How are elephants kept? Nowadays, three different kinds of elephant keeping are used in zoos: “Free Contact”, “Protected Contact” and “Offhand Management”. However, in circuses, elephants are being shown in the ring. Working with ...
Ivory
What is ivory? Being a biological product, the tusks are comparatively soft. The hardness of the ivory and so the suitability for carving vary depending on the origin, the habitat and the sex. So ...
Ankus, Elephant Hook and Whip
What is an elephant hook? The ankus or elephant hook, in the colloquial language of the elephant keepers briefly named hooks, is an very old aid in handling elephants by humans in a direct ...
Herpes – Smallpox – Tuberculosis by the elephants
Which illnesses are very dangerous for elephants? Elephant smallpox, tuberculosis and elephant herpes hang over every elephant stable like the sword of Damocles. Smallpox In the last few years, elephant smallpox has been observed ...
Elephant foot and foot care
How do elephants walk? Elephants can neither run nor jump. Elephants walk on the tips of their fingers and on the tips of their toes. They are so-called digitigrades and belong to a group ...
European Elephant Group
Dear elephant lovers In 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, as well as in 2002, the European Elephant Group published in cooperation with the association ELEFANTEN-SCHUTZ EUROPA e.V. [PROTECTION OF ELEPHANTS EUROPE, registered association] altogether 5 ...
Differences between African and Asian Elephant
How do different types of elephants differ? The difference between the African and the Asian elephants, looking closer, is remarkable . Actually they resemble each other only from a distance by their outward appearance. ...
Death in the elephant stable
How old can elephants grow? The life expectancy of an elephant is between 0 and 50 up to 60 years. In spite of this high life expectancy, only a few elephants do actually reach ...
Communication between the elephants
How do elephants communicate? Since elephants are not “loners”, but live in a herds, they need several possibilities of communicating with each other. The trunk, the ears, the tail, body language and naturally also ...
The commands for the elephants
How many commands does a zoo elephant know? In his daily contact with the elephants, an elephant keeper uses about 16 different commands. By means of these commands, he communicates verbally with the elephants. ...