If you’ve ever wondered what a 7-month-old elephant is up to, it’s much like a human baby: Growing and eating.
“She’s tipping the scale at 735 pounds and she’s getting a lot more food-motivated,” Cassie Dodds, Reid Park Zoo’s elephant supervisor said of elephant calf Mapenzi. “I think her most frequent hobby right now is eating and keeping up with the rest of the elephants.”
Mapenzi — Penzi for short — was born to African elephant Semba on April 6. She joined sister Nandi, dad Mabu, brother Sundzu and aunt Lungile at the zoo.
The Star is documenting Penzi’s milestones each month until she’s 1 year old.
EXPLORING HER HABITAT
Penzi has been loving hay, leaves and tree branches lately, spending lots of time scavenging her habitat for pieces of them.
“Her teeth are becoming a little bit stronger so she tries to chew bark off the trees around the habitat,” Dodds said.
Penzi has also been practicing a behavior that Dodds refers to as “snorkeling,” which is essentially when elephants curl their trunks into the air.
Because elephants have a strong sense of smell, Penzi has been using the snorkeling motion to smell for food, her family and the keepers.
PLAY TIME
Keepers have been trying to get Penzi to play in a kiddie pool since she was 3 months old but she never showed any interest in it — until last month.
“She finally got excited about it — finally jumped in and splashed and splashed until she popped it,” Dodds said. “It’s a good sign she’s getting more comfortable with water.”
Penzi is still socializing and interacting with the rest of the herd, especially with Nandi.
“I was watching them on the camera the other night when it was dark and (Penzi) and her sister were playing with each other, tempting each other to get into the mud,” Dodds said. “It was more of an advanced play session.”
One night, Nandi was sleeping and Penzi kept leaning on her big sister, wanting her to wake up and play with her. On another night, Penzi woke up to nurse and when she was ready to go back to sleep, she nudged Nandi.
“Nandi got up, and (Penzi) plopped down where Nandi was — where it was warm,” Dodds said. The sisters also like to cuddle up together at bedtime.
TRAINING SESSIONS
Training sessions at Reid Park Zoo are voluntary for the elephants and done through positive reinforcement. The sessions allow keepers to evaluate the elephants and ensure they’re healthy.
Penzi goes through “cycles of really wanting to participate and really wanting to explore,” Dodds said. However, Penzi has gotten better at coming to her keepers quickly and standing still on the scale when being weighed.
The keepers stash treats — cucumber, lettuce, tree branches — in buckets during training sessions and Dodds says Penzi is always fascinated by whatever’s inside the buckets.
Reid Park Zoo is currently open, though tickets need to be reserved in advance. Visit reidparkzoo.org for more information.
