Tucson's baby elephant overcomes tummy troubles, is learning new skills

Now 3 months old, Reid Park Zoo’s 452-pound elephant has discovered a new favorite food, is interacting more with her herd “aunt” and has overcome tummy troubles.

Mapenzi — Penzi for short — was born to elephant Semba on April 6. She joined aunt Lungile, dad Mabu, sister Nandi and brother Sundzu at Tucson’s zoo.

The Star is documenting Penzi’s milestones each month until she’s 1 year old.

Goodbye, tummy problems

In late May and early June, Penzi had diarrhea and veterinarians were working to figure out the cause. Diarrhea is no longer a problem, her stool is healthy and Penzi is very hydrated, says elephant supervisor Cassie Dodds.

Through diagnostic testing, it appears Penzi may have had an infection.

“Through antibiotics and close monitoring, she’s been getting better and better every week,” Dodds says, adding that Penzi’s most recent lab work showed great improvements.

Keepers are still watching Penzi closely and are monitoring her stool and making sure she’s nursing the appropriate amount.

Learning new skills

Zoo staff have started working on Penzi’s training. Training is done with positive reinforcement and the elephants’ participation is voluntary.

This kind of training is helpful because it allows keepers to assess the elephants, including Penzi.

Penzi is learning to come when keepers call her and has voluntarily allowed staff to draw blood without giving any reaction.

During training sessions, the elephants’ behavior is rewarded with things they like — typically treats for the bigger elephants. Since Penzi’s main source of nutrition is nursing, her biggest reward is scratches on the bottoms of her feet and behind the ears.

However, Penzi’s teeth have come in, so she’s been interested in eating bits of hay, grass and leaves. And she’s discovered a favorite food: lettuce.

“We’ve been able to give her little pieces of lettuce and she gets really excited about that,” Dodds says.

In May, Penzi was timid around the deeper mud wallows. That hasn’t changed much.

Dodds says Penzi watches what the other elephants do and has started to creep up to the side of the mud wallows.

“We were all watching on the edge of our seats,” Dodds says.

But Penzi didn’t get in. However, the zoo has been creating smaller puddles for her.

Penzi has also gotten better at drinking water and is now able to take the water and spray it behind her ears.

“That’s a really great behavior for elephants to cool down,” Dodds says, explaining that if there’s water behind an elephant’s ears, it acts as a swamp cooler when their ears flap.

Penzi has also gotten more coordinated — though she does spend a lot of time rolling on the ground. But it’s mostly because she put herself there, not because she took an accidental fall.

“She does like to intentionally fall down to play,” Dodds says, explaining that it’s a way for elephants to explore with their bodies.

Reid Park Zoo is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Keep up with the zoo at reidparkzoo.org or facebook.com/ReidParkZoo.