An Asian Elephant Awareness Month You’ll Never Forget

The Oklahoma City Zoo's Asian elephant herd Photo by Andrea Johnson

My coworkers are elephant enthusiasts. Long before I joined the team at Oklahoma Today, my fellow editors visited and fell in love with the elephants at the Endangered Ark Foundation in Hugo.

“Greg,” they told me, “elephants are so amazing. They’re sweet, and they’re smart, and if you’ve never had a personal encounter with an elephant, you will never truly be happy or fulfilled in your long, miserable life.”

I’m paraphrasing. And jealous. Because of course meeting an elephant sounds like a magical experience! Of course spending time with these majestic denizens of the jungles and the plains would be enriching.

Asha the Asian elephant gets her stretches in at the Oklahoma City Zoo's Sanctuary Asia. Photo by Greg Elwell

Finally, my chance to be a real boy came when the Oklahoma City Zoo announced that August is Asian Elephant Awareness Month. I took advantage of the zoo’s excellent Wild Encounters program and set up a date for myself and my kids to meet Asha behind the scenes in the indoor elephant barn in Sanctuary Asia. It was also a great chance to interview the elephant zookeepers who care for and spend the most time with the animals.

Even an immature elephant can weigh more than a thousand pounds, so great care has to be taken when interacting with one. Asha was going through her exercises and eating treats when we came by to visit. We were warned to stay behind the stanchions to avoid possibly getting wrapped up by Asha’s trunk or crushed if our limbs got between her body and the enclosure. The caretakers use positive reinforcement to get the elephants to move the way they want in order to get them cleaned and checked out medically. But it’s still up to the elephants, says Alena McGuire, one of the Asian elephant caretakers.

During the Asian Elephant Wild Encounter at the Oklahoma City Zoo, the Elwell family gets to meet Asha. Photo by Candice Rennels

“If she does not want to do the behavior or she doesn’t do the correct behavior, that’s okay,” she says. “She has the choice. All it means is she doesn’t get that food reward.”

These Asian elephants, much like me, are very food-driven, so they’re usually quite willing to lift their legs, lay down, turn around, and other actions if there are apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, or oranges on the line. We got to watch her lay on her side and get back up, which works core muscles needed for giving birth—an important exercise for the mom of three of the elephant herd.

As you might expect, a Wild Encounter doesn’t mean people get inside the elephant enclosure with the animals, but we did get to pet Asha’s flank as she was chowing down on fresh fruit. Foolishly, I always thought elephants would have a similar texture to an old leather couch or a worn-in baseball mitt. It’s hard to see from a distance, but elephants are covered in hair, so when you touch their skin, it’s a bit like petting a pineapple.

Asian elephants are an endangered species that is quickly losing its habitat to human development and climate change, so Wild Encounters and Asian Elephant Awareness Month help bring attention to their plight and raise funding to protect Asian elephants for generations to come.

While there are events all month at the zoo, Saturday, August 12 is World Elephant Day at the Oklahoma City Zoo with interactive activities for kids, live chats with elephant caretakers on Facebook at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., story time with a caretaker at 11:30 a.m. in the Elephant Presentation Pavilion, and an elephant enrichment presentation at 2 p.m.

The Oklahoma City Zoo is home to a herd of eight Asian elephants–Rex (54), Asha (28), Chandra (27), Kandula (21), Bowie (10), Achara (8), Kairavi (4), and young calf, Rama (18 months). Guests can see the elephant herd at Sanctuary Asia.

In honor of Asian Elephant Awareness Month, the zoo partnered with Capitals Ice Cream in Oklahoma City’s Midtown District. All month long, 10 percent of sales of Strawberry Banelephant at Capitals will go to the zoo for Asian Elephant Conservation.

Written By

Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.