Animal Diaries Archive

When it rains, it pours!

31 August 2007

Welcome to another week of elephants diaries. This week has certainly been a wet one, and if you hadn't heard on the news, the Sunshine Coast had heavy downfalls all week, even parts of the coast such as Noosa were flooded with more than 700mm in just one day!

Well it wasn't as bad as that here at the Zoo, but we certainly got our share of continuous heavy rain. For most of us it couldn't have come at a better time. All the dams out the back are full and our grounds have soaked up loads of water ready for new growth, just in time for spring. The elephants too love the change in weather. It seems they hadn't seen the rain in so long that when it came they couldn't get enough. They took full advantage of the mud that the rain had created everywhere around the enclosure. So it was pointless for us to even try to wash them down like we would normally, for the very next minute they would be covered in a thick layer of mud.

The rain certainly made the elephants excited and in very high spirits. Even our guests that braved the weather conditions got to see the elephants at their most playful; in the pool!!! You see even though its raining, the elephants love to go swimming as the water in the pool is slightly warmer than the outside temperature. When swim time ended the elephants were straight back to rolling around and having a ball in the mud. Although it wasn't as fun for us keepers who were saturated from the minute we started work, it was definitely worth working to see what fun all that rain could offer!!!!!

Until next time, wet Elephants Rule!