I have a wildlife zoo-Chapter 580 : Trimming an Elephant’s Toenails

Yan Ganghui was astonished, "Wow, what a big watermelon, and the elephant lifts it with its trunk so effortlessly!"

Su Hui marveled at the elephant's intelligence, "Wow, how amazing, it even knows how to step on it before eating!"

Bobo measured the force with which he stepped on the watermelon perfectly!

The watermelon cracked open but did not become too mushy, making it inconvenient to eat.

He curled up the juicy, half-eaten watermelon with its sweet red flesh exposed, brought it to his mouth, chewed twice, and then put the whole piece in his mouth, chewing slowly and leisurely.

With eyes squinted and filled with pleasure, his wrinkled, aged face appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

After eating, he even stuck his trunk in to suck the juices, like a person sucking their fingers after eating chips.

Eating watermelon in the summer is not only refreshing but also quenches thirst quite comfortably.

"Hardcore watermelon eating!"

"Eating a big watermelon is like me eating a date!"

"Wow, does it eat the watermelon rind too?"

"Of course! For elephants, there's nothing they can't eat."

"Well, that's an elephant for you!"

The visitors discussed animatedly amongst themselves.

Someone asked with a laugh, "Zoo director, are you sure this watermelon is ripe?"

Fang Ye chuckled, "I run a zoo; would I feed unripe watermelons to an elephant?"

After giving Bobo his watermelon, he took another out of the bag for Pingping. Meiling was already relishing her watermelon, and not to be left behind, he also handed one to Meilan, who had already started on her second one without any hesitation.

As Meiling was eating her watermelon and rummaging through the bag for a third one, Fang Ye couldn't help but be at a loss for words, "Are you already eyeing the next one while eating what's in your bowl? Each elephant gets only two watermelons; you've had your share!"

He patted Meiling's trunk and moved the bag away.

Meiling hesitated about whether to forcefully snatch the bag but then thought better of it.

Originally, she was quite temperamental in the elephant camp and had no affection for humans.

Now, after coming to the zoo, where the play area was spacious, she could wander freely without anyone prodding her with sharp goads, restricting her movements with "this is not allowed" or "that is not allowed". The place had various enrichment activities like sand pits and mud baths to alleviate boredom, plus she could always be with her good friend Meilan.

Moreover, with Mental Recovery Pills mixed into their daily feed, her resentment had gradually dissipated, and her temperament was no longer so irascible.

Each time Fang Ye came over, he would bring them tasty treats. She didn't really want to hurt him.

So she opened her mouth, gave a low rumbling call to Meilan, stamped her foot, indicating that they should go have some activity after finishing their food.

Meilan glanced at Meiling, stretched her trunk toward Fang Ye and shook it, and the two elephants gradually walked away into the distance.

Meiling made her way to a dusty, hollow iron ball and skillfully nudged it with her trunk, rolling it along.

This was her favorite toy lately!

In the past, there had been a tire in the play area for elephants to kick around as a game, but Meiling sat on it once and flattened it instantly.

Recently, they had custom-made a sturdier iron ball for them to play with.

She gently kicked the ball with her foot, and it rolled noisily across the sandy ground, heading toward Meilan, who then also kicked it back.

They played much like soccer, mainly Meiling kicking it around, stirring up clouds of sand and utterly enjoying herself.

"The elephant can even play soccer!"

"How adorable!"

Pingping watched Meiling playing with a ball, seemingly wanting to join in the fun. He glanced at Fang Ye.

Fang Ye smiled and said, "Pingping, wait to play later. We're going to fix your feet now!"

To the visitors he said, "Has anyone here ever seen an elephant's feet being maintained?"

All of the visitors showed curiosity and shook their heads!

"Elephants need their feet maintained? That's really unusual; I've never heard about it before!"

"Why do elephants need foot maintenance?"

Fang Ye explained, "Everyone knows that elephants are the largest land mammals in the world! An adult Asiatic elephant can weigh 3-4 tons.

Such a huge creature, with all its weight bearing down on its limbs and feet, must have healthy feet. It is extremely important, as the slightest negligence could lead to disaster.

Though elephants' feet seem unremarkable—just big flat pads—their foot structure is actually very intricate, with sponge-like tissue inside to cushion the enormous pressure from the body when they walk or stand.

Densely packed nerve tissue helps the elephant precisely sense the ground and finely coordinate its limbs.

Just as our fingernails grow longer, so do elephants' toenails, and their soles gradually develop calluses.

If they are not cared for over a long period, the calluses can become too thick, dulling the nerve sensation. Walking becomes difficult without a good sense of pressure and coordination, and with overly long toenails, it's like the elephants are walking on tiptoes, which is very awkward.

This uneven stress on the joints can lead to deformation and pain over time, causing the elephant suffering.

That's why we need to maintain elephants' feet!"

A visitor asked, "Then why don't wild elephants need their feet maintained?"

Fang Ye smiled and said, "It's quite simple. Wild elephants need to search for food and water sources, which means they walk a lot every day, keeping the growth and wear of their soles and nails in balance.

However, elephants in captivity walk much less. We spread sand in their activity area and provide various enrichments to keep them constantly moving and active, to increase the natural wear of their soles.

It's the same with us. We evolved from monkeys, who lived in trees and naturally wore down their nails from climbing everyday. We inherited that rate of nail growth, but now we don't have the natural means to wear them down, so we need to trim our nails regularly."

The example was simple and easy to understand, and everyone got it.

Some visitors looked at their own fingernails, pondering the revelation. They had never before considered why nails continuously grow!

Fang Ye said, "I am going to take Pingping for a foot maintenance now. If anyone is interested, you can follow us to the care center to watch. That's where the care center is."

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He stroked Pingping's trunk and beckoned, "Pingping, come!"

Leading the way, Pingping obediently followed behind!

Su Hui was very interested. "Let's go, let's go. We can't miss this scene!"

...

Having arrived at the care center with Pingping, the nearby broadcasting at the elephant pavilion also began, "Hello visitors, the director is now ready to maintain the elephant's feet. Ever wonder how elephants' feet are maintained, or what they look like?

If you're curious, you can come to the Elephant Care Center and watch together..."

The visitors outside had to take a longer route and arrived a bit slower.

The exterior of the Elephant Care Center was fenced with transparent bars for visitors to watch easily, and the roof provided shade, looking very impressive.

After a while, once most visitors had arrived, Fang Ye clapped his hands to get their attention and called over the animal keeper Kong, "Okay, let's start!"

Between two thick vertical bars, with thin diagonal bars added to prevent the elephants from sticking out their trunks, there was a rectangular opening in the middle, about 50 cm high.

Kong grasped a long, thin target stick and pointed to Pingping's left foot, then at the fence!

Upon seeing this, Pingping first extended his trunk, a small mishap. He self-consciously retracted his trunk and then placed his left foot up.