FELLSMERE — Around this time of year, when festive meals loom and hors d’oeuvres-laden parties beckon, a lot of people are fretting about unwanted weight that has already crept up, even before high-calorie holiday gatherings. One resident of Fellsmere has managed to get herself down to fighting trim just in time for those parties, shedding way more than that “stubborn 10 pounds.”
Thanks to a diet heavy on fruits, veggies and lots of fiber, Thandi has lost a 1,000 pesky pounds! It should probably be mentioned that Thandi is an adult African elephant who currently resides at the National Elephant Center in Fellsmere.
She arrived a tad overweight, but her keepers put her on a strict and sensible diet and she was able to rid herself of all that excess avoir du pois.
Now, Thandi will be able to wiggle into that (probably not so) Little Black Dress in the back of the closet and enjoy Christmas dinner guilt free.
The newly trim Thandi, 33, shares her section of the 225-acre, pachyderm-friendly habitat with 6-year-old Tsavo, an eager little boy who has also recently achieved a special weight goal – in his case gaining necessary pounds.
“We’re all excited,” said the Center’s Development Director Ginny Blossom, “Tsavo has reached 3,000 pounds!”
Thandi, a native of Zimbabwe, used to live at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando and little Tsavo was born there. They were relocated to the Elephant Center when Disney’s herd grew too large.
The choices of who goes and who stays are made based on the social dynamics of a particular herd: elephants are very herd/family-oriented and have distinct personalities.
They also become much attached to their keepers, so, when Tsavo moved to his new Fellsmere home, his Disney keeper and current Center Operations Manager Scott Krug, who had been present at his birth, came right along with him.
In an elephant-sized stall within the huge (approx. 12,000-square-foot), reinforced steel “barn,” Krug, assisted by Elephant Specialist 3 Mary Jo Autrey, helped Tsavo demonstrate what he had learned.
Krug employs a long wooden pole with a croquet-sized ball on the end. Using touch and voice commands, and a big pouch full of apple, sweet potato and carrot slices as positive re-enforcement, he asks Tsavo to approach, back up, turn, raise his trunk and extend his beautiful white tusks through the stall bars.
Krug explained that the training process never includes negative re-enforcement. The sooner Tsavo obeys the ask, the more treats he gets.
If he has to be asked more than once, the treats dwindle accordingly; if he doesn’t cooperate at all, he goes totally treatless.
This obedience training is necessary so the keepers and veterinarians can properly and safely check and care for the animals, which they do, most of the time, from outside the stall.
Tsavo demonstrated the amazing ability of his trunk, which he used like thumb and forefinger to delicately pick up thin slices of apple and sweet potato.
“He can pick up a single M&M,” Krug said with pride, and made a point of noting that the Center purchases many fruits and vegetables from Kroegel’s Produce in Sebastian, where employees always pick special items they think Thandi and Tsavo will enjoy.
The Elephant Center is capable of housing up to 45 animals, Krug said, based on who gets along with whom.
Animals come from public zoos that are cutting back, closing or, especially with older zoos, are simply not able to support current animal-care standards.
Others come from private owners, who may turn ownership of their animals over to the Center or pay the Center room and board to maintain their animals, which is what Disney does.
Currently there is one big barn – and a waiting list.
The Center is, therefore planning a fundraising campaign in order to retrofit the existing facility and, later, to construct a second barn and a complete veterinary unit.
Blossom explained that there are Asian elephants on the wait list, and they will have to be completely separated from the African elephants.
While the larger African elephants and the Asians get along well socially, the Africans carry a virus that could prove dangerous, even fatal, to the Asians.
Before the new barn is built and the Africans and Asians each have their own side of the compound, they will be separated in the current barn.
No surprise, creating an elephant habitat requires a lot of heavy metal.
Telephone pole-sized steel fence posts, with as much of the post sunk into the ground in concrete as extends above, are strung with thick coaxial cable. Every structure is steel reinforced, with a carefully gated system for moving the animals from one area to another. The gates and other moveable elements, Krug noted, are manual, “easier to maintain,” and not susceptible to power outages.
Elephants are brought inside when there is a heavy rain, or a cold snap, so that radiant heaters can take the chill off.
Overall, it takes about $50,000 a year to properly maintain an elephant, on top of the current Center operating budget of $650,000.
Much initial funding has come from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which quickly recognized the need for such a facility. But the Center still depends on private funding and plans a major campaign to raise money for construction and retrofitting.
“One of our keepers is also a certified welder. That helps a lot. We do a lot with a little,” says Krug.
Blossom explained that the Center is not a sanctuary, but serves a more detailed purpose, working to rehabilitate and actively care for its residents, rather than simply sending them out to pasture.
Animals are enjoying the services of Animal Kingdom’s veterinary team, which visits as needed.
So, as the holiday season draws near and the humans work diligently on the fundraising campaign and the expansion plans, Thandi and Tsavo are enjoying their Fellsmere home, happily decimating old citrus trees in the overgrown groves, dozing against the soft dirt berms created just for them, oblivious, as they should be, to all the effort being put forth on their behalf.