Blog

We’ve shared how both Pupy and Kenya are getting along with the training they’re doing to receive general health care and checkups here at sanctuary. Once an elephant is used to all the behaviors we ask of them in order to have a proper evaluation, they become more relaxed, allowing us to provide them with better care. Pupy is more used to getting treatments than Kenya, but Kenya needs a bit more medical attention than Pupy does, and both of them are advancing at a comfortable pace.

Rana gets check-ins every morning, while Mara’s are every other day – unless they’re not in the mood or are off doing elephant things and seem disinterested in participating; there’s rarely anything so serious going on that it can’t wait. The elephants seem to understand that there are benefits to their check-ups, and most of the time they opt in. Still, choice comes into play even in instances like this, meaning that non-emergency treatments aren’t pushed on the elephants if they don’t seem like they want to participate in that moment. Truly, there will be other opportunities.

Rana and Mara often get evaluations at the annex or barn together, which gives them some special time with each other where they can get checked out AND get treats. Most of the time, that’s a good arrangement for the girls, but on occasion they stay out in the yard and we go to them. In this instance, the morning was filled with activities and the care staff didn’t feel it was right to call the two ladies back into the barn after they’d begun their explorations in the yard, so Scott and Mateus decided to meet them where they were and have a look there.

In this video, you can see how relaxed Rana is, resting her back foot on the fence and calmly snacking on her treats as she waits for Scott to work on her feet. Mara was making sure Mateus took note of how playfully cooperative she was trying to be. With a little sapling in her way for normal positioning, she decided to squish her face into the fence, extending her front leg below the fence, for him to get the access he needed. During these times when treatments are done later in the day, the elephants often graze while they’re enjoying the special snacks that come with evaluations. So, working along the fence line can take a little longer in the afternoons, but the elephants know the drill and spend a calm few minutes grazing and snacking and chewing (and repeating).