Kaiso is an elephant at Terra Natura Benidorm that has lost all her molars. With the help of Benza, a division of Internaco, the park has now a shredder so that her carers can help the animal to eat.
Ordes, 8 July 2019. Kaiso is one of 4 Asian elephants living in Terra Natura Benidorm. This female elephant is 35 years old and weighs some 3000 kg. She arrived at the park in 2004 from France. A noble, curious animal, she is always friendly with people and a constant companion to its congener “Petita”. That’s Kaiso.
In keeping with its company philosophy, Benza donated to the park Terra Natura Benidorm a shredder (BIO40E) which will undoubtedly improve the quality of life of elephant Kaiso and the work of her carers.
Before explaining the case of this elephant, it is important to notice that these animals have four composed molars (two on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw) which are progressively replaced as many as 6 times throughout their lives. For a year now, and for no apparent reason, she has begun to lose her molars, which means that she has been eating her food without hardly chewing it. Consequently, her carers had been cutting into pieces the 30 kg of fodder the elephant needs every day to maintain her weight and follow a healthy diet. That is the reason why they contacted Internaco and its Benza division.
In keeping with its company philosophy, the Galician brand did everything in its power to help and donated to the park Terra Natura Benidorm a shredder (BIO40E) which will undoubtedly improve the quality of life of elephant Kaiso and the work of her carers.
About Terra Natura Benidorm
Terra Natura Benidorm is a nature and animal park dedicated to the care of species. It currently has over 1,500 animals from over 200 different species (98 of them are protected or endangered species), 30 preservation projects and 19 reproduction programmes. It is divided into four areas which represent the continents of America, Asia, Europe and the Pangea area – inspired in the origin of Earth. Those visiting its premises have the opportunity to be presented with the concept of zooimmersion and otherness and may take advantage of an extensive catalogue of entertaining experiencies and activities.
Terra Natura acts in favour of the preservation of endangered species within the framework of programmes agreed and led by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) through a number of EESP’s (European Endangered Species Programme) in which it participates by putting at the disposal of the abovementioned institution and programmes modern and naturalized animal facilities on the basis of the specific ecological needs of the species under the EESP.
Terra Natura Benidorm works in the interest of the physical and emotional wellbeing of the animals both individually as as a species by understanding their nature, their care and needs or the threats within their natural environment. Knowledge and closeness to animals contributes to rasing awareness, empathy and a positive perception towards living beings and the importance of biodiversity.
About caring for elephants
Entire books can be written on how to care for elephants. A brief summary of the work being done with this species at Terra Natura follows.
At Terra Natura Benidorm there are 4 female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): 47-year-old Petita, 35-year-old Kaiso, 37-year-old Momo and 34-year-old Lagran. They make up two couples, on the one hand Petita and Kaiso and Momo and Lagran. They have at their disposal meadows where they spend most of the day, indoor facilities where they spend the night and reservation facilities for conducting special examinations such as veterinay checkups, etc.
A team of carers is in charge of the elephants. Their work includes feeding and cleaning them as well as controling their behaviour and training them. Because of the specificities of this species, maximum rigour is required in these matters.
- Feeding: Elephants are hervivorous animals that eat great amounts of forrage. At Terra Natura, elephants are given a balanced diet based on raw oats forrage to which branches, fruit, vegetables and fodder is added. To help digest all this food, elephants have a chewing apparatus consisting of 4 great molars that is replaced 6 times throughout their lives. With these molars they are able to crush branches up to 15 cm in diameter. At the park, each elephant eats between 40 and 60 kg of food a day.
- Cleaning: Needless to say, it is basic to maintain the premises clean and tidy, particularly in the case of animals which can generate as many as 200 kg of excrements a day each. A number of parameters in faeces are also checked to monitor the health of the elephants (frequency, volume, density, color, smell, …)
- Behavioural control: Keeping animals such as elephants in good conditions goes beyond feeding them and maintaining their facilities clean. They are very intelligent animals that need external stimuli to maintain proper mental health. Having a well-trained team and enhanced facilities are key factors to achieve this goal. At the same time, a daily routine is followed which favours the development of a natural behaviour by the elephants.
- Training: At Terra Natura elephants are trained under a protected contact scheme and positive reinforcement. At least two persons are needed for this training. One of them directs the animal while the other conducts the necessary work. To this end, voice commands are used and reinforcement is in the form of a food prize. Basically, the purpose of the training is that elephants allow carers to access the different parts of their bodies for exploration or for such procedures as nail trimming or blood sample taking, among others.
