Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden What's Gnu at the Cincinnati Zoo? - 2012

"Santa" brings early Christmas gifts to the zoo's elephants, bears, and arctic foxes:
Santa Brings Gifts to the Animals - Cincinnati Zoo - YouTube

 

I will have a more detailed evaluation of my experience later, but I have to say, the elephant encounter was one of the, if not the, most amazing things that I have ever done. I highly recommend it; it's worth every penny (especially considering every penny goes to elephant conservation)! Many thanks to elephant keeper Val Nastold for the tour and for organizing the whole thing at such a short notice.

 

How much was it? Also, what does the Cincinnati Zoo do exactly to conserve elephants?

~Thylo

 

Depends on what you mean by conserve. If you mean by breeding, they try to breed the smaller female, Jati, with Sabu. During the warmer weather Jati is occasionally in his yard. In the winter the two have their own area in the back area of the Elephant House. The zoo however, has only bred one elephant. Ganseh, in 1995 that died in Columbus in 2006.

Edit: http://cincinnatizoo.org/plan-your-visit/behind-the-scenes-experience/

 

@ThylacineAlive- It cost $250.00 for the elephant encounter and painting. The zoo also does work with in-situ elephant conservation and I assume, by the way Mr. Nastold talked, that is where the money will go.

@Moebelle- Kind of, but not exactly. There are five stalls inside of the Elephant House. Behind the walls of the indoor viewing area there are two stalls; the one on the left is Mai-Thai's stall, and the one on the right is Schottzie's stall. Then, behind another wall, is one central stall that belongs to Jati. Finally, behind another wall, are the final two stalls, both of which Sabu has access to. Jati having the central stall makes it easier to introduce her to Sabu when she is cycling and shift her between the main cow yard and Sabu's yard

I really hope to have like a mini review of the encounter tomorrow. I meant to have one up today, but I was busier than I was expecting.

 

Have there been any changes to the zoo? Also has the Reptile House closed yet? Can't wait to read the review. All those stalls in the Elephant House sounds like a more space than just 50,000 sq. ft. Lastly do you have photos?

 

The only change that I noticed is that one of the terrariums along the back wall in Manatee Springs had been ripped out for renovation. The species sign was still up, but I forget which species it was. Of course, there might have been more changes, but I just didn't notice any.

The Reptile House has been closed for renovation yet. I expect that they will wait until after the Festival of Lights.

I do have some pictures, but only within the first set of stalls. I have pictures of them bringing Mai-Thai in, of Mai-Thai painting, and of me with Mai-Thai. Pictures weren't allowed throughout the rest of the tour. I have a handful of pictures from various other parts of the zoo as well.

On another note, one of the clouded leopards was active and on the ground! Very rarely, if ever, have I seen a clouded leopard active and/or on the ground.

 

Are Clouded Leopards not active much? The one I saw at the Smithsonian National Zoo (which was my first) was out and walking around.

Also, do you expect the Reptile House to be reopened by June? If I'm going, that's most likely when I'm going.

~Thylo

 

The leopards are usual hiding in a stump in the corner of the exhibit, plus it's dark. And the zoo said the Reptile House will reopen in Spring.

 

Thank you. I would think the darkness would promote activity.

~Thylo

 

I mentioned darkness really because it helps them hide I also think that the leopards are quite young or pretty old. Back in October 2010, when the first AI conceived and born Indian rhino came into the world (and left 12 hours later) the zoo said that they were going to move on with experimenting AI on other species such as the aye-aye, and the clouded leopards.

 

I'd love to see a baby Aye-Aye! What does the darkness and their age have to do with AI on Clouded Leopards? Also, did the calve die? I thought it didn't?

~Thylo

 

I mentioned the age because I was wondering if it had to do with them being less active. I mentioned the AI because I would've expected them to have bred by now. Lastly yes the Indian rhino calf passed away due to breathing complications. Were you confused with the Sumatran rhino?

 

No, I know the Sumatran Rhino calf didn't (as he has a kid of his own in Sumatra), I just remember seeing an Indian Rhino calf on the zoo's YouTude so I thought it was the same one. I guess it must have been a different calf. Has the rhino had any other calves and where did the males come from?

~Thylo

 

The male came from the Bronx Zoo and no so far Nikki has not reproduced any calves since.

 

I haven't been able to find the video so I guess I might have mixed things up with an old Bronx Zoo video of their last Indian Rhinoceros calve.

~Thylo

 

Okay, now for my little review/overview of the elephant encounter!

My elephant encounter was scheduled for 4:30 so I arrived at the zoo at around 4:00 and headed on over to the indoor viewing area for the elephants where I was told to meet. All three of the cows were in the indoor enclosure so I watched them mill about and eat for about twenty minutes before the keepers arrived with the evening feed for Jati and Schottzie (Mai-Thai was fed separately in her stall after the painting). When the keepers arrived all three of the girls became very excited and began to relieve themselves and trumpet, rumble, and chirp. Being such a large concrete building with its domed ceiling, it created quite the echo and shook you to the core; it was amazing. A young couple was also in the indoor viewing area at the time and I am pretty sure it scared them half to death ! Once they were all calmed back down, a keeper redirected Mai-Thai's attention and brought her over to the door to the stalls. At this time I was lead back out of the building and around the side into the main part of the building.

The easel was set up in Schottzie's stall, and I was told that I could set my things down on the bale of hay in Mai-Thai's stall. The stalls are essentially composed of giant steel pillars and a gate for the elephants so it is easy for humans to slip back and forth between the pillars. The floors of the stalls are heated and have $70,000 rubber mats spread across them. After I had my things set down, they brought Mai-Thai in. I was told that I could position myself between the pillars and to get out my camera and take as many pictures as I pleased. Once she was set up in front of the easel, they dipped the brush in the paint and placed it in her trunk. From there she went about brushing the paint about the canvas until she was done, and then they gave her another brush with the second color I had chosen and she went back and brushed across the canvas. When she was done, Mr. Nastold retrieved the painting and brought it over to me. While I propped the canvas against the wall, the keepers hosed Mai-Thai off and gave her her treat: a handful of jelly beans. Then, Mr. Nastold took me into the stall with Mai-Thai where I was allowed to get right up close to her and pet her. You know elephants are massive animals, but you really do not know just how massive they are until you are right there against them. After I stood there petting her for a while, Mr. Nastold took my camera and took a couple of pictures of me standing there with Mai-Thai and my painting; I will cherish these pictures and my painting for the rest of my life. It was just an awe-inspiring and humbling experience to be right there with Mai-Thai, just being there so close in her presence, not to mention being able to touch her. That was perhaps the best moment of my life; it was just amazing. After I had a few pictures taken with her, I went back into her stall and retrieved my things. Mr. Nastold took my painting to the basement to dry, and when he came back up we moved back out behind the pillars so that Mai-Thai could be let into her stall to eat.

After she had eaten, they opened the gate between her stall and Jati's to show how the gates and transfer systems worked and explained about the way the interior of the building is designed as well as of the history of the building. I was then taken around to where the grain and hay storage areas are. I washed my hands and Mr. Nastold talked about the diet of the zoo's elephants and the use of rewards (such as jelly beans) while training and working with them.

From there the tour went around to the two stalls inhabited by Sabu. From this point on the yellow line on the floor became very important. The yellow line represents the safe zone and is the line that one must stand behind while in the presence of these potentially dangerous animals (Mr. Nastold explained that one evening while he was working with Sabu he dropped to his knees suddenly so that he could reach out and just touch the yellow line with the tip of his trunk as if he was showing him that he could do it if he wanted to). Turning around the corner from the storage area you are just struck by the presence of Sabu; he is an absolutely massive bull. Seeing him out in the yard and then seeing him there in his stall aren't even in the same category. When you have him right there standing directly in front of, only then can you truly get a feel for his size; it's awe-inspiring. Sabu is the youngest of the zoo's four elephants at 23-years of age. Currently he weighs in at five tons and measures ten feet at the peak of his back. They estimate that when he is full grown he will weigh in at seven tons and be around 12 or so feet tall at the peak of his back. While we were there with Sabu, Mr. Nastold demonstrated some of the training work they do with him like having him lean up against the pillars so that they can take blood, lifting his two front feet, lifting his trunk, and for fun, having him answer whether or not he was a good boy by shaking his head up and down (Mr. Nastold explained that he could only answer "yes" questions, while Jati can answer both "yes" and "no" questions).

Moving around another bend is the massive scale/containment chute that they use to weigh the elephants and work with Sabu more closely if need be; this is where they trim his tusks (which he is due for again soon!). I was allowed to go up and walk around on the scale while he explained how it worked and just how much they put into the renovation of the Elephant House when they brought Sabu back. In his words, "When you've finally got the elephant you've always wanted, you do whatever you have to do to keep it." With that, it was the end of my tour and we walked back out the way we came. The paintings take a few hours to dry so I picked it back up from the Elephant House when I left.

If any of you ever have the opportunity to partake in such an experience, I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Also, just a "fyi", but the smell of elephant is certainly one that lingers on one's clothing! It's not all that unpleasant (I personally rather enjoy it), but it lingers!

The pictures will hopefully be up tomorrow.

 

Sounds like a truely amazing experience. Unfortunetly, I don't think I can afford it

~Thylo

 

The zoo has finally changed the amount raised for Africa to 18,000,000.

~Thylo

 

So are we going to start a new news thread when 2013 comes around?

Obviously it's Christmas today and I just wanted to say that one of my presents was my dream Cincinnati Zoo trip becoming a reality. We still have to work out the details but I think we're going in June. Maybe I'll see some of my Cincinnati ZooChat friends there! Merry Christmas!!

~Thylo