Elephants may love the warm, but that did not stop this playful two-year-old from frolicking in the snow.
Asian elephant Yindi, born in 2020, clearly loved the white stuff as she ran around and even used what appeared to be a rather-squashed ball as a toy to kick around.
Speaking to Newsflash, a caretaker from DierenPark Amersfoort in the Netherlands said the footage was shot on 23rd January in the zoo’s ‘Rijk der Reuzen’ elephant enclosure.
The keeper, not named, said the sight of Yindi romping around in the white stuff showed she was having a great time.
They said: “She couldn’t get enough of it. Elephants like warmth, but she chose to explore the snow anyway.
“It it is one of the challenges we face on how you keep animals active and healthy.
“The answer is by challenging them to show their natural behaviour. In technical terms, this is called ‘enriching their behaviour’.
“In DierenPark Amersfoort, biologists and animal caretakers come up with all kinds of ideas to tempt the animals to behave naturally.
“In this case, the snow also provides a nice enrichment for Yindi. She discovers the white layer in the enclosure and uses it to play in it. You can see that she is very curious.”
Although snow is not normal for elephants to experience, Yindi managed to see it before, in 2021.
Under the watchful eyes of her relatives, she can be seen kicking the flattened object around the enclosure.
The zookeeper said the elephants Yindi lives with are all female because elephant herds always consist of only females.
The keeper added: “She lives with mother Kina and grandmother Indra. The boss of the herd is Indra and she is the matriarch.”
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Story By: Daniel Kamberski, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Newsflash
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