Blog

As Baby has gotten more comfortable in her new surroundings, we have begun asking her if she’d go into the treatment chute, which is where we’ll be able to examine her, do blood draws, and begin the necessary foot work. She’s obliged and allowed us to close both the front and back gates, displaying a remarkable amount of relaxed behavior. Baby is the first elephant who has come to sanctuary having much in the way of medical records that we could refer to, though other tests will continue to be taken in these early days and weeks. Because of the previous work that the park did with Baby, she also has established experience with positive reinforcement training, which is a huge benefit and means that we will likely be able to begin exams soon.

One of the things that we’ll be working on with Baby is trunk touches. Caregivers often hold an elephant’s trunk during treatment. It not only prevents the trunk from swinging into an unsafe place, but it gives the care staff some idea of the elephant’s state of mind and physical comfort. If a trunk shows tension, that might be a sign that we need to adjust our technique or approach in the treatment. It is also necessary in order to be able to perform any trunk wash testing. Baby, even at the park, was reluctant to have her trunk manipulated, so it is something new that we will be focusing on helping her find comfort with. 

While Baby does bathe herself, she uses the baths given by caregivers as a way to really saturate all of her itchy spots, which get a little more itchy initially when bug spray (natural and non-toxic) is applied. She’s got a good bit of dead skin on her back and belly. Baths and scrubs help, but nature is going a long way to make her skin healthier, because Baby is doing lots of dusting and rolling in dirt, all of which act as an exfoliant. She also scratches her legs together, which will help with breaking down the build-up on her undercarriage. All in all, Baby is doing a pretty good job communicating with us, and the more her caregivers work alongside her, the more comfortable the process will get.