WRITTEN BY JACK GOODMAN, ELEPHANT KEEPER
I met Missy for the first time in May of 2019. I had just started the summer as a Junior Zookeeper in the Wilgruen Elephant Center. Missy was 49 years old at the time. Now, Missy is 56 years old, and I have been working with her as a full-time keeper for more than two years. Throughout my journey from Junior Zookeeper to Keeper Assistant to Animal Keeper, Missy has been a steady constant.
Despite what you might expect from a geriatric elephant, Missy is still full of fire on most days. She’s not afraid to let the other elephants know that she’s still in charge. She’ll hustle over to you when you call her outside in the yard, and she’ll have her mouth open to be ready for whatever snacks you’ve brought for her. Missy’s favorite way to get food is what we call “direct-deposit.” She’ll open up her mouth and let you do all of the work by throwing food straight in.
Missy also loves spending time with her best friend, LouLou. They came to the Zoo together, back in 2015. It’s easy to tell Missy and LouLou apart because Missy has tusks and LouLou does not. Like all of our aging elephants, Missy has some issues we help her deal with, including a lack of strength and dexterity due to her trunk paralysis. So, like any of us with differences, she works to find ways to adapt, and we assist her. Missy likes to let LouLou work on the overhead barrel feeders that we fill with hay. Then, she’ll do what dominant elephants do and move LouLou out of the way to clean up all of the leftover hay.
Missy isn’t afraid to let you know that she’s in charge when you’re working with her. When we train for “elephant yoga,” a series of stretching behaviors, we use what’s called a target pole to communicate with the elephants where we’d like them to move certain body parts. Our target poles are really just wooden handles with duct tape rolled onto the ends of them. We just use them to point from a safe distance. Missy will use her trunk to move the target pole down to a lower height that’s easier for her to reach. It’s a little like cheating, but at 56, Missy is definitely allowed to cheat a little.
Training and taking care of Missy provides our team with some unique challenges, most of which are age-related. Consistent with her advanced age, she is blind in her left eye, has some challenges with dead skin build up, and no longer has a full set of teeth. We’re constantly making adjustments to the ways that we care for Missy as she ages. Missy receives hay that is chopped up into small pieces by a hay shredder, so she doesn’t have to chew as much. She also gets different food reinforcers that don’t need to be chewed during training like timothy hay cubes that we soak in water, bread and wafer cookies, sparingly. She also gets a bath twice a week when the weather is nice to help her get rid of some of the extra skin that builds up on her back. We use a hose with warm water, soap specially made for animals and a scrub brush to help her take care of her skin. After she’s finished getting rinsed by us, Missy likes to reapply her layer of dirt and mud that protects her skin from the sun and bugs. All of these adjustments are made possible by collaboration with multiple teams across the Zoo that allow us to give Missy the best care possible.
One of the things I appreciate the most about Missy is that she is an excellent teacher. When I first started training elephants, Missy provided a teaching moment in just about every training session. She is an elephant who knows the routine and very much likes to stick to it. If you move too slowly while training her, she won’t wait for you and moves on to the next behavior. Missy is also very focused on where you stand and how you move while training her, which can be especially important because of her vision deficit. Missy taught me how to be an adaptable trainer who can clearly communicate with her. She taught me to problem solve in the moment to make adjustments if the training session is starting to get off course.
Beyond being a strong teacher of the fundamentals, Missy is also exceptional at teaching some of the more challenging skills that an elephant keeper needs to know. All of the elephants that we care for are trained to participate in their own health care. This can look like voluntarily participating in a blood draw where we collect blood from the backs of their ears, presenting their feet for us to trim their nails and foot pads, or injections for vaccines. Missy is the first elephant I ever gave an injection to or drew blood from. She is patient and will stay in position while you are learning these new skills. She will stand extremely still with her mouth open while a trainer gives her some of her favorite treats like marshmallows and bread in a “direct-deposit” style straight into her mouth. This allows time to learn these new skills with the help of a capable mentor.
The best time to see Missy in our main elephant yard is in the mornings between 10 and 11:30 a.m. on days when the temperature is 40 degrees or warmer. The best way to get up close and personal with Missy is to come to our elephant hydration experience. As she has been having some “off days” recently, she doesn’t always choose to participate, and we support her choices. When she does want to participate, for $10-15, you can give Missy a cup or two of glacier freeze electrolyte drink (her favorite flavor) into her trunk. Some of these funds even go towards supporting Tsavo Trust, a conservation organization dedicated to maintaining protected areas that provide elephants with habitats in Kenya. Our elephant and rhino experiences raise around $75,000 annually for Tsavo Trust. Missy takes turns participating in the hydration with her best friend LouLou. There isn’t a set schedule for who participates on a given day, but we typically alternate every day. This chance happening makes it even more special for anyone who does get to meet Missy.
I would not be where I am today without Missy’s patience and the continuing support of great human and elephant mentors on my team. I feel grateful every day to work with such an amazing animal and to have the support of such a great team.
I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with an elephant like Missy every single day, and it is a truly wonderful experience working with a team that is always trying new things to help Missy continue to age gracefully. I feel like every day with Missy is a gift. We’ve been fortunate that Missy has been in such great health for so long, but just like every other animal at the Zoo, there is a point when the quality of care can only extend her life so long.
Given that she’s recently having more ‘off days’ than she used to, we are now very focused on continuing to help Missy live comfortably and provide her as many reinforcing opportunities as possible, while also being realistic that there is no cure for old age. Hopefully, the next time you come to the Zoo, you’ll come and see Missy!