Elephant Barn Tour
Jess Ann Meadors, the Public Relations/Communication Manager at the Oakland Zoo,
was selling the tickets for the elephant barn tour. A very informative,
interesting, and intimate 45-minutes tour cost only $5, and the best part was
that all the proceeds go toward the Amboseli Elephant Research Project. All five
tours were mostly sold-out since each tour was limited to 30 people.
"Mahali Pa Tembo": Kiswahili for "Place of the Elephant."
Greg, one of the elephant keepers, was giving the tour. Here we were inside the
elephant barn where the elephants spend evenings inside.
Elephants are kept amused in evening by having access to some toys, such as
a big ball and tire, and snacks.
Wait a minute. That does not look like an elephant being trained. Oh yes, it was
Colleen the Elephant Curator demonstrating how elephants are trained. Elephants
living in zoos have to be trained in order to ensure their own as well as the
elephant keepers' own safety.
After playing outside under the hot sun, here was Donna cooling herself down
with some water that she sprayed enthusiastically with her trunk. A few of us
even got wet.
An elephant keeper was preparing some snacks for the elephants.
Colleen interacting with Donna.
The audience had a close encounter with this magnificent elephant. We all left
the tour with a new sense of appreciation of elephants and a better
understanding of the importance of elephant research and conservation efforts at
Amboseli.
