- 6 hours ago
Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under - Season 6 Episode 2 -
Toothless Tiger
Toothless Tiger
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00babies or animals but what if they're baby animals it was only born this
00:09morning on this all-new season welcome back to the ever-changing world of
00:16Taronga where you'll witness things you never thought possible you can actually
00:24hear her breathe and meet new faces oh hi buddy you'll never forget it's time to
00:33discover oh my god exactly who's who in this zoo on this episode it doesn't feel
00:46good a heart-stopping moment he's now not breathing literally I can't hear her
00:52as this majestic cat just keep bagging keep bagging he's brought back from the
00:58dead so that adrenaline's in meet Laura and Beck it doesn't look like we've got
01:03any termites in here yet possibly the only two humans it's a bit of a guessing
01:09game excited to find termites we haven't done anything like this before and a
01:15trip to the dentist for the world's largest rodent they have really big in
01:21size of teeth really huh I hadn't noticed
01:32at Taronga Western Plains Zoo a wild week is nothing new but this particular week
01:40is shaping up to be a bit wilder than usual for Taronga's vets and nurses it's a
01:48pretty busy time at the Wildlife Hospital at the moment yeah I'm gonna put three
01:52different drugs in his cocktail so I'm gonna have a second one drawn up for the
02:00dark in case we need it so we've actually got two tiger anesthetics planned
02:04mainly to look at their dental health and the two incoming patients are not just any
02:09tigers their senior Sumatran tigers Satu and Sakti Satu is our eldest tiger here at the zoo and he's just had his 18th birthday last month
02:22Sakti is I guess our spring chicken here at the tiger facility he is actually 13 years of age
02:29over there in Sumatra you'd probably expect the tigers to live to be approximately 10 to 12 years of age however
02:36when they have a high standard of care quite often they can live to their late teens even their early 20s
02:42for us our main focus is making sure that our animals have a good healthy life
02:47and that's exactly what today's double tiger checkup is all about
02:53so I've got both pole syringes I've got the blow pipe yeah dart rifle yeah hand injections drawn up here yeah
03:00the first tiger on the list is the eldest Satu we know that he's had some dental issues in the past
03:07and he's got some canines that have fractured and been treated with root canals
03:10want to make sure there's nothing painful our dental veterinary specialist David is flying in from Melbourne today for these procedures
03:16if the dental specialist finds any issues with the tiger's teeth that could make things a little more complicated
03:24big cats they are prone to getting high potassium in their blood while they're under anaesthetic
03:30and that can be a life-threatening complication particularly with long procedures
03:34we want to try and keep our anaesthetic time as low as we can but dental procedures can be quite lengthy
03:38being an older cat there's a little bit of an increased risk with his anaesthetic
03:42the high potassium can affect his heart rhythm and in a really severe case you can actually have a cardiac arrest
03:48so we'll keep the procedure as short as we can
03:51before they can begin the procedure they'll need to sedate Satu
03:57we have got a hand injection and a 21 gauge needle
04:03all right good luck
04:05thank you
04:06so we're going to head in now with the anaesthetic drugs that the vets have given us to administer
04:11it won't be long until they call us I don't think to say come up
04:15we'll let the vets know how his injection has gone
04:18all right I'm going
04:20Dutch
04:22hold up
04:27Megan to Alisa
04:29yeah
04:30please
04:31go ahead
04:33looks as though we've got 100%
04:35he's lying calmly on the grass
04:38that's awesome well done
04:39that's so amazing
04:40that's all gone perfectly
04:43with the first tiger asleep
04:45I've checked he's got no blink
04:48the team quietly enter the den and prepare him for the move to the animal hospital
04:55let me get the catheter stuff ready
04:57so we've got quite a big team working on Satu
05:01so I'm getting a reading heart rate's 80
05:05we've got three vets working on him we've got three nurses
05:08cephalic's usually hard
05:10we want to make sure that we do everything as efficiently as we can
05:14every team member plays a crucial role
05:17and as they continue prepping Satu
05:20vet nurse Jane notices a change in his vitals
05:25he's got an odd breathing pattern
05:27getting closer closer closer than breath hold
05:29yeah yeah
05:30how long have we been since injection
05:3315 minutes
05:35okay
05:36vet Alisa watches closely assessing the tiger's respiration rate
05:42yeah he hasn't had a good deep breath for a minute
05:51if Taronga in Sydney had a prize for the most relaxed and laid-back resident
05:58buddy
05:59how you doing
06:00this guy would certainly be a top contender
06:05this is Carlos
06:07he is one of our capybara boys
06:10we've got four males
06:12capybaras are native to South America
06:15I kind of like to call them South American hippopotamuses
06:19they love to spend time in the water
06:21they do have webbed feet just like a duck
06:24and they hold their breath for five minutes as well just like hippos
06:28it's actually their kind of safety refuge so they do have quite a few predators in the wild
06:35and what they'll do they'll go into the water to protect themselves
06:39you can see with his ears eyes and nose they're all in a straight line altogether
06:43so they'll kind of just be sitting with those above and they can see and hear everything
06:47well Darcy you might want to cover his ears for this next bit
06:54so tomorrow he's just booked in for a general anaesthetic
06:57just to make sure he's all nice and healthy
06:59obviously when he is under the anaesthetic we can actually get a good look what's going on
07:03like Taronga's Sumatran tigers in Dubbo
07:07six year old Carlos is also getting on a bit
07:10Carlos is turning six in a couple of weeks
07:13now six for a capybara is actually getting quite old for them
07:17in the wild life expectancy is probably about seven or eight for a male
07:22so much the same as our tigers Darcy will not only get a physical but a dental check too
07:29with capybaras they are the world's largest rodents
07:33so being a rodent they have really big inflows of teeth growing constantly
07:38we give them a lot of brows you know branches and that actually helps with their dental care
07:43if you've ever wondered what a capybara toothbrush looks like
07:47and I know I have well wonder no more
07:52this is a cocus log they'll chew on that throughout the day
07:55just kind of trims down his teeth and just make sure they don't become overgrown
07:59with the general anaesthetic tomorrow we can actually get a much better look at his teeth
08:02just to make sure they're all nice and healthy and there's no issues with them as well
08:06Carlos is super affectionate he's super comfortable with people
08:11he's very tactile he loves pats you can give him a good scratch like this
08:16and yeah just really curious when we come in he's always kind of the first one to come over
08:20to see what food we have or just what we're up to as well
08:23this trusting relationship between keeper Darcy and Carlos the capybara might be tested tomorrow
08:30when Carlos has to be anaesthetised
08:34my role will be to hand inject Carlos for his procedure
08:37capybara skin is quite tough so it's a bit hard to get the needle in
08:41I know he's gonna do great but I've been building up so much for this hand injection
08:47I want it to go smoothly so yeah just thinking about that a lot so quite nerve-wracking
08:51a lot of anxiety right now
08:55yeah he hasn't had a good deep breath for a minute
08:57back at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
09:00all right let me get you out of the way
09:02aged Sumatran tiger Satu has just been sedated
09:06last time he had a 16 tube
09:08but he's now struggling to breathe
09:11I'm just tubing it
09:12it's not an uncommon occurrence in aged animals under anaesthetic
09:17and the vet team begins intubating him to assist his breathing
09:21just tell me when you're ready
09:23yep ready
09:24yeah
09:25gee mate
09:26gee Tim
09:27have you got a visual?
09:29not really
09:30I can see the epiglottis
09:32no we might have to change to sternal I think
09:34there's another flop going on
09:36so we're just gonna have to sit him up on his tummy
09:38to get a better position for tubing
09:40on three
09:41one two three
09:43in sternal
09:44leg under
09:46yep
09:48is that better Catherine?
09:49yeah that's heaps better
09:50with any older animal there are increased risks with anaesthetic
09:54just because their organs are a bit more tired
09:56they may not be working as well
09:58he's doing very tiny shallow breaths
10:00it's all right we'll just get him on the truck
10:01yeah
10:02just let him know
10:03we can breathe for him if we need to
10:05with his breathing now supported
10:08the vet team can move Satu to the wildlife hospital
10:12to be prepped for his dental exam
10:14good to go
10:15yep
10:16yep
10:17oh god what a crowd
10:20oh yeah
10:26okay one two three
10:28go
10:29you got it
10:30okay
10:31alright so we'll get him on
10:33hook him up
10:34yep
10:35so we're on four percent
10:36we are on two percent
10:37four litres
10:38it's nothing like hitting the ground running
10:41the treatment room is packed with veterinary staff and there's also a crowd gathered to watch not one but two tigers making a visit to Dubbo's Wildlife Hospital
10:54yes everybody this is David and Tracy
10:57thank you
10:58alrighty yeah
10:59left side
11:00yep
11:01okay so 201's missing
11:03yep
11:04202 has three millimeters all round and abrasion
11:09so we're very privileged to be welcoming veterinary dental specialist David to Dubbo's
11:14he's actually come here all the way from Melbourne
11:16okay
11:17jingeritis of one calculus of one
11:18and David's one of a handful of veterinary dental specialists in Australia who has the skills and the knowledge and experience to do this type of procedure on a tiger
11:27so this is a tiger that I looked at in 2011 and also in 2019 and he fractured these canine teeth which are the big fang teeth and I did what's called root canal procedures on them and I'm back here today to take some x-rays
11:44so we'll have to leave in a minute
11:47okay I'm ready when you are
11:50clear
11:52while dental specialist David works his way through the necessary x-rays
11:57one done looks good x-ray again
12:00vet Elisa monitors a sample of Satu's blood to check how he's responding to the anaesthetic
12:07so we've just done his first lot of blood tests and we've got his baseline potassium which is something we've got to monitor really carefully through his procedure
12:14so his baseline is four which is perfectly normal and our intervention point is if it increases by one
12:20Sato's blood potassium levels are good which means there is little risk of damage to the tiger's heart
12:27but if the levels were to get too high it could cause a cardiac arrest
12:33Jane you got a blood pressure there
12:35yep got it
12:36everything needs to be considered
12:38116 over 58
12:39the team are constantly balancing the tiger's surgery with the clinical realities of sedating such an aged animal
12:48we are seeing some of the kidney values a little bit on the high side and we want to make sure that we're not making anything worse so we're watching his blood pressure really closely
12:55his heart may not function as well as a younger cat
12:58we may have some issues underlying with his kidneys and we certainly don't want to make those things worse while he's under anaesthetic
13:03with Sato being older a low blood pressure event during anaesthetic that can actually push them into kidney failure
13:09still to come
13:13he's a bit nervous
13:14Darcy's big surprise
13:16I think he definitely knows something is happening
13:18but just how will Carlos react
13:21feeling a little bit nervous about it all
13:23and
13:24one
13:25two
13:26three
13:27double trouble
13:28some tough decisions ahead
13:30he's not particularly stable
13:32for vet Elisa
13:33we're in the danger zone
13:40here's a quick echidna quiz
13:43how many termites do you think these spiny anteaters devour each day?
13:49a few hundred?
13:50a few thousand?
13:52nope
13:53each echidna in the wild would eat about 10,000 termites a day
13:57that's more than a few
13:59so if you had to rustle up that many
14:02you might need to get a little creative
14:05think outside the box
14:07yep
14:08this box
14:09what we're doing here today
14:11it's a little unusual
14:12I'm here to find some termite mounds
14:15set some traps
14:16and hopefully be capturing some termites
14:18to bring back for the echidnas
14:20I've chosen this location
14:22because we believe it may be an active termite mound
14:25it is experimental
14:27no guarantees
14:28that we're going to be able to collect anything
14:30but we're willing to sort of do a bit of trial and error
14:33Laura has travelled to some local bushland
14:36to try out an interesting termite trap technique
14:40I've got a bucket here
14:41it's got some holes drilled in the bottom
14:42what I'm going to do is
14:44pop down next to the nest
14:46its scientific name is a termite bait station
14:50going to collect up some soil from nearby
14:52basically it's a bucket full of tasty termite treats
14:56a little bit of leaf litter as well
14:59here's some wood that I've collected from nearby
15:02it looks like it's already had some termite activity on it
15:05what I'm going to do is
15:06I'm going to pop it in the bucket here
15:07to try and encourage them to enter this one
15:09and start to eat this wood
15:12I mean it looks pretty enticing right?
15:16I just want to get the bottom of it
15:18just below the surface level here
15:20so the holes are just in the soil
15:23a little bit of water
15:24it'll just create a moist environment
15:26and encourage them to move in
15:28and really
15:29what self-respecting termite
15:31wouldn't want to move in?
15:33the last thing left to do is just pop the lid on it
15:41we'll leave it and we'll see if some termites have moved in
15:45hmmm
15:46they termite?
15:48or they termite not?
15:50we'll have to wait and see
15:52back in Dubbo at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital
15:59so we just need to radiograph 404 and 104
16:02not one but two aged Sumatran Tigers
16:06are each booked in for a thorough dental checkup
16:10and health assessment
16:11x-ray
16:12first up is 18 year old Satu
16:15and while the dental examination is quite routine
16:19it's the side effects from the general anaesthetic
16:22that's keeping the vet team on their toes
16:25we may have some issues with his kidneys
16:27and we certainly don't want to make those things worse
16:29while he's under anaesthetic
16:30low blood pressure can actually push them into kidney failure
16:33and it's not just low blood pressure that they have to monitor
16:37the drug combination he's had
16:38does tend to keep their blood pressure a little bit high
16:40so we want to make sure that that's all fine
16:42blood pressure is 102 over 58
16:45mean of 73
16:47so at the moment his blood pressure's really good
16:50unhappy
16:51and title's stable
16:52everything's stable though
16:53if we're seeing trends that we need to intervene
16:56then we've got everything ready to do that
16:58the team are allowing a three hour window
17:02to keep Satu anaesthetised
17:04while specialist David examines and addresses
17:08any issues with the tiger's teeth
17:10was this the one that's got the fracture?
17:13but should there be any concerning signs that Satu's health is at risk
17:18vet Elisa will stop the examination immediately
17:22and the tiger will be returned to its den to recover
17:26the throat packs out and his pharynx is clean
17:28did we take photos David?
17:29yes
17:30yes
17:31great
17:32I've got pictures of his teeth yeah
17:33yeah that's all
17:34not his head
17:35okay
17:36we don't have to do any treatment on this side
17:37we just need to take some radiographs
17:38okay
17:39okay
17:40x-ray
17:41x-ray again
17:42just step back a metre and that will be good
17:45oh
17:48so his respiration's got up a tiny bit
17:50yeah oh that looks good
17:51excellent
17:52his mouth is perfectly fine
17:54so he's got wonderful oral health for an 18 year old tiger
17:57we are done
17:59oh look at you go
18:01yeah
18:02so the rest of the teeth are good?
18:03yeah perfect
18:04that's what we want to hear David
18:06while the dental exam has concluded
18:09the vet team are still performing their own assessment of the aged tiger
18:14all right let's go
18:15so I'm just taking the opportunity while he's under anaesthetic to give him a full thorough examination
18:21so I'm like you would take your cat to the vets once a year for a check-up
18:24tiger
18:26we did find that he's got some arthritis in his joints
18:30and we've had a good look at his foot pads and we found that his toenails are a little bit long his claws
18:34look at that one do we need to that's got a trim that one that's going into his paw
18:38so we wouldn't normally cut a tiger's nails
18:41but we're just noticing because he's getting a little bit older he's not wearing them down as much like your pet cat does as well
18:49no one anticipated a tiger manicure today but the team came prepared for anything
18:55though nailing this part is a bit more time consuming than expected
19:00so we've been monitoring very closely obviously
19:03well the whole time he's been under anaesthetic
19:05but we've just noticed a couple of little parameters are changing
19:08CO2's gone up a bit
19:11his respiration rate's just gone a little down
19:15he's not taking nice big deep breaths
19:18he's looking a bit paler than before
19:21how long are we at?
19:23so it's been nearly two and a half
19:25I think we probably need to quit while we're ahead
19:29stretcher must be outside I'll grab it
19:31we've decided the best thing today is probably just to be grateful of all the information that we've got
19:36we've checked his teeth we've done all the important things
19:39we're not going to push it too much
19:41alright should we disconnect this
19:43we're going to get him back straight away to his enclosure
19:46one, two, three
19:48we'll go off that way
19:50even though the checkup finished slightly earlier than planned
19:54this grand old tiger appears to be a picture of health
20:00alright I'm giving you three verses so I'm going to give him one and a half mils
20:04one and a half mil
20:10okay that can go out
20:12I'm just going to pull that tube now
20:16for an 18 year old cat I think he's looking really good
20:22so that's one tiger down
20:25right folks if we can get the stretcher carriers please
20:27and one to go
20:29on three
20:30one, two, three
20:32next up is 13 year old Sakhti
20:36recently keepers have noticed that he's just having a little bit of trouble eating and chewing when he eats his food
20:41so the first thing we're going to do is open his mouth and just see what's going on
20:45you can see the tooth is broken off it should be as long as the lower one
20:49and the other side is just as bad
20:52oh gosh
20:55at Taronga's Wildlife Hospital in Sydney the vet team are preparing for a small excursion
21:02just make sure you've got surgical prep stuff
21:04today we're going to be anaesthetising a capybara called Carlos and we're going to be doing a thorough health check on him
21:11vet Adelaide and her team will be examining Carlos from tooth to tail
21:17Liz McConnell to a capybara keeper
21:20hey we're just about to leave the hospital
21:24we're about to do a capybara anaesthetic
21:26whereabouts would you like us to part
21:28you guys are welcome to come up to the dance let's be fun
21:33it's exciting to do a capybara
21:36yeah
21:37yeah so capybaras are unusual because they are a rodent
21:40I think a lot of people might forget that because of their size they're so enormous
21:45I sort of think of them as almost like giant guinea pigs
21:49I'm actually allergic to guinea pigs and agoutis
21:52but not capybaras so
21:54ah well that's handy for the procedure today
21:57yeah
22:04you want to do him in four?
22:07yeah
22:08okay cool
22:09this will be the first time Darcy has hand injected Carlos
22:13okay hi guys
22:15so I've got the hand injection for you
22:17I've popped quite a big needle on here to get through the tough skin
22:20yep
22:21once he's down we'll probably just kind of get him comfortable
22:24we'll pop him on an oxygen mask and then we'll do his health check
22:27alright I'll give you that
22:29thank you
22:30good luck
22:32feeling a little bit nervous about it all
22:35I've only done one hand injection before with his brother Pedro
22:38come on bud
22:40you can do it
22:41can you come down
22:42he's a bit nervous
22:44yes
22:45I think he definitely knows something is happening
22:47can I grab a couple of the sweet potatoes
22:50to ensure Carlos the capybara is kept calm
22:53try saying that fast three times
22:55Darcy enters the enclosure completely alone to administer the injection
23:01sorry love
23:02all Jacob and the rest of the team can do is wait
23:07go ahead
23:09I'm just coming out of the dent I think I got it
23:13cool good job
23:15he's just received the injection which is really really great
23:19Darcy did an amazing job
23:20now we're just sort of waiting for that medication to take an effect
23:24the injection
23:27a bit of improvisation
23:30a new spot for Carlos
23:31but he did really well
23:32and it's not long before the sedative begins to take effect
23:36oh
23:37I got him he's falling over
23:39he's falling over
23:40yeah
23:41Naomi shift to Adelaide
23:43go ahead
23:45just letting you know Carlos is lying down now
23:48that's great
23:50it's now time to transport this giant sleeping room
23:53rodent
23:54so his check-up can begin
23:56one two three
23:58good job
24:00okay we'll bring him in now
24:02yep
24:04one three
24:06at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
24:1018 year old Sumatran tiger Satu
24:13is safely back in his den
24:15after a successful trip to the dentist
24:18pause
24:19there we go
24:20I think his eye position has changed a bit
24:22oh
24:23he blinked
24:24he blinked
24:25he blinked
24:26so he's starting to rouse
24:27that means it's now time for tiger number two
24:31we are starting a tiger anaesthetic
24:33how you going big man
24:35Sakji is 13 years old
24:37and recently keepers have noticed that he's just having a little bit of trouble eating and chewing when he eats his food
24:43a tiger's teeth aren't just for chewing they're also an important tool for socialisation like playing which means they're used a lot
24:54they fight with one another or they just rough play with one another and then they bite you know big logs for example and just day to day trauma
25:02all signs indicate that this tiger is going to need some serious dental work
25:09what a good good boy
25:11just how serious won't be known until he's sedated and in the wildlife hospital
25:17this procedure is going to be longer than Sato and so we're going to have to be quite strict about anesthetic
25:27right folks if we can get the stretch of carriers please
25:30on three
25:32one two three
25:34timeline we'd really like to be out in three and a half hours that's for his safety
25:39it's not the dental surgery the vet team are most concerned about
25:43one two three
25:45but rather the length of time the big cat is under anesthetic
25:49we're ready we can start
25:51yep you go
25:52and the side effects that can cause
25:55I'm just organising myself to get ready to an examination of his teeth
26:00the keepers thought that he might have some broken teeth
26:02so the first thing we're going to do is open his mouth and just see what's going on
26:06and then we'll work out a plan
26:10two or two appears to be missing
26:13three is one all round with abrasion
26:16four one all round
26:18complicated crown fracture
26:20you can see the tooth is broken off it should be as long as the lower one
26:24and I think it's probably lost a good 15 millimeters on the distal buckle
26:31the dental work and the anesthetic time are adding up
26:37the other side is just as bad
26:39absolutely smashed and part of the crown is actually mobile
26:44in a small pocket of Sydney bushland close to Taronga
26:54horticulturist Laura has returned to check a termites test trap she set a week ago
27:01it is a bit of a guessing game
27:02it is a little experimental we haven't done anything like this before
27:05Laura is hoping to catch if not 10,000 then at least a few hundred termites to help feed Taronga's echidna residents
27:16um
27:23all right all right enough of the suspense already
27:27what have we got
27:29it doesn't look like we've got any termites in here yet
27:33oh
27:35so this is the first time I've tried setting a trap
27:38had no luck today it is experimental but I'm quite certain with a few more goes we'll be able to capture some
27:45well that was a nice try Laura
27:48termites have better luck next time
27:51we've only had the trap set for about a week
27:53so it may take a little bit more time for them to move in and start eating the wood
27:58as the famous old saying goes
28:02if you can't catch termites in a park try a bit closer to home
28:07oh something like that
28:09so I'm just out here looking for some live termites for our echidnas
28:13enter keeper Beck who joined Laura on the termite trail back at Taronga
28:19unfortunately our horticulture team didn't have any luck in the park
28:22maybe Beck to might have better luck
28:25oh
28:26what a little too much
28:28okay I'll let it go
28:30I've just found this rotten log hoping there'd be some sort of live invertebrates in there
28:41here we go
28:42and I've just started ripping it up to see if there's anything in here
28:46yes the suspense
28:49there's other little bugs in there
28:52okay okay but are there any tasty little termites
28:56yes I've just found some termites
28:59finally termites in the house
29:02what a termite-y result
29:05sorry
29:06the echidnas are going to be very happy about this so they'll be very excited
29:10if they're half as excited as I am
29:13it's going to be fun times in the echidna habitat
29:16hello
29:18and stand back
29:20here they come
29:21they're really enjoying this
29:36soon as I brought this in
29:37they all rushed over to have this yummy meal of termites
29:42you can see Robbie here is getting right into that log so they're very very excited
29:48they're using their strong claws to rip open the log and then their beak to probe into the rotten areas
29:54they're very long tongue which is about 18 centimetres long to slurp up those termites and it's just amazing to watch them doing this natural behaviour
30:03okay so just doing some quick maths
30:06two echidnas
30:08that means Laura and Beck only need to find 20,000 more termites tomorrow
30:13oof good luck with that
30:16back at Taronga's Wildlife Hospital in Dubbo
30:23the other side is just as bad
30:25Sumatran tiger sucked his teeth are much much worse than expected
30:36not a pleasant sight
30:38got lots going on
30:39lots
30:40fractured with a root retained
30:43yeah
30:44fractured with a pulp exposure
30:46uh oh
30:47gets worse
30:48this fourth premolar
30:50is totally fractured
30:51with a mobile
30:52crown as well
30:53with the pulp exposed
30:54that would be really painful
30:56so there's a lot to do
30:57a lot to do
30:58the good news
30:59dental specialist David
31:01can help Sakti
31:03the bad news
31:04it's probably about a six hour procedure all up
31:06and we don't want to keep him under anaesthetic for that long
31:09ideally we want to be out of here in three and a half
31:11we don't want to keep tigers or big cats under anaesthetic for more of about three and a half hours
31:16just because it increased risk with the potassium levels
31:19with time against them the vet team need to prioritize
31:22the extractions are probably the best thing to do
31:25I agree
31:26because they're the most painful and also they've got all infections
31:28the countdown is on
31:30three hours to remove Sakti's three worst teeth
31:34we'll just watch his blood pressure if his blood pressure is good we might be able to get away with it
31:37the first broken tooth
31:39all right
31:40roots coming out
31:41is removed in less than an hour
31:44yay got it
31:46okay so we've finished taking out the top tooth
31:49yeah
31:50so that's a good start
31:51good job
31:52the lower one I'm hoping won't take as long
31:55you know we haven't had a challenge like this for a while
31:58the second broken tooth is proving a lot more difficult
32:04we've got about five minutes until the three and a half hour mark
32:07and we need to take away some of the bone on the outside in order to take the tooth out
32:12come on you feel it baby
32:16wow
32:22good job
32:23the second tooth is out
32:25Sakti has now been anesthetized for three and a half hours
32:30the time limit they originally set themselves
32:33but they're far from finished
32:35has he still got another bad one on the other side
32:37yes we haven't started that one yet
32:39is he responding at all with that in
32:41like anesthesia wise he's happy
32:44potassium is 4.8 so we're in the danger zone
32:47if the tiger's blood potassium levels reach 5
32:51the vet team will have to intervene
32:54what sort of time do you think on that other tooth David?
32:58an hour
33:03at Taronga's capybara habitat in Sydney
33:07Carlos is lying down now
33:08Carlos the capybara
33:10the capybara has just received an anesthetic injection
33:14ok we'll bring him in now
33:16we're going to bring in a stretcher because he weighs over 50 kilos
33:20good job
33:22six year old Carlos is getting on a bit
33:25so much like those two tigers in Dubbo
33:28he's due for a veterinary checkup
33:31we're going to bring him inside to the dens
33:33that way there's a little bit more privacy
33:35and it's a lot more quiet and calm
33:36so we can give him his health check there
33:38and then when he's recovering from the anesthetic
33:40he'll be able to sort of have a nice quiet area
33:42that he can wake up in and be nice and calm
33:44the capybara's health check should be quite quick
33:48but we might just pop a towel
33:50under there
33:52his temperature is 35-4
33:54I'm just having a really good feel of all of his joints
34:00and of his feet as well
34:02just make sure all his digits are moving really well
34:04we may start to encounter some age related health issues
34:10but everything feels really good
34:12all his joints feel good
34:14including all his little toes
34:16so far so good
34:18but the biggest issue for the largest rodent in the world is
34:22you guessed it those pearly whites
34:24so I'm going to have a look in his mouth and check all his teeth
34:28that's perfect yeah
34:30let's face it it's hard to miss those front chompers
34:34which for all rodents never stop growing
34:38but the back teeth are a different story
34:40just going to have a look on this upper side
34:42compared to a tiger's massive jaw
34:46Carlos's is a bit more crowded
34:50they do store a bit of food in their mouths
34:53makes it a bit trickier to properly properly see the teeth
34:59and so now that I've scraped that food out
35:02I can get a really good look
35:03and just make sure there's no hooks or spurs
35:05that might be causing him discomfort
35:07Dental looks good
35:14perfect
35:15his teeth look really good
35:17but no capybara dental exam is complete
35:20without checking on those hard to miss
35:23giant razor sharp four front teeth
35:28beautiful that's what we want to see
35:30yeah his front teeth are meeting perfectly
35:33definitely don't look like there's any problems we need to address
35:35I think we're done great
35:40okay reversal's been given
35:42yep thank you
35:45time to wake up Carlos
35:48very relieved he's you know getting older
35:50so it's just nice to know that everything is going well for him
35:53good boy
35:54and in no time at all
35:56Carlos the capybara is up and about
36:00as if nothing ever happened
36:02he's bounced back really quickly
36:04more importantly our relationship hasn't changed after the hand injection
36:09I still have really great rapport with him
36:11he's still coming over for his training sessions really enthusiastically
36:15she's been really nice
36:16so really nice that the hand injection didn't impact that at all
36:19what was his potassium
36:24well it's trending up it's now 5.2
36:27meanwhile at the wildlife hospital in Dubbo
36:30we're in the danger zone
36:31Sumatran Tiger Sarktis dental surgery is running longer than the team hoped
36:37and has become quite complicated
36:40the general anaesthetic has caused his blood potassium levels to rise dangerously high
36:46can you just keep your eyeballs on the ECG trace
36:49yes
36:50is he your own?
36:51oh his potassium has blown up
36:52oh
36:53vet Elisa administers a medicated inhaler
36:56alright so he's had his puffs
36:58that can help bring his potassium down
37:00although Sarktis time under anaesthetic is now up
37:04dental specialist David must finish this last tooth
37:08to avoid complications such as ongoing pain
37:11or infection setting in
37:14we'll just do a temporary treatment on this tooth
37:17okay
37:18so I've taken the piece of fractured tooth off
37:21and taken the nerve out of the tooth
37:23so it's now not going to be a sore
37:25and that should be fine for a few weeks to a month
37:28so David you're done?
37:30we're done
37:31alright let's go
37:32the Tiger's procedure is over
37:35at least for today
37:36there we go
37:37alright let's bring the stretcher in
37:39we'll come back in a couple of months
37:41once Sarktis recovered from this anaesthetic
37:43and we'll do another procedure where we do root canals on three
37:46of his canine teeth
37:47one, two, three
37:49one, two, three
37:51one, two, three
37:52but as Sarktis is being moved
37:54okay jump in that middle butt
37:55he shows signs that his anaesthetic is wearing off
37:59transporting an animal that's been under anaesthetic for that long
38:02it is always a bit of a challenge
38:04fingers everyone
38:05it's a very fine line managing the anaesthetic of these dangerous animals
38:10concentrate on getting drugs if we need it
38:12the team need to keep him sedated
38:14until he is back in his habitat
38:16just giving him ten mils of propofol
38:18so I've just had to give him some top-up drugs
38:20because he was getting a bit too light for our comfort levels
38:23but the top-up sedation comes with its own risks
38:27he's now not breathing
38:29quite often when animals are under anaesthetic
38:33they stop breathing on their own
38:35it's quite common in big cuts especially if they've been under anaesthetic for a long time
38:41while vet Rebecca monitors his vitals
38:44vet nurse Jodie uses a reservoir bag to pass oxygen into Sarktis lungs
38:50for some reason we haven't
38:52we're not getting a pulse rate
38:54why are we not getting a pulse rate
38:56you can hear a pulse bit
39:01I can't hear it
39:02you can't hear it
39:04vet Catherine checks for a pulse
39:11it doesn't feel good
39:12huh
39:13adrenaline
39:14yep
39:15yep
39:16we'll do all this
39:17adrenaline is used to stimulate and restart the tiger's heart
39:22so that adrenaline's in
39:24do you want me to jump up
39:26yeah you jump up Catherine
39:29I've got a heartbeat
39:31it's a heartbeat
39:32you got it now
39:34that feels heaps better now
39:37yeah
39:38much stronger
39:4124
39:43but we've got no spontaneous breaths
39:46no
39:47Sarktis needs to be breathing on his own
39:50before the team can return him to his den
39:53and safely remove his tube
39:56he's not breathing so that's not going to work
40:01next
40:02that rate's 100
40:03it's one step forward
40:05it looks like he might be stabilising
40:07and two steps back for Sarktis
40:09pulse quality is not good
40:10can you listen to the heart while I do this
40:12yep
40:15we've got no spontaneous breaths
40:16at Taronga Western Plains Zoo
40:19Sarktis the Sumatran tiger is in crisis
40:23he's not breathing so that's not going to work
40:25his heart stopped beating while under sedation
40:28I can't hear it
40:30it's now been restarted
40:32but the tiger still can't breathe on his own
40:35quite often the anaesthetic depresses their respiratory system
40:40and we'll often have to ventilate for them
40:42I'll just keep him on 3%
40:43how does his pulse up?
40:44just going?
40:4570
40:4670
40:47yep so that's not too bad
40:48not too bad
40:49and so we were making sure that we were giving him enough oxygen through his system
40:52just keep bagging
40:53keep bagging
40:54heart rate's now increasing
40:56it's going back to 73
40:5782
40:58it's getting faster
40:5990
41:01heart rate's 100
41:03suddenly the tiger's heart starts beating erratically
41:08122 here
41:10he's getting tachycardic
41:11heart rate's got an arrhythmia
41:13pulse quality's not good
41:14no
41:15he's gone into like a beta
41:16the fast irregular heart rate is a sign the tiger could go into cardiac arrest again
41:24just keep ventilating I think
41:26I'm stirring up another adrenaline
41:28his pulse is very erratic
41:30can you get some calcium gluconate into him?
41:33yes
41:3460ml
41:35can you listen to the heart while I do this?
41:36yep
41:39any reflexes up there?
41:41Sakti's life is on a knife's edge
41:44he was central before
41:46not like this
41:47it's different
41:48rhythm's better
41:57it's a normal rhythm
41:58heart rate's 100
42:00pulse feels better
42:02the combination of drugs will help stabilise his heart
42:06we've got spontaneous breathing
42:08he's spontaneous breathing
42:10that rate's about 84
42:12it looks like he might be stabilising so
42:14that's a nice regular rhythm
42:16his heart rate's nice and steady now
42:18it's a really good rhythm
42:19yeah
42:20colour's better than it was
42:21it's not as good as it was
42:22but it's better than it was
42:23the best thing we can do for him is get him in there
42:25and get him off all the drugs
42:26yeah
42:27we have to wake him up
42:28guys
42:29we've
42:30we're gonna move him
42:32we've stabilised him more than he was
42:34he's not particularly stable
42:37anything can happen
42:38the sooner they give Sakti the anaesthesia reversal drug
42:42Catherine's got the reversal
42:43the better his chances
42:45of a full recovery
42:48close to the door
42:49we'll just give him a half dose
42:52ready for reversal
42:53yep
42:54it's now a waiting game
42:58to see if Sakti wakes up
43:00go on dude
43:08come on buddy
43:09he certainly did give us all a little bit of a fright on the way back today
43:13especially after we'd invested so many hours into trying to give him a good bill of health and look after those teeth
43:18he stopped breathing and for a minute there we lost his heart
43:21and it looked a little bit dire for a while there we were all quite nervous
43:25but when he took the breath on his own and started to wake up it was a huge relief for us all
43:32good morning
43:33did you see that
43:34he can't have it
43:35we just opened his eyes
43:36yeah
43:37I'm so excited to be relieved that he's come through this well
43:42thankfully now he's stable
43:44he's recovering and I'm sure we'll have a good night's sleep tonight
43:47and the next morning just as the doctor ordered Sakti is looking like his old self again
44:00though I don't think he or Sato will be racing back to the dentist anytime soon
Recommended
42:26
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