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Mara gets brought into the barn or annex for medical checks a couple of times a week; it just depends on where she and Rana have positioned themselves after their morning meal. Sometimes caregivers just provide a general look-over and tick check, and other times they focus on foot care, or monitoring or treating some past sores or medical issues should they arise. The care team tends to do Mara’s treatment around the same time as Rana’s, since the elephants seem to want to stay together after breakfast–and, really, all day long.

Lately, Mara has been particularly interested in her session rewards. (All of the elephants look forward to the little bites of fruit and vegetables they get during footwork or evaluations.) Mara was in the chute, doing incredibly well, but if she finished her treat and we weren’t prompt enough with offering another, she’d start squeaking–and then she’d swing her leg, perhaps to get our attention. She wasn’t trying to kick or be aggressive, she was just likely using it to communicate her wishes in a physical way. Of course, after a couple of demonstrations from Mara, caregivers made sure to be quicker with her rightly earned snacks. She certainly was deserving of them.

Photo of Mara giving the camera a charming look