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00:01They say don't ever work with babies or animals.
00:09But what if they're baby animals?
00:13I was only born this morning.
00:15On this all-new season,
00:18welcome back to the ever-changing world of Taronga,
00:24where you'll witness things you never thought possible.
00:29I can actually hear her breathe.
00:31And meet new faces.
00:33Oh, hi, buddy.
00:34You'll never forget.
00:36So good.
00:37It's time to discover.
00:39Oh, my God.
00:41Exactly who's who in this zoo.
00:48On this special episode.
00:51Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo.
00:53Elephants have been here at Taronga for 109 years.
00:56History in the making.
00:58These two are the last here in Sydney.
00:59As Taronga's elephants say goodbye.
01:02It's not easy to move an elephant.
01:04But...
01:05Go get a mouldy, back up, toy!
01:07...just as they're preparing to leave...
01:09We realised something was up.
01:10...a medical emergency...
01:12We have to try to save the site, we just have to.
01:14How many bread cement are we getting?
01:16...that could not be any riskier...
01:18A drop in your mouth or in your eye will kill you within minutes.
01:21...stops everything.
01:23One hour down.
01:24This is a world first.
01:26If we go from zero to ten, ten being the hardest, we're probably at a hundred.
01:36Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, where there's an unmistakable air of expectancy.
01:40Since Taronga Zoo in Sydney opened its gates...
01:43King Kong's Australia's first gorilla.
01:46...over 100 years ago in 1916, elephants have always called the harbour city home.
01:53Elephants have been here at Taronga for 109 years actually.
01:58Originally with Jessie coming over the harbour when Taronga Zoo first opened.
02:02So it's a really amazing legacy species for Taronga Zoo.
02:06Yeah, they love the rain, they love the mud.
02:09Hey, Rosie!
02:11But that's all about to end.
02:14We have two female Asian elephants here at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.
02:18We have a 32-year-old called Pak Boon, which is a Thai name that means morning glory flower.
02:28And we have a 26-year-old called Tang Mo, which is a Thai name that means watermelon.
02:32Hi, Tang Mo!
02:34And these two are the last remaining elephants here in Sydney.
02:39Elephants are very social animals.
02:41Oh, it's getting hot!
02:43In the wild, Asian elephants can live in sometimes large herds, numbering dozens at a time.
02:48And they normally rely on the herd for social interactions, for play, for their day-to-day engagements.
02:56Here at Taronga, having the two females that we have, regardless of our best efforts,
03:00we've given the elephants big bumpers or boys from the Navy.
03:03Yeah!
03:04Yeah, see that!
03:05Even the toys that we make them out of big tractor tyres,
03:07and even the small fiddly enrichment items, the ice blocks, the peanut canisters,
03:12to occupy their time to stimulate them mentally and physically,
03:15it's still not quite enough.
03:17We're not quite meeting their social needs.
03:20We've noticed that they really do need something extra in their lives to fill that gap.
03:25So they will be heading to Monato Safari Park to join two other females
03:29and later this year another male, and hopefully get that social complexity that they do need in their lives.
03:36And these big girls can't make the big move to South Australia
03:41without getting in a big crate.
03:47It's not easy to move an elephant.
03:48Elephants are, first of all, very large.
03:50So to move an elephant involves getting them into a transport container cooperatively.
03:55So this is our transport container, which is basically a modified shipping container.
03:59And this will be where they'll be for 20-plus hours on the trip down to Monato Safari Park.
04:05But getting them into the crate is a job in itself
04:08and takes months and months of training.
04:13Good girl.
04:14So every morning, before they get their main breakfast...
04:16Good.
04:18Good. More.
04:19We start the training sessions.
04:20Good girl.
04:23Other foot.
04:24Good.
04:25Wearing their safety bands.
04:26Go for it, Johnny.
04:28All right.
04:29See you out there.
04:30And then one at a time they come into the crate.
04:32Hey, Mo.
04:36Atta girl.
04:37Safety bands around their legs.
04:38Good foot.
04:39Which are chained to lugs on the floor.
04:41And these are all very much there for the elephant's safety and their security on the trip.
04:47Hey, yes.
04:49All right, Mo.
04:51Other foot.
04:52Good.
04:53Good.
04:54These restraints are very similar to a seat belt or even those straps that you hold on a bus when you're standing.
04:59Hi.
05:01Good.
05:03To make sure they have that ability to hold their position within the crate is really valuable.
05:07Back.
05:08Good girl.
05:09Back up.
05:10Back up.
05:11Back up.
05:12You can do it.
05:13Back up.
05:14That's it.
05:15Good girl.
05:16Good.
05:17More.
05:18Good trunk up.
05:19Good open.
05:20All right.
05:21Good girl.
05:22But to get them to that position involves a lot of small steps done over many, many months.
05:27Good foot.
05:28Good girl.
05:30By doing that on repetition every single day, it means that come the day of transport, it should just be another day for them.
05:35They get in the crate and the only difference is we close the doors in front and behind them.
05:39Cool.
05:40Ready when you are.
05:41All right, Mo.
05:42Tang Mo, back.
05:43Toy.
05:44Good girl.
05:45Back.
05:46Good girl, Molzi.
05:47Back up.
05:48Toy.
05:49Good girl.
05:50Tang Mo and Pak Boon, I've been lucky enough to work with them for about nine years now.
05:54Hello.
05:55You did so well.
05:56Tang Mo, move up.
05:57The training session went very well.
05:59It's just a matter of building resilience.
06:01And as you can see, she's doing a fantastic job.
06:03Good girl, Boons.
06:04Move up.
06:06While Tang Mo is handling crate training like a pro, when it comes to Pak Boon, alarm bells are ringing.
06:14Good.
06:15Open.
06:16There you go.
06:17Very good.
06:18During one of our crate sessions, we noticed when we threw her treat to her right side that she didn't pick up on it visually.
06:24All right, Boonie.
06:25Back up.
06:26Toy.
06:27Toy.
06:28Back.
06:29Back.
06:30Good girl.
06:31And when she was backing up as well, she kind of missed a few treats.
06:33It was the first indicator when we realised maybe something was up.
06:39I think she's done.
06:40Good.
06:41Steady, Pak Boon, how?
06:42So, upon closer inspection, we noticed a slight deformation in her eyeball, which then led us to get the vets involved.
06:47From then, we noticed that there was an ulceration forming on her eye, which then consequently showed us that there was a perforation in her cornea.
06:56All right, Pak Boon, back up.
06:58If Pak Boon's eye is, in fact, injured, she won't be allowed to travel.
07:03And that means the elephant's move to a new life at Monato Safari Park could be placed on hold indefinitely.
07:12Good girl, Pak Boon.
07:13Good girl.
07:14Good boy.
07:15Good boy.
07:16Good boy.
07:22Good boy.
07:23One of the challenges of running a zoo is feeding the different types of animals from all over the world.
07:28Good morning, Pep.
07:30You ready for your brekkie?
07:31From pellets, grains and hay to all types of meat,
07:35every animal has a diet that Taronga staff need to accommodate.
07:40Good girl!
07:41But for the African herbivores,
07:43there's a surprisingly abundant source of their favourite foods
07:47not too far away.
07:50Today the horticulture team is going out to the Western Sydney airport.
07:54There is, um, basically...
07:58It's almost an unlimited source of olive for us.
08:03African olive is considered a noxious weed here in Australia,
08:07but for our African species, it's a food source.
08:10We are literally just collecting olive today and that's it.
08:13That is it.
08:14And we're going to fill up this truck to its capacity
08:17and distribute it all around the zoo.
08:19We'll be giving to the giraffes, the gorillas, the chimps,
08:25some of the smaller animals as well.
08:30Hungry mounds to feed.
08:31Yes.
08:32There's a few.
08:33There's a few.
08:33Yeah.
08:35There's a new airport being built in New South Wales.
08:40Is this it?
08:41Yeah.
08:42Is that the airport?
08:43Right.
08:43Wow!
08:44It sits on 1,700 acres of land,
08:48but the airport has a huge weed problem
08:51and Team Taronga are here to help.
08:55Our partnership with the Western Sydney airport,
08:58what that is doing is it's giving us a sustainable source of browse
09:01to feed out to our animals
09:02and it's also going to be removing a noxious weed from their bushland
09:08and helping them regenerate the land as well.
09:10Oh, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet out there.
09:14And we're ready to go.
09:15Because that weed is about to be taken down.
09:23Back at Taronga, the future of their Asian elephants is in limbo.
09:28Steady.
09:29As their move to their new home in South Australia has been shut down
09:34and all because of Pak Boone's eye.
09:37Recently, we have noticed that Pak Boone has a small eye injury.
09:41We want to make sure she's in optimal health for the journey to Monato
09:45and for her settling-in period there.
09:47Steady, Pak Boone.
09:49Good, open.
09:50There you go.
09:51Very good.
09:52She's a very strong-willed girl
09:53and so she has been a little bit resistant to topical treatment
09:57and taking medicine
09:58and having her eye looked at particularly closely.
10:01What the vet team do know
10:03is that if Pak Boone's eye is left untreated,
10:06it can turn into a series of serious issues for her.
10:10Infections, blindness, and she could even lose her eye.
10:15So we have decided in consultation, obviously,
10:18with our vets and ophthalmologists that we work with
10:20that we are going to need to do a full general anaesthetic
10:23so that they can really get in there
10:25and have a really good look at her eye
10:27and provide any treatment that might be needed.
10:29And today's the day this jumbo patient goes under the anaesthetic.
10:38Start with that.
10:40It's not something that happens very often.
10:43This is a huge procedure for us.
10:45The last time we did an elephant anaesthetic was 10 years ago,
10:48actually to the day.
10:51And we've got about 33 people involved.
10:56Are we going Tetris people?
10:57We've got people coming in from interstate.
11:00We've got equipment coming in from interstate.
11:02We've got equipment coming in from other hospitals.
11:06It's a massive, massive undertaking.
11:09Because the patient is the size she is,
11:12to add even more complexity to the procedure,
11:15it all has to happen at Pak Boone's place,
11:19in the elephant house.
11:20And now go straight and you should be good.
11:24I am keeping my voice down because we're just outside the barn
11:27where the elephant currently is.
11:29We've got tonnes of specialised equipment
11:32and now we're just setting it up here
11:35where the elephants won't be aware of it
11:37in order to prepare ourselves so it's on hand and ready to go.
11:41Gabby are the eye-stack cartridges in that black bag.
11:45When people have an anaesthetic,
11:47you'll often have a tube hopped down your throat
11:50to help you to breathe.
11:51This is the size ET tube that we would use for an elephant.
11:54So same thing, just a bit bigger than my throat.
11:58Where's the whole pole?
11:59There has been very high stress levels throughout.
12:03This procedure is as big as it gets.
12:05It's monumental.
12:06We do regularly do large animal and dangerous animal procedures.
12:11This is all of the challenging factors rolled into one.
12:15Add to that a very intelligent animal.
12:18They're completely on to us.
12:20Elephants are so intuitive.
12:21They absolutely would know that we're here,
12:24no matter how quiet we try and be,
12:26but we still try and minimise disturbance
12:27and keep them in their normal routine
12:30and we don't want to cause them any stress
12:33and therefore not work as well for the trainers
12:35and that's what we're relying on
12:38to be able to administer the medications for the anaesthetic.
12:40The last thing anyone wants today
12:43is to try and anaesthetise four tonnes of disgruntled elephant.
12:51In Sydney, Pacboon's eye operation is about to get underway.
12:57And at the hospital, Michael, the anaesthetist,
13:01is one of the specialists brought in
13:03for today's rather delicate procedure.
13:06I'm leading the anaesthesia of the elephant, Pacboon, today.
13:12It's a very challenging thing.
13:16She's over 3,800 kilos.
13:19So we've got to manage all that and monitor it
13:24and understand what's going on.
13:27When are you going to drop the torphene?
13:29Pretty soon.
13:30So torphene is an ultra-potent opioid.
13:37Less than one-half of a mil is enough
13:39to make that 3,800 kilo elephant lie down.
13:43So it's enormously powerful.
13:46But fortunately, it comes with the risk
13:48of being pretty lethal for humans as well.
13:53And so we've got to be very, very careful
13:55when we're using it to protect ourselves with that
13:59because less than a drop is going to kill a human.
14:04So we cover up as much of our skin as possible.
14:07All right, so probably just stand back a bit, I reckon.
14:12Yeah, yeah.
14:13When we're using such a dangerous drug,
14:16we have protocols to keep us safe.
14:21And one of those today is having, actually,
14:24our ambulance personnel right here with us.
14:26So in the event of an exposure,
14:29we've got that sort of medical help just right there.
14:33With the torphene at the ready,
14:35Michael heads down to the elephant house.
14:40OK, thanks, everyone, for coming this morning.
14:42An army of vets, keepers and veterinary specialists
14:46have come together to take part in today's epic procedure.
14:51I just want to quickly go through the risks.
14:54I think the main things for today are masks,
14:57so the biosecurity.
14:59One thing, these masks, we were thinking,
15:02once she's down and intubating and starting the ventilation,
15:04that's when we're masking on.
15:06So we're not masking on right now
15:08because she's not used to us in masks.
15:09Yeah, for sure.
15:10Yeah, that makes sense.
15:12The other one is obviously manual handling
15:13and working around the elephant.
15:16So just being really mindful,
15:19particularly when you're in the store with her.
15:22And particularly those key moments
15:23are going to be when she's going down
15:24and then obviously when she's coming out at the end in recovery.
15:28There's a few important considerations with an elephant anaesthesia.
15:33Just being really, really mindful,
15:34not crawling under her at any point to get any straps in.
15:38Number one is danger to the people,
15:41just based on her size.
15:43At any point, we may be asked just to leave
15:45and you'll have to just kind of drop everything
15:47and step out of the store.
15:48Because four tonnes is a lot.
15:50Once she's down, we can't move her.
15:51So one of the other big risks for today
15:54is the use of a torphene.
15:56So I'm just going to get Flea
15:57just to quickly run through risk mitigations.
15:59One of the anaesthetic drugs we're using is a torphene.
16:02The ambos are on site.
16:05A torphene is a very potent drug.
16:08It's much stronger than morphine
16:10and it can kill you if you get a drop of it on your skin.
16:13So the important things to remember
16:15is there will be an exposure spot at her rump
16:18where she's injected in the muscle.
16:20She'll get the injection,
16:21it'll be cleaned down and marked with bright green.
16:25Anything that's bright green indicates a torphene,
16:28so don't touch it.
16:29If there isn't a torphene emergency,
16:32the ambulance guys are on site,
16:33on the contacts to get them
16:36where they need to be immediately.
16:38We know how to provide first aid for it.
16:39Obviously, they are far better at doing so than us
16:41and probably a lot quicker.
16:43A drop in your mouth or in your eye
16:45will kill you within minutes.
16:47So that's why we have ambulance here
16:49and we have a lot of procedures and protocols in place
16:53to make sure that doesn't happen.
16:56And if it does happen,
16:57that we can act on it immediately.
16:59Any questions?
17:01Just no touchy.
17:02No touchy.
17:03With the formalities out of the way,
17:09Michael heads for the elephant house
17:11while Taronga's vet team watch on anxiously
17:14with the two specialists who have been brought in
17:17to work on Pacboon's eye.
17:19My name is Kelly Caruso
17:20and I'm a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist.
17:24How much time do you need to set up?
17:27We'll need probably 20 minutes.
17:29To set up?
17:30To set up.
17:31OK.
17:32My name's William Irving.
17:33I'm also a board-certified ophthalmologist.
17:35So the pair of us together today
17:37will be hopefully fixing Pacboon's eye.
17:39Pacboon has a hole in her eye
17:42and the part of the eye the hole is in
17:44is called the corneum,
17:46which is the clear front part of the eye,
17:48which is necessary for vision.
17:50It's also causing her discomfort, this hole.
17:52As soon as we get in there,
17:53we want to have quick access to the eye,
17:56to the globe itself.
17:58And then the goal is to look at the hole,
18:01look at the tissue around there,
18:03look at the cornea, see how healthy it is.
18:05The cornea is the front clear part of the eye.
18:08Look at the iris, which is the colored part of the eye
18:10that's sort of coming forward to help block the hole.
18:15Try to push everything back into its normal anatomical location,
18:19make sure it looks healthy,
18:20patch it and get out.
18:22We've got all sorts of tissue and synthetics
18:25and her own tissue that we're planning on using
18:28to repair this hole.
18:30And that's the goal.
18:31We want to try to get this fixed as quickly as possible.
18:34What we don't want to happen is we have to enucleate the eye,
18:36which means remove it.
18:38We'll make that decision pretty quickly,
18:39depending on how healthy the tissue is or not.
18:42With the atorphine injection complete,
18:45Michael marks the spot with a fluoro-green spray paint.
18:50Today's procedure's going to be really challenging for all of us.
18:53You can tell by the number of people that are all hands on deck today.
18:58I'll wheel this.
18:59So there's a lot going on.
19:01I think every team has their own challenges.
19:02From the ophthalmic standpoint and trying to repair this eye,
19:12if we go from zero to ten, ten being the hardest,
19:16we're probably at a hundred.
19:17Leaving the animals behind,
19:28Taronga's horticulture team have ventured out of the zoo
19:32to the Western Sydney airport site.
19:35Let's go.
19:36Great.
19:38We're there preparing to harvest an exotic treat
19:41for Taronga's African residents.
19:43So what we've got here is African olive.
19:48It does look...
19:50It is in the olive family,
19:51so it is related to the European olive.
19:54However, this is a weed from Africa,
19:56so it really takes hold here in our natural bushlands
19:59and colonises everything,
20:01crowding out a lot of our native species.
20:04So coming out here and removing the bulk of the vegetation,
20:07we're minimising its opportunity to spread seed,
20:11and we're also feeding the animals that love to eat it.
20:16Actually, this is a perfect hanger.
20:18But it's not one size fits all.
20:22So we're looking to cut different sizes
20:24for the different sized animals.
20:26Something like this will be going to the giraffes.
20:29Quite a large branch for quite a large animal.
20:32Something big can be used to sort of hang up
20:35and allow the giraffes to sort of feed on it.
20:37And then we do a selection of slightly smaller stuff
20:41that they bundle up and put in pots along the fence line
20:44as a different way to sort of feed it out as well.
20:46Creates a bit of interest for the animals.
20:48So I'm just going to cut, like, these smaller ones here.
20:51All right?
20:52Some of the smaller branches will be given out to the primates.
20:55Some of those will be turned into little bouquets
20:57and sort of hung up as well.
20:59It's a really rewarding, unique part of horticulture,
21:03providing the food for the animals.
21:06It's great to be able to provide a staple part of their diet.
21:10This is primates.
21:11Primates.
21:12So this is reellers.
21:12Specifically, that's fence.
21:14That's fence for giraffes.
21:16More primate-y stuff up there.
21:18More primate.
21:19And I've probably got some more fence stuff.
21:21This is the hangers.
21:22This is hangers.
21:23There's no shortage.
21:24Okey-doke.
21:25We're probably close to done.
21:26We're going to be looking at filling up the truck.
21:31The truck will hold about 20 square metres
21:33of African olive, thereabouts,
21:36and we'll try and fit as much as possible in to bring back.
21:44With a truck full of goodies, they set off for Taronga,
21:48where Pak Boon, the Asian elephant, is now sedated,
21:52so the entire vet team can safely enter the elephant house
21:57for today's big procedure.
21:59The risks of anaesthetising an adult elephant
22:02are mainly around her size and her respiratory system.
22:06If she goes down onto her chest
22:08and we can't move her onto her side,
22:11then that makes it very, very difficult for her to breathe.
22:14So getting her to lie down when she's anaesthetised
22:18is really hard in a safe way
22:21and in the position that you want her to.
22:23So there's an army of people using ropes, slings and a crane
22:27to get this big lady to hopefully lie down safely.
22:32The worst thing that can happen if she goes down
22:34and her head is forward and her trunk is underneath her
22:38and then we've only got minutes to save her and move her.
22:42Yeah.
22:42So everyone's on tenterhooks, especially for this part.
22:50Once she's down and once she's on her side,
22:56then we'll be a lot more comfortable.
23:06Can we get a rope around those far side and pull her?
23:09The brilliance of the elephant-keeping team.
23:17So, you know, I can't string up a laundry line.
23:21They were able to string up an elephant
23:23in a beautiful, safe way where it looked like a ballet.
23:27So as she went to sleep,
23:28she got lifted off a little bit off her feet
23:30and those legs got pulled under
23:33and she lay down soft as anything
23:35with a nice tyre under her head.
23:38It couldn't have gone better.
23:41It was a beautiful thing.
23:42With Pak Boone comfortably down...
23:44You've got gloves on.
23:45Can you just connect that up for me?
23:48It's our lifeline.
23:49Michael and his team just need to make sure she's stable...
23:54I don't know, do you want to do this
23:55and then I'll stick the cather in or...?
23:57..before the eye specialists can get to work.
24:00She's breathing on her own.
24:01I'm just supplementing her as she takes a walk.
24:03OK, but how many breaths a minute are we getting?
24:04About six.
24:05Six.
24:06OK, so what's her heart rate?
24:08It's 37.
24:0837.
24:09So it's OK.
24:10Pressure's been good.
24:11C2.
24:1138 and tidal.
24:13And tidal.
24:14So she's all good.
24:15Anesthesia's tough.
24:17They are a big animal.
24:20There are certain things you have to be really careful with.
24:23Michael, at what stage can the ophthalmologist come in?
24:27Oh, now, now.
24:28Yeah, go for it.
24:28Access to the eye, the way that they're laying
24:31and us getting to the eye
24:34is going to probably be one of the hardest aspects
24:36of the procedure today.
24:38Her eye position might change.
24:39So you tell me what eye position, is that OK for you?
24:42Would you expect that what you're doing
24:44is going to be very painful?
24:46No.
24:46No, no.
24:47Just a little bit of stinging with a local anaesthetic, maybe?
24:49Yeah.
24:50While the eye specialists often work on smaller animals...
24:54She has some unique abilities
24:56that our usual dogs and cats do not have.
24:59..the sheer size and weight of an elephant
25:01makes even the simplest task extremely challenging.
25:05They have incredibly strong eyelid muscles,
25:08even under anaesthesia,
25:10they are really difficult to open their eyelids.
25:13I would love a pair of forceps, yep.
25:15Because I'll hold it for you and you can...
25:16Let's grab...
25:17Can we grab that sterile, the sterile stuff over?
25:19Because I'll try and get one of those speculants in.
25:22That might help us quite a bit.
25:23It's pretty large eye sound.
25:25Yeah.
25:25Give it a try and see what we get.
25:28Oh, what?
25:29Well, there's, like, all this grit in here.
25:33With the minutes ticking by...
25:36One hour down.
25:37..the worst-case scenario starts to look more and more likely.
25:43You happy?
25:44There? No.
25:45..if they can't get the injured eye into position,
25:48then they can't fix it.
25:50We're sort of a little bit of heart-sinking moment,
25:52thinking, oh, are we actually going to be able to get this done?
25:55Tell me, Phil.
25:57Jesus.
25:58The horticulture team have returned from their airport run
26:08and are unloading their baggage.
26:11Back at Taronga, we've got a browse fridge.
26:14And inside that, we store the different fresh feed
26:16for different animals in tubs of water.
26:20The tubs, they've got every day of the week on them
26:23and they get fed out to the animals
26:25so we can keep track of what they're getting.
26:27And inside there, we'll be storing the African olive
26:30that we're bringing back today.
26:32For the primates, what we do is we try to give them
26:34a distribution of various species
26:37that have got a good variety in their diet
26:39and a minimum of three different things per day.
26:42Typically, African olive will feature almost every day as well.
26:46The browse fridge is where the horticultural team's job ends
26:50and the keeper's job begins.
26:53The keepers are responsible for delivering the browse
26:56to the hungry animals in their respective habitats.
26:59This enrichment is really important for our squirrel monkeys.
27:02So you can see they're all rummaging through these browse
27:04and they're running around a bit crazy
27:06and that's because they are very excited.
27:08But the squirrel monkey's excitement is nothing
27:11compared to what's happening in the African savannah precinct,
27:14where it's out with the old and in with the new.
27:18All right, we can drop that there.
27:21And I'll go grab some more browse.
27:26So basically, we get the hooks in all of the branches
27:30and we put the chains through them and then hang them up.
27:36So we'll raise these up
27:37and the giraffes will just eat it throughout the day.
27:40The chains obviously make quite a loud sound.
27:48The giraffes, he's listened to the sound of the chains going up.
27:51They often come out when they hear it.
27:52They start drooling, they get very excited.
27:55We hang browse because giraffes are obviously quite tall.
27:58In the wild, they're quite an interesting species
28:00in terms of they're the only species that eat from the tops of canopies.
28:04So we need to rise these up.
28:05They've got long necks.
28:06They need to be able to stimulate their tongue
28:08and it's just kind of mimicking the natural eating
28:10behaves as best that we can.
28:14So as you can see, they're definitely enjoying our browse.
28:17Ebo!
28:19It's really rewarding to go out to the airport
28:21and collect the sustainable food source
28:24and bring it back as browse for the animals.
28:27It's a win-win situation for us all.
28:31Meanwhile, in the elephant house,
28:33the ophthalmologists need to actually see Pak Boone's damaged eye
28:39before they can even attempt to fix it.
28:42I'll just infiltrate some of her lids, Kel.
28:44OK.
28:45So initially we were really concerned about
28:47how we were going to get access to the eye.
28:50You can take it from there.
28:52Elephants just have such strong eye muscles
28:54and they like to pull their eye back down into the socket.
28:57So when we started, it was almost about, you know,
29:01an inch sitting there further down into the depths of her socket.
29:05So the globe is there.
29:06We want to get back from here.
29:08We've got spinals.
29:09We can pass.
29:09We can really pass it around the back there.
29:11That would be great.
29:12And finally, after 18 agonising minutes...
29:16So I think we're in.
29:17..the result they were all hoping for.
29:20Oh, that felt...
29:21Oh, yeah.
29:21That felt really good.
29:23You could just...
29:23I think that was perfect.
29:24When the blocks started going in with the local anaesthetic,
29:28her muscles started relaxing.
29:30How's your access?
29:31Yeah.
29:32Not bad.
29:32Is that good?
29:33Good.
29:34You're not getting any response there.
29:35I guess you've blocked it now.
29:36Yeah.
29:37Yeah.
29:37We were able to get the eye into a really nice position
29:40where we could do what we needed to do.
29:42Oh.
29:43OK.
29:44I think we're going to be able to fix it.
29:46Yep.
29:47Let's do it.
29:48Up there.
29:48Yep.
29:49I'll put a gown on.
29:50From the moment she laid down and we got in there,
29:53I thought, we have to try to save this eye.
29:55We just have to.
29:56What do you think?
29:57Surgery?
29:58Surgery.
29:58Hopefully, we'll be able to get a graft in
30:00and get the patch in as well.
30:02No ego here, but we just wanted to save her eye.
30:05Good.
30:06I think we're good.
30:07Let's do it.
30:08Because we thought that would be her best possible outcome.
30:11They think the best repair is possible,
30:15so we're going to go for plan A.
30:18I love it.
30:19They're not talking about taking the eye out,
30:20so I'm happy with that.
30:21Let's have a look.
30:23What do you think?
30:24Excellent.
30:24I need a zappara.
30:25Yeah, that's great.
30:27Obviously, we had a few different plans in place.
30:30The worst-case scenario was that Pac Boone
30:32had to have her eye removed.
30:33Okay.
30:35Perfect.
30:36I think that's what we'll get for the moment.
30:37Okay.
30:38We might not even need stay sutures.
30:41Let's just do it.
30:42But we got our plan A in,
30:44so we got the best-case scenario of what we could do,
30:46the type of graft we wanted to get in there
30:48to just give her the best possible chances of healing,
30:51having a good outcome, and having vision.
30:53So plan A was, yeah, like the sliding corneal graft.
30:57Yeah, they're going to integrate the synthetic graft,
31:01the fork graft, into the corneal layer.
31:04So at least you'll have two layers if that comes down.
31:08Fingers crossed.
31:09Can we have a six-punch biopsy?
31:13Let's cut a six.
31:15Six-punch biopsy in the biosis.
31:18And can I have a 64 beaver blade, please?
31:20It was go, go, go from the start.
31:23What do you think, down the bottom?
31:24I'm thinking it's going to be hard with this.
31:27We kind of didn't know what we were getting ourselves into
31:29going into it.
31:30At the limbus.
31:31Yeah.
31:33That one's going to be a beautiful graft.
31:35It's really not wanting to come away from the globe, is it?
31:38It's OK, we're going to get it.
31:40It's almost there.
31:42And then we're going to put four stitches in.
31:46It was all just quick decisions being made.
31:49How are you guys progressing?
31:51Good.
31:51We've just retrieved the graft.
31:53Yep.
31:54We're about to dissect the area around the hole and plug it,
31:59and then we can pull the graft into place.
32:00So we're probably, if everything goes perfectly,
32:03we're about 40 minutes.
32:0440 minutes, all right.
32:05Although the eye surgeons are making quick progress,
32:08it's a race against the clock.
32:10Because the longer Pak Boone is under anaesthetic,
32:14the more her life is at risk.
32:16And no-one cares more about this beautiful beast
32:19than her faithful keepers.
32:21The keepers have been working with her for about 20 years,
32:25and they work with her every day.
32:27And she's, you know, she's part of a family.
32:30She's not just a zoo animal.
32:32She's an extremely important animal to all of us
32:38and a massive part of our lives.
32:41And it weighs on everybody's head and heart
32:46that if something happens to her today,
32:48it will be just tragic.
32:51You know, we're trying not to think about that.
32:53But it's definitely a possibility
32:54and something we have to consider.
32:57So we're all gunning for her.
33:00Yeah, it'll be devastating if something bad happens.
33:05What sort of time length do you reckon you guys are up?
33:08So we're suturing in the synthetic graft right now.
33:11Yep.
33:12So...
33:1330 minutes?
33:1430.
33:1430 minutes, OK.
33:15We're working quickly, I promise.
33:17Anesthesia is risky for any animal,
33:21let alone a four-ton elephant.
33:23So the eye surgeons are under pressure
33:26to get Pacboon's eye fixed as fast as they possibly can.
33:30The eye's rolling back down.
33:32Yep.
33:32I thought earlier that at a scale of 0 to 10,
33:3610 being the hardest, we were at 100,
33:38we were at 1,000.
33:41It's OK.
33:42Don't worry.
33:43Don't worry.
33:43She seems lighter.
33:45She could be a little bit lighter,
33:46like she's trying to pull her eye a little bit.
33:49You feel like you've got this huge adrenaline rush.
33:52I'll give her a little bolus of determined, I think.
33:55The team here was spectacular.
33:58You notice that she's a bit deeper now?
34:00Yeah.
34:01I think she seems pretty good.
34:01She seems very good.
34:02The collaboration was the best,
34:06like bar none, absolutely extraordinary.
34:09She had a large hole within her cornea
34:11sitting about here.
34:13So what we did, we stitched adjacent cornea
34:15that we've harvested here
34:16and then slid that forwards.
34:18So that brings a nice blood supply with it
34:21and we've got healthy cornea sitting in the centre
34:23where she'll do most of her scenes.
34:25So I think those last two should do us well.
34:30Beautiful.
34:31Lovely.
34:33Lovely.
34:34So that was, um, that was intense.
34:37Okay.
34:38Surgery finished.
34:39Finished.
34:40And we did everything we thought
34:41we were going to be able to do.
34:44Huh.
34:46This, I think, is a world first
34:48for a corneal conjunctival transpositional graft.
34:51So a big, long, fancy word for her own tissue
34:54and a sort of a seamless integration
34:57into her cornea.
34:58Okay, we're done.
35:01Thanks, Gab.
35:02Okay.
35:02I think they kept it over for you.
35:04Did you grab the light?
35:06All things considered,
35:07it went better than we had expected.
35:11We'll just need to pack up all this stuff.
35:12Are you done?
35:13We're done.
35:14She's going to be up in 10 minutes.
35:15And all Pak Boone needs to do now
35:19is wake up.
35:28Adipamazole.
35:28Okay, that's an important time.
35:3212, 12, 11.
35:34So Pak Boone's vision,
35:35it's going to take a little bit of time
35:36to come back as she heals.
35:38So there's going to be a lot of inflammation
35:39within the eye while she's healing.
35:42There's going to be lots of blood vessels
35:43growing in to kind of heal,
35:45heal the area in the cornea.
35:46And that's all good,
35:48good part of healing.
35:50And we should start to see
35:51some really good vision return.
35:55Looking forward,
35:56in roughly 21 to 28 days,
35:59the big stitches that they put in
36:01will start to dissolve.
36:02For the first couple of weeks,
36:03she might close her eyes
36:04to give her a good protection.
36:05But once she hits that 21 days
36:07and the stitches start to dissolve,
36:09she'll have her eye a little bit more open,
36:11which is very exciting.
36:13And hopefully in the future,
36:15the graft will be seen less and less
36:17as the years go on.
36:19So it's a really positive outcome.
36:21Such a good girl.
36:21Come on, girl.
36:23That's it, that's it.
36:25Very good.
36:26That's it, girl, Pakpun.
36:38Move up.
36:39Pakpun, move up.
36:40Good girl.
36:41Pakpun, good girl.
36:43Good girl, bunny.
36:45It's been a couple of weeks
36:46since the surgery
36:46and we've been checking out Pakpun
36:47every single day in the bath
36:49to see how her eye is going
36:50and progressing.
36:51Good girl.
36:52She's slowly been opening it
36:55more and more every day
36:56as she gets more and more comfortable
36:57with what went on
36:58through the procedure.
37:00And as the stitches dissolve
37:01and it becomes more comfortable for her,
37:02we're expecting the eye
37:03to open even further.
37:04But just by looking at her eye today,
37:06we can see that the beautiful iris colour's back.
37:09We can see that her eye
37:10is healing really nicely
37:11and we're very happy with the progress.
37:12Lean in.
37:13Pakpun, lean in.
37:14Good.
37:15Good, steady.
37:16Pakpun, lean in.
37:19Good, steady, huh?
37:20Good.
37:21And with her eye being partly healed
37:24or very much on its way to being healed,
37:26we can resume the crate training
37:27and the transport training,
37:28which means that we're getting her
37:29in the crate every morning,
37:30making sure that she's comfortable
37:31in there again
37:32and back to where she was before
37:34as quick as possible.
37:35What?
37:37Mwah.
37:38Love you.
37:39It's not only the keepers
37:41that are happy with her recovery.
37:43The ophthalmologist came in
37:45to check Pakpun's eye
37:47and it's not very easy
37:48because she likes to keep it shut,
37:50but they managed to get
37:51a very quick but good look at her eye
37:53and they were really thrilled.
37:55The eye is healing as well as it could hope to
37:58and so she's OK to travel.
38:00And so, after months of uncertainty,
38:04Pakpun and Tangmo
38:05finally have the all clear
38:08to head off to their new home
38:10in South Australia.
38:13It's been about six weeks
38:15since Pakpun had her eye operation.
38:18She's been given a clean bill of health
38:20by the vets
38:21and deemed fit to travel
38:23to her new home
38:24in South Australia.
38:26And today,
38:27after a century
38:28of calling Sydney home,
38:30Taronga's elephants
38:32are finally saying goodbye.
38:34Get Pakpun out,
38:36but then when Tangmo's loading,
38:38of course,
38:38that's when we'll really need
38:39to make sure people aren't coming by.
38:41Today, we're moving our elephants
38:42and my role here today
38:44is overall coordination
38:45with the team.
38:47Moment in history.
38:49Yeah, it really is.
38:51Amongst all the logistics
38:52and the stuff,
38:52it's like,
38:53oh, actually,
38:54this is quite a big day.
38:56Yeah, I think we are literally
38:57all running on adrenaline today
38:59and everything feels like
39:00it's really coming together.
39:0220, 30 minutes.
39:03The first crate
39:04will go past gorillas.
39:06We're pumped,
39:07we're excited,
39:08we're nervous,
39:09we're anxious,
39:10we're everything.
39:11Pakpun, move up.
39:12Atta girl, Pakpun.
39:14The first thing we need to do
39:15is get Tangmo and Pakpun
39:16to load into their crate
39:17so we can get on the road.
39:19Same as yesterday,
39:20okay, Boaz?
39:20We've done so much preparation.
39:22Training's been going
39:23really, really well.
39:24Look at that beautiful eye.
39:26Gorgeous.
39:27So it's kind of up
39:28to the girls now.
39:29We need them
39:30to get in their crates.
39:31Alright, very good.
39:33Alright, see you outside.
39:34See you soon.
39:35One of the key things
39:37for today
39:37going really smoothly
39:38Ready when you are.
39:39Is keeping things
39:40really normal
39:41for Pakpun and Tangmo.
39:42Good girl, Boonie.
39:44The keepers have been
39:45doing these training sessions
39:46right about this time
39:47every day
39:48for months on end.
39:49Move up.
39:50So it's really important today
39:51that we keep everything
39:52really normal.
39:53Alright, very good.
39:55I've just found out
39:57from our keepers
39:57that they have managed
39:58to get Pakpun securely crated
40:00so she's in a crate
40:01and she'll be ready
40:02to go really soon.
40:03And that's the cue
40:05for the crane
40:06to come in
40:06and, well,
40:08do the heavy lifting.
40:09It's a really great
40:10first step for this morning.
40:11Really positive news.
40:13And with Pakpun
40:14making her way
40:15through the zoo
40:16it's Tangmo's turn
40:19to step up
40:20to the crate.
40:21Good girl, Tangmo.
40:24Good girl, Mo.
40:25Hey, Mozie.
40:26That's it, Mozie.
40:27Move up.
40:27The elephant's
40:28going to Monata Safari Park.
40:29It's going to be
40:29very different here
40:30at Taronga Zoo
40:31without elephants
40:32here for the first time
40:33since the zoo opened
40:33in 1916.
40:49For us keepers as well,
40:51a lot of us
40:52have worked with them
40:52for many, many years.
40:53We are part of their family.
40:58They're part of our families.
40:59We are very much
41:01one unit together.
41:02And that one unit
41:04is embarking
41:05on one huge
41:0624-hour journey
41:08to South Australia
41:09for the last time
41:11all together.
41:12Come back.
41:13Take the drink.
41:15Drive safe.
41:17Each truck
41:18has a support vehicle.
41:19Keepers in each support vehicle
41:20with vets as well
41:21and vet nurses.
41:24So we'll be stopping
41:25at regular intervals
41:26along the way
41:27to make sure
41:27we can check on the elephants.
41:29Now, where are you
41:29short, let me read
41:30what's going on?
41:30Trunk down.
41:31Camel, back on.
41:32Stop it.
41:33Good.
41:34Give them food,
41:35give them water,
41:35make sure they're doing okay.
41:36We also have cameras
41:37in the crate
41:38to monitor them
41:39as we're travelling.
41:40So if there is ever
41:41any situation
41:41where we need to stop
41:42the trucks,
41:43we will do that
41:43in a heartbeat.
41:46Their safety
41:47is paramount to us.
41:48We do everything
41:49with them in mind
41:50and their welfare
41:50as the forefront
41:51of our concerns.
41:53Aw.
41:55And eventually,
41:57Pak Boone
41:58and Tang Mo
41:59reach their new home
42:01safe and sound.
42:03This move to Monato
42:04is very much
42:05the next step
42:05in what they need
42:06in their lives.
42:08Something that's got
42:09to get done
42:09for their benefit,
42:10their welfare.
42:11It's all about them.
42:13Oh, what's out there?
42:15She's doing very well
42:16so far.
42:16She's just smelling
42:17all the different
42:18elephant smells
42:19in the barn.
42:24She's very alert
42:25and looking around
42:27but the fact
42:27that she's eating
42:28is a really good sign.
42:30We as keepers
42:31are going to stay there
42:32for as long
42:32as we need to
42:33to settle the girls
42:33in, not only
42:34to their new home
42:35but also to bond them
42:37and to get them
42:37used to their new
42:38barn mates.
42:39No.
42:40And we'll hopefully
42:41fill the gap
42:42in their lives
42:42that they need
42:43by having other
42:43elephants around them.
42:44I don't think
42:48we'll ever get
42:48over them leaving.
42:49I think they are
42:50a massive part
42:50of our lives
42:51but it's all about
42:52giving them
42:52the best future possible.
42:54While Pak Boone
42:56and Tang Mo
42:56adapt to life
42:58in the Monato Safari Park,
43:00back in Sydney
43:01preparations are
43:03well underway
43:04for the next residents
43:05to move into
43:06the now empty
43:07elephant habitat.
43:08Once our keepers
43:09return from
43:10Monato Safari Park
43:12and helping Pak Boone
43:13and Tang Mo settle in
43:14our focus will really
43:15shift to what's
43:16happening later
43:17in the year here
43:17which is Hari,
43:19the greater one-horned
43:19rhino and three-water
43:21buffalo are coming
43:21from Taronga
43:22Western Plains Zoo.
43:24So Hari is about
43:25four years old now
43:26and he's definitely
43:27it's time for him
43:28to leave his mum
43:29and dad
43:29so he needs to
43:31move off
43:32and find his own
43:33territory
43:33and his own space
43:34so it is really
43:35quite lovely timing
43:36so he'll be moving
43:37here later in the year
43:39and our elephant keepers
43:40will be looking
43:41after him
43:41and the water buffalo.
43:43It's too early
43:44to say
43:45whether these new
43:46residents will call
43:47Taronga home
43:48for the next hundred
43:49years as well
43:50but irrespective
43:52they have some
43:53pretty big shoes
43:55to fill.
44:04
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