- 2 hours ago
Secrets of the Zoo: Down Under - Season 6 Episode 9 -
It's Tiger Time
It's Tiger Time
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 so good it's
00:32time to discover oh my god exactly who's who in this zoo on this episode why are
00:45you doing that after a wee hiccup at the start you wouldn't want to lie in urine
00:51neither to tigers it's all systems go for mawa the tiger one two three there we go and
00:58the health check if she says go out you exit straight away that could change her
01:04life he's a very special cat a blind date with a difference mate spud but
01:11Australia's smallest bachelor we want to introduce into penny isn't just playing
01:16hard to get spud he's playing hard to find it's the first time that he would
01:22have been introduced to a female other than his mum and the race is on to find
01:28out just what's bugging Molly this is not the grossest thing we can do in our day
01:34it's springtime and Taronga's two zoos are bursting with healthy animals and brimming with happy keepers
01:53for one particular species these balmy days are all the excuse they need to slip
02:04back into the cool shade of their jungle habitat Sumatran tigers come from the
02:10island of Sumatra in Indonesia in the wild they actually live amongst this
02:16beautiful foliage so they need stripes to help hide amongst all the shadows of the
02:21forest tiger stripes are all individual on each animal sort of like a thumbprint
02:27or a fingerprint for a human we actually look at the different stripes on their
02:32tails or their faces and that's one of the ways that the keepers can actually ID
02:36the different Tigers when they're out and they're running around together
02:39every day I thank my lucky stars that I work with Sumatran tigers they're
02:44actually critically endangered in the wild so there's less than 350 individuals
02:49left which is just drastically low we have a family group here at Taronga we
02:56have Katika and her offspring Pemina and his sister Mawa so now that Mawa and
03:03Pemina are five years old they have been matched genetically with tigers in the US
03:09so we're hoping that they can become part of this global breeding program for
03:14munchin tigers that's right these feline siblings have a date with genetic
03:21destiny they'll be on the move traveling over 14,000 kilometers to spread their
03:28love across a couple of zoos in the US survey but there's a catch they actually
03:36depend on each other to get past and to be able to be shipped overseas because the
03:41US zoos are actually sharing the cost of the flight and they will actually be sharing
03:46quarantine facilities once they're over in the US so we're hoping that after they
03:50both have health check that they both pass if one doesn't pass the other one may not go
03:57Pemina's already had his health check and while keeper Tamara waits for his results
04:04it's his sister Mawa's turn which means Mawa will need a general anesthetic which means a sharp needle
04:14which means you guessed it a training session so Molly and I are about to do a training session for
04:22Mawa we've got the pole that we'll actually be using on the day with a blunt needle on it in the past
04:29when we had to anesthetize a dangerous animal like a tiger the vets would actually come in with a dart
04:34gun and they would dart the tigers it was very very stressful it took them a really long time to fall
04:40asleep because that adrenaline was coursing through them so now we use cooperative care where it's the
04:45animals choice to come up and participate in a training session if they don't want to they won't
04:49hey Mawa good morning good morning you ready for your session oh you're a good girl you ready
04:59Mawa hello on command Mawa has been trained to drop close to the keepers oh that's very far away
05:09can we try again come on up you get Mawa up you get let's try again the love her head and her hips
05:18are supposed to both be near the mesh but just one day before her critically important health check
05:30Mawa is choosing not to participate this is her first ever GA and it's a lot of stress for us as
05:41keepers we want it to go to plan we want it to be smooth come on our job why are you doing that
05:56Mawa Mawa Mawa you have never done this in trading session ever the day before and anesthetic is not
06:05ideal at Taronga are you with your girlfriend the keepers sometimes have to give mother nature a
06:16little there we go nudge oh how cute and offer the animals the occasional helping hand
06:25whether they're big or small long-nosed potteroos are really fascinating they're a gorgeous little
06:36marsupial tiny they only weigh up to you know one and a half to two kilos they're classified as a
06:46vulnerable species the reason for that habitat loss they're the perfect weight and size as a snack
06:53for feral cats and foxes so they do get predated on a lot their numbers are declining and they are
07:01basically at threat of extinction in the future and it's that threat that has Taronga working hard
07:10to help its own potteroo population get busy and produce more little potteroos
07:17meet spud he was born here in our breeding program he's now just turned two years old he's a single
07:32male potteroo spud is our little bachelor and he's quite the catch he's a gorgeous little male full of
07:45energy loves bouncing around he's very charismatic and he actually really enjoys scratch and we want
07:56to find him a female so that he can breed and pass on his genetics which are really valuable
08:01keep her Susie is playing marsupial matchmaker good morning penny and she's got high hopes move into your
08:13new home today that a certain little bachelorette will steal spuds heart penny's maid role is she's
08:23hopefully going to breed with spud so we can have some little potteroos to increase the population no
08:30pressure then penny she's a female that came to us from tidbimbilla nature reserve she's got a bit of a
08:38wild upbringing let's hope not too wild for spud so let's take you into woodlands and see if spud is up
08:47and do your first introduction back over in the tiger's den we'll try one more time mawa the Sumatran
08:58tiger is supposed to be practicing for tomorrow's pole injection why are you doing that we have not
09:05done that since you were tiny but she isn't cooperating mawa has never ever not come sideways to the mesh so
09:15she was landing with her bottom towards the back wall so yeah this is a great training session the day
09:22before an anesthetic hopefully we can reset and she actually does what we need her to do try again mawa
09:32nah
09:35meanwhile over at the wildlife hospital vet nurse Annie has got a list and she's checking it twice
09:45i'm just getting some things organized for mawa's anesthesia so as you can see my little checklist
09:53has so many things on it she's having a pre-shipment transport general anesthetic so i'm just getting a few
10:01bits and pieces together um this is probably one of the most unusual ones it's not a bin it's actually a face mask
10:08because mawa's not had an anesthetic before i'm not quite sure what size she is so that's going to be
10:14the face mask
10:18it's been a while since i've done a tiger anesthetic probably about a year
10:21so i'm just making sure that everything's in working order because i don't want to get down there and find
10:26things not working makes Annie very cranky
10:29and when it comes to things not working
10:33mawa's final training session is a prime example
10:36you want to quickly go in and squeegee quick hose and squeegee
10:42keeper Danielle suspects she knows the wee problem
10:47there's some urine on the floor so tigers are quite particular like us you wouldn't want to lie in urine neither to tigers
10:53so we're just going to do a quick clean so hopefully we can have a successful training session
10:57that should be enough yeah what do you think mawa are we doing a good job
11:12look at that it's nice and dry nice and clean okay what do you reckon you've inspected did we do a good enough job
11:22there we go princess mawa and with the all clear from this sumatran uh princess
11:30yeah see it's much better pole injection practice can resume
11:36yeah try again i can come down drop
11:43touch
11:46so far so good
11:48hey
11:50you've never done that either
11:52she's never done that
11:54looks like it's just one of those days
11:57still to come
12:02oh look at all these
12:04she resisted at first
12:06if you asked a keeper what their favorite animal would be they would say they don't have one
12:11but then molly couldn't help herself
12:14she is just my favorite animal in the whole wide world
12:17and a really big day
12:19pretty exciting having my first procedure being for a critically endangered species like the Sumatran tiger
12:25for newbie Jess
12:26Jess
12:27go my little
12:28little protégé
12:36in the deepest darkest depths of Taronga's wild bushland
12:41alright
12:42oh
12:43keeper molly
12:44is off the beaten track
12:46and on the hunt for
12:49oh
12:51look at all these
12:52bugs
12:53so these are all
12:54perfect logs
12:56you can hear
12:57how rotten
12:58how rotten they are
12:59and the more rotten means the more room for bugs
13:02i'm one of the carnivore keepers here at the zoo
13:04we've got the smallest carnivores the meerkats
13:07and the red pandas
13:10and the otters as well
13:12and then some of the largest so
13:14Mary our sun bear
13:15and then even the lions and tigers
13:18these are all perfect for meerkats and sun bear
13:24i can see a few ants a few centipedes
13:27if there's some spiders and grubs that would be even better
13:31rotten logs are kind of the perfect example of that phrase one man's trash is another one's treasure
13:37so i guess most people would see an old log on the side of the road and think it's in the way or remove it
13:42but for us that's actually like gold we go searching for the most rotten and the ones with the most insects
13:47and it's like treasure for our meerkats
13:50ooh so many bugs
13:52with the logs collected it's time to distribute them amongst taronga's residents
13:59here at taronga we currently have a group of nine meerkats and they're actually all sisters as well which is a bit unique
14:08sentry duty is the most essential meerkat behaviour in the wild
14:13this behaviour is actually an entire meerkat mob's responsibility
14:18and if you look closely you'll see they actually all take turns in this behaviour
14:21so it's almost like shift work for meerkats
14:24basically one meerkat will find the highest point of their habitat
14:27because there are a lot of birds of prey in areas where they would live in southern Africa
14:31which means meerkats have to be constantly looking up and being aware of when the predators may pass
14:36meerkats love insects
14:39they predominantly eat these in the wild
14:41so any opportunity for them to get into some insects they will be straight onto
14:45the whole mob has to work together to get all of the insects out as a team
14:50so something as simple as a log can encourage some pretty amazing behaviours
14:55but as amazing as the meerkats are there's just something about Mary
15:01and keeper Molly has saved some of the juiciest logs just for her
15:07I think if you asked a keeper what their favourite animal would be
15:10they would say they don't have one
15:12but if you ask them a second time it'll always come out
15:15mine has to be some bears as a species but in particular Mary
15:19she is just my favourite animal in the whole wide world
15:27all right
15:28so this delicious log was from our meerkat exhibit
15:32so it won't only have a lot of bugs
15:35but it's also going to have that meerkat smell for her as well
15:40so this is like prime rotten log
15:42you can see it's literally crumbling away as I touch it
15:45oh look at that
15:46in the wild some bears would be using their long claws
15:49to break into trees and termite mounds to get out all of the insects
15:53so it's a great way for them to source food
15:55but it also means they keep their claws nice and short
15:58and not too long and sharp
16:00so Mary's going to love that one
16:03over in the tiger's den
16:12it's the day before Mawar's first ever general anaesthetic and health check
16:18touch
16:22and ideal is not how you'd describe this final practice session
16:27for the first time ever she decided to bite the end of the tube that the milk was coming out
16:32can you can you let that go please
16:34nope
16:36and pulled the whole entire thing out
16:38she's never done that before either
16:40give her some milk
16:42oh that's tricky
16:44yeah
16:48there you go
16:49no it's not going to
16:52oh
16:54come through this gap
16:56I win
16:58I've trained Mawar since about
17:01one week old
17:02and that training session was probably the worst training session she's ever had
17:06Mawar Mawar Mawar
17:08try again Mawar
17:09Mawar
17:12it's now crunch time
17:14with a new day
17:16comes new hope
17:18it's time to see if Mawar can put her worst ever pole injection training session behind her
17:24and get the job done
17:26do you want to take out the blue blood pressure cuff
17:29and whack it on the bench with all the others
17:31it's the same size
17:33in the wildlife hospital
17:35vet nurse Annie
17:36Annie will not only be helping administer Mawar's anaesthetic gas
17:42make sure the bag fills up
17:43you've done it before Annie
17:44anyone would think
17:46she's also supervising the wildlife hospital's newest recruit
17:51that's all connected so if we do need to take it into the den
17:55and you're getting people to help
17:57obviously that just needs to come together
17:59because that's connected to that
18:01I do get very excited when we're doing lions and tigers
18:03and then that excitement then turns into a little bit of anxiousness and fear
18:08but we do have our wonderful new trainee Jess
18:11that's going to be shadowing both myself and Tammy
18:14do you want me to get the orange box too?
18:16yeah
18:17if I'm excited she's
18:19her head's going to be exploding I can only imagine
18:21put the arm runners on now so they're ready or not
18:24don't have to because
18:26we won't know what side they want to lay her
18:28so I've come from being a zookeeper to a trainee vet nurse
18:31and any other one from here for the tail?
18:34no
18:36I've been at Taronga for about three weeks now
18:38and this is my first time helping out with a procedure
18:41so this gets attached to this
18:44and then that goes to the back of the restaurants
18:47pretty exciting having my first procedure being for a critically endangered species
18:51like the Sumatian tiger
18:53go my little protege
18:55you taught me so well
18:56go my little protege
18:57vet Francis will be overseeing Mawar's examination
19:02once the tiger is brought into the hospital
19:05how about you three go in the van
19:08and us three are going to walk down the back road
19:10easy okay
19:12Sumatian tigers are just beautiful
19:14it's quite a privilege to be able to work with them
19:16she's a really important animal because she's one of a small number
19:19there are not that many of them left
19:21do you want to drive Gabs?
19:23so she's going to go to the United States to breed
19:27and we're doing a thorough health check before she goes overseas
19:30alright
19:32so thank you everyone for joining us this morning
19:35my name's Georgia I'm one of the carnivore keepers here
19:38we're here for Mawar's anaesthetic
19:41that'll be run by Francis our vet today
19:44and Gabby?
19:45so just from the vet side Gabby's running the anaesthetics
19:49so she's going to be the one that calls for when she's happy to have the door open
19:53we want only people who have a designated job to be in
19:59and that's under Gabby's direction
20:01if Gabby is unhappy and wants people out
20:04if she says go out you exit straight away
20:07but before anyone can enter Mawar's den
20:11Keeper Danielle has to successfully pole inject this strong sedative into the 87 kilo tiger
20:19we're going to use the short pole needle
20:22it all hinges on her
20:25I'm just going to like gently just rest it on
20:28I am so nervous right now
20:31I've put a lot of pressure on myself to get this done
20:33you've got this gal
20:34ain't your first rodeo
20:36with Mawar it is
20:38because if this isn't successful then Mawar will need to be darted
20:42which is very stressful for her
20:44and very stressful for all of us
20:46we're on
20:48it's just a normal training session
20:50yeah
20:54back at the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning
20:57okay
20:59enough already
21:00let's just call it the
21:02potteroo bachelor pad
21:04here we are
21:06Keeper Susie is
21:08matchmaker Susie
21:10beautiful new home
21:12hello Miss Penny
21:14and today potteroo Penny
21:16is going on a blind date
21:18with Spud
21:22Spud
21:23Spud's our little male long-nosed potteroo
21:26he was born here at Taronga Zoo
21:28and he's just over two years old now
21:31he's ready for breeding
21:33and that's why we want to introduce him to Penny
21:36Spud does not know what's coming
21:39it's the first time that he would have been introduced to a female other than his mum
21:45I don't think he's really got the scent or anything of Penny yet
21:50but I reckon as soon as I let her out he'll be pretty interested
21:58come on Spud
22:01come on buddy
22:03Penny's ready
22:06Spud's not only playing hard to get
22:09he's playing hard to find
22:12I mean you wouldn't describe it as the best first impression
22:16Spud
22:17oh
22:19hang on
22:21is that
22:23nope
22:24not our guy
22:26come on bud
22:28ah gotcha
22:30oh hi buddy
22:32you can see this beautiful nest that he's built down here
22:36so you can see him peering out there of his nest
22:39and it's why a lot of Australians have probably never seen a long-nosed potteroo
22:42because they are so well adapted to the Australian environment and camouflaging
22:51Bud
22:52come here
22:54I'm just going to put a scatter of food out for him and for Penny
22:59because food is you know always a great way to meet on a first date
23:03just takes a bit of the pressure off meeting each other for the first time
23:15now for the moment of truth
23:17I'm not sure about her Spud
23:24I'm going to step back and just watch and see what happens
23:33over at Taronga's carnivore section
23:51a critically endangered Sumatran tiger is about to receive its first ever pole injection
24:02ahead of a very important health check
24:05we're on
24:07well at least that's the idea
24:10I love the enthusiasm
24:12why are you doing that
24:13yesterday's practice didn't quite go to plan
24:16hey
24:18you've never done that either
24:20she's never done that
24:22and today
24:23Keeper Danielle is giving it another crack
24:26but this time
24:28it's the real deal
24:30if this isn't successful then Mal will need to be darted
24:33which is very stressful for her
24:35and very stressful for all of us
24:37okay
24:38so
24:40we're going to get her down
24:41couple of touches with this
24:43oh good girl
24:44she was like ready before I was ready
24:46today they're keeping that milk bottle well away from Mauer
24:51okay
24:52and Mauer is now lying much closer to the keepers
24:58touch
25:00good girl
25:02what a difference a day makes
25:04the sedative is in
25:05now that's what you'd call a perfect pole injection
25:10we can go tell them
25:14well done princess
25:18once the anesthetic goes in then they have to communicate with the vet
25:21because the vet is the one that's running the procedure
25:25you're okay
25:31good girl
25:32are you happy for us to come in?
25:36yep
25:38yep we'll go in
25:39and I believe Molly has just given the word
25:42and so the vets
25:44and vet nurses and myself
25:45are going to go in and
25:47see how she's going
25:49Mauer might be down
25:51but is she out?
25:53Mauer is a dangerous animal
25:55tigers are absolutely capable of
25:57you know hurting people
25:58so Gabby's just going to check how deeply sedated she is
26:01to make sure it's safe for us to actually open the door
26:04and go in with her
26:05she's looking for any signs that she's moving or twitching
26:08or moving her whiskers or blinking an eye
26:12any movement?
26:14I think she's pretty good
26:16on Gabby's signal the team prepare to enter Mauer's den
26:19we're all being quiet because loud noises are a stimulus and we don't want her to start moving around
26:32shh
26:34push her that way
26:36no way
26:37can that stay out there and I'll just put the mask
26:40give me a second
26:42was that you?
26:43any little reflex is an indication to us that Mauer's perhaps not sufficiently anaesthetised
26:49yeah it was nice just slipped
26:51it's not happening
26:52let's just take her up
26:53ready?
26:54one, two, three
26:56there we go
26:58okay you need to pull that out
27:00we want to get her up to the hospital in a timely fashion
27:03so that we keep her anaesthetic as short as we can
27:07and don't slam the door please
27:09it makes the whole process safer for her
27:14the plan is we're going to take her straight through and put her on the floor and we'll connect her up
27:19down on the ground please
27:21slowly down everyone
27:23she's got a little blink
27:25so Mauer's just got a little bit of a blink there
27:30she's just got a little blink
27:33at Taronga Zoo in Sydney
27:39oh
27:41alright
27:42keepers Molly and Tamara
27:44are preparing a particularly tasty gourmet banquet
27:48for some of the zoo's resident carnivores
27:52oh my gosh look at all the bugs
27:54oh so exciting
27:56and what's the one thing that can make a rotten log full of bugs
27:59an even better meal
28:02more bugs
28:04this is the fun part for us where we get to
28:06scatter all these delicious bugs without trying to get them on us
28:10and I'll put some roaches in this big one here
28:13so good they're actually all climbing inside
28:15but wait there's more
28:18we deal with a lot of poo
28:20so handling bugs like maggots is not the grossest thing we can do in our day
28:23all right
28:25one last spot
28:27this looks like a goodie
28:30all right
28:32Moz
28:34what do we think?
28:36looks good
28:38she's going to be occupied for ages
28:40I can't wait to see her
28:41good idea
28:43she is Mary the sun bear
28:46and it doesn't take long to find that first delicious log
28:53it's about to be ripped apart
28:58any second now
29:02right
29:04well how about this one
29:06okay then
29:08in the wild most of a sun bear's day is actually spent foraging for insects
29:19that long tongue
29:21it is so precise
29:23she can target that exact insect she's looking for
29:26she won't pick up a leaf or dirt
29:29it's pretty impressive
29:31oh my gosh
29:32look at her go
29:34that's more like it Mary
29:36oh my gosh those claws are getting a workout
29:38she's shredding right into them
29:40so this is exactly what she'd be doing in the wild
29:43exactly what we wanted from those logs
29:45I love when she gets like all frantic
29:47cause like it's like a way of showing sort of excitement
29:49yeah yeah flipping them all over
29:51yeah all those natural bear behaviors
29:53so good
29:55oh my gosh
29:57oh my gosh
29:59we're seeing some behaviors that we don't get to see from her everyday
30:03so happy and playful
30:05I think she's living her best life today
30:07you know it can feel like a silly job to search for logs
30:11but to actually see the impact it's having on her
30:13and to be able to watch her now all afternoon
30:16having fun and ripping into them is so rewarding
30:19okay it's official folks
30:21Mary the sun bear is now Mary the fun bear
30:26oh so good she's going to be busy for hours
30:29down on the ground please
30:32back at the wildlife hospital
30:34okay she's connected
30:36okay she's on one
30:38Mawa the Sumatran tiger has been sedated for an important health check
30:42she's got a little blink let's turn her up
30:44but she isn't sleeping soundly
30:45so Mawa's just got a little bit of a blink there
30:49a blink reflex is an indication to us that Mawa's not sufficiently anaesthetized
30:55it's really important that we keep people safe and Mawa safe
30:59I'm not going to move her until her blink goes away
31:01so no no so what we're going to do guys she's got a little blink so we're just going to sit for here for a second before we move her
31:12moving is the thing that will stimulate her the most
31:16so let's just get her a little bit deeper
31:20her respiratory rate's gone up as well
31:22an elevated respiratory rate confirms that Mawa isn't sleeping deeply enough
31:33okay she's lost the blink reflex she's taking nice breaths I'm happy to lift her up
31:38can I hop in here and I want to catch that leg
31:42so if we go
31:44one two three
31:46that's it
31:48thanks guys
31:50no blink
31:52okay we're going to spray her and then in your boat
31:54so Mawa's just going to have a little bit of a spray on the back of her throat
31:58it's a local anaesthetic and it makes it much easier to pass the tube into her airway
32:02that we need to give her the anaesthetic gas
32:04and it's going to protect her airway
32:07pull the thing out
32:10pull pull pull pull
32:12that's it
32:17now that Mawa is intubated and stable
32:21you just give her regular breaths Annie
32:23vet Frances can finally start today's procedures
32:27I'm just going to take the swab first
32:29this is Mawa's first anaesthetic
32:31this will be the first time since she was a tiny little cub
32:35that we've actually been able to do a physical examination
32:38yeah
32:40occasionally the animal can look healthy
32:42but blood tests might show something like maybe the kidneys aren't working very well
32:45or maybe the liver's not working very well
32:48so we'll do a series of blood tests
32:50I'm going to do 12 mls in this syringe
32:52the results of these tests will determine if this critically endangered tiger
32:58can be transferred to the USA to join a selective breeding program
33:03once I've got this blood
33:05I'm going to aim to do the x-rays and we'll do the lateral x-rays first Tammy
33:10yeah
33:11it's an exclusive club
33:13and not every tiger that's selected will pass
33:17on my count of three she's going towards Tammy and Jess by about 15 cm
33:22one, two, three
33:25okay, now we're going to lift her up onto her back
33:28it's difficult moving her around for those different x-ray views and so on
33:33she's a big tiger
33:36everyone out
33:38x-ray
33:40okay
33:42light on
33:49okay
33:57over at the Taronga Institute of love
34:01at the moment Penny's over here exploring
34:03and spud is over in this area
34:09keeper Susie has arranged a blind date for two of Australia's most vulnerable marsupials
34:18so far it's not going so great
34:24for Penny this is going to be exciting on a number of levels because it's a new environment for her
34:30and she's probably going to be more focused on checking out her surroundings finding good places for her to hide to set up her nest
34:41the spud this is the first time he's ever been in with a female other than his mum
34:46you know the new exciting thing in the room is Penny
34:48he might be sort of sniffing where Penny has already been
35:01he might be a little bit over excited you know the first smell of a female pheromone he's got to figure out the logistics
35:07I'm just going to go grab some peanuts
35:13I'm just going to go grab some peanuts
35:17come
35:19look I've got a very special treat for you both
35:24lovely peanut butter smears
35:26maybe a little snack will do the trick
35:30I want to have a close look and see what they're actually doing
35:36they're right now having a drink together at the back going between eating food but also then checking in on each other and having a sniff
35:45she's actually being really receptive to him
35:48she's lifting her tail up so that he can actually mount her
35:56he's actually on top of her
35:59happy days
36:01he's giving it his best shot
36:03almost buddy
36:07might take him a few goes to figure out
36:11how it all works
36:13he might be a little bit over excited
36:15I think he's he's trying
36:19yeah maybe we should give them a bit of privacy
36:25next door in the wildlife hospital
36:28everyone out
36:30now are the Sumatran Tigers chances of traveling with her twin to America to join an exclusive breeding program
36:39X-ray
36:41okay
36:42all depend on her passing today's health check
36:46so we want to make sure that she's grown up with everything in the right place
36:49we need to know that she's in tip-top shape
36:51her stomach with a bit of gas in it
36:53we need to know that she doesn't have anything subclinical which means from the outside she looks okay
36:58but on the inside there's something going on underneath
37:02I don't see anything there that's abnormal
37:04I'm going to put an IV into a cephalic
37:08sure
37:10for trainee vet nurse Jess this is a pretty special way to kick off her new career
37:17it's just really exciting my first day doing a vet nursing traineeship and we're doing a tiger
37:21have another listen because you can actually hear her breathe and hear her heart
37:27who would have thought it's blowing my mind
37:30so have a listen there and you'll see what I mean by
37:33all the chitter chatter in the room and this
37:35that's so much harder to hear than with an esophageal
37:41yeah
37:48so cool
37:50what we're doing right now is her physical examination
37:53so we want to make sure we know if she's got any wounds or injuries or anything like that
37:57there's nothing Tamara
37:59nothing in particular that you guys are concerned about with her
38:02no we would like to just do a little body score
38:06yeah
38:08I'd give her probably a two and a half
38:11it's pretty good
38:13two and a half to three body condition score out of five
38:15today's really special because it's so rare to get an opportunity to get up close to these animals in our care
38:21if time permits we take the opportunity to get a little paw print
38:26it's a way for the keepers that take care of these animals to sort of have a little memento of them and it's really special
38:35it's really special
38:40means a lot to us and
38:43and
38:45sometimes we just put them up in our office so that the whole team can you know enjoy them and it's
38:50especially animals like malware that may be moving to another zoo you know
38:54it's a nice little memory of her
38:57she's a very special cat
38:58next we have been waiting patiently judgment day has arrived just received news time to see if these big cats really can fly
39:18it's been two weeks since spud met penny in a potteroo blind date
39:25and the first couple of days it was a bit touch and go but after sort of getting to know each other and calming down a little bit
39:32we actually have seen a lot of mating from spud
39:35and just recently keeper susie has noticed even more changes
39:39spud in the past sort of week isn't melting her as much great signs that potentially there was a successful mating
39:48fingers crossed in around three or four months we're going to have some little potteroo joeys
39:53well turns out our little spud really is a stud
40:02at the Taronga Wildlife Hospital
40:05one two three
40:06today's health check on Mawar the Sumatran tiger is done
40:11head first
40:14all her x-rays look great
40:16there's nothing to see on those
40:18you ready ladies?
40:20her physical exam was all fine
40:23she doesn't have any abnormalities that we can see like that
40:26we do now have all the blood tests that we need to wait for the results
40:29so we'll get those back over the next couple of days
40:32and if they're all clear then she'll be ready to depart
40:34Mawar and her brother Pemina are set to be transported to America to join an exclusive Sumatran tiger breeding program
40:45ready?
40:48two three
40:50as long as all their test results come back clear
40:53come back clear
40:54so Mawar is back in her den now
40:58she's had her reversal drug and she's waking up from that she's actually doing really well
41:06her eyes come right up
41:09blinking
41:11ear twitching
41:13she's waking up
41:15what we do is try and stay away from her as much as possible so that she can have a nice smooth recovery without seeing all of us there
41:22you're okay darling
41:25you're okay darling
41:27you're okay Mawar
41:28you're okay Mawar
41:42a few days later and while the tigers are blissfully unaware of their future
41:48their keepers haven't been quite so chilled
41:51we have been waiting patiently for the test results for our two tigers Pemina and Mawar
41:59and we just received news
42:01the vets have given them both a full bill of health
42:05they absolutely passed all their tests with flying colors
42:09it's really wonderful for Mawar and Pem to take this journey to the US
42:13and become a part of this global breeding program
42:18as sad as it is for us
42:20the keepers that have worked with both of them since the day they were born
42:23it's for the greater good
42:25it's for the genetic diversity worldwide for these beautiful endangered animals
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