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As many of you know, Kenya arrived at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil with layer upon layer of dead skin on her back and sides. Like Bambi, before coming to sanctuary she wasn’t given regular baths, so the dirty layers were allowed to build up and became problematic. When you see this type of issue, most of the time there are infections or sores that have developed between the layers, so you can’t just give her one good scrub and let that be that. Instead, we must encourage it to come off gently, in small areas, so as not to hurt her or damage the skin further. Decades of build up takes months to recover. 

She is getting regular baths with some gentle scrubbing with a brush. But most importantly, she has rain, dirt, and trees to allow her to naturally exfoliate herself. Ever-so-slowly, the dead skin is flaking and peeling off, and she hasn’t been expressing any discomfort throughout the process. Over the years, we’ve found that it can take an extended amount of time for this sort of thing to resolve, but Kenya has made massive progress. 

In this video, Scott was in the barn with Kenya for a treatment session and he filmed a closeup of her skin. You can see that it’s significantly more healthy than when she arrived. There’s still progress to be made, but it’s remarkable how much things have improved in a matter of a few short months. 

For reference, here is a photo of Kenya’s skin before any treatment:

P.S.: Something else you might have noticed: Kenya’s skin is more wrinkly than that of the Asian elephants. African elephants have many unique qualities, among them skin that’s more ridged than you might be used to seeing on the other girls. 

P.P.S: Sunday, December 7 is the last day to shop our Black Friday sale. Lots of fresh apparel designs (use discount code APPAREL10 for 10% off). Seasonal ornaments are also on sale at 20% off with the code ORNSAVE20. View our new arrivals for unique exclusive designs and stay long enough to find just the right gift.