Elephants

Elephants

97

Elephant Vus’Musi

By
Curtis Lehman
– August 22, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants, Uncategorized

Here’s Musi as a two year old.

While we here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park wait for Swazi’s second calf to arrive, let’s focus on Vus’musi (Musi). He is 8½ years old now and is a growing subadult, weighing around 5,600 pounds (2,540 kilograms). With his #1 play pal, Lungile, now over at the Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, Musi spends most of his playtime with adult male Msholo. Lately, Musi’s been trying to usurp adult female Umngani’s ranking over him, and when he’s with his mom, Ndlula, he pretty much has the upper hand. When his mom is separated out, he cautiously tests his hierarchy status without her. Remember, these are wild animals with normal, wild-animal behavior.

For more than eight years, Umngani has been able to displace Musi at will when he’s been away from his mom; but Musi isn’t little anymore, and he’s just going to get bigger and bigger. Umngani has a history of always backing down when push comes to shove (with Mabu, Ndlula, Msholo, and now Musi somewhat). We know she’s the main protector of her clan (children Khosi, Ingadze, and Neepo), as well as of youngsters Kami and Emanti, so we’d like to see her not lose her rank to Musi, but the inevitability of it all is unfolding before everyone’s eyes.

Managing an ever-changing herd of African elephants is a tough and educating challenge. There are not many institutions that have this many elephants—calves, adult females, and an adult bull—hanging out together every day. We use our ability to separate them into whatever social set up we want to lessen aggression toward each other while still trying to allow our entire herd being together most of the time. We’ve separated Ndlula and her younger son, Luty, out overnight once so far, and it got us the desired effect: Musi wasn’t assertive toward Umngani for a couple of days. These animal-management decisions are well thought out, mostly dependent on what we observe daily with their behavior. It’s still only delaying the inevitable of Musi outranking Umngani someday.

There’s a lot more involved with what we do socially with the elephants, too much to write down here. Just know we also don’t want anything to go as far as an injury, but we are talking elephants here. We pretty much let them work out their own hierarchy, their own breeding, and their own raising of their families. We could always place them in the safest scenarios to have the least chance of any elephant being aggressed upon, but that would mean having every elephant separated in a different yard with just a mom and her youngest calf together. Not much of a herd, right?

Musi’s not at breeding age, but he’s right at the age where he may have been kicked out of the herd if our elephants were in the wild under a true matriarchal society, so I’d like to think he’s at an awkward age where he’s testing everything socially. Think teenager. Eventually, we might have to place him with Msholo to start our first bachelor herd, which will be something new for us as well. Just think what fun we’ll have in six years when all the boys will be around Musi’s age now!

Curtis Lehman is an animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Elephant Swazi Update: Baby Due?

Tags: ,
90

Elephant Swazi Update: Baby Due?

By
Curtis Lehman
– August 16, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants, Uncategorized

African elephant Swazi’s due-date range, according to all our calf data, was to fall between July 25 and August 24. We can see that the baby is situated mostly on her right side and is still up high, so physically we don’t see any changes yet. We get and send in her daily urine samples to our lab here at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, with a turnaround time for results about two days later. Her progesterone levels haven’t dipped down below a number consistently with what we’d consider pre-labor (2 to 4 days away) levels. Regardless, baby will come when baby will come!

It looks like it won’t be this week at least. Schedules, staff, and volunteers are all on standby; we just don’t want to start too early and get burned out like we did with Umngani’s first (way back in the day). If we don’t see anything happening soon, I might start night watches anyway, because I’m getting antsy myself!

We did miss Luty and Tsundzu’s births (Emanti’s didn’t count because we were busy with Mac’s night watch), so births can come on rather quickly, and I’d like to try and film the birth for research purposes if we get lucky enough and there’s some light to see it. We may get lucky and see her drop her mucus plug or actually see the water break, but that’s been very rare for us, since most births have been under darkness.

Swazi is still nursing Macembe, so he’s in for a rude awakening soon. Since she is the dominant female, this being her second calf, and we’ve had three born out in the main east yard, we’re not overly concerned if Swazi were to give birth out in the main east yard. Having her give birth in the holding yard allows for filming, better observations, safety, and simpler separations away from others if we feel they might hinder her bonding time or if we have to intervene. I think Macembe will be the only one in with her this time. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be in close quarters with her anyway—she’s pretty bossy!

Gotta go. Busy, busy busy.

Curtis Lehman is an animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read his previous post, Elephant Birth Watch.

Watch our elephants daily on Elephant Cam.

Tags: , ,
109

Elephant Antics

By
Debbie Andreen
– July 23, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Elephants

The Safari Park’s African elephant herd continues to thrive, and we are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of Swazi’s second calf, which is due late July or early August. Look for physical changes in our matriarch as she prepares to welcome her baby.  Will son Macembe (Mac) be a good big brother? Time will tell, of course, but so far Mac is one super cool, laid-back kid. Like his mom, Mac has long legs and is a quick-learning and confident two year old.

You’d think that Umngani, mother of three, would have her trunk full taking care of her brood. Yet she has been spending her time lately enticing Msholo, our lone bull, to come hither! He, of course, is happy to play along, and there may be breeding between the two soon. Luckily for Umngani and her raging hormones, daughter Khosi, who is almost six years old, is more than willing to babysit younger brothers Ingadze and Neepo, freeing her mom to flirt with the handsome Msholo. Ingadze is now three years old and has been the kindest big brother to little brother Inhlonipho. Keepers describe Neepo as a wild, high-energy boy who will have his first birthday in September. Neepo loves to sound his little trumpet and chase the keepers along the exhibit’s fenceline. He has recently taken up a new talent: hopping!

Msholo has integrated very well with the herd. He is gentle with the little ones and attentive to the ladies. Even Ndula will occasionally interact with him, and she never interacted with Mabu (except during estrus and would then make him work!) Perhaps it’s because her oldest son, Vus’musi, has become best buddies with Msholo. The two play wrestle often, especially in the pool. Although he is much larger than Musi, now 8 years old, Msholo gets on the younger elephant’s level to help make the wrestling matches more even. What a guy! Ndula’s other son, Luti, is 2½ years old and has replaced his big brother as a momma’s boy. Keepers say Luti is shy and cautious about learning new things, although when he gets real excited, he hops on his rear legs, too!

Debbie Andreen is an associate editor for San Diego Zoo Global. Read her previous post, Elephants Emanti and Kami.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,
17

Shaba’s Next Step

By
Nora Kigin
– July 20, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Elephants

With Connie (left) gone, Shaba (right) is showing signs that she will integrate beautifully into the herd at Elephant Odyssey.

With the passing of elephant Connie at the San Diego Zoo, we know that many of our guests are concerned about her companion, Shaba (see post Elephant ICU Loses a Member). I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of the things we’ve observed from her that give us hope that she will adjust to life without her long-time companion and thrive in her new herd.

After their quarantine period ended, Connie and Shaba were given opportunities to explore some of the yards and come out into the Elephant Care Center stalls for their daily treatments. Shaba took to these new areas with eagerness. She has been curious about each new place, exploring every area that could possibly have a treat hiding in it (and usually there is something good to find).  She has also been very outgoing when it comes to meeting new elephants. She is the first to want to approach the fence and interact with them. She is gentle when she reaches through to smell and touch the others, and not frightened or put off when they are a little less gentle with her. From the beginning, we have seen signs that she will integrate beautifully into our herd.

Yesterday, the keepers and veterinary staff had the difficult but necessary task of relieving Connie of her pain and discomfort by euthanasia. It was emotional for everyone involved. Foremost in our minds was the uncertainty of how Shaba would react when we would bring her in to say goodbye. We know from various studies that elephants have some understanding of death, so when an elephant passes in our care, we give their herd mates a chance to see and touch the body. After we knew that Connie was gone, we cleared the area and stood silently as Shaba was lead into the special-needs facility. At first she was focused on all of the people, but after a moment she saw her friend. It was a solemn and precious experience to be in that room. Shaba approached Connie with some hesitation. She reached out and touched her trunk. She backed away for a moment and vocalized, but kept her eyes on Connie, came back, and touched her again. There was a keeper nearby with treats and an open door to the yard so Shaba could decide how long to stay and when to go. She walked over to her keeper for a treat and then back to Connie a couple of times before deciding to leave the area. In total the interaction lasted only a short time, but we believe it was a significant step in helping her to deal with her loss.

For the rest of the day Shaba was outside being introduced to Mary, our dominant female Asian elephant. They had a very good interaction. They touched and smelled each other through the fence on and off throughout the afternoon. Mary asserted her dominance from time to time, and Shaba behaved exactly the way a more submissive elephant should. We are confident that when the time comes to put them together in a yard, the process will go smoothly. Shaba spent the night in our biggest yard for the first time last night. It was also her first night without Connie, so we had a keeper here to observe her. She did very well. She spent a good amount of time near Mary at the fence and the rest of the time either sleeping or exploring. She has a very secure and independent personality.

We will continue to watch Shaba closely to make sure that she is coping with this difficult change as well as possible. We are grateful that Shaba had Connie with her to help her with the adjustment to her new home and that we had the wonderful opportunity to know Connie and to work with her. She will be missed not only by Shaba but by all of the staff and our guests who love and care for each of the animals here at Elephant Odyssey.

Nora Kigin is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Connie and Shaba Out and About.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,
34

Elephant ICU Loses A Member

By
Tracy Clippinger
– July 19, 2012Posted in: Animals and Plants, Elephants

Connie will be greatly missed

We met Connie, a 45-year-old female Asian elephant from Reid Park Zoo, in February 2012 when she arrived at the San Diego Zoo destined for integration into our middle-aged and geriatric elephant herd. We received her medical records six months prior to her transfer and, in discussion with Reid Park Zoo veterinarians, began preparations for her ongoing health care at the Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey (EO). Monitoring her urine on a regular basis was on our agenda as we noted several bouts of urinary tract infections (UTI) over the past few years, a condition not uncommon in middle-aged to geriatric females, animal or human.

Connie seemed to adjust well to her keepers and life at our Elephant Care Center during her quarantine. She learned the touch and smell of the veterinary team. She gently put her trunk up to the mesh at breath level, curious to know who was visiting. Excited to build a good relationship with her, I’d place a few food pellets or produce in her trunk and meet her eyes, hoping she would know that all the things I would do or ask her to do were an effort to keep her healthy in her golden years. As time passed, and with the heightened observation period of quarantine, keepers did notice some of the same things as her Reid Park Zoo keepers that signaled concern for recurrent UTI: urine dribbling and discharge along with changes in attitude and food and water intake. I requested a sample of urine. How to get that, you might wonder? The keepers have a collection cup resting inside a loop of zip-tie on a telescoping pool-cleaning pole that they sneak under the elephant for a mid-stream catch. The samples supported evidence of infection from either the urinary or reproductive system. We treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, and Connie seemed to feel much better over the next 10 days.

As other blogs mentioned, Connie and Shaba moved on to the next stage of EO life: meeting new elephants and exploring new places. Our veterinary minds did not move on quite as quickly; we want to know why medical events occur and place great emphasis on preventing problems. We began discussion for additional procedures and diagnostics to evaluate Connie and initiated regular urine monitoring.

Unfortunately, just two months later, Connie had a marked decrease in appetite and output. Whenever Connie chose not to eat medicine cleverly disguised in all sorts of food items and then chose not to eat or drink much of anything, we moved quickly to investigate.

Our special-needs facility (SNF) was designed to ease diagnostic evaluation and intensive care for our middle-aged to geriatric elephants. How? What is so special there? The elephant restraint device (ERD) has big, wide straps that we can wrap from the axillary (armpits) and inguinal (groin) regions up to steel beams on a hydraulic system that will support the weight of a leaning, weak, or sedated elephant. In addition, the ERD articulates to allow a mesh wall with windows and doors to come close to different parts of the body, giving RVTs (veterinary technicians, aka nurses) and veterinarians a chance to safely examine and access body parts, collect blood samples, place intravenous catheters, administer medications, and provide overall intensive care for a sick elephant.

Test results returned, and we were quite disappointed to learn that Connie was severely leukopenic [leuko=white blood cells; penic=decreased], suggesting that the immune system was fighting disease somewhere in the body. We instituted several antibiotics and transformed the SNF into an ICU unit and initiated more intensive treatment for Connie. After intramuscular injections of medications did not ‘fix’ her abnormal blood results or her overall attitude and appetite, we chose to sedate Connie for placement of IV catheters (back of the ear and inside of the back leg), administration of fluids (120L = 30 gallons for a 3,000 kg patient), and administration of medications both intravenously and into the colon (absorption occurs here as well). Connie was not keeping herself hydrated with her water intake (or electrolytes or nectar or other undercover tactics) nor was she taking in enough food for long-term sustenance, not to mention her lack of interest in taking any foods ‘doctored’ sneakily with medications.

We invited a reproductive and overall elephant specialist to join us in evaluation of her bladder, kidneys, and uterus to uncover any cause for the previously seen thick urinary discharge and/or the work of the immune system to combat her disease process. Unfortunately, we identified another serious problem atop the other ones—a lot of fluid floating in her abdomen. Fluid like this can cause problems with breathing and a full feeling in the belly and can come from some challenging diseases (heart or liver disease, cancer, vasculitis, ulcers), no matter what age or creature. None of the possible explanations suggested a good prognosis for Connie’s health. This examination did not reveal the root cause of her illness, but it confirmed that without intensively supporting her system, she would not survive.

Since her arrival in San Diego, veterinarians, technicians, keepers, and managers have worked extensively with Connie to manage her health concerns. We saw improvements, but this time the response was not the same. Over the last couple of weeks, her condition continued to deteriorate and severely affect her quality of life. She was drinking about 1.5 gallons of water when she needs 75 gallons daily to live. Connie’s immune and organ systems simply were not keeping up with her disease. This morning, we made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize her when it became apparent that Connie would be unable to sustain herself. We know many of you will share in our loss as we say goodbye to Connie and hope that you know she will be greatly missed.

Tracy L. Clippinger is a senior veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , , , , ,
78

Elephants Emanti and Kami

By
Debbie Andreen
– June 26, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants, Uncategorized

Kami, left, and Emanti

It has been seven months since elephant siblings Kami and Emanti lost their mother, Umoya (see post Loss to Elephant Family) Yet today, both seem to be thriving and growing at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Emanti turned 2 last month (can you believe it?!) and weighs 1,408 pounds (640 kilograms). Big sister Kami will be 5 in September; she weighs 2,666 pounds (1,212 kilograms). Thanks to Elephant Keeper Karissa Reinbold and Animal Care Manager Curtis Lehman, I am pleased to offer an update on these precocious pachyderms.

Although Kami and Emanti get along well together, Kami’s BFF is Khosi. The two females are just a year apart in age and spend most of their time together. Occasionally they get into tiffs, but what adolescent girlfriends don’t? Because Khosi helps her mother, Umngani, care for her two younger siblings, Ingadze and Neepo, Kami is right there to help her. This probably explains why Umngani is so tolerant of Kami’s presence: she’s getting extra baby-sitting service!

Emanti has become socially smart, knowing which elephants he can pal around with and which ones to leave alone. He chooses whom he hangs out with and not so much the other way around. Life as an orphan, especially a young male, probably would have a quick ending in the wild without a mother to protect him. Therefore, his keepers have to be his ultimate protectors. But they are very happy that Swazi seems to tolerate him, Macembe (Mac), who is just one month older, likes to play with him, Msholo is cool with him, and he still has a big sister to bond with. Emanti does play with the baby of the herd, Neepo, as well, and is always gentle with the little guy.

Like his mother, Emanti has always had an independent streak; he likes the food pellets the herd is fed so much that he’ll forgo all the other food items just to search for any dropped pellet! This is why he’s not with the others as much and also why he seems to refuse to head out into the yard after a training session, even when he gets first crack at the goodies.

Keepers are aware that Emanti—and even Kami—might need extra attention now and then, and they are more than willing to provide it! Sometimes they place enrichment toys in the upper yard for just the siblings to play with, and last month the duo got to enjoy Emanti’s special birthday ice cakes without them having to share with the others. Keepers also include extra training sessions for the pair, which they both seem to look forward to. Because of these additional “classes,” Emanti has now caught up to Ingadze in elephant “school.” His most recent “subjects” completed: trunk washing (saline solution is squirted into the elephant’s trunk, the trunk is raised and then lowered, the saline pours back into a receptacle, and the sample is sent to a lab for analysis), turning around, and presenting a front foot when asked. Emanti is currently learning how present his ear for a blood draw and to retrieve objects.

From what I gathered, keepers are extremely proud of his progress. Perhaps we’ll nickname him Keepers’ Boy!

Debbie Andreen is an associate editor for San Diego Zoo Global. Read her previous post, Park Elephant Calves Update.

Tags:
12

Connie and Shaba Out and About

By
Nora Kigin
– June 22, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants, Uncategorized

Connie, left, and Shaba check to see what goodies an enrichment item may hold.

When are elephants Connie and Shaba are going to be out in the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey habitat (see post Welcome, Elephants Connie and Shaba). Actually, they have been out nearly every morning for the past month. When you will be able to see them? That is not an easy answer. Our focus has been to get them accustomed to the new yards, gates, sounds, smells, buses, and people at a pace that is comfortable for them. We can’t promise that you will see them at any particular time or in any particular place, but we are certainly making progress and meeting new goals every day.

We started with moving them out of the quarantine area to one of the larger areas at our Elephant Care Center. Up until that point, they could hear and smell the other elephants but had not seen them. Once they moved out, they could see the others but not have fence-line contact yet. The next step was to give them time in the big yard with the pool. We placed food throughout and allowed them to explore on their own. This is the part I think some of our guests were hoping to see: Connie and Shaba bursting out of their quarantine area into this huge yard to run and play. With older elephants that are unsure of their new surroundings, that scenario didn’t happen. Connie and Shaba have both been cautious when going into new areas, and they both react when there are loud noises or crowds around, so we don’t want to spring everything on them at once.

The first day out in the big yard, Shaba explored a little more than Connie, but not very much. They seemed pretty content to eat the closest food and then wait at the gate to go back into the facility. Every day they get a little braver and explore a little more. They come when called, and we walk them toward the pool. Shaba will go all the way down the yard, but Connie would rather not right now. That’s fine. We aren’t going to push her to go anywhere she doesn’t want to go. If you do come early in the morning and happen to see them out in the yard, you may see Shaba picking food out of the utility trees and Connie hanging out by the gate, waiting to go back inside.

Connie is in her mid-forties and doesn’t necessarily want to run around and play. We will give her every opportunity to do so, but so far she seems to like to pick one place to stand and wait for her keepers to give her more attention. She will be easy for you to spot as she has a head-bobbing habit that is pretty distinct from the typical gentle sway of older elephants. Connie has been doing it her whole life and is not likely to stop just because she is in a new place, so if you knew her in Tucson, you’ll recognize her here!

We have extended their time in the yard a little bit every day. At this point, they are usually out there when guests start to arrive and bus tours begin to go by. They are getting used to all the sights and sounds. We have also been able to bring them into the care center stalls and do their daily care routine in front of our guests almost every morning. We are watching their behavior closely and going at the pace they seem most comfortable with. We are excited to be able to show them off and to tell everyone all about them, and they seem to be doing very well with all the attention.
The most recent development is that Connie and Shaba have begun to have brief fence-line contact with Asian elephant Sumithi. We keep it brief so we can make detailed observations of the interactions and get a good idea of what future introductions will be like. We want to keep everything on a good note as much as we can. All three elephants were very interested in touching and smelling each other, which is very encouraging!

Connie and Shaba have been so much fun to get to know, and we are so pleased with the progress they have made! We will continue to try new things and extend the time they spend in different places and in contact with the other elephants. This means you may get a chance to see them very soon if you haven’t already, but where and when will always be determined by their level of comfort and the next step in getting them introduced to the rest of our herd.

Thank you for loving our elephants as much as we do and welcoming Connie and Shaba to their new home here at the San Diego Zoo!

Nora Kigin is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , ,
4

Elephant Serenade

By
Valerie Stoddard
– May 22, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants, Events at the Safari Park, More, Uncategorized

Akaayla leads the group in a traditional African drum circle.

I love drumming. So, when I heard about the LivingSocial Drum Circle experience at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where I work, I had to get a ticket and see what it was all about. Not only would I get to play the drums, but I’d get to play them with members of our elephant herd as an audience! I wondered if the drumming would be bothersome to the herd or if it might actually bring out some sort of instinctual reaction to a sound that their species and family of origin were accustomed to. Only one way to find out! So I got my ticket to attend the May 19 drum circle event.

When I arrived for the event, I walked the path to the Safari Park’s Tembo Stadium and saw boxes and baskets full of instruments waiting to be played: drums, hammers (wooden sticks with round ends to beat the drums), shakers, and a variety of hand-made African instruments. I also saw and heard our own Dr. Zoolittle as he playfully chided people walking through or taking their seats. It was a great way to bring out the smile in everyone and prepare us for the experience we were about to have. Some of Dr. Zoolittle’s inquiries revealed that we were a very diverse audience, with guests visiting from places as far as Russia and Guyana to Los Angeles and Fresno and even Escondido, home of the Safari Park! But we were all there with a common interest: playing drums and appreciating the beauty of animals.

A variety of drums and shakers were available for use.

Dr. Zoolittle guided us as we collectively created the sound of African rain approaching, becoming heavier and then subsiding—all using just our hands. I closed my eyes and listened, and it was magic. I actually imagined myself being in South Africa with elephants and other animals listening in the distance. It was then that I knew this drum circle would prove to be even more than I expected.

Our leader for the more complicated portion of the drum circle was Akaayla, a professor at a San Diego university who teaches African drumming. What a privilege to be able to spend this time with her! She told stories of life in Africa, where women socialize by gathering together and clapping hands rhythmically, and how music and chanting were, in the truest sense of the word, instrumental in changing the political climate in South Africa during years of apartheid. She taught us, and we sang, a Soweto fight song that celebrated victory!

By the end of our time together making music and learning about Africa, the elephants that were previously at the farthest end of their yards had moved as close as they could get to where the drumming and singing was. And so, my initial question about how this event would be received by the elephants was answered.

I might never be able to visit Africa, though I hope to one day. This drum circle brought me close to it, and I have no doubt I’ll attend another. And I’m even more excited now about the arrival of the Summer Safari at the Safari Park that begins on June 30. Jambo!

Valerie Stoddard is a senior administrative assistant at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read her previous post, Gorilla Exam Takes a Village.

Tags: , ,
16

Zoo Elephants: Ranchipur

By
Ron Ringer
– April 9, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants

Ranchipur: Boys will be boys!

The San Diego Zoo’s male Asian elephant, Ranchipur, is a striking individual with a really good temperament. He cooperates with his keepers and allows us to take care of him on a daily basis. Many zoos across the country have males that are much more aggressive and difficult to work with because…they are male elephants!

It is not unusual for male Asian elephants to be in a period of heightened hormonal activity called musth. This is a time in a male’s life where he has lots of testosterone coursing through his body, and it really affects his mood and personality. This period can last from 2 to 12 months.

Ranchipur usually comes into musth around the end of July to the beginning of August. He first arrived at the Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey from our Safari Park in April 2009. He was quick to explore all of our yards and pools. Ranchipur showed signs of his first musth here at the end of July that year, and it lasted for about two months, but he continued to cooperate with the keepers, and we were able to care for him as we do for all of our elephants.

In 2010, for some reason, he did not come into musth. This was too bad, because we were hoping for the weight loss that usually accompanies musth. At one point he actually tipped the scale at almost 12,980 pounds (5,900 kilograms). That is too much to weigh for a 45-year-old elephant who has some hip problems. After his previous musth, he had lost almost 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms).

Since he didn’t come into musth, we had to try something else to get the weight off. He usually spent the nights with one of the females, but he also ate all of her food! We decided to start separating them at night to make sure each ate his or her own diet. Over the next several months Ranchipur did start to lose weight but was still pretty heavy. On July 28, 2011, he started to give off that familiar smell that is associated with musth. Then the tell-tale signs occurred: he started dribbling urine and secreting a foul-smelling substance from the temporal glands on each side of his head. At this point it was all we could do to transfer him between his exhibit and the one next door for cleaning. His appetite decreased to nothing, and he basically stared at the girls all day.

One day we decided to put our African elephant, Tembo, next to him to see his reaction. Usually he is scared of her and runs away. On this day he did turn and run, but then he dashed back. The two of them sparred for awhile, and then Tembo left. Ranchi was no longer afraid of her; in fact, he was quite interested in her. Off and on for the next three months we would put Tembo next to him, and he was right there to see her, but she ignored him. On October 21, we noticed that he was no longer dribbling urine or secreting from his temporal glands. Could his musth be over? To make sure, we put Tembo next to him, and, as before, he turned and ran from her. What happens during musth must stay in musth, because he doesn’t remember a thing!

Ranchipur is slowly coming back into his normal routine, and we were able to get a weight on him. He had lost 490 kilograms from his last weight in June. That is almost 1,000 pounds! He now weighs just a bit over 11,000 pounds (500 kilograms), which is a nice weight for him.

Ron Ringer is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read his previous post, Zoo Elephants: Queen Mary.

Tags: , , ,
25

Welcome, Elephants Connie and Shaba!

By
Nora Kigin
– March 29, 2012Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Elephants

Shaba, left, and Connie get comfortable in San Diego.

Connie and Shaba came to us from the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona, just about a month ago (see post Elephant Moves). Their new lives in San Diego started with one very long and exciting day: they were loaded into crates first thing in the morning, lifted onto a flatbed truck, and given a police escort all the way to the San Diego Zoo! On arrival, they were welcomed into our special-needs facility at the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey, where they will stay for the duration of their mandatory quarantine period.

The special-needs facility has everything we need to get these two amazing animals acclimated to living here and being a part of our herd. If you’ve never taken a tour of our facility, you may not know what we have inside the building at the Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Elephant Care Center. There is a large stall with cushioned flooring big enough for double occupancy. This is where we do our training sessions. There are mesh training walls, hanging toys and feeders, and a chute for more up-close health inspections. The special-needs facility also has its own yard, separate from the other elephant yards, where Connie and Shaba can get sun, dirt, mud, fresh air, and some downtime when they aren’t working with keepers. We are excited for the day we can let them into our bigger yards and watch them explore, but in the meantime, we are keeping them pretty busy!

Connie, 45, and Shaba, 32, spent their first day here relaxing, eating, and checking out their new space. We wanted to give them some time to get used to the idea that some big changes had happened. We were fortunate that Bruce and Gale, keepers who have worked with Connie and Shaba for decades, made the journey with them and stayed to help with the transition.

On day two, we started some very basic training sessions. Connie and Shaba were trained in a similar manner at Reid Park. However, some of the words we use are a little different, so basically they are being taught a new dialect. We teach them the new vocabulary the same way we train any behavior with any of our animals, using positive reinforcement. It’s kind of like a game of hot and cold with encouraging words and targets to help them understand what we are asking them to do, and a whistle and reward (usually a treat) when they get it right. With repetition and consistency, it doesn’t take long for an elephant to figure out exactly what we want; they are incredibly intelligent.

One very important part of training is developing a trusting relationship between keeper and elephant. We are working on this by slowly introducing Connie and Shaba to our staff. While in quarantine, they will have four consistent keepers: Ann, Scott, Jane, and me. When quarantine is over, each of the other keepers will be introduced to Connie and Shaba over a period of time. Connie, especially, needs time to get used to new people. We’ll use her behavior as a guide for how quickly or slowly we make changes to her environment. For now, we do training sessions throughout the day and focus on keeping both of them stimulated, healthy, and comfortable in their new situation.

Shaba was quick to catch on to our foot scrub routine. She presents all four feet through the foot hole of our training wall and allows us to scrub her feet, file her nails, and trim the pads of her feet. For the first couple of days Shaba was hesitant to be separated from Connie during individual training sessions or health checkups and reacted every time we opened or closed a door. Now she seems eager to come in for her individual training sessions and stands calmly, stationed with a keeper, as doors open and close around her. Shaba has learned to trust us, and her new environment, a great deal. Our goal is to get her even more comfortable with being touched so we can do a full physical exam, including letting our vets getting a little “up close and personal.” That will take some time, but she is showing so much potential.

Connie takes a little more time to warm up to new keepers. She has a history of being very choosy about whom she will cooperate with, but once she does, she has bonded closely. Thus, we are going at her pace. She may not have presented her foot the first day like Shaba did, but she is willing to do a little more every day, and we love that. Connie is very comfortable in the chute. She’s allowing the door to be closed and has been offering all four feet for scrubs. She has also started presenting a foot through the training wall for some toenail filing. We’re keeping her sessions short and sweet, and she’s rewarding us with some good work. Training is all about give and take.

When they’re not in a training session, Connie and Shaba get access to both their stall and yard. They have hanging feeders, pellet toys, and a huge dirt pile for digging and dusting. They both enjoy their toys. Shaba will balance a pellet ball on her tusks and gently shake it with her trunk to get the treats out. Connie will demolish any cardboard toy and devour the treats inside almost before you can blink!

Both of our newest elephants have been so much fun to get to know. We are looking forward to the day all of our guests can meet them and enjoy them as well. Until then, keep checking the blog! We’ll do our best to keep you up to date.

Nora Kigin is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , ,
Older Entries
Newer Entries