Trina

Trina – 33 yr. old female African Elephant – in-person communication.

Trina has always been an outsider. Her keepers and her vet at the zoo are often concerned for her safety and her health. She tells me that she is at the bottom of her herd pecking order and quite frankly has always preferred the company of her human caregivers to her elephant sisters (non-familial calves brought to the zoo from Africa after their herds had been slaughtered for ivory and reservations filled to bursting with orphaned pachyderms, I am sure, has a part to play in Trina’s situation). The human keepers certainly do not pick on her and even give her special treats. She shows me a particular favorite, a deep cranberry red hard candy with a soft centre that when she bites down on it with her molars, sends a burst of potent liquid throughout her mouth. Fantastic! It is later confirmed by one of the keepers that this special & delicious treat is actually cough candy. 
Today Trina is standing near the elephant house away from the herd with her head slumped. I am at the other end of the elephant compound that is not accessible to the public. While chatting with the elephant keepers, I suddenly double over due to a very sharp pain in my abdomen. Each time I try to ignore it, it only gets stronger. It is then that I realize that this is not actually my pain, but that I am feeling it from one of the elephants – but which one of the 7 pachyderm girls is it?. (This feeling of pain or stress from an animal in one’s own body is just another way of communicating. I like to call it ‘mirroring’ and it usually dissipates once the issue is addressed.) 

The keepers voice their concern but I explain that it is in fact one of the elephants that is feeling this pain in her belly. I connect with each of the ‘girls’ in turn and ask each of them if they are experiencing any kind of an abdominal upset ... early on however, my attention is drawn to Trina. Within moments I am able to tell the keepers that it is Trina who needs to share that she is in some form of gastric distress. One of the keepers confides that this is not an unusual occurrence for her and even that morning she had been suffering from diarrhea. All of us, including the veterinarian, make our way over to where Trina stands, apart from the rest of the herd, leaning on the elephant house. It is clear she needs to share her feelings and she quickly gives me a list of symptoms in her body. Amongst other complaints, she feels this tummy upset is different from the most recent disturbances and shows me that a parasite may be involved. (Yes, animals are that in tune with their bodies!) Trina continues to go into great detail about what is going on in her digestive tract – she shares many pictures including copious bubbles & movement in her bowels. No sooner does Trina relay this thought then she passes a huge gas bubble! Above our heads none the less. Talk about an exclamation point! 

The wonderfully compassionate & skilled vet asks if there is anything that Trina may need/want to make her feel more comfortable. Amongst a shopping list of answers that include garlic, onion, particular red berries (from an indigenous plant in Africa which the elephants use to self-medicate – some cellular memory there), and a host of other ‘treats’ – Trina goes into the most detail in describing and showing to me a round baseball sized “oat-cake”. When I describe this further to the veterinarian and keepers as per Trina’s request, for a moment everyone is a little puzzled. Is it a “monkey cake”? The answer is No. Those are more square and flat and like a biscuit and not round and soft and doughy. Trina is insistent and explains further that she remembers having had these ‘balls’ before, and that they had some sort of pills inserted in them. Her memory does not fail her as she recalls that indeed the last time that she was given one of these “oat balls”, she did indeed begin to feel better. In a moment the mystery is solved! The vet and keepers remember that exactly this kind of balled-oat treat had been given to Trina before with anti-biotics and medicine inserted into it’s centre. What Trina couldn’t get for herself, she certainly knew how to ask for. She was thoroughly assessed by the veterinarian and treated for her ailment, not without however, rhyming off a diverse list of favorite treats including cupcakes (with frosting of course), chocolate brazil nut toffee’s and sugarcane. There was not a peanut amongst the bunch.