"This is Taronga Zoo." "340 species and 3,400 animals call this land their home and it's here that over 120 keepers and vets dedicate their lives to keeping those animals healthy and thriving." "With innovative cameras... ..and unprecedented access..." "'Cause they're in the wild." "Oh, here we go, yep." "Yep, it's out." "It's a bit of a tear jerker, actually." "..explore the world of a zoo across the globe..." "There's no much time for the gorilla." "It will leave France tomorrow morning." "He won't come back." "It's a one-way trip." "It is a big journey." "..and experience it all from a whole new angle." "MAN:" "And then we've got five days at sea." "Tonight on Wild Life At The Zoo " "Chimps are capable of incredible violence." "Put your arm through a bar, they could just pull your arm right off and they could bite it off and they're also incapable of incredible tenderness and empathy with other chimps." "The most dangerous, intelligent and highly political animals at Taronga Zoo are on the move to a new sanctuary." "They don't cope well with change." "I think the boys will be absolutely scared out of their minds." "But it's an uphill battle for keepers to get them there." "As the move enters its most critical stage, a tragedy threatens to overwhelm this extraordinary event." "(Beeping alarm) MAN:" "Code one." "There's a chimp out." "£ Theme music" "Plans for the entire group of 18 chimpanzees to leave their current home for a new sanctuary ten times the size are well underway." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Hi, gorgeous boy." "With only days to go, the primate team has each part of the move expertly planned." "So what we're doing now is going to those final stages of preparation for the move and that's where we start to look at each individual chimpanzee, how we're going to move them to the exhibit," "plan their health check anaesthetisation process all the way down to our small infants and how we're going to get those guys to the exhibit as well so it's a lot of work but we're very excited." "This is actually where the chimpanzees have been living now for almost two years." "But we're hoping that we can move them all within about a week and a half." "Moving 18 chimps is a huge task and fraught with potential problems." "Each one will be separated, anaesthetised and then carried out by a couple of staff and laid on this stretcher wrapped up nice and tightly for security in the rope and then actually escorted into our VQC vehicle and taken up to the new facility." "The chimps will then be examined in their new night house." "So here is actually where the health checks will take place." "Each individual chimp will be looked after by a vet and a vet nurse and once that's completed, then they'll be transferred to the anaesthetic area." "The day that we start," "I think there'll be excitement from the chimps, probably also a little bit of nervousness from them." "I think there'll be a little bit of 'Wow, oh, my God, this is new, there's so many things to do here and we're so looking forward to exploring our new home'." "I think the boys will be absolutely scared out of their minds." "They don't cope well with change but the older females will be confident and they'll get out there and explore." "The new sanctuary has attracted the attention of international chimpanzee expert, Dr Jane Goodall, who's been studying wild chimpanzees in Africa for over 51 years." "This new enclosure here is definitely up with the very, very best." "I'm sure if I was a chimp, then I'd choose this rather than the very unpredictable situation in many wild places." "Everything here has been designed so the chimp community can thrive." "The really good things are the height of the climbing structures and platforms because chimpanzees in the wild spend a lot of time high up in the trees and so to be able to climb high and have a good view" "and feel the breeze in the hair and rest in the sunshine up on a high platform, that'll be very important for them." "The move can't happen quickly enough because tensions are rising in the chimps' current home." "In this group, there are three adult males." "Very often, zoo groups don't have more than one adult male and there are young males coming up and, you know, it'll be fascinating to see what happens 'cause there will be challenges, there will be changing of position" "that could lead to very serious aggression." "I'm absolutely sure that the chimpanzees know something's happening." "Senior keeper, Allan Schmidt, knows each chimp by sight and sound and he's come by to see if there's any signs of trouble." "Our chimpanzee group is a community and it's made up of six different families and there's a complex political social hierarchy amongst this community." "It's something that us as keepers have been observing for a long, long time." "And recently there's been an outbreak of violence amongst the males." "A move like this can unsettle the stability of the political situation." "So for instance, the first two that are going to go are going to be two of our adult males." "Currently, the alpha or senior male is 18-year-old Lubutu, the most powerful and potentially most dangerous." "Because of his personality, he's a fairly much, an easygoing guy." "He's very tolerant." "He's not overly assertive or aggressive and so that's basically how he has retained his position." "The alpha male pretty much dominates all individuals and so they keep the community together." "So that's their very important function." "Lubutu's made an alliance with a loner mate, 16-year-old Chimbuka who's had a tough time since he was orphaned 11 years ago." "He's had a hard life, you know." "Ever since he lost his maternal support, you know, he's had to struggle to maintain his position and make his way in the world." "Threatening to topple the Lubutu-Chimbuka alliance are the S Boys, two rampaging teenage brothers." "Shabani's very physically powerful and intimidating and the biggest thing that he has going for him is the fact that he has a ten-year-old brother." "Samaki is our ten-year-old male chimpanzee is right at that point where they're starting to realise that they have all this incredible physical power themselves." "Keepers believe the move could make things worse." "The S Boys are at the peak of their physical power." "Well, chimps are very much stronger than us." "A lot of people always say they're five to six times the strength of an average human male." "They are the most dangerous animals in a zoo." "Put your arm through a bar, they could just pull your arm right off." "They could bite it off." "Three days before the move, primate supervisor Lou arrives to find some of the keepers' worst fears realised." "This morning, there's been more violence amongst the group." "So his left foot, they sliced up pretty bad." "The zoo's senior vet, Larry Vogelnest, is called in to check the wounds." "They're all a little bit, I think, unsettled and as a result, that nervousness and that, I guess, unpredictable behaviour feeds on through the group and so everyone was pretty much having a go at everybody this morning." "The S Boys, Samaki and Shabani, have attacked the alpha male Lubutu and his supporters." "Most of them suffered some laceration of some sort." "Lubutu's primary ally, Chimbuka, can barely move after his attack." "So you've let them out, obviously." "No, there was just so much fighting." "Even Lubutu's 60-year-old arthritic grandma, Lulu, has been bashed." "They're all just at it at the moment..." "Time to get them out of here." "It's an indication that really we need to move them out of here into their new renovated facility where there's a lot more sort of room, a lot more opportunities for them to get away from each other" "and a lot more things for them to do, you know, distract them from having to take it out on each other." "With the males still causing havoc, primate supervisor Lou is doing what she can to calm them down before the move." "What I'm actually doing is getting the morning medications ready for the chimps and that includes for the boys they're on Serenace at the moment which is a relaxant." "Things are pretty tense in the group." "Shabani and Samaki are challenging status quo." "Chimps are genetically almost like us so as a result, we can use a lot of things like Celebrex which is a human medication used for arthritis and Serenace which is a relaxant that humans use as well and all these things we can use in managing the chimp group." "So the chimps are quite food-motivated and bread is, I guess, a favoured food and so it's quite easy for us to make up the medication in a little vegemite or honey or jam sandwich and hand it out to them so a good bit of bribery." "So this is for Lulu." "Lulu is the oldest member of our group." "She's almost 60 and she does have arthritis and she has a little trouble getting around so the Celebrex and the Cosequin work very effectively in helping her to do that so we just make her a nice little sandwich like that." "Lou administers the medicine in the night area where the males have been separated from each other into family groups." "Lulu?" "Lulu Belle." "Hi, Lulu Belle." "It's a very emotionally demanding time for all of us and a challenging time and I think there's probably stress levels in both the chimp group and the human population as well." "The S Boys get their medicine next." "I think it has more of an effect on Shabani than it does Samaki but we're hoping that it sort of helps take the edge off and it helps to keep them calm, a bit like, you know, humans take rescue remedy" "or Bach's Flower or something like that." "As keepers try to put a lid on the aggression in the chimps' temporary quarters, at their new night house, the team are putting the finishing touches on some new features." "The chimps will swing these tyres around." "Now to me that's pretty heavy." "Anyway, it's hard work to swing that around." "So they will swing that and that will bounce from one side of the room to the other so..." "Everything we do for the chimps, whether it's when we're creating the exhibit or when we're doing inside, it's not just about how it looks for everybody, it's about how functional it is for the animals." "So in the night dens, we've put lots of rope in lots of different directions to create a lot of complexity for the animals." "In the wild, they have lots of trees and lot lots of things to hang on to and move around, help them propel themselves." "Can't wait to see them, Richard, swinging on here." "This is going to be good having..." "Richard's going to have a test." "The chimps at night in the wild sleep up high, as high as they can so they'll sleep in here." "Obviously, again, we've made these strong enough to be able to hold the chimps but also whatever treatment they give it as well and testing." "We'll probably have to tweak a little bit but it'll be good for us to see what they actually use and what they don't use so this is just to get them started and the final stages." "It's so, it's so, so close." "At Taronga Zoo, it's a huge day." "After two years of planning, the chimp move is about to begin." "Senior vet Larry Vogelnest is taking no chances." "He's in charge of a 20 strong team who will anaesthetise the chimps one by one." "We can't just take them out of their enclosure and walk them across the zoo and there are so many reasons." "I mean, they're dangerous, obviously, they would be so scared in fact if we even tried to and of course a great risk to people so we have to have them fully unconscious." "In order to do that, we have to fire a little dart into them." "So the little gun we use, it's not a particularly complicated bit of equipment." "It just uses compressed CO2 to propel the dart." "This is a laser sight here on the pistol so that allows us to pretty much know where the dart's going to hit the animal and that's an advantage as well, obviously." "The other interesting thing sometimes that works is that the chimp will see the red dot on their skin and it distracts them momentarily and then when you're ready, just... boom." "Yeah, guys, we're just letting you know that we're about to commence the chimp move so all people involved have got to turn to channel three." "WOMAN:" "Thank you." "Of course, this is an opportunity for us to give them a full check over, vaccinate them, take blood samples." "You're doing Lubutu." "I'm doing Lubutu." "Yep." "You know what he means to me, don't you, Frances?" "Yep." "Alright." "After his attack from the two teenage brothers," "Lubutu will be moved first to help him maintain his alpha position." "As much as we possibly can, we want to facilitate Lubutu's position at the top of, you know, the coalition of males so by taking him first, we basically are giving him the most time to get comfortable and gain confidence in the new area." "In an ideal world, I'd like to see them all move back nicely and, you know, Lubutu remains the alpha male and continues to lead that community." "I've picked up the gun, feeling a little bit nervous as always whenever we have to dart a chimp so Lubutu's in the far den and what I'm going to do is just go over towards him quietly." "I'll keep the gun by my side to begin with, hoping that he's not going to see it." "He's up at the back of the den and he's seen me and he knows straightaway what's happening." "I've got to wait until he settles a bit so that I can get a clean shot." "The anaesthetic on the dart is designed to knock Lubutu out for at least 45 minutes so he can be moved to the new sanctuary." "So I'm going to take this shot and that dart's gone in but he's pulled it out straightaway so he's flicked it out onto the floor and I can't really see whether it's gone off or not." "I really need to know." "I know that I've hit him fair and square." "That's..." "He's throwing paper on it now as well so I really can't see." "It's really hard to see." "Yeah." "Like, I got him in the leg but then the dart's come out straightaway, covered in paper and it's too far away to see if it's gone off or not." "Lubutu's drowsy but he's not fully sedated." "Frances will have to give him another dart." "The reason we're using this drug combination is because we can give them a little injection at the end of the procedure that will wake them up and which is what we want because we want to get them integrated back with the other chimps as soon as possible." "There is certainly potential for things to go wrong." "Probably the thing that worries us more than anything else is the chimp waking up." "The chances I think of them actually being able to wake up so much and stay awake enough to be dangerous is extremely low." "Nevertheless, to have a chimp suddenly sit up and then fall asleep again is, it'll be a terrible thing." "Thankfully it hasn't happened to me but there is potential for that." "Yeah, he's been affected by it." "There's a possibility a chimp could die." "Animals can die under anaesthesia for various reasons." "Keepers believe it's now safe to enter the den." "After 15 minutes, Lubutu's fallen unconscious but there's still a chance he could wake at any moment and powered by a surge of adrenaline, become extremely dangerous." "Shannon, can you just head up to six for me and just give him a hand when Lubutu gets there just for lifting." "An adult male has five to six times the strength of a human." "As a precaution against his waking," "Lubutu's arms and legs are manacled to the stretcher." "He's also covered with a thick net for the 300m journey across the zoo to his new home." "The VQC van's on its way back." "So we've just got Lubutu into the chimp house now." "We're going to put him onto the table here and then the first thing I'm going to do is get him stabilised on the machine." "And so as part of his routine health examination, we do a suite of tests which includes getting blood and we look at a variety of different things in the blood and he'll also have a skin test as part of a standard screening process for TB" "and we also do a thorough physical exam just to assess his general health." "So far, so good." "The move's going to schedule." "Back at the chimps' temporary home," "Lubutu's number one male ally is next to be darted." "So Chimbuka's one of the big males as well in the group." "He seems to have copped a lot of flak from some of the other males and we have been a little bit concerned about his health actually so all the others are going to get a thorough check-up but we're going to actually take him to the hospital" "and take some X-rays and things like that and just make sure that everything's OK." "Guys, are we ready to go?" "What I'm going to do now is just wait until Chimbuka's in a good position for darting." "It's really important to try and get them in a good muscle group either in the upper arm or in their thigh." "It takes ten minutes for Chimbuka to fall unconscious." "That time period from knocking them out, moving them to the van, while they're in the van, getting them to the table where we're doing the procedure in the chimp house is the riskier part of the procedure." "Chimbuka's being moved now to avoid further violence amongst the group." "We wanted Chimbuka to go because we want Chimbuka and Lubutu to have more time to build on their relationship." "You know, basically reinforce their bond and so, you know, sort of be prepared for the arrival of the other two males." "Although Chimbuka was relatively compliant," "Larry can't be precisely sure how much anaesthetic the dart released so Chimbuka's closely monitored on his journey to the vet hospital." "MAN:" "One, two, three." "Put him on some oxygen to start with on the side." "While Chimbuka's being prepared to go under his general anaesthetic, at the new chimp house, Lubutu's health check is going well." "Lubutu looks pretty good." "I'll give him an injection that's a reversal agent and what that is going to do is to counteract the anaesthetic drug that I've given him earlier in the dart so I would expect within the next 15 or 20 minutes" "that he's going to start coming around and often they come around quite quickly." "When Lubutu wakes, his grandmother will be there to reassure him through those anxious first hours." "60-year-old Lulu is simply too old to be anaesthetised so she'll be the only one put in a crate and lifted fully conscious to the new sanctuary by forklift." "So that's ready for Lulu now to go into." "MAN:" "Lulu Belle!" "Hey, Louise, we're going to be ready to move Lulu in about five or ten minutes." "She's a very sweet older lady, very pleasant and gentle most of the time so she's our sweetheart." "Good girl." "Alright, she's coming out." "Out you go, sweetie." "WOMAN:" "Good girl, Lulu." "Lulu's the only chimp here who was once raised as a pet." "Good girl." "She's very comfortable with humans and needs no prompting to find her way down to the crate." "Come on, Lulu Belle." "Lulu had an incredible life history." "Wild caught, hand raised, moved around to different roadside circuses or roadside zoos, ended up in a zoo in the United States when of course she became unmanageable which is pretty much the norm for chimpanzees that are hand raised in households." "Come on, sweetheart." "Come on, sweetheart." "Come on." "Going as fast as she can." "Good girl." "Come on, come on." "She loves it, you know." "We just opened the slides for her and 'cause she knows there's something happening and she knows that we need for her to go in the crate, she's very obliging." "She knows we're going to look after her and she knows that her family will be there soon." "Yeah, she's right to go." "She's not like the others." "She's got varied life experience so that comes into play here." "She's not as nervous, she's happy to get in there and do what we need her to do." "At the vet hospital, Larry's about to check over Chimbuka, the chimp who's being bullied by the teenage males." "So, Ash, just record his left upper canine tooth is just the tip of it's chipped but apart from that, his teeth are good." "Oh, settle down." "But Chimbuka's resisting Larry's attempts to insert a tube to assist his respiration while under anaesthetic." "Just get him on some..." "So putting him on two per cent iso." "That's alright." "Just um..." "OK, everyone out." "Get out." "Code one." "There's a chimp out." "Gemma, where's the darting gear?" "The emergency's occurring at B2C in the treatment room." "With Chimbuka off the operating table and unrestrained, the zoo goes on its highest level of emergency." "RADIO:" "So we have a code one in the room of the..." "Al!" "Al!" "Code one!" "Richard and Allan have to secure the chimps and rush the darting gear to the vet hospital." "(Beeping alarm)" "Although they practice for it, only a few people here have been through a code one before." "All visitors are evacuated to safe indoor areas as the emergency team descend on the zoo hospital." "He's woken up." "RADIO:" "We have a code one in progress at B2C." "Just repeating, a code one in progress at B2C." "All involved, please turn to channel three." "Where's Larry want this stuff, stunning gear?" "Yeah, go around." "OK." "(Beeping alarm continues)" "Oh, well, they were basically taking him off the stretcher to put him on the gas, you know, on the operating table and he's just basically got up." "He went deep when he was down at the orang house and maybe now the drug's worked its way through his system and he's just come a bit light but now he's gone deep again so it'll just be a matter of Larry darting him again" "to give him a top up and then we'll put him on the gas and then he'll be stabilised on that." "Get the pistol out." "I'm worried about him in the position that he is now because he's lying on his back with his head lying back so..." "I'd rather him being in the recovery position but, like, Larry's just getting ready now." "OK and quiet." "Shh." "Chimbuka's darted at nearly point-blank range." "OK, so let's get him on the table, guys." "So one person on each foot if possible." "WOMAN:" "Let's get him up over the tables and then..." "OK." "Yep." "We're good." "Yep." "MAN:" "Ready to go?" "Yep, he's safe." "WOMAN ON RADIO: 241 requires confirmation that you don't feel there's a threat to visitors at this point?" "WOMAN ON RADIO :" "Switch no there's no threat to visitors." "Copy that, thank you." "OK, let's have a look." "OK, so..." "Wow." "Wasn't that fun?" "My God, I've never ever had that happen, ever." "OK, can I have a light on a stick?" "It's a very large lymph node." "As Chimbuka's health check resumes, it soon becomes clear that he is seriously ill." "Well, I think the main concern is that it looks like he's got multiple infections and it's not just sort of wounds and that, it's a much deeper infection, I'd suspect, simply because he's got enlarged lymph nodes," "his tonsils have got little abscesses on them." "He's got enlarged lymph nodes around his groin as well and so, you know, I just think that all indicates that he's got a more systemic problem." "You know, a deeper infection." "So he's lost quite a lot of condition, actually." "He's 48.1 and that's really low." "He should be around the 60-kilo mark." "In fact, at the last anaesthetic, he was 62kg." "So, I suppose in him particularly if he's being picked on, because he's unwell, it does probably add to him not being able to fight off the infection so it's probably suppressing his immune system." "Well, let's get some X-rays." "The prognosis for Chimbuka is not good." "Until his test results are known, he'll be put on antibiotics and taken to the new chimp house to wake from the anaesthetic." "So then I'll just grab one side." "We'll just, you don't go in." "The key now is to continue keeping him on a course of medication and he is usually quite good with taking medication but we're going to have to make sure he gets it." "Next time, the fate of the chimp community hangs in the balance." "We've got the two teenage boys." "They're very powerful so together, they're very scary and very dangerous." "As vets fight to save Chimbuka's life," "Lubutu and the S boys battle it out to determine who's boss." "This won't stop until he's satisfied." "And as open warfare breaks out within the chimp community..." "Who's going after who?" "..the door opens on their new life." "Closed Captions by CSI - Jacqui M" "NARRATOR:" "Last time on Wild Life At The Zoo..." "Keepers began moving 18 chimps from their old quarters to a new state-of-the-art sanctuary." "Lubutu the alpha male was first to be moved." "You know what he means to me, don't you, Frances?" "He was darted, (Shrieks) anaesthetized and transported to the sanctuary where he was given a health check." "I'm happy with him." "But things didn't go well for the next chimp moved - 16-year-old Chimbuka." "OK, everyone out." "Get out." "Code one - there's a chimp out." "(Siren blares)" "OK, get the pistol out." "Emergency crews descended on the vet clinic to re-dart and anaesthetize Chimbuka." "Yep, he's safe." "We're good." "Yep." "Wow, wasn't that fun?" "When his examination resumed, Chimbuka was found to be gravely ill." "He's gotten multiple infections and it's not just wounds and that - he's got enlarged lymph nodes, his tonsils have got little abscesses on them." "Tonight, vets battle to save Chimbuka's life and keepers attempt to capture 16 chimps including two juveniles." "They're just so fast and so strong and they could easily take fingers off." "The move triggers a violent power struggle amongst the males as Lubutu's leadership role is threatened." "This won't stop until he's satisfied." "And the first door opens on the chimps' new life." "Yeah, we're good to go." "£ Theme music" "After he woke up under anaesthetic, 16-year-old Chimbuka is being successfully stabilized by an emergency team of keepers and vets." "OK." "Let's have a look." "My God, I've never ever had that happen." "We've chosen to use a particular combination of drugs for these chimps so that we can actually wake them up after the procedure but one of the recognized concerns with this drug combination is that when they're stimulated," "they can suddenly rouse and appear to be awake." "OK, everyone out." "I was comfortable that even when I saw him sit up that we weren't likely to end up with a really bad situation." "I never felt that we were really going to end up with a chimp running around and causing havoc." "As the examination resumes, vet Larry Vogelnest discovers" "Chimbuka has been suffering from a serious infection." "Yeah I think it's going to be a struggle to get him healthy again, so we're just starting him on a course of antibiotics." "Obviously he's got lots of infections everywhere, and I've just given him also some pain relief as well, because he's probably a bit sore after this and it'll hopefully make him feel a bit better as well." "Some of Chimbuka's wounds were caused by recent attacks by other chimps." "If he's being picked on because he's unwell, it does probably add to him not being able to fight off the infections, so it's probably suppressing his immune system." "Let's get some X-rays." "The exact cause of Chimbuka's illness won't be known until his X-rays and blood tests are analysed." "Have we got oxygen and iso going?" "The key now is to continue keeping him on a course of medication." "If he doesn't get a really good course of treatment, he's just going to deteriorate." "We completed his examination and we've taken him back to the chimp house so we're going to continue with the others." "Across the zoo at the old quarters there are still 15 chimps to be darted and removed under anaesthetic and one that won't be - 60-year-old Lulu." "Good girl." "She's simply too old to be anaesthetized." "Come on, Lulu belle." "So Lulu will be transported fully awake to the new sanctuary in a crate." "She ran down as fast as she could." "She's a very sweet older lady - very pleasant and gentle most of the time, so she's our sweetheart." "She's not like the others." "She's got varied life experience, so that comes into play here." "She's not as nervous." "She's happy to get in there and do what we need her to do." "WOMAN:" "Good girl!" "Lulu's the only chimp here who was once raised as a pet, so she responds well to humans." "WOMAN:" "Wow!" "It's alright, girl." "MAN:" "Sweetie, sweetie." "It's alright, Lulu." "Her early life as a circus performer, allows her to cope well with the strange noises she encounters during the move." "WOMAN:" "Good girl." "Come on." "RICHARD:" "Lulu's bared her teeth a little bit and a little bit of vocalization so she's excited about what's happening, she's a little bit intrigued and thinking - where am I going?" "What's going on?" "But overall she's happy to be going on some adventure as long as we're looking after her well." "Lulu's in the van so we're just leaving now." "It's a short 300 metre journey to the chimps' new home but before Lulu and the other chimps can enjoy the wide open spaces here, they'll experience the new night house at the rear of the facility." "Lulu travelled very well." "She was quite intrigued in the back of the van - very curious as to where she was going." "She was actually standing up in her crate trying to look out of the back of the window to see everything outside so she travelled very well, very comfortably." "Welcome home." "Hey, sweetie." "Thankfully she's lived to see the day where she comes to her newly refurbished home and can live her days out here happily and comfortably." "She's clear." "To keep Lulu happy and for us to know that she's still comfortable, we give her some food and we give her some water and if she's taking that, that's a great sign for us." "It's unsafe to submit Lulu to a full health check under anaesthetic, but vets are confident she's showing no signs of ill health." "Not so Chimbuka." "The sick chimp's test results are back." "We took some samples from his lymph nodes and there were some bacteria there very much like a TB infection and in fact now just looking at his X-rays here, we can see that this side of his chest here" "is much denser than that side so there's a lot of air in that side and not so much air in this side and this should be consistent with a pretty severe pneumonia." "The news is far worse than anyone expected." "The best option probably is to go ahead and euthanize him, for two reasons..." "Firstly, he's a very very sick animal and the options for treating an animal like this for TB is extremely difficult." "The other thing is of course he's a potential source of infection for other animals and we don't want to take that risk." "Chimbuka is euthanized the next morning." "News of his death hits keepers hard." "We put so much emotional effort into these guys, you know." "We love these guys... ..and the greatest thing about being a great ape keeper is that they all have their own personalities and so we can form individual relationships with different chimpanzees." "And I was basically here when his mother died - probably the saddest day of my career." "As a five-year-old he woke up and his mother wasn't here anymore." "I was here when his grandmother died and I was here when he died and that's the end of a family line so, yeah, it was not a good day." "TB is a contagious respiratory disease that if left untreated can be fatal." "Vets now have real concerns for the health of the other chimps and themselves." "It's certainly a challenge - it's a difficult one to have to face a situation like this." "We have no idea if other animals are infected and things like that." "We will be taking further precautions to protect ourselves, wearing special masks, so for the remaining procedures and we'll implement suitable infection control measures as we learn more about what's going on." "The move resumes at full pace." "The longer the remaining 15 chimps are in pens ready to go, the more anxious they may become." "Gem, we'll put her on gas in the van, OK?" "Just letting you know that Lisa's on her way." "One by one each chimp is separated, darted," "anaesthetized, and transported manacled and netted to the new sanctuary." "RICHARD:" "Just letting you know" "Sasha's getting loaded into the van now." "WOMAN:" "Thanks, Rich." "Shiba's in the van on her way." "Then in the back of house area, each of the 12 chimps is given a full vet check." "I'm happy with him." "So far none of the chimps are showing symptoms of TB." "So get him off the table and get him secured and so on." "Still to be moved are two rebellious teenage males and the infants Sembe and Suley." "They'll be the first to go." "Suley would definitely be the most popular of our chimps." "He's a very cheeky, adorable little man." "I mean you can't help but fall in love with those big brown eyes." "Sembe's our slightly older infant." "We sometimes see Sembe be a little bit naughty and cheeky and obnoxious to Suley and where he's nice and playful and interactive and positive" "I think Sembe at times can be a little bit obnoxious." "Keepers are hoping the infants are also free of infection." "They represent the future of the community." "In about four years they'll be ready to breed." "Suley's too small to be darted by gun." "We need to go in with him and hand inject him." "The young chimps, even at an early age are very strong and very agile." "They could possibly bite you or something but it's just the strength of having to hold them still enough for us to be able to inject them." "We don't like to dart them, because that is potentially dangerous for them." "They could break a bone or something like that so we're trying to use a method that poses the least risk to the animal." "There's only one way to catch Suley, the youngest chimp in the group." "This is the net that we're going to use to net Suley and the drop bag here is very long, so where we have him as far away from our hands as possible so when we've netted him on the ground and we twist the net off," "by doing that you're blocking off the entrance." "That's when we go and put the towel over him and then pin him to the ground and the vets will just find a leg and they'll just inject through the holes." "Suley's been separated from his mother and waits alone in a den." "(Screeching)" "Obviously all this is fairly traumatic." "He's pounding up and down on the bench and he's all hackled up and he's showing us who's boss - all 8 kilos of him." "(Screeches louder)" "Allan is able to corner Suley, then net him but he can't hold the three-year-old down by himself, and calls for help." "Come in - through that way." "Once Richard came in, we were able to pin him down and once both of us pinned him down, it was a matter of seconds before the vet could inject him." "After his injection, it takes a few minutes for Suley to fall unconscious." "Just letting you know Suley's just being loaded to the van." "He's a lot stronger than he was two years ago." "The netting was easy... but just holding him down..." "I just couldn't do it." "Next to be moved and given a health check is three and a half-year-old female, Sembe." "So as a result of how strong Suley turned out to be today," "Richard will go in and he'll net Sembe and he's got to do it in under 45 seconds to beat my record." "(Laughter)" "Then I'll go in with him and the two of us will pin her down so the vet can come and inject." "(Screeching)" "She's smart." "Although Sembe is netted quickly, she puts up a bigger fight." "Towel!" "It takes just as long for the team to hold her down and inject the drugs." "Richard and Lou Grossfeldt..." "Just letting you know that Sembe's in the van and she's on her way." "Keepers are hopeful the infants will also come through their health checks well." "Get him on some oxygen to start with on his side." "So far Sembe appears to be in perfect health." "Ash, if you can start getting a heart rate..." "As the infants' blood tests are sent for analysis, only two chimps remain at the old home, and these ambitious teenage brothers, the S boys, threaten the existing order of the community." "Just letting you know" " Samaki and Shabani have been separated." "So we've got the two teenage boys, the scary ones, particularly Shabani and he's quite a big powerful animal." "Those two are heavy for us as well." "We've got to manage them as well." "Samaki, even being the younger one, is quite big." "He's a big boy and the adult females can be very scared of him if he wants them to be." "So we're just extra-vigilant with those two." "Yep, den one." "But Samaki surprises keepers." "Despite his strength, he offers little resistance and actually presents his back to vet Frances for easy darting." "I think he just wanted me to hurry up and get it over and done with." "Like his teenage brother, Shabani presents no problems." "He just sat on the shelf and just pointed and went like this." "It was amazing." "But it's nice to have reached the last one." "It's been a big week." "Last one, Mr Schmidt." "Yeah." "Allan, Michael Shields." "ON RADIO:" "Go ahead." "Just like to know that Shabani has left the building so it's now officially yours." "The chimp move is all over." "It's stretched a team of 20 keepers and vets almost to the limit, transporting the whole chimp community to the new night house." "Four days, moved the whole group in." "I would never have believed we could do that at the beginning of the week but pretty amazing I think. (Laughs)" "The aim is to get the chimps into the outdoor sanctuary as soon as possible, but this won't happen 'til the results of their health checks are known." "Shabani's still being worked on now, getting his full health check." "At 16 years old, Shabani is at the peak of his physical power and he appears to be in excellent health." "WOMAN:" "So, Ash, just pass me the blood tubes when..." "Shabani's blood is the last to be sent to the vet hospital for analysis." "With all the chimps now in the night dens," "Larry receives the results of their medical tests." "So we've examined all the rest of the chimps now and all the results show that none of the other animals are actively infected." "As a precaution we're going to put all the others on treatment though." "We just want to be sure, absolutely sure that we're not going to get any further surprises, so we're working on a plan to start them on treatment." "While the chimps are recovering in small pens, the keepers prepare the large communal areas of the night house where they will soon meet as a group." "So we've got some shredded paper here." "These guys get nesting material or bedding material every night." "We give them lots of shredded paper." "As in the wild, they do use large trees and branches to fold down to make a nest and a bed for themselves high up in the trees, so we give them something soft to try and replicate that" "for them to sleep on and they really do love it." "Keepers are doing everything they can to make the chimps comfortable, because they're expecting trouble from the males." "Chimbuka's death has changed the balance of power." "Currently, Lubutu the alpha male leads the community." "He's known to be fair, kind to females and infants and up 'til now has retained his power with Chimbuka's support." "Looking to overthrow him is the S family." "The rebellious teenagers Shabani and Samaki have a young sister Sembe and they are all supported by their fiercely protective mother Shiba." "In the past, Shiba killed a rival's baby to make a point." "Tomorrow in the night house for the first time," "Lubutu will face the S boys without Chimbuka's support." "We'll basically set it up." "We'll make it really interesting." "We'll put lots of treats and stuff like that and we'll just give them the whole circuit - everything." "There might be a bit of screaming and carrying on, a bit of chasing around but it'll probably die down quite quickly." "They're males so that's what happens." "Males get a bit agitated over everything - rain falling from the sky, a leaf falling down!" "(Laughs)" "The next morning, Lubutu and the S boys are about to be reunited in the new night house but when Allan arrives, he finds the entire community in uproar." "We try not to interfere with these sort of interactions and introductions 'cause we need to have the chimps resolve their own problems." "We have absolutely minimal control of the environment outside so it makes a lot more sense to have it in here if we did need to actually intervene." "The S boys and their sister Sembe and mum Shiba have already been put together in one wing." "Alpha male Lubutu and the other 12 chimps are waiting to join them from a nearby raceway." "For the first time since Chimbuka died," "Lubutu and the S boys are going to sort out who's boss." "Keepers are expecting conflict." "(Screeching)" "Tensions explode as the rivals attack each other." "Shabani tries to swing past Lubutu." "But Lubutu chases him down the platform, and pushes him off." "Lubutu's running this." "At the moment Lubutu's 100% on top and this won't stop until he's satisfied." "As Lubutu attacks the S boys, the females go after Shiba as she tries to protect her daughter Sembe." "Baby Sembe is pulled down by a female and struck on the head before mother Shiba can rescue her." "The thing is, you see this happen and what happens is that the juvenile males are all pumped up with all this excitement, so the adult male goes through, hammers somebody, they're all scared and then these juveniles take the opportunity to come" "and just sneak in a bite or a kick or whatever, and then that just keeps it all going." "As the violence reaches a crescendo, keepers prepare to intervene." "If we feel that an individual is in dire need, they're basically getting their arm ripped off or if an infant is actually getting injured, then we would try to separate individuals using either fire hoses or CO2 extinguishers - stuff like that." "After 20 minutes, the mood calms." "Put the hose away again for the moment." "Huh?" "Put the hose away again for the moment." "Start taking notes..." "The right shoulder, left eye, above and below left eye." "Shabani has multiple wounds." "He has bites to his toes, on his back, on his shoulder but this is nothing for him." "He'll shrug this off in no time at all." "All starting to calm down now." "They're starting to make their appeasement, reconciliation." "The death of Chimbuka has been felt by all the chimps." "It was more intense than I expected it to be and I think that was because" "Lubutu realized that he didn't have Chimbuka." "I think if Chimbuka had been here" "I think there would've been a lot less intensity." "The S boys' attempt to takeover has failed for now." "The next day begins much like any other at Taronga Zoo." "But at the chimp sanctuary, history is about to be made." "For the first time the 17 chimps will explore their new outdoor home." "This is probably the part that I've been looking forward to - seeing the chimps come out and seeing their expression and their vocalizations and just seeing how they respond." "In the kitchen, Allan prepares delicacies to tempt the chimps to every corner of the sanctuary." "I look around now and I can't wait to see them come out that door for the very first time and look around and it'll be interesting to see the males really..." "I think they'll look outside, hug each other in fear, with their teeth bared and holding on tightly to each other and I hope the females push them out of the way and get out there and really start having a look around." "This once-in-a-lifetime event has drawn keepers, vets and staff from all over the zoo." "Yeah, we're good to go." "The first at the door is a female." "WOMAN:" "There's Lubutu our alpha male and the most handsomest chimp in the world." "And there we have Lulu." "Go, you old girl!" "Oh, my God." "Look at the looks on their faces." "I'm not seeing any fear grins." "This is really interesting More just curious." "Very." "(Excited howls)" "Oh, my God." "Look at Samaki's face!" "Samaki's not quite sure what to do." "Lulu's going to keep going." "That's two..." "OK, Samaki's gone." "The normally rebellious Shabani is one of the most cautious." "Look, Shabani still hasn't ventured out." "I think she's been through a lot over the sort of past few months." "There's been a lot of social changes in the group." "Lulu's just taking it in her stride." "So Shikamu's the only chimp that's shown a fear grin." "The last ones." "And Camilee just simply hasn't gone out." "Oh.. she's asking for some support there." "It seems Shabani's happy to help her out." "And look at him still sitting there." "It's taken five years of planning to get the chimps here but for primate supervisor, Lou, it's a bittersweet moment." "18 chimps left the old quarters but only 17 arrived." "I'd love to ask them," "'How do you feel being back here without Chimbuka?" "'" "And I'm wondering if a part of why they are so calm is maybe that they're realizing..." "'There is only 17 of us here." "I wonder what happened to him.'" "So while it's so exciting," "I can't help but feel a little flat as well and would've loved to have seen him be here to share the journey." "Sasha's done nothing but eat that watermelon." "Yeah." "The whole time. (Laughs)" "There's room at the sanctuary for the chimp population to grow comfortably in the next few years." "Everything here is intended to replicate life in the wild, including a new fenced off area." "We've taken on the concept of a separation paddock so this actually enables us to separate individuals off during times of social tension and that's a real important strategy for chimpanzee management because in the wild chimpanzees that encounter aggression" "or there's tension in the group at different times, they will actually separate off and move away and that's what this separation paddock will do." "This area also allows the chimps to study the human species with whom they share 98% of their DNA." "(All laugh)" "I love how they're testing everything - making sure it's all good." "Back in the main paddock, the chimps are settling in and for now it seems" "Lubutu is holding onto his alpha male position and leadership." "So it's been interesting for Lubutu the last few days to see this newfound burst of confidence and energy and for him to really take control of this community." "And I wasn't quite expecting him to be so bold." "I do believe that deep down, he's a nice man and he's a good leader for our group but certainly the Samaki/Shabani combination is a strong powerful one and it'll be interesting to watch over the next few months how that plays out" "and so let's hope that they work it out nicely maybe over a piece of fruit or something." "Next time on Wild Life At The Zoo..." "One minute he's fine and the next minute he could definitely injure her, if not kill her." "A tumultuous relationship leads to a miraculous birth at the zoo." "He's beautiful." "And a koala must take a 13-hour flight to start his new family." "He won't come back." "It's a one-way trip." "Closed Captions by CSI" "NARRATOR:" "Tonight on Wildlife At The Zoo..." "One minute he's fine and the next he could definitely injure her, if not kill her." "A tumultuous relationship leads to a miraculous birth of one of the world's rarest species." "Aren't you just beautiful?" "And an iconic Australian is facing a 14-hour flight to start his new family in LA." "MAN:" "He won't come back." "It's a one-way trip." "But keepers don't know what kind of reception he'll receive." "The females that he will be approaching over there, they are a little bit more boisterous than the girls that we've got here." "They'll certainly let him know that with a little bit of a swipe to the face or a bite on the cheek." "£ Theme music" "Taronga Zoo is home to a wide range of endangered species." "To make sure they stay genetically healthy, the zoo participates in global conservation breeding programs." "And with only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, the zoo is committed to breeding their two tigers, Jamilla and Satu." "But it's been a tumultuous union so far." "Satu came all the way from Germany to be specifically matched with Jamilla." "So it's a bit like an online dating system for captive animals." "Genetically they're matched and the best match for Jamilla at that particular time was Satu." "Satu's beautiful with us but with Jamilla he's a bit unpredictable so when we do introduce him to her, we have to be very careful." "Jamilla's an absolutely beautiful cat." "She was born here in 2003 so we've seen her grow from a tiny little cub to what she is today." "She's very easy-going with us, she's very trustworthy, very friendly, she chats to us constantly." "She's just a pleasure to work with." "Jamilla and Satu share the outdoor area but never at the same time, for good reason." "So at the moment we've got Jamilla out on exhibit on her own and the reason being is because as she comes out of season, one minute he's fine and the next minute his whole look changes and he pretty much wants to attack her." "So because of his unpredictable nature, leaving them together for 24 hours, it could be disastrous." "He could definitely injure her, if not kill her." "And when tigers fight, it is terrifying, it happens very quickly and honestly if he was to get his canines into her neck, it would be over very, very quickly." "Over the past years, keepers have tried to mate the warring couple under controlled conditions in the night dens, without success." "Satu." "Sometimes Satu simply wasn't interested." "Satu, here you are." "Or he didn't know what to do." "Come on." "Good girl now." "Or when he was interested, he was too aggressive." "It's OK, it's OK." "You're OK." "It's alright." "She's just, she's getting scared." "She is getting scared." "It's OK, baby." "Two years ago, after 200 attempts," "Jamilla finally fell pregnant but sadly the cub was stillborn." "Come on." "With Sumatran tigers listed as critically endangered, it's essential the team keep trying despite the potential for violence." "If we can add some more little cubs to the worldwide population of Sumatran tigers, that would be incredible." "You're a good little girl." "Are you going to have little cubs for us?" "Do you think?" "Do you want to have some cubs?" "OK." "Today Jamilla is in season and Satu is being introduced to her once again." "Alright." "So we've got Jamilla in here and we've got Satu ready to go here as well." "Hey, you like Mr Satu, don't you, hey?" "It's just a pity he doesn't like you as much." "She's in oestrous or season." "She's been calling, he's been calling, showing all the right signs so we're ready to go." "A bit nerve-racking." "Oh, really?" "With Satu he's a bit unpredictable, so we need to be ready to protect Jamilla at all costs so if he had her in a throat hold, they usually take notice of our voices first but then if that didn't work," "we would have to use the hose to try and break them apart." "Good girl!" "OK, we're ready now." "So far so good." "Jamilla's in the right position and Satu seems interested." "An animal with no problems breeding at Taronga is this male koala who today is being prepared for a long journey." "This is Hunter." "He's our primary breeding male and because he's been our primary breeding male at Taronga for around about four years, his genes are quite well represented now." "He's certainly Taronga's stud koala." "You know, he's got around about nine offspring, some at Taronga and some throughout other zoos in Australia but now he's going to serve a really good breeding purpose at LA Zoo." "Hunter goes to America under a special ambassadorial agreement, that means he and his offspring will always remain Australian." "He's a very calm animal and one that used to actually reside in our large koala walkabout where we do keeper talks each day and he was the one animal that would always come down when the keepers would go in to do the keeper talk" "and certainly didn't have any defensive or aggressive traits towards people." "We've got Arthur in front of us here now and Arthur is actually Hunter's first joey." "There's something special about Hunter's offspring as well." "It's fantastic to know that you've got an animal that is quite comfortable around people and that's one major characteristic that we've seen with most of Hunter's offspring is that they are quite relaxed animals." "But Hunter's laid-back nature may cause him grief in Los Angeles." "The females that he will be approaching over there, they are a little bit more boisterous than the girls that we've got here." "So there's every chance that if he happens to be a little bit more interested than they are, they'll certainly let him know that with a little bit of a swipe to the face or a bite on the cheek." "However because he certainly knows how to woo a female koala, we're pretty confident that he should be right over there." "But it won't be as easy as he's had it here." "It's been eight weeks since the tigers' last attempt at mating and finally keepers have the news they've been hoping for." "Jamilla is pregnant." "It's a bit of a miracle to us because it did take a long while for this to happen." "With all the obstacles that we've had, there's been a couple of years worth of perseverance by the keepers to try and get these two to breed so it's been a lot of hard work so we'll keep our fingers crossed." "Eight weeks into a 14.5-week pregnancy," "Jamilla has only just begun to show." "Once they're pregnant, we just start seeing a little bit of a swelling in her belly but I would guess that from most people looking at her today, they probably don't even know." "They probably just think she's a normal, healthy looking slightly rounded tiger, but for us she's bulging." "Keepers want to do their best to help Jamilla avoid another stillborn cub." "They're reviewing the footage of that tragic event two years ago." "So once we actually had this pregnancy we were so excited and then yeah, to have a stillborn cub is just devastating." "She did her best, didn't she?" "Mm." "The stillborn cub weighed a massive 1.3 kilos and took over seven hours to deliver." "We've still got the worry that we don't know exactly why she had this difficult birth so this time around we've actually got a plan in place so that if she has difficulties within the first three hours" "from the time we see contractions, then we've got an emergency plan with the vets to actually take action." "Keepers and vets will dart Jamilla and rush her to the vet hospital for an emergency Caesarean." "A single cub of the size that this particular male cub was, hopefully that's the only reason that she couldn't give birth to him." "Just the fact that he got so much nutrition being the only cub so fingers crossed that's all it is 'cause otherwise we... ..we could have another..." "Mm." "..devastating birth." "Hopefully not." "In just a few hours, Hunter will be flying from Sydney to LA." "He'll be travelling securely in the cargo hold." "This here is the crate that Hunter will be travelling in on the aircraft." "So it is a 14-hour flight." "We have to make sure that he's equipped with enough food and so that little white holder there is for us to sit the eucalyptus leaves in and a little false bottom on the tray here, so that it'll actually capture any urine and faeces" "and then he's got this little fork here with at least two choices to sit on so that he can actually sleep throughout the flight." "On the sides of the crate, we've actually closed it in with some hessian just so that he doesn't get stressed on the flight." "Male koalas can go into a state of shock when they experience significant environmental changes." "What we know is that the quieter we can keep the environment and the darker we can keep it, the animals generally stay quite relaxed." "We've got a 1:50 flight." "I'll actually be travelling with him." "He will be travelling down in the hold though and so throughout the entire flight" "I actually won't be able to gain access to him." "In five hours, he will be taken to the freight terminal where he'll encounter noise and stress." "It's very early on a Saturday morning at Taronga Zoo." "Keepers have rushed from home to the tigers' night dens." "How are they going?" "Yeah, good." "Jamilla's given birth to a cub." "See the little cub there?" "Oh, look at him!" "He's very, he moves around well." "Yeah." "He or she's looking very, very strong." "So this morning I actually had to wake up to let my dog out to the toilet and I just instinctively thought I'm just going to check the camera." "I don't know why, I just felt like doing it, it was the middle of the night and I just jumped on the laptop and looked at the surveillance and she was looking a bit restless and was just doing a few early," "early behaviours and it made me want to look and spend a bit more time watching and so basically it just progressed from there, and a few contractions later I was on the phone and here we are!" "He looks, he or she looks fantastic at the moment." "So he's actually crawling and at the moment seems very strong, wants to suckle which is a great sign for us so that little cub is doing really well." "What's different from the last birth is that by this stage we hadn't even seen a cub at this point so we were starting to get worried for her safety." "So in this particular case, it's great because she's produced a cub already and she's showing great signs at the moment." "She's grooming the cub and everything so it's just awesome for us so..." "This cub is already a crucial addition to the world's Sumatran tiger population." "Hopefully, like pretty soon, if she's going to have another one, the contractions should start." "It would be an extraordinary outcome if she could have two." "But yeah, let's just hope that these contractions start getting a little bit quicker because it's been about well, an hour and 40 minutes." "Yeah." "Hopefully." "Yep, so we need to see a cub pretty soon." "An hour later," "Jamilla still hasn't delivered and the contractions have stopped." "Oh, come on." "This one's taking a while." "Come on, Jamilla." "Oh, hang on." "Suddenly the contractions start again." "Yeah, yep." "Yeah, that's another one." "That is a contraction." "She's licking again." "We've seen the first cub being born now." "We're watching for contractions to come closer together." "Just under a minute." "From nine minutes, now they're back to two." "Now they're going to one minute apart so this is getting very close to the birth of her second cub so we're keeping our fingers crossed." "It is pretty good to have this CCTV cameras over the nest because in the wild..." "Oh, here we go!" "Yep." "Yep, it's out. 5:30." "Yeah, it's out." "Yeah, yep." "Yay!" "Yay, it's wiggling." "But keepers believe there could be complications." "What is, what is that?" "It hasn't fully come out." "I think she's still connected to her..." "I think it's out but it's sort of connected to her by the umbilical cord." "There's a danger now Jamilla could sit on the cub and smother it." "Two hours before Hunter takes off for LA, his keeper Nick is preparing food for the journey." "In the States, the species of eucalypt that are growing over there are very similar to the ones that we've got here." "However they will taste a little bit different 'cause of the different soil composition over there so what we want to do is make sure that we give Hunter enough food that he loads his gut for this trip and then it gives him a little bit of time to get the taste for them" "and want to eat them readily." "As you can see, we probably can't fit a great deal more in." "We need to ensure that Hunter has enough room to sit comfortably." "However you can imagine as the trip goes on, there will be more space because he's going to eat these leaves and basically he'll eat himself a seat." "He'll eat himself some room." "After six weeks in quarantine, Hunter's been cleared to fly." "Hey, mate." "Just come around here." "Hunter's never travelled before so this is definitely a first for him." "Because koalas do have quite a fairly low-energy output as it is, we certainly wouldn't sedate a koala for a trip like this." "He won't come back." "It's a one-way trip - given the process of quarantine and an event that is, you know, quite unusual for a koala, we want to try and minimise the occurrences of that." "He'll spend the rest of his days at LA Zoo." "So that's what he'll do for the duration of the trip." "Hopefully just rest in that fork there, eat what he wants and then fall asleep as he would for, you know, 18 to 20 hours each day anyway." "I definitely think he'll get a little bit more sleep than me." "Good to go." "As the day begins at the zoo, joy has turned into concern." "Jamilla's second cub is still stuck." "There's nothing we can do at the moment." "Oh, Jamilla." "It looks like she..." "She might have to have another contraction to push, push everything out, I guess." "She's been perfect so far, the mum, yep." "She's very conscious that the cub is there which is great." "It's hard to tell if it's out." "Yeah, it's strong." "Oh yeah, I can see a tail, it's out." "Alright." "But the cub shows few signs of life." "I am a little bit concerned because it's been about six minutes or so since the second cub has moved." "We've seen its head move but she's just, he or she just isn't moving towards the mum at all so we're just waiting to see that that happens in the next couple of minutes." "These are anxious moments for the keepers, but the first born has come to the rescue." "Here we go." "They've found each other now." "The first cub has actually just crawled over and pretty much crawled onto the second cub, which is good, and it's actually sparked the second cub to move around and the second cub has made its way towards the mum" "and now Mum's licking it so that's really, a really good sign." "Half an hour later, there are signs Jamilla could be carrying another cub." "There could've been a contraction then." "I, you know, just out of the corner of my eye," "I just saw it looked like a contraction so we'll hopefully see another one fairly soon." "That will mean that there's a third cub on the way." "Yeah." "So we know it's not over. (Laughs)" "Only a few metres away from the birthing nest, new father, Satu, seems to suspect something is going on." "I think animals know certain things, and he would know something's up." "Whether it be through smell or senses or whatever." "Like, the cubs could be calling, we don't know that at the moment, 'cause we don't have audio for this." "So if they start to vocalise, you know, he'll be hearing that for sure." "Absolutely." "Here's another one." "Yep, that's definitely one." "Definitely one." "By 7:20 in the morning, there's no doubt another cub is on the way." "Hold on, we're getting close, guys." "So she's getting restless again and and plus the contractions so we're getting close to when she is probably going to give birth to number three." "Here we go, there's another one." "Yeah!" "Yeah, number three." "7:29." "7:29." "So good." "If that's number three and that's it, well, we won't have to do a thing and she's so attentive it's just great." "So she's being a great mum, she's better than we could've hoped actually." "Taronga is now home to five Sumatran tigers or just over 1% of all Sumatran tigers in the wild." "But to ensure the new cubs' survival, keepers will have to leave them and Jamilla alone for the next few days." "We won't go near her." "We don't want to interrupt that bonding process with the cubs." "She is a wild animal and her instincts are telling her to protect those cubs and to keep them in a nice secluded spot." "If she was feeling stressed for any reason, she might walk out of the nest, she might try and drop the cubs out of the nest, even kill the cubs as well." "En route to LA," "Hunter's first stop is the noisy cargo terminal at Sydney Airport." "MAN:" "Hunter." "Come on, Hunter." "Hunter's journey has taken months to plan." "Hunter is the only animal on board this flight today." "The animals usually have restrictions and they're not usually allowed to be sent with other animals." "OK, so we're at the Australian air express freight terminal now." "Hunter's being strapped to one of the palettes where they'll now move him out to the aircraft." "I need to actually make my way now to get checked in so I'm going to leave Hunter in Rod's capable hands." "If Hunter is a little bit overstressed, so much so that we would consider it not suitable to send him on the flight," "Rod is quite confident with koala husbandry and certainly understands their behaviours so he would be able to note that just visually." "Yeah, he's looking pretty good." "Cool." "Alright, mate." "I'll leave him with you." "Good." "Have a good trip, mate." "Thanks." "LA is 12,000km away but the short journey on and off the plane could be Hunter's biggest test." "We're going to start moving him out onto the plane that will be making quite a fair bit of noise so this'll be probably the most stressful part of the trip for him." "It's been 12 days since their birth and the three Sumatran tiger cubs have been watched around the clock by keepers." "That's good." "So she's giving him a good groom. (Laughs)" "Now is their chance to get up close." "Today, keepers will examine the cubs for the first time." "So the plan is we're going to go and put Jamilla out now..." "Yep. ..on exhibit so she's got a big piece of meat out there." "That'll keep her occupied while we're handling the cubs." "This is the first chance keepers will have to check the cubs' health and to determine their sex." "Hello." "Aren't you just the cutest?" "The cubs will eventually be named by the public but for now they are known as one, two and three, in the order of their birth." "There we go." "We're going to weigh you, darling." "Oh." "Look at you." "The first born cub is a healthy 2.58 kilos." "Oh, and we have a little boy." "Welcome, little man." "Good boy." "This one is number two and this one is a little girl." "It's a new experience for the cubs to be held by humans but it's important they are weighed to ensure they're growing at a healthy rate." "You're a little bit crankier than your brother." "OK." "Now, your weight." "The female cub weighs 30 grams less than her brother but she's still within the healthy range, and then there's number three." "It's OK." "Shh!" "He's another boy and almost exactly the same weight as his brother." "So we've got three beautiful cubs." "They are all looking really healthy." "Amazing to be able to hold those little guys, finally, and to have the privilege of holding such endangered animals in our arms is pretty amazing." "They're so cute, they're such warm little bundles." "If everything goes well, we can start just doing a little bit of handling with them every day, so we'll have a bit more time to appreciate them." "Today was pretty quick." "Yes." "But pretty special and yeah, they're gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous." "Keepers leave the den as they found it so Jamilla won't feel stressed when she returns." "For the next 14 hours," "Hunter will be alone in an aircraft cargo hold, so keeper Rod wants to check his stress levels before take-off." "He's actually looking out and seeing what's going on." "He's watching the cargo freight move around and he's sitting there at the window of the box there even though there's hessian over the front of the screen." "The captain has set the temperature for the hold at 20 degrees to ensure Hunter's comfortable." "That's great." "Yep." "No worries." "So I'll just have one more glimpse in there." "Well, he's on a little bit of a lean now but that will straighten up when he's in flight and let's face it - he's a koala, they live in trees so they're not too worried by being on branches" "that are angles or leaning trees so..." "This is Hunter's flight now." "Everything's under way and he's happy so good luck, Hunter!" "Next stop, LA Zoo and for Hunter an uncertain welcome from the feisty Californian female koalas." "For the last eight weeks, the cubs have been thriving under Jamilla's excellent care." "With only days to go before they're revealed to the public, the cubs are having their first health check from vet Larry Vogelnest." "Cub one." "Yep, cub one." "These cubs will be eight weeks old on Saturday." "Yes, this Saturday." "So this is the time for their first vaccination and also an opportunity to examine them." "Sumatran tigers are quite prone to some abnormalities because the world captive population is pretty small so inbreeding can be a problem and they have seen some abnormalities in cubs." "Larry's looking for physical defects like undershot jaws and cleft palates which would make the cubs unsuitable for breeding." "So this is a standard sort of cat vaccine as a domestic cat would get." "They're susceptible to the same diseases." "Now the challenge is going to be the microchip." "So it's good to microchip them so we have a permanent identification." "Good boy." "Good boy." "A drop of glue." "There's the next one already." "The female cub is next." "She's more relaxed than the male and I." "She's essential to Taronga's breeding program." "If all goes well, she'll become a mother in three years." "Alright, well, it's perfect." "And now it's the second male's turn." "Lucky last." "Yeah." "Your eyes are so wide, aren't they?" "Are you going to open up?" "Open up." "Just check the number." "So they look fantastic." "They have really good body condition, their coats are fantastic, their eyes are really bright and look completely normal." "Their mouth, teeth are great and the boys have got two testicles each so that's even better." "Thankfully these guys look good." "That's it, I've had enough now." "Thanks for coming." "Now they're ready for their big debut." "The world comes to Taronga to get a first look at the new Sumatran tiger cubs." "It is so exciting, finally everyone gets to enjoy them as much as we can." "ON RADIO:" "Ready whenever you want us to open the slide." "OK, so Justine's ready to let them out." "Is everybody set?" "ON RADIO:" "Go ahead." "All good." "Let them out." "ON RADIO:" "OK, they're on their way." "Following a public competition, the cubs have been given Indonesian names." "First out is the oldest boy, Kambali, whose name means 'return'." "There he goes." "That's alright." "The two little stripy fellows just there, so she's chupping to them." "The little girl, Katika, which means 'great', follows her brother out." "She's very alert, isn't she?" "Yeah." "Watching everything." "Big wide world, isn't it?" "Get back and get the other two." "Oh, God, how cute is that?" "She's a bit more tentative now, isn't she?" "It's a big wide world out there and Mum's looking quite relaxed." "One by one, she's calling them out which is great." "It's very cute." "They've come in order, haven't they again?" "Yeah." "So we've just got to wait for cub No.3 to make his entrance now." "It might be today, it might not be today so..." "Last out, the second boy, Sati, which means 'invincible'." "Go and get them, Jamilla." "Yep, go and get them." "She's following them." "Good girl." "Come on." "Good girl, Jamilla." "There he goes." "Jamilla." "Jamilla, come on." "We're so excited this morning because for the first time now the world gets to know that we've got three beautiful, gorgeous little Sumatran tiger cubs so we're ecstatic because it's been so hard keeping a secret for so long." "The cubs' father, Satu, watches from the den upstairs." "He's been wonderful." "He loves these cubs." "He calls to them." "He keeps an eye on us when we go in to do our handling of these cubs." "So it is such a shame that he's temperamental 'cause otherwise if we knew that we could trust him with our female tiger, we would've introduced him to these cubs but he'll only ever get to meet them now through a slide." "That's the safest way." "We want these little cubs to grow up and to become breeding animals of the future to help the Sumatran tiger population." "She's just playing with them now." "She's looking very relaxed." "Next time on Wild Life At The Zoo, Hunter arrives in Los Angeles." "This trip is a one-way trip so we do need to make sure that he settles appropriately." "But the Californian females aren't throwing a welcoming party." "And to start a family, a young giraffe faces an epic journey." "Yeah, she might have sea sickness." "Closed Captions by CSI" "NARRATOR:" "Tonight, on Wild Life At The Zoo, a young giraffe goes on an epic journey to start a family." "So she might have seasickness." "But she'll have to survive five days on a cargo ship and unseasonable storms to get there." "Taronga's number one breeding koala Hunter has arrived in Los Angeles and he's on a mission." "He's certainly Taronga's stud koala." "But the Californian girls aren't throwing a welcoming party." "And one of the oldest Kodiak bears in the world battles to keep moving." "She actually responds to voice command." "We say 'touch' when I'm about to trim." "MEGAN:" "Touch." "JUSTINE:" "Yep." "£ Theme music" "The first giraffe came to Australia in 1926." "There are now around 300 giraffes in zoos here and in New Zealand and keepers need to make sure that inbreeding doesn't occur." "That's why this young female giraffe has to leave her family at" "Taronga's Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo and embark on a journey that will take her 850km on land, then 2,500km or over 1,400 nautical miles by cargo boat, to start a new life at Auckland Zoo." "I kind of know what we're in for a little bit." "This one here has no idea." "That might be a good thing." "She's leaving all her relatives but she's going to start her own family tree in New Zealand." "Karaka can't breed here because she's related to all the available males." "The regional breeding program of giraffe, we have to mix and match genetics and things like that, so she's certainly not just going for the joy ride." "Transporting a giraffe is no easy task, given her size and shape." "For the length of the seven day journey," "Karaka will be exchanging the wide open spaces of Dubbo for a 5x3 metre crate." "Up the top here are two feed chutes." "One is where her pellets will go and of course she'll need water." "And you'll notice these bits of timber lined through the whole bottom of the box." "This prevents the giraffe from tripping." "It also is big enough for her to sit down, so she'll still be able to have a sleep." "A giraffe doesn't sleep standing up." "It sleeps sitting down with its legs folded in underneath and it only sleeps for 20 minutes every 24 hours." "Karaka!" "Karaka's used to taking her breakfast inside the crate but today, she won't be coming out." "MANDY, OVER RADIO:" "Hey Mark, it's Mandy." "MARK, OVER RADIO:" "That's Karaka in the box." "This is the first of many intense little steps." "But she's good." "As keepers load seven days worth of grains, lucerne hay, carrots and specially selected eucalyptus leaves, vet Alisa prepares her emergency kit for any eventuality on the trip." "ALISA:" "The giraffe might become distressed during transport." "And you know, there's always a risk of an accident happening." "Some of these are sedatives and anaesthetic drugs." "We've also got a variety of different antibiotics, you know, if she was to develop any kind of respiratory infection or coughing or any kind of wound." "In the event of a severe emergency, we do carry euthanasia drugs that we can administer to her if required." "PASCAL:" "It's alright, baby girl." "Karaka's trans-Tasman journey begins on the back of a truck and there's a reason why the journey has to start now." "Karaka's approaching two years of age and the reason why we're moving her now is her height." "She's just under three and a half metres and the only way we can move them is by road and that's quite tricky due to all the bypasses, the tunnels and what have you." "They don't cater for 5m high loads these days." "But when you look at it, this time next week, she'll be a New Zealander." "Roger and Alisa will be accompanying Karaka every step of the way to the port of Melbourne and then onto Auckland." "It could be a hazardous journey with unseasonable gales forecast for the Tasman Sea." "An animal who's already reached his destination is Hunter the koala, who arrived by jet in Los Angeles this morning." "He's been accompanied all the way from Taronga Zoo in Sydney by his keeper, Nick." "For the next 30 days," "Hunter will remain in quarantine here at the LA Zoo." "He appears relatively relaxed." "I mean, obviously he looks a little bit shaken because of the journey, but otherwise, alright." "So once he starts to settle into quarantine," "I actually have to stay here for the next 12 days just to make sure he does actually fit in OK." "Usually koalas, when they do go through a traumatic event, you don't really see true side effects until a few days because it does actually take a little while for them to metabolise their food." "So I need to actually count his faeces every morning, just to make sure that he is digesting his food properly and eating the right amount." "Now, obviously, the whole intent of this trip is a one-way trip, so we do need to make sure that he adjusts and settles appropriately." "With around a dozen offspring in Australia," "Hunter is renowned as a proven breeder." "Keepers at LA Zoo hope he will sire offspring here." "They'd be part of an overseas insurance population in case disaster strikes the species in Australia." "ROBIN:" "Right now we have five females." "Hunter will be going in with two of those females." "Females can be very feisty here." "They make sure that the males know their place." "In the past, two of those females here, Georgie and Kilarney, have rejected the males selected to breed with them." "Georgie's temperament with people is very good." "She actually comes down and interacts with the keepers on a daily basis." "You know, with other koalas, though, she does like to be the dominant animal." "Kilarney would rather just be left alone and Kilarney is one of those, she's never had a male that she's warmed up to." "30 days after arriving in Los Angeles," "Hunter has cleared quarantine and has taken to his new home." "Kilarney is asleep as usual but Georgie looks on with a watchful eye." "Georgie can be ferocious, so keepers are standing by in case of trouble." "Hunter climbs straight towards Georgie, who growls in response." "(Growls angrily)" "She's telling him to get out of her territory." "Georgie comes after Hunter." "Now her growl is high-pitched." "A warning she may attack." "At the moment, the prospects of a new generation of koalas sired by Hunter, are not promising." "He's out of here." "ROGER:" "She's a little restless and she's starting to lean just slightly against the wall of her crate." "13 hours after she left Dubbo," "Karaka's arrived at the Melbourne docks." "Now keepers want to check her health to see if she's fit for the sea journey tomorrow." "ALISA:" "Looks very sleepy." "ROGER:" "Tired like us." "She just looks like she's ready to have some time out and have something to eat and soak in what's happened today." "It's been a big day for her and it's going to get bigger tomorrow." "It's like a Schmacko for a dog, I guess." "We'll see." "A loss of appetite would be the first sign that all is not well." "You're fine, you're fine." "Although she accepts food and water, Karaka is far from happy." "She is stressed." "A sign of stress with giraffes is when they toss their head back." "She's done two in the last few minutes." "I guess standing on her feet all day, balancing as we're moving, is a bit tiring for her, so hopefully she'll lay down and have a rest." "She may not do that tonight but we're going to give her a bit of quiet time shortly." "ROGER:" "You're a good girl." "ALISA:" "Hey, missy." "ROGER:" "You're a good girl." "ROGER:" "It was a long night." "It was a little cold." "We got some sleep and Karaka got some rest." "She ate some hay and ate some pellets and maybe had a little drink." "Alisa thinks she might have taken a sleep for a little while." "She's got a lot going on in her world again so that's beating the tiredness right now." "A ship is waiting to transport Karaka to New Zealand but she won't be going anywhere unless she gets the all clear from the Government vets." "She's just doing the final quarantine inspection before we seal up the crate ready to go." "So she's just got to have a look at Karaka and make sure that she's healthy and fit to travel." "How did you go?" "She's just got a little..." "Yeah, she had a little abrasion there that's healing." "Yeah, no, no, looks good." "Yeah." "Good to go." "Yeah, excellent." "So we're good to go?" "Good to go." "NARRATOR:" "Karaka, her crate, and the flat rack containing her food will now be lifted 50m onto the vessel." "It's the beginning of a sea journey that nearly didn't happen." "KELLY:" "We approached pretty much every shipping line that went across to New Zealand and nearly all of them rejected the request." "It took months of negotiating with Maersk to actually get them to agree to take the booking." "Karaka's on her own for this critical part of the journey." "If she panics now, Roger can't get to her." "ROGER:" "She's got a lot on her mind." "I mean she's like a lot of zoo animals - live their fairly sheltered lifestyle, so what is the world throwing at her right now?" "Slowly, Karaka gets her bearings." "KELLY:" "That's a view she's never seen before." "ROGER:" "Just admiring the world." "She'll be tall when she gets older but she'll never be that tall." "She's doing amazingly well." "Very proud of her." "No-one on the vessel has ever seen anything like this before." "Karaka's crate is positioned on the open deck just below the bridge where she will spend the entire journey." "ROGER:" "We're just waiting for some containers to be loaded either side of her, to create a bit of a windbreak, and I'm just hanging out with her just getting her to relax a little and she's eating carrots, so that's a good sign." "The crossing to New Zealand was timed to occur when the Tasman Sea is usually at its calmest but as the ship leaves Melbourne, the latest forecast is for unseasonable storms." "ROGER:" "I'm more worried for her at this stage." "I know what we're about to go through, she doesn't." "But sea sickness is a bit of an unknown for all of us." "At Taronga Zoo, there's one animal who's not moving around much at all." "At 35, Bethel is one of the oldest Kodiak bears alive." "In human years, she's around 90." "Bethel is very special." "She is an icon of the zoo." "She is the last remaining Kodiak bear in the region." "So it's critical that we give her lots of TLC in her ageing years 'cause we want her around for a lot longer." "Bethel's mobility is partly affected by her long claws." "Basically she doesn't do as much digging as she used to as a young bear." "So what we're actually going to do is trim her claws, so it's easier for her to walk around." "Alright, Bethel." "Bethel!" "Come here, sweetie." "Bears are considered more intelligent than dogs and Bethel willingly cooperates." "We've actually trained her to put her paws up on the mesh." "MEGAN:" "Foot." "That's it." "Good." "Touch." "And she actually responds to voice commands." "We say 'touch' when I'm about to trim." "Touch." "Good." "The word 'good' is the bridge, so she knows she's going to get a reward." "Touch." "Good." "You can see she's not too worried about it at all." "Good." "Touch." "So what we do, we actually give her a rest in between 'cause she's an old bear." "We just ask her paw to come back down, then reposition her paw again, so I can get a better go at it with trimmers." "Touch." "Good." "It's great for Bethel interacting with the training session." "She's being mentally stimulated and physically it's great for her as well." "She'll be able to move around much more freely and easily." "After her manicure, Bethel receives fish oil tablets designed to alleviate her arthritis." "Fish oil is supposed to help with joint health, heart health, brain health, so she gets around about ten a day of these capsules." "Well done." "Good girl, Bethel." "Keepers are concerned without this type of treatment," "Bethel will be unable to enjoy some of the features of her exhibit." "We're filling the pond." "Bethel loves the pond and she loves getting in there, bobbing around." "We can throw food in there, so it's a great activity for her." "But as her arthritis worsens, this year, Bethel may find getting into the pond too hard." "You know, just we get older, and obviously getting down stairs just for people in general, it's the same with Bethel and we have to make sure she can get in and out of the pond." "Justine will keep a close eye on the 35-year-old, to see if the treatment is successful." "24 hours out of Melbourne and with three more days to go, the ship taking Karaka to New Zealand has sailed into a trans-Tasman storm." "A bit breezy out here." "Alisa and Roger haven't been allowed on the deck before now and are anxious to see how she's coping." "ALISA:" "Hey, miss." "ROGER:" "Morning, little girl." "Climbing this ladder could be interesting." "Good morning." "How are you?" "A bit crazy this weather, huh?" "Yeah?" "Karaka doesn't seem to have touched any of her food since she left Melbourne." "Hasn't eaten or hasn't drunk." "She's got big eyes right now." "There's a lot of noise here at the moment and we're rocking and rolling a little bit but it's probably the most wound up she's been." "Her mind is busy, I guess." "Are you going to have something to eat?" "Unless Karaka eats something, she'll begin to lose her strength." "Do you want this?" "You've got to eat something." "If she doesn't eat a carrot, we'll know she's not feeling too good." "Come here, miss." "Normally Karaka eats around 20 kilos of food a day and never refuses a carrot." "You don't even want your carrots." "No, so yeah, she might have seasickness." "It's likely the ship's rocking motion has left Karaka feeling nauseous and out of sorts, and she could get a lot worse." "According to the weather report, the storm's about to intensify." "PAVRAN:" "You can see the forecast, you can see that the low pressure system is coming down and it'll be on our route maybe by tomorrow and it'll pass us later tomorrow in the day." "Two months after he arrived at Los Angeles Zoo," "Hunter's getting on better with the most powerful female koala here, Georgie." "ROBIN:" "They were actually fighting for quite a while on and off throughout the first day." "The second day was a little bit better and then by the third day, Hunter had been accepted by Georgie." "From the beginning, he's eaten very well." "You know each koala has boughs that they like better than others, but see, he's enjoying it as soon as we put it in." "He's doing great." "He just goes with the flow." "We can handle him very easily." "All the keepers love him." "We have seen Hunter breeding Georgie, however we have not had any offspring yet." "Unfortunately Hunter hasn't been able to woo the other female here," "Kilarney, who remains indifferent to males." "Hunter will be flying the flag loud and proud for Australia for many years to come." "While LA will be his home, he and his future progeny will always remain an Australian ownership." "Two days out of Melbourne and two days to go until Auckland," "Karaka's sailed into a worsening storm." "She's never experienced anything remotely like this." "And neither has Roger." "The winds are now gusting at 60 knots." "Karaka has to maintain her balance as the vessel lurches violently." "It looks similar to yesterday, maybe a little stronger." "The sea seems choppier today." "It's still got the big roll but it's chopped up as well." "Karaka hasn't slept properly since she left Dubbo and she's showing signs of stress." "Karaka." "You're not interested, are you?" "OK, she's not interested in carrots again." "Karaka hasn't eaten breakfast or had a drink still." "She's really not interested at the moment." "MAN:" "Captain says she's too much moving now." "The captain wants us to go back inside." "It's too rolly." "The deck is cleared before vet Alisa has the chance to check Karaka." "I was hoping to get up in front and have a better look at her and just check that she hasn't banged her legs but hopefully if the weather improves, we'll be able to do that later on." "So far this summer, Bethel has avoided her pool, something she loved in previous years." "At 35 years of age, she's around five years older than the oldest Kodiak bears living in the wild, and keepers are constantly devising new ways of trying to keep her mentally and physically active." "So by putting high value items such as fig, she's got to get the food out so she'll be batting this around, so it keeps her nice and active." "And we've got a bit of honey." "Smear that over the tub." "It's no lie when they say bears love honey." "So, we can place this all over the exhibit and that way, she's got to find every spot of honey." "We can't put honey up too high in the exhibit because she has got arthritis." "She can't stand on her hind legs anymore." "Just like elderly people, you want to do more exercise so this gets her moving around and quite active." "Despite her arthritic hips, Bethel heads straight for her food." "Yum, they love that. (Laughs)" "This is what we want, we want her moving around for a good hour and a half." "The longer the better." "It's better for her." "It's all good for her joints and keeping her weight down and her mental activity as well." "But once again today, she's avoiding the pond." "If she can manage climbing in and out of the water, keepers will be comforted she's in tiptop health." "On the vessel taking Karaka to New Zealand," "Day Four dawns and so does the good weather." "For the first time since the storm, keepers are able to check if Karaka's regained her appetite." "She hasn't eaten properly since Melbourne." "There you go." "Good girl!" "That's the first carrot she's taken in about two days, so that's good." "She's getting her sea legs." "Good girl." "Good girl." "So she's eating today which is good." "That's the best appetite she's had for two days, so that's really good." "It makes me relaxed a little more." "Alright, little girl." "Karaka's making up for lost time, devouring branches of eucalyptus and hay." "A different giraffe to yesterday." "We want to see some attitude and bright eyes and sharp senses." "That makes me feel better than I did this time yesterday, that's for sure." "Hey, darling." "And Alisa is finally getting the chance to see if Karaka has injured her leg during the storm." "She doesn't have any scrapes or cuts or anything on her." "She did have a little wound on her side which happened a few weeks ago." "She scraped herself on a fence before she left and that still looks the same." "She hasn't opened it up." "Feeling alert and more relaxed," "Karaka gets her first whiff of land just before it appears on the horizon." "ROGER:" "I've seen Karaka having a rest this morning." "She actually sat down for about an hour, so that's her first break." "She's obviously learning to cope with it all." "Give it outside." "MAN, OVER RADIO:" "Engine stopped." "OK." "I've woken up this morning." "We're in Auckland." "We're in the harbour." "We're about to disembark the ship and Karaka's got to take the last little stage of her journey." "MAN:" "Stop the engines." "PAVRAN:" "Stop engines!" "MAN, OVER RADIO:" "Stop engines." "If she was any bigger, she wouldn't have fitted in that crate." "So that's why we had to get her over here now." "After the customs formalities are over," "Karaka is about to be lifted by crane onto land." "This time, the crate has to be detached from the flat rack which could make it less steady." "There's a little bit of wind, so she's swinging ever so slightly." "I'll be glad when this bit's done." "This is probably one of the most intense bits of the whole journey." "ALISA:" "Bit of a swinger." "ROGER:" "Yeah." "She had two days of that, so she doesn't need that." "Anyway." "It all gets too much." "Karaka tosses her head back, a sign she's becoming stressed." "She's got a lot on her mind." "Lots of stimulus around here that's got her curious about what's going on, that's for sure." "Karaka's taken immediately from the docks to her new home at Auckland Zoo." "Yeah, it'll be good to get her out of the box." "She's ready." "Well, you can see she's pretty alert." "She's looking around, seeing what's going on." "For all the stuff that's just happened to her, she's doing really well at the moment." "ROGER:" "Good girl." "ZOOKEEPER:" "Good New Zealand boughs." "She'll be supporting the All Blacks next." "ROGER:" "That might take time." "(Laughs)" "There's a danger that after being confined to a crate for so long," "Karaka will rush out and hurt herself." "ZOOKEEPER:" "Oh, wow!" "Instead, after four days at sea, she seems to be finding her balance." "ALISA:" "Think she had sea legs for a minute there." "I think she did." "I've still got them." "She took it easy." "Sometimes animals can come out a little too quick." "So she's been a star the whole way." "She looks good." "She's only a baby." "So far, so good." "But there are two other giraffe here and no-one knows if they will accept or reject Karaka." "Back at Taronga, it's the first really hot day of summer..." "..and Bethel's finally taken the plunge." "JUSTINE:" "She can't actually stand in that pond, so she has to either swim or make herself buoyant to be that height." "She's sort of floating up." "Seeing her in the pool swimming, it shows that she's doing very well for a 35-year-old." "There's lots of room in that pond for her to move around." "It gets her weight off her paws and now she's doing her snorkelling and that's a natural behaviour she would do in the wild." "When the salmon are swimming upstream to breed, bears actually submerge their head under the water except for their ears." "This allows her to hear what's actually going on around her." "So when she's hunting for the salmon in the wild, she can open her eyes underwater and grab those salmon so they're good hunters." "She gets in there also to lose that winter coat." "She's giving her coat a really good rub and she basically gets her old fur out and the beautiful summer coat comes through." "And here she goes now." "'I've had enough.'" "So 240 kilos - she does pretty well to get in and out of there." "So we'll obviously continue to do what we have been doing P lots of exercise, mental stimulation as well and that all helps the ageing process." "So lots of TLC." "Hello, little girl." "At Auckland Zoo, Karaka the giraffe has been settling in for two months now." "Well, she's a really easygoing little giraffe." "We're really happy with her." "She's got a nice personality." "She spent a month in quarantine by herself just as a requirement." "The month that she was alone was a little bit stressful for her but she's cleared all her tests with flying colours and has now been integrated into the paddock with all the zebra, the ostrich and also with the other two resident giraffes." "At first, the introductions didn't go well." "Unfortunately our male viewed Karaka as another male, as a competing male, so he gave her a bit of strife and was quite aggressive towards her." "Luckily for us, Karaka is such a nice animal." "She was able to cope with it really well and just took it all in her stride and now Zubulu's completely obsessed with her." "I think he's fallen head over heels in love." "She's obviously not sexually mature yet so she's not thinking about babies or anything whereas Zubulu pretty much checks her out every five minutes or so." "Little does he know that he's got a couple of years to wait yet." "We're happy with how things are going at the moment and we hope maybe in a couple of years that they'll be parents." "Next week on Wild Life At The Zoo:" "Rejected by his father, a young male gorilla leaves France to begin his life as the new silverback at Taronga Zoo." "He is very nervous." "He saw the aircraft crew and he's starting to worry." "Closed Captions by CSI" " Vania Chew" "Tonight on Wild Life At The Zoo - rejected by his father, a young gorilla has to leave his home in France to take a long journey to Australia." "MAN:" "He's very nervous." "So the aircraft crew are starting to worry." "But will the gorillas at Taronga Zoo accept him?" "WOMAN:" "Our three females are pretty gutsy, and they're quite strong, quite powerful." "I think pretty moody too." "And they don't welcome strangers." "(Screeching)" "£ Theme music" "17,000km away from Taronga Zoo, near the Bordeaux region of France." "is a sanctuary renowned for its large community of primates." "(Whooping)" "Among them is a family of western lowland gorillas." "And one of these gorillas is bound for Sydney." "11-year-old Kibali has been rejected by his father, the senior male, or silverback, and has been living alone." "Keeper Jean-Pascal has observed the silverback's reaction to Kibali ever since he reached adolescence and became a potential threat." "For Kibali's protection, he was removed from the group four months ago." "Because he is a very social animal and he was close to his..." "For this reason, it's best Kibali leaves his community here, and takes a senior role with another group of gorillas." "In the wild, a teenage male gorilla, or blackback, leaves his family when he matures to become a silverback." "And that's what will happen to Kibali, except his rite of passage will also take him to the other side of the world." "At Taronga Zoo in Sydney," "Kibali's arrival is eagerly awaited." "He's replacing the aging silverback here." "He's already sired 14 offspring, and will soon be retired to a bachelor community at another zoo." "I think we were tremendously lucky to come across Kibali." "He's a perfect replacement." "If there is one, Kibali is it." "Our three females are pretty gutsy, and they're quite strong, quite powerful, and I think pretty moody too." "So the male that was going to take those females on had to be," "I guess, have experience in a really good social setting, and was able to deal with all those things those females can throw at him." "The females all have individual personalities." "27-year-old Frala is a loner, 33-year-old Kriba is a good mother, but often restless, and 39-year-old Mouila likes to spoil her babies." "As well as the three adults, there's seven-year-old Kimya." "She has the gentlest nature, and is no ready to breed." "The females' genetics have been computer-matched with Kibali's." "Click on a button, 'Create offspring', and there we go." "Inbreeding zero." "So, perfect." "Although Kibali is an excellent genetic match, keepers had to see him for themselves to ensure he'd fit in with Taronga's females." "So Lou and I went to Europe to look for the perfect male... gorilla, and we have five on our shortlist." "Out of those five, Kibali was the absolute top pick quite rapidly." "This boy is just perfect." "He is so confident for his age, and he's gentle." "He's gentle whilst he's trying to assert his dominance, but in a way that's not too much." "He seems to have a bit of wisdom about him." "Hopefully Kibali will be able to win over the tricky females." "But keepers also see his arrival as part of a worldwide conservation program." "Western lowland gorillas, there may be 150, 200,000 left." "Hunting and disease in particular is wiping them out very, very fast." "So what can we do?" "We can have an insurance breeding population against extinction, so that, in years to come, when the threats have been diminished, we will have animals in the zoos around the world for potential release back to the wild." "In France, it's a freezing mid-winter day, and on the eve of Kibali's departure to Sydney, keepers are preparing his food for the three-day journey." "That OK." "Fruit." "He's also getting a special farewell meal tonight." "Ahead of the journey," "Kibali's been isolated in the zoo's quarantine area." "Only his keepers are allowed to visit him here." "OK, here we go." "Oui." "(Speaks in French)" "Tomorrow, Kibali will be led from the quarantine area into this crate, secured inside, then flown to Sydney to start his new life." "At Taronga, there's huge excitement at Kibali's imminent arrival, as keepers put the finishing touches on his new quarters." "Welcome to Kibali's new home." "This is his new exhibit, and will be his home for the next few years." "We've been working on it over the last week or so, and doing you know touch it up, make sure that everything's safe and secure for him, and making it look nice." "And of course, we've made it gorilla proof, which means we've looked at our walls, and our security side of things." "Really, we want to make him as comfortable as possible." "He's the future for our breeding group, and eventually he's going to be getting a girlfriend, so we want him to just feel secure and safe." "The noise from the renovations is heard by the other gorillas next door." "Because there's been a lot of work done in here recently, that always puts gorillas offside." "They're very gentle and nervous animals anyway, so to have a lot of contractors coming in, and a lot of keepers coming down and checking things out, it's made the group a little unsettled." "The vibe is mixed emotions really." "There's excitement in the air because it is really exciting to get a new blackback gorilla in, but there's nervousness too because this is new." "We haven't had a new gorilla in our grounds for a long time." "It's the long-awaited day of Kibali's departure from France." "Today is the D-day for us because we have to close Kibali in this crate." "Over the last few weeks he's been trained to go into the tunnel, then take food from the crate." "But today the door will be locked behind him, and he won't be coming out until he arrives in Sydney." "(Man speaks in French)" "Hey, Kibali!" "If Kibali doesn't walk into the crate, he'll have to be darted." "As Kibali moves forward, the keeper hopes to close the door to his enclosure behind him." "(Conversations in French)" "He only gets there just in time." "Although Kibali's extremely nervous, there's nowhere for him to go now except to the crate, where a meal of fruit and leafy green vegetables awaits him." "When the door closes behind him, he voices his disapproval." "(Muffled roaring and screeching)" "OK, he's in." "Now we are going to load the crate in the truck." "It will be better for him." "You can hear that he was... his screams, so he is very nervous." "It could be a stressful trip for Kibali, but keeper Jean-Pascal will be there to comfort and feed him all the way." "They'll be travelling together by cargo plane on an 18,000km flight from Paris via New Delhi, and Hong Kong, before arriving in Sydney." "It's a five-hour journey from the Bordeaux region to a holding yard outside Charles De Gaulle Airport, where Kibali will wait to board his plane." "Back at Taronga, keepers have selected the female" "Kibali will meet first when he arrives." "Seven-year-old Kimya is the youngest female of breeding age here." "Kimya comes from a really good family line." "Very, very good." "Her mother was a very good mother, and I believe that Kimya will have those traits as well." "I think that one of the other females would've just been too strong for him at this point in time in terms of potentially not only physical strength, but I think personality." "Kimya's name in Swahili means 'the quiet one'." "But, like the other females here, she can be feisty and there's no guarantee she won't reject Kibali." "In Paris, Kibali has cleared customs." "Keeper Jean-Pascal will be sitting in an upstairs cabin of the cargo plane, but will have constant access to Kibali, especially at stressful times just before take-off." "By the time the plane takes off, it's been a huge day for Kibali." "He'd normally be asleep by now, but is wide awake." "He's refusing food, and even his favourite Italian sparkling mineral water." "And he's been restless." "The first leg of Kibali's journey takes around nine hours." "And on arrival in New Delhi, he's still restless." "Next stop, Hong Kong, where Kibali faces a ten-hour stopover when he'll be changing planes." "After eight hours on the ground, he's loaded onto his next flight for the final leg of the journey." "At Taronga, keepers are preparing to meet Kibali at the airport." "Vet Larry Vogelnest will be in charge of his health, and is prepared for any emergency." "We'll meet you up there." "WOMAN:" "OK." "So all I'm taking with us is just a little dart pistol, and just a few darts and some drugs." "Really not much at all, even though it's such a remote possibility, but, you know, if there's an accident, for example, or something like that, we need to make sure we cover all those bases." "While Kibali may seem to be a very calm, gentle, potentially confident animal in his group, you take him out of that normal situation, and who knows how he's exactly going to deal with that." "Fingers crossed he looks good and he's OK, just a bit jetlagged." "At Sydney Airport, Kibali's plane has just arrived." "After his three-day journey, he's not happy." "(Screeching and whooping)" "Now that he's touched down in Australia," "Kibali's care becomes the responsibility of Taronga Zoo." "I think it's probably best just to not to disturb him." "The poor guy's probably wondering what the hell's going on anyway." "He hasn't slept a lot, you know, pretty exhausted, and obviously quite nervous about the noises, and he's obviously aware of all the changes, and the movement of the plane, so it's completely understandable that he'd be scared." "It's been two years in the making, so it always takes that long to bring a new animal in that's that important for genetic reasons as well as behavioural." "So, yeah, very excited to see it all come to fruition." "Of course, the proof will be in the pudding when he gets introduced to the girls, 'cause they get to decide if they like each other." "But the female gorillas won't be meeting Kibali just yet." "When he arrives at Taronga, he's taken directly to quarantine, where he'll spend the next 30 days." "ERNA:" "Hello, gorgeous boy." "He looks a bit bigger than he did." "He's a gorgeous boy." "LARRY:" "Let's get this off and get him in there." "Kibali is quiet and calm, as he's transported into his temporary quarters." "LOUISE:" "Hello, beautiful." "But he's immediately curious when he's released." "LARRY:" "He looks fantastic." "He's already looking around." "He's extremely interested in everything actually, exploring everything, testing everything, but we'll let him settle for a while now." "He looks good." "I mean he's an extremely healthy-looking animal." "Amazingly calm actually, which is fantastic." "He's, you know, not bashing around or beating his chest, or threatening or anything like that." "He seems very relaxed." "I'm sure he's probably a little bit scared, but he doesn't..." "he's not showing it." "LOUISE:" "Woo-hoo!" "Go Bali, yay!" "In his first few days, Kibali is eating well, sleeping at night, and for company in the afternoon he watches TV." "The Ellen Show is a favourite and he's enjoying his time at Taronga." "LOUISE:" "Bali, show me again." "Woo-hoo!" "Now that Kibali's settled, it's time for Jean-Pascal to return to France." "But before Kibali can meet his first female here, Kimya, he has to receive a series of medical tests, which could be traumatic." "LARRY:" "So this morning we're going to anaesthetise Kibali to do his post-arrival quarantine check." "We've got a sort of an area in our quarantine which is quite enclosed and it just has small little holes to look through that we can dart him through." "So we're going to have a light on in there, and turn the lights off everywhere else, so he actually won't necessarily be able to see me coming up, and I'll be able to dart him" "through a little sort of hole in the wall." "He won't actually see my face, he won't see the dart gun and things like that, and, you know, hopefully he'll just, 'Well, something hit me.'" "(Screeching)" "One of you guys just concentrate on any movement, breathing, all that kind of stuff, OK?" "Weighing 113kg, Kibali's heavier than many rugby professionals." "The anaesthetic on the dart will immobilise him until he goes under a general anaesthetic at the vet hospital." "OK." "He seems deep." "What have you got him on, Izzy?" "Put him on... (Woman speaks indistinctly)" "OK, let's start his exam." "So we're just going to take some x-rays of his chest." "So the Australian quarantine inspection service requires us to do TB testing." "So that's what we're doing." "Everyone out." "OK." "OK, so that's good." "We're going to get a swab from his rectum now for bacterial culture." "Although Kibali passed all his tests in France," "Larry wants to ensure he didn't pick up any diseases during his journey." "There are a number of bacteria that these guys can have which could potentially be problematic when he's introduced to the group." "So it's good to know what bacteria they have." "And then, of course, we do the physical exam, and get all the other samples for our own purposes, so that we have a good baseline health data on him." "Haven't found anything wrong with him." "He is magnificent." "I mean he's in excellent health." "Just a beautiful animal." "You know, he's just incredible." "I mean, everything's just perfect about him." "Today is the turning point for the gorilla community." "Kibali's arriving at his renovated bachelor quarters next door." "Over time he'll replace the aging silverback here, Kibabu." "LOUISE:" "Can you keep an eye on Kibabu?" "Just call me if there's any issue." "Bound and anaesthetised," "Kibali is carried into a separate part of the gorilla complex, well beyond the view of the other gorillas." "LISA:" "Well, Kibali's just arrived." "You can tell by my reaction I'm pretty excited." "And you can see by our silverback's reaction," "I don't know whether he's excited or nervous about the whole thing." "Obviously he knows that there's something major happening next door." "He probably still can't smell him as yet because there's obviously the windows in front." "But, yeah, he's on tenterhooks in there, and he's ready to see what's going on." "After waking from his anaesthetic, Kibali explores his new home." "Next door is Kimya." "She'll be Kibali's first visitor in Sydney, and when he's settled they'll be introduced." "I guess it's the situation you face with any animal introduction that there's always the possibility of the two individuals you're trying to put together are not going to like each other." "I guess the worst case scenario here is that they have the potential to inflict huge wounds." "These guys have massive canines, they're very strong and powerful." "For safety reasons," "Kibali and Kimya's first glimpse of each other will be through mesh." "Kibali's in the rear pen behind the raceway." "Kimya slowly leaves the playroom to greet him." "(Screeching)" "After shrieking at Kibali, Kimya returns to the playroom." "LOUISE:" "Wow, you can see Kimya's really strutting her stuff there." "But she can't resist a second look." "(Screeching)" "Ten minutes later both gorillas are relatively calm, although mesh still separates them." "LOUISE:" "This is quite normal still, you know, what I would be expecting in any primate introduction, gorilla introduction." "After a couple of days of getting used to each other through mesh, it's safe for Kibali and Kimya to meet." "Keepers are hoping this will be the start of a very fruitful relationship." "What we want to try and do is, you know, encourage them to spend some time in close proximity to each other feeding, actually to be together without there being any mesh, or, you know, direct contact." "This is probably a little bit unsettling for them both." "He's got a fantastic face, hasn't he?" "If you look at him it's just..." "he's gorgeous." "And you can see Kibali's still a little bit apprehensive about coming out into the exhibit, and I think he's a little bit..." "he's a bit shy." "After a few minutes," "Kibali ventures out, but he keeps his distance from Kimya." "So he is not quite sure about how far to venture out." "And she stays clear of him." "But, yeah, I don't know whether or not it's a first date, a bit shy about us watching." "Yeah, I think we're just going to have to wait this one out." "But the good news is there's no violence." "A week later, the relationship is progressing very well." "Kimya's now in season, and is actively pursuing Kibali, chasing him into and around the playroom." "LOUISE:" "She's being a bit flirtatious with him here, so I think she's feeling quite confident." "Hmm." "And a little bit sexual." "See, she tried to reach out and touch him a little bit?" "Kibali could end this immediately, but seems happy to play along." "I think she's encouraging him to get a little bit closer." "They're playing a little bit of like a flirting game here, and I think she's just trying to get a response from him." "And see then that's brilliant, she's actually touched him, he's touched her back and forth." "That's awesome." "That's what we want to see." "As Kibali starts his first relationship outside his own family, the rest of the community here seems to be a little unsettled." "Although they've never seen Kibali, the younger ones can sense that something's up..." "..and challenge the aging silverback, Kibabu." "In this transitional period, keepers are monitoring Kibabu closely." "Usually when Kibabu's quite stressed, we can tell." "He sweats a lot." "So you can see it starting to drip off his forehead." "He becomes a little bit purse-lipped." "He gives off a bit of a distinctive smell as well." "So that's also a good indicator of mood." "So far so good." "I can see the pursed lips coming out, but I can't see any sweat yet either." "So we'll just see how he goes." "Kibabu will be eventually retired to a zoo where he will live in an all-male community, as aging silverbacks often do in the wild, while his successor Kibali makes the transition from adolescent to adult silverback." "It's great." "You can already see he's starting to put on weight." "You can see that silverback colouration around the rump area is starting to come out a little bit more." "The shoulders have gotten a little bit broader, and you can start to see that square jaw line, and the development of the crest that happens on top of the head, which really is about supporting those jaw muscles." "We're talking about animals that eat 30kg of vegetation a day." "What I like is that he's taking on those silverback behaviours, you know, those strong stances, the pursed lips and that sort of stuff." "You know, he's assuming that control position." "Kibali is thriving in his new environment." "And he's just reminding Kimya every now and again that this is his area now." "And soon he'll be living in a community just like he left, except he'll be the leader." "So the plan obviously, you know, is to start introducing additional females into this group here with Kibali and Kimya." "It's quite normal for gorillas to live in a harem-style society where you only have really one silverback leading a harem of unrelated females, and that's the reason why gorilla males are so large, and incredibly impressive, because they're there to protect," "they're there to lead and that they really are the glue that holds that gorilla unit together." "So, you know, for us now this is just an exciting period." "We've taken on the biggest hurdle, and that's introducing him to one female." "From now on it's just about introducing the others." "And that's important as we continue to work to a really secure global population of gorillas." "We look at Kibali and we can already see those things that are happening for the future, so it's a fantastic outcome." "Next time on Wild Life At The Zoo " "It could just be a personality issue." "A strange relationship between two elephants is affecting Taronga's breeding program." "WOMAN:" "Just when it looks like he is in the right spot, then she'll lay down." "And keepers are running out of time and options." "And after nearly dying in the wild, a young fur seal is recruited to be a new star at Taronga." "(Barks)" "But has he got what it takes?" "Closed Captions by CSI" "NARRATOR:" "Tonight on Wild Life At The Zoo... (Trumpets)" "Could just be a personality issue." "..a strange relationship between two elephants is affecting the breeding program of an endangered species." "And just when it looks like he's in the right spot, then she'll lay down." "She's playing hard-to-get and keepers are running out of time and options." "(Trumpets)" "And after nearly dying in the wild, a young fur seal is recruited to be one of the new stars at Taronga." "(Barks)" "But has he got what it takes?" "MAN:" "Worst case scenario is that he stresses out and won't leave the pool, and then the show will be cancelled." "£ Theme music" "Taronga Zoo has a proud record of breeding species that face extinction in the wild." "Often this takes time and enormous patience." "Over the last few years, three new Asian elephant calves have been born, adding to the insurance population of this endangered species." "But despite numerous attempts, one female here finds mating highly problematic." "Timing is of the essence." "Tang Mo is almost 13 and she is of prime breeding age at the moment." "We really wanna focus on getting her pregnant." "Um, the longer you wait to get an elephant pregnant, the harder it becomes." "Unless Tang Mo becomes pregnant soon, it's likely she'll develop scarring on her ovaries which would make it even harder for her to fall pregnant in the future." "So we really wanna get her pregnant now for her own physiological sake, but also, she has been the most maternal elephant we've had." "She has been a tremendous, doting aunty to our other three calves." "They just feel really secure and comfortable around her presence, and she's fiercely protective of them." "So we're desperate to give her a calf of her own." "Over the last year, keepers have been trying to mate Tang Mo without success." "MAN:" "Good morning, good morning." "Normally, she encourages the male to start with, but at the crucial moment, sits down and rejects him." "But for Tang Mo's well-being, keepers have to keep on trying, which means taking her on a short but potentially traumatic journey." "What we're gonna do is take Tang Mo, the elephant we want to breed..." "We'll take her, her best friend Thong Dee and Thong Dee's son Luk Chai, walk them through the zoo, on zoo grounds, and take them over to visit Gung." "I haven't forgotten about you, Luk Chai." "Good morning." "MAN:" "Back, back..." "Gung, the male Tang Mo has difficulty mating with, lives alone in bachelor quarters about 300m away from the females and their calves." "The reason we're walking the elephants to see Gung, why he's not in this enclosure with them, is that in the wild, male elephants do not live with the female herd." "Female elephants only ovulate three to four times a year and for less than 72 hours each time, so there are few chances to achieve pregnancy." "Keepers estimate Tang Mo will be in season sometime over the next two days, but they need to know exactly when." "So what we'll do this morning is take her blood sample." "It'll be analysed on-site and we should know within two hours ovulation will be imminent and it's a perfect time for breeding." "OK." "Here's her blood." "We'll send it to the lab and see what results we get." "Cool." "Thanks, Joel." "While they wait for results," "Tang Mo and Gung will be give the chance to get to know each other better." "So Tang Mo is heading for a morning at the bachelor quarters, and for safety reasons, this has to happen before the zoo opens." "They're easily spooked." "They've pretty good eyesight - it's comparable to that of a horse - but they can be startled." "Tang Mo leads the procession." "To keep her composed, she's accompanied by her support group - the calf Luk Chai, who she sometimes treats as her own, and her best friend Thong Dee." "We're talking to them, we're letting them know what's ahead, what to look out for." "One of the gibbons likes to swing in the trees as we go by, so we say 'hello' to her and let the elephants know," "'There's Mary." "Say hello to Mary.' (Chuckles)" "Well, we're reaching a spot that for some reason unknownst to us, can sometimes make the elephants a little nervous." "(Trumpets)" "No-one's quite sure what spooked Thong Dee - possibly a bird." "In the past, a kookaburra's laugh made them nervous." "We're almost here, Mo." "Are you getting excited?" "Bet you Gung's getting excited, huh?" "Good for us." "As soon as they walk into the exhibit and start smelling him, they get really, really excited already and hopefully, we'll get something happening today." "Gung's also excited." "He's already successfully sired two elephant calves and usually performs well." "Would you like a baby?" "Oh..." "Hopefully, today Tang Mo will become more comfortable with him and finally fall pregnant." "I know you can do it." "I know you can do it." "Here he comes." "Here he comes!" "(Trumpeting)" "Hi, Gungy." "At the wildlife hospital, keepers from the marine mammal division are looking after a new arrival." "A baby seal was found five days ago, emaciated and near-dead on a New South Wales beach, unable to even raise his head." "He had strayed around 2,000km from his home in the Antarctic." "He would normally be living in a colony, so around other animals, but obviously, he's gone off-track along the way to end up quite a ways north." "Young fur seals are favourite snacks of killer whales and leopard seals, so it's amazing he made it this far." "We'd estimate him probably around 18 months to two years." "He's shown a lot of improvement since he first arrived - he was quite weak and very malnourished." "But he's progressed rapidly in his eating and he's up to hand-feeding now which is good." "So, yeah, basically, he's a really calm and gentle feeder." "He is in quarantine." "He'll remain up in this area until the vet staff are happy with his health." "There are around four million fur seals in the Antarctic." "To preserve the species, any that stray are not allowed to be returned to the wild after time at the zoo." "He's a Sub-Antarctic fur seal, so we agree not to release" "Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic species back out into the wild due the possible threats of disease going back to those areas." "And also, due to his size, he's probably not a good candidate to survive long-term out there in the wild." "If he does survive, Brad hopes the seal will grow strong enough to join the other seals at the zoo." "He's been on solids for four or five days now and because he will remain as a part of our collection, it's really handy for us to start our training at an early age, so we can really modify his behaviour and get him well" "to work with the rest of our animals." "He might even progress to a starring role in the zoo's popular seal theatre, teaching people about marine conservation." "(Audience gasping)" "We've had great success in the past with other rehabilitated animals, getting them into our collection and socialising with the other animals." "There you go, buddy." "We've given him a little bit extra today, so he's now up to 1.2 kilos." "So we'll obviously keep an eye on how he's going with that over the next few days." "(Trumpeting) There she is." "Tang Mo!" "Keepers are awaiting blood test results to confirm that Tang Mo is ovulating." "In the meantime, she and Gung have been given time to become more familiar with each other." "The other females didn't do so much head-on-head sparring." "They pretty much presented their rear to Gung right away and it was just a matter of him sorting things out and... (Laughs) ..which he did." "With Tang Mo, you can see she instigates a lot of the sparring, so that's her way of foreplay, if you will." "Lots of caressing and touching." "But keepers fear that once again Tang Mo will reject Gung at the crucial moment." "She does everything right up to a point." "She'll present herself in the proper position and Gung will mount her, as he's trying to do right now, and just when it looks like he's about to, you know, penetrate her - he's in the right spot - then she'll lay down," "as she's doing right now, or she'll cross her legs and make it very difficult for him." "Tang Mo seems to be playing psychological games with Gung." "It may have something to do with their past." "They first met in transit on their way to Australia from Thailand." "It could just be a personality issue, but in Thailand, Tang Mo really was interested in Gung, wanted to be around him, wanted to play with him, but he really didn't want any part of it," "so whenever she came around, he'd kind of push her off," "'I don't want to play with you', and now that he's reached sexual maturity and he's interested in her in THAT way, it's almost as if she's sensing," "'Oh, now you're interested in me." "Well, now I'm going to play hard-to-get.' (Chuckles)" "He doesn't get easily frustrated." "But Tang Mo is doing her best to frustrate him." "Gung persists." "So this is all looking fantastic." "This is exactly the position that we want to see." "But by walking backwards," "Tang Mo is again not making it easy for Gung." "It does make it a bit tricky for Gung 'cause he's pretty much going in blind, so he has to feel around and get it in the right spot." "That takes a while unfortunately, and, well, she just gets impatient." "But he gets, as you just saw, incredibly close." "Like, we just think, 'Oh, this is it, this is it' and then, yeah... (Chuckles)" "..she plays her little games." "(Chuckles)" "Let's have a look." "At the zoo's lab, the results of Tang Mo's blood tests are back." "Paul Thompson to Gary Miller." "G'day, Gary." "Just wanted to let you know that the LH on Tang Mo today was negative." "Ah, well, we just heard from the lab and the results were that it's negative today." "Tang Mo is not ovulating right now, so it's time to change gear." "We still have some time." "We'll let Thong Dee and Gung's son Luk Chai in for a little socialisation, and it gives Luk Chai a chance to see what breeding is all about." "When given a choice, Gung ignores Tang Mo and prefers to mate with her best friend instead, even though she's not in season." "(Trumpets)" "As happened all those years ago, Tang Mo is spurned, but keepers aren't giving up." "Her negative result today makes it twice as likely she'll be ovulating tomorrow." "We're just desperate for her to have her own baby." "Yeah." "It's the best thing for her." "It's off back to home and we'll try again tomorrow." "(Barks)" "It's been 12 weeks since the young seal arrived at Taronga." "Now named Franklin, he's healthy and already making progress at his new home with pal Narla." "Franklin's made a huge improvement in the few months he's been with us, but he's progressing very well with his basic behaviours." "After coming from a wildlife hospital, he's been living with Narla, a little Australian sea lion that was born here at the zoo." "Narla's quite boisterous and little Frankie here is a little bit of a grump and he's actually put Narla in her place a few times." "(Barks)" "Franklin's grown into a very confident young man." "(Barks)" "Franklin's pal Narla is separated from Franklin for his training session." "We're going to head out and do a quick session with Franklin and basically, when I blow the whistle that means he's done the right thing." "That's how we communicate that he's done a good job." "Frankie, sit up." "The seals love the human contact and Franklin is proving a good student so far." "Good, Franklin." "The first thing we're really trying to reinforce is just his calm behaviour." "We want him nice and relaxed when working with him, and because he was quite hungry as a youngster, once he started eating, he was very focused on us and food, and so he was getting a little bit excited" "and over-anxious during his sessions." "The second behaviour that he's learning is a target." "There's a really simple concept behind it." "He touches his nose to the end of the pole." "Nice target, Frankie." "Good boy." "He'll become a highly trained animal over the next 12 months, but it all has to start somewhere." "It's believed seals have an intelligence similar to that of a dog." "By training them, it keeps their minds active and their management in the zoo safer." "Good." "Considering what he looked like when he first came in, he's a favourite amongst staff and visitors." "You know, I've had a lot to do with Franklin since he arrived and he's become quite focused on me." "The trick is getting him working as well for other trainers as he does for me, so it's all small steps." "Frankie!" "Water." "Training is progressing well, but if he behaves like other rehabilitated seals brought to the zoo, it could take over a year before he can join the show." "Once again Tang Mo and her support group are heading up to Gung's bachelor quarters." "If Tang Mo is to get pregnant, it has to be soon." "According to keepers' calculations, she should be ovulating around now." "A fresh blood test is being sent to the lab as round two begins." "It seems like Gung's taking a different approach today." "He's kind of being very casual, nonchalant, really taking his time." "'Cause usually he'll just come out, you know?" "(Chuckles)" "He's ready, he just jumps them, you know?" "But this time he gives it a good shot and if it doesn't work, he just... 'Alright, I'll go do something else'." "So he's trying to play it cool a little bit." "And as soon as he moves off, she does go to him." "But Tang Mo is up to her old ways." "Once again, she encourages Gung, then rejects him." "Repeatedly thwarted, Gung seems to be losing his cool." "I know, Gungy." "It's frustrating, isn't it?" "He's just looking for someone to blame." "By mid-morning, Lucy gets the news she's been hoping for." "OVER RADIO:" "Gary Miller to Lucy Melo." "Go ahead." "Tang Mo's LH was positive today." "OK, thanks, Gary." "We'll set them up here for the day then." "By afternoon, Gung has made numerous attempts, wearing down Tang Mo's resistance at this vital time when she's ovulating." "We saw Gung penetrate her, which he's never been able to do before, and she stood but he wasn't able to ejaculate, so he came out right away." "So we're going on the assumption that she's probably not pregnant." "It's time now for keepers to activate plan B." "We'll go ahead and make the plans for an artificial insemination on her next breeding cycle." "So that's going to be our plan for now." "Since Franklin joined the other seals, he's been learning at a remarkable pace." "I'm about to take Franklin out for his very first training session on the stage." "He'll get lots of fish the whole way through it, and you can hear he's pretty excited." "Very good, Franklin." "Training at the zoo is enjoyable for the seals and it's obvious Franklin is happy." "(Chuckles) If in doubt, Franklin always walks backwards." "He went, 'Not sure what I'm supposed to do, so I'll just walk backwards instead.'" "Big fan of Michael Jackson." "Franklin, come here." "This seal show is not only entertaining for people that come through our gates, but it's also a favourite part of the day for the seals." "Because they are such smart animals, once they pick up the game that training is about getting toys and getting fish and getting what you like, they really thrive on it." "Franklin has progressed really quickly." "He's really happy with the world and at the moment, that's all we really want." "Franklin, bite that." "Good." "After only four weeks in training," "Franklin is going through his routine on the stage albeit without an audience." "So this is pretty much perfect." "He's being really responsive, he's eating the whole time." "Good." "Water." "Good boy." "One of the biggest things that we're trying to establish for Franklin is getting him to realise that when he's touched by people, it's not threatening, it's not something he needs to be concerned about." "Because he did have a few wounds when he was younger, he associates people touching him with something nasty happening, so what we've been doing with him is getting him to touch people." "So we've aptly named it a 'lap dance'." "Come on up, mister." "Good boy." "Ready?" "Alright, up here." "Good boy." "Well done." "The lap dance reunites Franklin with Brad who trained him when he first arrived at the zoo." "You climb a bit higher?" "Good!" "Well done." "Alright, off you get." "Good, Franklin." "Well done." "Come on, quick, quick, quick." "Yeah." "Good boy." "Well, right now he's just getting a bit of a quick celebration from jumping on Brad and tolerating it, and the fact he did something that to you and me looks pretty basic, but to a small seal, that's a really big show of faith." "One day we would like Franklin to be part of our seal show." "For some seals it takes, you know, two or three years from the beginning of their training and others, it takes much longer - five or six years - and we'll just work with Franklin and see what he likes and what he dislikes." "I suspect within the next year hopefully, he'll start making cameos in the seal show." "Come on." "Good boy." "With Tang Mo not co-operating to get pregnant naturally," "Taronga has called in some expert help." "These guys are the world's best." "They can get an elephant pregnant in a flying visit." "Two artificial insemination specialists from Germany," "Thomas and Frank, are ready to go." "The first thing of course, is to get a semen sample from Gung, the bull, which is potentially the trickier part of the whole procedure." "It all depends on whether we get a sample or not, whether we actually go ahead with the AI." "Gung is surprisingly relaxed and the procedure goes smoothly." "The collection on Gung went extremely well." "We got a sample very quickly from him, so he's obviously in the right frame of mind, and it was a fantastic sample, so we've got a really good chance today." "Let's hope there's some swimmers in here, huh?" "We have about 40ml of pure semen and that's exactly what we need, and we are very optimistic that this artificial insemination will be a success." "This is Tang Mo's first AI." "We've been training her for months on stepping onto the platforms and she's been loving that, loving the attention, but when, you know, a catheter is actually up in there, that's stuff that we can't actually prepare her for." "Thomas and Frank artificially inseminate elephants at zoos across the world." "Tang Mo, back up and steady." "Good." "Good." "It's a highly specialised job." "Success means navigating through more than a metre of the elephant's anatomy." "So this is the scope that they're going to use to look up into Tang Mo's vagina, so they can see where to deposit the semen." "'Cause there's about a metre-length of what's called the 'vestibule', you know, before you actually get to the vagina." "So they put a catheter up that and they look for the vaginal opening." "THOMAS:" "Easy now, easy." "Tang Mo." "Relax." "Steady, Mo." "Good." "OK, now we need the light." "Elephants are unique amongst mammals, and it's all to do with the hymen." "So elephants have a hymen which has only opening from 2-4mm, and the interesting aspect on this hymen is that in all other mammals, a hymen will be ruptured during mating." "In elephants, it ruptures during birth." "OK, that's good." "So we have to find the opening through the hymen and then we will deposit the semen we harvest." "A little bit down, a little bit." "OK." "No, a little bit up." "A little up again." "OK." "Uh..." "No, in." "Ah." "Steady." "Now that they've threaded the catheter through the hymen into the cervix, it's time to inject around 40mm of sperm." "Very good, Mo, very good." "See?" "That's all semen there." "LARRY:" "Yeah, yeah." "Good, Mosey." "You can go a little more down... out." "Precision is the key and sometimes that takes a long time to achieve." "I'm here with you, hun, I'm here with you." "Yeah, see, it wasn't so bad?" "Can you put that down?" "You made too much out of it." "Yeah, it's all done." "It takes a lot of co-operation, a lot of trust from the female to accept this procedure, and she did great." "The finding of the opening, which was actually this tiny, took us about five minutes, and sometimes we search for hours." "Alright, keep going back up." "And to give the percentage on the success-rate, we expect we are now at about 70% and we are quite confident." "Well done." "I'll tell you, you guys are bloody legends." "(Both laugh)" "So from now we just take blood samples every two weeks." "At ten weeks if her progesterone level is still elevated, that's our first sign that she may be pregnant, because normally it would start to come back down if she was going to cycle again, but at 12 weeks if it's still up," "then yeah, we're pretty sure that we have a pregnant elephant and we'll be popping the champagne bottles then." "There's been an extraordinary development at Seal Cove, home to young Franklin, the Sub-Antarctic fur seal." "Today is Franklin's show debut, so it's a pretty special day for him." "Franklin's going to join the seal show less than 12 months after he arrived almost-dead at Taronga." "Some seals take up to five years to train before they're ready for a performance, but Franklin's a real prodigy." "Franklin's big moves are pretty standard." "He's just going to come out onto stage." "At first I'll just walk him out really, really slowly, and if there's a sudden moment where everyone goes... (Gasps)" "..or makes, you know, a noise in unison, it might throw him off completely, but I'm 99% sure that he's going to take it in his stride." "The worst case scenario is that he stresses out and won't leave the pool and then the show will be cancelled." "(Barks)" "It's show time." "(Gasping and applause)" "Franklin will be part of the second act today." "(Cheering and applause)" "(Gasping)" "(Cheering and applause)" "Finally, it's Franklin's turn." "You're about to meet one of our very special seals, and this is actually his first time coming out to do a show." "Come on, mister." "Please welcome out Franklin with his trainer Ryan." "Come on, Frankie." "(Applause and cheering)" "So far he's following most of Ryan's instructions well." "What do you reckon?" "He's doing a good job?" "(Applause)" "Weighing in at about 18 kilos," "Franklin has almost doubled his weight from when he first came into us here at the zoo, and he's only aged two." "He's got a long way to go and so far, all he knows how to do is swim around, and I think he's doing a great job," "Franklin, isn't that right?" "(Applause)" "Alright, well, that's it for Franklin..." "But even in the seal theatre, it seems everyone's a critic." "What did you reckon about Franklin's show debut?" "(Laughter)" "But Ryan's thrilled with Franklin's show debut." "Oh, he did really, really well." "There were definitely a few moments where he looked at the crowd when they gasped or clapped, but there was no cancellations of the show, so it was a success." "Please thank him one more time." "Good boy." "(Applause)" "After his remarkable journey and ill health," "Franklin is thriving in his new world." "Franklin's fantastic." "He is so far ahead of where we could even hope for, and the fact that he can go out and do that, it's perfect, couldn't ask for more." "At the elephant compound, it's time for keepers to discover if Tang Mo's artificial insemination has worked." "It's been 12 weeks and we've taken our blood test and we just got the results in and she's pregnant, so we're over the moon." "This is just fantastic news for us." "Elephants have one of the longest gestation periods of any mammal." "If all goes well, Tang Mo should have her baby in 22 months." "This is fantastic news, not just for her but even broader than that." "You know, Asian elephants in general are very endangered." "It's estimated that at the current rate of decline, they could be extinct in the wild in less than 20 years time." "So this pregnancy is fantastic news for Asian elephants worldwide." "Every little elephant helps." "(Chuckles)" "Next time on Wild Life At The Zoo..." "There's only 103 of these animals left in the wild." "..keepers prepare for the birth of one of the rarest animals on the planet." "Djembe being a first-time mother, all the worry will come once the baby hits the ground." "..and Taronga Zoo joins the fight to save these Tasmanian devils." "If he approaches you, you just have to be really firm." "It's all bluff." "(Roars)" "Closed Captions by CSI"