Elephant Diary

When Stinky Fruit Is a Good Thing. Just Ask Bambi.

Bambi may have some vision in her left eye still. When elephants are blind in one eye, they tend to be hypersensitive to certain things and shift their entire body to adjust their gaze when you approach. We don’t observe Bambi doing these behaviors, which is why we suspect she…...

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Lady’s Recent Curiosity

Recently, Lady has been showing up near the barn at 10 p.m., right around night feed time. She will either arrive right before us or be approaching as we come. Frequently, at that time of night, Bambi is socializing with Mara and Rana along a fence. The three of them…...

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Maia and Bambi’s Sweet Moments

Despite her gradual weight gain, Bambi will take some time to get to a ‘normal’ weight, and is still receiving extra meals. Her last meal of the day is at around 10:00 p.m. Kat was recently driving around Yard 5, looking for Bambi to drop off her late-night hay and…...

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Bambi’s African Elephant-Like Behaviors

We recently mentioned how Bambi walks and moves more reminiscent of an African elephant than an Asian elephant. There’s another thing she does that reminds us of the African elephants we have worked with – and it’s the way she eats. When we go out to “drop hay” for the…...

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Maia, Rana, and Mara Spending Some Time Together

Mara and Rana have been spending most of their time near the barn for the past few weeks. We usually discourage staying near the barn for more than a few days, but with Mara’s continued intermittent appetite, we have been encouraging her to eat more than we encourage her to…...

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Fresh Grass Makes Elephants Happy

Maia, our original explorer, wandered across the creek in Yard 4 a few days ago. During our wildfire a few weeks ago, across the creek is the only section of habitat that burned. While Maia previously was the first elephant to enter the burned area in Yard 5, she is…...

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