Blog

It’s rainy season, which the elephants tend to love. Humans and elephants both seem relieved when there’s some humidity and a layer of cloud cover, even though it means they have some soggy days. Plus, all of the many shades of green return to the land, which means more grazing and wandering to find yet more tasty grass. We bushhog the grass throughout the habitats on an alternating schedule. We’ll cut some areas at the end of dry season, and that starts coming up just as rainy season begins. What we didn’t cut becomes long and not as delicious, so we cut the rest at that point. 

Caregivers caught sight of Mara and Rana standing in some especially enticing grass, just as a light rain began to fall. Things in that section of Yard 5 are not too tall to enjoy, though you can see in the video that where they’re standing, the grass reaches halfway up their bodies. It can grow almost up their shoulders if left on its own, but by that point it has lost much of its flavor and isn’t as appealing. Mara and Rana are often at their calmest during the day, so it’s not that unusual to see them moving slowly, taking their time to snack. (At night, as you know, they have been known to make a ruckus). As we watch them walk softly in the gentle rain, it seems that they’re finding pleasure in some simple-but-profound things: great friends and a nourishing environment.