Qinisa at one day old.
One of our Elephant Cam viewers asked if our newest elephant calf, Qinisa, knows her name yet. Name recognition depends on the individual animal and the frequency of reinforcement opportunities associated with that name being called and the corresponding correct response. We would then need something to be reinforcing for that animal.
In the case of a baby elephant, we keepers don’t have a lot to offer outside of tactile and visual stimuli. An elephant calf wouldn’t know his or her name until we started associating the name with a reinforcer that we know has established itself as such. So, when a calf starts showing interest in a certain food item, we’ll start calling the calf by name and reinforcing the correct response with that item. It’s usually a nickname that sounds different from that of any other elephant in our herd and one that everyone here can pronounce.
For Qinisa, her nickname is still up for grabs, and we call her a bunch of different names and sounds at the present. Personally, I like “bad baby #12″. 
Curtis Lehman is an animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Quick Qinisa Update.
Use the same nickname I use….Queenie!!!!
She is so sweet,,I love to watch her and mom–do all baby elephants stand under their moms?? For A nickname,,how about baby doll??
Moderator’s note: Underneath Mom is milk, shade, and comfort. Ah!
Mr Curtis sir, I love the name! I have watched every day since Luti was born and truly understand the name. They are so much fun to watch but I can only imagine what goes that I can’t see. I bet it is terminal “Romper Room” for you folks with all those youngsters. Thank you all!
Curtis, I can’t wait until I get to the park and see for myself why the littlest ellie might deserve the nickname, “Bad Baby #12″ That gave me a big chuckle. Thanks for your blogs.
I call her Q, because she’s so Qute!!!
Uh oh….. “bad baby #12″ ? I guess that Qinisa’s rambunctious behavior that we observe on cam is only the tip of the iceberg as compared to what the Elephant Team must encounter during their daily up close contact with the little Princess.
I guess that means all the baby ellies have gone through a naughty phase. I was only able to watch Neepo from birth (and now Queenie). I’m glad they’ve been so comfortable at SDZ Safari Park to be happy and bad babies.
Qinisa is such a joy to watch, all those boys she has to contend with. What are the keepers feeding them from the pails? I love when Qinisa sleeps by her mom but one of the boys kept waking her up yesterday. She will be a herd leader like her mother!
Moderator’s note: Those are herbivore pellets.
I got a couple of nicknames for Qinisa! One is NISA, the other is NISI. QUEENIE is a good one because she has royal lineage with her mom being the dominant female of the herd. But, I like NISA because it’s easy to say! I have caught her on the elliecam a few times over the last week or so, and she is still the smallest baby ellie! Nisa can still walk under her mom without any problems right now, but when she does get a little bit bigger, she won’t be able to do that anymore. Was just on the elliecam, and there were a few ellies in the yard, but no sign of Swazi and Nisa. Will try to catch them later on when I get back on the elliecam. I’m sure that Nisa will get to know her name pretty quick. She’s already a smart little girl as it is!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
I like Nisa for her nickname. My guess is she will learn it quickly when reinforcements can be introduced in the training process.
All of the elephants are precious and and have their own ways that are (mostly) discernible by just watching for a few weeks. I wish I could go back several decades to change my career path to have been able to work with animals in captivity. Sure, “the grass is always greener” may apply because I don’t know the entire job, but what I see is good.
With the US Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, please know that you have my thanks for your loving care of the elephants and your attention to viewers like me who cannot be there in person.
I call her Sassafras… Sassy for short. She’s so much fun to watch, especially when she tries to act so grown up… Everyone else is stuffing hay in their mouths and she has a stick… too funny.
the other day I saw Qinisa nursing and she did the back leg crossing position while nursing. that reminded me that it seemed she was practicing the back leg crossing within a week or two of being born. she had an early sense of balance with it from what I recall. it might not be fair to compare but I remember it was harder for Neepo to develop the sense of balance for it at first.
Thank you camera operator for following the action at 9:30 PST this morning. Everyone was loving the mud! Qinisa would throw herself into the mud like she couldn’t stand on her own two feet anytime another elephant would do so. I love the variety of spaces and room for the herd that the Safari Park has set aside for them. You do an excellent job of sharing the experience with us through the cameras. Love it!
Question – Do the deer that wander the elephant space have the freedom to travel from area to area or is it a planned activity by the zookeepers? Sometimes the elephants seemt to ignore them, and at other times, one stamps his/her feet and chases them away.
Moderator’s note: Those are native mule deer that wander freely about the Safari Park and surrounding environs.
They have to be the most well fed deer in the US.
Bad Girl #12…. Do you mean as in playing with Neepo and making him so happy that he gives an extra little push, and then Qinisa runs to mama, who in turn uses her mighty trunk to swat Neepo away??? Or perhaps she rushes to be first through the gates? Or maybe she loves to flair those ears out to show the world or a nearby elephant that she is big stuff!!! She is seeming quite intelligent and will possibly rule the kingdom there at the Safari Park one day, but for today, she THINKS she does already! Love that girl, “bad girl #12!”
Watching the ellies a few minutes ago, the cam was viewing straight down on them, I noticed Umngani ribs are very visible from the top. None of the others shared this condition. Is she losing weight or is just her body structure? Thank you.
Moderator’s note: Your question has been forwarded to our Elephant Team.
Michelle
I have noticed that the ribs shows up in some of the other ellies as well at times, depending on how they are standing and what view we get of them via the cam. I would think that’s due to the fact it’s not a body area that would put on extra fat/muscle as much as other areas would. eg.shoulders.
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I wonder if the elephants have any concept of the days of the week because of regularly scheduled activities. For example, cleaning the feet of Musi on Mon-Wed-Fri, or feeding with boxes on Tues-Sat, or draining the pool on Thursday. You get the idea. Is there a regular schedule for certain activities? If so, do they seem to anticipate those activities on those days?
Thanks for your feedback.
Moderator’s note: Because we don’t want them to anticipate events, there is no regular schedule of husbandry or enrichment activities.
Well, bad baby #12 definitely demonstrates a ‘presence’ that is seemingly beyond her years. She somehow makes her behavior appear to have purpose and confidence. It was comical to me the other day to see her march off in between Kami and Khosi on some sort of adventure obviously for ‘the girls’. Little critter with a very big and full bubble around her.
Is something wrong, the ellies look very agitated, or are they just excited by something?
Interesting morning! Just after 7 am I tuned in and everyone but Dula had a bit of the crazies, flared ears and all. They were in the upper yard, Swazi, Musi, and most of the younger ones, all chasing around. At one point Musi exited and Qinisa followed, along with a few others. At one point, an excited Musi was moving backward and seemed to trip, then step, on Qinisa. That brought Swazi rushing out to fix the situation, yet she also seemed to want to rub her face in the mud. Moments later Qinisa was standing separate, as she often does, and one of the others (Luti?) blatantly charged over and knocked her completely down, on purpose! At this point I am hoping our bad girl #12 grows quickly so she is not so vulnerable! Swazi then came over and took care of that situation simply by showing up and walking toward the one that knocked over Qinisa. Interesting as it was, I am hoping Qinisa does not end up getting injured. That side blow from another could not have felt good and the fall was awkward. I did notice that she kept being very curious about Musi, and at one point he took his back right leg and kicked her. Wild goings on with our wild elephants! I came in on the middle of it and am wondering what started all of this off.
thanks for sharing. oh, that would have been too much excitement for me.
I wonder what was the cause of the agitated ellies this morning ! Swazi appeared very upset racing around both outside and inside of the inner compound. . Even Qinisa kept her distance. Then Moose roughly backed into Qinisa knocking her down. Swazi raced over to chase him off. Shortly thereafter, I believe it was Luti who rammed head first into Qinisa knocking her to the ground again. Ndula stayed out of it all. And Umngani clan was in the other yard. Very strange doings.
Elephant Team Responds: Don’t worry it’s just natural elephant behavior. Swazi may just be a little sensitive because she has Qinisa to look after. And when Swazi is running around everyone gets excited. Qinisa is okay.
I noticed that the last weights given for Ingadze and Luti, has Ingadze’s weight less than Luti’s even with him being older. Is this due to each one’s genetic makeup or is Luti just eating more than Ingadze?
Also wondered if new weights as well as the photos taken recently will be added soon. Most of the pictures for the older youngsters are very outdated. eg. Khosi
Moderator’s note: We’ll get calf weight updates and new photos soon.
I was reading that elephants have six sets of teeth in their lifetime. I was wondering if the keepers when they have been taking care of the yard, have ever come across a big tooth from one of the adults? If so what does the elephant get? Back in the day I got a quarter but I think the lucky elephant would prefer a few extra pellet treats.
Yes, we do! It’s called “a brick of teeth,” although the tooth is only about half the size of a brick. If we know which elephant it came from, we might give the elephant an extra pellet or two!
I’ve been plain unlucky catching the elephants on camera. I was wondering if there is a place on the Safari Park site where the manned camera schedules for the elephants can be found? Watching them is my one pleasure and missing them is huge for me.
Thanks, Marijane
Moderator’s note: There is no set schedule. As you may know, our animal cams (there are 5) are manned by wonderful volunteers. Sometimes a shift is not filled, or the volunteer may be following the action on one of the other cams. I’ve adjusted the camera to focus on some of our elephants. I hope this helps!
Thank you for your answer. I didn’t think about it that way. I suppose if they were regular activities, then the elephants would not have the enrichment that comes with not knowing when something will occur; makes sense!
Oh, Thank You very much, dear Moderator. (I am stunned that there aren’t lines of potential camera volunteers to fill all slots. What an opportunity)!!! With the days short now, every minute counts. : )
Okay, back to ‘my’ herd.
MariJane
Moderator’s note: Perhaps you’d like to volunteer, MariJane? If so, just call our Volunteer Office at 619-231-1515, extension 4030.
Dear Moderator:
If ONLY that were possible! Really! However, I am a senior citizen with pesky health issues….in Pennsylvania! Too many challenges to overcome. But thank you for the invitation.
Major Sigh,
MariJane
Moderator’s note: Don’t give up hope, MariJane. The cams are generally operated from each volunteer’s home computer. Just a thought…
Did you put the ellies on a crash diet? Checked the cam at 8 p.m. Eastern time and saw a herd of 7 or 8 deer strolling all over the yard. Cute.
Dear Moderator:
Cams controlled from my home!?!? I just wrote down the phone number and will call during the Park’s business hours. This is just fascinating! I’m really excited to think I might be involved with the cameras! Its almost 1 a.m. here in PA….many hours to wait! WOW! (I hope ……)
MariJane
Moderator’s note: Fingers crossed for you, MariJane!
Well, Dear Moderator, I just called and asked a few pertinent questions, before filling out the on-line application, and having the Interview. And I discovered that I would be dealing with a cluster of animal cameras, not just the elephants. One of my frustrations has been when the elephants move off camera and there is no one there to move with them; now I understand why.
I’m a bit disappointed after thinking how attentive I’d have been with the herd and realizing I would have been frustrating the many elephant watchers out there when I was busy with other animal cameras.
Oh, well…. I had a quick time of excitement until just now. I thank you for that!
MariJane
Moderator’s note: It is a big job, but I hope you’ll still consider it.
She is very cute. We happened to feature a great image of a bull Asian elephant and calf today at www (dot) photobotos.com/elephant-love/.
Art X is an amazing photographer of nature and other themes. Thank you for sharing the photo link of a rare and beautiful interaction between father and son elephants. It makes me wonder what it will ever take to get people to see animals in this way rather than for the tusks of ivory or rare whatever they provide for momentary human gratification, but at the cost of the animal’s life…
Wishing everyone at Safari Park (WAP) a very nice, great Thanksgiving Day with family, friends, and animals! Enjoy!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
hey guys, Reid Park Zoo justed posted a cute photo of Sundzu with his ball on their facebook page. go look, Sundzu is just adorable in the picture
I saw that too Teresa On a side note, someone should tell Musi, Impunga has taken up his roll of rough housing with Lungile, only I don’t think she’s always pleased to have him pestering her.
happy Thanksgiving SDZ Safari Park folks working with elephants and ellie viewers. thanks for looking after the ellies even through holidays.
My suggestion for a nickname: “Spunquin” (Spunkin) a combination of spunky and Quinisa because she IS a spunky little thing… Gotta love her even if she is the “bad baby #12″…
Sunday Afternoon at 1:40: Swazi and Mac are chowing down on hay while Nisa is lying between them getting covered with the hay Swazi is dropping. Nisa now looks like a big pile of hay and seems very content to stay where she is. It makes me laugh out loud to see her lying there covered with hay without a care in the world. What a little sweetheart (even if she is dubbed “Bad Baby #12).
Gotta love her…
I caught that too. At first, I didn’t notice Nisa was even there when I tuned in. I even thought to myself, “Hey, Swazi. Where’s your little baby? You’re getting a little loosey-goosey with her” (remembering other comments in the past about Nisa wandering far from her mom). Then, all of a sudden, I saw the hay start moving around and had to laugh at myself.
I caught that scene as well. I felt happy to see that Queenie’s stomach is getting more plump (she started out quite skinny). she didn’t appear to be konked out (with ear flapping regularly) but I imagine she was quite content under her mom. for a few minutes, I wondered, “What’s taking Qinisa so long to lie down on the fresh hay bed?” but of course she did not disappoint.
Qinisa wouldn’t be the first baby ellie who has laid down to nap and been covered over by mom dropping food. Just wish I could remember which one it was previously I saw that way, I do recall that mom walked away and baby didn’t get up for a bit after she had left.
I notice on the home page that Luti and Mac are nearly the same size as Gadze, but a year younger. At first I thought Luti was larger because he was still nursing, but Mac, who is not nursing, is getting close to Gadze’s weight as well. Is Gadze’s weight within the normal range of an elephant his age? Are there any other opinions on their relative sizes you can discuss? Thanks!
Moderator’s note: Your question has been forwarded to our Elephant Team.
Gram
the only perspective I can offer on your question is their genetics. Swazi and Dula are larger than Umngani in size and weight. So perhaps each son is following their mother’s genes, which could explain Ingazde being smaller despite being older. But as we all know sometimes genes skip a generation or so and since the ancestry of the herd beforehand is not known it could be a factor in these offsprings’ development too.
I’m sure the keepers or Curtis would have much more knowledge on this matter.
I have often wondered why Ingazde seems to be such a momma’s boy compared to Neepo who appears to be so much more independent. Could the keepers perhaps give us their thoughts on this please.
Poor Umngani. Moose is such a pest all the time. He knows she is the weak link in the chain but would he be such a pest to his mother after Umngan? I’ve seen him double time it away from Swazi, but it would be curious to know if he would act the same when the time comes with his mother.
I think Musi just misses having someone to play/spar with like he had previously with Lungile who was more relatively his size and willing to put up with him most of the time.
As to him taking this kind of actiton with his mom, I doubt it, Dula is still mom and he does seem to tow the line with her. As was evident when she was in estrus and didn’t want him close by when Msholo was paying attention to her.
I do not like to see Umngani picked on by Musi either. but his behavior is just a product of his testosterone hormone. if he were in the wild, he would need to practice play fighting for dominance to be able to breed when he gets mature enough. since Musi was not sired by Mabu (I’m pretty sure) I wonder if he may eventually breed with a female in this herd.
Anyone catch Mac at times trying to get the tip of his trunk on Swazi’s nipples, particularly right after Qinisa has nursed. Maybe he’s satisfied just to get a drop of leftover milk, as he does suck his trunk afterwards.
Good afternoon SP Ellie staff, just a question ….. while viewing our beautiful herd today I was just wondering …. Are there any other zoo’s that house a herd of ellies as large as ours?
You do such a great job in maintaining the grounds and giving them lots new items of enrichment with foods.
Loved all the “sparing” the other day …. do they become more active when it cools down?
Thank you for all you …. have a great day.
There are no zoos that have as many elephants at the Safari Park. And yes, they do become more active as it cools down.
I was just reading an article on elephnts from the Seattle Times posted today and it states that Oakland Zoo has 15 elephants.. Is this correct or did the reporter get his information wrong?
Moderator’s note: According to the Oakland Zoo’s website, that zoo has 3 females and 1 male.
It looks like Moose had a time out last night. He is in the small yard all by himself this morning. He must have been behaving badly because Ndula just gave him a push in the head through the fence this morning. Poor Moose I think he is going to be in the juice quite a bit from now on.
poor Musi. even tho I believe he doesn’t know better. it is still hard to watch when he’s being a meany poo to Umngani (or a smaller calf). this week I’ve noticed that Umngani tends to back off when it looks like Musi might instigate some dominance show towards her. but I also saw that day (Mon or Tues afternoon?) that Umngani didn’t let Musi’s presence limit her too much on where she wanted to walk. it looked like she would still walk freely in Musi’s direction when looking for hay. this would be important for Neepo too.
Wow, is it FOGGY/SMOGGY in SD today. I can barely see the sweethearts. Hope that goes away soon. I wonder how the elephants react to/in it? Or, is there no obvious difference in their behavior? This is a new one on me. I’ve seen cloudy and rainy days, but never this!
BTW, yesterday I was thrilled to see big brother of baby girl being treated to a nice nursing from his mama! Good for her!!!
I was at the Zoo yesterday and all the girls were out and walking around, Shonda was getting a pedicure it was fun to watch and talk to the keepers. It’s kinda a retirement home for elephants at the Zoo. All the animals loved the cool weather and were all very active. Good day even with fog and drizzle. The baby Pumas were very interested in the ellie’s they were close to the pool and it looked like they were very curious to what are those big things were over there. Very cute..
Just watching Msholo and Moose together in a yard all by themselves. Is Moose now going to be joining Msholo as a bachelor?
Excellent article on the herd in the ZooNooz… thanks for telling us about what’s happening within the herd
Beautiful ZOONOOZ! I love being a member! : )
Ditto on the new ZOONOOZ article!
forgot how much the ellies like to play in the muddy rain. chubby Luti ran up to Khosi who was digging up some dirt. but she kind of warned him away. she must have really liked that patch of dirt. Luti got some muddy play next to Msholo but later Msholo returned to recover his favorite soft mud patch. maybe when Luti is a little bigger (coming soon!) he will get to claim his own mud patch. a fun morning (thanks cam volunteer).
thanks for sharing the link to an ellie ZooNooz article:
http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/zoonooz/last-our-princess-arrives
Thank you for sharing the link. I looked for it last week but could not find it on my own.
This article was especially interesting to me because I feel like I “know” these animals from my months of cam viewing. I could imagine each of them as I read each passage, at the same time learning more about them from the keepers’ perspectives.
I look forward to learning more and knowing them better over time.
Gram: You are so right — you definitely get to know these lovely ellies as you watch them on the cam. You begin refer to them by name and observe their behavior and you feel as if you do KNOW them. I wish you could come out and visit them !! When I do that (I have to travel 500+ miles to visit Safari Park), I know who all the elephants are as I observe them in their enclosures. People visiting the park who don’t watch the cam are always amazed that I know the elephants so well. This elephant cam is truly a special gift for all us ellie fans out here. I’m glad you are tuned in from St. Louis and enjoy it so much…
Hi Deborah,
Yes, sometimes I think I tune in too much! My plan is to visit them in 2013 and stay overnight in one of the tents. I hope it works out. I used to watch the panda cam every day and when I visited San Diego in the past (at least 5 times in the last 10 years), always made a trip to the zoo to see the giant pandas, koala and other animals. I just “found” the elephant cam the day before Nisa was born and was a huge fan from the first viewing. I still check in on the pandas, but find I enjoy watching and learning about the elephants as much or more.
Have a great day and enjoy your upcoming visit!
that’s a coincidence. my cam timing was the opposite. I started watching the ellies about 1 1/2 years ago (after Sundzu had been born). I only recently got on the panda cam (with Xiao Li Wu’s birth). sometimes I feel guilt over watching the panda more than the ellies (but that cam is 24/7 which is not possible for the ellies). makes it slightly challenging to plan a trip but I think I will try to visit Qinisa and then maybe in the spring visit the zoo to see the panda family.
Just wanted to add my thanks for the great ZooNooz article. So nice to read about our favorite ellies…
I’ll be down to see them in person VERY soon — can’t wait! 
delightful time watching Qinisa alternate between playing in the mud and sparring with Neepo. she is something. she tried to side mount Neepo or jump up against his side. Neepo hardly had a chance to roll around in the mud before Qinisa would come up to climb on his back. well, she probably learned how to do this from the best. she seemed to enjoy sliding, laying, and rolling in the mud.
Great job by the cam operators today, close ups of the ellies playing in the mud, ape with a sack on his head during the rain and of course, the beautiful pandas! Quinisa can really keep up with the boys!
Every time I tune in and watch Nisa, I am so impressed by how spunky she is and how she has no problem walking away from Swazi and doing her own thing. She seems quite independent for being so young. Her childish playfulness is just a delight to watch, and I really appreciate the cam operators who focus in on her so often. I will be able to visit her and all the other Safari Park ellies later this week, and I am so excited to be able to see them again in the flesh after watching them so regularly on the cam.
Can we expect any of those new photos takne for the ZooNooz article on the ellies to make it to the ellie page.. Khosi desperately needs an updated photo as do some of the other youngsters.
Moderator’s note: Yes, we are working on it in our spare time.
Happy Holidays Zoo and Safari Park Staff !!!!!
Love the cam work this past week. The ellies are having a great time in the mud.
Thank you all your hard work and dedication to our beautiful animal family.
Hugs to you all.
Looks like the ellies are attempting to make their own mud hole/loose dirt for throwing on themselves.
Happy xmas folks from freezing cold Scotland.
I still find it amazing as well as amusing how little Nisa often strays far away from Swazi and just does her own thing(s) around the yard. Mom may appear to be disinterested at times, but she obviously has things well under her observation and control. Very Happy Holidays to all Zoo and Safari Park staff, blog moderators, cam volunteers, and of course to our wonderful ellies as well !.
I have the vague sense that Neepo went through an independent phase before he was one year old. now he seems to follow Umngani around a little more regularly. this is a general feeling and I have not been observing the ellies as regularly as about a year past.
Qinisa does not appear to show much fear. one day I was surprised to watch her stand close to Msholo. I expected her to be intimidated by his size. she seems stimulated by her world and I regularly see her running somewhere, stumbling in her excitement, and picking herself up to continue.
how does each elephant know which trainer they must go to for individual training? do they get called by name or do they get called by a particular sound?
Moderator’s note: The elephants respond to their name when called by those they have worked with.
I got a good chance to watch this happen when I was there on Dec 22. I was standing by watching the elephants. Sudenly, the keepers were coming along, and each one seemed to be calling elphants by name: “Swazi, come!” “Kami, come!” “Manti, come!” They knew just who to go to to get their treats. So much fun to see this in person…
happy holidays all
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE AT SDZ AND WAP!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Merry Christmas to all at the San Diego Zoo and much appreciation for the work you do with all the animals. So glad we can be a part of it. Special hugs to the Little Princess. She’s much too cute.
Did the ellies get any Christmas treats? is there any video of them receiving them? when will we get a new blog?
The elephants didn’t get anything specific for Christmas, but they do enjoy their browse that they get 5 days a week thanks to our horticulture department. We will work on a blog post soon.
does Neepo get any training yet? or what is the age at which the elephants start their training?
Moderator’s note: Keepers start working with the elephant calves as soon as they can walk.
when the elephants were being moved between exhibits, Qinisa waited for Swazi before going through the first gate. then she followed mom through.
in the night watch enclosure, one of the calves (Macembe or Kami?) was so excited about treats that he climbed his forelegs up the wall to get his trunk closer to the keeper. then the keeper tossed treats directly into the ellie’s mouth. oh happy day!
I also observed those incidents (it’s been slow week at work)! It looked like Kami was being picked on by several other ellies at different times today. I hope Swazi continues to let her be a part of her clan. I couldn’t tell if it was Kami who was getting the treats, but hoping it was and that she being given special attention by the keepers after all the other behavior she put up with today.
Elephant shenanigans today! The babysitters need extra treats for keeping the princess out of trouble!
Reid Park Zoo is announcing the second birthday celebration of “our” Sundzu on the 29th starting at 11 a.m. Hope it will be on the live cam so we can see how much he has grown.
I saw Sundzu’s birthday celebration on the Reid Zoo cam. A fun time was had by all !!
I forgot about his celebration but did catch what was left of it later on .. I guess they decided to hold his party 2 days after his actual bday so more people could attend
missed Sundzu’s bday event but remembered to check the Reid Park Zoo cam on New Year’s day. caught Lungile who seemed to be doing training or perhaps getting treats through the fence. she looked like her usual trunk curling self and it was a treat to see her.
Reid Park Zoo’s facebook page had a few photos from Sundzu’s bday. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reid-Park-Zoo/292747409308
he’s still cute and sports tiny tusks.
Happy New Year everyone!
As it is now winter and visitors come to the park sometimes sneezing and coughing due to the common cold, could the elephants catch a cold? If elephants can catch a cold how would you even know they had one?
Moderator’s note: Your question has been forwarded to the Elephant Team.
honestly, who is manning the cam today? I was enjoying watching Neepo and one of the older boys wrestling in front of a bunch of the ellies and the cam operator started panning away from them all the way to the other end of the field which is completely empty of any elephants and the cam stopped there!!! why in the world would the operator do that??? and it’s been 10 minutes and its still stopped there on an EMPTY field!!!
Different camera operators operate differently when they go off shift. This particular one chose to put the camera on what is considered the HOME position. If the next shift has no volunteer that day, the camera stays there until there is a shift with a volunteer. This is the area where elephants are most likely to travel through. If the volunteer had left it aimed at the position of the elephants playing, especially if it were a closeup, the camera would be pointing at an empty spot on the ground. As webcam operators, we have to use our best judgment as to where to leave the camera aimed and the position aimed at the far end covers the most field area and is really the most likely area elephants will walk through during the course of the day. Unfortunately, when there is no volunteer covering the next shift, and the elephants are moved to the other field, you are looking at an area where there will be no elephants. I’ve done a lot of webcam operation and hope this will help you understand.
oh thank you for explaining Don. didn’t occur to me the cam operator was going offshift. I was so disappointed because Neepo and the other elephant were having so much fun and I was enjoying watching them.
I like the new pics!
Love the new photos on the “herd” page! I still confuse Mac and Luti if they aren’t near their moms, so hopefully studying the newer photos will help! Thank you!
Ditto the comments of Michelle and Marcia. I look forward to studying the new images to be able to tell the boys apart when they appear alone on the cam. Thank you, thank you, for taking time away from your other work to accomplish this for the website visitors.
I congratulate you if you can learn to tell those two boys apart. Luti was born Valentine’s Day (2-14-2010), son of Ndlula, and Mac was born on 4-12-2010, son of Swazi, and was the largest birth (268 pounds) at the Park. It’s fairly easy to tell Swazi and Ndlula apart, but without them present with their sons, I certainly cannot tell them apart.
I hope you will read my comments from today. “The tail tells the tale” can be used. Luti has short, straight tail hairs while Mac’s go every which way. Luti’s tusks are also longer than Mac’s.
in my opinion, Luti has a more full belly than Mac (they are about 100 lbs apart). Luti’s belly seems to drop down lower than the other male calves to me. I always call Luti – Chubby Luti as a result. I have a challenging time telling Luti apart from Ingadze (perhaps Ingadze has slightly longer tusks).
I guess if the calf is winning at the sparring tournaments, maybe it is Luti.
I have mentioned this before, but I would like to bring your attention to the picture you have displayed for Ndlula. It is definitely not a picture of Ndlula! Look at the picture closely and you will see two tusks pointing out past her trunk, one on each side. From that angle, even shortly after she first arrived at the park, one tusk grew under the trunk and could not be seen from that angle. Even now, after both tusks were broken off, the two tusks are regrowing and the same condition is reoccurring. The tusks were broken several years ago and it would seem that it is time to have an accurate picture of Ndlula on display.
Moderator’s note: We’ll look into it, Don. Thank you.
I thought the same thing, Don, but then didn’t trust myself saying it in public! I do not think that is a picture of Ndula because of the tusk shape and size.
agreed. if that is supposed to be a current picture, Ndula looks a lot like Umngani to me.
The tusks weren’t long enough to be Umngani’s. That picture was the one posted right after they first arrived, when there were 6 females in the herd, in 2004. Of course, Umngani’s are much longer now than they were then.
I have to backtrack on that statement. When the elephants first arrived, they were quite thin. The current picture shows a newer picture than that. However, their description says the right tusk curves under the trunk and the picture shows the right tusk going straight out. I had Ndlula on camera for several minutes on 1-8-2013 where the left tusk was pointing straight out and the right tusk was under the trunk. Someone with a good camera, and a great deal of patience, should be able to take a picture that shows this exact configuration, and post it.
We will be replacing the photo we thought was Ndlula with a correct one. The Elephant Team tells us we were using a nice photo of Umngani!
I have Ndlula on camera right now. The left tusk is the straight one and the right tusk is the one that bends under the trunk.
*Amazing* camera work and closeups of all the elephants! Thank you.
The boy that is with Ndlula and Moose is Luti. He has short tail hairs and two well-shaped tusks that I would guess would be about 3 inches long.
There is another boy in the field that must be Mac with Swazi. This boy has really unkempt tail hairs, not straight like Luti, and I would estimate his tusks as being a little shorter than Luti’s. For the lady that would like to tell them apart, Luti has very short, straight tail hairs, and tusks I estimate as being about 3 inches long.
The remaining Mom, Umgani, is with her brood, Khosi, Ingadze, and Neepo, in the yard of the other field.
A few years ago, a good friend, Connie Muther, spent considerable time compiling an article which I believe she called “The tail tells the tale.” That is the reason I used the tail in my descriptions of Luti and Mac. Luti’s is perfectly straight and Mac’s goes every which way (unkempt). Thanks, Connie.
I wonder if we will get one more Mabu baby (Dula) or if Nisa was it for SDZ. I always look foward to the new little ones. They are such fun to watch.
Thanks for the great job keepers, moderator and cam operators.
Ndula was seen breeding with Msholo. If she is preggers, it is not Mabu! Neesa (bb#12) may be Mabu’s last contribution at WAP. By the looks of it, she will be memorable. What a pistol!
I always enjoy and appreciate the comments and hints of cam operator Don Stillwell regarding the ID of individual ellies. Unfortunately, yesterday I missed the sequence of blog comments during his live stint at the cam. It would be great if the cammers or zoo staff had some way of posting their real-time onscreen comments and observations directly onto the cam web page. Hint…. hint
I’m on shift from 10 a.m. to noon of Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They posted the comments almost as soon as I wrote them yesterday.
High traffic today, due to the Panda, is making it very difficult to get any closeups.
A good closeup of Mac.
Closeup of Luti.
Remember, Mac has tail hairs going every which way and thin tusks, while Luti has short, straight tail hairs and thicker tusks!
I just have one question regarding the pellets that the elephants eat. They really love them and I guess you could say they go wild for them (pun intended). They eat so many of them that I was wondering if the Safari Park bought them or made them. If the Safari Park made them it would be a lot of cooking every day.
Moderator’s note: We buy them–much easier that way.
Thanks for the new pic of Ndula. The beautiful tusks in the former picture clued me to thinking it must have been mixed up with one for Gani.
Thanks to Don, also, for clues to watch in the tails. I have been trying to look for skin patterns on their sides to help me. For example, it appears Emanti has a circle pattern on his upper left hip and I can identify him when he is alone IF the cam angle gives me that side of him. Even though he is the smallest of the three 2-year-old boys, do you have any other suggestions for spotting him on the cam?
One of the best times to watch the elecam is when all the keepers come walking along the wall with their pail full of pellets and the elephants jockey to find the right keeper. When all this is going on, do the elephants make rumbles or trumpets? They always look so excited at this time that I figure they must, but I don’t know for sure.
Yes
Curtis, can you help me? You did a video of EMANTI’s name when it was revealed on the structure at the far end of the field. Can you tell me, and I am sure a lot of others would also like to see it, how I can play it to watch it again? When Moya grabbed that branch and threw it the entire length of her body from the back to the front was a sight that I will always remember.
Moderator’s note: Try this link: http://bcove.me/t37dhlqi
Is Swazi pregneant?