All language subtitles for Taronga s06e07 Chatty Cheetah.eng

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

VIRGINIA GAY (NARRATES):
They say don't ever work

with babies or animals...

(MONKEYS COO)

..but what if they're baby animals?

Oh, no.

It was only born this morning.

On this all new season...

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

..welcome back to the ever
changing world of Taronga...

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

..where you'll witness things
you never thought possible.

You can actually hear her breathe.

And meet new faces...

Oh, hi, buddy.

..you'll never forget.

So good.

It's time to discover...

Oh, my god.

..exactly who's who in this zoo.

(TIGER ROARS)

On this episode...

You can even hear him purr
every now and then.

(CHEETAH PURRS)

Who knew this cheetah
is a real pussycat?

Hey, handsome boy.

But a trip to the dentist...

Can I have a look in your mouth?

..can change everything.

Hopefully,
it's a straightforward thing.

Well, let's get him tubed,
and then we can get him on the gas.

A rookie keeper...

Holy moly,
how am I going to do that?

Feeds a ravenous python
for the first time.

My mum's gonna
love hearing about this.

Hmm. I wouldn't be so sure, Kayla.

And you've heard
of a pain in the neck.

It wasn't what I was expecting.
Amazing to witness.

But what about a baby in the neck?

One of the most
exciting moments of my career today.

(THEME MUSIC)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

Taronga Western Plains Zoo

lays claim to some
of the animal kingdom's

most impressive record holders.

There's the tallest land mammal,

the heaviest land mammal

and keeper Kaitlin
has just spotted another,

the fastest land mammal.

Hello, Innes.

Innes is one of our
more talkative cheetah. Innes.

He is always making noises.

Currently, we can hear him

what we would call a chirp
or a chirrup.

(CHEETAH CHIRPS)

Which sometimes sounds like a bird.

And if you listen real carefully,

you can even hear him purr
every now and then.

(CHEETAH PURRS)

He is a hand-raised cheetah,

so, this doesn't happen
with all of our cheetah,

but Innes is very used
to humans being around him.

Hey, handsome boy.

(CHEETAH YELPS)

Cheetah are renowned
for their speed, 113km/h.

So, very impressive,

and they can get to that
within seconds of taking off.

So, they can cover up
to several metres of distance

with every stride that they take.

So, every part of that body
is crucial to them

being our fastest land mammal.

And there is one particular thing

that will get chatty cheetah Innes
up and running, breakfast.

(CHEETAH YELPS)
Come on, Innes.

(INTRIGUING MUSIC)

Hello, big boy.

How are you feeling?
Innes is 11 years of age.

For us, that is considered
an older age for our cheetah.

Innes. (CLAPS)

Hello, handsome.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Hi. Can I have a look in your mouth?

(CHEETAH YELPS)

Over the past couple of weeks,

we've just seen that he starts

to be extending his tongue
from his mouth

or he's shaking his head
in an odd way.

Good, boy.

And we're wondering
if maybe something is lodged

in his mouth or if one of his, um,

teeth aren't right
or something's going on in there.

So, at the moment,
I'm trying to feed him in a way

that I can maybe get a little bit
of a glimpse in his mouth,

so, I can see if there's anything
in there, but it's quite hard.

Keeper Kaitlin suspects

Innes might just need a date
with the dentist.

We do need to find out
if something is going on, um,

that we can't see
that's causing him grief.

We'd really like
to get to the bottom of it.

There you go, handsome, yeah.

Now, we're finished. Yeah.

(BIRDS CHIRP)
(GENTLE MUSIC)

Everyone at Taronga is wild

with excitement over the birth
of a new baby.

Pygmy hippopotamus Kambiri

is a proud new mum
to her five-week-old calf.

It's just thrilling watching

the baby splash around
in deeper water.

That's it. Good girl.

And no-one is more excited about
the zoo's newest bundle of joy

than her devoted keeper, Tracy.

Well, I've known Kambiri
since she was born.

I looked after Kambiri's mother.

She is an amazing individual.

She is the best mother
I've ever known in pygmy hippos.

She adores her babies.

She will stand guard
over them day and night.

She will leave food
if her baby needs her

and she is so protective.

The pygmy hippo is critically
endangered in the wild,

so, every new baby is precious.

They're found in Western Africa.

It's estimated only around 3,000
are left in the wild.

And they are not to be confused
with their bigger cousins,

the common hippopotamus.

A pygmy hippo is obviously
the smaller of the two species,

hence the name pygmy hippo.

They're only about a fifth
of the size of the common hippo.

They are solitary.

The female and the male have
adjoining territories,

and they only come together
to breed.

Which means the new baby
hasn't met her dad,

Taronga's male pygmy hippo, Fergus.

Fergus is a very interesting boy.

Well, we only put them together
when Kambiri is in oestrus,

which had happened
on July 5 last year,

and immediately,

she led him to the water
and they started mating.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Early October, we decided
to do an ultrasound on her,

and straight away the vets
could spot a little backbone.

We were absolutely
blown away by this.

We were very happy.

And then the
very special day arrived.

Does seem to be in labour.

There we go. There's the sac.

It's very close now...

and she's straining, she's pushing.

While this particular baby was born
in what you might call

the conventional manner.

There we go. We have a baby.

We have a calf, and it's moving,
so, that's always good.

Not all of Taronga's
new additions arrive

in such a regular fashion.

It was pretty crazy the first time

I saw the Norfolk Island snails
being born.

The babies are born out
of their neck.

The whole baby, shell and all,
pretty much just crawls on out.

Ah...

Well, come back to that one later.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

At Taronga's two zoos,

there are more than 200 keepers
caring for the resident animals.

Good boy.

And every single one of them
had to start somewhere.

I'm a trainee keeper here
at Taronga,

and I have been here
for three years now.

And another one.

The majority of my work involves
cleaning and feeding of the animals,

as well as some
of the training aspects here

that we have
with some of the reptiles.

You hungry?

Kayla is training on the job

to become
a fully qualified zookeeper.

Hello, rattlesnake.

And that means learning
how to feed the reptiles,

all the reptiles.

So, what we have in here
is a corn snake.

Um, so, they're a North American
species of rat snake.

Um, completely nonvenomous,

so, they are harmless
and they move and act like a python,

but they're not considered a python.

(TENSE MUSIC)

With reptiles,
they can be quite unpredictable.

Here at Taronga,
we have a classification system

for all of our animals.

For things like
a small carpet python,

they are harmless.

(TENSE MUSIC)

An anaconda
or a freshwater crocodile,

they are listed as hazardous.

But Rachel,
she is listed as dangerous.

Rachel is a reticulated python,

which is the biggest snake
in the world.

An injury from Rachel
could potentially lead to death.

And I'm working towards feeding her.

We're on.
Whoo!

As a reptile keeper,

there's lots of steps
that we have to take

towards working
with dangerous animals.

Oh, do you wanna grab the shield?

I'm going through
a sign off process.

I have to watch a senior keeper work
with the animal ten times.

She's keen. Feeding her.

She might want you.

Servicing the exhibit around her.

I have to then
do those things ten times.

So, and then my final sign off
is feeding her.

One senior keeper in particular
who is leading me is Chris.

He really is a wealth of experience
for junior keepers like us,

and he's taught me pretty much
everything that I know

about reptiles up to now.

So, we've only just pulled it
out of freezer this morning.

And Kayla's next lesson?

Not how, but what
to feed Rachel the python.

Some people might find it
confronting

when we feed the whole animal,
particularly rabbits,

because people might have them
as pets.

It's no different
to us eating beef or lamb, hey?

Exactly right. Yeah.

So, you can see
it's still covered in fur

and it's got its head
and all the organs.

Snakes do need all the stuff

that we as picky humans
scrape off our plate.

So, what do we do with it now?

We'll just let it come
to temperature slowly in the fridge.

Three days.

Perfect.

So, in three days,

Kayla will watch Chris
feed this 5m long reptile.

Then soon after, it's her turn.

Are you nervous?
A little.

We do, of course,

need to have some
pretty solid safety precautions

working with a dangerous animal
like Rachel.

It's important to continually
train up new keepers

to maintain staff safety.

We'll bring this in here
with us too, Kayla.

Make sure they're comfortable
with the snake,

make sure they're interacting

with the snake
in all the right methods.

And then we eventually
hand the tongs

and the bunny over to Kayla

and she's then going
to be doing the feeds.

I'm definitely feeling
very nervous working towards that.

I've seen her get a little bit
excited about food

and I've definitely been like,

"Holy moly,
how am I going to do that?"

(CHUCKLES)

Better you than me, Kayla.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(INTENSE MUSIC)

At Taronga Western Plains Zoo,

this rather large predator
is not happy,

which is making his keepers worried.

For cheetah Innes,
over the past couple of weeks,

we've just seen that he starts
to be fiddling in his mouth.

He's extending his tongue
from his mouth,

or he's shaking his head around.

Picky boy. Poor, picky boy.

So, we're just interested

to see if there is anything lodged
in his jaw

or all of his teeth
are nice and healthy,

anything in the throat.

The little Innes.

So, we're bringing in the vet team

to have a better look
and a closer look.

So, today we're gonna see,
you know, what's going on.

So, one of you will hand inject him,
then we'll-we'll come in,

we'll pop a catheter in
and actually just look in his mouth.

Cool. Thanks, guys.
Alright. Good luck.

The team are hopeful Innes
will take a hand injection.

Otherwise, they will have
to resort to darting him.

You're gonna
be a good boy, aren't you?

Good boy.
You're gonna be a good boy.

We get you.
How are you over there?

We don't like
to have to dart animals

'cause it's stressful for them
and it's stressful for us.

And if we can do
a calm hand injection,

it's just much nicer for everybody,
really.

While the keepers might be calm,
Innes also gets a say.

And no-one can predict
just how a cheetah

with a sore mouth
will react to a sharp needle.

OK. Happy?
Happy.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Darling.

And he's had all of that.
Oh, well done.

You are such a tough boy.
Well done.

Good boy, Innes.
You are a little legend.

Jordy to Jelena,
he's had that full injection.

We'll be there in a few minutes.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Hopefully, Innes
has a gumnut stuck on his tooth.

Mmm, yeah.

Yeah, it's a straightforward thing

and not a big
dental extraction. Yes.

Sometimes we'll find the cheetah
might have chewed on a gumnut

or have a little piece of bone
or something wedged in his mouth,

but we're also keeping in mind
that it could be something

a bit more sinister.

Good boy, Innes. You're OK, buddy.

Keeper Kaitlin is keeping watch,

waiting for the sedation
to take its effect.

Jordy, Jelena, he's down.
If you guys wanna start coming.

The injection went really well.
He was such a champion.

Didn't react at all,
so, really happy with-with that.

He's breathing nicely. Alright.

So, I might just roll him over.

Onto this side.

Well, we'll-we'll go back
to that way.

(TENSE MUSIC)

You guys are good to come in.

We might just, um,

get that IV line in
and get a towel on his eyes.

(TENSE MUSIC)

If you wanna do catheter,
I'll just cover his eyes up.

And you're doing the anaesthetic?
Yep.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Bit more?
Yep.

I'll just lay this down
under his legs,

and then we'll just slide it
under him,

and we can bring him out
from the fence.

Ready? One, two, three.

OK.

And now we can check-in his mouth
and see if we can see anything.

Just open up for me.

And it's Vet Jelena
who gets the honours

up the pointy end.

So, we're just having a look to see
if there's any obvious reason

for this funny chewing
that we've been seeing.

Well, there's no gumnut.

No gumnut also means
there's no simple solution.

(GROOVY MUSIC)

If we don't see an obvious cause,
we'll probably...

pack him up and take him up
to the hospital.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(MACHINE BEEPS)

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Every once in a while,

something so mysterious,
so miraculous happens,

it has to be seen to be believed.

Oh, that's awesome.

And this is that once in a while.

Look at her.

Taronga is home to some

of the most critically
endangered animals on the planet.

Good boy.

But the rarest of them all,
the Norfolk Island snail?

The Norfolk Island land snail,

it's definitely not one
of the most well known animals

we have here at Taronga.

However, it is incredibly special.

It's only a couple of years ago
that it was actually thought

to be completely extinct.

Sure. It's rare. Really rare.

They're-they're quite elusive.

But that's not the miraculous part.
This is.

This adult snail on the brink
of extinction has just given birth,

but not how you'd expect.

And in a world first,

Taronga's keepers have caught it
all on camera.

It wasn't what I was expecting.
It was pretty amazing to witness.

But before we look
at that little gem,

how on earth did this once

thought extinct animal end up
at Taronga?

Go on.
Here we go.

To answer that,

we need to go back

to an island around
three million years in the making.

Norfolk Island is found
off the east coast of Australia,

about 1,000km away.

It's basically what's left
of a volcano that was active about

two to three million years ago.

The fertile soil and rainforest
are perfect habitat

to this little snail.

However, unfortunately,

it was declared extinct
by the year 2000.

But then a team of scientists
stumbled across some live snails.

And so, the hunt was on.

Taronga teamed up
with the Australian Museum

on a rescue mission
to locate this tiny,

elusive land snail.

(GROOVY MUSIC)
Oh, look.

Go on.
Here we go.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

Hey.

But when this snail mail
arrived back in Sydney,

the breeding didn't go
as well as hoped.

Of course, when we started,

we really didn't know
anything about them.

We spoke to lots of different
snail programs around the world.

We got a lot of good advice,
but unfortunately,

comparing one species of snail
with another species of snail,

it's pretty much like comparing
the care for a fish versus a bird.

They're all so very different.

And these particular snails
proved to be very, very different.

That was quite a stressful period.

While the original adult snails
were breeding,

none of their babies were going on
to breed themselves.

But every day we checked those tanks
and there were no babies.

It was...it was always a bit
of a punch in the guts.

Keeper Tarryn is very invested

in keeping these slimy
little snails alive.

They are really remarkable animals.

Their eyes are actually at the
end of those two long tentacles

that come out the top of their head.

They also have two other tentacles
that sit lower than the eye stalks.

They're actually used
for olfactory orientation.

So, more or less,
it's a sense of smell,

which is really important.

It's how they find their way
to food sources.

We believe it's also how,
for the most part,

they find their mates as well.

But for whatever reason,

there wasn't much mate finding
going on.

Every single day
we would go into those tanks hoping,

hoping to see a baby born.

I remember very, very clearly

that first day of peeling back
the Glad wrap

and seeing that very first bub born
from adults that had been born

in the program here
was a really significant moment

and probably one
of the most exciting moments

of my career to date.

And just how those babies arrived?

Well, that's the miraculous bit.
But we'll get to that later.

We're just having a look
to see if there's any obvious reason

for this funny chewing
that we've been seeing.

At Taronga Wildlife Hospital
in Dubbo,

it's a nervous wait
for the carnivore keepers.

If we don't see an obvious cause,

we'll probably pack him up
and take him up to the hospital.

Cheetah Innes has a sore mouth,

so, Taronga's vet team
have sedated him

to try and work out why.

Could be
that he might have something stuck

in the back of his mouth
or he might have a dental problem.

Yeah, I think he's probably
gonna need to go back.

Nothing obvious in the mouth,

so, we're going to take him
up to the hospital

and see what we need to do, um,
take some X-rays, etcetera.

Alright.

Well, let's get him tubed,
and then we can get him on the gas.

At the moment, we're just gonna
put a tube down his throat,

so, we can intubate,

so, we can put him
onto anaesthetic gas

while we're transporting him,

and then we'll be able
to transition straight onto the gas

in the hospital
once we get up there.

Good job.

Innes has just turned 11.

That is considered an older age
for our cheetah.

Turn, one, two, three.

But his mother lived
till she was 17,

so, we do hope for a lot longer.

One, two...
Three.

Given Innes' advanced age,

the vet team will want
to keep the cheetah sedated

for the shortest time possible.

Yep, OK.
If you guys are up to slide him.

Yep. One, two, three.

Alright.
Just watch that pulse oximeter.

So, I'm just gonna pop him
on some fluids.

We've just connected up a drip.

OK. He's on.
Thank you.

He's on.
(MACHINE BEEPS)

Yep.

We wanna just make sure,
particularly being an older cat,

that we're protecting his kidneys.

We're also just going
to run some electrolytes

and just make sure that
the potassium is staying normal.

That can be a complication
for these guys

if they're under anaesthetic
for a long time.

Yeah. Cool.

But they can have, um,

some effects on their heart
with their heart rhythm.

So, we just wanna make sure that

if those levels are getting high,

we...we...we know that, and we can,

there are things that
we can put in place

to prevent any problems.

Vet Jelena is back
at the pointy end.

He's got a little pocket.

Um, do you wanna come
and have a look?

So... See that?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

But this time, she'll hopefully be
able to get to the root

of the problem.

That's pretty confronting, hey?

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Back at Taronga in Sydney.

It's game day.

I'm so nervous.

You're gonna be OK.

Trainee keeper Kayla
is joining reptile keeper Chris

for a python feeding lesson.

But next time, she'll be in charge.

You are nervous.
Look how sweaty your palms are.

I'm sweaty because I'm in a jumper.

And whole rabbit is the one
and only dish of the day.

We brought it up
to room temperature.

Yeah. Cool.
You OK with that?

Yeah.
Yeah?

I'm a bit nervous, but I'm good.
Let's go.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

So, I think it's been about a month
or so, since she's been fed.

Yeah. Cool.

So, we should expect
a decent response today.

It's actually been six weeks,
three days,

and a couple of hours
since this python had a meal.

So, a decent response
is pretty likely.

Rachel, she's classified here
as a dangerous animal.

That means that
we have to be very careful

with how we interact with her.

So, we'll bring this acrylic shield
in with us too, Kayla.

Ah, it's a bit
of a sturdy little barrier

for us to protect ourselves
from the snake...

Yeah.

..in case the-the snake
comes towards us.

Do you want to take that?
Sure.

Bring that in with us. Come on in.

(TENSE MUSIC)

This is Kayla's first time
up so close to the 5m snake.

It looks like she's sitting
right at the end there,

so, we can come and approach her.

And the hungry python
knows they're coming.

She looks like

she's in a pretty good
little ambush position there.

Reticulated pythons as a species
can be very, very snappy.

So, she can sit in the same patch
of forest for months on end

waiting for prey to come to her.

And when it does,
she'll bite lightning fast.

We could put some food in front

and probably draw
her a little closer towards us.

I expect
she'll grab it quite quickly.

Yeah.

She'll still try to apprehend it
as if it's live prey.

Being a python,
she's totally non-venomous,

um, but her ability
to constrict prey

is probably our biggest danger
at the moment.

The species has certainly been known
to kill people before.

She's just over 5m in length,
probably up around 60kg.

She has a lot of muscular power,

she wouldn't bite and let go
and that's the danger to us.

Yeah.
Ah, so, we'll just grab the bunny.

We'll offer it to the snake whole...

Yeah.
..in-in one piece, head first.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Do you want me to get ahead
of you with this shield?

Yeah.

Um...

The snake will ideally
grab the head, wrap it up,

and won't take long to do the rest.

Yep.

Push up a little, Kayla.
Yep.

And just protect yourself
with that, hey.

Yeah.
Yeah.

And she'll be smelling it now.

She's gonna strike
out quite quickly.

Think she's just gonna shoot
from that position.

She's tongue flicking a little.

(TENSE MUSIC)

There she goes.
Back up, Kayla.

Every habitat at Taronga
is lovingly cared for just

as much as the animals themselves.

Hi, there you. Coming up.
That's yours.

Good girl.
Like the Western Plains Savannah.

Roughly half in each.
Just pour it in there.

Yep.
Or the great Southern Oceans.

But not every habitat
is quite so obvious.

I'm obviously surrounded
by different palms here in Taronga.

We're very lucky
to have this kind of habitat here,

and yet here I am on the ground

with an old decaying
palm frond here.

But that's exactly
what we're looking for.

These palm fronds
are soon to be homes

for Taronga's clutch
of critically endangered

Norfolk Island snails.

So, these come from mature palm.

As they get old, this palm base

will really kind of fold
in on itself,

and that's where we will find
the adults out in the wild.

But there are actually
very few adults left

on Norfolk Island to find,

and that's why Taronga
is trying to breed them.

So, even though
this is just one big old palm frond,

this is actually a number
of habitats in one.

So, this is perfect.

Once the fronds are collected,

keeper Tarryn
carefully positions them

into the snails' tanks.

Now, all good. OK.

Think of the fronds like
the snails' home

and the tanks kind of like
their local neighbourhood.

We have some challenges
here in Sydney

because we are
in a quarantine situation.

So, we sterilise everything
that goes into the tanks.

We have to make up
our own food for them.

It's a lot of work for an animal

most of us would call a pest.

I suppose a lot of people question
why we should care about the snails.

Snails are a really important part
of the ecosystem,

so, they're our decomposers.

So, they hang out
on the forest floor,

breaking down that ecosystem.

So, that gets nutrients back
into the cycle,

and that's really
where the whole ecosystem starts.

That's why it's really important

that this breeding program
is successful.

But to begin with,
it wasn't successful.

A couple of years
into the breeding program

and well, not much breeding.

Of course, when we started,
we only had eight to keep track of.

And that population grew to just 14.

A sluggish start when you're trying
to save an entire species.

So, we made some adjustments
to our husbandry.

We went from counting every day
to counting once a week

and really leaving those adults

to their own devices
to do what they do.

Making any changes into a species
like this that is so fragile,

you know, it's a scary thing
to make any change

to their husbandry
because you don't know,

one small change
could have a drastic effect

on the whole population.

In this situation, it did.

Luckily,
it was a positive drastic effect.

At our most recent count,
we now have over 400 snails,

75 of which are adults giving birth

to a new baby snail every four days,

our numbers
are increasing exponentially.

We've almost got more snails than
we know what to do with now.

And that wasn't the only surprise.

Yes, yes, we are finally getting
to the miraculous bit

I mentioned earlier.

You know, the birth bit.

It was pretty crazy the first time

I saw the Norfolk Island
snails being born, um,

which now I think about

it was probably
quite a lucky moment.

Babies are born out of their neck.

It wasn't
what I was expecting either.

There is a genital pore on the side
of their neck and the whole baby,

shell and all, pretty much
just crawls on out,

which looks pretty crazy.

It was pretty amazing to witness.

The genital paw is basically
the snail's reproductive organ,

which just happens
to sit on its neck.

Now, to have so many
that we're actually looking

at reintroducing them back home
where they belong, I mean,

these opportunities to work
in a conservation program like

this don't always...
Well, they don't come up readily.

So, it's a pretty
special opportunity

to be able to work
with a species like this.

No, I guess it's not that often
that you come across a previously

extinct live baby
neck birthing snail

from a tiny island
in the Pacific now, is it?

(TENSE MUSIC)

Ah, here we go.

Do you wanna come and have a look?

So, see that?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

That's pretty confronting, hey?

At Taronga Wildlife Hospital
in Dubbo,

Vet Jelena has identified a problem

in cheetah Innes' mouth.

Yeah, so, he's actually got
a little hole there.

So, I wonder if he's got
a little tooth root infection.

I found a pocket
behind his carnassial tooth

just on the top right.

Oh.
(CHUCKLES) Yucky.

Basically, a little hole there
that was packed with grass

and other foreign materials.

So, we've just given
that a clean out.

There's something in there
that's kind of mobile.

I think he might have
a dental infection

or a tooth root abscess,

so we're gonna do some dental X-rays
to-to investigate that.

Alright, ready? And X-ray.

Because anaesthetics
are quite risky for older cats,

the vet team are moving quickly
to keep today's procedure

as brief as possible.

Oh, that root.
Yeah.

That's... Yeah, it's that one.
Yeah.

What we've just found
on this dental X-ray

is a big shearing tooth
in the top jaw.

On that right side
has got a-a tooth root infection.

So, basically,
the root of the tooth,

we can see that the bone
has sort of dissolved away,

which is an indication of infection.

So, that's telling us
where the problem is.

It's the biggest tooth
in the cat's mouth.

This tooth has actually got
three roots.

It's one, two, three.
Yeah, they sure are.

So, the fix for that
is to extract the whole tooth

and allow that gum to heal,

and that should hopefully resolve
his problem.

And that's his little papilla,
right?

Yeah. So, there was a little bit
of fluid that came out of it.

Cool.
OK.

It'll take two seconds.

Alright.

Take this end...
Time to go, big boy.

OK.

This is a bit of a job to get it out

just to keep
the anaesthetic time down.

But at the moment,

that's gonna be causing him
a fair bit of pain.

(INTRIGUING MUSIC)

And just protect yourself
with that, hey.

Down at Taronga's reptile house.

She's just gonna shoot
from that position.

Trainee keeper Kayla
is learning how to feed a python,

a 5m long, hungry, deadly python.

So, do you wanna back up, Kayla?

Yeah.

(TENSE MUSIC)

OK. Mm-mm.

Rather than the rabbit,

the snake has lunged
at Kayla's shield instead.

I feel like every single time
we do a first feed with me,

they always come at my feet.

I'm like, am I a bad omen?

Let's hope not.

Senior keeper Chris
still has to give it another go.

(TENSE MUSIC)

She's coming at it.
She's sniffing it.

She's keen.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Dinner is served.

Nice.

(TENSE MUSIC)

So, Kayla, I just generally try
to give it a bit of a wiggle.

Yeah.

This will tell the snake
that the prey is still alive.

It just elicits a far better
feeding response.

You can see that she's wrapped it
a little bit more intent.

(TENSE MUSIC)

You know, a good bite
from one of these

and a well placed constriction
can certainly, uh,

kill prey far
quicker than some venom.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Once it's satisfied the prey's dead,

she'll let go reposition her head,

um, over the prey's face
and start to consume it

whole and head first.

(TENSE MUSIC)

She can certainly eat
something four times this size.

Oh, wow. That's impressive.

(TENSE MUSIC)

That rabbit is probably enough
for her to eat

for the next six or eight weeks.

The python's passed
with flying colours.

But what about the trainee keeper?

Kayla went really well.

She hung around me with the shield.

She didn't go
in overly confident too,

which is always a bit of a red flag.

So, we'll-we'll get her in
for the next feed I think,

and she can maybe conduct
that herself.

(TENSE MUSIC)

You comfortable repeating
that process next time?

Yeah. I feel pretty good.
I'll be nervous, but I feel good.

Yeah. I think it's always
a bit of a thrill when we do it.

Definitely a first time for me.

We just don't wanna see

a bite on anything
other than a rabbit.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Over at the wildlife hospital
in Dubbo...

And X-ray.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

The vet team
have spotted a deep infection

in cheetah Innes' tooth.

So, the tooth and its root
have to come out.

So, what you've got is a big root
at the back that's like,

probably like that.

And then at the front,

there's kind of two small ones
here and here.

The difficulty
is this particular tooth

has three roots
and they all have to be removed.

Right.

So, it's-it's a big job to take out

and he'll end up with...

a gap...

going on.

So, you're going
do a maxillary block.

So, we're just doing
a nerve block now.

A nerve block is a local anaesthetic

that will help keep Innes pain free

during and after
the tooth extraction.

Problem is,
given Innes's advanced age,

it's not a quick procedure.

Just having a look
at the next lot of blood.

So, we're running a blood test
every hour

just to check the electrolytes.

One we're particularly worried
about with cats is potassium.

Um, we don't wanna see it rising
to the point

where it could affect
his heart rhythm,

but at the moment it's perfect.

This is one of the biggest teeth
in the mouth.

Um, so, it's gonna take quite
a bit of manoeuvring to get it out.

Because this is oral surgery, um,

the best way to take this tooth out
is actually to section it.

I'm just making a gum flap.

The gum flap will be used
to cover up the hole left

by the missing tooth.

It's gonna get
very bloody just so, you know.

(TENSE MUSIC)

I call zoo vetting,
it's like the ultimate GP,

because not only do you have
every type of illness,

injury, disease,
you have every type of animal.

There's root one.

So, that's the back-back
half of the tooth.

There you go.

So, with one root out of the way,
there are two more to go.

So, she's made a cut through here...

Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
..to remove that root.

Yeah.

And now we've got
to split those two in half

because we don't want the tooth
to break.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Alright.

Yay.
(APPLAUSE)

Wait. One more to go.
We got one more to go.

So, he's gonna have stitches
in his mouth after this.

OK.
Neat little stitches.

There won't be, like,
a hole where the tooth was.

So, for the next two weeks,

we'll take all his bones
out of his diet,

and we'll just have,
just meat on its own.

The final root has been removed.

But rather than plugging
that hole straight away,

Vet Jelena still has some concerns.

I've taken the tooth out.
Now, I need to take a dental X-ray.

I'm not convinced
that there's not a problem

with the tooth in front.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(INTENSE MUSIC)

At Taronga's Reptile House
in Sydney,

there's a real sense
of anticipation in the air.

Chris to Kayla, can I meet you down
at food prep for this retic feed?

(TENSE MUSIC)

This morning,
we're gonna get another feed

into our reticulated python.

What makes today
a little bit different is Kayla.

I'm sweaty.

It's been six weeks
since the reticulated python,

affectionately known as Rachel,
has been fed.

And today, Kayla gets the honours.

Today will be her first day
feeding this snake, um,

which is a good little milestone
in her career.

It's all part
of Kayla's traineeship.

If she passes this,
she's one step closer

to becoming
a fully qualified zookeeper.

This is my first time
feeding the reticulated python.

It is a little bit
of a nerve wracking experience,

obviously,
because she's such a large snake.

Yeah, she is our biggest snake,

so, she's up over 60kg, 5.5m or so.

The reach is further,
the-the bite's harder.

It's just putting yourself
in the right position

and making sure
it's behind the food.

You could technically fail this
if you aren't confident

or if you come out of it more scared
or more nervous than

when you started.

Yeah, nah.

As far as exams go,

I would much prefer
any other exam on any other day.

They're pretty dangerous.

The risk is being
bitten and constricted.

When Chris fed her
all those weeks ago,

the python lunged at Kayla.

So, I have to be really cautious
with a snake of her size,

and I will be luring her over

with the rabbit
on the end of the tongs.

(TENSE MUSIC)

We're on.

OK.

(TENSE MUSIC)

So, when I go in,
she's obviously gonna be

quite interested in the rabbit.

So, I just have
to watch her behaviour,

how she's approaching me,

and making sure
that I keep a safe enough distance.

(TENSE MUSIC)

It's definitely become very serious
that I'm doing it now.

You never know
how the animal's going to react.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Might have to just razz her
a little in that leaf litter.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Has she seen it?

Yeah. Just come in a little.

Little higher just
so, she can see it.

(TENSE MUSIC)

There you go. There you go.
So, just stay behind the shield.

Yeah.

Let her keep coming to you.

(TENSE MUSIC)

That's it. That's it.

Come on, girl. You want this?

You see it. I know you do.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Should I?
Just leave that around.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Nice.

Bullseye.
Bullseye. Yeah.

It's good that she goes straight
on the head,

so, now it should go down
nice and easy.

(TENSE MUSIC)

My mum's gonna
love hearing about this.

My mum definitely thinks

that I'm a little bit
of an adrenaline junkie

or a thrill seeker.

Look at her muscles working.
It's so impressive, hey.

Yeah.

I think that
if my mum was to ever see

what I was doing in real life,
she would probably faint.

Oh, down the hatch.

Yeah. Snake had a great response.

She followed the cues straight away
that Kayla was putting out.

Definitely very exciting
and a milestone in my career.

They've given me
a lot more confidence

to work with these species.

Did I pass?
You passed.

(CHUCKLES)

So, yeah, Kayla nailed it.
Perfect feed.

Maybe the apprentice
becomes the master.

Maybe. Call me grasshopper.

(CHUCKLES)

(TENSE MUSIC)

Back at Taronga's Wildlife Hospital
in Dubbo...

I've taken the tooth out.

..Vet Jelena has found
and extracted an infected tooth

and its three roots
from cheetah Innes' mouth.

I'm not convinced
that there's not a problem

with the tooth in front.

Now, there's concern
the 11-year-old cheetah

may need a second tooth extraction.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Because the tooth roots
are quite close together...

Yeah.

..we just want to make sure
that the next tooth along

hasn't been affected.

So, we don't wanna leave
anything behind

that might cause a problem.

X-ray.

(TENSE MUSIC)
(X-RAY BEEPS)

No, I think I've taken it out.

Oh, yeah.

Alright, I'll close-close it all up.
Yep.

With the neighbouring tooth
all clear,

it's finally time
to sew cheetah Innes up.

So, we've made a flap
of gum and bone.

That means that we can actually
close that completely.

Mouths do heal really quickly,
usually a couple of weeks.

The stitches will dissolve,
we don't have to take those out.

And next time we look in his mouth,

we'll probably find that
that's all completely healed

and he'll just have
a nice healed gum there.

Which is welcome news
for Innes and his keepers.

Ready?
One, two, three.

You've got your ketamine?
Yep.

Got him?
Yep.

One-one, two, three.

One, two, three.
More.

Two, push.
More.

And he's gonna be
feeling way better by the time

he wakes up, so, very grateful.

Alright. That reversal is worn.

He's starting to...

with his little tongue.

He's starting to blink...

and we're gonna leave him
in peace to just recover quietly.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

The next day, and keepers
Jordy and Kaitlin

are keen to check on his recovery.

Hi, Innes.

(CHEETAH YELPS)
Hello.

Now, Innes, um,
unfortunately for him,

he will just be on a no-bone diet

for the next two weeks.

Hey. Hello.

Which is just gonna ensure that,
that stitch site

and that pocket that's been created
from the tooth being removed,

um, stays nice and healthy.

Don't seem too worried
about your missing tooth.

He looks great.

You wouldn't have guessed
that he had surgery yesterday.

He's eating really great,
which is wonderful.

It would be quite painful.

So, we're making-making sure

he's got pain meds on board

and really monitoring him, um,

but really happy
with how he's looking.

And all the proof you need
is in Innes'

purr of approval.

(CHEETAH PURRS)

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