♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Taronga Zoo is always investing in ways
to improve how they care for their animals,
and this year Taronga is finishing
one of their most ambitious undertakings ever.
Re-creating a savannah watering hole
for the African animals.
CAMERON: This is one of the most exciting projects
that we've worked on as we redefine
what a 21st century zoo is all about.
It's actually a multi-species exhibit.
We've got giraffe, ostrich, zebra,
and then tiny species like meerkats,
and you'll experience them
just the way they live in the savannah
and they interact with each other.
The lions at the western end
will look across and see prey species,
and I'm sure that will stimulate them, of course.
NARRATOR: This project has been in the pipeline
for almost six years,
the grand opening now just months away.
CAMERON: Quite a logistical exercise,
and my hat's off to all the team that are working on it.
NARRATOR: As the construction phase draws to a close,
the next challenge is organizing
the transportation of the animals to their new home.
Some, like the lions and ostriches,
will be relocating
from Taronga's Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo,
and others will have it a little easier
and only need to travel a few hundred meters.
But one of the trickiest animals to move
are at the opposite end of the zoo.
And the months and months of training
needed to prepare them
falls on the shoulders of Jimmy and the giraffe team.
JIMMY: So we have three giraffe, two females and a male.
This one here, he's our youngest, his name is Jimmiu.
He has only just turned 13 years of age.
He's our biggest, so he's quite an impressive male.
So this is Nyota.
She's the second oldest giraffe in Australasia.
She's 27.
So she is quite an achievement
to still be working with such a magnificent animal her age.
NARRATOR: With her advanced age,
Nyota has not been in the best of health,
so that's very much at the front of mind for everyone.
JIMMY: Good.
NARRATOR: As are all the other challenges.
JIMMY: Moving a 5 1/2-meter animal
is a lot more problematic than people might think.
Focus, buddy.
Giraffe as a rule can be quite temperamental.
They are quite flighty animals.
Target. Good.
Hold, hold, hold.
Target.
Good boy! Very nice.
We often get told can't you just put them in the trailer
and walk them up, and hey, look, that all sounds great in theory,
but they're not pet dogs.
They are still wild animals,
and here at the zoo
we try and keep them all as wild as they can.
We like them to display their own natural wild behaviors.
So we don't treat anything here like a pet.
NARRATOR: Giraffes are easily spooked.
So, the first step in training the giraffes
is getting them used to the trailer
they'll be transported in.
JIMMY: Today is just a first visual for us
to see the trailer
and for the giraffes to start getting used to the trailer,
and what we will do is over the next couple of days
is we're gonna start driving the trailer
in and out every morning,
and they'll just get used to the paddock having activity in it.
NARRATOR: But one thing's for sure--
anything that sounds this easy never is.
GRANT: Ahh, the pole.
The pole is giving us nightmares
because the way the fence is built on a curve.
MAN: We can't go straight
because that, that's sticking out.
That's what's hitting the pole.
GRANT: I am worried about backing up.
We're going to get more wedged into this corner.
♪ ♪
We are, yeah, we're stuck against the pole.
So now we have got to try to figure out how to get it out.
Can you imagine doing this if we had a giraffe in there
with the world watching?
They wouldn't be happy.
Jimmy wouldn't be happy.
NARRATOR: No pressure.
JIMMY: Breathe, boys. Breathe.
Let's all stay together as a team.
Let's breathe.
NARRATOR: Taronga Zoo is home to a unique educational space,
the Institute of Science and Learning.
LUCY: So she has to come where to my hand is,
straight up onto the rock.
We've got these incredible immersive classrooms,
different laboratories, like science labs.
We teach university degrees out of it.
So it's a whole space
that science and education is really brought together.
NARRATOR: But out the back, off display,
is its greatest asset.
LUCY: It's pretty much a mini zoo within a zoo.
We have a mix of around 40 different species,
around 200 animals.
It's a very unique space.
(laughs)
Every day is different, and that is what I love about my job.
NARRATOR: But today is extra special,
as one of the Institute's residents is moving out.
LUCY: Hi, little one.
NARRATOR: Wednesday, the short-beaked echidna.
LUCY: You ready?
NARRATOR: Along with the platypus,
echidnas are one of only two egg-laying mammals
in the world,
and just like the platypus,
they are notoriously hard to breed.
LUCY: They're so elusive
that not a lot is known about their breeding behavior.
They also are very selective with their mate.
You can't just pair two.
They have to choose their own.
NARRATOR: For 29 years
there were no echidnas born at Taronga Zoo,
but three years ago Wednesday changed all that,
and now that he's matured,
Wednesday will soon leave the only home he's ever known
to bunk in with some other echidnas
for his own chance to breed.
LUCY: Got a date with the doctor.
NARRATOR: But before he can start breeding,
he needs to get a clean bill of health from the vets.
LUCY: Shall we go and see them?
What do you reckon?
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: While all keepers at Taronga
are passionate about the animals they care for,
it's hard to go past reptile keeper Stu's
infectious love of all things scaly.
STU: So here at Taronga we're at the back of the reptile house,
and we're going to show you guys a range of different lizards
because we keep all different lizards here,
and our lizards range
from the smallest little dragons and skinks
to the biggest iguanas, monitor lizards,
chameleons, Gila monster.
So we've got the whole range, from smallest to the biggest.
The first one I want to show you
is our little shingleback lizard.
Here we go.
This one is actually a sub-species
from Western Australia,
known as the goldfield shingleback,
and look at the coloration on his head,
that beautiful gold or orange sort of coloring.
And he's 100% herbivore.
The next thing I want to show you
is an insectivore, or an animal that loves to eat insects.
So this is our eastern spiny-tailed skink,
and I mean look at the face of that animal.
Again found from Western Australia.
We're seeing a bit of a theme, aren't we,
the ones from Western Australia have a bit of orange on them.
This is one of the more unusual lizards that you will see,
spiky-tailed, spikes all over his head.
This is a defense,
this is to stop an animal trying to grab ahold of him.
Any predator that bites that,
it's going to get a mouthful of these spines,
spit him out and go "I want nothing to do with that."
I want to find something that's juicier and softer to eat.
They're not dangerous to us.
I can pick him up, I can pat them.
They're not razor sharp, but they're definitely a defense
against a predator that wants to chew on him.
So if we come over here, we've got our red-barred dragon,
and these are probably the fastest-moving little guys
we've got in the reptile house.
So we feed this guy insects.
Only insects.
They don't eat salad, they don't eat worms.
They're an insectivorous dragon.
They're not dangerous to humans. They're so small.
Even if he was to give a little chew on my finger
I'd probably just have a bit of a smile
and go, oh, aren't you cute,
look at you trying to be a big lizard.
NARRATOR: As much as he loves them,
Stu wouldn't offer his finger to just any lizard.
STU: This is a Gila monster.
These guys are found in the southern United States
and northern Mexico,
and they're one of the only true venomous lizards
in the entire world,
hence me wearing this protective glove.
It is not known to be a fatal bite,
but it would definitely ruin my day.
These guys have great camouflage on,
they live in the desert.
So this coloration helps blend into the sand,
and these black markings actually make them cryptic.
Even though you think black would stand out against the red,
it's when they're moving it just breaks up their body shape
so a predator can't see them.
Now, these guys, they've got a very interesting diet.
They tend to find the burrow
of a ground-nesting bird or a small mammal,
go into that burrow, eat whatever's in there,
eat whatever babies or eggs are in there,
and then take that burrow on as their own.
NARRATOR: But Stu's all-time, number-one lizard
won't be found lazing around here.
STU: So even though he has the name monster in his name,
he's not the biggest one here.
We do have, we do have the big guy.
NARRATOR: His favorite lizard takes center stage.
STU: Naga, our Komodo dragon, the world's biggest lizard.
Biggest lizard in the world.
I spend almost every day
with some form of interaction with him,
so I really do have a very close affiliation to Naga.
NARRATOR: And it's because of this closeness
that Stu has noticed that Naga may need some medical help.
NARRATOR: The grand opening for one of the biggest projects
in Taronga's history-- the African Savannah--
is now only months away,
and the first animal going in is also one of the trickiest.
GRANT: Giraffes, it's a big animal to move.
You know, you want to make sure everything's right.
So we're doing trial runs on this, in and out,
so when the day comes for us and the boys, it's all smooth.
Straight.
Am I right?
NARRATOR: It's only day one of training
and already they've hit a snag.
MAN: Stop. Come back.
GRANT: The pole is giving us nightmares
because of the way the fence is built on a curve.
I think the pole will have to be removed for us to get it out.
NARRATOR: But keepers know despite these early difficulties
they can't let on to the giraffes
that there may be some hiccups.
JIMMY: Good.
Oh, it is nerve-racking for us.
It's nerve-racking for them.
It's nerve-racking for everyone involved, really,
but the thing is around animals they pick up on your behavior.
So if we're nervous, they'll be nervous.
So it's sort of an acting game.
We've got to come in here and act as confident as we can
to get them to be as confident as they can.
GRANT: Am I hooked out of the way of the poles?
NARRATOR: While the giraffe look on curiously,
the first test run comes to an anticlimactic end.
JIMMY: Good.
NARRATOR: But unfortunately for the team
they're about to be blindsided
by something that will put a halt to their training.
JIMMY: Good.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: Naga, the Komodo dragon,
has an injured shoulder.
STU: We noticed Naga's right shoulder.
He seemed a bit sore, a bit lame.
He wasn't lifting it all the way.
Whether he fell on it,
he might have hyper-extended the shoulder
behind his back one day.
We don't exactly know how it happened.
So we got our vets in.
We have a team of amazing vets.
They came down to assess it.
And the vets decided to go ahead with a laser treatment.
So we've got a specialized laser here
that we have to treat him with.
And our very fashionable safety device.
It's quite a small device.
It emits different colored lasers.
The laser we're going to be using is a red laser,
and you'll see red light emitting out of this laser.
The way that it helps to treat Naga's issues
is it repairs individual cells as we run it over Naga's body.
This is something we hadn't done with reptiles before,
but it's a great, non-invasive way of treating it.
NARRATOR: Even with ten years of experience,
Stu is well aware of the risks of dealing with a wild animal.
STU: Naga is a dangerous animal,
so whenever we are going to do anything in his enclosure,
whether it be cleaning his exhibit in the morning,
to treating him, to feeding him,
we always have to go off his behavior
to dictate how we will work around him.
Stuart to Chris Driver.
CHRIS: Go ahead.
STU: Chris, I'm just going into Naga's exhibit
to do his laser treatment this morning.
He's in a good spot, he doesn't seem too active,
so I'll let you know when I am finished that procedure.
CHRIS: Copy, mate.
STU: Copy that.
Some days we walk in there
and he is completely oblivious to us.
He doesn't even raise an eyelid.
Other days I'll walk in through that door
and he's straight on to me, looks straight at me.
I know that he is stimulated,
so we just have to be a little bit more careful
working around him.
It doesn't mean that he wants to attack us.
It means that he's in a heightened state of awareness.
So we just enter the exhibit,
get Naga into position and then start the therapy.
Hey, big fella.
I mean, we are always precautious,
but yeah, definitely we go off his behavior
to dictate what sort of a mood he's in.
NARRATOR: The first step is getting him
into a good position,
and like all animals at the zoo,
Naga is trained to follow his keeper's signals.
STU: Here we go.
♪ ♪
Now that we've got Naga up in the right position
to commence the laser therapy,
I am going to start doing that on his right shoulder.
Now the laser therapy was decided to be used
because it's a very non-invasive way of treating it.
We have to move the laser very slowly.
We move it at about one centimeter per second.
What the laser does-- I'm not a vet--
but it was explained that it repairs any damaged cell
in the area that is being treated.
It doesn't seem to be really producing any pain for him.
The vets told us that he would just feel
a little bit of an increase in temperature,
a little bit of warmth, and that's all he feels.
Good on you, mate.
The laser treatment with Naga went fantastic today.
Not over it yet, are ya?
Nah.
You are nice and comfy in here.
He was quite relaxed,
and he stayed in position for the entire treatment.
Since we've started the treatment,
we've seen a great improvement in his mobility in the shoulder.
I hope that with the laser therapy for Naga,
by the end of it, we have completely healed any issue
that he had with his shoulder
and he uses it at 100% effectiveness
like he did from the beginning.
NARRATOR: Taronga Zoo's Wildlife Hospital
is one busy place.
VET: See her tongue coming out.
NARRATOR: With thousands of animals to attend to
and emergencies that often crop up,
it has to be run with a military-like precision.
LARRY: Just hang on to him and keep calm.
NARRATOR: So when an animal is booked in for a check-up,
the keepers have to make sure
that the animal will make their appointment,
and that includes even the most difficult to train.
MAZ: Hey, otters.
How are you going?
How are you going? Hello.
Talk otters? Cool.
Let's talk otters.
So the Asian small-clawed otters
are the species we have here at Taronga.
And they're the smallest of the 13 species
found around the world.
They actually live in family groups.
So you've got Intern and Satsi.
Satsi is the young one on the right.
You have got Intern on the left.
The one right at the back is Mum.
And you've got Dad saying, all right, let's go out.
And Mum and Dad actually bond for life.
You guys are ready, ready to go outside?
And otters are very playful, very social carnivores.
They're very, very hyperactive.
Always going 100 miles an hour.
They have webbed feet,
which is perfect for swimming and diving into the water,
and they actually are called small-clawed
because they literally have very small claws.
They have very, very small kind of fingernails.
Almost looks like if someone's chewed their fingernails a lot.
It's that tiny.
NARRATOR: While they may be amongst the smallest animals
at the zoo, they do hold one of the biggest records.
MAZ: Yes, so otters are known to have
probably the worst-smelling poo here at the zoo.
So if you can grab the essential oils.
What do we have today?
KEEPER: Ahh, peppermint and basil.
MAZ: Awesome.
Every time a guest will either walk past
on the rainforest trail, walking past the otter exhibit,
they do get that unique otter smell.
Yeah, they are notorious for their poo.
Otters, enter.
NARRATOR: But even the smelliest animals
need to have a regular health check.
MAZ: Katut is due for his health check-up,
and previously we just used to go in there with nets
and we had to kind of restrain them,
and obviously very stressful for that otter
and also stressful for that family
and also for the keepers as well.
Hello.
You're right, Katut.
So we are trialing something
that is quite revolutionary for Taronga.
Not quite sure.
Good boy.
We're going to voluntarily hand-inject an otter.
NARRATOR: But to do that, you need the otter to stay still
long enough to receive an anesthetic injection.
MAZ: What we are looking for in terms of the behavior
is for Katut to voluntarily go into a pipe
and to accept a needle that I'll be administering.
When we first started stationing,
he was probably in there for a second and out he goes,
so we had to condition him
to stay in that pipe for quite some time,
umm, just to get him prepared,
and then obviously take little steps
with that needle coming in.
Katut, good boy.
On this side.
A few things that we had to condition
particularly in our otters is to calm down and relax.
I love to kind of put in context
they're like a three-year-old child
on red cordial all the time,
so they are always active, very energetic,
their attention focus is very, very quick,
so you have to keep up to them all the time.
NARRATOR: Katut is living up to his hyperactive reputation
and is not interested in the training.
MAZ: Training itself, you know,
like us, we have our ups and downs,
and so do our otter family as well.
Katut.
You know, some days he is great
and he is really motivated in training,
and other days he doesn't, and that's fine.
We just kind of take it day by day
and just prepare him for his general anesthetic.
Yeah, he is a bit nervous at the moment.
So he is giving me the indicator that he wants to go out,
so I'll let him back out.
NARRATOR: So while today can only be described
as an otter failure,
for keeper Maz there's always tomorrow.
MAZ: It's all good. We could try again another time.
NARRATOR: As 18 months' worth of construction
for Taronga's ambitious new African Savannah
draws to a close...
MAN: The guests can just look out
and see an uninterrupted view of our beautiful savannah exhibit.
This is beautiful.
NARRATOR: ...the giraffe, who will be the first to move in,
continue with their painfully slow training
in preparation for the move.
JIMMY: Jim.
Hello, buddy. Station.
That's the boy. Nice work.
NARRATOR: It's monotonous work...
JIMMY: Nice work.
NARRATOR: ...months of intensive daily training.
JIMMY: Good. Very good.
NARRATOR: And the giraffe are no longer bothered
by the trailer
as the final dry runs before the big day
are being conducted.
JIMMY: We are trying to do this as often we can.
On the day there will be three giraffe we're moving.
They'll be going one at a time.
So what we want to do is get them used to the trailer
driving in and out as much as possible.
So on the day nothing's out of ordinary for them.
The trailer is about to leave the exhibit at the moment
and head to the new savannah.
Every day that we move this trailer
or we work these giraffe,
it feels like we're getting
closer and closer to the end goal.
So the end goal shouldn't be far away now.
As you can see, he doesn't really care.
So this is perfect.
But in saying that, you cannot judge
what's going to happen on the day.
There's going to be a giraffe in here on the day.
They might react totally different,
and when they lose a member of their herd,
even if it's only for a couple of minutes,
they're still going to start to think what's that trailer,
you go in that trailer, where do you go?
Until they get reunited at the other end.
Then they're all happy.
We're not just looking at where the trailer is going.
You've got to account
another couple of feet on top of that trailer
when their head's up there.
So we're not just worrying
that the trees are hitting the trailer,
we're worrying that there is another two foot of giraffe
on top of that as well.
NARRATOR: But while the front of house moves
are running smoothly for Jimmy and the giraffe team...
(phone ringing)
LARRY: Howard.
NARRATOR: Early the next day
Senior Vet Larry receives a call about Nyota
that could put the whole move in jeopardy.
LARRY: For all of our older animals,
we monitor their quality of life
and their welfare very, very closely.
As they get older, arthritis, dental disease,
other degenerative processes are happening,
and what you see when you are looking at the animal
doesn't indicate how bad the changes are, actually.
NARRATOR: And unfortunately for Nyota,
the sad reality is her health is now in rapid decline.
LARRY: Sadly Nyota, our 28-year-old giraffe,
which is pretty old for a giraffe,
has deteriorated suddenly.
Yesterday afternoon she was very unwell.
We've been monitoring her very closely.
KEEPER: That's it, darling.
Come on.
LARRY: But yesterday afternoon
she really took a turn for the worst.
She's really slowed down, she's very vague,
her nostrils are flared, she just looks really unwell.
NARRATOR: Given Nyota's advancing years
and this dramatic development,
it's very clear some tough decisions
need to be made and quickly.
Katut, the short-clawed otter, needs a health check,
and it's up to keeper Maz to make sure he's ready.
MAZ: All right, otters.
NARRATOR: By training this hyperactive animal
to sit still long enough
to receive an anesthetic injection.
MAZ: Katut.
NARRATOR: But it's been a frustrating few weeks.
MAZ: Katut.
NARRATOR: As each day Maz has tried...
MAZ: Katut.
NARRATOR: ...and tried...
MAZ: Stay.
NARRATOR: ...and tried again to get Katut to stay still.
♪ ♪
MAZ: We might have to end it.
Yeah, they're not that happy.
Ahh.
We'll just let him out
and we can just regroup and then try again.
All right, guys.
NARRATOR: And with the vets and operating theater booked,
finally Maz has a breakthrough.
MAZ: Okay, Katut.
NARRATOR: Because Katut is finally listening.
MAZ: All right, can you feed them?
Katut, across.
Katut.
Katut, touch. (whistle tweets)
Good stuff, Katut.
Nice.
Him allowing me to touch his body, it is great to see.
He does trust me,
and obviously I trust him as well at the same time.
All right, finished.
And we're done.
NARRATOR: So with everything in place,
vet Kimberly arrives with the anesthetic needle.
MAZ: We've been working very, very hard to get to this stage,
but yeah, it is also for his welfare
and for the group as well,
so we don't have to, you know, physically restrain an animal
or put them under any pressure or stress.
KIMBERLY: Maz, come here for a sec.
MAZ: Yep.
KIMBERLY: Do you want a small syringe with .4 in it
or a thicker syringe?
I don't know what you have been practicing with.
MAZ: Um, yeah, a small syringe is fine.
KIMBERLY: One of these. MAZ: Yep.
KIMBERLY: All right. MAZ: It's loaded, ready to go?
KIMBERLY: Good to go.
MAZ: Cool. Perfect. See you soon.
NARRATOR: And now it's all up to Maz and Katut.
NARRATOR: Wednesday, the short-beaked echidna,
is about to join the rest of the echidnas
in the breeding pool.
LARRY: All right, Liz, this is little Wednesday.
NARRATOR: Before he can join the females
he needs the all-clear from vet Larry,
who is being assisted by US vet Meredith.
MEREDITH: We have porcupines that exist
in the United States and North America with quills,
somewhat similar,
but nothing quite like the echidna's body size
or their little protective abilities.
NARRATOR: But this feisty little animal
isn't too keen on being a model patient.
LARRY: We're just putting a little mask over his beak
so that we can induce the anesthetic.
Little bit shy, little Wednesday.
When echidnas are threatened by a predator
or even when people try and pick them up,
they curl up into this ball and they are almost impenetrable.
LIZ: You got it?
LARRY: I don't think it was, it wasn't on.
Little bugger.
Okay, now we're on.
They're very, very powerful little animals.
They've got powerful claws and limbs
to break down and burrow and dig,
and obviously this, this shield of spines is for protection.
So, we're going to take some x-rays of Wednesday
because we're also doing a little study
looking at the development of their, their skeleton,
because they're also quite unusual.
They have a very, you know,
unique sort of anatomy and physiology
that's again a mixture of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Their skeleton is pretty unique and crazy.
Their bones are all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes,
so very, very unique and very cool animal.
NARRATOR: But since he will hopefully be breeding,
the focus of this check is on his ability to perform.
LARRY: Just depth, Liz.
Just reduce the depth a little.
Yeah, so, that's, umm,
so we can see his bladder perfectly on the image.
But of course, like platypus,
echidnas have internal testicles.
They're called testicond, and we can,
we've got a magnificent image of his testicle.
You might see, you might be able to see this bulge here.
So when we start fiddling around here,
we might get a bit of a surprise.
He's not gonna disappoint us, is he?
MEREDITH: Hello.
LARRY: So this is an echidna's penis.
So a very, very bizarre structure.
You can see it's has got four little heads there,
almost look like little suckers.
And it doesn't actually work
like a penis in other mammal species
in that urine doesn't come through it.
MEREDITH: So it's just a reproductive organ?
LARRY: Yeah, yeah.
So, but it's crazy, isn't it?
MEREDITH: Remarkable in its size comparison.
LARRY: Okay, we can wake him up.
NARRATOR: It's good news for Wednesday,
as he's cleared his exam
and is off to join the rest of the echidna breeding pool.
LARRY: Wednesday is in perfect health.
He's got the all-clear,
and good luck to him with his future breeding.
NARRATOR: And hopefully in the near future
Wednesday can produce a little echidna puggle of his own.
Otter keeper Maz has been training hyperactive dad Katut
to receive an anesthetic injection.
MAZ: Loaded and ready to go? KIMBERLY: Good to go.
MAZ: Cool, perfect, see you soon.
NARRATOR: After only one successful training run
and with vet Kimberly waiting patiently outside,
he's hoping that today Katut will play ball.
MAZ: Otters, inside.
♪ ♪
Katut, pipe.
(whistle tweets)
Touch.
NARRATOR: And Katut did not disappoint.
MAZ: Good stuff, buddy.
KIMBERLY: Great job.
I'm so glad you got that anesthetic
because, like you said, we would have to delay it to another day.
That anesthetic we just did with Katut went perfectly.
Maz, the keeper, was able to do the anesthesia.
Anesthesia was very smooth.
NARRATOR: So with Katut well and truly under,
it's over to Kimberly and her team for his health check.
KIMBERLY: So essentially we're just looking at Katut
to make sure everything is working okay.
We'll get some blood, make sure systemically he's looking fine.
We'll just have a good feel of the liver,
try to feel the kidneys, feel for any abdominal masses.
We don't have too many problems in our otters.
Sometimes they have dental problems,
so we want to make sure the teeth are okay.
So while we have him under anesthesia,
it's a good opportunity just to get that off
so that it doesn't develop into something more.
He's a little cold, so we'll warm him up a bit.
MAZ: Hello.
KIMBERLY: Good timing, actually.
We're just finishing.
He looks perfect.
He did have a bit of tartar,
so Liz did a great job cleaning his teeth.
MAZ: Amazing.
KIMBERLY: Yeah. Everything looks good.
LIZ: He is 3.8 kilos.
MAZ: 3.8, cool.
KIMBERLY: 3.8, so I'm really happy with him.
He has had his vaccination.
MAZ: Perfect.
KIMBERLY: So I think we're all set.
MAZ: Yes.
Katut is an otter that I do work closely with.
Him and I have a good relationship and rapport,
so seeing him on the table
and seeing him training up to this point
is a great success.
This is quite a historic moment for us here at Taronga Zoo.
First time we ever voluntarily hand-injected an otter.
So this is an awesome day,
and I'm very proud of Katut and our otters here,
so yeah, couldn't have been a better outcome.
NARRATOR: The oldest giraffe at Taronga, Nyota,
has had a slow decline of health
over the past few months.
But yesterday she took a dramatic turn for the worse,
leaving Taronga vets in an unthinkable position.
LARRY: Given that sudden deterioration in her health,
her advanced age,
we've decided we're going to euthanize her this morning.
It's always a hard decision to euthanize any animal.
We always prefer to euthanize an animal
before they're actually really suffering.
We'll fire a little dart into her,
and she'll go to sleep, and then we'll euthanize her.
Giraffe anesthesia is always challenging, that's for sure.
A very large, lanky animal,
she weighs about 900 kilos,
so you know, there's always a risk
that Nyota is going to fall awkwardly
or injure herself on her way down,
and we don't want that to happen
regardless of what the outcome is going to be.
NARRATOR: It's obvious from the emotion
in Larry's normally calm voice
just how much this is affecting everyone at Taronga.
LARRY: Larry to Gabe.
GABE: Go ahead, Larry.
LARRY: Gabe, we are good to come down now.
Are you guys ready?
GABE: Yeah.
We, umm, can be ready.
We're just waiting for you
before we lock the other two away
just so she's not on her own as long.
LARRY: Okay, we'll head down now.
NARRATOR: There's so much shared history
between Nyota and Taronga's staff.
LARRY: I mean, it's sad.
Nyota is a pretty special animal.
I've been here 30 years and she was born here in 1992,
so I've known her her whole life.
Her parents were wonderful giraffe.
A male called Charity, and her mother was called Hope.
So Hope and Charity were her parents,
and I knew them well as well.
She made the decision for us.
LIZ: It's hard for everybody
when you lose any animal in the zoo.
But with an animal that's been here such a long time
and is quite iconic like a giraffe,
umm, yeah, it's a really hard day, yeah.
GABE: The other two are locked away.
So she's at the back pool fence.
LARRY: Okay, I'll just get the gun.
GABE: We're just about to start the procedure for Nyota.
Are you able to please put over on all radios an announcement?
I've worked with her closely for the last three years.
These long-lived iconic animals have touched so many people,
and because we work so closely with them,
there are so many rich connections.
PRODUCER: Are you gonna miss her?
GABE: Yeah, very much so, gonna miss her.
She's a beautiful animal, and we're gonna miss her a lot.
WOMAN: The giraffe keepers are about to start a procedure
on one of their giraffes.
We request that you keep the area
around the giraffe paddock clear.
If you are working within the area,
please keep all noise to a minimum.
FRANKIE: It's a tough day. It is a hard day for everyone.
I mean, she was loved by not just us
but the rest of the zoo and the public,
so it's a massive loss for us,
but she's definitely going to a better place.
GABE: Follow me.
LARRY: I'll just load the dart in here.
NARRATOR: The reality is
if Taronga did not take this course of action,
Nyota would have no future quality of life.
GABE: Sorry, guys, we have to head away now.
NARRATOR: So as heartbreaking as this is for everyone,
sadly there's no other option.
As the minutes pass,
more and more of her devastated Taronga family
arrive to say their goodbyes.
TRACEY: I've worked with Nyota now for probably 13 years.
I have a photo on my locker of her when she was born here.
She's such a strong character.
She really, really made her presence felt.
It is always very hard when you lose someone,
because that's what they are to us.
They are someone that you love,
but you have to recognize the signs when it is time.
Of course in a wild situation
there will be a wild end to their life,
and so at least here they're going out
with the people who love them around them.
And I think that she does take comfort from our presence.
But I will miss my friend Nyota very much.
LARRY: We darted Nyota about, ahh,
it'd be about 15 minutes ago now, actually,
and, um, we're still waiting for the drug to take effect.
I think she is affected,
but she hasn't moved at all since she was darted
and she is very drowsy,
but the drug hasn't reached a level in her system
that it's enough to knock her down.
Umm, I suspect that maybe her circulation,
because she is not moving around,
her circulation is a bit sluggish
and, umm, it's just not taking effect
as, as quickly as you'd expect.
♪ ♪
KEEPER: Larry.
♪ ♪
LARRY: Just come around the back of her in case she--
Do we have another towel, guys?
KEEPER: Yeah.
LARRY: Andy.
It was a very peaceful ending for her life,
and, uh, this is part of working in a zoo.
Animals are born, animals die, animals get very old in zoos,
and, ahh, you know, it's a circle of life in a zoo,
and, and, you know, she was a very healthy animal,
and I think this is just her time.
♪ ♪
GABE: Just everyone,
we've just still got Jimmy and Saratha over there
to take into consideration,
so we'll try and be as quiet as possible.
LARRY: All right.
GABE: The euthanasia of Nyota here
is going to have a big impact on us
moving the animals up to their new exhibit.
So we're going to have to put the move on hold
for a little bit.
It's important that we keep the welfare
of the other giraffe in mind.
They're really going to feel the loss of Nyota from the herd.
♪ ♪
LIBBY: Beautiful giraffe, and she was always feisty,
happy, naughty giraffe when she was young.
So 28 years later, she died today, so, sorry.
NARRATOR: The effects of the last few days
will be felt throughout Taronga for a long time to come.
LARRY: Events like this
are always very hard for the vet team,
but particularly the keepers.
I mean, they spend a lot of time with these animals.
There will be a bit of grieving time for the other giraffe.
The giraffe team, of course.
They have to regroup
and just get that training happening again.
So a very sad day for them.
NARRATOR: But you can't have death without life.
And there are still more animals at Taronga to care for.
KEEPER: Is that sore to touch?
NARRATOR: As the African Savannah
sits waiting for the animals to move in,
the rest of the zoo will continue to move forward,
and although Taronga may have lost several animals this year,
they've gained a whole lot more.
There is the endangered black rhino
out at Taronga's Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.
BEN: We are the only institution in Australia
that's breeding black rhinos.
We're currently one of two institutions
that have had the most success
breeding this species in the world.
NARRATOR: And a few paddocks over,
some young giraffe calves are finding their way in the herd.
The baby bongo was a cause for great celebration,
shining a spotlight
on one of Taronga's many successful breeding programs
for endangered animals.
JIMMY: We are doing our best to increase their numbers.
Their numbers are really, really low in the wild.
So what we can do here is increase them,
increase the breeding program, start to disperse them,
get their genetics out there
and just create a bigger, bigger bongo population,
and that's what we're doing.
NARRATOR: And a whole host of baby primates
are adding critical numbers to declining species.
KIMBERLY: I have never seen them in the wild.
I would love to go and see them.
NARRATOR: Then there are the 1,400 wild animals
brought in by the public
that get rehabilitated at Taronga each year.
LARRY: We certainly have saved animals
that actually even look sicker than this,
so we'll definitely give it a go.
NARRATOR: Injured animals that are treated, cared for
and then released back into the wild...
all given a second chance by Taronga's vets and nurses.
KIMBERLY: There he goes.
Woo-hoo! Woo!
NARRATOR: There are species
that were once on the brink of extinction.
KEEPER: We don't have any of these
naturally breeding in the wild.
NARRATOR: Now back in the wild and thriving.
KEEPER: Look at him, he's so happy.
NARRATOR: And with a team
of dedicated pathologists and scientists,
they are leading a crusade
to bring a halt to animal smuggling.
PHOEBE: And what we're doing is developing a non-invasive test
that can tell you with 100% accuracy,
has that animal been bred in a captive environment
or has it been poached from the wild?
NARRATOR: But all this hasn't happened overnight.
It's been 100 years in the making.
STU: Being here at the zoo for over 70 years,
I think Esmerelda would have met more people
than any other animal here at the zoo.
NARRATOR: From the Wildlife Hospital
to saving lives in the wild...
KIMBERLY: It's just like a little human baby.
I'm making a huge mess with you, aren't I?
NARRATOR: ...they are much more than a zoo.
KIMBERLY: Hey, it's Kimberly.
I'm currently down in Bairnsdale, Victoria,
helping out with wildlife rescue groups.
Oh.
Yeah, it's, umm...
We're both actually usually quite stoic.
But we've been working such long hours
and so intensely with these patients
that we're exhausted.
We're exhausted.
We just have to remember that we're trying
to do the best that we can for these animals.
NARRATOR: And every single day
their staff show their commitment
to secure a shared future for wildlife and people.
Captioned by Side Door Media Services