The column "School of the Young Zoo Correspondent" congratulates Shanti the elephant on his birthday!

Young zoo biologists visited the birthday boy and present their new article to your attention.

"Since 2019, an elephant named Shanti has been living in Mykolaiv Zoo. He was born in Germany, then moved to Hungary, and only then to our zoo. It was handed over for keeping and exhibition so that visitors to Mykolaiv Zoo could look at this wonderful, large, beautiful and intelligent animal. This elephant can be called a traveler, because he visited five zoos.

Shanti the Asian elephant turns 15 on May 6! By nature, this giant is calm and benevolent, unlike his friend, the brawler Dinkar. Shanti is more obedient and balanced, he is very inquisitive and follows commands well. Shanti and Dinkar like to play together, despite the differences in their personalities. They like to play and swim in the pool together. Dinkar and Shanti have two specially designed enclosures, a summer enclosure with a pool and a warm winter enclosure with floor heating, where they stay during the cold season.

Shanti is an Asian elephant, although it is smaller than an African elephant, you should not underestimate it. A male Asian elephant can weigh up to 5 tons and be up to 3.5 meters tall. Although the elephant looks friendly from a distance, it should not be forgotten that it is a wild animal with unpredictable behavior, so you should not approach the elephant at a short distance. Elephants are strong and majestic animals, but they can be dangerous, so the most responsible employees work with them in the zoo.

Shanti can follow some commands and get treats in return. Shanti knows certain commands, but they must be repeated with him every day so that he does not forget them. Teams are needed to make it easier for employees to take care of them. This is necessary in order for the elephant to be at least somehow in contact with people, so that they can give him help if necessary, measure the temperature, take blood and, of course, take care of the limbs. Therefore, the employees were told what commands he knows, and they are also learning new ones. Shanti knows commands in different languages: German, English and Ukrainian.

Elephants are big animals, of course, they also eat a lot, about 100 kg of food per day. An important role is played by roughage such as: twigs, hay, grass. And of course, they eat fruits and vegetables: watermelons, melons, carrots, apples, etc.

Elephants are the largest terrestrial representatives of the animal world. Not only is their size and strength impressive, they are surprisingly intelligent and sociable. Currently, wild Asian elephants are under threat of extinction. Over the past 150 years, elephant numbers have declined due to the huge demand for tusks, which has led to a catastrophic decline in elephant numbers.

Elephants are very intelligent animals that need protection and care!"

(The authors are young zoo biologists Milada Strushlyak, Dasha Zhorzha, Miliena Chernova, Valeriya Tarasenko, Dasha Kurbatova and Damir Suleymanov)