New Arrival weighs in at 116 kilos

Thursday 11th March 2010

Today we weighed the calf with Porntip's help . The mother and calf hopped up onto the scales together and we then encouraged Porntip off so we could get a reading on his weight – 116 kilos! We knew he was a stocky little calf, but that’s an extra 20 kilos on Luk Chai’s birth weight.

We still can’t get over how strong the calf is considering all that he has been through. For the first time today he’s now able to lie down and stand up without our help.

When he nurses from mum, he bends is hind legs as if trying to stand on the tippy toes of his front feet because he’s only just tall enough to suckle. Whenever he suckles Porntip stands perfectly still.

Calf's Up And About

Thursday 11th March 2010

We’re really pleased with the calf’s progress overnight.

He is looking stronger and following his mum, Porntip, everywhere.  He’s walking unassisted and suckling a lot from Porntip.

It’s very cute to watch because he drops down on his knees a little while he does this.

Porntip is very relaxed and calm and very attentive towards the calf and the other elephants are all looking out for her.

The calf was introduced to Aunty Pak Boon this morning and he is really curious about her.  She was equally curious and even though she’s known as a bit of a tomboy she was really gentle towards him.  Pak Boon likes to touch things with her feet, and she was gently touching the calf with her feet.  Porntip was watching very closely all the while but seems relaxed with Pak Boon being around the calf.

Although Porntip and the calf are in the barn, the keepers put the breakfast out in the paddock as usual this morning.  However the other elephants were not interested in breakfast and ran straight back into the barn, with Luk Chai leading the way.  They don’t want to be away from Porntip and the calf!

Luk Chai Explores At Night

Friday 26th February 2010

Luk Chai has started exploring the lower elephant paddock at night with his Mum and aunties and making the most of the beautiful Sydney evenings.

At first we were nervous of his night time explorations, so we stayed overnight too, but it soon became obvious that we were just being over-protective parents.

Our elephants can choose if they want to be in the barn at night or out and about in the paddock after dark, so this is a great natural progression for the youngest member of our herd and proves he is becoming a real little bull elephant.

We’re also  are continuing to try and teach Luk Chai some manners, especially since we are getting ready to welcome another elephant calf into the Taronga herd soon and we need to make sure Luk Chai will be well-behaved and gentle.

Training an elephant baby is just like teaching a young child; it’s usually two steps forward and one step back. Luk Chai knows exactly what is expected of him, he is very, very bright but his attention span is short and when he doesn’t want to do something, like waiting patiently for his bath he will chuck a tantrum and lie down on the floor and refuse to budge.  This can be challenging when you are working with a 350 kilogram ‘baby’.

And so the lessons continue... I am sure many new parents can relate to this.

Hot Weather Calls for Wallowing in Mud!

Thursday 14th January 2010

During the recent hot weather the elephant herd have been spending some extra time in their cool mud wallow. Luk Chai follows mum and his aunties in and somehow manages to end up the muddiest of them all. We give them a hose down as they splash around and the young calf often sticks his trunk out which is his way of asking for the hose to be pointed at him. Wallowing in mud is much more than just elephant play - it’s their way of protect their skin from the sun and keeping themselves cool.

Yesterday in the mud wallow while Chief Aunt Tang Mo was enjoying a cool hose down Luk Chai insisted in plonking himself squarely between her four legs and wriggling about in the mud under her tummy. When he’d enough of that, he poked his head through her hind legs and tried to barge through even though his shoulders were clearly too wide to fit through the gap. Tang Mo was exceptionally patient with his mischievous behaviour, as always, and gently moved her hind leg to let him through, resulting in the little bull dozer losing balance and toppling over in the mud.

Luk Chai Enjoys a Wash Down Like Everyone Else

Tuesday 5th January 2010

Luk Chai continues to love his daily bath time, but given that he now weighs over 288 kilos he makes quite a splash!

Just like a small child he wouldn’t stand still for a moment during bath time, hopping in and out and splashing water everywhere using his trunk. But now that he is a little bit older he’ll stand still just long enough for us Keepers to give him a gentle scrub.

Luk Chai has a wash all over –  he lies down on his side for a rub and we give his feet a good wash too. However, we still can’t hold his attention for too long, so the wash time has to be very brief!