Pupy Sucks Up a Melon

In the morning, caregivers found Pupy near the barn. She followed to Yard 2 of the habitat to get her breakfast. She scooped up a big piece of watermelon and held it in the crook of her nose, getting it all the way up to her mouth before dropping it, so it’s possible that she’s building a little bit of strength in her nose. She can’t really scoop up larger items with the end of her trunk as we see with the female Asian elephants, and would be normal for an African elephant as well. What she’s figured out how to do is create a massive amount of suction to hold things at the end of her nose, then lift her whole trunk, using the larger muscles near the top to get it into her mouth.

We can’t say for sure that her trunk strength is significantly stronger than when she arrived, but what we’re seeing in instances like this is some form of improvement. We don’t actually know if her trunk will ever be “normal,” and we don’t know what the cause of her impairment is. She could be gaining strength or she could just be learning new ways to use her trunk, since she now uses it for more things than she has before. We’ll learn more with time, but it is remarkable to see how well she’s adjusting to her challenges.

P.S.: This video shows Pupy’s melon gathering technique. You can hear the suction as she picks up the fruit.

Comments(9)

JoAnn Merriman Eaton says
June 4, 2025 at 2:05 pm

WOWZA Pupy! Way to improvise the lack of strength in your trunk. Smart and gorgeous too!!♥️🐘
Patricia says
June 4, 2025 at 2:43 pm

Pupy is remarkable and courageous! I so admire her plunge into her new environment—I don’t think she is wasting any time thinking about her past. How wonderful it is to share in her present. 💖
Doe Fowler says
June 4, 2025 at 3:10 pm

So smart & strong. You go girl!
rand says
June 4, 2025 at 3:16 pm

What we are seeing is problem solving which used to be humans territory, scientists thought only we had this ability. Not so fast elephants are very very intelligent as evidenced by Pupy
Carmen says
June 4, 2025 at 3:59 pm

Suck it up Buttercup! Haha how ingenious is that technique! Pupy is coming along so fine and I couldn’t be happier for her!
Elizabeth says
June 4, 2025 at 5:29 pm

Will Pupy ever be introduced to the other girls? I know they are from different continents but does that make a big difference in their personalities?
- REPLY
  Sara says
  June 4, 2025 at 6:16 pm
  
  Pupy won’t share space with the female Asian elephants since they are different species. We believe that their communication styles are just too different to allow them to live together safely. Their temperaments are incredibly different and what’s seen as play to an African elephant might be viewed as aggression by the Asian elephants.
Andrea says
June 4, 2025 at 9:00 pm

Getting the job done is the goal! No rules on how you do that. 10 points for creative problem solving!
Sara B says
June 5, 2025 at 1:14 am

It will be interesting in a few months to compare her trunk movements in the videos to how she was when she first came to sanctuary. The first thing I thought when I watched this one the first time was that it looked like she has more control of her trunk.

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