So we've just had a pretty
amazing patient brought into the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.
His name is Django and he is a Whistling kite
that's been rescued from the Fraser Coast area after he's
been found with a bit of fishing line trapped around his back talon.
So we're going to assess him now and see if there's something
we can do to try and help him get back out into the wild.
Django, here is an absolutely stunning bird.
He is a raptor and raptors are birds of prey.
And they use those incredible talons that they have in those feet
to capture their prey.
And one of the most important parts of their feet is actually
that back talon, and that is sometimes called the killing claw.
And it's really important for them so they can grab their prey and catch it
and then eat it.
So today we're going to do a recheck on Django, the whistling kite.
So I'm going to catch up with Jacob, one of our amazing nurses, and keepers
and we're going to take him outside and do a checkup in one of our lovely aviarys.
Full of attitude,
our beautiful man, Django.
So what we want to see today is how he's healing this injury on that back talon.
Thank you, Django.
Thank you very much.
So that's looking amazing.
He's been a bit of a mischievous little friend this week,
and he's been removing all of the bandages that we've tried popping on there.
So it's nice to see that he actually doesn't need them anymore.
He said, no, thank you, everybody. I'm healing just fine.
[Jacob] Yeah [Emily] So That looks great.
And it's not hot or swollen anymore, which is fantastic.
Really good to see.
So I'm going to do a little bit of raptor physio now.
So we're going to just try and extend this back talon and stretch it out
a little bit. Because this is the area that's been damaged by that fishing line,
when he first came in.
Just because I’ve noticed he’s not using it very much with the food.
[Emily] So he needs a bit of help
to remember, that this actually does work.
Hey little man.
Hopefully with this physio, he’ll be good to go.
Yeah, fingers crossed. He's made enormous progress.
What I'd love to do now Jacob, if we can,
is actually pop him on the ground and just see how he's moving it.
You can see Django is sitting
there on that perch and he's got that back talon on the left foot
curled underneath his foot and should be sitting right at the back.
And unfortunately, that's happened
as a result of some really nasty injuries to that foot secondary to the fishing line.
So he was actually caught up in
quite tight by fishing line and it caused infection in the foot.
And he was very close to actually losing that back area of his foot,
which would have been really damaging to his chances for survival in the wild.
So he’s had quite intensive care here at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.
And the good news is the infection
appears to be gone and the wound from the fishing line has healed.
But we're just waiting now to see if he can actually get the use of that
killing talon or that back talon back, because we want to see him
use those feet properly
and know that when he gets back out into the wild,
he's going to be able to catch his prey and eat it effectively.
So Jacob and I are about to take our lovely friend Django,
the whistling kite from a small aviary out into our big rainforest aviary
so that he can get some flight fitness back in preparation for his release.
We're really happy with how his talons are working now.
And so this is the next stage of his rehab process.
[Emily] So we're really happy with how Django, our whistling kite friend
has been progressing in hospital.
[Jacob] Done a huge change for Django, he’s able to actually put that toe out.
I think he's going to get a lot of fitness in here because he's in really good laps around.
[Emily] Yeah, they were perfect. Exactly what he needs to do.
[Jacob] Even after those laps, he was a little bit exhausted.
[Emily] Yes. Yes.
[Jacob] Just goes to show this is going to do him a world of good.
[Emily] Yeah, he really does need this to be his next step.
So this will be his new home for now
and he'll get a couple of weeks of fitness. -Pretty Jealous
Yeah, Me too. It’s the Ritz for raptors.
[Jacob] It’s awesome. [Emily] So, yeah, we're excited.
Little Django is going to have a lovely time in here.
Yeah, I think it would be awesome.
Yeah. Ready for release in no time.
Yeah. Fingers crossed.
He does what we need him to do and then in a couple of weeks time
it be back out to the wild for Django.
[Jacob] Awesome. [Emily] It's really cool.
So today is a pretty exciting day for us.
He spent the last three weeks in our rainforest aviary here,
and we're going to see if he's got the fitness up,
ready to go back out into the wild where he belongs.
So I'm going to see if I can get him to fly now and we'll see how fit he is,
because he's been doing laps in this rainforest area for the last three weeks.
And I'm hoping that he's going to be ready
to get out there and soar through the skies. So let's see.
All right, Django, here I come.
Show me what you can do.
He looks amazing.
He's absolutely brilliant.
This honestly doesn't get much better than this.
I'm so stoked.
Yeah, the rehab is worked perfectly and Django’s ready to get back out into the
wild where he belongs.