Come 'n Get It!

My first official chore was to help prepare the days fruits and vegetables for the elephants. Michele, an Australian expat who's lived at the park for 7 years, is in charge of preparing and distributing all of the produce for the elephants. Each elephant eats up to 10% of their body weight in food everyday, so Michelle has her work cut out for her. On today's menu: hundreds of pumpkins and cucumber for the morning feeding. First they have to be scrubbed  in case they've been grown w/pesticides. We dumped about 200 pumpkins into a giant cement tank of water and baking soda to sit for 10 minutes before lightly scrubbing each one. Then Michele, with her giant knife, deftly whacked each pumpkin into 12 pieces in about 5 seconds.

Each elephant has it's own basket w/their name painted on it. Most get the same thing, but some have special needs. Like Mae Bhua Khum who is about 70 years old and only has one tooth left. She is given the softer foods cut into smaller pieces. Or the males who are in season - they are given less sugary foods b/c they already act crazy due to hormones, they don't need a sugar high. I think that would probably be like giving a 13-year old boy a Red Bull and a Playboy. :] 

Baby Chong Yim gets bunches and bunches of little bananas that are super yummy (I know, I ate one.) but they have to be peeled first. Or so we think, I was peeling them one by one and feeding them to him, but, being the impatient toddler that he is, he reached his little trunk under the bars and grabbed the whole pile of peels by my feet and popped them into his mouth! Booger!!!

After the food had been prepared and distributed, time for feeding. Some elephants are fed at the feeding platforms so the park visitors can participate. Feeding an elephant by hand is an experience like no other. They know the drill and with much dexterity and patience (sometimes) they extend their huge powerful trunks over the platform rail, waiting to be handed a piece (or two!), which is immediately transferred to the mouth and switfly the trunk is back asking for more. When they take the food from your hand it is surprising to feel how strong and agile their trunks are. Even Jokia, who is blind, has such a powerful sense of smell she can aim her trunk right for you. She's one of my faves, you'll learn more about her later.


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