Things we love about the Zambezi Elephant Center

It’s been a reflective start to the New Year at the Zambezi Elephant Center. We’ve been moved into the new complex for just over six months now (Kelly and Tara walked over on June 16, making it the most amazing Father’s Day ever), and it’s been an incredible time for us all. We’ve brought the elephants into a new home, given them new acres of grass to walk on (and eat) and tons of sand to sleep on, and a new friend to share their home with. 2019 was a pretty great year for us, and I wanted to mention a few of the things we love about the Zambezi Elephant Center and new African Savanna.

• The sand stalls. Inside the Zambezi Elephant Center, we have three feet of soft sand for the elephants to walk through and sleep on. The sand helps maintain their foot health and helps them exfoliate their rough skin.
• The habitat. The terrain, topography and advanced feeding opportunities have all helped us greatly taking care of our herd. They have slopes to ascend, grass to graze, and a feeder wall right beside one of our many water features.
• Browse. Elephants eat a lot of food, and through a special partnership with Georgia Power and Downey Trees Inc., we have increased the amount of browse for the elephants (and many other animals throughout the Zoo).
• Cleaning. We designed the Zambezi Elephant Center to be easy to clean, and now all we need to do is blast the floors and walls with one of our many hoses. We have hundreds of feet of trench drains to take all the dirty water away and an entire wall of garage doors that open to let in fresh air.
• Gator. We can hang up our wheelbarrows now that we have a gator to drive out into the habitat for cleaning, feeding and maintenance. No more sore backs from lifting and rolling full of wheelbarrows up the muddy hills!
• Things to look forward to in 2020. Track loader to drive out into the habitat and through the sand stalls to help clean and move logs and substrate. Swinging hay booms that allow us to offer more elevated feeding opportunities for the elephants. Stable Grazer timed feeders that drop hay automatically for the elephants. Giant toys that showcase some of the ways the elephants feed, play, and interact with objects.

Happy New Year!
Josh M.
Keeper III, Elephants