Episode 3 Kangaroo Dundee

HE CALLS

Deep in the heart of Central Australia lives a family like no other.

CAWING

This is Brolga...

..a man who has sacrificed everything to give orphaned kangaroos a second chance at life.

Some people, they think that's a bit strange, a bloke being a mum to an orphaned kangaroo.

But I do it because I see what other people don't see.

I see that little joey call out for help.

From his tin shack hidden in the bush,

Brolga raises his babies until they're ready to be released.

And, just as with any family, each new day brings fresh challenges.

Tonight, we meet Rocky, a tearaway teenage wallaby who's ready to leave home.

How do you keep control of him?

Well, basically, I don't!

Youngsters Rex and Ruby are hopping mad...

They've got this massive spring in their step and they don't know how to control it.

And Brolga and Cynthia play catch the kangaroo...

I did it, I did it, I did it!

Yippee!

Good catch.

Welcome to the world of Kangaroo Dundee.

It's morning in the outback,

and breakfast time for seven-month-old Rex and Ruby.

It's a big day for Brolga's youngest orphan joeys.

Recently, they've been getting curious about what lies outside the safety of home.

Today, they get to find out.

They've been in the pouch most of their life, they haven't experienced anything else.

So what I've got to do now is take them out the back and give them a little hop.

Since being rescued at the roadside three weeks ago,

they've only left their pillowcase pouches whilst inside Brolga's shack.

This is a whole new world to them, so this is really a great time.

He aims to eventually release Rex and Ruby to the wilds of his sanctuary.

It's a long way off, but their journey to freedom has to start somewhere.

And the next important step is introducing them to Brolga's backyard.

First out of the basket is Rex...

..and he can hardly contain his excitement.

Rex, he's off, you can see it in him

that he's really enjoying the outing of having a little trip away from the pouch.

Next, it's Ruby's turn to face the world.

But for this timid little joey...

..it's all a bit much.

Little Ruby is a lot more scared.

Don't go back to bed yet, you haven't had a run yet.

I can see in her she's had a pretty traumatic experience with losing her mum.

She's gone from a lot of love to no love, so she's really latching on to me to get that love back.

Brolga's backyard may be small,

but for these young explorers it's full of new sights, smells and sounds.

BIRD NOISES

It's a small setback.

You're supposed to be out having a run.

You're supposed to be out having a run.

This may all seem like a bit of fun,

but there's a serious side to this adventure.

It's essential that Brolga teaches Rex and Ruby the skills they need in order to survive.

Now is the time they've got to start to stretch those legs, and start to hop.

But it's a very uncoordinated hop.

They've got this massive spring in their step and they don't know how to control it.

You all right?

All this hopping is tiring work,

and Ruby decides it's time for a well-earned rest.

That's not your pouch, that's not your pouch.

Ah, that's better, isn't it?

You just wanted to go to bed.

With Rex and Ruby safely back in the shack,

Brolga heads out into his sanctuary.

This 90 acres of fenced-off bushland is home to Brolga's family of 28 kangaroos.

Today, he's come to check on Ella.

She's been with Brolga for years, so he knows her well.

Normally outgoing, recently she's been withdrawn,

and won't let youngest son Terry into her pouch.

Brolga thinks she may have had another baby.

To find out, he'll need to examine her...

..but first he must distract Ella with her favourite food.

I especially got these carrots today.

It's all I went into town for.

-HE CLUCKS

-Mmm?

Wow!

It's tiny, absolutely tiny.

Brolga's right, Ella has become a mum all over again.

This little baby is under a day old.

The baby just has two little forearms,

its back legs are not yet developed.

The eyes are just like little dots of a pen.

The reason it's so small is that kangaroo babies, or pinkies,

are born after just 33 days in the womb.

A lot of people think the baby kangaroo is born in the pouch. No, it's not.

It's born just like we were born, but then has a momentous climb, by instinct,

holding onto Mum's stomach hair

to get up to the pouch entrance

and climb inside.

The newest member of Brolga's family will stay safely tucked in Ella's pouch for around six months.

Seeing a baby kangaroo in the pouch is the most exciting thing to me,

it's an absolute miracle of life.

But not all baby kangaroos are so lucky.

Ten miles away in Alice Springs, a shaking little orphan has no pouch to go to.

The next best place is an incubator.

All right, young man,

first cab off the rank, and time for your feed.

This four-month-old pinky is being looked after by Brolga's friend

and fellow kangaroo mum, Cynthia Lynch.

That's a good boy.

Oh, yes, I know that you're ready for a feed, aren't you?

That's a good boy. There we are. How's that?

When he was first brought to Cynthia a week ago,

his eyes were still shut, and he was in a bad way.

Every day is a plus, and I think he's just got the attitude that he's going to make it,

haven't you, sweetheart, eh?

And now he's got his eyes open, he's got half an ear up, and that's a good start, yes.

This pinky is firmly on the road to recovery,

and Cynthia's confident he'll pull though.

We've called him Mark now.

We've actually done...given him a name, which I'm a little bit sceptical about doing to start with,

because if you name them too soon I'm always scared they mightn't make it,

but he's doing all the right things at the moment.

He has taken to the bottle beautifully, haven't you?

You're doing very well, aren't you?

Big wide eyes these days! You're watching what's going on, eh?

It's lovely to see their eyes open.

They just feel a little bit more...

Well, human's not the word,

but you really feel you have got something that is a real baby.

Come on, that's a good boy.

Back to sleep for another hour or two, then we'll have another go.

Good boy.

Back at the sanctuary, Brolga is taking Rex and Ruby outside again.

HE CLUCKS

Their hopping is slowly improving,

so now it's time for the second stage of their training...

..learning how to stick together.

It's important for them now

that they follow each other when they go for a hop.

A little joey left by himself is extremely vulnerable.

You can see it in his body language,

he's sort of looking around, all frightened, his ears are right up.

That really stresses the little joey.

So what I'm trying to do now, is trying to get the babies to start following one another,

or following me, because a little joey would be following its mother.

Mummy's girl Ruby is quick to follow Brolga...

..unlike Rex, who's doing his own thing.

HE CLUCKS

Rex, Rexy!

HE CLUCKS

Come on.

-HE CLUCKS

-Come on.

Time for Brolga to give reluctant Rex a pep talk.

When I walk away, you're supposed to follow your mum.

OK, come on, look, follow me.

Come on, come on...

-Come on!

-HE CLUCKS

Come on!

Come on, good boy.

Finally, Rex gets the right idea.

And soon the joeys even start following each other.

Mission accomplished.

I think they're going to make a great little team, Ruby and Rex.

-HE CLUCKS

-Come on!

Each year around 200 orphaned kangaroos are rescued from the roadsides around Alice Springs.

The hope is that all the joeys will eventually leave the homes and backyards they've been raised in,

and be released.

But training them to survive in the outside world takes time.

They go from being in a bag to being outside

to having other kangaroos with them so they learn to associate with kangaroos,

and some take longer than others, and it's a bit like children.

I had one of mine couldn't get out the door fast enough when he was 17,

and I had to kick one out at 37, so they're a little bit the same.

Some do take longer than others, but eventually they all go.

The journey from backyard to outback is a tough one.

Raised by human foster parents, the joeys lose some of their wild instincts.

So before being released, they have to enrol in kangaroo boot camp.

Three to four months in this holding pen with only kangaroos for company

is enough to break the ties they've formed with humans.

We just keep an eye on them, and make sure they're all right, but otherwise no love.

And slowly, over the weeks,

those orphan joeys that were raised in people's homes

become a wild animal.

The holding pen has covered sides to stop the prying eyes of predators,

like dingoes and feral dogs.

Left to themselves, the roos grow wilder,

and form bonds which will be vital when they're released as a group.

Today, Brolga and Cynthia are on their way to the pen

to collect five older kangaroos that are ready to be returned to the wild.

How we know that they're ready is one day we go into the enclosure,

and as long as all the kangaroos run away from us,

the same people that raised them when they were orphans,

we now see fear in them, that they're seeing a person...

that's when we know they're ready.

We've got to now catch them, and that's the hard part.

We go in with big nets and it's a bit like catching a butterfly that weighs 20 kilos.

Now this animal is like a wild kangaroo being chased by a predator,

so they're going to try to run round you like someone playing football.

She's coming back!

She was coming back!

Here we go, three in one.

You push them down here, Cynthia.

I'm a-trying!

I've got to be really careful because that kangaroo can jump two metres high,

and it can almost take you with it.

Come on, mate.

Some of the roos are reluctant, but experts Brolga and Cynthia know exactly how to handle them safely.

Settle down, settle down.

One down, four to go.

I did it, I did it, I did it!

Yippee!

Cynthia's in her 70s. I mean, she's no spring chicken,

but she's got the dedication and the motivation and the will to keep going like someone my age.

Good catch, good catch.

Life in the old girl yet!

Now, I must admit that I don't do too much, I might catch them now and again,

but usually that's Brolga's job these days, but I enjoy it.

I did it, I did it, I did it!

I guess I'll do it till the day I drop.

Two-all!

Ow! Don't try and kick me!

With five kangaroos safely on board,

Brolga and Cynthia head off to release them.

They're travelling to a cattle station about 60 miles outside Alice Springs.

It's an area with ample food and water,

giving kangaroos who aren't used

to living in the wild

the best possible chance.

TOOT!

MOO!

All right, let's do this, Cynthia.

-Time to rock'n'roll?

-Time to rock'n'roll.

There's freedom.

There we are! Oh, look at that, you're on grass.

Come on, mate, you're free now.

Oh, what's that? Birds and grass.

-No fences.

-No.

Releasing an animal's an absolutely wonderful experience,

a bit like sending a child off to school for the first time.

There we are.

Every parent's always a little bit apprehensive,

but it's an absolute joy to see the way they bound off.

Whoo, look at him!

It's taken a long time to get back out there, hasn't it?

But you made it.

There we are.

These novice kangaroos are taking their first hops into a strange and potentially frightening new world,

and they must help each other if they're to make it.

-There's a couple there, look.

-Oh, look, yes.

-They're sticking together.

-Yes.

We've put what, six or eight months into each of these joeys?

Absolutely.

And this is the best part of it for me.

It's never a sad time for me, it's always happy.

-Yes, and you just hope that their second chance at life is really going to be a good second chance.

-Yes.

Oh, freedom! Away you go.

All yours, the whole thousand acres.

-Million acres.

-Million, sorry!

Back at the shack, release is still a long way off for Rex and Ruby.

A week after their first hop in the backyard,

Brolga's newest recruits are on another training exercise.

Adult kangaroos mainly eat grasses and shrubs,

and Rex and Ruby are starting to seek out likely-looking morsels.

To break down this difficult-to-digest food,

kangaroos have special bacteria in their gut,

which it's believed youngsters normally get

from contact with their mothers.

Orphans Rex and Ruby don't have that option,

but they've found an alternative source of the bacteria.

He's eating poo.

Adult kangaroo droppings contain bacteria the youngsters need,

and there's plenty left in the yard

by older kangaroos when they come to visit.

Little Rex in particular is picking up kangaroo poo and eating it.

Now this may appear gross to some people, and he doesn't know the science of it,

but it's instinct that he requires it in his diet to help him digest food properly.

And that's not the only instinct Rex is displaying.

Most kangaroos are social creatures,

and although for now he's stuck in the yard,

that won't stop him making friends out in the sanctuary.

HE CLUCKS

Life's not quite so sociable for Brolga, living alone at the shack...

..but raising orphans like Rex and Ruby makes it all worthwhile.

Looking after the joeys is number one for me.

Although I don't have any luxuries of the developed world,

of a modern lifestyle like a lot of people around the world have...

..to me, I don't need that,

cos what you need is love and love will get you through all the time.

Model students Rex and Ruby are making great progress towards the day when they'll be released.

But not all animals are this well-behaved,

as one of Brolga's oldest friends, Anne-Marie Docherty is finding out.

Don't bite...don't bite.

I was going to wash it anyway.

This is Rocky, and he's my little black-footed rock Wallaby,

who has just about outgrown his welcome...

Ow!

Too young to be an adult, too old to be a child,

Rocky's at that difficult age when rules are made to be broken...

Don't!

Don't!

Rocky is a teenager.

You can't leave anything anywhere.

He chewed the aerial off my stereo, so I can't listen to my radio inside now.

He'll drink my coffee.

There's usually lava lamps and other photos around and he's managed to knock them all down.

He's broke some of my cow collection, he's broken that.

He jumps up on the cupboards, he's on the fish tanks...

I've had to put a book on my other fish tank because he jumped on it one night,

and he landed straight in the fish tank.

He's left his little trademark here,

we have a nugget.

Yes, he's becoming a little terror.

As much as I love him, I don't think he's really who he should be,

because he's here in this environment, you know.

He's really not where he should be.

In the wild, rock wallabies live in steep, rocky terrain.

Like kangaroos, they raise their young in a pouch,

but they're smaller, about the size of a cat.

Rock wallabies are very agile,

able to leap long distances and cling on to precarious ledges,

ideal if you live in the mountains...

Stop being silly!

..Frustrating if you live in a bungalow.

I think he really has grown out of being Anne-Marie's wallaby, haven't you, Rocky, eh?

I can't keep him any longer.

I'm going to have to get some help with this one,

and I think Brolga's going to be the one to help me out here.

Anne-Marie and Brolga have been friends for years,

working together to rescue and protect wildlife whenever it's in danger.

In the past, Anne-Marie has helped Brolga when he's taken on too much,

and now she's hoping he'll return the favour.

Anne-Marie is... gee, she's a character.

She is the most loving person I've met in a long time,

and her heart is in those kangaroos,

and any orphaned wildlife that comes in, she gives it 250 per cent.

So I've got nothing but admiration for Anne-Marie.

To see if they'll get on, Anne-Marie wants to introduce Rocky to Brolga.

Yeah, well, this is Rocky, Brolga.

..But Rocky has other ideas.

Rocky!

Rocky!

Come on, quick! Good boy, good boy, you ready?

OK.

Up, up, up!

Over here, come on. Up here on mummy's sh... All right.

-Oh, Jeez!

-Come on!

-Wow, he's unreal.

-He's a terror, isn't he?

-Oh, yeah.

How do you keep control of him?

Well, basically, I don't!

You can't!

He's just non-stop.

He's a most remarkable animal.

He obviously likes the mirror, like a lot of teenage boys, they like the mirror too.

He looks great, he's in perfect condition, and he's got such character.

Hey, ooh, Jesus, Rocky!

Here, come on, up you get, quick.

Come on, no, you don't want to.

He's a character! I love him. Hey!

You can't but not love him, honestly.

Are you going to bite? No, no.

Oh, you are beautiful.

I would love to look after him.

-Oh, that would be amazing.

-I'll take him on, for sure.

Oh, I was keeping my fingers crossed, believe me, because I was at my wits' end.

They've hit it off, and Brolga's got a plan to keep Rocky out of trouble in the future.

I think it's now time for him to be jumping over rocks and boulders, not beds and pillows.

So I'll make a rockery, almost like Rocky's little mountain.

Oh, that would be great.

I love him already.

He will keep you entertained, believe me.

-I reckon he will.

-Yeah.

Next time, rocks...

and roll.

Brolga moves a mountain for his latest orphan.

-Not bad, eh?

-Wow!

There's drama at dinner time...

Little Ruby's taken the milk down the wrong way,

which is a big problem.

And Rocky moves in to his new home.

He's like a kid in a playground.

You can almost see his little mouth smiling.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd