to kick out in stress
or get agitated with that injection as

goes in. I also don't want to break down
the relationship that I've spent many,

many months building with her because
that rapport is really valuable to me

that's what keeps her coming back time
after time for different training

sessions. And this isn't a one -off
vaccine either. She needs three vaccines

every year. So I need this to be a
behaviour that she's willing to come in,

she's willing to accept needles and
she's willing to come back to me the

day because our relationship is so
strong.

It's now just a matter of trust.

So Emma and Gabe take their positions,
ready to administer Kaya's first ever

hand injection.

That's the way. Come on out.

Good job.

Good gal.

Gabe, do you want to come on up?

There we go.

That's it.

Just me coming up.

There we go. She seems pretty calm.
She's food motivated.

Pretty happy that she's comfortable.

Brush.

There we go.

That's it.

Beautiful.

Are you happy to go ahead with the
injection, Nick?

Yeah. I reckon we'll go with syringe.

There we go.

Okay. Got your syringe ready.

Yeah. Touch.

So she's left the ray.

Hello, gorgeous.

The syringe bent. The syringe bent, did
it?

Her hide is pretty thick.

I'll have to abort.

Take one.

Didn't go completely according to plan.
The needle went through the hide, but

Gabe wasn't able to push the end of the
syringe in because the needle actually

bent. So it was a bit of an unfortunate,
frustrating moment.

Not to be deterred, and with a new
needle in hand... Got the needle with

Yes, I just went and picked up the
vaccine from the vet.

Awesome. Emma and Gabe reload and try
again.

Another one.

Brush.

There we go.

Does she feel calm to you? Did she
flinch at all with that? No, she's

calm. She's really good? OK, good.

Touch.

Finish. Good girl.

So Kaya did an amazing job. She's
finally vaccinated. All those training

sessions added up to a really successful
outcome.

She was really calm and really solid the
whole time. I'm hoping that it hasn't

eroded our relationship at all and that
sets her up for success into the future

for other vaccinations as well.

Keep Adele has spent the morning
providing enrichment opportunities for

Taronga's reptiles, and her last stop
for the day is with the Centralian

a native Australian snake.

Enrichment comes in many different
forms. It's not just about food

lot of people think it's just food, but
this one's actually enrichment for

exercise. This is for our snakes. I
created this and designed this with our

carpenters. so then we can get our
snakes to get on it, move around.

Because I do sit around all day long, I
did steal quite a few rake handles and

broom handles around the zoo to be able
to make this. Just don't tell anyone.

So here we have a Centralian carpet
python. She's an absolute beauty.

These guys get to around two metres in
length, so this board's going to be

pretty good for her because that means
that she'll be able to stretch out as

well.

She's actually sleeping, so I feel bad,
but...

Let's wake her up and get a little bit
of exercise.

This snake's been an arboreal species,
meaning that they like to climb around

well. You're often going to find them
climbing up rock walls.

even in trees as well. So this is
simulating a bit of a tree, if you will.

you're going up really high, like you're
up in a tree. But you can see the way

that she's moving. She's going around as
well. Fortunately, I can still grab her

from there.

She's moving around. She's lifting
herself up. She's got really good core

muscles, better than me, and she can
pull herself up completely.

Once she stops, she might be able to
curl her tail a little bit, just to

on. Every time you put a snake on, it's
different. It's a different adventure.

You don't know what they're going to do.

Don't know how their minds work. They're
not very predictable.

Now, when it comes to snakes in human
care, sometimes they do have a tendency

being a little bit overweight. Just
because they're eating and then

eating, sleeping, and repeat, it's
really cool to be able to see them, I

this word, undulating all around the
board. So you see the way that she's

weaving in and out? A little bit like
snakes and ladders, isn't it?

So she's using it to drape, she's using
it to rest, she's using it to climb and

to grasp, and sometimes to fall.

Get back in there.

Our snake really, really enjoy it. He's
now resting. He's done a lot of exercise

today. You've done enough, haven't you?
You're ready to go back inside.

He's done a lot, so I would say this is
a bit of a success.

As the snake makes her way back home,
it's clear these enrichment activities

Taronga conduct provide as much joy for
the staff as they do the animals in

their care.

It's great to see them using the board.
The first time I ever tried it on these

snakes, they were a little bit
apprehensive. What is this? I don't like

then they realised they could hold on to
it, they could rest on it, and they

could actually get up quite high on it
as well.

I want this to be a positive experience
for them. I feel like it is, and it also

is for me as well. To be able to see
this, just so awesome.

Next, Kambiri's big day has finally
arrived.

But it comes with a shocking twist.

I'd like to say that the hardest bit's
over.

It's been four months since Taronga
staff were elated to discover that pygmy

hippo Kambiri was pregnant.

Due to give birth any day now,
preparations for the new arrival are

underway. We've had to baby -proof.

The den, because an infant pygmy hippo
is very, very small, and we don't want

tumbling into the pond and not being
able to get back out.

There are less than 3 ,000 pygmy hippos
left in the wild, so there's a lot of

anticipation for this new calf.

And four days later, all Tracy's dreams
come true.

We are thrilled to announce that our
pygmy hippo, Kambiri, has given birth to

beautiful, bouncing little 5 -kilo baby
calf.

The new calf is Kambiri's second
daughter and she couldn't be cuter.

She's absolutely thriving at the moment.

Another critically endangered baby pygmy
hippo in the region is just a real step

in the right direction.

Now the baby's nuzzling mum has decided
it's a little bit hungry and would enjoy

a drink of milk and it's just a
wonderful mother -baby bonding moment.

As the calf grows, Mum can't wait to
show her around.

Christened Amara, as she takes to the
water for her first swim, Mum Kambiri is

remarkably relaxed.

However, the same can't be said for
Tracy.

I'd like to say that the hardest bit's
over, but of course now I find other

things to worry about. I worry that
she's suckling well enough, I worry that

she's healthy, I worry that she's not
going to...

Please do anything and get lost. I'm
going to keep worrying until she's about

two years old.

But just four weeks later, the
unthinkable happened.

Late one afternoon, we got a call from
one of the keepers. A little pygmy hippo

was lying, not moving, in the enclosure,
and I rushed down with one of our

nurses.

We did attempt to resuscitate her, but
sadly it was too late.

So we brought her body to the hospital
and we performed a post -mortem

examination. It was apparent that it was
likely something that affected her

heart.

So we sent samples away to various
laboratories for testing.

And about a week later, we got a result
that confirmed that she did have a heart

problem that had been caused by an
unusual infection that damaged the heart

muscle. And it was very sudden, very
acute, the damage, so she would have

very quickly.

Losing Amara was an absolute tragedy. A
beautiful young animal, just over a

month old.

And it was a tragedy for a multitude of
reasons.

Pygmy hippos are an endangered species,
critically endangered species, and we

don't breed them that often in zoos, and
there was a lot of excitement about the

birth of little Amara, and she was
thriving, completely unexpected, a

healthy little pygmy hippo calf, then
suddenly dead.

This tragic outcome has only hardened
the resolve of the Taronga team.

to keep working at increasing the
numbers of this struggling species.

And for next time around, they've got a
little help.

Fortunately, there is a vaccine actually
that we can use to give Canberra and

Fergus.

Then they will develop antibodies to
that infection and then next time

gives birth, the calf will be protected
because she'll have antibodies from her

mum. So when the time is right, Fergus
and Kambiri will be put together again

and hopefully Taronga gets the healthy
baby pygmy hippo they've been waiting

almost six years for.