Background: My friend Jessica P. mentioned months ago that she had found that the Indianapolis Zoo had an experience package that included bathing an elephant. I came home and told Howard, who not only remembered but surprised me with it as an early birthday present! I'm torn between sharing the experience and keeping it as a quiet gem to share with ellie-loving friends. I haven't seen a similar experience offered at any other zoo.
We drove over on Saturday morning, the day before our scheduled bath. We arrived just in time to see the Saturday bath. The zoo offers an "Elephant Bathing Demonstration" daily during the summer months at 1:30pm, in the outdoor arena. The keepers man the hoses and conduct the bath, assisted by four "guest bathers". I'm so glad we saw the demo before participating so I knew what to expect. The elephant comes out in free contact, escorted by keepers. The guest bathers are specifically not allowed near the elephant when she is entering the area or executing commands. The ellie comes in, greets the crowd, and proceeds to get a drink and then be hosed down by the keepers. 
Then, they ask her to lie down so she can have her head and the top of her back scrubbed. Enter the bathers! Armed with soft rubber elephant scrubbers, they actually stand there and scrub a dub dub the elephant, who seems to really enjoy it! After several minutes, the bather step aside into the safe zone and the ellie is asked to stand up.
More hosing takes place, then the bathers are asked to come back in and scrub the sides and legs of the elephant. After the final rinse, the elephant shows her molars to the crowd as the keepers give some elephant facts about teeth and tusks. Then, the elephant goes to the side of the area so that everyone in attendance can come by and touch an elephant!
Wow! I'm not sure how I feel about this. I know here at home even all the keepers don't touch all the elephants... it is a very tight circle of trust and an honor to work with and engage with our animals. Here in Indy any snot-nosed kid with sticky fingers can touch an ellie? As the line forms, I find the guest bathers and ask them about their experience. They all had a great time and are still in shock and awe, even the surly teenager who appeared to have been dragged along. Moral dilemna be damned, Howard and I get in line to TOUCH AN ELEPHANT! I feel better that the keepers are right there, with eyes in the back of their head, being very specific about how and where to touch our elephant, a 35-year-old female named Tombi. Ewwwww! Tombi feels tough, like a wet, deflated basketball (thank you Tiffany A. for the best description!) She is also very hairy, and smells kind of like the elephant equivalent of wet dog.
I can't believe we are going to get to do this! We spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the zoo (details to come in a separate entry).
Fast forward to Sunday. We have just spent a couple hours watching the elephants in their exhibit, playing in the rain. The babies have been conceived by artificial insemination. There are small children walking by, saying "where's the daddy?" Well honey, daddy was an eye dropper/test tube! There is NOTHING cuter than a baby elephant. Nyah is only two months old (daughter of Ivory) and Kalina is 1 year old (daughter of Kubwa). These are very happy elephants... running, playing, splashing, interacting with each other in the family grouping...
Howard and I report to the designated location for elephant orientation at least 45 minutes early, to enjoy the comfy couches and rain-free environment. Howard promptly falls asleep! An education department employee has us sign waiver forms and introduces us to the other participants, a couple of kids from Carmel, IN who are are doing this in honor of her 18th birthday. With my knowledge of yesterday's bath, I immediately suggest that the birthday girls should get to wash the front of the elephant and the boys should take the rear.
We are walked out to the arena through a behind-the-scenes road. For exercise, they actually walk their elephants on this road daily to emulate the travel that they would get in the wild. We come up to the arena and wait anxiously for the arrival of our dirty elephant. She finally arrives ... Tombi, the same elephant as yesterday. Turns out Tombi and one other ellie do most of the contact work with guests as they have the personality/temperament for it. We are asked to step over into the safe zone so Tombi can enter the bathing area. The demo has the exact script and pacing as the previous day, but the keepers don't treat it as routine. They are all actively engaged, ad-libbing, interacting with the elephant, the guest bathers and the audience members.
Tombi stands facing the crowd and each couple gets a side to wash. I'm laughing to myself as my father-in-law said "don't forget to wash behind her ears." I had the chance to do just that! The keeper asked me to stop for a second and gave the command "Tombi, ear" and she extended her massive ear out at a 90 degree angle so I could wash the back of it and behind it! Let's see any other mammal do that!
I really enjoy washing her knees for some reason, enjoying the wrinkly appearance (like the old pantihose commercial -- look, the elephant has wrinkly knees and ankles, just like mom!). Again, time goes way too quickly.
As we are finishing and most of the crowd has disappeared, a mom and kids appear, having just MISSED the one daily opp to see the elephant bathing. The keepers take the time to let the kids touch Tombi and also have Tombi show them how she can lift not only one foot but two feet at the same time! This was so nice of the keepers, to take the extra few minutes to make the day for these children. It helps too that the mom didn't ask.... she was very appreciative and the kids were polite and charming.
Off to celebrate with a cold drink and then finish out our day with the dolphin show!
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