Despite Buffalo Zoo being a small zoo, they do have some excellent weekend programming. This weekend was Elephantastic Weekend and I was able to catch the first hour or so.
The event used to be a bit more grand; the elephants were allowed to have a parade walking on zoo grounds and it kicked off bathtime with Buki. It was a chance to see an elephant up close and sometimes you were able to feed or help wash the elephant. Unfortunately, I was never able to witness this. And now with NY state regulations, elephants must kept away from the public by a elephant barrier at all times. But there were still good highlights of the day.
Some itinerary items that I missed were painting with Surapa, watermelon contest, animal enrichment and hiding items in their yard, and there may have been an elephant demonstration as well. Surapa is the resident elephant painter, being the only elephant that took to painting. Her paintings were being raffled off as well, more on that in the next section.
A neat experience was the elephant house was opening for the public to come and walk around. It has been closed off to the public ever since the "renovation". I heard the reason was because they increased the stall size so there was less room for people to go into the elephant house. I also think because there's no middle area blocking people from the elephants. So in other words, elephants are behind bars, but their trunk would still be able to touch someone. The girls were out in their yard so there was a display actually set up in their stalls. It's probably the only time I'll ever be in an elephant stall so it was a treat. One section had different bones of the elephant and a display of how much one elephant eats a day and a barrel of water to represent how much one elephant drinks a day. Another area had a raffle of elephant items. Some of Surapa's paintings (on canvases, bags, and t-shirts), and really nice pictures of both the elephants. There were also some hand made knitted elephant figures. The last section had posterboards of for each elephant talking about them and their distinquished physical traits. I've been able to tell the girls apart from their ear folds, but I guess one of them has a longer trunk and an extra thumb at the end. There was also a poster board shrine dedicated to Buki, the matriarch elephant who died last fall. There was even a posterboard of the elephant keepers. They also had fun t-shirts; I Love Elephants, I Love Buki, I Love Surapa, and I Love Jothi with "Buffalo Zoo" below each statement. I didn't want to play favorites so I got I Love Elephants. However, they only had larges and x larges so it's going to be a bit big on me, but I'll still wear it with pride! All the docents there were very friendly and informative and I really enjoyed that warmth.
The girls (elephants) were out in their yard and there was an answer and question session. One of the keepers talked, and although he was very informative, they should have really given him some kind of mic since he spoke quietly. But I admit I wasn't really paying attention him when the elephants were distracting me in the background. I've never seen either elephant actually in their pool, but when I got there this more Surapa was there was having a ball! The pool is in the front of their exhibit so I was really 5 feet away from her. She also got some natural enrichment for the day by stretching her trunk to get leaves off a near by tree. She also had some apples thrown in the pool to go and retrieve. Jothi doesn't really like to swim so she was in the standing in the background. One thing I did find funny was that the keeper said the Buffalo Zoo could house 3 to 4 elephants. I quietly laughed to myself because to be honest, I don't think there's enough space for TWO elephants! So I'm hoping they don't ever plan to get another elephant while their resident elephants are still there. I'll be posting pictures in the next day or so. I apologize I wasn't there for the main features that would have probably been great photo ops.
On another note, it was a rainy day, but the other animals were very active. I think I need to start going on lightly rainy days more often to really get some good pictures. On the hot days the animals are sleeping or pacing, not to mention the zoo can get too crowded. So I'll take advantage of the bad weather.
Does anyone's local zoo have an Elephantastic Weekend as well? I think I read somewhere the Oregon Zoo has had one before. Let me know!
The event used to be a bit more grand; the elephants were allowed to have a parade walking on zoo grounds and it kicked off bathtime with Buki. It was a chance to see an elephant up close and sometimes you were able to feed or help wash the elephant. Unfortunately, I was never able to witness this. And now with NY state regulations, elephants must kept away from the public by a elephant barrier at all times. But there were still good highlights of the day.
Some itinerary items that I missed were painting with Surapa, watermelon contest, animal enrichment and hiding items in their yard, and there may have been an elephant demonstration as well. Surapa is the resident elephant painter, being the only elephant that took to painting. Her paintings were being raffled off as well, more on that in the next section.
A neat experience was the elephant house was opening for the public to come and walk around. It has been closed off to the public ever since the "renovation". I heard the reason was because they increased the stall size so there was less room for people to go into the elephant house. I also think because there's no middle area blocking people from the elephants. So in other words, elephants are behind bars, but their trunk would still be able to touch someone. The girls were out in their yard so there was a display actually set up in their stalls. It's probably the only time I'll ever be in an elephant stall so it was a treat. One section had different bones of the elephant and a display of how much one elephant eats a day and a barrel of water to represent how much one elephant drinks a day. Another area had a raffle of elephant items. Some of Surapa's paintings (on canvases, bags, and t-shirts), and really nice pictures of both the elephants. There were also some hand made knitted elephant figures. The last section had posterboards of for each elephant talking about them and their distinquished physical traits. I've been able to tell the girls apart from their ear folds, but I guess one of them has a longer trunk and an extra thumb at the end. There was also a poster board shrine dedicated to Buki, the matriarch elephant who died last fall. There was even a posterboard of the elephant keepers. They also had fun t-shirts; I Love Elephants, I Love Buki, I Love Surapa, and I Love Jothi with "Buffalo Zoo" below each statement. I didn't want to play favorites so I got I Love Elephants. However, they only had larges and x larges so it's going to be a bit big on me, but I'll still wear it with pride! All the docents there were very friendly and informative and I really enjoyed that warmth.
The girls (elephants) were out in their yard and there was an answer and question session. One of the keepers talked, and although he was very informative, they should have really given him some kind of mic since he spoke quietly. But I admit I wasn't really paying attention him when the elephants were distracting me in the background. I've never seen either elephant actually in their pool, but when I got there this more Surapa was there was having a ball! The pool is in the front of their exhibit so I was really 5 feet away from her. She also got some natural enrichment for the day by stretching her trunk to get leaves off a near by tree. She also had some apples thrown in the pool to go and retrieve. Jothi doesn't really like to swim so she was in the standing in the background. One thing I did find funny was that the keeper said the Buffalo Zoo could house 3 to 4 elephants. I quietly laughed to myself because to be honest, I don't think there's enough space for TWO elephants! So I'm hoping they don't ever plan to get another elephant while their resident elephants are still there. I'll be posting pictures in the next day or so. I apologize I wasn't there for the main features that would have probably been great photo ops.
On another note, it was a rainy day, but the other animals were very active. I think I need to start going on lightly rainy days more often to really get some good pictures. On the hot days the animals are sleeping or pacing, not to mention the zoo can get too crowded. So I'll take advantage of the bad weather.
Does anyone's local zoo have an Elephantastic Weekend as well? I think I read somewhere the Oregon Zoo has had one before. Let me know!
Last edited: