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Pupy’s African Elephant Trunk

April 28, 2025

Adding Pupy to the mix of our daily routines has brought an interesting new energy to the sanctuary, one that will continue to evolve as Pupy gets more comfortable. She’s relaxing into sanctuary and we love seeing her “firsts,” but it will eventually be healthy for her to have a few boring days, like the other girls do. 

Pupy is getting used to her new daily meal routine and follows when she hears the 4-wheeler coming. All of the elephants learned quickly that the sound of that motor often means that food is near. In the past, we’ve talked about the difference between Asian elephants and African elephants. They are remarkably distinct in numerous ways. You can see Pupy eating some grains and hay here, demonstrating one of the notable differences between the two species: the trunk. Where the Asian elephants have only one finger on the tip of their trunks, African elephants have two. The approach Pupy takes to picking up food demonstrates the dexterity of her trunk, which maneuvers fairly well even with her trunk weakness. She can pick up items with a little more precision than the Asian elephants (who do just fine with their own techniques).

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Comments(9)

  1. REPLY
    Sherry says
    April 28, 2025 at 2:44 pm

    It is wonderful seeing and empty soul elephant coming alive!! Thank you Sanctuary!

  2. REPLY
    Julie says
    April 28, 2025 at 3:03 pm

    Mmmm. Those grains look yummy, Pupy! I’m happy you can easily pick them up.

  3. REPLY
    Cintia says
    April 28, 2025 at 3:04 pm

    Good job, Pupy!! You are very skilled with your nose-fingers!! 👏

  4. REPLY
    Carol says
    April 28, 2025 at 4:23 pm

    Wowww! It looks like an opposing thumb. So cool!

    • REPLY
      Ada says
      April 29, 2025 at 11:23 pm

      I’m glad that Pupy is able to pick up her food despite her trunk being weak. Hopefully, her trunk regains its strength in time

  5. REPLY
    Tammy says
    April 28, 2025 at 7:00 pm

    Happy for Pupy im sure she’s gotta be missing Kuky you know what they say an elephant never forgets 🦋💞
    .

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      April 28, 2025 at 7:07 pm

      While we are looking forward to having an elephant join Pupy, it’s probably good for her to have this time on her own to figure out who she is. That’s another wonderful thing about sanctuary – space and time.

  6. REPLY
    Terry says
    April 28, 2025 at 10:55 pm

    Pupy sure is precious!!!

  7. REPLY
    Andrea says
    April 30, 2025 at 12:11 am

    What a fantastic view of the trunk! And those eyelashes…!

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