Trunks on for an elephant pool party!
Monday 16 August 2010
Keepers at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo are pulling out the stops for Donna the elephant’s first birthday
Everyone loves a summer birthday, and what better way to enjoy it than with a pool party?
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s female baby elephant Donna has been celebrating her first birthday this week – and keepers were determined to splash out on her.
They bought her a paddling pool that was just her size and Donna got her first ever bath!
It was a wet and wild affair, as Donna got to grips with poolside protocol outside in her seven acre paddock. And while it was Donna’s party there’s every chance little half-brother George, just three months old, will join in the fun.
Head elephant keeper, Lee Sambrook, said: "The idea of a pool party is all a bit of fun but the elephants always enjoy playing with water.
"We were so proud when Donna was born that her first birthday is just as much of a milestone for the elephant keepers as it is for her.”
Donna was born on July 23 2009 to mum Kaylee, 28, and weighed in at a healthy 126kg (almost 20st). Adult elephants can weigh over 800st.
