Taronga Zoo New Taronga Zoo TV Series

[Zoofan15]

Oh, good spotting! I checked against the photo of him getting a vet check and you’re right, it’s Pemanah. He has the little thin stripe under his right eyebrow. Great to know his name. He takes after his mum with those good looks.

Back on topic, the last episode was super interesting to see the cat flap bachelor pad. What a great idea!

Yes, he has a very distinct look - especially with those markings above his eyes. He certainly does look more like his mother than his father, who has plant like markings above his eyes.

Pemanah has a very nice ruff too. He's grown up a lot!

The ruff genes run strong in Penmanah’s line. Taronga’s tigress, Selatan, had a ruff to rival most males; and his uncle, Kembali, takes the crown for the most impressive ruff in the region. The ruff is certainly more pronounced in some males than others and I noted Scout at Hamilton Zoo has a comparatively small ruff compared to other males I’ve seen in the region. Could be the influence of Kaitlyn’s genes; with his half-brother Clarence clearly taking after his paternal line.

 

[Abbey]

Season 4, Episode 5 - Camel Lump

Spoiler: Episode Recap

Ras, one of Taronga’s camels, has a lump on her ear which worries her keepers. Vets, therefore, have to plan to sedate her for a procedure. Vet Kimberley is nervous, given the size of the camel - she weighs half a ton. She sedates Ras and keepers wait for the drugs to take effect. Eventually, the vets are able to examine the camel’s abscess. It turns out to be filled with hair as well as fluid, which proves quite dirty work for the vets to clean out. Having not had camels at the zoo for some time, with the species a relatively recent return to Taronga, the vets refer Ras’ lump to the pathologists. Once her sedation is reversed, Ras is returned to her exhibit mate, the zoo’s other female camel, Storm.

Dingo pups named Warada and Kep Kep have arrived at Taronga. The plan is for them to go on display in six weeks’ time when Nura Diya Australia opens to the public. For the meantime, except for daily keeper talks, they are held off-display and walked around the zoo for enrichment. Kep Kep came from a dingo sanctuary in Victoria, so the Taronga staff gave him a name meaning ‘sweet’ or ‘sugar’ in an Indigenous language from that region. Similarly, Warada (pronounced like the waratah flower, except with a D sound instead of a T) was given a Dharug name meaning ‘flower’, as she came from elsewhere in Sydney. Currently, Taronga has no plans to breed their dingoes. However, by obtaining an unrelated male and female (Kep Kep and Warada were born twelve days apart at different facilities), there would be the opportunity to breed in the future, should plans change. As an alpine dingo, Kep Kep weighs 20kg, whereas Warada is smaller at 12.5kg.

A turtle comes into the wildlife hospital with a fish hook down its neck, posing a challenge for vet Frances. She conducts scans to determine the position of the hook, hoping to avoid a surgical removal. Frances carefully attempts to remove the hook, ensuring that it does not snag on the turtle’s throat. While the person who found the turtle left the fishing line hanging out of its mouth to assist with the removal of the hook, there is not much line for Frances to work with. So, she ties some thread to the end of the line in the hope that it will not be lost further into the turtle’s body. Unfortunately, this is unsuccessful. Therefore, Frances needs to resort to Plan B - poking the barb of the hook through the turtle’s skin and cutting it off, before removing the hook. Thankfully, this procedure does work and the turtle is able to recuperate at the zoo. Once vets are satisfied with its progress, it is released back into the wild.

 

[Jambo]

Season 4, Episode 5 - Camel Lump

Spoiler: Episode Recap

Ras, one of Taronga’s camels, has a lump on her ear which worries her keepers. Vets, therefore, have to plan to sedate her for a procedure. Vet Kimberley is nervous, given the size of the camel - she weighs half a ton. She sedates Ras and keepers wait for the drugs to take effect. Eventually, the vets are able to examine the camel’s abscess. It turns out to be filled with hair as well as fluid, which proves quite dirty work for the vets to clean out. Having not had camels at the zoo for some time, with the species a relatively recent return to Taronga, the vets refer Ras’ lump to the pathologists. Once her sedation is reversed, Ras is returned to her exhibit mate, the zoo’s other female camel, Storm.

Dingo pups named Warada and Kep Kep have arrived at Taronga. The plan is for them to go on display in six weeks’ time when Nura Diya Australia opens to the public. For the meantime, except for daily keeper talks, they are held off-display and walked around the zoo for enrichment. Kep Kep came from a dingo sanctuary in Victoria, so the Taronga staff gave him a name meaning ‘sweet’ or ‘sugar’ in an Indigenous language from that region. Similarly, Warada (pronounced like the waratah flower, except with a D sound instead of a T) was given a Dharug name meaning ‘flower’, as she came from elsewhere in Sydney. Currently, Taronga has no plans to breed their dingoes. However, by obtaining an unrelated male and female (Kep Kep and Warada were born twelve days apart at different facilities), there would be the opportunity to breed in the future, should plans change. As an alpine dingo, Kep Kep weighs 20kg, whereas Warada is smaller at 12.5kg.

A turtle comes into the wildlife hospital with a fish hook down its neck, posing a challenge for vet Frances. She conducts scans to determine the position of the hook, hoping to avoid a surgical removal. Frances carefully attempts to remove the hook, ensuring that it does not snag on the turtle’s throat. While the person who found the turtle left the fishing line hanging out of its mouth to assist with the removal of the hook, there is not much line for Frances to work with. So, she ties some thread to the end of the line in the hope that it will not be lost further into the turtle’s body. Unfortunately, this is unsuccessful. Therefore, Frances needs to resort to Plan B - poking the barb of the hook through the turtle’s skin and cutting it off, before removing the hook. Thankfully, this procedure does work and the turtle is able to recuperate at the zoo. Once vets are satisfied with its progress, it is released back into the wild.

Thanks for the review, I watched this episode this morning too.

I had a question when watching which hopefully you may be able to answer being more familiar with Taronga - whereabouts is the temporary enclosure the dingoes were held in? It looks like it was behind the Reptile House/Chimp area as I believe I have previously seen the structure from the carpark but I may be wrong.

 

[Osedax]

Thanks for the review, I watched this episode this morning too.

I had a question when watching which hopefully you may be able to answer being more familiar with Taronga - whereabouts is the temporary enclosure the dingoes were held in? It looks like it was behind the Reptile House/Chimp area as I believe I have previously seen the structure from the carpark but I may be wrong.

It was behind the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning. I was lucky enough to see the dingo pups there just after they arrived, in November 2022, but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. That exhibit now houses Red Kangaroos and a pair of Red-necked Pademelons.

 

[Abbey]

Season 4, Episode 6 - Wild Dog Masego

Spoiler: Episode Recap

Masego is one of Taronga Western Plains Zoo’s all-female group of four wild dogs. She requires surgery after keepers find a suspicious lump. Vets and keepers plan to hand-inject Masego for her sedation, the first time that an African wild dog has been hand-injected at Dubbo to commence a medical procedure. Thankfully, the hand injection goes really smoothly and Masego is taken to the zoo’s new, start-of-the-art wildlife hospital. The lump on her chest is removed, the first surgery performed in the new operating theatre. Then, it must be seen whether or not Masego’s pack will accept her following her temporary removal. Masego is released into the exhibit along with her sisters. As the pack is reintegrated, she adopts a submissive position. Once the pathology comes back from Masego’s lump, it turns out to be a cancerous growth of a kind common in domestic dogs. At the time it was thought that this was the first occurrence in an AWD, but now the Dubbo team is working with zoo professionals in the United States who have found this cancer in one of their dogs.

A little penguin suffers a deep chest wound, so is brought into Taronga’s wildlife hospital. Given he also has a puncture on his back, vet Frances thinks that he might have been preyed upon by a sea eagle out in the wild, but has managed to escape its powerful talons. The bird has lost a lot of weight, so needs to recuperate before he can be released back into the wild. Vets are concerned that the penguin has lost patches of waterproof feathers. During the process of rehabilitation, they learn that the bird they believed was a male is in fact a female. Once the penguin has recovered, she is weighed and placed into a pet pack to be taken back out into the wild.

Keepers from Taronga travel to Norfolk Island, off the coast of the Australian mainland. They are collecting critically endangered snails to be taken back to the zoo for a breeding program to increase their numbers. Back at the zoo, keeper Andrew checks on the snails and confirms that there are a number of juveniles among the zoo’s holdings.

Taronga Zoo houses a breeding pair of Pygmy hippo, male Fergus and female Kambiri. As a semi-aquatic species, hippos spend a fair bit of time in their exhibit pool, which is also where they like to defecate. Therefore, keeping the exhibit clean is a challenge for keepers. They drain the pool and clean it out with high-pressure hoses. To prevent contamination, no cleaning products are used. After a hard, dirty day’s work of cleaning, the keepers refill the pool and Kambiri is allowed back out for a swim in the rain. It is hoped that she and Fergus will produce another calf in the future to contribute to the population of their endangered species.

 

[Abbey]

Season 4, Episode 7 - A Perfect Storm

Spoiler: Episode Recap

Taronga Zoo’s five-year-old Australian Sea Lion, Moby, is popular with his keepers and visitors alike. He enjoys walks around the zoo, including visiting the nearby elephants, and participates in the Seals for the Wild Presentation. As he matures, Moby has been earmarked to transfer to Coffs Harbour as part of the breeding program. He will stay there for two years, then return to Taronga. In Moby’s place, Taronga receives a new male sea lion from Coffs Harbour, Storm, for breeding. Up in Coffs Harbour, Moby is settling in well to his new facility, quickly learning the new training routines and getting to know the keepers.

Soil is brought into the elephant exhibit and sprayed with water to create a mud wallow. Pak Boon and Tang Mo, the zoo’s resident elephants, enjoy rolling in the mud to coat their skin. The elephants also access their mud wallows overnight, especially when they want to cool down on hot evenings.

A wild koala is brought into the wildlife hospital. He was salvaged by a member of the public as he had been sluggish and lethargic. However, scans don’t reveal any serious injuries, like broken bones, other than an infection in his shoulder. The koala’s penis and respiratory tract are swabbed to test for chlamydia. Once the koala awakes from his anaesthetic, he is quick to resume eating. While they are still awaiting his pathology results, the vets are hopeful they will be able to release him back into the wild. However, later in the week, his condition sadly deteriorates and vets make the decision to euthanise him.

Taronga’s red pandas have been suffering from gastrointestinal issues, especially the breeding female, Amala. This has been identified as similar to irritable bowel syndrome and is possibly a genetic issue. In order to monitor the pandas’ health in a less evasive fashion, keepers are training them to participate in ultrasounds while they are awake.

Since this episode aired, T:WWATZ has been on hiatus due to the Australian Open tennis. This coming week is the first week of the ratings period and the show has been removed from the schedule. There's at least one more episode in the season, and I would suspect a couple more on top of that - hopefully it will be aired at some stage, or at least uploaded onto 9Now.

 

[Zoofan15]

Who’s Who In The Zoo (Season 5) Coming

Premiers Wednesday November 13 at 7.30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

A zoo-perb season awaits! Taronga: Who's Who in the Zoo returns for season five - Nine for Brands

This observational documentary series opens the doors to two of Australia’s most renowned zoos – Taronga Zoo in Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo – showcasing the inspiring work of keepers, vets, scientists and conservationists as they toil around the clock to care for wildlife.