Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper's Life Among the Herd Interior Layout

chores, he nevertheless made an almost unconscious mental
note of each elephant as he strolled past: the bulls Packy,
Rama, and Hugo, each in his individual bachelor’s quarters;
Pet and Hanako in their little herd; and Sung-Surin with the
orphaned Rose-Tu sticking close, the teenage cow providing
comfort to the two-and-a-half-year-old calf in the absence of
their matriarch, Belle.
By day, the barn’s cavernous space echoed with the hum
of immense hydraulic doors opening and closing; the scrape
of shovels and rakes clearing away manure, old bedding, and
leftover bits of forage made useless with urine; the tumble of
grocery produce tipped from containers; the soft thud as hay
bales were tossed to waiting elephants; the sound of water
spraying from hoses; and beneath it all the voices of the keepers
rising and falling by turns as they talked, laughed, griped,
and cajoled. And, of course, there were the elephants—squeaking,
squealing, rumbling, roaring, chirping, trumpeting, and
barking. Even in sleep, they broke the nighttime silence with
snores and farts.
Roger stepped into the keeper alley near his office and
looked into what was colloquially known as the front room,
a rectangular exhibit area with bars along two walls. A temporary
barricade of linked chain had been strung across its
width, dividing the almost 1,400 square foot space into a
smaller convalescent ward for Belle.
She stood facing the back wall, seemingly unaware of his
arrival. Her left front foot was wrapped in a thick bandage
secured with gray duct tape, evidence of yesterday’s surgery.
It was a heartfelt attempt on the part of a gigantic crew of
devoted helpers to halt the advance of severe pododermatitis,
known in keeper parlance as foot rot.
Social by nature, elephants prefer the company of their own
kind. Belle was in isolation to protect her during this crucial
18 ◆ Elephant Speak: A Devoted Keeper’s Life Among the Herd