If your beagle is being a brat, or your poodle is being a pain, you know it’s time to call up calm and assertive NatGeo star Cesar Milan, “The Dog Whisperer”. But what if you have an elephant that’s acting up? Is there an “Elephant Whisperer” you can contact who understands elephant psychology and behavior and can help you to think like an elephant? Of course there is, and you’re going to meet him right here on MCJ.
I’m very pleased to be able to introduce you to Cool Jobster Dan Koehl, who has devoted his professional career to caring for elephants. Dan currently works at the Kolmarden Zoo in Sweden, but he’s also an elephant consultant who travels the world advising zoos, game parks, and circuses on the care, management, training and breeding of elephants. When he’s not spending time at the Zoo or doing consulting work abroad, Dan also administers a comprehensive database of 4192 captive and wild elephants from 96 different countries. Considering how busy he is, I feel that we’re especially fortunate to have him share so much about what he does!
When people ask you “what do you do?” how do you describe your job?
My job is of course partly the work of any zookeeper: cleaning up in cages and enclosures, providing food and just checking the health of the animals. But an elephant keeper’s work is of course much more than that. It begins in the morning when I wash the elephants, which apart from providing skin care, is our first interaction during the day, so this is also the first impression I get of the elephants temperament and obedience. Mostly, if something is wrong, I will discover that during this morning routine. The rest of the day may be filled with information shows where public visitors can get more insight into elephants. Apart from that I may train the elephants, take the elephants for a walk outside the enclosure, and just keep them company in their compartments. In general, I compare the work with a kindergarten, apart from obvious things like feeding and keeping clean, I also provide social stability etc, so no one gets harrassed by larger individuals. Often I also have to meet visitor groups and let them meet the elephants while I’m giving different information.
What are the things about your job that you love?
Since I have spend so much time with elephants, over 30 years since I was seventeen years old, some parts of my brain is a little bit elephantish. This makes me feel “at home” and “with my pride” although it sounds strange. But just spending time with elephants is for me a natural thing, which I love. Taking a walk outside the enclosure is also nice, it gives the same sensational feeling as taking a dog for a walk, and its nice to see how the elephants enjoy it. Another thing I enjoy is the travels I have had in my profession. I have worked from Finland in the north to South Africa in the south, in Zoos, on circuses and in game lodges, and it gave me the possibilty to see the world. But basically, I love the work becasue of the daily routines, some interesting challenges, and to work in a park environment.
What are the things about your job that you hate?
Negative things with my work is separation in different forms, it may be an animal that dies or is sold. Another sad thing is misunderstanding and misinterpretation of different things in my work by animal rights people. It takes many years to understand elephants, and some people belive they know better and understand better after reading a few books and discussing on Internet forums. The same mentality may sometimes be performed by curators and directors in Zoos, In general it seems that many people may think an elephant keeper/trainer is some sort of less intellectual person, just because our work is so physical. Sometimes Zoos are also administrated in a feudal way, giving less freedom for individual thinking. A lot of accidents and likewise are results of poor use of the competence within the elephant keeper profession.
What education, training, vocation or just plain luck would someone have to have in order to get a job like yours?
Almost anyone can be a zookeeper, if they are only dedicated and ambitious. But to be an elephant keeper or trainer in an on-hand facility is a lot more difficult. Many who want to become an elephant keepers have very strange thoughts about elephants, and apply a lot of new age dreaming, which living elephants never read about. In order to work with elephants you need to be dominant, clear in your communication, have a sixth sense of what’s going on behind your back, and a well developed understanding of body langague. Spending time with large dogs and horses helps a lot, especially if you have experienced situations of biting, kicking and social quarrels, because then you will not in a critical situation just ask why an animal behaves “strange”, you may know that its normal that mammals show physical agression, and you may even foresee it, and take considerations. Some luck also helps surviving work in rather limited areas with wild animals weighing over 3 tons.
What is the funniest story you can think of that involves your professional training or your job?
After working with captive elephants for over 10 years, I finally saw wild asian elephants during a three month trip to in India in 1987. It was fantastic to see them, and speak with people who were interested in elephants, having first hand experience and knowledge, without reading books. One of the more interesting things was to see that it was not uncommon with adult bulls in the groups, and that those bulls were not dominated by any of the cows. All I had read by female ethologists, describing elephants living in Matriarchy made me understand that those elephants never read those books.
One of the most funniest things I have experienced was when walking two elephants an early morning on the green parks surrounding the zoo Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden. Since the elephants were very obedient, I used to let them stroll on their own, eating grass or just playing, since thy would come to me immediately if I would call. What I didnt see behind a bush, was a small tent some where some were sleeping. Obviously they woke up, when they heared strange sounds, though the opened “door” in the tent. The elephant, when hearing sounds from the tent, put its trunk inside to check it out, meanwhile I came around that bush, hearing people crying in panic, and seing the elephant with its trunk inside the tent, which had a life on its own, with frightened people jumping around. I called back the elephant, and excused our visit, while the tourists came out of the tent. The calmed down fast and laughed at what wa surely one of their more exciting parts of their journey to sweden.
UPDATE! Jimsmuse sez on 9/24/08: Like a few of my other entries on this blog, Dan Koehl’s interview has encouraged some people with an opposing viewpoint on his methods to comment. If you’ve read this far and are interested in elephant behavior and training, I encourage you to read the comments and perhaps do a little research of your own to help you to come to your own conclusions!
Jimsmuse also sez: Once you’re immersed yourself in the controversy and are ready for a “unicorn chaser”, click on this link to see a clip from the Disney classic “Dumbo” : When I See an Elephant Fly
It is increasingly common now for the more enlightened, progressive zoos to handle their elephants in a Protected Contact system, in which there is always a barrier between the elephant and the keeper, for the safety of both. Doing this does not require dominance training with a bullhook such as the one Mr. Koehl is holding in the photo. It is unfortunate that his approach to captive elephant management has not progressed.
jimsmuse sez: Thanks for stopping by, Reuben. You’re not the first person to put forward an alternate point of view about a Cool Jobster (see the entries for Pro Skateboarder and Sign Language Interpeter), but in this particular case not having any information about your background or expertise I don’t have enough information to give you a meaningful response. If you do in fact work with elephants in a different capacity or a completely different way than Mr Koehl, then I would certainly encourage you to tell us about it! As for your specific comments, Dan has responded at length below.
Its not new at all, this method, it was since 4000 years always a part of the taming phase, before actual on-hand training began. The result one can acchive with PC is a little bit foot-care, drawing of blood from ears, and such. Its impossible to prevent mobbing within the group, assist by births, or take elephants for a ride or a walk outside their enclosure, they will be 100% confined, the training can only be performed with isolated individuals in cages with bars, and for 6-8 elephants you will need a man-power with as many people compared to one trainer for a whole group of elephants in on hand.
Yes this is possible, as it is with dogs or horses. You may work those species through bars as well, without dominance, instead of riding the horse you can “train” it through the bars to perform a few things. same is of course possible with a dog, but I dont think anyone felt a strong need to try.
But I think your comment proves my point:
A person who never trained an elephant, or worked one, has a dislike for the dominance an elephant trainer has over an elephant (which is natural for an elephant, most indivduals will be “bullied” by other elephants) and suggests the protected contact method as “enlightened” and progressive. (Indicating on-hand is opposite)
Once again it has to be remembered; elephants are damn smart, and so has an elephant trainer got to be, in order to survive. With some elephants, PC is the only alternative, and it will keep us survive in a situation where most keepers would prefer to work on-hand.
And its good so, and the choice to work on-hand must be the keepers/trainers choice. Its a totally other thing with politics, movemens etc, that pushes Zoos to compromize with animal rights groups, and force the keeper to work PC, against the keepers wish, and against the vets, wich etc, just to satisfy peoples opinion in how something they never did themselves, shall be performed…
Anyone has of course right to their own opinions. Apart from maybe, elephant keepers. They must rather often follow the opinion of not-elephant keepers.
This is in my opinion, not enlightened and progressive, its dark ages. Elephants left on their own, not stimulated, noone comes close and can watch their feet and nails, and lots of social problems since theires no leader.
By all means, I dont tell pilots how to fly, cause I never flew an airplane, I dont tell a Surgeon how to operate, because Im no doctor. And I dont think it wold be enlightened to tell those people how to do their work.
Between 25% to 35% percent of the present apr 40 000 asian elephants (Elephas maximus) left on earth are under human care. Below 4000 are in Zoos and circuses in the western world, the rest rest are with their mahouts in Asia. Im sorry, we cant put all those behind bars, and ask them to stick out a foot once in a while through the bars.
They have to be cared for, and its our responsibility.
jimsmuse sez: You’ve got me convinced — I don’t even understand people who own dogs and keep them locked up in cages all day so they don’t mess up the house! While there may be other ways of doing things, I’ve got nothing but respect for you for having the knowledge (and courage!) to deal with the elephants “on-hand” and up close. Thank you again for sharing so much of your passion about these magnificent animals!
What a great story about elephant keeping and follow up comment by the keeper in the story. I think this comment is wise and says a great deal about life, wisdom, responsibility and the vanity of uninformed opinions
jimsmuse sez: I’m with you on that, jimwilbur. I’m sure if the above commenter had anywhere near the experience or expertise that Dan Koehl has he would have mentioned it. Thank you for coming by (and really enjoyed seeing your site today!)
[...] which makes physical discipline "necessary". You may find this article interesting: Elephant Keeper MY COOL JOB __________________ [...]
another interesting and informative post! i always wondered what elephants’ skin feels like…it looks leathery and a bit rough…
did dan mention what kind of food (besides grass) that elephants eat? how old do they get, on average?
jimsmuse sez: I don’t personally have the answers to all your questions, but if you are interested in learning about elephants you ought to check out Dan’s site starting here: http://www.elephant.se/elephant_faq.php . There is a lot specific information in addition to the usual “how big do they get” sorta stuff, including lots about feeding and taking care of these cool critters.
It hardly seems worth replying since Mr. Koehl is clearly entrenched in his own ways, but this is an important issue. Please read http://www.aza.org/Publications/2006/02/RightHere-Now.pdf and tell me if this sounds like elephants in a cage, as described by Mr. Koehl as the alternative to his dominating them with bullhooks? And yes, it is possible to handle elephants hands-on without dominance, as witness http://www.elephants.com – the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN where there are no bullhooks or other weapons used to dominate elephants over the centuries are allowed, but many of the elephants are treated in a hands-on fashion. If you think that it’s ok to keep elephants in tiny enclosures where they cannot get enough exercise or enrichment, then of course you are going to need to take them out of there to prevent a decline in their physical and mental health. Fortunately, zoos are coming to realize, though too slowly for the lives of many prematurely dead elephants, that space is a vital component of elephant well-being, and that with space and some imagination you can keep your elephants from being bored out of their minds or from needing to be walked outside – or ridden, or forced to perform tricks – for enrichment.
And to suggest that elephants bully one another in the wild is to demonstrate a complete ignorance of the animal and its natural needs. Now, I realize that you have an “issue” with unenlightened people such as myself who have studied elephants extensively but never taken a bullhook to one suggesting that there are better methods than the ones you describe, but I have read some of your other writings, Mr. Koehl, and I believe that the readers of this blog should be aware that there are alternatives to dominating elephants. They do not need a human to “lead” them. And no, I would not tell a surgeon how to do his work – but if I was watching him and he had just picked a scalpel off the germ-laden floor and was about to cut someone with it, you can be sure that I would do my best to stop him.
jimsmuse sez: I can only encourage you again to give us more information about your background in terms of expertise on elephant behavior in order to give more credence to your comments. You mention that you have “studied elephants extensively” — are you a behavorist? A mammologist? Do you work with elephants in a different setting than Dan Kohel does? Unfortunately, with the limited information that I have, I can only assume that you may be exactly the sort of person Dan describes in his interview above that considers him or herself an “animal rights activist” but does not have any “hands-on” experience or training and bases conclusions on anthropomorphism and emotion rather than actual research. If I am mistaken and you are indeed an expert on elephants, as I said before, I would be happy to learn more from you!
Elephants should rule the Earth! (no I don’t mean Republicans)
jimsmuse sez: I agree with you! If we elected an actual elephant President it would help the economy…I hear they work for peanuts!
Jims, and what if you assume that I am an animal rights activist – how does that, except perhaps in Mr. Koehl’s mind, lead you to believe that I am basing conclusions on “anthropomorphism and emotion rather than actual research”. It’s interesting in fact that you should reach that conclusion particularly when Mr. Koehl seems to be acknowledging his own lack of “book learning” implicitly by criticizing those who have some. I have pointed you to the works of 2 people who have both research backgrounds and extensive hands-on experience, but you ignore their views. I will point you to a few more: Joyce Poole, Dame Daphne Sheldrick, Cynthia Moss: three women who have spent many decades studying wild elephants in situ and who would disagree with almost everything Mr. Koehl has said about natural elephant behavior. Are they basing their conclusions on anthropomorphism because they have never held a bullhook? I have said that I have studied elephants extensively and you clearly do not believe me. What if I said I am a behaviorist? Would you believe me then? This is silly. Don’t believe my statements if you so choose, but do some research on your own: google some of the names I’ve given you, or go to some of the websites I’ve posted. Just because you have never bullhooked an elephant doesn’t mean that you are incapable of learning about them except from someone who has.
Mr. Koehl’s approach to elephant management is as charmingly old-fashioned as the photo of the construction workers taking a cigarette break at the top of the page. It is quite similar to the circus model — capture and dominate large animals and display them so people can get a close look at them.
Mr. Koehl’s approach clearly demonstrates his need for dominance as well as his lack of understanding, despite his years of experience, of the lives and motivations of elephants.
In the spirit of your blog focus, I think working with elephants is definitely a cool job. Thanks to Dan Koehl for sharing and you for finding him.
I’m glad I didn’t get grilled over methods of teaching kids English (in my interview).
jimsmuse sez: I want to thank the commenters who came for the elephants for all of the information and links they’ve provided. My purpose here at My Cool Job is to introduce an interesting person or profession that will hopefully encourage readers to find out more. I hope I’ve done that in this case, and thank you Reuben and Misty for your input!
I would also like to say that what I find interesting about entries like this is that it puts the size of the world and the number of people in it in perspective. If you’d told me last week I’d be corresponding with one person who has devoted years to caring about elephants as a cause I would have been surprised. Now that I’ve discovered there are thousands of folks burning up the Internet discussing them, I have a little better grasp on just how big the world is.
Wild animals in captivity make me cringe especially nowadays that we have access to fantastic documentaries. I can live very well without knowing that Saonoi, one of the Kolmarden elephants, pulled 454 kilos to get to eat hay (not to mention the elephants that had to be euthanized because one of them tested positive for TB.)
That being said, I really enjoyed reading the post and all the comments, and I look forward to your next post which will hopefully be just as controversial.
planetross: I am quite sure that jimsmuse exercised a fair amount of censorship in dealing with the comments regarding your interview. The blogosphere is not ready to embrace your highly controversial teaching methods.
jimsmuse sez: Thanks for stopping by nathalie (love all your pix by the way)! Interestingly, SaoNoi is, in fact, the very elephant pictured above with Dan Kohel, and she was a gift to the King of Sweden from the King of Thailand. I don’t know if my next post will be quite so controversial, but then I never would have expected this one to be either! (way to go, planetross…you’ve been “sarcastisized” twice in one day!)
It is indeed interesting to follow the conversation here.
I will not argue details which I believe I already covered, with the exception that Rueben is trying to compare my professional view with that I “had just picked a scalpel off the germ-laden floor and was about to cut someone with it”.
-I do not agree that this comparison is equivalent.
Furthermore, I find it wrong by Ruben to interprete my words as I am “acknowledging my own lack of “book learning”.
14 years old I read my first book about elephants (Among the elephants by Hamilton) 1975, after travelling to Africa the first time, and watching the elephants in Lake Manyara and Amboseli.
Since then Ive gone through more books, and 1988 I read Elephant memories by Cynthia Moss, which I had as a gift from her own hands, when she was visiting Stockholm.
Rueben you used the wellknown researcher Cynthia Moss a little bit as a tool, in order to bring more status to your personal opinions and beliefs, and I would just like to cite Cynhtia Moss, when she met me, the bull-hook user user, and the elephants in my care 1988:
“In 1988, while visiting sweden in conjunction with the launching of my new book Elephant Memories, I had the plesaure of meeting the two elephants at Skansen Zoo along with their keeper Dan Koehl. I was very impressed with the situation that existed then. It struck me that the two elephants were among the best-cared-for and happiest I had ever seen in captivity. They were well disciplined but at the same time unafraid of Dan. The three of them appeared to have a strong and sweet rapport.”
Nairobi, December 17, 1991., Cynthia Moss Amboseli Elephant Research Foundation , Nairobi, Kenya.”
Rueben, if yu disagree with my professional points of view, I think its important not to bring oether people in as some sort of passive supporters without asking them.
This is a very common method by animal activists, and if this behaviour would be applied in normal civil politics, I believe it would be regarded as a very severe form of corrupation, like if you said “God said that all you slaves shall obey me, so if you dont, youll burn in hell.”
Futhermore Rueben, you claim that “it is possible to handle elephants hands-on without dominance, as witness http://www.elephants.com – the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, TN where there are no bullhooks or other weapons used to dominate elephants”
and
“where there are no bullhooks or other weapons used to dominate elephants over the centuries”
Please, once again, dont use someone else in order to give status to your words. Because, neither you, or me, know exactly how elephants are manipulated there, where theres no public visitors except specially invited. You, and me, simply dont have the foggiest what was used there 10 years ago, last saturday, or in July 2006, when:
“36-year-old Joanna Burke was attacked and killed, and Scott Blais who handles the 22 Asian and African elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary was injured and hospitalized, by Winkie, a 40-year-old female Asian elephant who has been at the sanctuary for six years. Fridays death at the compound is the first at the facility, which is licensed as a Class I exotic animal facility by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.”
http://www.elephant-news.com/index.php?id=1110
I do know that theres a certain history with that particulair elephant, as there is with every single one. Animal right activists prefer to use single accidents when one elephant (but not the other five) kills a trainer, as an evidence that free contact is to blame, while the incident at Hohenwald, is totally illogical used as the opposite, because here, in this case, the elephant Winkie is to blame, not the system, according to activists.
whatever you say about Winkie, it does not proove your words “yes, it is possible to handle elephants hands-on without dominance”, because for 36-year-old Joanna Burke it simply wasnt. And whatever type of training is applied there by the co-owner of the facilty, Mr Scott Blais, it was not enough to help him save Joanna, especially after he, in some very strange way, standing there in the grass together with the elephants and Joanne, Scott broke his ankle. How his akle got broken is a real mystery, since, according to you, “it is possible to handle elephants hands-on without dominance”.
The official reason why Winkie killed Joanne, and maybe, just maybe, has some minor part in Scotts wounded shoulder, can, I belive be read in an issue of “Back Yard” which carries a statement by Carol Buckley.
A reader of this issue is writing on http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2006/08/mosquito-bites.html
“During my fifty years as man and boy around elephants I have never had or heard of an elephant receiving an injured eye from a mosquito.
I have however, on more than one occasion, known it to happen between two elephants fighting.
I would suggest that inexperience and an attempt to intermingle elephants like Brown’s cows would be a more likely explanation for this malady.”
On the page: http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/search?q=carol+buckley you can find some other views.
I believe at the photo at
http://bucklesw.blogspot.com/2008/02/carol-buckley-and.html (some comments below as well)
you can see a bullhook in the hands of Carol Buckley, the owner of the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, when she is guiding her elephant, wearing roller scates.
This film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8QBXp17YwY may also give some insightm to what happened throughout the centuries.
On this page, some of the maoney sums are mentioned, that Buckleys sanctuary receieved.
Who think that she would have get all those millions of dollars, as gifts from animal rights organsations and likevise, if she would have said: I use an elephant hook like anyone else, just as the elephants uses tusks on each other?
-Would you have supported her Rueben?
Let me get one thing very clear:
1. I respect Carol a lot for what she has done.
2. I respect that she went through changes, and Im very glad that she is not traveling around with a single elephant, that has to perform with tied roller scates on her feet anymore.
3. I understand that caring for 17 elephants costs a lot,
http://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=253
4. And I fully understand that when she was granted 3 million dollars from the public to house the 11 Hawthorn Circus Elephants, most of them suffering from TB, she may feel its OK that they will never roam the fields of Hohenwald out of medical reasons. Those 8 surviving elephants are acrriers of e lethal disease and must be quarranteened for the rest of their lifes, but maybe, to use your own words Rueben “If you think that it’s ok to keep elephants in tiny enclosures where they cannot get enough exercise or enrichment”
5. when you get million of dollars, maybe its worth it, and
6. Im not sure buying land from your vet constitute a conflect of interest as this vet has the ear and eye of the USDA and they rely on her/his word?
7. Im sure Winkie agrees with you Rueben, “They do not need a human to “lead” them.” and she absolutely made her point in July 2006.
8 As did the young elephants in Pilanesberg national park in Southafrica, that killed a bunch of rhinos before they were shot (official reason: they grew up without older, bullying elephants >> “leaders”) they really gave action to your words “with space and some imagination you can keep your elephants from being bored out of their minds”…
But:
1. I dont agree that Winkies stated “post-traumatic stress disorder” is an excuse for that she killed Joanne and evt. wounded Scott, becasue wild elephants kills people almost every day, without ever having seen a bull-hook.
2. In my world, its not me that needs to dominate elephants, and if some indivuals gives me the possibilty, I will surely minimize it. But, elephants are a physical, dominating animal, and can only interact with human being in two ways: dominating the humans ( when they in 95% also kill them, like in the case of Joanne) or being dominated. Like dogs, like horses, like cows, or just any of a lot of social mammals.
But just like its natural for them to coexist with each other under thses circumastances, as natural is it to coexists with human beings who can interprete their behaviour and by using their own way of dominating, also dominate them.
Sorry, tired of writing her, and bored after 30 years of defence, by people who never spend 3 minutes alone with a captive elephant, and still claim to know better than me….
Once again, Carol does a very good job. Noone will however, absolutely know HOW she is working, since theres no public visitors in Hohenwald.
Another reply to Misty, who wrote:
“Mr. Koehl’s approach to elephant management is as charmingly old-fashioned”
and
“Mr. Koehl’s approach clearly demonstrates his need for dominance as well as his lack of understanding, despite his years of experience, of the lives and motivations of elephants.”
I object to this.
Yes my approach may be old-fashioned, it follows the DNA and evolution of elephants, and the 5000 years understanding of how to work with those animals, as well as with dogs and horses and cows.
-But at least its based on personal experience, with over 30 years and over 80 elephants between Finland and South Africa.
I do not agree that I have a certain need for dominance as well as lack of understanding.
I have to tell you once again, I’m not against protected contact. I transferred Pambo, the breeding bull in Vienna, from free contact to PC in 1998, and felt very comfortable with this, even if I actually went into his box until my last day there. In that case, it was needed with PC.
What I am against is putting nice, friendly elephants in PC environment, just in order to satisfy people who never worked with elephants. A lot of those elephants are losing a lot of good things with free contact, and I’m glad that a Zoo, who had an old cow in PC in France, send her to us in Kolmarden, where I did the reverse; transferred her from PC to free contact.
And I promise you; she loves it! If you don’t believe me, come and see with your own eyes.
jimsmuse sez: Actually, I think it would be a treat to come to Kolmarden and meet an elephant!
I think from a logical standpoint most if not all of Dan’s points are valid. Not being behind the scenes and seeing everything first hand makes it very hard for me to offer any form of criticism without knowing the entire story.
d(O.O)b
Two thumbs up Dan.
jimsmuse sez: I agree with you completely, Heath — especially when Dan took the time to quote one of commenter Reuben’s “sources” as to his proper care and handling of the elephants in his charge! (Actually, I had to laugh out loud when I read it). I cannot make an informed judgment on what the other commenters have been saying, but I certainly respect Dan Koehl’s many years of expertise working closely in the company of elephants!
I would just like to acknowledge that everyone’s, and especially, Mr. Koehl’s extensive contributions, comments are not wasted. Some of us are learning much from the discussion here.
Being a trainee free contact elephant keeper I find this discussion board both very informative whilst being passionate about the job being done, and the content from the 2 main ‘pugilists’.
When undertaking any job where wild animal are concerned there will always be one side who will completely disagree with whatever reasoning and references are being presented, but I want to thank you, Mr Koehl, for bringing such an issue into perspective.
And I look forward to reading the continuing blogs on this site.
Any help and advice you can give me in the course of my keeping career will be greatly appreciated.
jimsmuse sez: These are exactly the type of comments that I love to get on this blog — I’m glad you enjoyed reading and I hope you’ll come back and check out some other cool jobs in the future! Especially since you are studying in the field, I encourage you to check out Dan’s website!
Hi Dan!
I live close to the Denver Zoo and love to walk the park in the morning for exercise, and the splendid opportunity it provides to be so close to something that most people only visit on occasion. I especially love to spend time with the elephants whenever I take my stroll. However, it leaves me both with a sense of delight and heartache when I abide in the presence of such regal and peaceful souls. I am pierced by the speck of their eyes, floating on a mass of what feels to be a gaze of longing for something more, yet unable to reach out in a meaningful way to nurture them. These experiences leave me so curious about their intelligence and emotional life. What they find attractive about humans, and if there are any heart warming stories that reveal details of an elephant/human friendship bond. Do they like to be scratched on the nose or ears, or is it just something they tolerate. Do they like to be talked to, paint, play music, or even view the colorful creatures that parade about them all day? And, if it would be ok to bring a flute to play, or something to sooth their souls, in order to break up the monotony of the boundaries they bare in silence.
Thanks for taking time to answer our questions!
Lauren Bloom