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The
elephant encounter starts by cutting treats for them to munch on while the
keeper is talking to the crowd. Of course, one of their favorite treats is elephant grass!
Before
walking to the encounter area, they will give them a good brushing,
which they seem to enjoy a great deal. It's important that the girls, Mari and Vaigai, are
looking their best.
The
crowd always enjoys watching the elephants walking towards them on the
path to the encounter area. Mari, being the oldest, always walks in front
of Vaigai.
Vaigai,
the younger elephant, enjoys
eating her elephant grass during the talk. Vaigai is the smaller of the
two elephants weighing in at over 4 tons. Mari weighs close to 6 tons.
After the
keeper talks to everyone about Asian elephants in general and conservation
of this endangered species, the people get to feed them carrots.
Mari and Vaigai enjoy this part a lot!
The
encounter ends with a salute to the crowd. The elephants then walk
back to their exhibit where their keepers hold a training
session. You will see Mari carrying the red carrot pail.
Due to
construction of the new Asian exhibit, encounters have been temporarily
suspended.