Yoga Lessons for Elephants at Houston Zoo – Headstand included

US state of Texas
Houston zoo offers daily yoga classes for elephants – including headstands

At the Houston Zoo, the twelve elephants complete a daily yoga program. The stretching exercises are intended to keep the pachyderms fit and help the animal keepers to check the health of the animals.

The elephant lady Tess effortlessly bends forward, supports herself on her front legs and lifts her body, which weighs almost 3000 kilograms, into the air. The handstand is part of a daily exercise program that the Houston Zoo offers its 12 elephants. The series of static and dynamic stretching exercises “stimulates your brain and body – similar to yoga,” the zoo said in a recent press release. The videos on which the Pachyderms doing their exercises have long been a TikTok hit.

Kristen Windle, the zoo’s elephant manager, told the Houston Chronicle that the “yoga sessions” are important to loosen the animals’ joints. In the wild, the animals migrate up to ten kilometers a day. In the zoo, on the other hand, they spend most of the day standing.

Elephants are trained as early as four months after they are born

In the animal park in the US state of Texas, the elephants are accustomed to physical exercises from an early age. At four months of age, babies begin their “yoga practice” by playing with a tennis ball attached to a broomstick. Before that, however, it is important for the animals to trust the people: the animal keepers regularly lay their hands on the elephants, repeatedly addressing the animals by their names. “We want them to feel comfortable when we touch them,” Kristen Windle tells the Houston Chronicle. Later, the zoo staff uses the pole with the tennis ball to teach the animals the various movements. The elephants learn to move the part of their body that the keepers touch with the tennis ball, for example by stretching their leg to the side or lifting it.

On site

Crime Academy in South Africa
They are tired of counting dead animals – and finally want to convict the poachers

06/10/2023

As the “Washington Postreported, over the next few months, the elephants will develop more advanced movements, including the “downward-facing dog,” one of the most well-known yoga poses, which involves anchoring the feet and hands to the ground and raising the back upwards. Over time, the elephants will obey Elephants obey the handlers’ gestures and verbal cues so that the trainers stop using the stick.As part of their exercise, the elephants raise their front and rear feet, balance on two feet, and stretch while lying on the ground.

Yoga exercises mimic natural movements

Most exercises mimic movements they would perform in the wild, reports the Houston Chronicle. The elephant manager explains to the newspaper: “They are constantly climbing, lying down, getting up and throwing things on their backs. The things we do are part of their natural movements.” The “yoga units” are voluntary, emphasizes the zoo employee: “If you don’t want to participate or want to stop, you can simply walk away.” The reward – a banana, a piece of wholemeal bread or a sweet potato as a change from the diet of hay and bark – seems enough motivation for the animals to participate in the stretching program.

The animal keepers treat each elephant individually. While two-year-old Teddy is still learning to identify his body parts, 40-year-old Tess practices her handstand every day. “She’s definitely our most flexible,” says Kristen WindleHouston ChronicleThe zoo’s oldest elephant, 54-year-old Methai, who suffers from arthritis and therefore moves more slowly and sluggishly than the rest of his herd, is given extra exercise to improve his walking and sleeping skills.

The pachyderm’s stretching program lasts between 30 seconds and five minutes and is part of their daily health check-up. “They learn these behaviors so we can monitor their overall health,” Kristen Windle told the Washington Post. As the elephants perform their exercises, Windle observes the movements and the bodies. Keepers can “take a full look at her entire body, from rump to tail, and check her range of motion,” the statement said communication of the zoo.

With the training, they can therefore determine exactly how the animals are doing. “We can learn a lot about our elephants in these important meetings,” emphasizes the elephant manager. And the animals can learn a lot from it too. Because the exercises should also keep the pachyderms mentally fit. “We want them to keep learning new things,” Kristen Windle tells the Houston Chronicle. “They are really smart and want to work all the time.”

Sources: “Houston Chronicle“, Houston Zoo“Washington Post“, “Southgerman newspaper“