At the end of February, Malaika, one of six aging female African elephants at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, was experiencing increasing mobility issues and severe changes in her appetite. After a few days of close monitoring and treatments to help her symptoms, she started to bounce back and has since continued to trend in the right direction. Although her team is happy to see her improve, they’re realistic, because Malaika – like all of the elephants at CMZoo – will have challenges for the rest of her life. Malaika has a lifelong issue with bowing and lack of strength in right rear leg, which is worsening as she ages.

“Some people are surprised to hear that our elephants deal with some kind of ailment, from time to time, but that’s why they’re here with us,” said Jason Bredahl, Encounter Africa animal care manager. “Our elephant center was designed specifically to care for aging female elephants and to help them with physical challenges as they age. Our keepers and veterinary staff are some of the most knowledgeable elephant experts in the profession. With our experience and the support of our colleagues, our Golden Girls are in great hands here. They’re living their best lives with us.”

Malaika is one of six “Golden Girls” in Encounter Africa, along with Missy, Kimba, Lucky, Jambo and LouLou. They’re all African elephants, but have unique personalities and some distinguishable physical features that help CMZoo visitors recognize and enjoy their individual personalities.

At 52, Missy is one of the oldest African elephants in human care in accredited zoos. She’s often in the yard with LouLou, 39, who is the easiest elephant to identify because she doesn’t have tusks. Kimba, 44, and Jambo, 39, are the largest of the group, weighing around 8,500 pounds each. Lucky, 43, is an enthusiastic mud wallower, and can be seen covering herself with mud in the yards. Malaika, 36, is one of the sassiest in the herd, who frequently carries logs, tires and puzzle feeders. She usually prefers to spend solo time in one of their many exhibit spaces at the Zoo, but hangs out with Kimba and Lucky for social time, too.

Just like humans, the health of each elephant is individual, sometimes regardless of age or environment. Malaika, the youngest of the herd, has experienced perhaps the most life-threatening issues and Missy, the eldest, has been in relatively good health for her age. The elephant care team works to help them comfortably enjoy their golden years, knowing that things can change quickly for them and that even our specialized care has its limits.

“There’s quite a range in their ages, and it’s not necessarily true that the older elephants need more specialized care than their younger friends do,” said Bredahl. “Over time, some have experienced weak limbs or digestive issues, some have arthritis, some have issues with their feet or tusks, and some have all of the above. We work to proactively lessen the impact of expected age-related issues and address anything else that pops up along the way.”

The dedicated Encounter Africa keepers, along with Bredahl, know these elephants like members of their own family. They work so closely with the ladies that they can usually ‘just tell’ if something is off, based on knowing each elephant’s individual behaviors and routines.

“We develop the skills to read their individual behaviors and know their patterns and tendencies,” said Bredahl. “We definitely have bonds with them and can usually tell what kind of a day they’re having based on their responses to training or enrichment activities. The equipment in our elephant center allows us to provide specialized care for them, but our relationships with the elephants guide those care plans, too.”

The Wilgruen Elephant Center, in Encounter Africa, at CMZoo is like a retirement community for elder elephants in the zoo world. This team and environment provide the very best in aging elephant care. Elements of the specialized elephant center include rubberized flooring, natural substrate throughout most of the barn, surveillance that allows the team to check on the ladies overnight, and spaces with activities designed to keep them moving.

The team consistently monitors each elephant’s daily behaviors, too. The elephant care team assesses and documents each elephant every day, so they can spot any trends that need to be addressed. Keepers track each elephant’s appetite, their mobility and interest in training, for example, along with individual indicators that reveal progress or declines in specific ailments, like a stiff knee or ongoing digestive issue. The team reviews each elephant’s data regularly, and makes adjustments to their environment, treatments or routines with hopes to maintain their quality of life.

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One of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s most specialized animal areas is the home of our beloved African elephant herd. Jambo (38), Malaika (35), Lucky (41), LouLou (38), Kimba (42) and Missy (51) make up the herd, and each has her own obstacles to face.

Just like humans, the health of each elephant is individual, sometimes regardless of age or environment. Malaika, the youngest of the herd, has experienced perhaps the most life-threatening issues and Missy, the eldest, has been in relatively good health for her age. The elephant care team works to help them comfortably enjoy their golden years, knowing that things change quickly for them and that even our specialized care has its limits.

“There’s quite a range in their ages, and it’s not necessarily true that the older elephants need more specialized care than their younger friends do,” said Jason Bredahl, Encounter Africa animal care manager. “Some have weak limbs, or digestive issues, some have arthritis, some have issues with their feet or tusks, and some have all of the above. We work to proactively lessen the impact of expected age-related issues and try to treat anything else that pops up along the way.”

The Wilgruen Elephant Center has a special crane system that can lift a disabled elephant. Twice those systems have saved Malaika’s life when she stumbled, fell onto her side and couldn’t stand up on her own – an event that can be fatal for elephants. Once in January 2018 and again in April 2019, the team used the barn’s crane system to lift her back onto her feet.

Both of those falls happened without warning, so the team is realistic about it potentially happening again. Although CMZoo has been able to save Malaika twice, it is incredibly lucky that she’s been able to recover both times.

“It really is an honor to work with these girls, because we know we’re supporting them in their third and final act,” said Bredahl. “Their issues are ongoing and can worsen without much warning. For now, they have more good days than bad days. When those bad days inevitably come back around, we’re prepared to care for them and make decisions that are best for them.”

As their issues worsen with age, the team looks for ways to help the girls continue to live their best lives for as long as possible.

An important part of their care routine is rest, but not all elephants lie down to sleep. For Malaika, who doesn’t appear to trust her ability to lie down and get up successfully, the team provides things for her to rest against. In the past, she’s rested with logs, tractor tires or sand piles. Malaika gets her rest by leaning against things to sleep while standing. In the coming weeks, the team will try providing a mostly soil substrate pile for Malaika, to see if she’s more confident leaning against it than the sand piles she’s used previously.

Another important aspect of their ongoing care is encouraging the girls to exercise, explore and play. The elephants can explore their walking path, splash and relax in their pool or spend time in their vacation yard, among other spaces available to them.

“We work to provide environments that keep the herd moving, because just like all of us, a body in motion stays in motion,” said Bredahl. “We also provide enrichment that encourages them to stretch, bend and move throughout every day, and we typically ask the girls to shift every one to two hours into a new space, which keeps them walking and provides new mentally and physically stimulating activities, spaces and enrichment for them to explore.”

There is a space for the elephants that guests can’t see during a visit to the Zoo – a 2-acre field, known as the vacation yard, where the elephants can roam freely in the tall grass, pulling up vegetation, stripping bark from branches and knocking trees over as they please. During the warmer months, it’s not uncommon to find Bredahl sitting in the field on the other side of the fence, watching the ladies relax in a light summer rain.

In addition to the exercise and stimulation the girls get from shifting to new locations, all of the CMZoo elephants participate in daily ‘elephant yoga.’ The routines focus on overall flexibility and strengthening while addressing any problem areas the individuals may have. The elephants are also trained to take voluntary pills and/or injections, when necessary, that help reduce inflammation and pain from arthritis and other ailments.

“It’s a balance, caring for older animals, because we love them and want them to live forever,” said Bredahl. “We work hard to do all we can, proactively, to keep them able and comfortable, but we also know that there comes a point that you recognize that you have done all you can. That’s when we make the hardest, but the most compassionate decisions.”

Guests can get up close to these impressive animal ambassadors every day from March through October, as long as weather permits, at CMZoo’s elephant feeding experiences. From 11 to 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 to 3 p.m., guests can pay $10 to $15 per bundle of produce, and feed an elephant from about four feet away. The Zoo typically contributes $25,000 annually from these feeding experiences to its frontline elephant and rhino conservation partner, Tsavo Trust.

Tsavo Trust is a field-based non-profit organization that uses aerial surveillance and on-the-ground field efforts to protect elephants, rhinos and other wildlife in Tsavo National Park, the largest national park in Kenya. The organization was founded to help protect the last of the big tuskers, which are likely the last viable genetic pool of African elephants with tusks weighing more than 100 pounds each. The park is also home to a number of black rhino sanctuaries established by the Kenya Wildlife Service and supported by the Zoological Society of London.

Just by visiting the Zoo, guests can consider themselves conservation warriors. Through the Quarters for Conservation program, 75¢ of every admission goes to conservation partners, including Tsavo Trust. Small change makes a big difference. Since 2008, those quarters have added up to more than $3 million for conservation, now averaging half a million dollars per year in conservation contributions.

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The Wilgruen Elephant Center in Encounter Africa is home to six African elephants named Jambo (37), Malaika (34), Lucky (40), LouLou (38), Kimba (42) and Missy (51). All of these precious pachyderms are considered to be advanced in age, and that’s no coincidence. Our ‘Golden Girls,’ as we affectionately call them, are the beneficiaries of a vision that CMZoo had years ago.

“We saw a need in the greater zoo community to provide a home for aging elephants,” said Dr. Liza Dadone, vice president of mission and programs. “Many zoos provide wonderful homes for young and breeding-age elephants, but weren’t specifically equipped to care for the age-related issues these massive creatures inevitably experience in their later years. We saw that as an opportunity to step up and create an environment and wellness program that could help them live their best lives in their golden years.”

The Wilgruen Elephant Center in Encounter Africa is a state-of-the-art facility designed to help address the complications that come with aging multi-ton animals that need medical assistance. Equipment includes a remote video surveillance system, a crane-and-hoist system that can lift a disabled elephant, and a care program that provides a safe area for weighing, veterinary care and husbandry training. In addition to the sand that staff bring into the barn to provide cushioning substrate, areas of the barn floors are rubberized concrete which helps ease the pressure of their impressive weight on their aging joints.

“Malaika is one of our best known elephants because of the issues she’s been able to overcome thanks to our team’s expertise and the equipment in the barn, like the crane-and-hoist system that has saved her life twice since January 2018,” said Dr. Dadone. “As she continues to navigate these issues, we work with the elephant experts at CMZoo and other organizations to try innovative ways to address them.”

On April 1, 2019, Malaika was, for the second time, found lying on her side and unable to get up during an overnight check. If an elephant can’t get up on its own and is down for too long, it can cause stress to its internal organs and can be fatal.

Some elephants are able to lie down and get back up with no problem, but some, like Malaika, don’t lie down and instead will lean on objects for rest. This is partially due to a life-long issue with bowing and lack of strength in her back right leg, which is worsening as she ages.

Both times she fell, the Zoo’s emergency response team used the barn’s hoist system to help Malaika into a sternal position (on her belly, with legs in a better position to stand). Malaika was then able to stand on her own. Since then, her care team, including her keepers and veterinary staff, monitor her for any additional medical concerns, and use innovative methods to help her rest, gain flexibility and strengthen her core muscles.

Malaika and all of the CMZoo elephants participate in daily voluntary physical therapy, which we call ‘elephant yoga.’ The routines focus on overall flexibility and strengthening while addressing any problem areas the individuals may have. For Malaika, that means working on core strength and flexibility, as well as teaching her to trust and use some of the items we give her to encourage rest.

“All of the girls participate in elephant yoga daily,” said Jason Bredahl, Encounter Africa animal care manager. “They get really excited when it’s their turn to train with their keepers. They do exercises like downward dog – or downward elephant – and do repetitions of lifting and holding their legs, heads and trunks in a stretched position for an extended period of time. Over the years, we’ve seen their flexibility improve, but some of their long-term issues continue to present challenges.”

The team also offers sand piles, large tires and boulders to Malaika and encourages her to lean against them with positive reinforcement training. Elephants are incredibly intelligent and observant, but the sand piles’ purpose isn’t an easy thing to communicate to Malaika. To encourage her to trust the sand pile’s ability to support her, the team incorporates the piles into her existing training. During her physical therapy routine, they ask her for behaviors she knows, but close to or on top of the sand. Asking Malaika to position herself with her belly on a small pile is hopefully helping her recognize the relief it can provide by taking some of her nearly 8,000 pounds of body weight off of her legs and feet.

“We’re working on building her confidence in leaning against them to rest, since she doesn’t lie down,” said Bredahl. “Since we first started working with one sand pile last fall, we have extended them into most of the barn. Part of strengthening her body to recover from or avoid a fall is also making sure she’s resting. We’ve seen some progress with her leaning against the piles, and we’re hopeful that will continue and improve. Because she has fallen twice now, we train her and ourselves to be prepared for another fall, even though we hope that doesn’t happen again.”

Zoo staff performs drills to practice and test protocols for situations like a fall. Using huge bags containing tons of sand, the team holds timed training sessions. The team springs into action as they would during a real event, engaging the hoist-and-crane system in the barn to secure the nylon lifting straps beneath the bag and raise it up, as they would with an elephant who couldn’t get up on her own. These emergency practice events help the team stay familiar with the equipment and the pressure associated with a real crisis.

Even with all of the emergency equipment and training in place, the team believes preventive care is the best way to keep the girls healthy.

“We work to provide an environment that keeps the herd moving, because just like all of us, a body in motion stays in motion,” said Bredahl. “We provide enrichment throughout every day, and we move the girls every one to two hours into a new space, which keeps them walking and provides new opportunities, interesting spaces and enrichment for them to explore.”

As well as their daily yoga, the girls get consistent exercise with a variety of spaces, both inside the barn and outside in their yards. Outdoor features include a quarter-mile walking path, built-in enrichment activities that encourage natural behaviors like stretching high and lifting heavy items such as logs, a pool big enough to swim and relax in, a waterfall and pond, mud bathing in a large mud wallow, varied terrain to keep muscles fit moving up and down hills, a training yard, and a 2-acre off-exhibit vacation yard, where the Zoo’s elephants can take a break from their duties as animal ambassadors and roam the forest – often doing their own versions of landscaping, like knocking down trees and pulling up fresh grass and branches to snack on.

Veterinary care is also a big part of elephant care. The herd participates in voluntary blood draws for diagnostics, laser therapy, tusk and foot care. Lucky has struggled with an issue in her rear right leg that causes her to ‘lock’ her knee when she walks. She is able to bend her knee – and does frequently as a focus of her customized physical therapy – but chooses to keep her leg straight the majority of time she’s exploring on her own. This causes an abnormal gait which leads to more wear on one side of her foot that her care team monitors daily. Malaika is similar to Lucky in that she wears more of her right rear foot pad due to her bowed leg.

“We work with a farrier team to create ‘shoes,’ for many of our animals, including giraffe and Malaika and Lucky,” said Dr. Dadone. “The leather shoes are adhered with a nontoxic glue and help prevent wounds to Lucky’s and Malaika’s foot. When one side of a foot gets more wear and tear, it can cause their naturally thick skin to wear down to more delicate skin, which we need to protect from potential infection and the pain they could experience from irritating that more sensitive skin.”

The shoes, treatments and physical therapy to address these issues help the elephants remain active and comfortable, but the team acknowledges that they may never be able to fully correct these issues.

“All of the elephants are monitored with daily quality-of-life markers,” said Dr. Dadone. “We look for things like appetite, activity, social interactions with the rest of the herd, how many times per day they’re bending a problem joint or not, and any indications that they’re not able to enjoy life as an elephant. The data, over time, helps us make decisions that ensure our elephants are living the fullest lives they possibly can.”

If you’ve ever visited #CMZoo and our herd of six African elephants, you can consider yourself a conservation warrior. Through our Quarters for Conservation program, 75¢ of every admission goes to conservation partners, like Tsavo Trust – a field-based non-profit organization that uses aerial surveillance and on-the-ground field efforts to protect elephants, rhinos and other wildlife in Tsavo National Park, the largest national park in Kenya. Small change makes a big difference. Since 2008, those quarters have added up to more than $3 million for conservation – a milestone the Zoo celebrated at the end of July. Tsavo Trust was founded to help protect the last of the big tuskers, which are likely the last viable genetic pool of African elephants with tusks weighing more than 100 pounds each. The park is also home to a number of black rhino sanctuaries established by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KSW) and supported by the Zoological Society of London.

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