02x13 - Down Under: Rhi-yes or Rhino?

[bunniefuu]

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Narrator: Feeding time
at the zoo

Is like a m*llitary operation.

To keep all the residents fed,

Taronga's kitchens
never seem to shut.

And the live food unit
known as the bug house

Is quite literally
always buzzing.

It's full of little critters
that are bred on-site

And others that are ordered in.

Christine: All the insects
that we order in come in live.

The main reason
is insectivorous animals

Don't see a dead bit of meat
and think food.

They need that movement,
that stimulation,

To make them want to go after
and chase and hunt the prey.

Nice. Thank you.
I'll wait for your call. Bye.

Narrator: This morning,
christine is preparing

Weekly orders
for the zoo's insectivores,

Or insect-eating animals.

Christine: The orders
have to be very precise

To make sure
the correct amounts go out.

We spend a lot of time
putting all of this together

For it to happen all in one day.

We're sending one to nocturnal.

Two to retreat.

Narrator: These bags and boxes
are packed full of insects

In all shapes and sizes.

Christine: This trolley
is full of beetle larvae.

So, most people are pretty
familiar with mealworms.

The reason
they're called mealworms

Is that they're actually
kept in bran

Or, like, mealy sort of stuff,
and that's what they eat.

Morning, al. Is the order in?

Narrator: Christine has
worked here for four years,

And she loves her bugs.

Christine: Oh, they're adorable!

Look at those little faces,
those little mandibles.

Insects are the cutest.

This cute little
just soft crawling around.

It's a really comforting
feeling for me.

Narrator: One of
the most important roles

Of the bug house
is to breed insects,

Including house flies.

Christine:
This one net will produce

A week's worth of maggots.

This net alone
produces kilos in a week.

Every day,
we put in an egging tray,

And when we get it out,
they are chock-full of maggots.

They are so thick in there.

The containers
actually feel warm.

Narrator: But maggots
are just the first stage

Of house fly development

That is fed
to the hungry insectivores.

Christine: Fly pupae is like
the chrysalis for a butterfly,

But for flies.

Narrator:
The next stage is pupae,

And they're
just as much in demand.

Christine: They're
little packets of protein

Wrapped in a little case.

There's this beautiful
grainy sensation,

Like putting your hand
into rice or seed.

And they're just,
they're quite cool.

Though, I will admit, they do
have a bit of an unusual smell.

On an average week, we aim to
produce about kilos of pupae.

This is actually
our week's haul,

Collected from our fly room.

To stop them all hatching into
flies, we're going to freeze it.

We want to have the bigger sizes
for the majority of our animals.

Other than that, the really
small stuff is actually great

Because we can use some of
the really small, hatched flies

To feed
our really small spiders.

Narrator: With each stage
of the fly's life cycle

Passing in just a few days,

Timing is everything,
especially in the maggot room.

Christine: So, these guys,
believe it or not,

The ones I'm harvesting today,
they're five days old.

Tomorrow
when they're six days old,

They'll start pupating,
and we'll harvest on day seven.

Uh, if we leave it to day eight,
they will be flies.

These guys live on bran,
uh, effectively cereal,

And they get nice and big on it,
too, which is very, very lovely.

We've got trays
to collect today.

So, there's a lot of hungry
mouths to feed out there,

And they all quite love these
little, tiny, tiny maggots.

Narrator: With her
maggot orders nearly done,

Christine completes
the weekly insectivore buffet

With some crunchy crickets,
which are also bred at taronga.

Christine: Okay.

We go through different sizes,

So the larges, we only
go through about , a week,

But we go through
a hell of a lot more smalls.

So, every day when we set up
our large crickets,

We actually put in an egging
tray, something like this,

And they'll just lay

These beautifully,
almost translucent eggs

That are very, very tiny
and thin,

And in about to ,

Sometimes days,

They'll hatch,
and they're incredibly tiny.

These hatched this morning,

And these are very essential for
our corroboree breeding program.

So, the corroboree frogs
are very, very tiny

When they're young, and they
have to eat really tiny food.

Narrator: Like every animal
in taronga's care,

Even the insects are cherished,
until they're eaten, of course.

Christine: So, we're
just pouring the crickets

All into here.

Crickets, they like
being sheltered,

So when they get buried
in the vermiculite,

They're actually not that upset.

It's safe. It's dark.
Predators can't find them.

We want to make sure
that we're providing

The best welfare for these guys

So that, in turn, they can
provide the best welfare

To the animals they're fed to.

So, when these guys
are happy and healthy,

The animals that eat them
will also be happy and healthy.

Half of this tub
is going to nocturnal house,

And half of it's going
to our carnivore team.

When it comes to counting
how many crickets

We're assigning
to each department,

We have to eyeball it.

It would take me quite a while

To individually count
, crickets into the tubs,

And that's just a little bit
silly for this morning.

Narrator: And with thousands
of hungry mouths waiting,

There's no time for that.

Christine's only priority
is to get the insects packed

And out for delivery
as quickly as possible.

Christine: This is usually done
within minutes

'cause after a certain point,

The zoo is closed
to all vehicles,

So our delivery truck
can't get through.

If we're running late,

It can stop function
in the rest of the zoo

Because if they don't have
their food on time,

Certain feeds can't happen.

Narrator:
And that's the last thing

Anybody or any animal wants.

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Taronga's reptile house is home

To a pair of elderly
rhino iguanas...

Emma: Hello, sweet girl.

Hello, basco.
Come on. In we go.

Narrator: ...Who are a bit
of a favorite with keeper emma.

Emma: We have tabasco here
who is years old.

Uh, she's the boss
of the exhibit,

And we also have blue,

And he's our -year-old
male rhino iguana.

They are currently
in a relationship,

And they have produced
many babies over the years.

They're a beautiful couple.

They are a terrestrial iguana,
so in the wild,

These guys would be found in the
dominican republic and haiti,

And they're from
quite a dry environment.

They really do well
in our australian heat.

And when we look at them,

They truly do look
like little dinosaurs.

So, that little rhino horn
on her nose there,

That's where they get
their name from.

And those big, chunky jaws
are mostly for display,

But they also mean that
she's got a very strong bite.

She's got a lot of jaw power.

Yes. She's telling me
to go away at the moment.

Oh, she's--wait.

(laughs)

Tabasco.

I know, you're the boss.

Narrator: But sadly,
age brings complications,

And keepers have noticed

That blue has been a bit
off-color lately.

Emma: Hey,
little excursion buddy.

Chris: We do like to keep
a pretty close eye

On our aging animals
to make sure that they're

In the best condition
that they can be.

He's enjoying
his little chariot ride.

We have noticed
that his left eye

Has been squinting
a little bit lately,

So that could be a sign
of a cataract

Or some sort
of other underlying issue.

Emma: Let's pop him in here.

Narrator: Lizards rely
on their excellent vision,

So this is a red flag
for vet gabby.

Gabby: So, do you think
he's been able to see

Out of his left eye since then?

Emma: I think he's, yeah,

His vision's dropped
quite significantly,

And we've trialed it
with food as well.

You know, putting it
on his left side.

He just doesn't even see
that it's there.

Gabby: But he can see you
with his right eye?

Emma: Yeah, absolutely.

Chris: Very responsive.

Gabby: Good, so we'll approach
him from the left.

Chris: Let's do that.
Safety first.

Narrator: Blue must be sedated

Before the team can put him
on anesthetic gas.

But that's easier said
than done.

Emma: Oh,
you're a stinky lizard.

Chris: You all right?

He's a strong lizard.

He's got a big neck
and some big jowls.

Gabby: All right,
I am just going to do that.

Okay, here we go.

♪ ♪

Emma: There you go, big guy.

Chris: Sleepy time.

Emma: Beautiful.

Gabby: Okay. Yep.

Narrator: Before gabby
can intubate blue,

She must ensure
he's had enough gas,

And that's complicated
by the fact

That reptiles
can hold their breath.

Gabby: Our goal is to get
an airway access to him,

So I want to be able to put
a tube into his trachea

For two reasons.

Number one, it's, it's safe
if I have access to his airway,

And it means that we can breathe
for him if he stops breathing,

Which reptiles often do.

Emma: He may well jump
when you...

Gabby: Stand by.

Narrator: Rhino iguanas
are armed with powerful jaws

And sharp teeth,

So the team must be certain
he's fully asleep.

Gabby: He's really good
at closing his jaw

With a lot of power behind it,
so I'd really rather my fingers

Not be in his mouth
at that time.

Yeah.

Oop!

Okay, a little bit more.
He was pretending.

Narrator: Located
on picturesque sydney harbor,

Taronga is one of the most
spectacular zoos on the planet.

But some of taronga's
most important work

Takes place in a car park.

Michael: So, we've got
hundreds of, hundreds of species

Here at taronga zoo
that a lot of people

Get to see on a daily basis,

But there's a lot of things
out the back

That people don't see, and
here is one of our, I guess,

Conservation facilities that
people wouldn't be aware of.

Narrator: Keeper michael
is doing crucial work

With an iconic and endangered
australian species,

The tiny
northern corroboree frog.

Michael: At the moment,
'cause they're just warming up

Out of their winter slumber,
we're doing these little,

I guess, small health checks
on them to make sure

They all look good, make sure
they, they all look healthy,

They're all alert and active.

And so far, everything
we've seen's perfect.

So, these little
northern corroboree frogs

Are pretty special.

They're brightly colored, one of
our most brightly colored frogs.

They're unique to the
southeast region of australia,

So they're only found
up in the high country,

Uh, up in the areas like the
snowy mountains in kosciuszko

And, and just the bordering
areas of the act as well.

They're a walking frog,
so they're not a jumping frog.

You won't see these guys
jumping along,

So they're a little bit
different than most frogs

That people think about
in their backyards,

Where they lay their eggs
in ponds or in, in rivers.

These guys lay their eggs in
terrestrial, moist, moss nests.

These little guys are actually
poisonous, not poisonous to me,

And that's not why
I'm wearing gloves.

I'm wearing gloves more
for the quarantine aspect.

They sequester some toxins
in their skin,

Some alkaloids
from the ants and mites

And other invertebrates
they eat,

But they actually synthesize
their own toxins as well,

Which makes them immune
to most predation.

Narrator: That means
the corroboree frog's toxins

Would likely k*ll any predator
unlucky enough to eat one,

So clearly,
predators aren't the reason

These frogs are endangered.

Michael: In the wild, we don't
know exactly how many are left,

But there's probably
around a few thousand.

And the primary factor driving
these guys towards extinction

Is an introduced disease.

It's caused by a fungus
called chytrid fungus,

And this fungus
arrived in australia

Back in the late ' s,
early ' s,

And it spread throughout the
eastern part of australia first,

And unfortunately we lost,
we think,

Six species to the fungus,

And many more
like the corroboree frogs

Are right on the brink,

So this is really a safeguard
for the species.

What you can see
in the containers here,

Every container's got
between four and six

Of these little northern
corroboree frogs in them,

So that way, if anything happens
to this species in the wild

And they disappear totally,

We've got a good
insurance population here,

And hopefully once
we work out better ways

To abate chytrid fungus
in the wild,

We will be able to really boost
population numbers back up again

With as broad a genetic range
of the species as we can.

I personally really love
working with these little guys,

Uh, for a couple of reasons.

One is my interest
is conservation management,

But secondly, the challenges
that go along with working

With small amphibians.

Amphibians are amazing
in terms of how they breed,

How they reproduce.

Every species
is quite different.

The challenge of conserving
threatened species

Is something
that really drives me

And the, one of the primary
reasons I'm here at taronga.

Narrator: And even
more exciting for michael

Is around this time each year,

He sees the payoff
for his labor of love.

Michael: Here are our northern
corroboree frog tadpoles,

And these tadpoles
are pretty important.

These little guys here
are the start

Of a new insurance population.

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Narrator: One of taronga's
most recent additions

Is a family of the world's
biggest rodents...

Johnny: Hey, boys.

Cappy cappys.

Narrator: ...The capybara,
native to south america.

Johnny: Come on, guys.

So, these five brothers
came to us

From new zealand months ago,

And we purpose-built
this new habitat for them.

Narrator: And since arriving,
they've been enjoying

Their new environment,
perhaps a little too much.

Johnny: In the wild,
capybara are semi-aquatic,

So they eat both terrestrial
and aquatic plants,

Um, but they, they are
mainly grass-eating rodents,

And a single capybara can eat
up to three kilos of grass

In a single day.

They've pretty much destroyed

All the, uh, the grass
in this exhibit.

They've absolutely
smashed it. Yeah.

Narrator:
But as the capybaras mature,

Keepers are noticing
it's no longer happy families.

Johnny: They are a funny bunch.

They have the similar kind
of traits that you'd find

In, in five brothers no matter
what species you are.

They're reaching an age
of almost two years old now,

And that's an age
when they're each starting

To develop individually, um,

And because they're all
slightly different individuals,

They're, they're developing
at a slightly different rate,

So we're seeing the, the
dynamics of this group changing.

They are interacting with each
other slightly differently

As they start to reach
that mature age.

Narrator: Keeper johnny
has identified the brother

That's really asserting
his dominance over the rest.

Johnny: So, this is rodney.

So, he is the, formerly
the runt of the litter.

Now the heaviest, the biggest,

The boldest
of the five brothers.

Um, he's the one that's
been causing all the trouble

That we've had recently
in this group.

Him and one of his cohorts,
pedro, have decided

To pick on
one of their brothers,

And it's little behaviors
like chasing him into the pool

And making sure
he doesn't come out,

Uh, or, or chasing him away
from feeding spots.

Narrator: And one sibling
seems to be the regular target

Of rodney's att*cks.

Johnny: This is carlos.

He's the victim of the, uh,
the discordant aggression

That we've seen in the group,
uh, most recently.

And you can see a couple
of open wounds on his body

At the moment, which I'm being
very careful, uh, when touching.

His copped a few bites
from his bigger brother, rodney,

And as you can see, he's, uh,
he's a bit nervous at the moment

Around any
of the other four boys,

And he has very much
been, uh, put down

To the bottom of the pile

In terms of hierarchy
in this group.

In the short term,

We're monitoring
the capybara group more closely,

And then we're also going
to bring the vets down here

And see what the options are

In terms of quelling
the aggression

And trying to sort out
some of the, some of the discord

That's happening with this group

And try and bring harmony back
into the capybara environment.

We really want to nip it
in the bud

Before it escalates
to something more than this.

Keeper: Perch.

Good.

Narrator: Across taronga,
many animals rely on live food

For nutrition and enrichment,
and the food production unit,

Affectionately known
as the bug house,

Provides this vital service.

Food technician christine
is racing against the clock

To get the weekly orders packed
and on the delivery truck

Before the zoo opens.

Christine: The deliveries
go all across the zoo.

There's so many precincts
that he goes to.

I think the only one
that isn't included in the run

Is the marine mammal t*nk

Because they eat fish,
they don't eat bugs.

Narrator: First stop for driver
martin is the bird kitchen...

Keeper: Morning.
Martin: Morning.

Narrator: ...Where an average
of ten kilos of bugs

Are delivered
every single week.

Christine: Our bird section
is the only department

That gets
all three stages of flies.

They love their maggots,
they love their pupae,

And they also love
their live flies.

Narrator: But today
it's not just the clock

That martin is racing,
it's also the sun.

Christine: Seasonally,
with the deliveries,

We want to be very aware
of the temperature.

If it's going to be
a really hot day,

We want to have everything
on the truck

Really quick, very fast.

Martin: Here's your bugs today.

Keeper: Cheers, mate. Awesome.

Martin: That stuff's frozen.

Keeper: Okay.
I'll put it in the freezer now.

Thanks, mate.
You have a good day.

Christine: Winter, we can be
a little bit more relaxed

In how long we leave stuff out,

But in summer, it's on, gone,
and back in a freezer

As quickly as we can make it.

Keeper: Morning.
Martin: Morning.

Keeper: Got our bug delivery.

Martin: Yeah,
do you want them inside?

Keeper: Yeah, that'd be great.
Thank you so much.

Narrator: Next customers
are the meerkats...

Dannielle: You make a big mess.

Narrator: ...Who have been
impatiently waiting

For dannielle to deliver
their breakfast.

Dannielle: Okay, little meeries.

Meeries!

Meerkats are omnivorous,

So they like to eat
fruit and vegetables

And a whole lot of insects.

In the wild, their favorites
are scorpions.

If a scorpion was to bite
a meerkat, nothing would happen.

They're immune
to the scorpion venom.

So, as part of their diet,

We do feed them
a lot of insects,

And one of these things
is fly pupae.

You can see they really like it.

They like it so much that
they have these little scuffles

And these little tiffs over it.

It's every individual
for themselves

When it comes to fly pupae

'cause it is
a tasty little treat.

Meerkats have
very high metabolisms

'cause they're active all day,

So they burn their food
quite quickly,

So we do need to give them
small feeds regularly,

So this is just part
of one of those feeds

That they get
throughout the day.

Narrator: Another
mouth-watering morsel

Are the crickets,
which are loaded

Into a man-made termite mound

To tantalize these little
carnivores' taste buds.

Christine: The carnivore team
get , large crickets

In their order.

Dannielle: There's one.

Christine: That will last them
for just a week.

Narrator: While the crickets
keep the meerkats busy,

The next bug house delivery
is eagerly anticipated.

Narrator: Blue,
the -year-old rhino iguana,

Has been having some trouble
with his left eye,

And this morning, vet gabby
is trying to solve the mystery.

Gabby: I just love
these little thighs.

He's in beautiful condition.

Emma: For an old boy, yeah.

Gabby: Yeah.

Narrator: Although
he's an older lizard,

He still has a good set
of teeth and a powerful jaw,

Which makes intubation a
delicate and lengthy business.

Gabby: It really stimulates them
if you open their mouth

Once they're asleep.

And if you start putting a tube
near his airway, he will react,

So he has to be nice and asleep.

Okay, let's give him another go.

A bit of anesthetic spray.

We want to ensure
that we don't squash the tube.

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♪ ♪

Okay, so we'll leave that
in his gob.

Narrator:
It takes nearly an hour

For blue to be fully intubated,

Which gives gabby the green
light to start the procedure.

Gabby: You can see his cataract
here pretty easily.

A cataract is when the lens
has changes in it

To make it look white.

The lens is made up of fibers,

And the fact that
they are aligned perfectly

Makes it actually see-through,

So when you get inflammation
and changes in the lens,

Those fibers don't align
so perfectly

So that you can see them.

Narrator: While the cataract
is restricting blue's vision,

It shouldn't be
causing any pain.

Gabby: How long has he
been squinting for?

Chris: A few weeks
that we've seen.

Gabby: When you're trying
to discern whether or not

He is in pain, obviously he
can't tell us, but he'll squint,

So squinting is often
a sign of pain.

One of the most painful things
you can have in an eye

Is an ulcer on the cornea,
and so this dye

Just helps us pick one up
if there's one there.

♪ ♪

He's got a tiny little ulcer
on the cornea.

Chris: Okay.

Gabby: It's only small.

Chris: Unrelated
to the cataract?

Gabby: Yeah, so it's
on the outside of the eye.

Chris: Yeah, okay. Yep.

Gabby: Whether or not that's
enough to cause the squinting

Is up for debate,

But we're going to treat him
with pain relief,

And we're giving him
some antibiotics.

Narrator: Gabby flushes
the eye clean with some saline

And then begins
a thorough examination

Of this aging iguana.

Gabby: I'm also looking
for any crepitus in the joints,

Which just means crunchiness,
which can indicate arthritis.

So far, so good.

He's very good
for a -year-old.

Narrator:
While everything feels okay,

Only x-rays will reveal
any serious deterioration.

Gabby: He looks so cute
in that position.

They're just like,
look at that muscle.

Just on first view,

His hips look great,
his ankles look great.

His knees look good.

Narrator: The last thing
on the list today

Is to get some blood,

And gabby draws it
from an intriguing part

Of blue's anatomy.

Gabby: Lizards and snakes
have a vessel

That runs underneath
their vertebrae of their tail.

It's like a sinus
rather than an actual vein.

Narrator: And pinpoint
accuracy is crucial,

As it's not the only
precious piece of equipment

Hiding in the tail end
of this lizard.

Chris: Most of their
reproductive organs

Are in the tail itself as well.

That's where his are.

Yep. And he's got
a double banger, too.

He's got two of them.

He's got one on the right,
one on the left.

That's where I'll leave that.

Gabby: There's the blood.

Narrator: Gabby
will send blue's blood

To pathology for analysis.

It's all part of the hospital's
general health check

For its geriatric animals.

Gabby: He's up.
Emma: He's up.

Gabby: It's an absolute thrill
to work with blue.

I think he's one of the more
unique animals we have here,

And his exam's gone really well.

Last year, he had a bit of
stiffness in his right elbow,

And that's resolved.

All his joints move really well.

He's got good range of motion
in his joints,

Indicating that
there's no arthritis there,

And that's confirmed
on the radiographs.

How's he going?

Emma: He's breathing nicely.

Gabby: Okay. I'm happy for you
to take him, then.

Emma: Yeah.

He kicked up a stink before,
but now he looks pretty happy.

Narrator: And just as well,

For while blue may look
pretty good on the outside,

He's got an unseen problem
brewing on the inside.

Sadly, once it makes itself
known, it may be too late.

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♪ ♪

Back at taronga's
mundane-looking cluster

Of shipping containers,

Keeper michael's vital work

With the endangered northern
corroboree frog is paying off,

As the next generation
finds their feet, literally.

Michael: Quite a few changes
have happened here

In the breeding facility.

The northern
corroboree frog tadpoles

Have now mostly
metamorphosed into frogs.

So, in this container
we're looking in at the moment,

There's five.

All five little guys from this
container have metamorphosed.

We have four that have
fully resorbed their tail,

And we have one who still has

A little bit
of tail resorption to go.

He's got his beautiful
corroboree frog pattern in,

Beautiful, uh,
corroboree frog colors,

Uh, but he's still got
quite a bit of a tail,

So at the moment he can't eat.

All his energy at the moment

Is coming from that tail
resorbing into his body.

So, in maybe another, I'd say,
four to five days' time,

He'll have reabsorbed that tail,
and in about a week's time,

He'll be able to start,
to start feeding as a frog

And start eating little crickets
and little invertebrates.

Narrator: These little tadpoles

Have gone through significant
changes in around a fortnight.

Michael: So, this little guy
I've got on my hand now

Is a terrestrial
northern corroboree frog.

He's fully metamorphosed
from a tadpole into a frog,

And being terrestrial means
he's now on land.

He's only been
an actual fully formed frog

For maybe two or three days,
and not very long at all.

He's actually gone from a,
a little swimming tadpole,

Which has gills for breathing,
so he's lost his gills

And developed internal lungs
to be able to breathe.

He's developed legs.

He's popped his little
front legs out through his,

Through his spiracles.

Uh, and his legs
are fully developed now.

Uh, he's gone from having, uh,
a suctorial-disc-type mouth part

To having an actual carnivorous
mouth part to be able to eat.

And not only that,
his internal digestion,

He's gone from having a long,
spiraling vegetarian gut,

Um, to a short carnivorous gut
that a frog would have,

So his whole body
has effectively changed

Over the last,
over the last two weeks.

Some massive changes
to this little guy.

Narrator: And for a species

That's teetering on extinction
in the wild,

This gives michael great pride
and hope for the future.

Michael: It's always great
personally to see

These little guys coming through
at this time of year

When they're metamorphosing,

Because it means
everything's been done right.

Their tadpole husbandry,

Their frog husbandry
up till now is great.

And they're getting through
as little frogs.

For me, that brings a great
sense of personal satisfaction

That, that
these little ones here

Are the start
of a new insurance colony.

And over the next few years now,
we'll really build that up,

And then I'll be feeling
a lot more secure

That should anything happen
in the wild,

Um, we've got a backup,

We've got an insurance
population ready to go.

Very happy.

Narrator: Taronga is home
to a vast array of animals--

Some you'd love to cuddle,

Some you'd love to swim with,

Some you'd love
to play with,

And then there's those

That you'd probably
prefer to step on.

Suzie: Yeah.
What do you think's in here?

We work with
a whole range of species

Up here at the institute,

And in here's definitely
one of my favorites,

But in order to get him out,
I've got to find him first.

So, I just have to try
and gently remove the soil a bit

Just so I can find out
where he is.

Hello, gorgeous.

So, this is a giant
burrowing cockroach.

Narrator: The giant
burrowing cockroach,

Also known
as the rhinoceros cockroach,

Is an unlikely
world record holder.

Suzie: They are the heaviest
cockroach in the world,

And they come from australia.

There's about , species
of cockroach,

And he's the heaviest.

These guys, they can
weigh up to grams.

And when you think
about a cockroach

That you might have
in your house,

American
and german cockroaches,

Those guys weigh
like times less.

You know, they're . of a gram.

They're teeny tiny
in terms of their weight.

These guys are much,
much heavier.

Narrator: While suzie treasures
her adult cockroach...

...Keeper paul is keen
to show off some of its young.

Paul: Ha ha, there you are.

So, this one here is just a,

It's a subadult
giant burrowing cockroach.

These cockroaches give birth
to live young,

And the mum is the one
that will look after the babies

For up to a year.

Unlike the pest species
cockroach

You find around your house
that can give birth

To a couple of hundred
young each year,

These give birth
to up to about .

We've got about little
youngsters here at the moment,

And they're about a year old.

This one's got a fair bit
of growing left to do.

He'll get probably
about twice this size,

But it's definitely
old enough now

That mum would have
left it be on its own.

So, this is just one of many

That we've got here
at the moment.

We do like
to breed them ourselves,

And they are
relatively easy to breed.

And the good thing is

That if we're able to be
self-sufficient in that way,

We don't have to
take them from the wild.

And they make great ambassadors
for the species,

And, uh, you know,
they're really cool

For our lessons and encounters
and things like that.

Narrator: And despite
their species' reputation,

These guys are not pests.

Paul: They really are
completely opposite

To what everybody thinks of
when they think of cockroaches.

You know,
they don't carry diseases.

They're not, you know,
dirty or anything like that.

And they really do help
the environment out.

Narrator: A sentiment
enthusiastically shared

By suzie...

Suzie: So, this is definitely
not your average cockroach.

They aren't something
to be scared of.

They're not gross or creepy.

Narrator: ...Who takes
her fondness for this cockroach

One step further.

Suzie: I love working
with our cockroaches.

I think they're so unique.

They're so impressive. Eh?

Um, whereas, yeah, cockroaches
at home, I just don't like them.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Narrator: There's been some
concerning brotherly aggression

Down at the capybara
exhibit lately.

Keepers are worried that,
as they get older,

Increased testosterone
levels are causing fights

Amongst this
once tight-knit group.

Johnny: The aggression
has ramped up recently,

And the, the victim or the,

The bottom of the pile,
so to speak, carlos,

Has been, uh, found
with bite marks on him.

Narrator: There's one
main aggressor, rodney,

So to try to temper his moods,
vet kimberly and her team

Plan to insert a device

Which will regulate
his hormone levels.

Kimberly: Kimberly
to capybara keepers.

Kimberly: Are you guys ready
for us to head down?

Kimberly: Great. Thanks.
We're heading down.

Narrator: Because the capybara
are new to taronga,

This is new territory
for kimberly.

Kimberly: I haven't done
a capybara before.

This is the first capybara
anesthesia, I think,

At taronga zoo,
so we'll see how we go.

Liz: Did a quick research
on capybara anesthetic,

And I found a paper,

And it looked like it was
going to be a great paper,

But it was all in, like,
italian or spanish or something.

I did find,

I found a temperature,
temperature range,

But, um,
that's all I could find.

Kimberly: Well, we'll treat it
like a giant guinea pig

And see how we go.

Narrator: As rodney waits,
the vets prep the needle.

Johnny: Come over this way.

Narrator: But if kimberly hopes
this is going to be easy...

Johnny: Okay.

Put that in.

Narrator: ...Rodney
quickly sets her straight.

Narrator: It's bug house
home delivery day...

Christine: So, we're
just pouring the crickets

All into here.

Narrator: ...Where
a week's worth of live insects

Are delivered to almost
every precinct in the zoo.

Christine:
We breed everything up,

And we, when we get it all
to the right stage,

Then we can ship it out.

Narrator: It's been
a busy morning of deliveries

For driver martin,
and the last stop is primates.

Keeper: What have
you got for us?

Martin: This one box today.

Keeper: Uh, beauty.
Thank you very much.

Laura: Today we've got
our protein order,

A bug order from the bug house.

It looks like we've got
some maggots and some mealworms.

We've just got
a little bit today,

So a bit of a lunchtime snack.

Narrator: In the wild,

Squirrel monkeys
feast on a balanced diet

Including fruits, flowers,
leaves, and a range of insects.

Laura: Protein is really
important for these guys,

So that comes in the form
of insects, maybe eggs

That they might find
in the wild, things like that.

Our monkeys here
love spending every afternoon

In the afternoon sun
catching bugs.

They love it.

Hey, girls.
What have I got?

What do you think, pinkie?

A maggot snack.

Oh, yum!

So, they're grabbing their
handfuls of maggots and running.

You can imagine,
there are monkeys,

So they need a lot of bugs,

So we supplement them with
extra protein every afternoon.

Let's add a few mealworms
down there.

The mealworms
are their favorites,

But it seems like maggots
are pretty popular today, too.

They've picked out
every little individual maggot,

So you can see
their little fingers

Are really small,
very, very clever.

They're great
at using their hands.

They're tiny little maggots,

And they're excellent at picking
up tiny things like this.

Maggots for these guys
are like chocolate.

They love it.

It's important for these guys
that the food is live, though,

And the movement of those
insects captures their interest,

And that's what attracts them
to go and catch those insects,

So, thanks to the bug house,

These guys have had
a lovely little snack.

Narrator: The bug house
is one of taronga's

Behind-the-scenes powerhouses,

But christine
gives most of the credit

To the unsung heroes
of the food supply chain.

Christine: It's really great.
I love doing my job.

I love doing the job well.

I'm always told that
I'm a little bit too fussy

With my bugs,
but I, I love them.

I spend way too much time
fussing over my maggots,

But they are my pride and joy.

I'm very proud of them.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Narrator: Keepers have noticed
that the five capybara brothers

Are no longer getting along.

Johnny: The aggression
has ramped up recently,

And the, the victim,
so to speak, carlos,

Has been found
with bite marks on him.

Narrator: So vets
are hoping a hormonal implant

In the main aggressor, rodney,

Will lower
his testosterone levels

And help curb the fighting.

Kimberly is struggling
to anesthetize rodney,

So she hands the pole syringe
to keeper johnny

To have a cr*ck.

Johnny: We're good.

Narrator: And johnny hits
the target first go.

Man on radio: Just so you know,
rodney has received his dose.

Narrator: As this is
the first anesthesia

On a capybara at taronga,

No one really knows
how he'll react,

So nurse liz
keeps a close eye on him.

Liz: Um, he's breathing well.

The, um, injection
was very smooth and gentle.

Um, so he's in
the light plane of anesthesia,

But so far,
everything's going well.

Narrator:
Once he's fully under,

It's off
to the wildlife hospital

For this feisty little rodent.

♪ ♪

Nurse: Okay.

We'll just weigh all that.

Johnny: Yep.

Liz: Have the door closed.

Nurse: And subtract it
from that so we can get a...

Kimberly: This is
the reproductive implant.

In males, we use it
to help quell aggression

Because it will decrease
the testosterone levels.

It's feeling fine.

Let's just, I'll just glue it.

I just need
to pull it out slowly

And as I'm pulling the plunger,

Leave it there
so it doesn't come out with it,

Because we only have one.

Narrator: With the implant
successfully inserted...

Kimberly: Fabulous.

I've just used tissue glue

To close the little hole
that I made,

And you can't even see
that there's an incision there,

So it's very good.

Narrator: Kimberly
takes full advantage

Of this first-time procedure...

Kimberly: Look at that little,
little stubby tongue.

There's not much
of a tongue there.

Narrator: ...To get
a close-up look at the teeth

That rodney's been sinking
into his younger brothers.

Johnny: Those incisors
are very much why we, uh,

We want to stop
the biting behavior.

Goes through flesh
very, very easily.

Kimberly: So, those are huge.
They look really nice.

They're worn well.

Johnny: You get a good idea
of how sharp they are, so.

Kimberly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Big teeth to be biting
the other guy with.

Johnny: Yeah, for sure.

Kimberly: All right.
I'm happy to take him back.

Narrator:
With all signs positive,

Rodney heads back
to his four brothers.

♪ ♪

Kimberly: I don't think
it's going to take him long.

Give him
a little bit of a pillow.

♪ ♪

That's good.
Yeah, that's great.

Johnny: He's had
the reversal drug,

So it could take apparently
anywhere up to ten minutes

For him to, to kind of get,
get up and start moving around,

But I'm sure we'll start
to see the signs shortly

Of him getting,
uh, getting better.

Narrator: While today's
procedure has been successful,

Keepers must wait
a couple of weeks

To see whether
the implant works

And the group returns

To the original
five fun-loving brothers.

Kimberly: It's hard to know
if this will be successful.

We don't always know
if it's going to work in,

In different species,

So we're, we're trying this,
but we'll see.

We'll see.

♪ ♪

Johnny: Hello, chaps.
How we doing?

Narrator: It's been a few weeks
since rodney the capybara

Received his hormonal implant

To control his aggression
towards his brothers.

Johnny: Hello.

Narrator: In the first few days
after the procedure,

Keepers were concerned
with what they were seeing.

Johnny: Initially that implant
actually caused him to spike

As part of
its regulation process,

Um, so we actually saw
the aggression worsen slightly

For the first week or so
after the implant was put in.

Um, but then that,
everything started to work

And started to settle down

And kick in and work
as it should do,

Um, and we've seen a drop
in the aggression since then.

It's not ideal to put
a hormone implant in animals

If you can avoid it,
but in this situation,

This is the, the, the best way
to have dealt with this issue.

In the wild at this age,

They would start to get
on each other's nerves,

Test each other's boundaries
and patience,

And that's how they would
naturally split up

From each other and spread that
brotherly genetics elsewhere.

Um, but because we just have
the five brothers here,

We don't plan to breed them
at taronga zoo,

Um, these implants
are a great way

To manage
their testosterone levels,

Uh, to manage that behavior,
as well, that comes with it

And to keep them living
very peacefully together

For the future.

Narrator: And thankfully, the
target of rodney's aggression

Is benefiting as well.

Johnny: So, just behind me,
uh, on my right is carlos,

And you can see
on his left rump there,

He copped a bit of a nip
from one of his brothers,

Uh, which has thankfully
since healed up.

Um, but he's had a much,
much better existence

Since, uh, those implants
have kicked in.

Um, and we've seen
in the last few weeks

That his life and quality
of life has increased a lot.

That's a fantastic thing
from our point of view.

As animal managers
and animal keepers,

It's always good to see
our animals in good condition

And having
a nice, relaxed life.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Narrator: The zoo's elderly
residents hold a special place

In everyone's hearts.

Vets and keepers strive to give
them the best quality of life

With regular checkups.

Gabby: So far, so good.

He's very good
for a -year-old.

Narrator: It's been a year
since blue,

The aging rhino iguana,
was examined at the hospital,

And although he was in
good health for an old lizard,

Time catches up with us all.

Emma: Move back.

Narrator: And now
there's only one rhino iguana

In the exhibit.

Emma: Come on, tabasco.
Come on. In we go.

In we go.

Blue unfortunately
passed away from a stroke,

And it was totally unexpected.

Come on.

Big day today.

It was heartbreaking.

He was one
of my favorite animals,

And you feel it,
you feel it every day.

Now that blue's gone,

There's definitely been a shift
in tabasco's behavior.

She is the queen
of this exhibit.

Um, she's not afraid to tell,

Tell anyone off
for being in her space.

Don't you bite me.

Narrator: And tabasco
is particularly territorial

At mealtimes.

Emma: This is what we call
the lizard salad,

And it has endive, kale,
sweet potato, carrot, squash,

Zucchini, tomato, egg,

Everything a lizard
could ever dream of.

And she's also got a couple of
little treats here this morning,

So she's got
some mulberry leaves.

Uh, she's got some beautiful
hibiscus flowers,

Which she absolutely loves,
some thistles as well.

She really loves those greens.

These guys are herbivorous,

But they will also eat
the occasional insect as well.

Narrator: And even
on a full stomach,

Tabasco lives up
to her spicy name.

Emma: Ah, ah, ah.

No, that's not nice.

You ran out of treats,
so you start biting people.

Oh, okay, you're going to do
a storm-off now.

You are a diva.

You've had enough of television.

You're gonna go sit yourself
in the sun. Okay.

(laughs)

Narrator:
While it's hard to know

Whether or not
she misses blue,

Tabasco does seem to be
enjoying her own space

And having everyone
looking out for her.

Emma: She's the boss.

She is the queen
of this exhibit.

I'm just her humble servant.