00:00A stretch, a pachyderm petty and a scrub in hard to reach areas.
00:11But this isn't your average beauty ritual.
00:13It's the foundation of us being able to help them if they do get sick.
00:17Every week Melbourne Zoo's elephants have their blood drawn to test for a potentially
00:21deadly disease.
00:22EEHV is elephant endothelial herpes virus.
00:27Herpes?
00:28It's a herpes virus.
00:29The disease lies dormant in all Asian elephants.
00:32And similar to human herpes, it's not known exactly what triggers it, but EEHV can be
00:37fatal.
00:38In 2023, the zoo's nine-year-old bull, Mangi, died from the virus.
00:43It's incredibly sad for me because he's gone, but the people who were involved and had to
00:47try and help save him and couldn't have found that a really difficult case to come to terms
00:54with.
00:55From that grief, we've really tried to turn that into the positive of how can we make
00:58sure that we're leading in EEHV in Australia.
01:01Since then, blood testing has increased, especially now the herd has young calves entering an
01:05age where viral risks increase.
01:08The blood draw is critical to us being able to identify if there is an EEHV viral load
01:14within their blood, and then from that we can understand if we actually have to treat.
01:22To achieve that, the zoo trains the elephants to help by making it enjoyable and voluntary.
01:28Melbourne's herd only comes to this training barn for training, testing, and maybe the
01:32cheeky occasional snooze.
01:34They spend most of their day walking the two and a half hectares of space that they have
01:37at the zoo.
01:38But facilities here are aging, and when they get to Werribee, they'll have ten times the
01:42space than they currently have.
01:44The space is extraordinary out at Werribee that we've got for them.
01:48It's the size of Melbourne Zoo.
01:49Zoos Victoria is also on the front foot.
01:52Fifty-two-year-old matriarch Mek Kapar is a universal donor.
01:56Viral plasma is collected and has been used to help elephants suffering from EEHV.
02:01She's a lifesaver and she doesn't even know it.
02:03A process that'll only get better when the herd moves to Werribee.
Comments