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At the ecoparque, Kenya wasn’t a big fan of baths, but we’re encouraging her to try them more often–and she’s being very receptive. We give her a gentle stream of water to cool her off and she relaxes and seems to enjoy it. The plan is to get her used to water and further her comfort with something she hasn’t done in the past, not only to help her expand her horizons and build trust with her humans, but also because we will likely be hosing her off during treatment sessions as time goes by.

We’ve talked about her tusk having previous infections in Mendoza, so we want to make sure she’s at ease when we give that area a thorough wash with some pressure, so that the underside can stay clean. She’s already great with us touching and manipulating it, but for an elephant who hasn’t liked being hosed in the past, a good spraying can be a very different thing. Her legs get a solid spray because, as anyone familiar with horses knows, giving front legs a good cooldown can help with inflammation. We also hose off her feet, which we all know she’ll have worked on in the future and might also benefit from a cooling stream. All of this not only helps her today, but it’s practice for times in the future that we might have to do things that may seem more invasive if she doesn’t already have comfort with them. If we can work on getting her used to it now, things will go much more smoothly if an issue arises. Perhaps, like Bambi, Kenya will take to water and come to welcome a good bath.