How close can the public get to the elephants when they are out like this?
I remember a visit to London zoo over 30 years ago now and talking to the keeper as they walked the elephants around the zoo I think one was called Dilberta if my memory serves me right.
There didn't appear to be a barrier preventing people going up the elephants, however there were two keepers who I think would have stopped people from getting too close.
There didn't appear to be a barrier preventing people going up the elephants, however there were two keepers who I think would have stopped people from getting too close.
Yes I think its a case of 'Look but don't touch'. There would no doubt be health/safety issues these days if it were otherwise. I can remember back to when an Elephant at Whipsnade would be on the lawn outside the Lubetkin house with the keeper taking pennies from visitors gathered around, and popping them in the keeper's pocket. They don't teach them that anymore....
Yes. And regardless if the visitors are allowed to touch/get very close to the elephants or not, these walks are very dangerous for keepers and visitors alike and irresponsible. Elephants are just too dangerous for stunts like this. Whipsnade has a number of female elephants with a history of aggression/ problematic behavoir (Mya killed a keeper in London, Aziza has a reputation of being "unrelieable" and injured a keeper during one of these walks, Karishma came to Whipsnade because the keepers in her birth zoo couldn`t control her any longer). And bulls can become dangerous and have attacked keepers at the age of 2. Despite this, the Whipsnade keepers take bull calves and all females on these walks. That`s a tradedy waiting to happen.
And the training the elephants go through so that they can be taken on these walks are awful - the calves are trained in "circus style". I have personally seen elephant calves at Whipsnade being prodded/beaten with bullhooks.
Which I've just noticed seems to be just on the right in this photo, so it looks like they are heading down the central avenue (proper name?) with the Cherry trees.
I count six elephants here- what is their total now, apart from the bull Emmett?
I remember a visit to London zoo over 30 years ago now and talking to the keeper as they walked the elephants around the zoo I think one was called Dilberta if my memory serves me right.
Which I've just noticed seems to be just on the right in this photo, so it looks like they are heading down the central avenue (proper name?) with the Cherry trees.
I believe that that there are currently ten elephants at Whipsnade including the bull “Emmett”; the most recent Animal Inventory lists 5.6 as at 1st January 2015 but I know that, very sadly, “Max” died last June.
