All language subtitles for Taronga s03e09 Whos Poo In The ZOO

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

from the shores of Sydney's famous
harbour to the vast western plain

zoo in Dubbo.

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. On

this episode.

Poo is incredible.

Who's poo in the zoo? You can't be shy
or scared of it. You've just got to deal

with it.

The serious business.

So we've actually got a nice fresh pile
of poo right here. Of animal business.

Unlabeled the poo guy.

X -ray vision.

The computer can get an idea of what a
shingleback looks like. Taronga wages

against the animal smugglers. This will
save thousands of shinglebacks smuggled

out of Australia every year.

And welcome to the school of rock.

Teaching these sweet birds to make some
tweet tweet music.

The playback is having an impact and is
being successful.

It's become the core part of our
breeding program.

It's a well -known fact of nature that
what goes in must also come out.

Poo at the zoo is something that most
people don't get to see, but we deal

it every single day, and there's a lot
of it. We produce up to 30 tons a month.

That's like 400 tons a year.

Just one elephant alone produces around
100 kilograms of poo every day.

Picking up poo or dealing with it is one
of the most basic things you do as a

zookeeper. So you can't be shy or scared
of it. You've just got to deal with it.

It might not be one of the most
enjoyable parts of the job, but it's

interesting.

Very fragrant poop, but not bad.

It doesn't smell bad. It smells very
good. It smells like fresh hay, really.

You can see how fibrous it is. People
make paper out of elephant poop because

it's so fibrous.

Isn't that beautiful?

Paper aside, the poo at Taronga has
other uses too.

It's a great way to grow an animal's
sense of smell through a variety of

enrichment activities.

I have a morning present. I've got a
nice fresh bucket of poo.

In the wild, obviously, they would be
coming across things like this all the

time. So they need to identify smells.
Obviously, if they were tracking herds

and things like that, they need to
identify fresh faeces. And we use it to

enhance those skills.

It's something that's obviously a dirty
part of the job that the keepers have to

do, but it's also a really scientific
part of the job. We get a lot of

information from poo. So I'm obviously
interested in what goes in and what

out, and generally poop will give us a
lot of information as to what happens in

the middle.

From that poo sample, they're going to
be able to extract information which is

hopefully going to confirm she's
pregnant.

In fact, every sample has its own unique
story to tell.

And, just like the animals at Taronga,
it arrives in all shapes and sizes.

Right now we're going to look at koala
poop, and that's one of our smaller

in the zoo.

Now normally koalas, we want 120 to 150
pellets a day, and that shows that

they're in good health.

Oh, but it smells lovely and fresh.

It smells just like eucalyptus leaves. I
would actually put this in a diffuser

in my home if I could.

Oh, just one more.

Yes, very, very fresh. And I do like
herbivore feces. It always smells like

fresh mown hay or whatever they're
eating.

Yes, the keepers are counting the fecal
pellets if it is in a pellet form like

this. But they're also checking to see,
is the consistency good? You know, is it

firm? Is it moist enough? The keepers
keep track and they score the poop for

And when that score from the keepers is
not good...

Michelle, Australia's only zoo
nutritionist and part -time poo

who you're going to call.

So do they have regular toileting areas
or is it different every day?

There is some.

consistency to where they will go. It
tends to be, so you can see a little bit

here, at the base of a feeding station
where a bucket might be.

Today, it's a different kind of monkey
business that has keepers worried.

There's a bit more here.

The fact that I haven't actually seen
any solid poo from them today might

suggest that they both actually have
diarrhea because normally we would see a

normal poo from one of them.

If you have a look at that, Michelle,
you can see how watery that is.

I mean, that's a complete grade five,
you know, which we'd never want to see.

Yeah. And we haven't seen it for a long
time. And a couple of days ago, it was

quite formed. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

So, Michelle, if you have a look at
that, this is an old poo, but you can

that it is formed. So, this is what we
would like to see more often.

Yeah. So, this, I mean, when we're
looking, we're talking this could

now it's older and dry. Yeah. But maybe
it was between a two and a three. I

think so, yeah.

And we do normally see that consistency
in their poo.

This is what we're seeing right now.
What we're seeing today is this.

It's not looking good. Textbook 5 out of
5 fecal consistency, and that means

that it's...

basically completely liquid.

But we're just going to try and see if
this is just a one -off thing. Maybe

a fluke, a little bit of stress in their
life that we are not really aware of,

could be part of a breeding thing, maybe
some hormones that have changed.

We're just going to investigate this a
little bit further, give it a couple of

days, see if it improves over time.

And if it doesn't, we'll probably be
looking at trying to investigate a

of different factors that can contribute
to this kind of fecal consistency.

Oh, what have I got?

Num, num, num.

Every keeper at Taronga, whether it's at
Western Plains in Dubbo... Very good

guys, hey? ..or in Sydney... Oh, here we
go. Good girl.

..is passionate about the animals in
their care.

For these staff, it's actually a calling
that's many, many years in the making.

Hey, hello.

Oh, everybody's here.

It certainly was for reptile keeper Stu.

His love for his scaly friends is
infectious.

I've always been into snakes ever since
I was a little bloke.

Hello, buddy.

The more I learnt about snakes and I'd
ask the snake books for Christmas and

go for walks down the bush, I think my
mum really figured out that it's

not a phase, that this could be a
passion or this could be something that

might be into for his whole life.

Yeah, so I've really got to thank my mum
for really nurturing my passion when it

comes to reptiles.

Hello, mate.

Now, this is Oliver.

Oliver is our olive python, so he's one
of the largest constricting snakes that

we've got here.

Whenever we access Oliver's exhibit, we
do have to be a little bit careful, but

he is a completely non -venomous snake.

We've got to make sure that we don't
surprise him, just like any animal, even

any person. No one likes to be surprised
after they've just woken up.

If a snake is moving fast, there's a
reason. If a snake is biting, there's a

reason. We want to let Oliver know that
we're here, so I often have a good look.

Okay, so he's definitely spotted me now
because he's just raised his head right

up. He looks extremely alert. And
another way I can tell that he's alert

tongue.

The position that he's in right now is a
pre -strike position.

He'll do it with his mouth closed. He
never strikes with his mouth open.

Initially, he wasn't sure what was
coming into his home. Once he realised

me, he's got no fear.

We can pick Oliver up and we can move
him around his enclosure. When we need

clean his exhibit or we might need to
feed him if he's not in a good spot, we

can pick him up and move him around.

The olive python gets its name due to
the colour of its body. It is olive in

colour. But under the right light, you
will see all the colours of the rainbow.

Oliver is a python and all pythons are
constricted.

That means they wrap around their food
and squeeze it. For this reason, they

have to have large, muscular bodies.

They are one of Australia's largest
species of pythons. They could grow up

kilos, and some pythons can subdue prey
that is 100 % of their body weight.

So if he's a 30 kilo python, he could
eat a 30 kilo food item.

They will only constrict their food.

So as long as I don't smell like a
rabbit, I should be okay.

Oliver is definitely one of my
favourites and that's because I've been

after him for about 10 years.

But also his demeanour.

He's a very large mate that we can pick
up with relative safety.

But as large as he may be, when it comes
to Stu sharing his love for all things

reptile, his next house call shows that
size clearly doesn't matter.

Many of the animals at Taronga's two
zoos are ambassadors for species

by wildlife trafficking.

And it's not just overseas animals that
suffer this cruel fate.

In fact, this iconic Australian lizard
is a prime target.

So shingleback is called a shingleback
lizard due to all of these shingles or

body coat of armour.

The shingleback lizards, I like to say,
are the most romantic lizards in

Australia. That's because they're
monogamous, which means that they mate

life. There's been a recent study which
has followed a pair for over 30 years,

which is just absolutely amazing.

Unfortunately, they're really popular in
the illegal pet trade.

So most of the shinglebacks here at
Taronga are rescued or have been

confiscated.

Reggie here was found in a suitcase on
the way to Japan by border force and

brought to Taronga as his home.

Reggie does have a partner. Her name is
Georgie. We haven't had any babies yet,

but hopefully soon.

While Reggie was found and given a new
life at Taronga, there's thousands that

aren't so lucky.

So Taronga has joined the fight to help,
and Phoebe is collaborating with other

scientists around the world.

to try and put a stop to this barbaric
practice.

Illegal wildlife trade is the second
greatest cause of global species loss

billion dollar industry across the world
and a multi -million dollar industry

here in Australia, criminal industry.

And many of these animals are smuggled
through the post and we need ways to

detect them to stop this crime.

And to help do that, Phoebe is supplying
the most important element.

We get hundreds of thousands of wildlife
coming through every year. They might

have died by being hit by a car or some
disease process and we take them and use

them to see if we can forward science.

One example is this poor shingleback.
I've noticed it's got a bit of a stumpy

arm so it might have lost a front limb
there. You can also see that it's been

post -mortem to check for diseases which
we do for all our animals here at

Taronga.

shinglebacks, particularly, are
Australia's most trafficked animal out

Australia. People find them quite cute
to have a male and a female pair as

So a pair of these can go for anywhere
between $30 ,000 and $40 ,000.

Probably as heavily trafficked as the
shingleback is its cousin.

The blue -tongued, or the eastern blue
-tongued lizard in this case, you might

see blue -tongued lizards in and around
Sydney. They're very common around these

parts and very highly sought after
across the world.

So, in death, these reptiles are
actually saving lives, helping fight the

illegal wildlife trade.

So this is an eastern water dragon and
they come through the wildlife hospital

quite often.

And even though they're not heavily
trafficked, they are really important

to develop this database of different
shapes and sizes of lizards.

As part of that process, Phoebe is about
to deliver these lizards to the very

front line of Sydney's campaign to stop
smuggling.

Coming up, a special recipe for a
very...

Special Bongo.

This powdery stuff here called Loosen
Up, it just helps with his gut.

And why a love song will actually save
this bird's life.

The whole population was reduced down to
probably just a couple of thousand

birds. Something had to be done.

Both of Taronga's vast campuses are
dedicated to the conservation of some of

world's most endangered animals.

one of which is the sweetly named Regent
Honey Eater.

The Regent Honey Eater used to be a
really abundant bird in southeastern

Australia, potentially in the many
thousands of birds in flocks. But in the

early 90s, the whole population was
reduced down to probably just a couple

thousand birds. And at that point, the
zoo and people outside the zoo knew that

something had to be done.

Some birds were brought into the zoo.

in the late 90s to begin a breeding
program.

Hi, Miss Pink.

Where's your babies today?

Since then, we've released over 300
birds into the wild to bolster that

population. Get ready to join the flock.

And to keep the momentum going after
such a successful breeding program, Ben

has his sights set even higher.

His next target, increasing the birds'
reproductive rate in the wild.

But this challenge is an even trickier
one.

It's an evolving process. We're learning
as we go. Research that we've done has

told us that the ability to sing a song
when the birds are released is really

important for the survival of the birds
once they get out in the wild.

So one of the challenges with breeding
region honey eaters is their song is

different to the ones in the wild.

Naturally, there'd be huge flocks of
these birds and they'd have the

to hear lots of other males singing
during the breeding season and learn

song.

But in the zoo, the young just don't
have that opportunity to learn in the

way that they used to in the wild.

And to make things even harder for Ben
and his team, one of the honey eaters'

greatest talent is proving to be one of
their biggest problems.

It's actually an amazing mimic and in
some ways that...

It's prize but also downfall, really.

They're hearing other birds around them.
It might be other birds that are in a

nearby aviary or it might be wild birds
that live in the zoo grounds as well.

And they're starting to mimic bits of
those other bird calls.

We're worried that that might be now
becoming a barrier to birds that are

released, to finding mates.

and also forming those big flocks that
they would naturally form in the wild.

So, to help the birds hit the right
note... We'll put one over there and one

over here.

...speakers are being installed in their
aviaries to broadcast the life -saving

love song of the wild regent honey
eaters. We're trying to teach the birds

are in the zoo the song that they need
to learn so they can get out and sing

right song in the wild.

When the training is complete...

Ben will put their singing skills to the
test.

For all the keepers at Taronga... Good
morning.

Hey, Kundu.

..carefully planning and monitoring
animal nutrition is a crucial part of

job. We're in a Kundu, the bongo's barn,
and what we're going to do today before

we clean his exhibit is give him a bit
of food. So I've got some pellets here

and a bit of other...

Nice stuff that he can have with his
morning lock in. So we just put those

pellets in here in his trough so that
he's nice and away from the door when we

bring him inside.

And then we give him some of this
powdery stuff here called Loosen Up. It

helps with his gut.

He's a little bit old, so he needs a
little bit of a extra push in the

sometimes. And this will make his poos
come out nice and easy.

So we just sort of sprinkle that on
there.

And then we also give him some linseed
oil. And that basically just tastes

really nice.

He's got a little bit of extra stuff in
there that he really loves. Tastes

really good.

So we spray that on there.

And now we can head on out and we'll
bring him in.

With Akundo's breakfast sorted, Jacob
now has the opportunity to see for

the results of his work and just how
smoothly things are running.

At the other end. And now we can head
out and start cleaning.

So when we clean the exhibit, we
obviously want to make sure we get rid

the poo in the exhibit, not just to keep
it clean, but also to keep it free of

things like disease and pests.

One thing as well that's really
important is we want to make sure that

the poo that we do get is in really good
condition as well.

So we've actually got a nice fresh pile
of poo right here.

So Ikundu is an ungulate, and what you
see is quite common in a lot of

ungulates. but they have these kind of
nice little pellet formations, much like

giraffes. And what you find is when you
break one open, his poo has got a lot of

green stuff in it, which is actually hay
and lettuce and whatnot.

So it actually doesn't smell that bad.

And a lot of that is not really
processed that well through their

system, which is one of the reasons.
Whereas if you compare it to something

a lion or another carnivore, their poo
is often quite smelly.

And people like Michelle, our
nutritionist, who keeps track of all

our animal's diet, is really interested
in our poo and that way she knows that

what she's doing is right and we know
that our animals are really good and

healthy too.

But due to Akundu's age and history,
Michelle's keen to start testing him

regularly. Hey guys, how are you? I'm
good, how are you?

Good, come on in.

Akundo is an older bongo, and he's been
with us for quite a while. He's had a

couple of gastrointestinal issues, so
we're going to do a couple of different

things today. We're going to look at his
fecal consistency to make sure it's the

right size and shape and texture, and
then we're also going to look at the pH,

and that can be kind of a canary in the
mine if there's problems in terms of his

acid balance, and see if we need to do
any kind of medical procedures or

or not we need to modify his diet
because he's just an older animal and we

to make sure he's healthy. make sure
that he's getting all the nutrition that

needs.

Still to come, Taronga takes on the
smugglers. We're teaching computers to

for shapes of animals.

And Stu's reptile road tour rolls on.
This little guy here would be no more

30 centimetres long.

He's the world's smallest python.

About half an hour west of Taronga
Zoo...

There's a massive Australia Post
facility where scanning technology used

bombs and other terrorist threats is now
also being used to detect wildlife.

This is where it all happens.

Phoebe has brought reptile specimens
from Taronga to help in a world -first

project to fight the illegal wildlife
trade, a multi -billion dollar global

industry.

This here is the RTC 110.

So this is our machine.

So this is, it's really, really big,
tall enough.

This is where the x -rays are. And then
we come all the way down here. And this

is where we put them. That's right.
Great. So what do we have today?

I've got an awesome selection today.
Some reptiles. Great. And most

the shingleback.

Gosh, this one's really big.

Yeah, he is. What we're looking for is
that iconic shape. But the good thing

what you can do is you can probably...

Put it back in the bag. Yep. Because
with the x -rays, they'll just shoot

through this material so the computer
can get an idea of what a shingle back

looks like.

We're going to place it here.

Yep. So let's go. Bye, shingle back.

There it goes. So we'll follow it as we
come through. I'm going to introduce you

to Kira from the Department of
Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

Girl power.

Hey, how are you?

And here's our sample already on the
screen. Oh, wow.

You obviously can't see the bag that the
lizard is in.

We can zoom in.

Look how clear that is. That brings out
more detail.

You can see the eyes.

So much detail.

The unique thing about this is we've
gone from 2D to 3D.

3D allows us to look in and around the
object. So if someone is smuggling an

animal like this, we can look in and
around items such as rice cookers or

Yeah, so important because they're
nearly always inside things, aren't

effect. They're training the computer to
recognise the different animals being

smuggled. And the most intelligent part
of this tech is what's known as a

bounding box.

It'll place items in a box and know what
it is.

So the bounding box has put, there's a
threat there, which alarms the officer

say, we need to look at this. Yeah, OK.

We're teaching computers to look for
shapes of animals, density.

In terms of lizards, they've all got
feet and claws. These are the types of

things that we're looking for to allow
computers to learn what to look for and

to look for the items in a complicated
scenario.

Let's have a look at a variety of
species and see how different they look

machine. So what do you have?

So we've got the eastern blue tongue. So
really heavily trafficked as well.

We've also got an eastern water dragon.
It's interesting body shape, so I think

it's great just to add contrast to the
shingleback and the blue tongue.

And now we can pretend to be a smuggler
by placing it in luggage. I love adding

it in the luggage.

The good thing is it's really quick, so
it means it can process a lot of bags in

a short time.

And ta -da!

That's amazing, and you can really see
the three different shapes.

Recognising what those shapes actually
have in common...

is what the computer needs to learn.

These animals all look different.

This one here has a really nice long
tail, which is unique to that animal.

in essence, essentially what we're
training the algorithm to look for is

these animals have a curved body.
They've got a skeleton. They're made up

meat, that juicy component that will
differentiate these animals, say, for

example, in comparison to an apple.
These are the key things that we're

for in the algorithm that will allow us
to try and detect, at least.

illegal wildlife trafficking yeah
amazing phoebe is about to find out just

smart this technology has already become
as part

of reptile keeper stew's rounds he's
checking in on some of his favorite

while oliver australia's largest python
enjoys his

freshly cleaned exhibit

Right, now we've got something very
special.

It's a tiny python with a peculiar name
that now has Stu's undivided attention.

Alright, this is little Joe.

Joe is one of my favourites. He's
actually named after my housemates

they're both little terrors.

Now what makes little Joe so important,
so special, he's the world's smallest

python.

This is an adult pygmy python, and this
little guy here would be no more than 30

centimetres long.

Found over in Western Australia, they do
like the rocky outcrops. He is that top

predator of these tiny little skinks and
geckos that are cruising around those

rocky outcrops.

Joe is a constrictor.

If little Joe was to wrap around my
thumb and squeeze, he would stop the

circulating to and from my thumb in
several minutes.

And it just goes to show just how
powerful constrictors are. Even one this

could do that sort of damage.

It's definitely one of my favourites.
And I think a lot of it comes down to

is something with no arms, no legs, no
ears and practically blind able to be so

successful out in nature?

Amazing.

And I love being able to educate people
that snakes are not evil.

They're not nasty, mindless killers.
These are wild animals that deserve our

respect and we should give them a bit of
a wide berth.

Coming up, the high -tech business of
business. We're going to make a poo

because that's what we're going to need
to do for the second part of our testing

today. And why curious cats are bad news
for these feather -tailed gliders.

When you're as small as these guys in
the wild, you're kind of mourning for

of other species.

Working so intimately with the animals
at the zoo is often a very profound

experience for Taronga's keepers.

It's our job as keepers to make sure
that we keep her healthy, well -fed,

stress -free, because that's going to
help her be able to keep these cubs nice

and safe.

For every high they celebrate...

There's also the loads they battle
through.

Doesn't make it any easier though to
have lots of them today.

Keeper Paul has experienced them all
while working with this amazing little

native.

This is one of my favourite areas
because in here we've got feather

gliders. They're a marsupial.

And they're very tiny marsupial. I think
we often think about marsupials and

immediately think a kangaroo or a koala.

These are so much smaller.

This is fully grown.

So you can imagine they are so tiny when
they're born. So when they're born

after 17 days, which is such a short
pregnancy.

And the babies are about the size when
they're born of a grain of rice. So they

are so, so tiny.

They call it a feather -tailed glider
because they've got a tail that looks

like a feather. And they're not like a
ring -tailed possum that can wrap it

around a tree and support their whole
weight on it, but they can use it for

steering. So when they glide, it's like
a rudder for them.

And they can glide from tree to tree.

And the other thing is, on each of their
digits on their feet, they've got a

tiny, tiny piece of skin.

And it's like a little, it's spongy, so
it's like a sucker.

So it means that when they're running on
a tree, They just adhere to it, so they

can run on a smooth surface, which is
very useful. When you're as small as

guys in the wild, you're kind of
mourning tea for lots of other species,

reptiles, mammals. So the best thing you
can do when you're this tiny and cute

is escape quickly.

But unfortunately, the very existence of
one other species in particular has

made any chance of escape near
impossible for this tiny glider.

So everybody who has a cat...

who lets it out at night these are fair
game and you can probably bet your

bottom dollar that if your cat brings
something home and spits it out on your

kitchen floor and you're going oh i
wonder what that was it could be a

feathertail glider so so many of them
are taken by people's pets which is a

great great shame

I think the easiest way is think about
your own backyard.

And there's so many things you can do to
make it safer for wildlife.

Be it a feather -tailed glider, be it a
ring -tailed possum, be it a bandicoot.

and maybe keep your pets in like if you
keep your dog in at night you're

probably going to have a better
relationship with your neighbors because

not upsetting them because as soon as
any wildlife is using your garden your

garden could be part of the wildlife
corridor you don't know that and so

guys are using your garden to travel
through to somewhere else so that they

feed but if you've got cats out at night
and you've got dogs barking what chance

do they have

In 1991, the one -cent coin had a
feather -tailed glider on it, and around

that time they were taken out of
circulation.

I don't want it to end up like the one
-cent coin.

I don't want it to disappear off the
face of the earth.

Ikundu, the ageing bongo, has a history
of stomach problems.

But before the vets are called in,
nutritionist Michelle wants to conduct a

messy tests.

Hey guys, how are you? I'm good, how are
you?

Good, come on in. To see if she can get
to the bottom of his gastrointestinal

problems. Perfect position for us here.
Yeah, very good.

Okay, so is this typical of a kundu's
poop then? Yeah, this is really good.

is what we want to see, nice pellet
-like formation.

Cool, so, I mean, you've got one of
these as well, right?

So if we compare it to that.

That looks pretty textbook. Yeah,
definitely looks too.

Yeah. So there's a couple of tests that
you can do just to kind of monitor his

fecal consistency or his digestive
state.

pH of his feces is a good indication of
the pH in his rumen or his hindgut. And

that can be a kind of a canary in the
mine if there's problems in terms of his

acid balance in his rumen.

but he's looking like he's sitting
between a six and a seven which is what

want yeah ideally for a really good um
gut health we're looking for between

of a six and a half to seven and a half
This is obviously a color chart that you

have to sort of visually pick the
number. But this will give us a digital

readout. And so it might be 6 .2 or 6
.3. And that means that you'll be able

see it more incrementally change if
something happens. A lot easier to score

well. Yes.

Though the initial signs are looking
good, Michelle has not finished sticking

her nose into a kundu's business.

Just yet. Well, cool. Then you know what
we're going to do? We're going to make

a poo slurry because that's what we're
going to need to do for the second part

of our testing today.

So, let's see.

Maybe we've got about 100 grams there,
right?

Yeah. So if you just want to pour the
water in. Okay. You say when. That's

What I'm going to do is...

Oh, it's very nice and firm.

Also, we're going to be doing some fecal
particle size testing, and that's where

we're looking at the fiber size in his
feces.

That's an indication of his dental
health, because they have to get through

gatekeeper first, and that means they
have to chew all of that fiber up to a

reasonable size where it goes into their
rumen and the microbes have a chance to

work on it.

We've got a special poo sieve here that
we're going to use. Specially labeled

poo. So what we're going to do here...

is sift that through oh sorry watch your
feet all right splash back and we're

going to try and get as much of the
fibers and see the fiber size and

it's kind of that whole i don't remember
i ate corn thing yes so that if it's

coming through hole in the feces that
means that they're probably not chewing

that well right and you can kind of take
the larger ones and say okay i'm going

to measure how long that one is

And that's about three centimeters.

Exactly. And so if you go through and
you see that there's some longer than

that, for example, you want it to be
quite consistent.

But then he's likely an older animal
with some dental problems already.

And so we wouldn't expect it to be that
consistent.

But over time, that might change. You
might see much larger fibers coming in

well because he's still pretty good at
processing it. Yeah. Awesome.

That's really, really helpful. I'm sure
that'll help our team out very, very

much when we're monitoring.

and as he ages, it'll definitely be a
good management strategy to make sure

nice and healthy, his teeth are in good
condition and his guts are in good

condition as well.

Having Michelle and Angie come down to
look at that gives us a good sign that

know that we're doing our job really
well and that Akundu is in great health

it's something we can keep monitoring
over time as he gets older.

Spending your days digging into poo may
not be everyone's cup of tea.

But when you consider what can be
learned from it, Paul wouldn't want to

anywhere else. I get labelled the poo
guy of Taronga.

Taronga scientists are getting ready to
serenade the zoo's regent honey eaters.

One of the challenges with breeding
regent honey eaters in the zoo

we're really good at breeding them. Our
keepers have bred them for over 20 years

now and we've had...

Huge success.

But one of the things we've noticed is
their song is different to the ones in

the wild.

So what we're trying to do is we're
trying to teach the birds that are in

zoo the song that they need to learn so
they can get out and sing the right song

in the wild.

And to do this properly, they need to
start them young.

This is one of our breeding aviaries.
This is the region honey eater.

We've got breeding pairs on either side
of us here.

and then this aviary in the middle is
what we call our crèche aviary and this

where the young will go once they've
left their parents.

So what we're doing is we're putting
these speakers into the aviary and we're

going to play the songs of wild region
honey eaters from these speakers and

that's going to simulate there being a
much bigger flock of birds here than

there is and that's going to give those
young birds the opportunity to learn how

to sing the correct wild type song that
we want them to sing when we release

them.

It's all feeding back to a central
location.

So we're loading some wild thongs onto
the computer, collected from birds,

primarily in the Blue Mountains, which
is a mountain range on the western

outskirts of Sydney.

And that's one of the last strongholds
of region honey -eater breeding

territory.

Yeah, that sounds great. Yeah, good.
That's good. Yeah.

With the playlist ready to rock...

It's time to start the tweeting.

We constructed a playback schedule that
mimics the natural variation of song

during the day because we don't want to
just play one song over and over again.

They'd start to ignore it. So instead,
we play multiple songs from different

individuals and we simulate the normal
dawn chorus that you might see in Birds

in the Wild.

Then during the day, there might be a
bit of a lull and then a bit of a peak

again in the afternoon.

And that just makes it as natural as
possible.

And like any good concert, there's the
all -important sound check.

And what we use that for is to be able
to check how they've learnt and what

their song sounds like as they get
older.

And when we look at the recordings, we
can see that they get more and more like

and closer to that wild song.

The playback is having an impact and is
being successful.

It's become the core part of our
breeding program.

When we put them back in the wild, they
can sing like all the other ones and

hopefully find a mate and produce more
region honey -eaters.

Today, keeper Danielle is braving the
rain and checking in on two of Taronga's

newest residents.

It is a really wet day, but even when
it's wet, us keepers just do exactly

we do on a sunny day.

We just wear our gear.

Here at Taronga, we've got two new
binturong. They're really exciting, very

young males. We haven't had young
animals in a long time.

Previously, we had an old male, Emmet,
and he lived out his twilight years, and

now we've got Rimbo and Kamiri.

They're very agile, and they are the
coolest animal in the whole entire zoo.

The Binturong are incredibly unique. If
you have a look at their face, they've

been described as a face a bit like a
cat, a body a little bit like a bear, so

some people call them bear cats, and
they've got that prehensile tail.

And their prehensile tail is so
muscular, they can hang upside down from

even on the tip.

Being this close to Khmeri, you can
really smell him. He smells like

really nice.

smelling animal.

Probably not the scent you'd expect from
a carnivorous mammal.

They can actually fold their feet in
half, which enables them to climb on

the thinnest wire. They can eat hanging
upside down like a bat. They can twist

their top half of their body and their
lower half of their body in different

directions, which means they can turn
unique corners.

But no matter which way they turn, they
can't escape this rain.

not that they want to.

This exhibit is perfect for Bintra. It
actually reflects their natural habitat

of Southeast Asia, the rainforest
environment, this huge fig tree, and

go all the way to the very, very top,
and they love to sun themselves up

And they have a spectacular view of the
harbour.

Despite amazing views in every
direction, there's only one direction

will be looking.

Benderong are my absolute favourite
animal.

They're very unique. Not many people
actually see them, even though they're

here. And I love pointing out, look up!
Look how high they can climb!

They smell like popcorn!

They're so cute!

They're just incredible animals, and
working with them, you have to actually

build their trust and build a rapport.

They're very much creatures of habit.
They like their routine.

Just to have that relationship with
them, worth everything.

Next, it's a dirty job, but I guess
someone's got to do it.

Unfairly, I get labelled the poo guy of
Taronga.

As we've seen, Taronga Zoo does a lot
with their animals' waste.

But one member of staff gets so close to
the poo.

He's been given an unfortunate nickname.

Unfairly, I get labelled the poo guy of
Taronga.

Go down to elephants one morning, watch
them get the big shovels out and push

that poo into those big bins. Watch the
keepers rake the giraffe up, picking up

their poo every day.

But because I have to request the poo to
come down for examination, I'm labelled

the poo guy.

But Paul has an extremely important job
at the zoo.

one that almost every department relies
on.

One of the main roles here at Taronga
Wildlife Hospital Pathology Laboratory

the receiving of tons, and I mean tons,
of faecal samples every year. But

essentially any animal in the zoo,
birds, reptiles, amphibians, we will at

get a faecal sample at least once every
year.

And there's lots of different reasons
why we actually get the faecal samples

submitted to the lab.

But unfortunately, all the time, you
know, we are looking for parasites.

Sometimes they can be very microscopic,
so we have to use the microscope to

visualise them.

In this case, these are two examples of
some tapeworms. They're very fettuccine

or spaghetti looking.

You know, there are good parasites and
there are bad parasites. The bad

parasites are obviously the ones that
are causing disease. Is the animal

diarrhoea? Is it losing blood and things
like that?

But parasites actually have a health
perspective in many, many different

animals. Ruminant animals, for example,
need parasites in their gut to help

ferment the food that they're eating.

Chimpanzees we know have a parasite
called troglodytella, big word, but they

need that to break down all that
cellulose that they're eating.

This is a reason why we need to monitor
sort of the type of parasites that we're

seeing. along with the quantity of
parasites they were seeing, and giving

vets that information to decide then
whether they need to intervene or not.

So whilst Paul knows he may occasionally
be the butt of jokes, he also knows

this is serious business and will always
remain one of the most useful

diagnostic tools the zoo have at their
disposal.

Pooh is incredible, you know, and people
will go, they roll their eyes.

Stinky, horrible stuff. We've all
changed to nappy. We know what it's

really, there's so much valuable
information that we can get from

species samples. So we use that
information to help benefit future

of animals in our care.

And this is Kira. Hi, Kira.

A day after helping train the security
screening machine to detect smuggled

wildlife... Phoebe is about to find out
just how clever this technology has

already become.

This is the type of information that we
saw yesterday.

So then you'll notice as we go along
we've got the images and these are the

types of images that over time will
enable us to detect these animals in the

trafficking route. So this is the first
starting point but in the future if we

take a look at this next picture.

And you'll notice that it has that
bounding box around the lizard. And this

the algorithm in play because this has
shown that the algorithm has been able

detect this, in fact, is a lizard.

So clever!

But this is just the beginning for this
world -first collaboration to help stop

animal trafficking.

So in terms of other species as well,
like birds and I know sugar gliders are

exotic pet over in the States.

Will the technology look for other
species as well in the future? If we

to, and that's what's exciting. So we're
evolving, which is great. And so as we

continue to evolve to collect more
information on trafficking, but also to

ahead of the traffickers, we can
definitely include those in teaching our

computers to look for sugar gliders and
lizards, for example.

There's no doubt staying ahead of the
smugglers will be a challenge.

But with people like Phoebe and Vanessa
on the case, the future will hopefully

look a little safer for Australia's
amazing reptiles like Reggie.

This will save thousands of shinglebacks
smuggled out of Australia every year

and the numbers of them are depleting in
the wild. We might not have any left in

50 years if this continues at this rate.
But with this technology, we will keep

these amazing creatures in our own
backyard.