All language subtitles for Taronga s05e07 Carnivore Galore.eng

VIRGINIA GAY (NARRATES):
You don't get named

one of the best zoos
in the world by accident.

And a view
as magical as this one is,

only gets you so far.

Good boy.
No.

This last year, Team Taronga
have been busier than ever.

Boom. Whoo!

With their two zoos
now, bigger than ever.

Come on, handsome man.
Let's go.

So, this season,
we're taking you closer than ever.

(ELEPHANTS TRUMPET)

And as their colourful residents
get ready to make some noise...

(TIGER ROARS)
Oh, my goodness.

..let us show you exactly
who's who in this zoo.

Just always be watching
who's who, who's where.

(OTTER SOUNDS)

On this episode.

18 down...
Time to get serious.

..three to go.
Is everyone ready?

Operation Chimp check...

There we go, buddy.

..steps up a gear.

We've got one chance
to get it right.

60 million years in the making.

So,
we lose the plains-wanderer.

The fight to save
an ancient treasure.

That's one family gone
off the face of the planet.

And beware.

Chook,
chook, chookies.

Face to face
with a carnivore called...

Daisy.

(THEME MUSIC)

Over the last three weeks,

keepers and vets at Taronga...

So, she
has got nuclear sclerosis.

..have been conducting examinations

on their entire
chimpanzee community.

It's a first
and it's a massive task.

Here at Taronga, we've got
the largest group of chimpanzees

in
the Australasian region.

Liz?
Yeah.

Can you mark that 00:01:54,759
We have 21 chimps
within that community.

There are seven

different
family groups.

So far, 18 female and juvenile males

have been examined.

So, when preparing 00:02:08,279
we try and figure out
what's the-the best thing

for their welfare.

And now, it's the adult male's turn.

So, we separated the group
into two weeks

for the first lot of animals
to get their general anaesthetics.

The
girls are all done.

They're
all happy and relaxed now.

The adult males, they're in there
waiting to have a go as well.

Chimpanzees can be
aggressive naturally.

They
can fight naturally.

And so, we wanna reduce
that as much as we can.

And so, part of that plan
is doing the adult males last.

And that way, 00:02:46,490
we actually filter those
adult males back in one by one.

Sully's
our alpha male,

even
though he is the youngest

and he's not necessarily
the biggest either

but
he is the smartest.

And so, he leads through
a culture of respect,

not
through a culture of fear.

Shabani is our oldest male.
He has certainly lived a life.

He's seen a lot.

He's got a lot of battle scars
on him because he really wanted

that alpha male position
but he never quite got there.

Samaki, on the other hand,
is twice the size of Shabani.

He's got biceps
that would make Dwayne

'The
Rock' Johnson jealous.

Even though they're not
the same sort of size

or
ranking in the group,

we still do their general
anaesthetics together

because they are still an element
of support for one another

and
it's really important to try

and ensure those bonds
stay really strong.

Are you medium, large,
what? Phil?

Uh, probably
large would be safe.

Thank you.
(INDISTINCT)

Oh,
it doesn't really matter.

To assist with health checking
the male chimpanzees,

Taronga has called
in a veterinary heart specialist.

I hope we get good image.
It's always the way, isn't it?

So, the leading cause of death
in chimps is cardiomyopathy.

So, essentially, the heart muscle
being replaced by scar tissue.

What we'll be doing
is using the ultrasound

to
do an examination...

that will allow us
to look at the heart

structurally
and see whether

there's
any leaky valve,

see whether there's any
dilated heart chambers.

Today, we'll be paying
particular attention to Samaki

because his father died
in his early adult life

and we wanna do everything
we can to screen him

in case he's showing
early signs of heart disease.

(CHIMPS SHRIEK)

So, you can hear the
boys? Yeah.

Something going...
Uh-huh.

They're particularly
sensitive to the noise

around
them this morning.

Holly's doing Samaki
and Nat's doing Shabani.

Our job as the keepers 00:04:46,959
comfortable position to be
able to then do the hand injection.

And from that point on, we then
pass the animals over to the,

uh,
the hospital team.

Can
you guys wait down here?

And then we'll let you know
when they're done.

We're gonna have to probably
take our time this morning

with these boys.

Happy? OK.

We wanna take full advantage
of the fact

that
we're giving an anaesthetic.

Good luck.

We wanna get as much
information as possible.

Unlike small animals, if you leave
something out, we can do it again.

With the chimps, we've got
one-one chance to get it right.

(PEACEFUL MUSIC)

It's early morning
in a very special corner

of Taronga Western Plains Zoo
and keeper Leonie

is just kicking off her daily rounds
of this vitally important facility.

This
is our sanctuary,

home to our conservation
breeding programs

with our free ranging bilbies,
plains-wanderer and chuditch.

The sanctuary is beaut-beautiful
habitat for our bilbies.

It
is at the back of our zoo.

So, it is away
from all of the people

and that's purely to give them
a space and environment

that
is nice and quiet

to allow
them to breed successfully.

And to protect that peace and quiet,
the sanctuary is surrounded

by a predator proof perimeter fence.

It's really tall.

It also
has a overhang over the top,

so, no cats can pretty much
walk up that fence

and also comes down
into the ground about a foot

with a skirting over the top
so nothing can dig underneath.

Up until a few years ago
when Taronga and its partners

started releasing bilbies
into the New South Wales Outback.

OK. You can go now.

These fascinating marsupials
hadn't been seen in these parts

for over a century.

So, protecting these
little Aussie icons

is one of Taronga's
most important jobs.

Nothing's
ever breached the fence,

um, and I think that comes down
to us checking it daily.

The intruders most feared
in these parts

are feral cats and foxes.

2.6 billion native animals
are killed by foxes and feral cats

each year in Australia.

With no natural defences,

bilbies are highly vulnerable
to these hungry predators.

So, on the other side
of our sanctuary fence,

we do get cats and foxes,
um, roaming the area

but
our fence is so great

that it's able to keep those
predators on the other side.

Inside the sanctuary,

keeper Leonie is bringing
high-tech gadgetry

to the task of bilby conservation.

I'm just swapping over
camera 7, um, SD card,

so,
I can see what's on there.

Free ranging bilbies, um,
are here throughout the sanctuary.

We're
completely hands off.

We allow them to do their
own breeding and foraging.

We're just gonna 00:07:47,559
and see what was picked
up in this area.

We checked that
night-time specifically,

because cats and foxes 00:07:54,039
Oh, there's a bilby.

He's
running through.

The camera picks up
still shots of animals.

So, it takes pictures
every few seconds

and that's purely if something's
running past the camera.

Um, we could pick up
at least one shot,

um, within that second
that it's running past,

so, we know what's going on
within the sanctuary.

Thankfully, apart from some
inquisitive wildlife,

the trail cameras are clear,

which is lucky because the bilby
population here is thriving.

So, here within the sanctuary,
we started with 18 bilbies

and it's estimated that
we're actually up to 138 bilbies

and
that's incredible.

To see exactly how incredible,

Leonie and the rest
of the conservation team

need to conduct
a full population survey.

And to do that,
Leonie has a secret weapon.

This
is one of our bilby traps.

But this one's not so high-tech.

So, we're just gonna 00:08:51,599
some peanut butter.

So, we just pop it
on the back of the trap.

In my day to day as a keeper,
I don't actually see the bilbies.

They're
nocturnal animals.

So, the only time we actually
see those bilbies would be tonight,

when we actually come in
and check the population out.

At the Taronga Wildlife Hospital,
the team are preparing

for one of their biggest days yet.

It's
time to get serious.

I'm
putting my nurse's pouch on.

The largest male chimps
are due for their health checks,

which includes specialist heart
assessments of two brothers

Samaki and alpha male Sully,

who both have a family history
of heart disease.

So, the cardiac assessments
are really important to us

particularly because their
father, Lobutu,

died
at a relatively early age,

who
was not quite 30,

of
a sudden heart attack.

So, we really want to be proactive
to have full warning

if there's anything happening
so, that we can pre-empt

any
untoward effects.

The nurses are ready.

The vets are ready.

All they need now are the chimps.

Receiving.

(ON RADIO) 00:10:09,279
Nat
got the full dose?

Shabani got full
dose? Yep.

Is everyone ready?

It's action stations.

Shabani has arrived at the hospital.

Let
me get the scales.

Can you minus 15.2?
Yep.

Right now,
he's only lightly sedated,

so, the team need to move quick.

Because that's the weight of.
.. Yep.

..everything.

Anaesthetising chimps
is a challenge.

Chimpanzees
are very, very strong.

They're
much stronger than humans

and they're quite heavy
to carry around.

65.7.

And so, obviously,
we need to be very careful

when we're taking them
out of the chimp house

that
everybody knows their roles,

everybody knows 00:10:51,879
We have every possible
untoward event covered,

so,
we know what we're gonna do.

So, yes,
they're dangerous animals

but we manage them
in a very safe way.

One, two, three.

There we go, buddy.

Alright.

Oxygen on.

There's
a bit of a blink.

So, just what's he on?
(INDISTINCT)

Despite the anaesthetic gas
he's receiving,

Shabani is more awake
than he should be.

We don't
want the chimp sitting up.

Oh, good god.
(CHUCKLES)

Put him up to 3.5, Tammy.
Yep.

Coming up.

I've never seen them
do something like that.

Trivia time.
It's been amazing.

What do a jungle fowl, an otter
and a meerkat have in common?

Target. Good.

You're about to find out.

And stock taking...

This is a list.
It's a little female.

..Taronga style.

So, we know that 00:11:59,840
Working with the meat eaters,
the carnivores,

is one of the most exhilarating
parts of being a keeper at Taronga.

I've never seen them
do something like that.

It's been amazing.

The power of these majestic animals
is a constant reminder

of how dangerous they can be.

Pound for pound, I have heard
that the devil have the most

powerful jaw pressure
of any mammal for their size.

It takes years of training,

dedication and passion to work
alongside them.

So, we've dropped off
a couple days' worth of meat

to
these guys up here.

Today, junior keeper Molly
is heading down to Tiger Trek

to feed one of the zoo's
most voracious carnivores.

Daisy.

But it's not who you think.

Chook,
chook, chookies.

Hello.

Hey, Chook.

How are you?

I love birds.

(ROOSTER CROWS)

I came into the zoo 00:13:03,919
but very quickly 00:13:08,359
They have just as big A personality
as our cats and as our bears

and otters
and all of those animals.

So, you can feel some pretty cool.
.. (ROOSTER CROWS)

..some pretty cool
relationships with them.

Hey, Walter.

These
are red junglefowl.

These guys come from Southeast Asia
and also areas of South Asia.

If you look at this handsome boy
down here, this is Walter,

one of our roosters.

He's got that...
(ROOSTER CROWS)

..beautiful big comb
and, of course,

that amazing 00:13:36,639
So, that's the easiest way
to define the girls from the boys.

We've
got nine junglefowl in total.

So, we've got five boys
and four girls.

They're basically part of the family
on the carnivore team.

They definitely get to free roam
but, yeah, not with our tigers.

We
gotta keep them safe.

As part of the carnivore family,

they're given the same amount
of training and enrichment

as all the other carnivores.

Target.

Good girl.

Target.

Good girl.

So, what we're doing is some
target training with Daisy.

So, this whole training
started by teaching her that...

Target.

When she pecked that target,
she got a nice treat.

That's why I have a clicky here
and that basically tells her,

'Yep, that's what
we want you to do.'

So, now, that she knows that
this magical star involves food,

um, just like that, 00:14:36,679
she gets a reward.

So, we can use that 00:14:41,359
and different objects
just like this perch.

So, target.

And we can apply it to a whole bunch
of other behaviours as well.

(ROOSTER CROWS)
We're done.

Come on, sweetie.

With the junglefowl's training
coming to an end,

Molly is stepping things up a notch

and heading over
to the African savannah

for a meeting with her next
carnivore conditioning candidate.

One, two, three.

There we go, buddy.

29-year-old chimp Shabani...
Oxygen on.

..is the first of the adult males

to be brought
into the Wildlife Hospital

as part of a massive program
to health check

all 21 of Taronga's chimpanzees.

There
is a bit of a blink.

But hospital staff have just become
aware this battle scarred primate,

sedated before he arrived
at the hospital,

is clearly not sleeping
deeply enough.

We don't
want the chimp sitting up.

Oh, good god.

I put him up to 3.5, Tammy.
Yep.

0.26 mils of diazepam.

I've just given him some more
diazepam because I think,

yes, more and more ketamine
just doesn't help.

His eyes look much more relaxed.
Yeah.

Once they're done, 00:16:08,399
I'm just not intubating him
until I'm very, very happy.

Yeah. That's, yeah.

Vet Gabby is reluctant
to slide a breathing tube

down this dangerous animal's throat
and risk waking him up

until he is more heavily sedated.

What
was the rate for it?

For the safety of the staff
and the chimp,

supervisor Richard double checks
Shabani's restraints

while they wait
for the anaesthetic to take effect.

So, anaesthetising chimps
is a challenge.

They're big dangerous animals
and they can be very challenging,

uh, to manage.

4%, 2L.

But it's a really 00:16:50,759
because we know we're doing this
for the good of the animal.

And finally,
this impressive chimpanzee

is ready for his health check.

Well,
we're gonna go get some ice.

Yep. Thank you.
Yeah.

Shabani,
Shabani, Shabani.

Yeah.

Do florists
get stressed? (CHUCKLES)

Veterinary heart specialist Phil
and his sonographer Ryan

have been keeping their distance.

And then over we go.

Have I got that on?
Yep.

Phil, I'm just gonna get the bloods
and then we're good to go.

OK.

But with 29-year-old Chimp Shabani
now safely asleep,

it's time to get to work.

The main
problem that chimpanzees

have is a form of heart muscle
disease called cardiomyopathy.

I'm just taking
a little bit out of here

and then we're gonna take it out
and put pressure on it, please.

And it's
a hard disease to pick up,

so, we look as hard as
we possibly can

with the echo exam
or heart ultrasound.

Let
me just get aortic plug.

Echocardiography can be very
challenging with the-the great apes.

Is it possible to have
the lights down just a tiny bit?

They're big animals.

We wanna get as much
information as possible.

Just
gonna try from this view.

I just don't know 00:18:07,759
Yeah.
You keep working.

He's not giving me
anything for free.

Doctor Phil
spots a problem right away.

It's
not looking great, is it?

Out the back of Taronga
Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo

lies one of Australia's
native animal conservation's

best kept secrets.

Alright.

The sanctuary.

And tonight, one specific nocturnal
population is being countered

by conservation keeper Leonie
and conservation officer Rachel.

This one is trap B4.
B4. Yep.

They're hopeful that the bilby traps
they set earlier in the day,

laced with peanut butter,
are full of precious marsupials.

And
I can see some eye shine.

Oh, yes. 00:19:01,239
Because we're hands off
and we treat our bilbies

essentially like wild animals,
it means that we do need to be

a bit
creative in our monitoring.

We basically just
monitor the population

through these regular
catch-up events.

It allows us to identify
if we've got any new animals

in the population 00:19:17,959
for the health of some
of the older animals as well.

How exciting.
How exciting.

This one doesn't look that big.
Nice little one.

Maybe
a little female.

First step for this little girl
is a chip check.

Her
microchip ends in FB91.

So, this is a list
of all the bilbies

that we've previously identified
in the sanctuary.

It's
a little female.

We first
identified her in May 2022,

so, we know that 00:19:58,159
So, really good to see her
show up again today.

She doesn't have a joey
in the pouch at the moment,

but she
does have an elongated teat,

which is really good evidence
that she has bred

probably relatively recently,
which is fantastic to see.

At the end of the day, this bilby
population that we have here

is used
as a source population.

So, we wanna be able
to send animals out

to
other conservation sites.

Breeding females is one great sign

but tonight it seems the lure
of the peanut butter

is irresistible.

Possum or bilby.
Ooh.

This
individual's quite flighty.

And something very special
is waiting for Leonie and Rachel

in the next trap.

So, we're just 00:20:45,100
or
him out of the trap.

The chip, which
is a pretty good indicator

that he's
never been caught before.

And in other terms, it means that
this might be the very first time

that he's actually seen humans,
which is a pretty cool thing

for a
zoo-based breeding program.

We'll
just grab a weight on him

while we've already
got him in the bag.

If he's good.
.. We'll try anyway.

This form of management,
this hands-off approach

is really
important in making sure

they retain those
wild type behaviours

and that means 00:21:18,519
they already know exactly
what they need to do to survive.

For now, this feisty fella
will get a microchip,

so, he can be counted
in the sanctuary's

ever growing population.

Is there anything else 00:21:31,640
I'm happy.

Really happy to see

the bilby population
continuing to do

so, well up here in the sanctuary,
so really fantastic night.

Great to see some new animals
and great to see lots of bilbies.

Sweet.

I just don't know
that I'm gonna get it.

Veterinary heart specialist Phil

is performing
an ultrasound examination

on 29-year-old chimp, Shabani.

Not
looking great, is he?

He's looking for any signs
of heart disease,

a common cause of sudden death
in elderly male chimps

and he's encountered
an immediate problem.

Oh, you're
gonna keep pushing, eh?

Yeah.
You keep working.

He's not giving you
anything for free.

He's making you work for it.
Yeah.

You get a sweat up.

Oh, yeah.

It's always a little
bit of an adventure

when
we do a-a-a great ape

because the views 00:22:37,719
Normally, you can get a good image
with very sort of minimal contact

of the
probe on the chest wall.

There's
this concaveness that we...

Yeah. 00:22:47,199
We just can't 00:22:51,879
What we rely on is that the heart
lands on the chest wall

and then the ultrasound can pick
up the images very easily.

Male chimps are challenging
because of their size

and
their conformation.

They tend to have very 00:23:06,879
so, that it's hard to physically
get the probe

to have
contact with the heart.

So, you have to push the probe
with that much pressure

to get good images.

If you
wanna turn him, we can.

It's crucial to determine
the heart health of this great ape.

One, two, three.

So, Doctor Phil
needs a better angle.

That's better.
Hopefully.

Pulling.

Oh, that's made
a huge difference, guys.

Thank you.
OK.

Now, that we've tilted, 00:23:35,160
Turning Shabani on his side

brings his heart closer
to his chest wall

and provides Doctor Phil
with the view he needs.

We're very conscious today
that we make sure

that the heart's
structurally normal.

This is what we call
a four-chamber view.

The left side pumps
blood out to the body

and the right-side pumps
blood out to the lungs.

Everything
looks pretty good.

Obviously, we will now
need to-to examine the valves,

see whether there's any leaks
but I'll do measurements as well

to make sure that we haven't got
any enlargement of these chambers.

So far, so good.

Meanwhile, the second male chimp,
22-year-old Samaki,

is arriving next door.

Alright, guys. 00:24:17,519
OK.

He's not the alpha male

but he is the largest chimp
in the community,

weighing just over 90kg.

That's more than any
of the staff handling him.

Can I just get hands on him
in case he does half of it?

He's an imposing animal.

But for Vet Kreason,

this chimp's sedation and intubation
go off without a hitch.

Let's
get bloods in him.

No
problem with veins there.

Eish!

In the adjoining theatre,

Vet Gabby continues her physical
examination of Shabani.

Yeah. So, it just...it just
doesn't extend.

While Doctor Phil and Sonographer
Ryan are taking a closer look

at the 29-year-old chimp's heart.

It's a bit better. 00:25:09,479
So, trying to get
the pulmonary valve

and the main pulmonary artery
in line so we can line it up

with the cursor to estimate
the velocities through the valve.

They're looking at the speed
and direction of blood flow

through the heart chambers.

And there's outflow.

So, this image here shows
the right side of the heart

and we can see a little bit
of a flash of blue.

That blue is a leak.

Taronga Zoo
has a long history of conservation.

Out here at Western Plains Zoo
in Dubbo,

one of the beneficiaries
of this commitment

to protecting endangered species
is the elusive plains wanderer.

Plains-
wanderer are unique.

For example, there's 400 species
apart in that family group.

The plains-wanderer stand alone
in their family group.

So, if we lose the plains-wanderer,
that's one family gone

off
the face of the planet.

It traces
back 60 million years,

so, an ancient avifauna 00:26:16,959
And unfortunately, um, they have
been surviving wonderfully

until
the European settlement.

1,000 left, so,
this is why we're here. Yeah.

We're
here to try and protect them

and to knock off
the critically endangered,

uh, tag that's looming
over their heads.

The plains-wanderer
is a ground dwelling bird,

quail
like, so, 12 to 15cm tall.

The female is a lot prettier
than the male.

Um, she's got a lovely
red gorget or breast

and she's got 00:26:44,440
To keep the precious
plains-wanderer population

in tip top shape,

Mark and his fellow
keepers put their chefs'

hats on every morning.

Fine shopping of the greens
is Michelin star rated.

(CHUCKLES)

They are
known as a Goldilocks bird,

so, they
need everything perfect.

They are omnivorous 00:27:06,319
to
40% invertebrates.

After all this prep work
in the kitchen,

you'd think these tiny VIPs

or should I say 'VIBs'
would come out to say thank you.

These guys, their main
form of defence is camouflage.

Don't hold your breath.

When, if we see them,
then, you know,

they
get a little bit upset.

So, we try and keep our visuals
to the food tray.

So, basically, we take the food
out, have a quick look at

what
they're eating...

a
quick clean of the tray.

But they're not only fussy eaters,

they're also fussy
about their environment.

The plains-wanderer
live in a-a unique habitat,

arid
grasslands of Australia.

They like grasses 00:27:54,959
They like a reddish-brown soil
and they like 50%,

uh, ground cover
and 50% bare ground.

So, we replicate this
in the zoo as well.

They feed naturally
off the...off the seed

as well as the flowers
attract insects as well,

so, they can have a semi
wild lifestyle in there

by
hunting and foraging.

Let's be honest.

They're a little needy.

But all this effort
is for one simple reason,

to provide the perfect
conditions to breed.

And that's exactly
what they're doing.

We've
got 17 chicks on the ground.

They hatched around
November, December.

So, you know, it wasn't
boiling hot this-this summer

and we had good rainfall,
so perfect, um,

environment
for plains-wanderers.

So much so Taronga now
has too many in their care.

So, today, is a conservationist's
favourite day.

The team are releasing
those chicks into the wild.

So, we were lucky enough
to have four releases done so far.

Around 40 birds have been released
and hopefully, in this release,

we're gonna release
probably 15 birds,

which
is, uh, which is exciting.

Back at the Wildlife Hospital
in Sydney,

two of Taronga's oldest male chimps

are lying heavily sedated
in adjoining operating theatres.

OK.
Left eye is good.

In one theatre, 22-year-old Samaki

is being examined by Vet Kreason.

Right eye is fine.

OK,
what else do we need to do?

All looks normal.

He's
just hanging to the right.

Next door,
the specialist cardiology team

are investigating 29-year-old
Shabani's aged heart.

So, this image here shows
the right side of the heart,

and we can see a little bit
of a flash of blue backwards.

That blue is just
a little bit of a leak.

It's-it's minor.
It's not significant.

And it's almost certainly, you know,
normal, uh, for a-a chimp this age.

Pretty good, isn't it?
Yeah. That's nice.

Beauty.
OK.

I'm happy.

So, the findings of the ultrasound
were pretty encouraging.

So, echoes showed that not really
any major structural heart damage

beyond
that that we would expect

as a normal 00:30:19,199
OK.

Shabani, the oldest
of the male chimps, is in the clear.

So, the cardiology team
moved next door

to examine 22-year-old Samaki.

We'll be paying 00:30:33,439
because
his father died

in his early adult life
of heart disease.

Tail down.

Now, tail back up 00:30:45,919
Still
struggling with his shoulder.

So, let's see here.

With the chimps,

they have to lay on their back
for safety reasons.

It's a safer anaesthetic,
more stable anaesthetic

but it does make imaging
more challenging.

Get some hands.

So-so, you wanna...

Like,
just 45 degrees is fine.

45 all...

Or is that harder?

He's quite heavy
and he might just roll.

Yeah. OK.

Ready?
One, two, three.

The last thing we wanna see
is any hint on the ultrasound

that there could be
any muscle disease.

Turning Samaki on his side
does make Doctor Phil's job easier.

Just in behind you.
Oh, it's nice.

But it can also make
the anaesthetic less effective.

Seen a few ectopics.
See?

And no-one wants this
whopping 91-kilo ape

waking up just yet.

Over in the African savannah,
trainee keeper Molly

is continuing her target work
with Taronga's Carnivores.

Mkhulu.

But this time,
she's not taming chickens.

Mkhulu.

She'll be up close and personal

with a genuine
four-legged meat eater.

Mkhulu. 00:32:02,279
Target.

Good girl.

So,
this here is Mkhulu.

She's one of our female
meerkats here at the zoo.

She's
got really beautiful eyes.

It's almost like she's got eyeliner.
So, she's one of our pretty girls.

So, all of our meerkats here
at the zoo are target-trained.

So, it looks like a fun game
for these girls

but it's actually a really great
way that they can assist

in their
everyday health checks.

So, we can ask them
to stand up nice and tall.

Target. Good.

And we can see 00:32:30,439
so, it's great for assessing
their weights

but also great
to look at any injuries.

Target.

Good girl.

And also, their
general movement as well.

It can be quite stressful
for meerkats

and any zoo animal 00:32:45,959
Um, so, if they can assist us
with that every single day, why not?

This type of training
is employed across the zoo

for a whole range of animals.

And whether it's carnivores...

Go on, Jim Jim.
..or herbivores...

Good boy.

The way to making it work...
Target.

..is all in the wining and dining.

Basically, the way I trained Daisy,
the little chicken,

is
the exact same way

I was able to train
this little girl.

Even down to the same food rewards,
some nice fresh mealworms,

really
high value for chickens.

They're also our meerkats'
favourite food too.

So, just by associating
a really high value food

and letting them know
that this target stick

means
positive reinforcement,

they were able to learn
it really quickly.

Target.

So, with today's training
out of the way,

Molly has her sights set
on an even larger carnivore.

But it's not who you think.

So, my next project 00:33:44,830
a new otter of ours 00:33:51,720
At Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo,
it's easy to spot the mega-fauna

that call these
wide-open spaces home.

But it would be a stretch
to classify the plains-wanderer

as mega-fauna, more like mini fauna.

In fact, they're
so small and elusive,

the keepers have built
a special outpost just to see them.

So,
yeah, in-in here,

this is where we spend
a-a good portion of the day.

We monitor
these guys through CCTV.

Um, it's a completely different
way of zoo-keeping, really.

Make sure they're OK,
make sure they're fit

and robust to be able 00:34:30,000
This year's chicks
have grown up strong.

So, Mark and the rest
of the plains-wanderer team

have stepped up their
monitoring of the chicks

to assess just which birds
are the best candidates

for life in the wild.

So, we're looking
for good signs of foraging

and giving them
extra insect scatters

to make sure they can hunt naturally
before they get released.

And for some of these
critically endangered critters,

today will be their final meal.

What no, not their 'final meal'.

Their final meal in the sanctuary.

So, we were lucky enough
to have four releases done so far.

Around 40 birds have been released
and hopefully, in this release,

we're gonna release
probably 15 birds,

which is.
..which is exciting.

With the strongest birds now
selected from the sanctuary flock,

all Taronga's hard work
is coming to a head.

12 of Taronga's finest are making
their way to the Hay Plains

and Mark couldn't be prouder.

We had
a fantastic season this year.

Boosted
numbers in the wild

but also boosted them
genetically as well.

I've worked around,
you know, a few countries,

and I worked with multiple
different species.

But for me to work on a breed
to release program with a species

that is, you know, one of the most
important species in the world

and to be able to see these
birds go out and live

a wild lifestyle after
being, you know,

bred in Taronga Western Plains Zoo
is definitely one of my...

the
highlights of my career.

And, you know and hopefully,
you know, in the coming years,

we're gonna be releasing
a lot more to-to protect these

very
important birds.

(CALM MUSIC)

Coming up, one final chimp...

I might
intubate him that side.

..delivers one final surprise.

The blood's going
back the wrong way.

Visiting heart specialist,
Doctor Phil,

is examining 22-year-old male chimp,
Samaki,

a chimp with a family history
of sudden death

due to heart disease.

He's
got trivial TR as well.

That's an ectopic.

He's detected an irregular
heartbeat called an ectopic.

It's quite normal to have
occasional premature beats.

So, it's
not so much having them.

Having a lot of them can sometimes
reflect heart muscle disease.

OK.
Yeah.

Did you record that?

What I wanna do is
I wanna do a longer capture.

We'll go freeze.

Normal.
Normal. Normal.

OK. I think let's save that
and we're pretty right, I think.

Are we good?

You don't need 00:37:06,879
No. No.
Everything else looks good.

Yeah.
They-they-they...

That's all good.

Thankfully, Samaki is in the clear.

While there are some
irregular beats,

they're in the normal range
for a chimp his age.

OK.

Let's
keep him on gas for a bit

but we can start
getting stretcher in.

With no heart problems,

Samaki can head back
to the chimp house to recover.

One, three.
One, two, three.

And the veterinary team can start
preparing for one last male,

and he's an important one.

We have Sully.

So, Sully is the alpha male
of the group.

Yep.

And so,
we really want to make sure

that we're looking after Sully
and assess how his heart is going.

After 31 days,

20 hand injections
and a lot of planning...

Sully.
Perfect.

..the very last chimp, number 21,
is heading to the hospital

for a health check.

(CHIMP SCREAMS)

16-year-old Sully is the alpha male
of the entire chimp community.

He was
a bit worked up at first

and so he didn't really
wanna participate

in the
hand injection training

and then he settled down
a bit and then, um,

Scott was able to hand
inject him comfortably.

Going straight to the scales
and then into the surgery.

OK.
You got the head?

You would
think that the chimpanzees

that are the biggest 00:38:41,039
that are the alpha male because
they're the boss of the group.

Their
job is to protect the group.

However, Sully's actually
our smallest adult male.

He
sits at around 56kg.

He's
quite short and stocky.

Ready?

I might
intubate him that side.

Can
I have the light on, Tim?

Like that.

That
should be in far enough.

Gabby, if I start at the head end,
do you wanna start at the bum end

and do his...

Thank you.
..physical exam?

Yep.
Look at his thighs.

Look at his calves.

He's..
. Oh, my god. He's so strong.

He has probably 00:39:21,480
Yep.
One, two, three.

(INDISTINCT) OK.

That's 100.

I was just gonna check that
you were right for us to come in.

Frances,
the cardiologist are ready.

Five minutes?
3.2 milliseconds.

Oh. We'll
take a quick X-ray.

Sully's father died suddenly
of a heart attack at a young age.

Look
at the size of his heart.

The final ultrasound
will reveal if this alpha male

is prone to the same heart condition
as his late father.

So, those flashes of colour,
is that blood?

Yes. So,
it's direction of blood flow.

What that means 00:39:59,999
is the blood's going
back the wrong way.

For keeper Scott,
the news is unexpected.

So, it's like 00:40:08,039
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.

One of the things that people
just live with unless it gets

more
serious sort of thing.

Yeah.

So, like the-the heart's meant
to-to compensate for it.

But it's not a sign
of more serious heart disease.

Sully and all the male chimps
are officially in the clear.

Yeah. Are you good with
everything? Yeah.

I think that's-that's all we need.
Awesome.

So, last
of the male chimp's done.

No major problems.

Chimp health assessments are over.
Thank goodness.

Put him on his back 00:40:41,820
One, two, three.

The next day, Shabani, Samaki
and alpha male, Sully,

are fully recovered

and it's time for them
to return to their community.

So, even though 00:41:03,039
it's still a very important
phase of our planning

because the chimps have been
apart for the last month.

We want them to go back together
all very happily

without any-any fighting,
which chimps naturally do.

And so, we actually filter those
adult males back in one by one

and
there's a reason for that.

We wanna put 00:41:24,159
and we wanna re-establish
his position in the hierarchy.

They're very intelligent animals,
so, they've got an understanding

of what's going on.

Sully's
coming back in.

(CHIMPS SCREAM)

The first thing 00:41:49,359
Um, everybody else was going up
and welcoming him back

and their
body language is perfect.

(JOYOUS MUSIC)

Then
Shabani, he was standoffish.

He sort of went, oh, 00:42:04,559
So, it sort of, 00:42:06,159
and
attack everybody else.

So, Samaki, who we knew 00:42:12,959
Sully
and Shikimu were right there.

They stood their ground
with him to say, 'We're here.'

You know, 'We're-we're looking
after the community.'

He climbed the mesh.

He was fear grinning,
baring his teeth,

um, and there was an element
of fear for him.

Not too much but the right amount
that we sort of need him to have.

By the end of the day, what we saw
was that Samaki, Sully, Shikimu

were
all grooming together.

So, overall, the chimps have
come back together really well

and they
are all in great health.

We had a chat with the cardiologist,
and he said no issues there.

Now, that
we've finished everything

and we've been able to take
a breath, we really do go,

"That was an amazing achievement
and we've accomplished."

You know, whilst you're doing it,
you don't recognise it as much

but when at the end,
you look back on it and go,

this
was really something.

It really does make me proud
to-to be with those guys.

(TENSE MUSIC)

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