All language subtitles for Taronga s06e09 Its Tiger Time.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...

Why
are you doing that?

After a wee hiccupat the start...

You wouldn't wanna lie in urine.
Neither do tigers.

It's all systems go
for Mawar the tiger.

One, two, three.

There we go.
And a health check...

If she says go out,
you exit straight away.

..that could change her life.

She's
a very special cat.

A blind date with a difference.

Meet Spud.

But Australia's smallest bachelor...

We want
to introduce him to Penny.

..isn't just playing hard to get.

Spud.
He's playing hard to find.

It's the first time that
he would have been introduced

to a
female other than his mum.

And the race is on to find out
just what's bugging Molly.

This is not the grossest thing
we can do in our day.

(THEME MUSIC)

(CHEERFUL MUSIC)

It's springtime.

(ELEPHANT TRUMPETS)

And Taronga's two zoos
are bursting with healthy animals...

and brimming with happy keepers.

It's Penny. Hi, Penny.
Yeah, Penny.

Hey.

For one particular species,
these balmy days

are all the excuse they need
to slip back

into the cool shade
of their jungle habitat.

The Sumatran tigers

come from the island
of Sumatra in Indonesia.

In the wild, they actually live
amongst this beautiful foliage.

So, they
need stripes to help hide

amongst all the shadows
of the forest.

Tiger stripes are all, um,
individual and each animal

sort of like a thumbprint
or a fingerprint for a human.

We actually 00:02:38,519
on their
tails or their faces,

and that's one of the ways that
keepers can actually ID

the different tigers
when they're out

and they're
running around together.

Every day, I thank my lucky stars
that I work with Sumatran tigers.

They're actually 00:02:55,079
so there's less than
350 individuals left,

which
is just drastically low.

We have a family group
here at Taronga.

We have Kartika and her offspring,
Pemanah, and his sister, Mawar.

So, now that Mawar and Pemanah
are five years old,

they have been matched genetically
with tigers in the US.

So, we're hoping that they can
become part of this global

breeding programme
for Sumatran tigers.

That's right.

These feline siblings
have a date with genetic destiny.

They'll be on the move,
travelling over 14,000kms

to spread their love

across a couple of zoos
in the US of A.

But there's a catch.

They actually 00:03:45,319
and to be able to be
shipped overseas

because the US zoos
are actually sharing

the cost of the flight
and they will actually

be sharing quarantine facilities
once they're over in the US.

So, we're hoping that 00:03:58,399
that they both pass.

If one doesn't pass,
the other one may not go.

Pemanah's already
had his health check,

and while keeper Tamara
waits for his results,

it's his sister Mawar's turn,
which means Mawar

will need a general anaesthetic,
which means a sharp needle,

which means, you guessed it,
a training session.

So, Molly and I are about to do
a training session for Mawar.

We've got the pole that 00:04:33,239
with
a blunt needle on it.

In the past, 00:04:36,999
a dangerous
animal like a tiger,

the vets would actually come
in with a dart gun

and
they would dart the tigers.

It
was very, very stressful.

It took them a really
long time to fall asleep

because that adrenaline
was coursing through them.

So, now we use cooperative care,
where it's the animal's choice

to come up and participate
in a training session.

If they
don't want to, they won't.

Hey, Mawar. Good morning.
Oh, hi.

Good morning. 00:05:01,520
(TENSE MUSIC)

Oh,
you're a good girl.

You ready?

Mawar. Hello.

On command, Mawar has been trained

to drop close to the keepers.

Oh, that's very far away.
Can we try again?

(TENSE MUSIC)

Come on, up you get.
Mawar, up you get.

Let's
try again, little love.

Her head and her hips

are supposed to both
be near the mesh.

Ready?
Can you come here?

Here we go.

But just one day before her
critically important health check,

Mawar is choosing
not to participate.

(TENSE MUSIC)

This
is her first ever GA,

and it's a lot of stress
for us as keepers.

We want it to go to plan.
We want it to be smooth.

(LAUGHTER)

(TENSE MUSIC)

Come on, Mawar.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Drop.
Why are you doing that?

Mawar, Mawar, Mawar,

you have never done this
in a training session, ever.

The day before 00:06:15,000
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

At Taronga...

Are
you with your girlfriend?

..the keepers sometimes have to give
Mother Nature a little...

There we go.

..nudge...
Oh, how cute.

..and offer the animals
the occasional helping hand,

whether they're big...

(TORTOISE GRUNTS)

..or small.

Long-nosed potoroos
are really fascinating.

They're a gorgeous
little marsupial, tiny.

They only weigh up to,
you know, 1.5 to 2kg.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

They're classified
as a vulnerable species.

The reason for that habitat loss,
they're the perfect weight and size

as a snack for feral cats and foxes,
so they do get predated on a lot.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Their numbers are declining,
and they are basically

at threat of extinction
in the future.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

And it's that threat
that has Taronga

working hard to help
its own potoroo population

get busy and produce more
little potoroos.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Meet Spud.

He was born here
in our breeding programme.

He's now
just turned two years old.

He's
a single male potoroo.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Spud
is our little bachelor.

And he's quite the catch.

He's a gorgeous little male,
full of energy,

loves
bouncing around.

He's
very charismatic.

And he actually
really enjoys a scratch.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

And we
want to find him a female,

so that he can breed
and pass on his genetics,

which
are really valuable.

Keeper Suzie
is playing marsupial matchmaker.

(CHEERFUL STRING MUSIC)

Good morning, Penny.

And she's got high hopes...

You're gonna move
into your new home today.

..that a certain
little bachelorette

will steal Spud's heart.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

Penny's
main role is,

she's hopefully 00:08:34,439
so we can have some little potoroos
to increase the population.

No pressure then, Penny.

She's a female that came to us
from Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

She's got a bit of
a wild upbringing.

Let's hope not too wild for Spud.

So, let's take you into woodlands
and see if Spud is up.

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

And
do your first introduction.

(SOFT MUSIC)

Back over in the tiger's den...

I'm
gonna try one more time.

Mawar, the Sumatran tiger,
is supposed to be practising

for tomorrow's pole injection.

Why
are you doing that?

We have not done that
since you were tiny.

But she isn't cooperating.

Mawar has never, 00:09:24,399
So, she was landing with her
bottom towards the back wall.

So, yeah, this
is a great training session

the
day before an anaesthetic.

Hopefully, we can reset
and she actually does

what
we need her to do.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Try again, Mawar.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Nah.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Meanwhile,
over at the wildlife hospital,

vet nurse Annii has got a list
and she's checking it twice.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

I'm just getting some things
organised for Mawar's anaesthesia.

So, as you can see,
my little checklist

has
so many things on it.

She's having a pre-shipment
transport general anaesthetic.

So, I'm just getting 00:10:08,799
Um...

This is probably 00:10:13,079
It's not a bin. 00:10:14,959
Because Mawar's
not had an anaesthetic

before, I'm not quite sure
what size she is.

So, that's going to be
the face mask.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

It's been a while since
I've done a tiger anaesthetic,

probably
about a year.

So, I'm just making sure that
everything's in working order

because I don't want
to get down there

and
find things not working.

It
makes Annii very cranky.

And when it comes
to things not working,

Mawar's final training session
is a prime example.

You want to quickly go in
and squeegee it.

Quick
hose and squeegee.

Keeper Dannielle
suspects she knows the wee problem.

There's
some urine on the floor.

So, tigers 00:10:58,679
You wouldn't want to lie in urine,
neither do tigers.

So, we're just going to
do a quick clean,

so hopefully we can have
a successful training session.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

That
should be enough there.

What
do you think, Mawar?

Are
we doing a good job?

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Look at that.
It's nice and dry.

Nice and clean.

OK, what do you reckon?
You've inspected.

Did
we do a good enough job?

There
we go, Princess Mawar.

And with the all clear
from this Sumatran, ah, princess.

Yeah,
see its-it's much better.

Pole injection practisecan resume.

Can you try again?
You can come down.

Drop.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Touch.

So far, so good.

Ah!
Yay.

(CHUCKLES) 00:11:59,519
She's
never done that.

Looks like
it's just one of those days.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Still to come...

Oh,
look at all these.

She resisted at first.

If
you asked a keeper

what their favourite animal
would be,

they would
say they don't have one.

But then Molly
couldn't help herself.

She is just my favourite animal
in the whole wide world.

And a really big day...

Pretty exciting 00:12:28,999
being for a critically
endangered species

like
the Sumatran tiger.

..for newbie Jess.

Go,
my little-little protege.

(GROOVY MUSIC)

In the deepest, darkest depths
of Taronga's wild bushland...

Alright. (GRUNTS)

..keeper Molly
is off the beaten track

and on the hunt for...

Oh,
look at all these.

Bugs?

So,
these are all perfect logs.

You can
hear how rotten they are.

And the more rotten means,
the more room for bugs.

I'm one of the carnivore keepers
here at the zoo.

We've
got the smallest carnivores,

the
meerkats and the red pandas

and the otters as well,
and then some of the largest,

so Mary, our sun bear, 00:13:26,320
(GENTLE MUSIC)

These are all perfect
for meerkats and sun bear.

I can see a few ants,
a few centipedes.

If there's some spiders and grubs,
that would be even better.

Rotten logs 00:13:42,759
of that phrase, one man's trash
is another one's treasure.

So, I guess most people
would see an old log

on
the side of the road

and think it's in the
way or remove it.

But for us, 00:13:53,399
We go searching for the most rotten
and the ones with the most insects,

and it's like treasure
for our meerkats.

Ooh, so many bugs.

With the logs collected,
it's time to distribute them

amongst Taronga's residents.

Here at Taronga,

we currently have
a group of nine meerkats,

and they're actually
all sisters as well,

which
is a bit unique.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Sentry duty is the most essential
meerkat behaviour in the wild.

This behaviour is actually an entire
meerkat mob's responsibility.

If you look closely,
you'll see they actually

all take
turns in this behaviour,

so it's almost like shift
work for meerkats.

Basically, one meerkat will find
the highest point of their habitat

because there are a lot of birds
of prey in areas

where they would live
in Southern Africa,

which means meerkats 00:14:41,439
and being aware of
when the predators may pass.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Meerkats
love insects.

They predominantly
eat these in the wild,

so any opportunity for them
to get into some insects,

they
will be straight on to.

The whole
mob has to work together

to get all of the insects
out as a team.

So,
something as simple as a log

can encourage 00:15:03,520
But as amazing as the meerkats are,

there's just something about Mary.

And keeper Molly has saved

some of the juiciest logs
just for her.

I think
if you asked a keeper

what their favourite animal
would be,

they would
say they don't have one.

But if you ask them a second time,
it'll always come out.

Mine has to be sun bears
as a species,

but
in particular Mary,

she is just my favourite animal
in the whole wide world.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Oh! Alright.

Oh, so this delicious log
was from our meerkat exhibit.

So, it won't only have
a lot of bugs,

but it's also gonna have that
meerkat smell for her as well.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

So, this
is like prime rotten log.

You can see it's literally
crumbling away as I touch it.

Oh, look at that.

In the wild, sun bears
would be using their long claws

to break into trees
and termite mounds

to get
out all of the insects.

So, it's a great way for them
to source food,

but it also means
they keep their claws nice

and short 00:16:08,700
So,
Mary's gonna love that one.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Over in the tiger's den...

Drop.

..it's the day
before Mawar's first ever

general anaesthetic
and health check.

Touch.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Ah!
Hey. (LAUGHS)

And ideal is not how you'd describe

this final practice session.

For the first time ever,
she decided to bite

the end of the tube 00:16:40,039
Can you...can you let
that go, please?

Nope.

And pulled 00:16:47,959
She's never done that before either.
Give her some milk.

Oh, that's tricky.

Yeah.

(TENSE MUSIC)

There you go.

(TENSE MUSIC)

No,
it's not gonna...

Oh!

.
.come through this gap.

I win.

I've
trained Mawar since about...

(TIGER GRUNTS)

..one week old and that
training session

was probably the worst
training session she's ever had.

Mawar, Mawar, Mawar.
Try again, Mawar.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

It's now crunch time.

Thank you.
With a new day comes new hope.

It's time to see if Mawar
can put her worst

ever pole injection training session
behind her and get the job done.

Do you want to take out
the blue blood pressure cuff?

Yeah.

And whack it on the bench
with all the others?

Oh, sure.
It's the same size.

Alright.

In the wildlife hospital,
vet nurse Annii

will not only be helping administer
Mawar's anaesthetic gas...

Make
sure the bag fills up.

You've
done it before, Annii.

Anyone would think.

She's also supervising

the wildlife hospital's
newest recruit.

That's
all connected,

so if we do need
to take it into the den...

Yeah.

..and you're getting
people to help,

obviously that just needs
to come together...

Yeah.

..because
that's connected to that.

I do get very excited 00:18:11,239
and then that excitement
then turns into

a little bit of anxiousness
and fear.

(LAUGHS)

But we do have our
wonderful new trainee, Jess,

that's gonna be shadowing
both myself and Tammy.

Do you want me 00:18:22,519
Yeah.

If
I'm excited, she's...

Her head's gonna be exploding,
I can only imagine.

Put the arm runners on now,
so they're ready.

Um, we don't have to because,
uh, we won't know

what
side they want to lay her.

Sure.

So, I've come from being a zookeeper
to a trainee vet nurse.

And any other one
from here for the tail?

Nah.

I've been at Taronga for about
three weeks now

and this is my first time
helping out with a procedure.

Yeah.
Oh, just over that.

So, this gets attached to this
and then that goes

to the
back of the restraints.

Pretty exciting having
my first procedure

being for a critically
endangered species

like
the Sumatran tiger.

Go,
my little-little protege.

(CHUCKLES)
You taught me so well.

Go,
my little protege.

Vet Frances will be overseeing
Mawar's examination

once the tiger
is brought into the hospital.

How about
you three go in the van

and us three are gonna
walk down the back road.

Yeah.
Easy.

OK. Sumatran
tigers are just beautiful.

It's quite a privilege
to be able to work with them.

She's a really important animal
because she's one of a small number.

There are not that
many of them left.

Do
you want to drive, Gab's?

So, she's going to go
to the United States to breed

and we're doing
a thorough health check

before
she goes overseas.

Alright.

So, thank you, everyone,
for joining us this morning.

My name's Georgia.

I'm one of the carnivore
keepers here.

We're
here for Mawar's anaesthetic.

That'll be run by Frances,
our vet today, and Gabby.

So, just from the vet side,
Gabby's running the anaesthetic.

So, she's gonna be
the one that calls,

uh, for when she's happy
to have the door open.

Yep.

Um, we want only people 00:20:06,279
and that's
under Gabby's direction.

If Gabby is unhappy 00:20:12,359
"Go out,
" you exit straight away.

But before anyone
can enter Mawar's den,

keeper Dannielle
has to successfully pole inject

this strong sedative
into the 87kg tiger.

We're gonna use
the short pole needle.

It all hinges on her.

I'm
just gonna like...

Gently
just rest it on. Kill.

I
am so nervous right now.

I've put a lot of pressure on
myself to get this done.

You've got this, gal.
Ain't your first rodeo.

With Mawar, it is.

Because if this isn't successful,
then Mawar will need to be darted,

which is very stressful for her
and very stressful for all of us.

We're on.

It's just a normal training session.
Yeah.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Back at the Taronga
Institute of Science and Learning.

OK, enough already.

Let's just call it
the potteroo bachelor pad.

Here we are.

Keeper Suzie is matchmaker Suzie.

Beautiful new home.
Hello, Miss Penny.

And today, Potteroo Penny
is going on a blind date...

Come on, buddy.
..with Spud.

Spud.

So, yeah, Spud's our little male
long-nosed Potteroo.

He was
born here at Taronga Zoo.

Then he's just over
two years old now.

He's ready for breeding, 00:21:40,639
him to Penny.

Spud does not know what's coming.

It's the first time 00:21:49,479
to a
female other than his mum.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

I don't think 00:21:55,759
or
anything of-of Penny yet.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

But I reckon 00:22:02,679
he'll
be pretty interested.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Come on, Spud.
Come on, buddy.

(CLICKER SOUND)

Penny's ready.

Spud's not only playing hard to get,
he's playing hard to find.

I mean, you wouldn't describe it
as the best first impression.

Spud.

Oh, hang on.

Is that...

Nope, not our guy.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Come on, bud.

Ah, gotcha.

Oh, hi, buddy.
(LAUGHS)

You can see this beautiful nest
that he's built down here.

So, you can see him 00:22:46,799
And it's why a lot of Australians
have probably never seen

a long-nosed potteroo,
because they are so well

adapted to the Australian
environment and camouflaging.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Spud. Come here.

I'm just gonna put a scatter
of food out for him

and for Penny, 00:23:09,519
always a great way
to meet on a first date.

It just takes 00:23:13,359
meeting each other
for the first time.

(CHEERFUL MUSIC)

Now, for the moment of truth.

(TENSE MUSIC)

(CHUCKLES)

Oh,
not sure about her, Spud.

(TENSE MUSIC)

I'm gonna step back 00:23:43,320
(TENSE MUSIC)

Over at
Taronga's carnivore section...

(ANIMAL SOUNDS)

..a critically endangered
Sumatran tiger

is about to receive
its first ever pole injection

ahead of a very important
health check.

We're on.
Well, at least that's the idea.

I
love the enthusiasm. Drop.

Why
are you doing that?

Yesterday's practice
didn't quite go to plan.

Hey...
(LAUGHS)

You've
never done that either.

She's
never done that.

And today...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

..Keeper Dannielle
is giving it another crack...

Yeah.

..but this time
it's the real deal.

If this isn't successful,
then Mawar will need to be darted

which is very stressful for her
and very stressful for all of us.

OK.

So, we're gonna get her down,
a couple of touches with this.

Yep.
Oh, good girl.

She was like ready
before I was ready.

Today, they're keeping that
milk bottle well away from Mawar.

OK.

And Mawar is now lying
much closer to the keepers.

Touch. Good girl.

What a difference a day makes.
The sedative is in.

Now, that's what you'd call
a purrfect pole injection.

We can go tell them.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Well done, princess.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Once the anaesthetic goes in,
then they have to communicate

with the vet because the vet
is the one that's

running
the procedure.

You're OK.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Good girl.

Are
you happy for us to come in?

Yep.

Yep. We'll go in.

And I believe Molly
has just given the word

and so the vets and vet
nurses and myself

are gonna go in and, um,
see how she's going.

Mawar might be down, but is she out?

Mawar's
a dangerous animal.

Tigers are absolutely capable of,
you know, hurting people.

So, Gabby's just gonna check how
deeply sedated she is

to make sure it's safe for us
to actually open the door

and go in with her.

She's looking for any signs that
she's moving or twitching

or moving her whiskers
or blinking an eye.

Any movement?

I
think she's pretty good.

On Gabby's signal, the team prepare

to enter Mawar's den.

(TENSE MUSIC)

We're all being quiet 00:26:35,879
and we don't want her
to start moving around.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Shh.

Push her that way
and let's stay out there

and
I'll just put the mask.

Give me a second.
Was that you?

Any little reflex 00:26:53,759
perhaps not sufficiently
anaesthetised.

Yeah, it was me. It's just slipped.
It's not happening.

Let's just take her up.
Ready?

One, two, three.
There we go.

OK,
you need to pull that out.

The stretcher needs
to go a bit further.

We want to get her up
to the hospital

in a timely fashion,
so that we keep her

anaesthetic
as short as we can.

And
don't slam the door, please.

It makes the whole process
safer for her.

(TENSE MUSIC)

The plan is we're gonna
take her straight through

and put her on the floor
and we'll connect her up.

Down? Down
on the ground, please.

Yeah. 00:27:28,879
She's
got a little blink.

So, Mawar's just 00:27:33,520
(TENSE MUSIC)

She's
just got a little blink.

At Taronga Zoo in Sydney...

(SIGHS) Alright.

Keepers Molly and Tamara
are preparing a particularly

tasty gourmet banquet

for some of the zoo's
resident carnivores.

Oh, my
gosh, look at all the bugs.

Oh! So exciting.

And what's the one thing
that can make a rotten log

full of bugs an even better meal?

More bugs.

This is the fun part for us
where we get to scatter all these

delicious bugs 00:28:17,719
And I'll put some roaches
in this big one here.

So good. They're actually
all climbing inside.

But wait, there's more.

We deal with a lot of poo,
so handling bugs like maggots

is not the grossest thing
we can do in our day.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Alright, one last spot.
This looks like a goodie.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Alright.
Moz, what do we think?

Looks good.
She's gonna love it?

She's gonna be occupied for ages.
I can't wait to see her.

(CHUCKLES)

She is Mary the sun bear,
and it doesn't take long

to find that first delicious log.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

It's about to be ripped apart.

Any second now.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

Nice. OK.
Well, how about this one?

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

OK, then.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)

In the wild, 00:29:24,439
is actually spent
foraging for insects.

That long
tongue, it is so precise.

She can target that 00:29:35,919
She won't pick up a leaf or dirt.
It's pretty impressive.

Oh,
my gosh, look at her go.

That's more like it, Mary.

Oh, my gosh, 00:29:45,079
She's
shredding right into them.

So, this is exactly 00:29:49,879
Exactly what we wanted
from those logs.

I love when she gets, like,
all frantic 'cause like it's like

her way of showing
sort of excitement.

Yeah. Yeah,
flipping them all over. Yeah.

All those
natural bear behaviours.

So good. There you go.
Oh, my god.

Oh, she just pushed it
over the edge.

(LAUGHTER)

We're
seeing some behaviours that

we don't get to see
from her every day.

So
happy and playful.

I think she's living her
best life today.

You know, it can feel like
a silly job to search for logs,

but
to actually see the impact

it's having on her 00:30:23,959
all afternoon having fun and ripping
into them is so rewarding.

OK, it's official, folks.

Mary the sun bear
is now Mary the fun bear.

Oh, so good. 00:30:37,159
Down
on the ground, please. Yep.

Back at the wildlife hospital...

OK, she's connected.

Because
she's on one.

..Mawar the Sumatran tiger
has been sedated

for an important health check.

She's got a little blink.
Let's turn her up.

But she isn't sleeping soundly.

So, Mawar's just got
a little bit of a blink there.

A blink reflex 00:31:00,399
Mawar is not 00:31:04,079
It's really important that
we keep people safe and Mawar safe.

I'm not gonna move her
until her blink goes away.

Are we gonna roll?

So... No, no.

So, what we're gonna do, guys,
she's got a little blink.

So, we're just gonna sit here
for a second before we move her.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Moving is the thing that
will stimulate her the most.

So, let's just get her
a little bit deeper.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Her respiratory rate
has gone up as well.

An elevated respiratory rate
confirms that Mawar

isn't sleeping deeply enough.

(TENSE MUSIC)

OK, she's lost the blink reflex.
She's taking nice breaths.

I'm
happy to lift her up.

And I hook in here
and I wanna catch that leg.

So,
if we go one, two, three.

That's it.
Thanks, guys.

No blink.

OK, we're gonna spray her
and then intubate.

So, Mawar's 00:32:02,719
of a spray 00:32:05,079
It's a local anaesthetic
and it makes it much easier

to pass the tube
into her airway that

we need to give her
the anaesthetic gas

and it's
gonna protect her airway.

Pull the thing out.

Yep.
Yep. Pull, pull, pull. Yep.

That's it. Happy.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Now that Mawar
is intubated and stable...

You just give her
regular breaths, Annii.

..Vet Frances can finally start
today's procedures.

I'm just
gonna take the swab first.

This is
Mawar's first anaesthetic.

This will be the first time since
she was a tiny little cub

that we've actually been able to
do a physical examination.

Yeah.

Occasionally, 00:32:47,919
but blood tests might
show something like

maybe the kidneys
aren't working very well

or maybe the liver
is not working very well.

So, we'll do 00:32:58,020
I'm gonna
do 12mils in this syringe.

The results
of these tests will determine

if this critically endangered tiger
can be transferred

to the USA to join
a selective breeding programme.

Once I've got this blood,
I'm gonna aim to do the X-rays

and we'll do the lateral
x-rays first, Tammy.

Yeah.

It's an exclusive club

and not every tiger
that's selected will pass.

On my count of three,
she's going towards

Tammy
and Jess by about 15cms.

One, two, three.

OK, now we're gonna lift her
up onto her back.

It's
difficult moving her around

for those different X-ray
views and so on.

She's a big tiger.
Everyone out.

(TENSE MUSIC)

X-ray.

OK.

Light on.

(TENSE MUSIC)

OK.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Over at the Taronga Institute
of Love...

At the moment, 00:34:11,320
(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

And
Spud is over in this area.

..Keeper Suzie has arranged
a blind date

for two of Australia's
most vulnerable marsupials.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

So far, it's not going so great.

For Penny, this is gonna be
exciting on a number of levels

because it's a new
environment for her,

and she's probably gonna
be more focused on

checking out her surroundings,
finding good places

for her
to hide, to set up her nest.

For Spud, this is the first time
he's ever been in with a female

other than his mum.

You know, the new exciting thing
in the room is Penny.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

He might be sort of sniffing
where Penny has already been.

He might be 00:35:13,359
you know, the first smell
of a female pheromone.

He's got to, yeah,
figure out the logistics.

I'm just
gonna go grab some peanuts.

Come.

Look, I've got a very special
treat for you both.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Lovely
peanut butter smears.

Maybe a little snack
will do the trick.

I want to have a close look
and see what they're actually doing.

They're right now 00:35:48,319
going between eating food
but also then checking

in on
each other and having a sniff.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

She's actually 00:35:56,400
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

She's lifting her tail up,
so that he can actually mount her.

He's
actually on top of her.

Happy days.

He's
giving it his best shot.

Almost, buddy.

Might take him a few goes
to figure out how it all works.

He might be 00:36:24,519
I
think he's-he's trying.

Yeah, maybe we should give them
a bit of privacy.

(DELIGHTFUL MUSIC)

Next door, in the wildlife hospital.

Everyone out.

Mawar, the Sumatran tiger's chances

of travelling with her twin
to America

to join an exclusive
breeding program...

X-ray.

OK.

..all depend on her
passing today's health check.

So, we want to make sure
that she's grown up

with everything
in the right place.

We need to know that
she's in tip-top shape.

Will be her stomach
with a bit of gas in it.

We need to know that

she doesn't have
anything subclinical,

which means from the outside
she looks OK,

but on the inside there's something
going on underneath.

I don't see 00:37:12,759
I'm gonna put an IV
into her cephalic.

Sure,
yep, so she's clipped.

And she...

For trainee vet nurse Jess,
this is a pretty special way

to kick off her new career.

It's just really exciting,
my first day doing a vet nursing

traineeship 00:37:29,839
Have another listen 00:37:30,959
breathe
and hear her heart.

Yeah.
Who would have thought?

It's... Yeah, blowing my mind.
(CHUCKLES)

So, have a listen there
and you'll see

what I mean by
all the chitter chatter

in
the room and this.

(TENSE MUSIC)

That's so much harder 00:37:48,200
Yeah.

(TENSE MUSIC)

So cool.

What we're doing right now
is her physical examination.

So, we want to make sure we know
if she's got any wounds

or injuries
or anything like that.

There's nothing.

Tamara...
Sorry.

..nothing in particular that
you guys are concerned

about with her
because she's healthy.

No, we-we would like 00:38:12,599
while she's under.

Yeah. Yes. 00:38:16,519
She's pretty good.

2.5 to 3 body condition
score out of 5.

Today's really special
because it's so rare

to get an opportunity to get up
close to these animals in our care.

If time permits,
we take the opportunity

to
get a little paw print.

Um, it's a way for the keepers that
take care of these animals

to sort of have 00:38:39,999
and
it's really special.

Um...

(GENTLE MUSIC)

It's really special.

It means a lot to us, and sometimes
we just put them up in our office,

so that the whole team can,
you know, enjoy them

and it's, especially
the animals like Mawar

that may be moving to another
zoo, you know.

It's
a nice little memory of her.

She's
a very special cat.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

We have
been waiting patiently.

..judgement day has arrived.

We
just received news.

Time to see if these
big cats really can fly.

It's been two weeks since
Spud met Penny

in a potoroo blind date.

And the first couple of days
it was a bit touch and go,

but after sort of getting
to know each other

and calming down a little bit,
we actually have seen

a
lot of mating from Spud.

And just recently, Keeper Suzie

has noticed even more changes.

Spud, in the past sort of week,
isn't mounting her as much.

Great signs that potentially
there was a successful mating.

Fingers crossed in around
three or four months

we're gonna have some
little potoroo joeys.

Well, turns out
our little Spud really is a stud.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

At the Taronga Wildlife Hospital...

One, two, three.

..today's health check on Mawar
the Sumatran tiger is done.

Head first. 00:40:22,999
All her X-rays look great.
There's nothing to see on those.

You ready, ladies?
Yeah.

Her
physical exam was all fine.

She doesn't have any abnormalities
that we can see like that.

We do
now have all the blood tests

that we need to wait
for the results,

so we'll get those back over
the next couple of days.

And if they're all clear,
then she'll be ready to depart.

Mawar and her brother Pemanah

are set to be transported to America

to join an exclusive Sumatran tiger
breeding programme.

OK, ready?
One, two, three.

That's it.
A bit gentle.

As long as all their test results
come back clear.

So, Mawar
is back in her den now.

She's had her reversal drug
and she's waking up from that.

She's
actually doing really well.

Her
eyes come right up.

Blinking.
Ear twitching.

She's waking up.

What we do is try and stay away
from her as much as possible,

so that she can have a nice,
smooth recovery

without
seeing all of us there.

You're OK, darling.

You're OK, Mawar.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

(UPLIFTING MUSIC)

A few days later
and while the tigers

are blissfully
unaware of their future,

their keepers
haven't been quite so chilled.

We have been waiting
patiently for the test results

for our two tigers,
Pemanah and Mawar,

and
we just received news.

The vets have given them
both a full bill of health.

They absolutely
passed all their tests

with flying colours.

It's really wonderful for Mawar
and Pem to take this journey

to the US and become a part of this
global breeding programme.

As sad as it is for us,
the keepers that have worked

with both of them since the
day they were born,

it's
for the greater good.

It's
for the genetic diversity

worldwide for these 00:42:39,320
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