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00:00They say don't ever work with babies or animals, but what if they're baby animals?
00:12It was only born this morning.
00:15On this all new season, welcome 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.
00:50On this episode.
00:52He's really trying to intimidate.
00:54Silverback in waiting MJ.
00:57Staring her down.
00:58Flexes his muscles.
01:02But dad Kabali is having none of it.
01:05So Kabali's now come out.
01:07He's not happy at all.
01:09As one favourite face returns.
01:11Hello big fella.
01:13It's time to say goodbye to another.
01:16I'm gonna miss him.
01:17I'm gonna miss him.
01:18Just wait for look after him.
01:19I'm gonna miss him.
01:21And the Australian Navy delivers.
01:24Oh wow.
01:25Big time.
01:26They're gonna love them.
01:27Yeah.
01:28For Taronga's biggest residence.
01:31Oh it's gonna pop.
01:32It's like Christmas.
01:33Oh it's gonna pop.
01:34It's like Christmas.
01:35Yeah what's going on.
01:36Let's go.
01:46What is there?
01:47At the dawn of a new day in Sydney,
01:50one of Taronga's largest families is waking up.
01:54These seven western lowland gorillas are crucial to Taronga's ongoing effort to protect this
02:08critically endangered species.
02:10Just doing a scatter feed at the moment for the gorillas.
02:16It's something to keep them foraging through the morning.
02:24Western lowland gorillas are found in forested areas in the Congo area, in Africa.
02:32They live in groups referred to as troops, a singular adult male living with multiple
02:37females and their offspring.
02:39A gorilla troop is a family, peacefully living together with every member falling into a
02:46rank structure or hierarchy.
02:53And at the very top of that hierarchy sits Kabali.
02:58Kabali, our silverback male, 23 years of age.
03:06He's got a lot of power.
03:08He's very, very strong.
03:10He weighs just under 200 kilos at the moment.
03:14The silverback's role is the most important in a gorilla troop.
03:18They're the ones that lead and protect that family.
03:21Always on the watch in his environment, making sure that his family is safe.
03:26Kabali's family consists of three growing boys and three adult females.
03:35Kabali is the highest-ranking female in our group.
03:40Kabali is our eldest adult female in the group.
03:43She's 43 this year.
03:45She's more low-ranking than Kabali.
03:47And Jahari is our lowest-ranking female in the group.
03:52Kabali has produced the most offspring.
03:55Two boys, and that, combined with her confidence, puts her near the top of the social group.
04:03While Jahari, who currently has no offspring, is destined to sit at the bottom.
04:11And then there's the boys.
04:13So we have Mwamba, who's a six-year-old.
04:16For Bumi, who's nine years of age.
04:19And we have MJ, who is ten years of age.
04:23So we're really interested in the ten-year-old.
04:27He's just beating his chest at the moment.
04:31He's a bit frustrated.
04:32As the boys, and in particular MJ, grow older, they're getting bolder.
04:38And while they can beat their chests all they like, 200kg Kabali is still the boss.
04:45The boys can be quite rowdy.
04:47They're getting very boisterous and challenging the family.
04:53At the moment, they're nowhere near as strong as Kabali, so that's why they tend to pick
04:59on the females a little bit to see how far they can push it.
05:02When it comes to rank, the boys aren't keeping to the rules.
05:07One of those boys could get seriously injured if they don't back down.
05:11And Kabali is very protective of his three female companions.
05:19Which means drastic action might be required.
05:23We may have to move our boys out soon.
05:26This could affect the troop.
05:28It's going to change the dynamics a lot.
05:30Trouble is brewing in paradise.
05:33There are many occasions at Taronga when an animal, or animals, are transferred into or
05:44out of the zoo.
05:45It's always a big operation.
05:46They are a dangerous animal, so we do a lot of preparation around safety.
05:51Hello.
05:53When an animal leaves, it's a difficult time for everyone.
05:57It's bittersweet, but it's just sad for us.
06:00But that's always tempered by those times when an old resident returns.
06:05Good boy.
06:06Very good job.
06:08Yes, Taronga favourite, the Australian sea lion Moby is coming home.
06:17So Australian sea lions are one of the endangered species that we have endemic to Australia.
06:22Unfortunately for the species, there's only 10,000 of them left in the wild.
06:27So there's a strong focus on managing the species and making sure that we don't get to a really
06:33problematic number.
06:35So every Australian sea lion that is in care at the moment is part of a breeding program.
06:41That breeding program involved Moby transferring to a partner zoo 18 months ago for a sea lion
06:49swap.
06:50We had our Australian sea lion male Moby go up to Coffs Harbour for breeding.
06:56Hey buddy, we're going to miss you.
06:58You're going to come back so big.
07:02It was goodbye Moby.
07:04Hello Storm.
07:06Good job.
07:09Fast forward to today, and while Storm is still in Sydney, a much bigger Moby has finished his
07:17stud duties up north.
07:20And wildlife sanctuary keepers Tiger and Stacey are delivering him back home to Taronga.
07:28We're almost there Moby.
07:31He's been such a trooper this whole time actually.
07:34He has been an amazing boy.
07:36Taronga keeper Jose is clearly excited to be reunited with his old mate.
07:43So we're down here waiting for Moby's arrival.
07:46It's been about 18 months since he's seen me, but I was there for the first six years of his life.
07:54We're officially back in Taronga.
07:56Back in the city.
07:57Back in the city.
07:58Back in the city.
07:59I'm hoping having that much history, he knows and remembers who I am. I hope.
08:04But maybe he spent a lot of good times while he's been up in Coffs Harbour.
08:10So, you know, I can understand if he doesn't remember me straight away.
08:17Moby's, it's your old mate Jose.
08:20Yeah, look.
08:21We might try and go straight in and then the forklift is going to come up.
08:25And then we'll unload from here and then drive in.
08:27At the time that he left, he was actually going through a bit of maturity change.
08:33Good boy, Moby.
08:36Young males start to turn brown at the age of about five or six.
08:40Good?
08:41Yes.
08:42All right.
08:43Well, we haven't seen him in like 18 months, so we don't know what we're going to get.
08:50Just up the hill from the sea lions live seven western lowland gorillas.
08:5723-year-old silverback dad, Kabali, three adult females and three boys, also known as blackbacks.
09:07Mwamba, Fubumi and the eldest boy, MJ.
09:12So we're really interested in the 10-year-old MJ.
09:17He's got the long arms and he's just a bit stockier.
09:21He's got prominent wrinkles under his eyes.
09:24He's a very confident gorilla, always has been even since a youngster.
09:30MJ's adolescent confidence is starting to challenge the silverback Kabali's status.
09:36Kabali is going to always be stronger than those boys.
09:39And that could spell trouble.
09:42A few months back, MJ was really pushing the boundaries and seeing what he could get.
09:47And the response from Kabali was that he was going to just show his dominance.
09:51Keeper Beck recorded the tense face-off between father and son after MJ challenged one of the females.
10:00So Kabali, he's hovering over MJ who's kind of cowering in the moat here.
10:05It's just intimidating MJ, cornering MJ in a portion of the shallow waters, telling him,
10:13hey, what have you done?
10:14He's not okay.
10:16Kabali's just had a swipe at him.
10:18And this is really the first time we've ever seen Kabali, you know, intimidate MJ.
10:23MJ?
10:24MJ's behaviour raises a difficult question for the keepers.
10:29How do they know when it's time to remove these highly spirited boys to another zoo?
10:35At the moment, there's very limited research about these black-back males and their dispersal within zoos.
10:42So we really want to know what those behaviours are before we make any decisions.
10:49Thanks for coming in today.
10:51So we've employed a uni student Steffi to track these behaviours that we are seeing.
10:56The boys this morning have been really high energy running back and forth playing.
11:01So they've been picking up the straw and kind of throwing it around and being, you know, a bit boisterous.
11:07So there's a lot of energy that they're looking to, you know, expend.
11:13But you're all set up on the iPad, ready to go?
11:14Yep, I'm set up, ready to go. Great.
11:18For the next few months, every gorilla interaction will be monitored by both Keeper Beck…
11:24Keep a close eye on MJ.
11:26…and conservation student Steffi.
11:29MJ.
11:30The behaviour that's concerning with the young males is where they're kind of threatening, showing aggression towards the females.
11:41Staring them down, trying to pick a fight.
11:45And right now, it's the lowest ranked female, Jahari, who is the focus of MJ's unwanted attention.
11:53He can be a little bit more dominant over Jahari.
11:57He's got a very stiff body language.
12:01He's really trying to, you know, force himself to look bigger so he can intimidate Jahari.
12:06And it's exactly this kind of intimidation that the silverback Kabali won't allow.
12:13Still to come.
12:18Here comes MJ.
12:20MJ takes things to another level.
12:23Doing these displays to intimidate Jahari.
12:26But Kabali's had enough.
12:29He will step in and discipline those boys.
12:32Oh, you're so handsome!
12:33What a difference 18 months makes.
12:36I said I wouldn't cry.
12:38Yes!
12:40And the true meaning of big boys' toys.
12:43Get it, boys!
12:45Yes!
12:46In Sydney, while the city is still mostly sleeping, Brendan is on an early morning mission across the Harbour Bridge.
13:01I am the Behavioural Husbandry Supervisor at Taronga Zoo, which means I oversee the training and enrichment programs.
13:06Geb Geb's licking a massive snowball.
13:10Yeah, they're going at it again.
13:12He's getting it there.
13:14Brendan's job is to make sure all the animals at Taronga are living their best lives.
13:20You could say Brendan is the good time guy.
13:24Oh, look at that.
13:29We have gotten up nice and early to make our way off to HMAS Cuttable in Pots Point.
13:35To speak to some personnel from the Navy that are going to help us out with some enrichment for elephants.
13:42It's actually a really exciting day because the Navy, they are partnering with us to provide some fenders to our elephants.
13:52Yeah, yeah, a fender is an electric guitar.
13:56But I don't think we're talking that kind of fender.
14:00Hey, Frams.
14:01Good to see you.
14:02Hey, Jess, lovely to see you.
14:03You're helping us out with some stuff for the elephants?
14:05Yes.
14:06So we've got two of our old tyres and three old pneumatic fenders.
14:10We're talking these kind of fenders.
14:13We have a disposal system with any Navy equipment.
14:16Equipment can't be utilised for anything else besides usually Navy use.
14:19But probably about six months ago, Toronto Zoo reached out and asked if we had anything to donate.
14:25So rather than throw them into general waste, we'll recycle them with you guys.
14:28I know. We love that. Thank you so much.
14:30When they reached out, I knew it was an opportunity that I really wanted to follow up and see what I could do.
14:34So these are the two of our fenders that we've got to play, the pneumatics.
14:37Oh, wow.
14:39They're awesome.
14:40Yeah.
14:41And these ones are super easy to inflate.
14:42Yeah.
14:43That's awesome.
14:44They're…
14:46Probably going to love them.
14:47Yeah.
14:48So we'll see how long it is.
14:49I'll play destroy them.
14:50They should be able to withstand the bulk of the elephants for a while,
14:52because they can withstand the bulk of a ship leaning on them.
14:54Yeah.
14:55Yeah.
14:56No, these are amazing. Thank you.
14:57All right. Well, let's give these a wipe down, a bit more of a blop and get going.
15:00Awesome. Thank you.
15:02Aye aye, Captain.
15:04Sorry.
15:05Couldn't help myself.
15:07So anyway, while you probably won't find too many fenders in the wild…
15:13Beautiful.
15:14These giant airbags are perfect for providing stimulation for Taronga's two Asian elephants,
15:21Pakpun and Tangmo.
15:23When we look at an animal like our elephants, there are so many different behaviours that they're
15:27capable of expressing. So we give them strategies to meet that. For foraging, it might be pineapple tops.
15:34And that's great because it's not just about eating, but they've potentially got to use their trunk to sort through things.
15:39It uses their mind.
15:41They're mud wallow.
15:43Big pit, boggy. The elephants like to get in that. They'll roll around in it.
15:48And coating themselves in that, not only is it fun, but it also serves an important maintenance behaviour.
15:58Good.
16:02Yes.
16:03One of the elephants apparently is very, very playful. And we're hoping that they'll interact with them in a really fun and positive way.
16:11It's like Christmas.
16:13Obviously, it's for the animals. So at the end of the day, I just want to see them have fun and do what they need to do with them. So, yeah.
16:19Yeah.
16:25Back at the gorilla habitat.
16:30Keeper Beck and conservation student Steffi have been monitoring the ape family to determine just how dominant the young males, in particular MJ, are becoming.
16:42He's just testing to see where he lies in this hierarchy.
16:48The Toronga team want to know whether the time has come to move MJ or any of the boys to another zoo.
16:57MJ loves to approach Johari.
17:02He loves to make himself look bigger in front of her. Really stiff posture, outstretched arms, fluffing himself up, staring her down.
17:18Johari is low ranking and those boys inherit the rank of their mum.
17:23So MJ has inherited a really high rank from Mbailey, which means that he can go straight for Johari, knowing that she's low ranking and he might get a reaction from her.
17:35MJ might be higher ranking, but the silverback Kabali won't tolerate any misbehaviour towards the quiet Johari.
17:45Johari really loves the hay and the woodwall.
17:48She loves to rub it on her head and she, you know, she likes the feeling of it.
17:53She really gets into making her nest.
17:55Gorillas are nest builders, which surprises most people.
17:58You don't think that a big gorilla is going to build a beautiful nest, but they do.
18:03While Johari enjoys her nest, the young male MJ tries his luck again.
18:10MJ is just kind of testing the waters a little bit.
18:12He's really trying to intimidate.
18:13Is she going to submit and run away?
18:14Is she going to fight back?
18:15And she is getting annoyed with it.
18:17Johari has had enough.
18:19And MJ has made his point.
18:20But now, little brother Mwamba enters the scene.
18:21He's putting pressure on Johari because he sees his older brothers do it.
18:23He's putting pressure on Johari because he sees his older brothers do it.
18:25And she is getting annoyed with it.
18:27And she is getting annoyed with it.
18:29Johari has had enough.
18:30And MJ has made his point.
18:34But now, little brother Mwamba enters the scene.
18:39He's putting pressure on Johari because he sees his older brothers do it.
18:54Oh, my God.
18:55Oh, my God.
18:57And if one wasn't bad enough, two of the three young males are now intimidating Johari.
19:07Moby, the Australian sea lion, is being delivered home to Taronga by wildlife sanctuary keepers Tiger and Stacey
19:17after participating in a breeding program in Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
19:23Mubs, it's your old mate Jose.
19:27It's been 18 months since keeper Jose last saw the sea lion.
19:32I'm sure he's going to be the same lovable guy that he was.
19:35Just there's probably been a bit of growth in his stature.
19:41Hello, big fella.
19:44Look at you.
19:45Wow.
19:47Golden boy.
19:48The real man now, a real man now.
19:50Yeah.
19:52When you think 18 months ago, he left us as a motley grey seal.
19:57Good boy.
19:58Very good job.
20:00Maybe about 60 kilos less.
20:04Look at him, he's just a completely different seal.
20:08Yeah.
20:09Yeah.
20:12Basically, all the transformation that has occurred in 18 months is quite staggering, really.
20:19When you think about it, he's left the teenager and he came back a man.
20:22Hey, Dad.
20:24You know where we are.
20:27Like any doting keeper would, Jose has prepared Moby's pool, ready and waiting for his return.
20:35Probably all flooding back, I guess.
20:40Moby has a very, very strong place in our heart here at Taronga.
20:45Here he is.
20:46There's a huge emotional connection.
20:49Look at you.
20:51That's our Taronga seal.
20:52Yes.
20:55Can you do your wave in there?
20:58Although he's helping out the Australian sea lion species,
21:02we're extremely happy that he's back.
21:06Look at him.
21:08Keeper Jose and the Taronga team aren't the only ones who love this suave sea lion.
21:15Good job.
21:17During his 18-month stay in Coffs Harbour, Keeper Stacey has also formed a very close bond with Moby.
21:25Since he's been at the sanctuary, he's had three different girlfriends, Adelaide, Athena and Miri.
21:29Since Stacey's not the only one to take a shine to Moby.
21:34White.
21:35So we're crossing all of our fingers, toes and flippers that Moby has left us with a few pups.
21:41Now that he's returned to Taronga, Keeper Stacey will have to say her goodbyes.
21:46It's bittersweet to see him go.
21:50I don't know.
21:52The staff at the Costco's Wildlife Sanctuary really just fell in love with Moby's personality.
21:57He's a real goofball.
22:01I see a nosy nose.
22:03Good boy.
22:04Good boy.
22:06And over the last year and a half, he's become a really special part of my heart.
22:11White.
22:12So I'm going to be so heartbroken to say goodbye.
22:16But Stacey won't be leaving empty-handed.
22:19I'm going to miss you.
22:21After all, this is a sea lion swap.
22:24Which means it's time for another big boy, Storm, to leave.
22:28All right.
22:29You ready?
22:31Actually, yes.
22:33He's like, yes I am.
22:34Yes I am ready.
22:36Well, that's if they can get him into his travel crate.
22:43Good boy.
22:49Up at the gorilla habitat, Keeper Beck and conservation students
22:57Steffi are monitoring two young males, Mwamba and MJ, as they try to intimidate a female, Jahari.
23:13Oh my God.
23:16Gorillas assert themselves through a behaviour we call posturing.
23:21That really stiff body language, they might fluff themselves, showing dominance.
23:25Jahari's coughing in response, so she's moving up and down.
23:29So that's that, hey, like, leave me alone behaviour.
23:33The low-ranked Jahari won't retaliate.
23:37And the head of the troop, Silverback Kabali, is inside the den, unaware the young males are misbehaving.
23:45If Jahari moves away while those boys are standing around her doing that, it's really, really reinforcing.
24:00It's like, hey, you know, we've got what we want.
24:03We're more dominant, we're stronger, we're intimidating.
24:11Jahari is sitting there.
24:13She's not reacting too much.
24:15It's a stalemate.
24:17As the headstrong boys finally retreat, female Jahari takes the opportunity to do the same.
24:24She's moving away from those boys.
24:28I think she was waiting for MJ to kind of leave her alone.
24:33But when Jahari eventually settles on the other side of the habitat.
24:37Jahari's sitting back, just eating.
24:40You know who makes another appearance.
24:44Here comes MJ doing these displays to intimidate Jahari.
24:48Another female, Mbaily, now emerges from the cave.
24:55She is also paying close attention to her son's unwelcome displays of dominance.
25:04MJ's beating his chest again.
25:07It's this sort of behaviour with the females and those young boys that Kabali doesn't particularly like.
25:14And right on cue.
25:18So Kabali's now coming out.
25:23The 200 kilogram silverback returns.
25:30If he feels challenged or his females are getting challenged, Kabali will intervene.
25:35That is his role.
25:37He will step in and discipline those boys.
25:39It's bright and early around Sydney Harbour and a donated shipment of old tyres and fenders is being transported from Garden Island Naval Base to Taronga Zoo.
25:56A fender is those big floating devices that you see that protect the boats from each other or the wharf.
26:03This retired naval equipment is destined for a second life.
26:08To entertain Taronga's two Asian elephants.
26:11It's awesome to provide them something like this because it's novel, so it's different.
26:17And when something is different, especially when it's something like this.
26:22All righty.
26:24Animals are going to respond to it differently.
26:25An elephant's going to use his head to push into that item.
26:31It's a natural behaviour and this is one way we can see that expressed.
26:37And keeper Kore is pretty stoked the elephants are about to try out some brand new toys.
26:46Nice.
26:48You good?
26:49Yeah.
26:50Elephants are very intelligent animals, so we have to always think of different ways to kind of keep them engaged.
26:55Where are they going?
26:57So, Johnny, do we want one at the front there and then one here?
27:00Yeah.
27:01I reckon one here, one on the apron.
27:02We're expecting these elephants to smash them about, chase them up and down the hills, stomp on them, squash them, do the best they can to try and pop them.
27:12Quite often elephants are generally the largest thing in their environment, so any large sort of thing that you put in there they get very engaged with because suddenly it's like, what's going on here?
27:21Pak Boon loves to smash things.
27:23Tang Mo, which is a bit more dainty when it comes to that sort of thing.
27:26Dainty?
27:28Not a word you'd normally associate with a couple of Asian elephants.
27:32Get it, Boons!
27:33Get it, Boons!
27:34Get it, Boons!
27:35Go!
27:36Go!
27:37Yes!
27:38First thing they go to, that's mine!
27:40Yes!
27:41Yeah, see that!
27:43The hope is that they last a while before they destroy them.
27:48But they're four tons, right, Koro?
27:50Yeah, Pak Boon is 3,900.
27:53Tang Mo is 3,700.
27:54The behaviours we're seeing today are quite varied and that is a good thing.
28:03You see the elephants coming with their head and pushing down with things, which I'm led to believe from other elephant experts is a very, very cathartic thing for these individuals to do.
28:12Oh, hello!
28:13I guess you're really impressed.
28:14Yeah!
28:15Get it.
28:16Get it among me!
28:17You can even see, like, the way they're thinking about it, how, what if I do this, what if I do that?
28:24This is amazing.
28:26They're kicking it.
28:29They're both into it too. This is awesome.
28:32You'll see that the elephants are also maneuvering their body and they're pressing down on these fenders.
28:39They're actually so playful with it.
28:41Oh, it's gonna pop.
28:42Yeah.
28:44You're essentially seeing them do elephant yoga with these things and that gets them to activate all different types of their body.
28:50Yeah.
28:51She's like, I'm gonna test the limits here.
28:53I'm so scared she's gonna go back.
28:55I mean, even if that happens, it's just the joy that that's brought them. It's worthwhile to me, but I'm really hoping it'll last longer.
29:03It's a good massage as well.
29:06You can hear her squeaking.
29:07Yeah.
29:08What does the squeaking mean, Corey?
29:09So that's just Pak Pun communicating, she's really excited.
29:12When she gets worked up, she lets out these little squeaks in particular.
29:16Tang Mo is much more of a trumpet up.
29:21Oh, yes.
29:22Made my whole day.
29:24Today has been very much a high point in my career for the elephants as well.
29:28She's having a blast. Yeah.
29:30See the girls happy and excited, being all vocal, being amazing in that way.
29:34Just displaying all these different natural behaviors.
29:37At the end of the day, we're doing it all for the animals, so I'm really happy that we're able to make this happen.
29:42One of those days that just gets you a good feeling.
29:46Down at the marine habitat.
29:56All right, Storm.
29:58Keeper Jose is preparing sea lion Storm for a six-hour road trip to the Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
30:08You ready, buddy? Let's go.
30:10Storm is part of the breeding program.
30:12We had our Australian sea lion male, Moby, go up for breeding up to Coffs Harbour and Storm has come down to us.
30:21Storm has spent a very busy 18 months at Taronga doing his duty and hanging with the Lady Lions.
30:32And now he's heading home courtesy of his chauffeur and biggest fan, Tiger.
30:39Ready to meet your oldest friend?
30:42About six years ago, I watched him be born.
30:47It's been hard not seeing him for the last 18 months.
30:50I really missed him, but I'm so excited to see him today and see how much he's grown and developed.
31:00Oh, you're so handsome, Storm!
31:04Oh, my goodness!
31:08Good boy.
31:09I said I wouldn't cry.
31:12Storm, you're a big boy.
31:15Do you remember me?
31:16Yeah, give him a patty.
31:18Buddy.
31:19Good job.
31:22Look at him, he's a real man.
31:25You've grown up to be a big boy.
31:27All the ladies are going to love you now.
31:30They've got a lot to grab onto.
31:31Yeah.
31:33Well, even the color change really.
31:34All the gray to the brown as well.
31:36Good boy.
31:37Yeah.
31:38Oh, you've done all this.
31:40No worries.
31:42But Storm won't be going anywhere unless he agrees to enter the travel crate.
31:48I'll leave.
31:49Yeah, we'll leave it there.
31:50So this is pretty much the most important thing Storm's going to be doing the next couple of days.
31:54So making sure that Storm's comfortable in the crate.
32:00Making sure that he really wants to go into the crate.
32:04Is this locked open?
32:06Just hang on there Storm for a second.
32:11Yeah.
32:12Well, he is hoping the team can figure out the whole complicated door thingy first.
32:18Gently, yes.
32:19Yeah.
32:20Yep.
32:21Single movement.
32:22Ah!
32:23Never doubted you.
32:25Nice.
32:26All right.
32:27So two reps of him going in.
32:28Yep.
32:29And I'll just pay him in there, get him to hold.
32:31Or probably come around the front, make sure he stays.
32:34Good job.
32:35Come back out.
32:36Call him out.
32:37Send him back to the pool.
32:39And then we'll do that.
32:40Hold it up.
32:41Make sure it works well.
32:42Cool.
32:43Good boy.
32:44You ready?
32:46Yes.
32:47He's like, yes, I am.
32:48Yes, I am ready.
32:51Hey, big man.
32:52Fox.
32:56Good boy.
33:00It smells like moby.
33:03Oh, careful of your head.
33:08Good boy.
33:11Excellent.
33:15He's very brave.
33:16You want to try it again?
33:18Yeah.
33:19All right.
33:20Ready?
33:21Go.
33:23Fox.
33:25Hmm.
33:26Maybe he's not quite ready to leave.
33:28Just yet.
33:33Coming up.
33:34That's MJ.
33:36Simmering tension.
33:37Your volleys out there too.
33:39Becomes guerrilla warfare.
33:47Things are heating up inside Taronga's guerrilla habitat.
33:55Primate keeper Bec and conservation student Steffi are monitoring the headstrong young male MJ as he continues to intimidate the female guerrillas while the silverback Kabali isn't watching.
34:10Kabali's coming out.
34:13If his females are getting challenged Kabali will intervene and he will discipline those boys.
34:20In that silverback role, he's always got to be on his toes, making sure that, you know, everyone's in check. He knows what's happening in the environment.
34:27He's in control of everything.
34:33MJ's beating his chest again.
34:36As MJ moves closer to the females,
34:41It's on.
34:42The silverback Kabali is quick to intervene.
34:57This is his role though.
34:58He has to mediate this.
35:00Kabali has done his job.
35:17But while this scuffle was resolved quickly enough, MJ's behaviour continues to test the silverback's patience.
35:25Kabali's relationship with the boys is in a transitional phase at the moment.
35:31Some days they'll play and then other days it's purely like discipline.
35:37As they get older, that wrestling and testing, that is a huge amount of stress for the silverback.
35:43That's the whole reason for the study, to track these behaviours that we are seeing.
35:49So we can make a really informed response when it's time for those boys to leave.
35:56And it's that question conservation student Steffi will be hoping to answer next.
36:03Here in the results you can see incidents divided into like positive and negative behaviours.
36:07Do all the boys stay or will some of them have to leave?
36:17Meanwhile, in the marine habitat.
36:20All right, ready, go.
36:22It would be a stretch to say that Australian sea lion Storm is loving his crate training session.
36:28All the way in.
36:30Let's go.
36:31There is a bit of pressure to make sure that Storm gets into this crate.
36:36Good boy.
36:38Until he feels comfortable entering the crate, he can't be transported back to his home in Coffs Harbour.
36:44You want to try it again?
36:46What?
36:48Here.
36:50Good boy.
36:52So Storm probably a little bit less motivated than we were expecting.
36:57Good boy.
36:58Good boy.
37:00He's thinking a little too hard about it, whereas normally we would expect him just to jump straight in.
37:05So, an extra hurdle.
37:07All right, you want to try it again?
37:09Fox.
37:15Good boy.
37:17Now, I just want to apologise before I say this next line.
37:22Crate job, Storm. Crate job.
37:24Crate job.
37:25All right.
37:26The main part is that he got in.
37:29Oh, good boy.
37:31And hopefully that's exactly what's going to happen tomorrow morning.
37:34Great.
37:35But it all comes down to his motivation and how he's feeling at the time.
37:39So, we're hoping for the best.
37:40And as another spectacular sunrise breaks over Sydney, a large storm is about to hit Coffs Harbour.
37:53I'm hoping Storm thinks it's just another normal morning.
37:56Yeah.
37:57And we just happened to be here a little bit earlier.
38:02Hey, Storm, you ready?
38:04Just another day.
38:06Not quite.
38:08It should be Storm's final farewell.
38:11Even the Taronga marine team have all come in to say their goodbyes.
38:15Hopefully he's thinking more exciting rather than anything to be concerned about.
38:21Well, here's hoping it goes better than yesterday.
38:23Same as yesterday.
38:25Here.
38:27Good boy.
38:29And of course, like you'd expect from any headstrong sea lion, today Storm decides to, well, storm it in.
38:37I was always going to work.
38:42Which means he's going home.
38:47Storm, since arriving 18 months ago, he's basically been the one seal that I've worked with from start to now, really.
38:56I've really developed a strong bond with Storm.
38:58He has been an amazing animal.
39:02Yeah, we're going on another big adventure.
39:04Come share.
39:06Love cuddles.
39:07Very, very easy to work with.
39:09Yeah.
39:10Yeah, so obviously saying goodbye, I'm going to be sharing a tea.
39:13All three.
39:18Yeah.
39:20It's hard.
39:22I'm going to miss him.
39:23This man is going to look after him.
39:26You can come see him, anytime.
39:27I know.
39:30See you soon.
39:33We'll look after him.
39:34There's just a lot of emotion.
39:36But couldn't have asked for a better transfer
39:37because Movie and Storm have done an amazing work for the Australian sea lion breeding program.
39:43Alright, see you guys.
39:44We've helped the species by helping with the genetic diversity and at the same time try to get more of these guys out there.
40:01Everyone is happy, although emotional.
40:03We're always going to be sad every time one of our individuals leave.
40:12Next.
40:14It's finally time to decide.
40:16That's a really big sign.
40:18If MJ will be leaving Taronga.
40:20The data that we've got suggests that.
40:23For several months now, conservation student Steffi has been studying the behaviour of Taronga's guerrilla troop.
40:34Paying close attention to how aggressive the young males, Mwamba, Fubumi and MJ are becoming.
40:42That's MJ.
40:44Two volleys out there too.
40:46I started focusing on the three young boys.
40:50Looking for certain behaviours that may signal that they would want to leave the group.
40:57Or if they're trying to push the boundaries a little bit with Kimbali.
41:01The time has come to hear the results.
41:04Steffi is actually doing a big presentation to our team on what her findings have been.
41:09So we have more of an idea of where we're sitting with those boys and their behaviours.
41:13Here in the results you can see incidents divided into like positive and negative behaviours.
41:19Can I just ask what you define as a negative interaction?
41:23From Mwamba and Fubumi it was mostly active avoidance of others.
41:27While MJ actually involved displacement and threatening posture towards another individual.
41:33MJ's displacement is when he takes himself away from the rest of the guerrilla troop.
41:38The majority of the positive interactions are observed between the adolescents and the three females, which is about 37% of all the positive interactions.
41:49But it's the negative interactions that will help decide whether any of the boys, yes MJ I'm looking at you, are destined to leave Taronga sooner rather than later.
42:01MJ loves to tease Johari because he does get a rise out of her.
42:06But the type of annoyances always goes away quickly.
42:11It's not damaging to their relationship at all.
42:14Steffi's research shows that while MJ had a few negative interactions with Johari,
42:19he clashed far more frequently with his dad Kabali, clocking up 13 negative interactions.
42:30That's pretty high.
42:32Signs that we're seeing at the moment is that MJ is spending a lot of time distancing himself from the troop.
42:39He doesn't want to be around Kabali that much.
42:42When those boys really start separating themselves from that group naturally and they want to be further away from them, that's a really big sign that, you know, they're ready to go.
42:53While MJ is clearly showing more independence, is Kabali displaying any signs that he's actually feeling threatened by MJ's behaviour?
43:02The negative interactions were just around like 8%.
43:06Kabali is seriously exerting his dominance over MJ, only 8% of all the times that they interact.
43:15So overall, the data that we've got suggests that the negative interactions are low.
43:23Yeah, yeah, it is interesting.
43:26There's nothing obvious from Kabali that would indicate to us that we're in a situation where we would need to plan immediately for the removal of MJ or any of them.
43:40Yeah.
43:42Seems Kabali is doing his job.
43:44He's controlling the boys without too much aggression.
43:47This is really helpful.
43:49It's a baseline for us to continue this as well.
43:51And it just helps us progress as this progresses as well.
43:56Yeah.
43:57So all in all, what we have is a large family with that one slightly annoying, slightly moody kid that basically likes to pester everyone else.
44:09Sounds pretty normal, really.
44:12We've got about a year to two years up our sleeve before we have to make any big decisions, I think.
44:18But yeah, the boys are safe for now.
44:21The boys are safe for now.
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