The first few months of a baby
animal's life are the most crucial.
So, if they lose their mothers,
they're going to need help.
We are going to be meeting the
wild orphans who are getting
a second chance.
And the dedicated people who
devote their lives to saving them.
They need the love and the attention
because they don't have parents,
their parents are
taken away from them.
In this series, we'll be
witnessing the incredible
stories of animal orphans from
two very different locations.
I am in Australia where
I'll be meeting Danny,
the baby koala in need of
round-the-clock care.
There is a real art
to it, isn't there?
And I haven't mastered it.
'And Neil, a baby wallaby,
'struggling to stand on his own
two feet.'
It's genuinely exciting, isn't it?
And wildlife cameraman
Max Hug Williams steps
out from behind the lens to bring us
the stories of orphaned wildlife
from the rainforests of Costa Rica.
He'll be meeting Newbie the
charismatic baby three-toed sloth.
This is definitely the first time
I've offered a bunch
of flowers to a sloth.
And seeing if she can win
her battle with pneumonia.
So, we've just got to all keep
our fingers crossed that this
new medication works.
Saving these wild
orphans can be tough.
There'll be ups... Good boy!
..And downs.
We'll follow their stories
through the most critical,
make-or-break months, on their
long journeys back to the wild.
I've come to Australia,
physically isolated from
the rest of the world for
The animals here are found
nowhere else on Earth
and the care they need
is as unique as they are.
I'm on my way south to Cape Otway to
meet up with a very special orphan.
Here at a local conservation centre,
staff and volunteers are dedicated
to rescuing koalas and getting these
iconic animals back to the wild.
They currently have two 19-month-old
females, Tilly and Puddles,
living in a large outdoor enclosure.
Both are thriving and just
months away from release.
But I'm here to see the youngest
and most vulnerable orphan.
Danny, the koala, should be
inseparable from his mother.
Instead, he lives inside the
centre with carer, Simone.
Her mission is to build up
Danny's weight and strength,
so he can join the
other koalas outside.
So, we've got him in here in his
little makeshift laundry bundle.
That's the little man in question.
He's so lush!
Do you want to try and feed
him? Yes, I really do!
So, if you just support him in the
nook of your arm, so he feels safe.
That's ridiculously
lovely. Hello, buddy!
Danny was found on the side of
the road, weak and underweight.
The man who actually found
him saw him on the road
and Danny just came running up and
crawled up his leg immediately.
So, he was obviously waiting
for someone to rescue him!
Although he's known as a koala bear,
he's a marsupial and they need very
long-term care. So, Danny is going
to be looked after until a year old.
Baby marsupials are known as joeys.
They spend the first six months or
so of their lives developing
within their mother's pouch.
This is unique to marsupials
and gives the mother
and infant an incredibly deep bond.
'A joey's need for close contact
is so strong that Simone has had
'to give Danny a teddy
to help avoid stress.'
They have this instinct to cling on
to things and having that surrogate
koala mother there means he's more
comfortable and is relaxed and
we are able to leave him throughout
the day with the
teddy to hold on to.
'In his mother's pouch, Danny would
have continuous access to her milk,
'so Simone feeds him every
two hours, around the clock.'
What do I need to do?
So, if you just hold the
teat and offer it to him,
leaning his head back.
So, leaning his head back... Yeah.
..And then just offer a
little bit of this. Yeah.
Not in the nose, Danny, sorry!
Just aim for the teat in the mouth.
'This marsupial milk substitute
is specially formulated to be
'high in fat but lactose-free.'
Oh, squeeze, OK. That's perfect.
'Just like the real thing.'
Ooh! Oh, yeah, that all right, we
can just give him a clean.
He's a very messy eater, so
we're used to washing him.
You're pretty used to that? Yeah.
'But feeding Danny is
not straightforward.
'Marsupial mouths are very delicate,
so the teats on the bottles
'have to be made of very soft rubber
and the milk has to be lapped.'
That's all good! There is a real
art to it and I haven't mastered it!
Not the most successful
feeding session
but that's partly because
Danny is nocturnal.
Koalas spend up to 20 hours
a day snoozing and digesting
their food and are most active
in the middle of the night.
'I've stayed over to see if
Danny is a different character
'when the lights go out.'
He's coming outside.
When he's awake he makes shuffling
noises in the basket.
He's planned his grand escape!
Hey, little man, let go, let go!
Oh, he's very wakeful, isn't he?
'If Danny's going to be strong
enough to join the bigger females
outside,
'he has to build enough strength in
his muscles to climb trees safely.
'Simone's solution... energetic
nightly games of chase
with his teddy.
'In the wild, his mother would
tip him out of the pouch...
Danny, Danny, oi, oi, oi...
'..And encourage him to climb
and explore the trees.'
Do you want a game!
'Exercise over, he finally gets
his prize possession back.'
And he relaxes pretty quickly.
'Now he's nice and relaxed,
it's time for another feed.'
Look how alert he is!
'Simone has been doing this
regime of feeding and exercise
'24 hours a day for
the last six weeks!'
I bet you feel more forgiving
in the morning, don't you?
In the night-time it's no mercy!
Frustration levels get
very high during the night.
Then you wake up and
see him in the morning
and see his face and
it's all forgiven!
'If Simone can keep up
this demanding schedule,
'Danny should be on target for
the next big step on his journey
'back to the wild, joining
the other two koalas outside.'
It will be a happy day when he goes
out into the enclosure then,
won't it?
Yeah, I mean obviously it's a
huge moment in his development
but also it's a huge moment for
us getting our nights back.
'But moving outside will be tough.
'No more night feeds, no more
teddy and no more Simone.
'He needs to be resilient enough,
both physically and mentally,
'to cope. It's going
to be a huge challenge.'
This same resilience is needed
by orphaned animals on the other
side of the world.
Costa Rica forms part
of the land bridge
connecting North and South America.
It's a biodiversity hot spot with
lush jungles and abundant wildlife.
But despite strict protection,
Costa Rica still has its fair
share of orphaned wildlife.
Max Hug Williams is
following their stories.
Costa Rica is a haven for wildlife
with some of the most incredible
species on the planet.
But, like anywhere where
animals are living
so close to humans, there are
always going to be problems.
'Roads bisect its vast
forests...but wildlife
'and cars are not good neighbours.
'As a wildlife cameraman
I've occasionally witnessed
'the heartbreak of youngsters
losing their mothers.
'I want to find out what happens
to the lucky few who get rescued.
'Here on Costa Rica's Pacific coast,
'KSTR provides a sanctuary
for orphaned wildlife.
'Wildlife manager Sam's
main responsibility is
'caring for the centre's
numerous baby sloths.'
Brushing my teeth,
I have sloths on me,
washing my face,
I have sloths on me.
I have literally changed
clothes with sloths on me.
You name it, I've probably
done it with a sloth on me.
'Sam's small apartment has been
taken over by these enigmatic
'characters who demand
round-the-clock care.'
Just dropping in on Sam's place
to see what life's like living
with six sloths.
Hey, Sam. Hi. It's
complete carnage in here!
It's like the morning
after a big sloth party.
It's a disaster...and I wish
I could say that this was rare,
but this is pretty much
a daily occurrence.
They climb the curtains,
they climb the chairs.
They love their climbing apparatus
but there's nothing that will
stop them from exploring.
So, it even went a little
too far last night.
Do you want to see where they are?
What's happened? Come here.
All right. What? Yeah!
They're asleep in the
bottom of your La-Z-Boy.
Yeah! It's ridiculous!
'This is Pelota and Kermie,
the nocturnal two-toed sloths.
'Both lost their mothers
and are living with Sam
'till they are old enough
to go back to the wild.
'Every night they spend their
time foraging for food,
'and wrecking Sam's flat, until
the day shift takes over.
'That's when Minnie and Newbie
the three-toed sloths wake up,
'and need Sam's undivided attention.'
I can't get them out.
You can't get them out?
No, there's literally
no way to pull them out,
they have to come out on their own.
You've got to make sure you don't
give her any more food in there,
cos she's pretty big already! I know!
If she ate a lot in there, she
definitely wouldn't come out.
I think the only reason she fit
in is cos she recently
went to the loo.
'But of all her sloths,
five-month-old Newbie
'is the one causing the
most worry for Sam.
'Newbie has been battling with
pneumonia since she was rescued.
'Sam thinks it was triggered by
the stress of losing her mother.
'Not wanting to tempt fate
by giving her a proper name,
'Sam simply calls her Newbie
'and the two have formed
a very strong bond.'
Any baby needs someone to take care
of them when they're younger.
Certain species need
more than others.
Humans need a lot of maternal
investment and sloths are similar.
So, for an orphan that we receive,
they need a surrogate mother.
For Newbie, at the moment, she is
with me pretty much all the time.
In the wild Newbie would
have clung on to her mother
until about nine months
old, feeding on her milk
and learning what to eat.
Now that job falls to Sam.
I'm going to give her some
hibiscus flowers now.
This is one her favourite
natural snacks,
I usually get her to
drink her milk first.
It's kind of like eating your
vegetables before you get desert.
And then give her some flowers.
She loves them.
Like many herbivores, sloths have
enzymes in their saliva that
help break down plant matter.
They basically dissolve in
her mouth like chocolate.
Even for the experts like Sam,
raising sloths is
notoriously difficult.
There is a very good chance
that she won't make it
and that's why we're doing
everything we can to increase her
chances of surviving to adulthood
and one day going back to the wild.
'Sam's fears come from
painful experience,
'and in Newbie's case, several
courses of antibiotics
'have so far failed to
cure the infection.'
Nothing here is simple.
When an animal comes in completely
vulnerable, only a few days old,
and often with some disease
or illness, it's literally
a battle to fight
to keep them alive.
And it's only once you get them
through those hard first few
weeks that you can even start
the long, long journey of teaching
them how to be wild again
and giving them any hope of getting
back out in these forests.
'Despite her ongoing treatment,
Sam thinks Newbie might just be
'well enough to begin
learning some basic skills.
'She's building her a
baby climbing frame.
Even though she's not
it's time for me and for
her to start thinking about
getting ready to be in the wild,
so she needs to start
practising climbing.
For Newbie this is a
new and vital test.
Wow, she didn't waste any time!
She likes it!
She actually likes it.
I mean she's a sloth,
so it's not like she's going to
zoom from one side to the other
really quickly but she's definitely
on it, she doesn't want to get off.
People think that sloths are
just really slow and really lazy
and sleep all the time but
what they don't realise is
their body isn't made up of the type
of muscle structure that would allow
them to move quickly.
That's not what they need
to do, they're more about
moving deliberately.
I can't help but be a little
proud of her, she's been through
so much and she's still a little
bit sick but she's not giving up.
She's very interested in learning,
she loves exploring and I think that
those characteristics show
that she wants to live,
that she wants to go
back to the wild.
It's real progress and the
next step will be to see
if she can cope with a real tree.
If Newbie makes it to release as
an adult wild sloth she will have
to contend with all the dangers that
got her here in the first place.
Like so many sloths in Costa
Rica, Newbie's mother came
to the ground to cross a road and
that's when Newbie was orphaned.
Roads and human developments
are a major issue
for wildlife the world over
and 9,000 miles away,
Ellie is about to meet
another tiny casualty.
In Australia, tens of thousands
of animals are k*lled on the road
every single year but astonishingly,
because they are protected
by their mother's pouch, many
of the joeys still survive.
her career as an air stewardess
to rescue some of
these vulnerable joeys.
Right now she has 20
living with her.
Sharing my life with animals and
living so close to them, for me,
is probably the closest
thing to being in heaven.
Most of Stella's orphans are
kangaroos and wallabies and belong
to the family known as macropodiae,
which is Latin for "long foot".
The main thing that
separates the two is size -
wallabies tend to be smaller.
But what unites them is that as
orphans they need specialist care.
'Stella has devoted half
her life to perfecting
'the techniques for raising them.'
Stella is so dedicated
to rearing kangaroos
and wallabies that's she had
her whole housed adapted
so she can do it. This is actually
her bedroom, as you can see,
and it's called "the baby nursery"
because the teeny tiny ones will
go in there, so that if they get
distressed in the night and need to
hear a heartbeat she can pick them
up and put them on her chest.
If we carry on out here, this floor
is made out of recycled tyres,
so that it doesn't hurt
their feet when they bounce
and they don't skid
like they would on tiles.
This is the inside nursery...
Hello, Stella. Just over there
we've got a wallaby on
a throne over there.
These windows have been placed
deliberately high up so that if they
hop around they don't
potentially jump through them
and injure themselves.
This is Harry, hello,
mate. He's a kangaroo
and not a wallaby,
making himself at home.
So, through to the main part
of the house, and the last
room is the outside nursery.
If we come on in,
it's a bit like a
sixth form common room.
They're all slightly older
and in their pouches,
just hanging out, making the most of
things, all these different pouches.
Let's see if Harry
will go into a pouch!
Harry, are you going to go
into a nice snugly pouch?
Here you go, mate, do
you want to go in there?
Oh, look at this...he's a big boy!
This instinct for going
into the pouch is so strong,
he just climbs straight
in there...tumbling around.
I'll show you how it works...
They go into those pouch and
then into one of these pouches
on the wall just like this.
There you go, Harry, look.
There he is, snug!
The amazing thing about this
room is there's also this
specially designed "roo door",
so that they can get in and out
if they want to, any time.
Ooh, I can barely squeeze through!
Slightly undignified...I'm out!
So, they've got pretty much
everything they need right here.
But although Stella is inundated
with roos and wallabies,
none of them take up as much of
her time as young wallaby, Neil.
He's an orphan from a car accident
where his mum was k*lled
and Neil's been with us one week.
Neil is just 1½ months old.
In the wild
he would be around nine months
before he left his mother's pouch.
He doesn't have a second coat,
he's just got the
light top coat that
he has while he's
in his mum's pouch.
We do call them little velvets.
I'm covering his eyes a little bit,
in Mum's pouch, it's
darker than here.
He's getting a bit used to it,
so it's not too stressful.
In the first three days here,
he cried out at night-time for his
mum.
It's heartbreaking to listen
to him call out for his mum.
What we do then is pick
him up and put him
in the bed with me so he
can felt my heartbeat.
The moment I picked him
up and cuddled him...
..and held him next to my
heart the crying stopped.
Because they develop for so
long in her pouch, the beating
of their mother's heart is deeply
comforting for baby marsupials.
Research shows that maternal nurture
physically changes brain chemistry
and alters the way a youngster's
body responds to stress.
Without this closeness
and reassurance orphans have
been known to die of anxiety.
But with new animals arriving
all the time, Stella can't always
be there for Neil, and he
urgently needs a companion
the same size and age who
he can hang out with.
But for now, Stella is filling
the role of both companion
and foster mother and she thinks
he might be ready to hit
the biggest developmental
milestone in his life so far.
Leaving the pouch
and standing on his own two
feet for the first time ever.
It is a copy of what
Mum does in the wild.
They tip the baby out
for a split second
and then they let them
hop back in again.
Get your balance...there you go.
So, he's using his little
hands for balance.
Once fully grown, Neil will
be able to hop at a top speed
of 30mph.
For now, just staying
upright is tricky.
Oh, wow, it's beautiful.
He did really, really well!
I think his little mind would have
been saying, "What's going on?"
And the next time when I let him
out it'll be a few seconds longer
and the time after that,
a few seconds longer.
Within a week, he'll
be out of the pouch
for about 30 seconds, at the most.
He might have taken
his first few steps
but he's still very
weak and vulnerable.
What's Mummy doing?
The need to find him a companion
is growing increasingly urgent.
He's too small and fragile to
join the older wallabies,
but he simply won't develop and
thrive if he stays on his own.
Stella's long-term goal is for him
to establish a territory among
the wild population of wallabies.
Over the years, she's helped
return over 1,000 orphans
back to the wild.
But Neil's release
is a long way off.
Like all our orphans,
the journey back to the wild has
to be taken one step at a time.
Staying in Australia, Danny
the koala is about to take
another step on his journey,
graduating to the outdoor enclosure.
Until now he's spent his
time indoors, being fed,
exercised and pampered.
Lizzie, the rescue centre manager
is on hand to oversee events.
She needs to be sure Danny is ready
for this big step towards
independence.
And if he weighs in
at a kilo or more,
then he will get the green light.
Simone is hoping all her
hard work has paid off!
He's over a kilo!
Good job, little man, well
done, that's fabulous!
The plan is to take Danny outside
for short training sessions,
gradually building his
confidence over a few weeks
until he is able to let go of his
teddy and move out completely.
It's pretty nerve-racking
bringing him
out here for the first time.
Koalas do have a very innate
sense of what they should be
doing but you still always worry.
There you go!
Good boy, that's it!
What a brave baby!
This is the first tree
Danny has ever encountered!
He was so young when he was rescued,
he had only ever been
in his mum's pouch.
Good boy!
He's not sure what to do!
Koalas have sharp claws
designed for gripping bark.
Do you want to climb up
to the leaves? Come on!
Which Danny is putting to the test.
SHE LAUGHS
Good muscles, Danny!
OK, getting a bit upset now.
You just need a warm pouch.
It's a great first step but
he's got a lot more work to do.
Well done!
Over the next few weeks,
Danny is put on a boot
camp regime of feeding and
climbing on branches in preparation
for his future life outdoors.
Slowly his confidence
begins to build.
Hey, Danny!
But learning to climb trees
requires complete concentration.
Oh, Danny! He's OK,
he's OK, he's learning.
He has to learn!
Luckily, Danny is superbly adapted
to a life in the trees.
We're going up!
Apart from those sharp claws,
he also has a bony
plate in his lower back
which acts like a built in chair
for resting in the fork of trees.
By week three, he's started to look
and behave like a wild koala.
Danny has advanced a lot since the
last time we took him outside.
He's climbing and
eating and generally
more comfortable
in the enclosure.
After a month in training the
team decide he's ready to make
the move outside full-time.
So tonight will be his last
night indoors with Simone.
Tomorrow he'll be introduced
to the two older female koalas.
But letting go of the
security of his teddy
and the closeness
of Simone will be tough.
# Oh, Danny Boy... #
Everyone is hoping that one
of the two older koalas will take
young Danny into her care.
On the other side of the world
in Costa Rica, another little
orphan has a lot to cope with.
Newbie, the three-toed
sloth, has been battling with
pneumonia for over eight weeks.
But every day she is
getting stronger,
and Sam is hopeful that she may
be beating this bacterial
infection in her lungs at last,
but Sam isn't taking any chances.
Every morning and evening, Newbie
is given a c*ck of medicines,
delivered to her in a
mist with pure oxygen.
She tolerates it really well.
Part of me wonders whether it feels
good, especially the bronchodilator
because it helps her to breathe.
But Sam believes that there's more
to treating Newbie
than just medicine.
As anthropomorphic as it sounds,
they really need what we call love.
With baby animals, and especially
sloths, they need a lot of
attention,
a lot of reassurance, they need to
feel safe, I think that
because stress has such an effect on
their body, without that
comfort and safety they just don't
thrive and their body shuts down.
Sam believes that without
this close care,
no amount of antibiotic
would save her.
I'm hopeful. She's responding
well to treatment,
it's just a case of nipping
this pneumonia in the bud
so that way we don't have to worry
it will come creeping up
and silently k*ll her one day.
I just don't want to name her
yet. Once she gets through this
and we're confident she's doing well
then we'll reassess the naming
situation, and hopefully pick
something more dignified than
"Newbie".
If Newbie is ever to go
back to the wild,
her preparation for release
has to continue.
'So Sam is keen to keep building
her confidence in climbing,
'and thinks she's ready
for a real tree.'
Good day! Yup.
Newbie, first tree!
I'm just going to try
and get her close to the tree.
This is basically the beginning
of her getting back to the wild
something more natural. Being a
sloth again. Exactly.
So this is very typical - she has
one hand on the new spot
and one hand on the mom.
She's not going to
leave me totally at first.
'Like Danny the koala, Newbie
is a little hesitant at first
'but soon she's off
at her own pace.'
It certainly looks like she's ready
to explore.
You've got to be patient,
lots of baby steps,
lots of milestones to reach.
You definitely have
to be patient with sloths.
Everything happens at a
little bit slower speed.
'Despite their reputation
for laziness,
'sloths only sleep for
around nine hours a day.
'Their slow movements are a
way of conserving energy,
'a neat survival strategy,
allowing them to eat
'nutrient-poor leaves that
won't sustain other animals.
'Sloths have the slowest digestion
of any mammal. It can take them
'two weeks to process a single meal.
'Their entire lifestyle is all about
expending as little energy as
possible.'
Look at that, she's
climbing, feeding...
You're obviously a
pretty good sloth mum.
I think she's doing really well,
I'm very proud of her.
'This has been a big step for Newbie,
but at just five months old,
'it's not long before she needs the
reassurance of her surrogate mother.'
I think she might
be coming to me now.
On the move, had enough. Mm-hm.
That was a pretty good effort
for day one.
They're not adapted to
moving on the ground, are they?
A sitting duck for any predator.
I know, that's why it's so sad.
That's why her mom was attacked by
a dog, because
as soon as they come to the ground
she has no defences against a dog.
'Sloths have a top speed of just
'which means that when they
do come to the ground,
'they are completely vulnerable.
'For Newbie, Sam represents safety
and security, as well as her only
'chance of beating her illness
and getting back to the wild.
'There is still a long road
ahead for both of them.
'And one that will inevitably be
travelled at a very leisurely pace.'
It's a different story
here in Australia.
Macropods, like kangaroos, can cover
seven metres in a single hop.
'But every journey starts
with the first steps.
'And for Neil, the orphaned wallaby,
they are very tentative ones.'
A little bundle in there!
Oh, wow!
'With Stella's careful
attention to his diet,
'he is growing and gaining in
strength, and she is getting to know
'the intimate workings
of his digestive system.'
Little Neil was under
He's on three bottles a day at the
moment, he goes to the toilet
very well, he's got solid droppings,
but they fart, and they can clear
a room, and quite often people will
all look at each other,
it is so bad.
Accusingly! Accusingly.
It can't be the sweet one!
He's actually the sweet one.
He's actually a wallaby.
His true name is black
wallaby or swamp wallaby.
But his original name was stinky
wallaby, and the aborigines rarely
ate them because they smelt, they
farted, which saved their lives.
That's a really good...
If you fart, it can save your life -
it's a good evolutionary mechanism.
'But if Neil is to survive,
he needs to learn to hop.'
Put your hands under his chest here,
that's it.
A balance rather than a lift.
Hold just his tail...that's it.
Well done.
Oh, so wobbly! Oh, look!
Just bring his pouch back in front.
Get it ready, just in case.
You hold his hands now
and you can just balance him there,
and let him get his balance.
Beautiful.
It's genuinely exciting, that sense
that he's taken these initial steps,
it's so meaningful.
Wow, there's a hop! That's
fantastic! So sweet.
Back to the pouch. That's it.
What an adventure!
Now you're a wallaby mum.
I feel proud, proud of those steps.
'But there is something even
more important for Neil than
'developing his walking skills -
he needs a companion.'
In the wallaby world, his mum's
with him 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, but I have to do
other things, I have to look after
other animals and go outside,
and although I do carry him with me,
he can't be with me 24 hours,
whereas a little friend can be.
So we need to find a little
friend for Neil, then.
Yes, we do. But they come in all
the time, because the cars are
getting faster
and the little creatures are
crossing the roads.
So we're getting more
and more than we've ever had before.
For sensitive baby marsupials
like Neil, finding a suitable
companion could make the
difference between life or death.
Fortunately, Stella has a plan.
Until an orphan the same age
and size is brought to
Stella, she's going to see
if Neil is strong enough to
try hanging out with a small
band of older wallabies
nicknamed the Three Amigos.
Like Neil, all three of them lost
their mothers in car accidents.
This is Paddy.
He's curious but quiet.
Mitchell is quite small
but he likes to bounce around,
and he jumps on everybody and makes
everybody hide in their pouch.
Max just likes to be adventurous
and he hides under the furniture.
Three great little characters.
The only problem is that they
are a whole month older than Neil.
But if he's strong
enough to hold his own,
he may just be able
to join the g*ng.
But they are just that little bit
bigger and bouncier than Neil.
He simply isn't mobile
enough to join the fun,
and could accidentally get hurt.
Maybe the pouch is the
safest place after all.
For Neil and Stella, it's
going to be a waiting game,
till the right wallaby comes along.
Here in Costa Rica, there's
an altogether different waiting
game going on.
Newbie, the orphaned three-toed
sloth, is under close observation.
Sloths only go to the toilet once or
twice a week, so sloth carer, Sam,
has to try and predict it and get her
to the right place at the right time.
She feels like a beach ball, so
she better be ready. After she goes
all this shrinks back in.
Sloths can lose around 30% of
their body weight in one poop
and pee, so that's a lot, I wish
humans could do that sometimes.
Wild sloths spend all of their
time in the tops of trees,
only coming to the ground every
few days when nature calls.
And, despite living with Sam, Newbie
is following the same pattern.
Can you imagine not going to
the bathroom for four whole days?
So basically they can store a lot,
for a long period of time.
It's really important to know
how their biology works
because if we didn't know sloths are
only supposed to poop and pee every
four days, or every week, then we'd
worry, like, "What's wrong with
them?! They're not going today!"
So, now we're going to stick her at
the base of the tree, this is her
pooping tree.
We have to be very quiet
because she gets distracted easily.
No-one knows why sloths
stick to the same latrine spot,
but one theory is that they could be
fertilising their favourite tree.
[It's just a waiting game.
[See how she's looking at me?
[She's like, "Why did you leave me
on this tree? Come and get me.
[This could be good. But you have to
look for the flick of the tail.
[If it goes like
this, then she's going!
[But I'm not sure yet.]
If you know that they really need to
go, but they just don't feel
comfortable enough to go,
then it can be kind of stressful,
cos you're like, "Please poop!"
This is a bad sign.
She might not be quite ready.
I think we might have to try
later, she's not ready.
I give up, you win.
All Sam can do is bring Newbie
back later for another try.
It's a guessing game, and the
ball is firmly in Newbie's court.
Three hours later, and Sam and
Newbie are ready to try again.
Her climbing right now
is not exactly a good sign.
She may still not be ready,
even though she's like a beach ball.
Newbie's stomach has four separate
chambers, storing leafy food
at different stages of digestion,
a system unique to sloths.
And part of the reason why the whole
process requires a great deal of
patience.
It's a bit like potty training
a toddler - it's all in the timing.
I really wanted her to go!
Two hours later and the heavens
have opened.
Sam is hoping that Newbie's bowels
will follow suit.
I'll try putting my hand
on her a bit and see
if it makes her feel
a bit more secure.
Oh, it's happening it's happening!
See the tail, that flip?
I'm happy!
And Sam's not the only one.
It must be such a relief to
pee after four days. I think
I would close my eyes too!
Understandably, post-poo is the
only time Sam is able to get
an accurate measure of
how much Newbie weighs.
And establish how fit
and healthy she is.
Nice! 1,000, even.
So in two weeks she's gained about
so that's really good. I'm very
happy that she's doing well today.
We have to take it
one day at a time.
It's a promising sign, but
there's a still a long way to
go before Sam might feel confident
enough to give Newbie a proper name.
In Southern Australia, at Cape
Otway's Koala Rescue Centre,
confidence is exactly what
Danny needs.
It's his first day
out in the enclosure full-time.
This is a huge milestone. From now
on there will be no more teddy
and no more nights in the comfort
and security of the indoors.
Would you like to go up there,
would that be fun?
At six months old, a wild koala
would be riding around with his mum
outside of her pouch full-time,
so Danny should be physically
ready for his new challenge.
He's climbing really beautifully,
he's really agile and strong
and really comfortable
about navigating his way through
the branches. He's really good.
I'm very pleased with that.
But living without his human carers
is about more than just climbing.
Danny's buddies in the enclosure
are Puddles and Tilly.
These two rescued females
have been here a year
and are the equivalent
of young teenagers.
If one of them takes a shine
to Danny, then he'll have a
companion to make him
feel safe and secure.
Within minutes, Danny starts
trying to get close to Tilly.
Just like Danny, she was found on
the side of the road underweight
and dehydrated.
But adult koalas are largely
solitary in the wild
and Tilly is not interested.
But Danny isn't giving up just yet.
He goes in to get some attention.
But Tilly makes her feelings clear.
Danny decides to try
his luck with Puddles.
She has been through
a lot in her young life,
from being found without her
mother by the road, to battling
an infection that meant she lost
most of her ears and several claws.
Now fit and well, she seems to have
a more laid-back approach to life.
The early signs are promising.
But Puddles is still
so young herself,
Danny will have to hope that
he can quietly win her over.
Over at Stella's place,
Neil the wallaby needs
a companion just as badly.
Since his unsuccessful
introduction to the Three Amigos
he's been on his own.
But word has got out.
There's another very young wallaby
who is in as much
need of a companion as Neil.
Hello, Stella, I've got a
little friend for you here.
Is it a little boy or girl? A little
boy, his mum was hit by a car.
Aw, he's gorgeous,
what do you call him?
I think Jasper, I think that's what
the person who found him
would have named... Jasper, it is.
Hi, Jasper.
Welcome! Thanks very much.
All right.
Thanks. Bye! Come in, Harry.
Come in!
Jasper has just come in
and we have to weigh him
to check on the weight, to compare
him with Neil to see if he is a
good size.
Jasper has to be just the right
weight for the match to work.
Neil weighs a kilo, so Jasper
has to weigh a kilo, too.
And he's one kilo, he's the perfect
weight for Neil. When they hop
into the same pouch they won't
smother each other, and the chance
of survival is much, much greater
for both of them, so that's perfect.
He's a little bit anxious because
everything's new to him.
He's actually doing very well
for such a brand-new little baby.
Look at that! There's somebody here
to meet you.
The gentleness of the two little
creatures that have never
met before is quite special.
Oh, there you go.
It's not long before the pair
are confirming their bond.
Very sweet.
Watching them, when you see
things like that, it's why you do
what you do, why you become
a wildlife carer.
Having spent a bit of time with
Stella, it has genuinely
surprised me
the amount of work that goes into
raising these animals.
It really gives you a sense of just
how incredible the mothering in the
wild really is.
'And it also shows how incredible
the urge is to find a substitute
'to fill the void left when they
lose that crucial relationship.
'For Danny the koala, persuading
Puddles to give him that
'close contact was critical to
making his new life outside
successful.'
Luckily his persistence
has paid off,
and she's taken him under her wing.
The two of them snuggle up together
day and night, and she even
lets him ride around on her back,
just like his real mother would.
It's a great result for Danny.
Having this close contact
with another koala will give his
chances of making it back to the
wild a huge boost.
Both he and wallaby, Neil, have
benefitted from dedicated
and experienced carers and the
company of their own species.
Their futures are looking bright.
'Unfortunately it's a very
different story in Costa Rica.
'Newbie's pneumonia has
returned with a vengeance.'
Hey, Sam, how's she doing?
She sounds bad and
she doesn't feel good.
She struggles to breathe.
I can see her chest move in and out.
What's next for Newbie, how do you
get to the bottom of this problem?
We've started her on a different
medication for the second
round of the disease,
and if that doesn't work,
it's pretty serious.
That's why I'm so concerned,
because even though she's still
hanging in there,
if we can't cure her she'll
never make it back to the wild,
she probably won't even survive.
It's tough.
I just want her to get
better.
I don't think I've ever seen Newbie
looking quite so sorry for herself,
and it's tough, because just as
everyone was thinking she was
getting better,
Sam was even think about giving her
a proper name for the first time...
And now she's back on medication and
the pneumonia is worse than ever.
We've all got to just keep
our fingers crossed that this new
medication starts to work, and
hopefully shakes off this
pneumonia for good.
'It's a waiting game once more for
Sam and her orphaned sloth.
'But she has made it this far,
so there has to be hope that
Newbie will pull through.'
Next time, Al the ant eater has to
be taught how to do what should come
naturally.
I'm afraid there's no
termites in there, fella.
Stacey, an orphaned wombat, hits
a potentially devastating
problem on her journey
back to the wild.
As you can hear in my voice,
it is hard not to be attached to
these guys.
And Newbie continues her
brave battle with pneumonia.
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