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Oakland elephants are pampered
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The Oakland Zoo may be small, but there are those who love her – and her elephants too. According to Yahoo Pulse, Oakland has landed among the top-rated zoos nationally along with stellar locations like the San Diego Zoo.
Perhaps the expansive habitats have something to do with this rating. Oakland's animals are located in natural environments throughout the zoo. The elephants have their own special haven in the African Savanna, not far from the lions or zebras.
Yahoo.com
Elephant caretakers are paying attention to how these beasts would function in the wild, and are supporting more instinctual behaviors related to roaming, feeding, and socialization.
Four African elephants currently live in the Oakland Hills: Osh, born 1994; Dunda, born 1969; Lisa, born 1977; and Donna, born 1980.
Within their hillside location, these elephants are free to wander all day. In the wild, elephants travel at least seven miles daily and that’s difficult to replicate in captivity. The zoo raised funds and expanded their habitat from one to six acres a few years ago, and the elephants immediately responded by traveling 50% more than before. When you visit, you may see some of the elephants while others are just sauntering through the trees and aren't in view.
Pampering Efforts:
By roaming, the elephants are able to engage in other natural behaviors. The caretakers make sure to place food all over, and in unpredictable ways to encourage and stimulate the animals. In addition, these social creatures have some “alone time,” which they can’t do in smaller enclosures.
Elephants naturally forage up to 18 hours a day. A while ago, zookeepers realized their regular work hours were not synchronized properly with the animals. They now allow the elephants to roam overnight and provide additional feeding opportunities too.
During the winter months, the elephants stay in temperature-controlled barns. They get cold when the temperatures drop to 40 degrees, which sometimes happens in the Oakland Hills. What’s interesting is their individual preferences vary, and keepers set different thermostats for each elephant stall.
The keepers also pamper the elephants by performing pedicures. When brambles get caught in the elephants pads, they will literally remove them. These impediments to roaming can affect the well-being of the elephants in captivity or the wild.
You won’t witness typical swaying motions from these elephants. It turns out these are coping mechanisms from chained elephants, whose motions are otherwise limited. The Oakland elephants are pampered beasts.
Oakland Zoo research, KQED (Photo by Amy Gotliffe)
Communications Research:
Over the past few years, Stanford researchers discovered that elephants "hear" seismic vibrations through their feet - and have been able to prove this conclusively with the Zoo's help.
Oakland pachyderms are sharing their innate abilities with researchers. In particular, Donna's a very cooperative subject. When the researchers send vibrations underground, they test her reactions and reward her with fruit treats.
Donna touches one post when she hears the seismic sound through her feet, and another when she does not. It's fascinating because this level of cooperation doesn't occur in the wilds. Apparently the elephant subjects need to trust whom they communicate with, and Donna has been around Oakland’s Colleen Kinzley for years.
Caitlin O'Connell, the Stanford researcher leading this study, says the research team has spent a lot of time with Donna, and she’ll participate for hours. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, she explained how it works:
"The researcher sits at a table 5 or 10 feet behind three targets, with a computer and wires that connect to a metal plate the elephant stands on, with a 10-pound shaker attached."
"When Donna correctly detects a vibration, she gets a treat, such as an apple, banana or alfalfa cube. If she makes a mistake, she only gets a 'no, no, no!' from Kinzley. Failure can make her distraught, while success will prompt her to prance around, make little noises and get real perky."
Caretaker Opportunities:
These elephants are respected creatures, among roughly 300 African elephants remaining in zoos today. With all the attention paid to these creatures, Oakland looks like a special place to work.
Over the years, Colleen Kinzley has become an authority on what makes elephants tick. She joined the Oakland Zoo to oversee the elephants, and has cared for elephants for 25 years. She now serves as general curator of the Zoo.
This zoo adopted “protected contact” practices in the early 1990s, which means there’s a safe distance between keepers and elephants. While mainstream today, Oakland decided to create this zone after an elephant killed a very-experienced keeper. Sometimes it’s easy to forget these are wild animals.
If you are interested in working with pachyderms, the Zoo has one opening for a browse keeper and elephant barn floater. Now is your chance to live among these beasts! For most of us, however, a visit to the Oakland Zoo may be sufficient.
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