September 2010
4 September 2010
Now, not many people believe me when I tell them what I do for a job, especially when I tell them that I take three Asian Elephants for a walk each day! Every day of the year, our three resident Asian Elephants; Siam, Sabu and Bimbo get to go for a number of walks around the zoo grounds.
We start our day as elephant keepers, by taking the elephants out grazing, so we pretty much walk the elephants from their night enclosure to a spot out the back of the zoo, and let them find their own food, which is great for them because they get to use their instincts and get to choose what they eat. Apart from food, the elephants get to push down a few trees, go for a swim in the dams and pretty much do what elephants do.
We also walk the elephants to the daily morning elephant feed and the 11am Crocoseum show, which means the elephants are out on another walk during the day, getting a little bit closer to all of our visitors. With all of these walks, the elephants are spending equal time in and out of their enclosure, which is a great form of enrichment. Enrichment can be physical or mental, and going for a walk is both! The elephants are physically active by walking and burning off those unwanted calories, and the sights and smells around the zoo keep their minds stimulated.
Walks really help in keeping the elephants healthy, and we hope to see you around the Zoo next time we venture out on one of our daily elephant walks!
Elephant Keeper Luke
2 Zoo Comments
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raquel estrada 23rd September 2010 23:30:24 AEST
i love elephants there so adorable my favourite is the elephants from india
Gail from London 15th September 2010 00:49:54 AEST
Wouldn't have expected anything less from Australia Zoo.
So glad to hear that the Crocoseum doesn't seem to disturb them these days. Here I go again - I remember on Croc Diaries how you tried to walk them into the Crocoseum, only for them to turn straight back round and head off in the home direction. As Steve said, when an elephant makes up its mind there's not much you can do about it.
It would take me a long time to get around the Zoo if I were one of the keepers because I would have to keep stopping to kiss them, and I'm not joking.
Lucky elephants, lucky zoo keepers and lucky me for being able to share all your wonderful news and information re the animals.
Much love, Gail xxxxxxxx