Monday 10 August 2009

Gay, the 40-year-old Asian elephant, gets £500 slippers

Gay, a 40-year-old Asian elephant, has become the best dressed zoo inhabitant in Britain after her keepers at Paignton Zoo fitted her with a pair of £500 slippers.

Published: 6:29PM BST 10 Aug 2009

Gay has been suffering from painful abscesses on her front feet for the past few months so her keepers at the Devon zoo decided to commission some footwear.

At £250 each, the shoes did not come cheap but they do feature elephant-proof laces.

They were made by Aussie Dog - a specialist company that has worked with elephants across South East Asia.

Each boot is about 40 centimetres in diameter and to make a good fit keepers had to draw an outline around each foot to make patterns that were sent off to Australia.

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park curator of mammals Neil Bemment said that Gay also gets regular pedicures and antibiotic foot baths, and has aloe-vera rubbed into her feet to decrease swelling and provide pain relief.

"Gay is nearly 40 years old that's middle-aged for an elephant - and weighs around four tonnes. Some elephants can be prone to foot problems," he said.

"Her welfare is our prime concern, so we decided to have these protective boots made which will help in the treatment of her front feet.

"We encourage the elephants to exercise as much as possible by scattering their food outside and providing environmental enrichment, but they are not always keen. Given the choice they prefer to spend more time indoors as this gives them closer contact with the keepers, however the floor - up until now - has been smooth concrete, unlike the paddock, which is softer sand and earth."

Now, one hundred tonnes of sand has been put down in the elephant house and rubber mating provided to give Gay softer surfaces underfoot and to make it easier for her to get up again should she choose to lie down.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6004913/Gay-the-40-year-old-Asian-elephant-gets-500-slippers.html

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