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Keeping Up With Kenya’s Feet

August 13, 2025

Female African elephant Kenya stands with ears out facing slightly leftWhen an elephant arrives at sanctuary, we might be aware of some medical issues that need to be addressed, but it’s difficult to know the full extent of their health concerns right off the bat. Some elephants, like Pupy, have had the benefit of caregivers working on training and care, and others haven’t had as much access to regular treatments or any medical care at all. Eventually, once the new sanctuary resident has settled in, the care staff begins introducing them to the positive reinforcement processes we use to get the elephants to participate in their regular health evaluations. 

Something we noticed about Kenya long before she came to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil was the state of her feet. To put it politely, they’re not ideal. We can’t say for sure exactly what issues she will face, but there are concerns with her pads, her nails, her cuticles, and her general gait. Right now, it’s dry season, which is the time of year when it becomes difficult to trim nails and cuticles, since they get hard from the lack of moisture. Due to how brittle the nails get, trimming can cause more problems than it solves by creating vertical cracks. Rainy season is when the most extensive and effective work is done on feet, since nature helps the nails to soften quickly. Once we start to trim those areas down, it’s very possible that we’ll find some less-than-pretty things residing underneath. Though infection can lie deep within the feet, we don’t want to do more harm than good by being invasive and over-trimming in a way that causes pain and doesn’t allow enough time for issues to heal a bit before moving forward. 

The positive news for Kenya is that she gets lots of exercise now. She has excellent mobility and flexibility, and we don’t see any substantial discomfort while she’s walking. But elephants are skilled at hiding signs of pain and don’t always present as being uncomfortable. It’s just not in their nature to show sickness or weakness until they can’t hide it anymore, although not every elephant is the same. In order to address that potential uncomfortability, Kenya gets natural anti-inflammatory medicines for now. The only safe and effective way to approach treating her feet at the present time is to go one step at a time. Right now, we are proceeding with some basic trimming of her nails, to improve weight distribution. We can’t try to do too much, too fast. Internal infections can’t be healed when they are encapsulated within, so improving overall health is an effective way of addressing potential problems and supporting the elephant’s entire body.

African elephant foot showing a nail and the pad

Photo of Kenya with ears out followed by a current picture of one of her feet

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Comments(13)

  1. REPLY
    Carol says
    August 13, 2025 at 2:14 pm

    Ongggg. Poor girl. Praying for immense improvement

    • REPLY
      Bonnie says
      August 14, 2025 at 1:32 am

      hi Sara question is that the bottom of Kenya’s foot and why does it look like that

      • Sara says
        August 14, 2025 at 12:05 pm

        Yes, that is the bottom of Kenya’s foot. She’s very likely never had any pad trimming in her life, which is why it looks like that. In nature, pads, nails, and cuticles wear down over time because of how much the elephant walks and the surfaces they walk on. In captivity, feet have to be maintained or else infection and lots of other problems can set in.

  2. REPLY
    Johnny says
    August 13, 2025 at 2:34 pm

    You all are the best! 🐘 🐘 🌴 🐘 🌴 🐘 🐘 🐘 🐘 🌴

  3. REPLY
    Barbara L Smith says
    August 13, 2025 at 2:49 pm

    Kenya’s foot look unhealthy, she will now receive the best medical care, sweet girl.❤️

  4. REPLY
    Lynne Russert says
    August 13, 2025 at 6:52 pm

    Oh her feet look horrible. Hoping for improvement soon!!

  5. REPLY
    Lori Hoover says
    August 13, 2025 at 7:42 pm

    I am going to hope that things aren’t absolutely terrible. One curiosity that came to me as I was reading about Kenya’s feet was the question of differences between the Africans and Asians for the feet, besides nail/toe count differences. (I did read that info posted recently). I was just wondering if Africans, especially Savannah ellies, tend to have any real meaningful difference from Asians considering the different, dryer type of natural environment they should be in? I guess I’m just hoping for some kind of difference that may have helped Kenya. Are their pads or nails a bit thicker or dryer or thinner or different? Would it require different strategies based on which species? Considering that Kenya is the one species of elephant with the lower toe count, front and back, each foot having one less nail, would that help her maybe?? Does that lesser amount of toes give her the chance of less routes to infection in pad and foot via the nails? Does the different gait, different way they distribute weight, give Kenya a chance at different wear issues? I know the floors and grounds of captivity and lack of continual movement, not clean enough conditions no matter what, is the big problem. I guess I’m hopeful for something, for her and Pupy. Anyway, sorry for what’s probably silly and wishful thinking. I do hope things go better than we worry they will.

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      August 13, 2025 at 8:08 pm

      The number of toes doesn’t really come into play. Yes – savannah elephants are used to harder ground and drier environment than Asian elephants, but that matters more on the preventative side than the recovery side. In a recent video, we showed how African elephant feet are “squishier” than Asian elephant feet and that can help with weight distribution. But now that Kenya’s feet are in the state they are, there’s not really a benefit to her being an African elephant. Nails and pads aren’t thicker by species, but more by individual. For instance, Rana has very thin pads and she’s an Asian elephant – and Pupy has thin pads and she’s an African elephant. Obviously, Kenya has really thick pads for reasons that have nothing to do with nature or species. Her pads may never have been trimmed in her life. So, in other words, foot health for an elephant whose whole life has been spent in captivity is going to be determined on an individual level.

  6. REPLY
    Jeanine says
    August 13, 2025 at 10:12 pm

    Poor girl. I hope eventually her feet improve. Kenya is such a good and beautiful girl.❤️

  7. REPLY
    Terry says
    August 13, 2025 at 10:21 pm

    Gnarly for sure!!!
    Im so grateful she is at sanctuary!!!

  8. REPLY
    Terry says
    August 13, 2025 at 10:23 pm

    Gnarly for sure!

    I am so grateful she is now at sanctuary to help her heal.

  9. REPLY
    Julie says
    August 13, 2025 at 10:45 pm

    Praying for Kenya’s health, especially her feet. Thank you.

  10. REPLY
    Samitivej Hospital says
    October 20, 2025 at 8:07 am

    Such an insightful update! It’s inspiring to see the sanctuary’s careful, step-by-step approach to Kenya’s foot care, balancing immediate treatment with long-term health. The focus on positive reinforcement and overall well-being really shows how compassionate elephant care should be.

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