Supporting the Elephant Blood Bank

September 28, 2021

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a naturally occurring virus of elephants in the wild and in zoos. Historically, the virus has been associated with only Asian elephants; however, African elephants are increasingly affected by the virus. A latent, or hidden, phase can reside in an elephant no signs or symptoms. When it comes out of latency and circulates in the bloodstream, EEHV causes severe disease and often rapid death, especially in weaned calves. While there is no cure for EEHV, the elephant community, led by veterinarians and researchers working in and with AZA-accredited zoos, is learning more about the virus and how to manage it, increasing survival rates. Elephants with EEHV require aggressive treatment with antivirals, intravenous fluids, and often blood products.Although Genny C, Lilac, and Moki do not have EEHV, and due to their age, are at very low risk, they can still help their counterparts who may be at risk. Because our elephants voluntarily participate in their own health care, especially allowing their blood to be taken, Seneca Park Zoo is to contribute to an “elephant blood bank” formed by a consortium of zoos housing elephants.

Genny C recently became our first donor, allowing us to take about 1 liter of her blood. The blood was collected into a special bag containing anticoagulants to keep the blood from clotting, and nutrients to maintain the red blood cells. Thanks to our friends at Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Services, this blood was spun in a special centrifuge, and separated into RBCs and fresh frozen plasma (FFP). We can store the RBCs for 5 months and the FFP for a year, and if an elephant becomes ill with EEHV, or any disease that requires blood products, we can send these products to help with their treatment.

The high quality of our veterinary care program, coupled with our excellent positive reinforcement training program and Genny C, Lilac, and Moki’s relationship with their keepers, allows Seneca Park Zoo to continue to contribute to the larger zoo community!

– Dr. Louis DiVincenti, Assistant Zoo Director – Animal Care and ConservationDonate

Happy [Belated] Birthday to African Elephant Moki!

Sept 22, 2021

Summer flew by (too fast in our opinion) but in light of Elephant Week we had to take a moment and celebrate a special birthday that happened over it. In July, a favorite lady of mine turned 39 years old – Moki the African Elephant! Our largest lady, weighing in around 9000 pounds, loves to spend her day eating. She is a food connoisseur and every time we check on the herd, she always comes over to see if we have anything tasty. Besides being our largest elephant, a great way to tell her apart is that she has the longest tusks! Tusks are modified incisor teeth that continuously grow throughout an elephant’s life. In the wild, elephants are poached for their ivory tusks, which along with human-elephant conflict, is the major threat to elephant conservation. Moki is also our only elephant who knows a behavior to make a noise from her trunk and waves – it is very cute to see!Moki was orphaned in Zimbabwe and brought over to the US. She lived at a few zoos before joining us in 2015 and has been a loved addition ever since. Here are her team’s favorite things about her 🙂

“She’s very observant and always keeps us on our toes.” – Lindsay, Assistant Curator of Hoofstock

“She tries to communicate with you by showing you what she wants.” – Jenna, Zoologist

“She’s got the tiniest voice when she speaks. I also love her beach ball body!” – Tina, Zoologist

“Moki is always willing to participate with me when asking for behaviors.” – Mike, Zookeeper

“I love that her tongue sticks out when she’s sucking on treats!” – Kat, Zookeeper

Next time you are visiting the zoo, please give Moki a wave and let us know your favorite things about her!

– Zoo Keeper Hanna Kaiser

*Banner photo by Hanna Kaiser

Supporting Elephant Conservation with IEF

September 22, 2021

During our Elephant Week, we are supporting the wonderful conservation organization International Elephant Foundation (IEF) which is dedicated to the conservation of African and Asian elephants worldwide. There are multiple projects occurring within this organization that our zoo is a part of! The first is The Mounted Horse Patrol Team (MHPT) in Mount Kenya. We have been supporting this project since 2015. Having a patrol team on horses allows the team to travel faster and further into the park. They are responsible for protecting approximately 54,800 hectares of habitat that is home to around 13,000 elephants. This team has and continues to catch and arrest poachers, remove snares placed by poachers, and provide educational opportunities to students and community members.The second project that we support is one that is focused on sustaining local support for elephant conservation near Ruaha, Tanzania. They focus on supporting the local community and educating them on how to positively coexist with their local wildlife through creating conservation curriculums, creating opportunities for the communities to see their local wildlife in a positive setting, and more!

The last project that we support is enabling human-elephant coexistence through applied research and stakeholder engagement in Botswana. They created “Living with Elephants” workshops and presented them in 4 communities and 8 cattle posts. These workshops teach community members human-elephant coexistence strategies and allows researchers to learn from those members as they report their experiences.

IEF is doing really great work for elephants. That’s why we want to continue to support them! Please donate what you can and every $5 donated earns you a chance to win a painting done by one of our elephant friends here at the zoo!

– Zoo Keeper Hanna KaiserDonate

* Banner photo by Zoo Keeper Kat Kleinschmidt