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