All language subtitles for Taronga s06e08 Emu Rescue.eng

They say don't ever work with babies or
animals.

But what if they're baby animals?

It was only born this morning on this
all -new season.

Welcome back to the ever -changing world
of Taronga, 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?

On this episode.

It'll actually send a signal back to the
antenna.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.
And we get a ping. Oh, there we go.

very subtle.

Team Taronga goes bush.

There we go. It's up here. To protect an
icon.

It is one of the biggest threats to
koala populations in Australia.

Steady, Tangmo, steady.

Teaching an elephant.

We'll ask Tangmo to hold her trunk up.

How? All right, blow. To blow its nose.

All right, blow.

And just why Charlie the sea lion.

Throughout the day, we try to get in at
least two and a half litres.

Isn't fazed by his drinking problem.

And I think that's actually saving his
life.

What temperature?

Apparently 10.

10 degrees.

I'm sure it feels a little colder than
that out there.

It gets pretty chilly in the Kanangra
Boyd National Park in the Blue

two hours west of Sydney.

It is beautiful, though. What a spot.

But not chilly enough to deter Team
Taronga. Look at that sunrise. Oh, my

that sunrise.

That is beautiful.

A year has passed since they kicked off
this vital project,

statewide rescue mission.

Now they're returning to this site for
stage two. But for Clay, this is her

first Taronga field trip.

I have been at Taronga now for around
about seven years and I work as a

So I look after all sorts of animals
from little insects to small primates

macropods. But today is something
altogether different.

finding and studying the elusive koala.
So what we're doing now is we're just

driving out to a location that was
identified previously as a good spot.

Taking part in field work that is
directly contributing to their

important work when you're talking about
the plight of a species like the koala.

I'll sit one of you guys down underneath
one of those koalas and then we'll keep

moving to the next and keep repeating
that.

Koala populations have declined so much
in New South Wales and Queensland, they

are now endangered.

Depending on location, we'll prioritise
which koalas then get caught first.

Incredibly, this little Aussie animal,
known all around the world, is at risk

becoming locally extinct.

And I guess it's why I do what I do.
It's why we work at Taronga. While Clay

the rookie, a veteran of these field
studies...

Is this Larry?

Table setting up.

He's come back to the Blue Mountains to
recheck the health of these koalas. This

program is looking at koala populations
across the state. The goal is to try and

identify what are the factors that
contribute to koala survival in these

populations.

A few months earlier, in a different
site near Canberra, the team uncovered

disturbing findings with another colony
of koalas. So she's got cysts associated

most likely with her ovaries, large
cysts.

Yeah, so she's got...

Quite a few, and that's very typically
seen with chlamydia. We've seen a few

koalas in this population that seem to
be potentially sterile.

Chlamydia is a significant threat to
koala populations in Australia and

seem to be very susceptible to it and it
causes horrible disease in koalas. It

affects their eyes, but most importantly
it also affects their reproductive

tract and it causes infertility.

The koala population the team are
studying now has... always been

-free, so no one wants to see any
evidence of the disease during this

Larry to Nick.

Nick,

we'll probably be good to go in about 10
minutes. How are you guys going?

At Taronga's Great Southern Oceans
habitat in Sydney, Keeper Joe is looking

one of their largest residents.

Charles, where are you?

Charlie!

Alright, so we're going to discuss
business.

Yep. And unsurprisingly, sea lion
business is always fishy business.

Charlie is a male Australian sea lion.
We call them a bull male.

He's 17 years of age.

Good boy.

He's... Considered in sea lion years
quite old. Good boy.

They don't last that long in the wild.

For Charlie, old age is nothing to laugh
at.

Are you all right, buddy?

You a bit tired?

With old age comes old age issues.

Okay, over.

That's a good boy.

He has kidney stones.

And he's been very, very sick.

We've been giving him ultrasounds now
for several months.

Gabby is one of the vets who has been
treating Charlie.

What we're looking at on the screen is
Charlie's kidney.

This is Charlie's left kidney. And just
here you can sort of see these circles

where it's a bit whiter.

They are little stones.

throughout his kidney.

Charlie was diagnosed around 10, 11
months ago and Charlie was rechecked

months ago and the stones were bigger.

Kidney stones can be very painful and if
one passes out of the kidney it can

lead to some very serious complications.

We can't get rid of them so all we can
do is prevent them getting worse.

The main treatment is...

Basically bathing those kidneys in
fluid.

The more the fluid goes through the
kidneys, the less likely those crystals

going to keep forming.

So Charlie needs to drink fresh water.

Lots and lots of it. Good boy.

Come on.

Which sounds pretty straightforward.

Only thing is, sea lions don't actually
drink water.

With our seals, they live in a saltwater
environment, so they don't really have

access to fresh water.

There, good boy.

We needed to train him to get fresh
water into his system on a daily basis.

that was my job as a keeper, to help him
continue in his good health.

He needs to have this water.

Charlie. Yep.

Good. As far as training it goes,
initially,

It was just presenting him with a
syringe without any water in it. We

present him. He would have a look at it.
Yep. And we would say, yep, good boy.

That's excellent.

Then we would put some water in. We
would ask him to check it.

Good boy. And it was good.

From there, we moved on to him actually
coming to the syringe.

He's very, very good at actually
ingesting the water.

Throughout the day, we try to get in at
least two and a half litres, which is

around 65 syringes worth.

This is time consuming.

So three months into this freshwater
treatment, it's time for another scan to

see if Charlie's kidney stones are still
growing.

You know, if you've got one little
crystal there, more crystals will just

and add and add and add and they'll get
bigger.

If one of those stones gets large and
blocks his urethra, so the tube from the

kidney to the bladder, then we're in
trouble.

At Taronga, caring for the animal is a
labour of love.

What are you doing?

You come to say hello.

And in the elephant barn, the labour and
the love.

doesn't come much larger. Pak Boon! Tang
Mo!

That's it, ladies!

We have two female Asian elephants here
at Taronga Zoo.

How do you go, Pak Boon, all the way? We
have Pak Boon, who's 31 years old.

That's it, Boonie.

Go, Pak Boon.

There you go.

And Tang Mo is 25 years old. Yeah, she's
sweet. PewDiePie.

All right, shall we? Yes.

Today's the day for these big ladies'
annual health check.

She must go first.

First up, Tifa's Johnny and Lex are
prepping for a rather sticky situation.

And they're not at all worried about
blowing it.

You'll see what I mean.

So this morning we're going to be
screening the girls for TB.

We're going to screen them by taking
samples of their nasal mucus and then

sending that off for testing to see if
there's any trace of the TB bacterium in

there. Yep, it's as gross as it sounds.

This is called a trunk wash.

TB, or tuberculosis, is a contagious
lung infection, not entirely uncommon

in elephants or humans.

We have in the past had a history of
active TB with our elephant herd.

Pak Boon in particular did show signs
quite a few years ago of active TB, and

had to treat that with a course of
drugs.

But since then, she hasn't had an
episode of active TB, but we still

screen them to make sure there's no
flare -up that we're not aware of and to

ensure their safety and also our safety
as staff as well.

For the trunk wash process, we start off
by just rinsing the tip of her trunk

with some warm water, just to ensure
there's no contamination.

And then Lex is going to pour 50 mils of
saline down into her trunk.

Okay. Suck it up.

Good. Steady, Tammo.

Steady. Good.

We'll ask Tammo to hold her trunk up and
hold the saline in her trunk for 30

seconds, and then we'll get her trunk
down and blow that saline, along with

whatever comes out of her nose, into
this bag, which will then... uh decant

a container later to be tested hmm if
you're eating dinner right now might be

good time to look away all right good

all right oh no no need to look back
just yet and

there is the sample we get that's what
we call a nice sample oh yeah that's

lovely let's Decant that. There's saline
mixed with some dirt and material

floating at the top there, which is
normally nasal mucus.

And that's the stuff that we look for to
be able to get a good sample of the TB

in her system. So that's one nose down.

Yep, ready.

And one to blow.

All right, blow.

Swoosh.

Very good, Bonnie.

So our second sample's a bit less dirty.

See that kind of foamy matter at the top
there?

Yeah, can't miss it. Thanks, Johnny. But
there's still enough mucosal material

to get a sample from it. Nice.

Someone in the lab's going to figure out
what's in there and let us know if

there's any sign of the bacterium.

Still to come.

If there's anything I shouldn't do, I
shouldn't do. Health checks don't get

bigger. We do only what the keepers say
we can do. Or riskier. We go only where

they tell us.

Than this.

And don't be fooled.

This is Australia's largest bird.

Emus are really unique in the way that
the dad does all the work.

Well... That does sound unique.

The dad looks after them for up to two
years.

Only joking, fellas.

At Taronga's Wildlife Hospital in Dubbo,
a few little newcomers have just

arrived unannounced.

These are the common emus that we've got
here.

We have three little chicks at the
moment.

We estimate them to be five to six days
of age.

Unfortunately, they were orphaned when
their dad got a fright by a bulldozer on

a property and made a run for it.

The chicks were too little to be able to
follow him and he never came back.

Luckily the property owner realised that
these chicks weren't going to survive

without his intervention and he called
for some help and here we are with three

little chicks.

Vet nurse Jodie is one of the foster
carers responsible for keeping these

extraordinary native birds.

Emus are really unique in the way that
the dad does all the work. The mum lays

anywhere between five and 15 eggs and
then the dad takes over. He does all the

incubation, which can be up to eight
weeks of just sitting on the nest.

Sometimes at his own disadvantage
because he might not eat or drink.

And then the chicks are hatching and
then the dad looks after them for up to

two years.

It's their dad that would have taught
these chicks how and what to eat and how

to survive the leaner months when food
is scarce.

And we'll be putting lots of things in
place to make sure that they know how to

identify their natural food source.

And these chicks need lots of food,
which is not surprising considering the

adults. are Australia's largest bird.

They're pretty hefty as full -grown
adults and they can get up to two metres

height.

Emus have incredibly long legs and very,
very powerful toes.

They can range up to 50 kilos in body
weight. But at the moment, each chick is

less than half a kilo and they'll need
to get to their adult weight before they

can be released when they're about six
months old. The plan for the emu chicks

is that they will be released onto a
large property where emus naturally

We will assess them.

pretty carefully to make sure they are
suitable for release before they go.

So if they can survive these first days,
they'll have a good chance of being

returned to the bush.

But there's a problem.

They went a bit of a bad way.

In Conangra Boyd National Park, west of
Sydney, Taronga Zoo and its partner

agencies have returned to study the
health of the endangered koala

Alright, so you've got everything?

Yeah, I'm going that way, I've got
everything.

They're using thermal imaging drones.

That's a koala thermal on top of the
tree there. It's really blowing around

the top of that tree there. It really
is.

and also tracking radio collars that
were fitted to some koalas during last

year's field trip. They are out this
way.

I'm the field logistics coordinator for
the program.

I'm responsible for getting the ground
crew out safely and then locating them,

identifying the koalas and bringing them
safely back to the vet station.

Lost it? Yeah.

The koala that has a collar has a VHF
signal on it and it'll actually send a

signal back to the antenna and we get a
ping.

Oh, there we go. Very, very subtle.

There, it's very faint.

The louder the noise is indicates to us
that that's the direction that the

koala's in.

It's a little bit like playing a game of
hot or cold, but with sound.

We've gotten to a point now where I'm
pointing to the direction that we're

headed and it's dropped down to 42.

And then when I move around now, you
know, we're getting back up to 50 and so

on. But it's not very strong, but it
certainly has dropped as we move forward

and it increases through this area. So
what we'll do is we'll just spend a

little bit of time using our eyes now,
actually just scale the area and see if

we can find the koala or potentially a
koala. Okay. Well, I won't go too far,

but I'll start walking a perimeter.

10, 20 metres kind of ish.

It doesn't take too long to find the
day's first and Clay's very first

koala. There we go. It's up here.

You got it?

Yep. Come stand where I am.

Just looking at this eucalypt in front
of us. Yep. Straight up and then out to

the right.

Oh, yeah.

That is hard to spot.

I mean, like, you know, just using your
naked eye.

That's good. Very well camouflaged.

Nick to Kat's team.

Just letting you guys know that we've
actually located koala 013.

I'll send through coordinates shortly.

What Clay will do now is she'll actually
just put some flagging tape on that

tree. It's nice and bright. It means
that if she sits away 20 -odd metres

she can at a quick glance know which
tree the koala's in and not panic.

It also helps me relocate her when I
come back. And so the plan now will be

Clay will just sit and watch this koala.

Really for, we don't really know how
long.

I'll head back now, talk to the catch
team about what koala we've found, what

tree it's in, what the capture is like,
and then we'll prioritise which koalas

get caught in an order of degree of
difficulty, basically.

So Clay could be here for 40 minutes or
five hours, so who knows?

At Taronga's Great Southern Oceans
habitat, a 17 -year -old sea lion named

Charlie Good boy.

is being treated for multiple kidney
stones, a condition that can be managed

can't be cured. Oh, Charles.

Do you want it on the abdomen? Yeah,
that's fine. Yeah.

Today we have a wonderful veterinary
specialist radiologist, Sarah, here to

ultrasound Charlie's kidneys, but she's
done them a few times.

If it's just lying on his tummy, that
would be perfect.

We're ultrasounding Charlie's kidneys
about every three to four months and

monitoring the size of those stones.

Yeah, I know, you've got an audience.

On the first ultrasound, we saw the
kidney stones. On the second ultrasound,

kidney stones had gotten larger.

Yep.

I mean, the big risk with him is the
stone will get stuck in his ureter. And

we're just seeing how big the stones are
today.

The difference with this ultrasound is
that Charlie's been on a treatment plan

for a few months now.

His prescription?

Water. Good boy.

So amazingly, one of the best things you
can do is flush the kidneys to stop the

stones from getting bigger. Come on,
mine. The whole point of that is just to

keep those kidneys nice and hydrated so
no more stones form.

Good boy.

So it's time to find out, is the fresh
water treatment working?

Back up.

Good. Down.

Good boy.

scan or are they still growing touching
and just watch that cord on him okay yes

yeah so we're doing his left one first
so unfortunately nothing will get rid of

the stones that he has okay let's do the
other side sometimes if you have one

big stone you can get rid of it but when
they've got multiple stones it's very

hard to do that touching

We're hoping just to keep things stable
for him, just to help him stay

comfortable and increase his longevity.

Well, boy, very good.

All done. All done. That's fine.

You came the wrong way, Buffa. That's
okay. We're done.

Did you get it? Yeah. All great.

Gabby and Sarah review the results.

And what did you find? That's what I
want to know.

Just look similar.

Yeah. Oh, they look similar. They just
look similar. Well, similar is better

than bigger. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie's treatment plan is working.

Good boy. You did well.

The daily doses of fresh water have
prevented new kidney stones from

Good boy. And the old ones from growing.

I mean, I think that's actually saving
his life.

The drinking, yeah. I think so too.
Exactly.

His water is his saving grace.

Yes, good boy.

Oh, hello to me.

In the elephant barn, the world's
biggest nose has been performing the

biggest blow.

And that's not the end of Taronga's
annual elephant health check. Aren't you

cute? While Tang Mo and Pack Boon's
goodie bag... are being tested at the

That's the way.

Keeper Johnny is preparing the girls for
stage two of their health check. Very

good, Mum. A visit from the vet. I've
been lucky enough to work with the

elephants here at Taronga Zoo for over
eight years.

They are magnificent animals. Right down
to seven.

They're like part of our family.

Want a drink?

This type of care and attention wasn't
something these elephants were used to

before arriving at Taronga.

Pak Boon, her name means

morning glory flower in Thai.

She has a background in Thailand coming
from over there.

She's a very strong -minded, very
dominant individual.

All right, head down, head down. Good,
steady.

Despite all the love and attention she
receives at Taronga, Pak Boon has always

been wary of change.

Thank you very much.

So it's a big deal when someone new
comes along.

Sometimes Pak Boon doesn't like...

People do things to her. She can be a
bit funny.

And today, that someone new is Vet
Creason. So today we've got Vet Creason

coming down to meet the elephants. We've
got our annual health checks. Okay.

So they're expecting us. With the
elephants, it's very true. If they don't

the way you act around them, your
energy, then they don't trust you.

Hi, bunny.

Back foot.

With packed boons, you'll often approach
things with a very heavy -handed

tactic.

She knows how to use her weight to her
effect.

This is going to be my first time
visiting the elephants at Taronga Zoo.

joining Frances today, and she's going
to show me how they do their regular

preventive health care check.

Frances to elephant keepers.

Go ahead.

You happy if we come into the barn?

Elephants need to feel comfortable in
our presence.

But Pakpun, she's got a good stranger
danger mentality.

Pakpun, steady.

Good girl.

And she's not the most patient
individual.

Steady. Trunk down.

Trunk down. Back born.

Whenever we're in the barn, because the
elephants can reach out quite a long way

with their trunks, we do only what the
keepers say we can do.

Just let me know if there's anything I
shouldn't do or shouldn't do. No, she'll

want to say hi and make sure she does it
in a polite manner. But yeah, she'll

just want to check you out a little bit
and see who's... Elephants are amazing

in terms of their mental capacity.

You know, they've got such good
cognitive ability.

They are smart.

And those are things you need to keep in
mind when you're treating them, when

you're working with them.

This is Pac Boone. Hey, Pac Boone.

Those eyes look to your soul.

In the Canangra Boys National Park,
there live a koala.

Well, a few, actually. But underneath
this particular koala is Keeper Clay,

and she's on a mission.

It's actually really hard to find the
koala. They're so well camouflaged.

Koalas can move from tree to tree quite
often, so Clay's not letting it out of

her sight until the catch team arrives.

There is a wait time because we've got
at least four koalas that we're going to

assess today. So if I'm the last koala
they come and catch today, that's when

I'll be waiting quite a while.

anywhere from well i reckon it'll be at
least an hour could be up to five i have

been told that's probably saying bugger
off bugger off you guys just want to try

and not fall asleep that's the key
because it'll be very relaxing so must

awake i might have to sit upright a
little bit more

Meanwhile, at Larry's mobile vet
station, the koala conga line has

begun. Good morning. Good morning.
Danielle, how are you? Very good, how

you? Good.

Every koala brought in is weighed.

6 .2 kilos.

And thoroughly examined for signs of
fertility, injury and illness.

Kind of feel good. Hydration's good.
Hydration's excellent.

Even fur samples are collected for DNA
analysis.

Okay, so we're finished with this little
guy.

Back at Clay's tree, she's now finished
her nap. Just kidding. And the koala

catchers have arrived.

Hi, Clay.

Hey. Hi, Clay. Hey.

How's it going?

Good, good. How are you?

Good. Thanks for finding me.

No worries. We don't want to leave you
out here forever. It wasn't very long.

No, I was anticipating longer.

But here's our friend.

Oh, there he is.

Fantastic. I imagine maybe a little too
high for your pole.

Yeah, we might have to climb a tree for
this one. What's the plan of attack?

Depending on how the quail is behaving,
I'll either catch it in the tree or I'll

send it down to you guys. So I haven't
done this before, so you guys might need

to just direct me on.

what you want me to do with the flag and
wherever else I can assist you.

Okay, should we get started?

Yeah, let's get started.

We've been working with Taronga Zoo on
this project for a year now.

We travel all over the state looking at
the various populations.

The koala seems pretty relaxed, which is
always nice.

This one seems to know that I manage no
harm, which is good.

Ben is using a catching pole to gently
coax the koala down.

Well done, Ben.

And when the koala is close enough, out
comes the bag.

Okay.

All right, in the bag, so that's done.
Koala's in the bag. Two minutes.

Beautiful, Ben. Well done.

We find that when they go into the sack.

Hi, guys. I'll just keep this one in my
harness and come down with it.

Yep, sounds good. Sounds good.

But they kind of just calm down. We
believe that that's because they're a

marsupial, and they might have an
affinity for the pouch.

So you'll notice that they might be a
bit reactive when we're conducting a

catch, and as soon as they're in the
bag, they'll just kind of calm down.

And Koala.

On me?

Appreciate it. Good job.

Cool. Thank you.

So my job now is to make sure I carry it
nice and safe

back to the vet station so it can be
assessed.

And the vet station?

Well, it's just a short but strenuous
stroll through the bush.

The most important thing is that we get
it back as quickly as possible. So

I'm not going to stop.

Over in Dubbo, three hours west of the
Blue Mountains.

Careful, careful.

He's being a bit calmer than I expected,
actually.

It's been a few weeks since Team Taronga
began hand -raising three orphaned emu

chicks that came to the wildlife
hospital just days after they were born.

And I haven't got pooped on yet, so
that's even better.

When they arrived, the chicks were so
dehydrated and weak they had to be tube

-fed by the vet team.

But now these little native bundles of
feathers are looking so much better.

They're doing really well, starting to
gain weight and eating on their own

quite a bit of encouragement from us to
get them to eat.

So let's see how much better.

That was 995.

Yeah, so that's really good.

Nearly a kilo.

They have more than doubled their body
weight since they've arrived.

Their weight gain is rapid, and they
have to get to about adult weight by

six months of age.

They'll be putting on hundreds and
hundreds of grams each week, so they're

tracking really well.

They'll need to put on at least 30
kilograms in the next six months, which

a lot of food prep.

In the wild, they'd be eating greens.
They follow Dad a lot and he shows them

what to pick.

That's not an option, unfortunately.

So Jen is doing Dad's job.

albeit with a little more flair.

It's basically a greens mix, lettuce and
endive, with carrot and apple, and

obviously has to be finely chopped
because these babies aren't very old.

Basically anything green they're kind of
drawn to.

Once I've chopped the greens, I mix it
with a chick starter, which is a crumble

similar to what you give baby chickens.

Hi, baby.

Let's go. But like every parent knows,
the food prep is only half the job. We

tapping in the bowl because it emulates
the behaviour of a parent, if you like.

When they're pecking at something, it
encourages the juveniles to come over to

investigate.

So obviously we'd like them to eat this
rather than, you know, pick away at

sticks and unnecessary things.

If the chicks continue to follow their
foster parent's lead, all three will be

on track to be released back into the
wild.

This will happen around five to six
months of age when they're nearly full

grown, so they'll be pretty big birds.

We are hopeful that they'll do well.
They're a lot stronger, a lot more

They're eating on their own now and they
are doing very, very well. We're very

pleased with their progress.

Coming up... An animal that could look
completely normal from the outside.

Have Larry's worst fears been realised?

We know last time she had a jubby on her
back. She doesn't have one this year.

And Creason's about to discover the
importance of first impressions.

Steady. Good girl.

In the picturesque Blue Mountains, two
hours west of Sydney, keeper Clay is

transporting some very precious cargo.

It's been a year since this female koala
was last examined. As part of a

statewide study researching the health
and well -being of this now endangered

species. Having this individual in the
bag, it definitely makes it real. It's a

bit different to looking up at it high
up in the tree. I've now got it down

and it's my responsibility to keep it
safe.

Hey, Clay.

Hey. How are you going?

Hey, good. How are you going, Larry?
Larry is the vet in charge of examining

the koalas for this research project.

So what have we got, number 13 here?
Number 13 here, females. No back young?

back young. Back young is the technical
term for an 8 to 12 -month -old baby

koala. 8 .5.

So Clay's just delivered a koala that's
got a tracker on it. Okay, she's

injected. Okay.

And I've just injected it with the
anaesthetic drug. It's sitting there in

bag, going to sleep right now.

Hopefully she'll be nice and sleepy for
us. It looks like she is.

So we've probably got about 45 minutes
of procedure to do.

So hopefully she'll be nice and kind to
us and stay asleep for that long.

There you go. Because she's one of our
animals that we collared last year.

She has a collar on which we're going to
remove.

Yep.

We have a bit of background on her
already, which is nice to have that, and

it'll be really interesting to see how
she is this year.

Chlamydia, of course, is one of the most
serious diseases of koalas, and so

these swabs are to look for chlamydia.

This population at Kanangra Boyd is
known to be chlamydia -free, but one of

biggest threats to koala populations in
Australia is chlamydia disease, and we

know last time she had a joey on her
back.

She doesn't have one this year. It's
breeding season.

Larry will need to investigate why this
koala doesn't appear to have a baby.

The last thing he'll want to find are
signs of chlamydia.

One of the things that we're really
interested in seeing is if there's any

on the ultrasound. So in females, we
look at their reproductive tract because

obviously that's really important,
particularly with chlamydia.

And an animal could look completely
normal from the outside.

But on the ultrasound, there can be a
lot of pathology there.

And you wouldn't know that without the
ultrasound.

In Sydney, a team of keepers and vets
are gathered inside the elephant barn.

Let's go, Kristen.

This is Pak Boon. Pak Boon, Taronga's
headstrong, nearly 4 ,000 -kilo Asian

elephant, is due for her annual health
check.

Steady. Good girl. She's a little wary
of strangers, and for the first time,

she's just laid eyes on vet Creason. The
other animals that we work with, it's a

different whole ballgame that we're
working with today.

Christian, do you want to come up and
say hi?

She's not nearly as patient as Tang Mo,
so we might have to be a little bit

quicker, and she's not so keen on the
touching.

She's more just food motivated and likes
to get things done quickly.

Pak Boon has been known to use her trunk
and her weight to make it clear when

she's not in the mood to be handled. Any
concerns with her?

Ah, no concerns.

We do... I mean, she gets, as you can
see, she gets a little more discharge

the eyes.

That's mainly due to weather and the
dirt. You think she'd tolerate a

torch close to the eye? Ah, yeah,
definitely. Give it a go.

Good girl.

Good girl. Good girl.

That is excellent.

Good girl.

I can't really see too much. Very good.

It's good because she usually squints
her eyes shut. Yeah, she does.

Part of being a vet in a zoo, you're
often there when animals are sick.

Good girl, Boonie. Oh, yes, this is for
you too, darling.

So they can associate you with always
that negative thing of, I'm sick, this

person's back here today. They're here
to jab me, they're here to do this,

giving medication.

Boonie, foot.

Foot.

Yes, I know.

40 foot. A bit more.

Good girl.

She's very clunky.

Yeah, she has a heavy foot too.

Yeah, good girl.

It's amazing how they're designed to
take all this good weight. And they can

as quiet as a mouse.

It's important for us to be here when
they're healthy and happy as well.

It gives us a good opportunity to bond
with the animals. It'll help them be

comfortable around us. She looks like a
happy, healthy elephant.

The team's doing a good job on keeping
it that way.

And I'm lucky to have met her today,
which is great.

And hopefully the next time I meet her,
it's all good as well.

Good girl, Pack Boone.

Creason's physical exam of Pack Boone is
a success.

And the much smaller and friendlier Tang
Mo doesn't disappoint either.

We had a look at both elephant skulls
today. They cooperated really well,

allowing us to have a good look at
everything.

which is great, makes these preventative
health care procedures so much easier

to do and gives us a good amount of
baseline data for us to know if they do

sick. We know how they look when they're
healthy.

So we had a good look at them from head
to toe today, and everything looked

really good.

Oh, and what do we know about those
gross tuberculosis tests?

Apparently, it's not a problem.

Next, a triumphant return for this
koala. I'm a very small cog in a

very big wheel. After the team get the
answers they're searching for. Oh, she's

so pretty.

She is.

OK, I'm going to tip on her back to have
a look at her reproductive tract.

In the Kanangra Boyd National Park, a
small colony of endangered koalas have

remained chlamydia -free.

So you can see her bladder there very
clearly.

Chlamydia is a reproductive disease that
can make koalas infertile. So she

could, well there's a bit of fluid,
okay.

It's breeding season and vet Larry is
examining this female koala to try and

determine why she isn't carrying a baby.

This would be her uterus and a little
bit of fluid in the middle.

It could possibly be pregnant if you can
see the little embryo. So definitely no

evidence of disease.

It's not only great news for this koala,
but for this entire koala population.

So we are done with her.

It may be that this population here at
Kanangra has just been quite isolated

chlamydia has never got in here.

We let them recover for a whole full
hour before taking them back for

There you go.

Or maybe there's other factors which
have prevented chlamydia establishing in

this population. It might be genetics,
for example. And studying the genetics

these koalas might help safeguard other
koala populations in the future.

Number 52.

Compact little fella.

Over five days, more than 20 koalas are
brought in.

and examined.

They've all had great teeth so far. I
just remember last time we had a few

quite dodgy teeth.

He's already got an ear tag, so one of
the ones we captured last year, so it's

good to see him back.

It's interesting coming back and seeing
the koalas that we worked on 12 months

ago.

To look at changes in the health of the
animal, probably more like a three.

It's a big project.

Taronga, of course, is a key player.
He's a bit bigger than the other one.

there are many other people involved as
well. It's a massive project.

G'day, Larry. How are you going?

G'day, Tim.

How are you going, mate?

What can you tell me about this young
fellow? Well, first of all, everyone,

is Tim.

G'day, guys. Tim is the head of the
koala science team. So is it still

to last year when we thought the
population was pretty healthy?

Ah, yeah, yeah.

Nice, healthy animals.

That's great. Lots of babies. Females
have got joeys and a couple of

pregnancies, actually, which is really
exciting to see. That is great. Some

populations are really good, and this is
one of these populations.

Yeah, this one's definitely a good,
robust population. And, you know, we

already that they chlamydia -free, so
that's a big, big plus.

Yeah.

There you go.

When you work in a conservation project
like such as this is, it makes you feel

really good about...

The work that you're doing. And he's
woken up.

Okay. And I think everyone, when they
come out into the field and see wild

animals and work with wild animals and
make tangible contributions to the

conservation of Australian wildlife, is
so excited about it.

And what about Clay's koala?

Well, after an hour or so in recovery,
she's safely returned to her tree.

All right, little one.

Fieldwork like this and conservation
projects, this is a huge part of what

Taronga does now and a really important
part.

A splash of blue dye, which does wash
off in the rain, ensures that this koala

can stay in the treetops for now and
won't be caught again.

Oh, she's so pretty. She is. As far as
my contribution goes, I do feel I'm a

very small cog in a very big wheel.

She's passed that first fork now, so we
can move back pretty comfortably.

While my part is small, I think every
bit helps and every bit is necessary

you're talking about the plight of a
species like the koala. So just happy to

have been able to help.

She seems completely fine.

It's good to see her back where she
belongs.

Yeah.

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