March 17th is the birthday of Tomu, a male African Bush Elephant. Born in 2009 at Ehime Prefectural Tobe Zoo, he turns 9 this year. He has appeared in articles here on Tokyo Zoo Net many times, but this time we will give you an update on Tomu as he celebrates his birthday.

An early present. I wrote letters using apples and oranges.		Tomu is in the back.

When Tomu first arrived at the zoo in 2012, she was so small that you might mistake her for the offspring of "Chiki" (female, now 42 years old), who she lived with. Now, however, you could easily mistake her for Chiki. She has already surpassed Chiki in height, and based on her appearance alone, some people might mistake her for an adult elephant.

However, a 9-year-old elephant is like a boy transitioning from a child to a young adult, just before becoming a full-fledged adult. Even though they grow tall and slender, their limbs remain thin, and their bone structure is delicate. While their facial features have become more mature, their actions and mannerisms still retain a childlike quality.

Even though he's grown up, he seems to have the heart of a child. When he tries to steal Chiki's food and gets scolded, he cries loudly and runs away. If he really put his mind to it and used his strength, he could probably hold his own against Chiki, but he doesn't seem to have that kind of desire yet. Yet, even after being scolded, he immediately approaches Chiki again, or rubs his rear end against her as if to apologize. He's either incorrigible or just innocent, and it seems like he's trying not to upset Chiki.

This winter, Tama experienced its first heavy snowfall in a long time. On the day it snowed, we couldn't let the elephants out into the exercise area, but from the next day onwards, we shoveled as much snow as possible and let them out. Tomu had also experienced snow before. Until now, he didn't like the cold and didn't want to go out, and even when he reluctantly went out, he wouldn't walk on the snow, only staying where we had shoveled it. But this year was a little different. By the second day, he was already leaving footprints in the snow as he walked. This might be a small sign of Tomu's growth.

They can now easily reach the hay net (a mesh feeder containing food) that is placed high up.		My left tusk broke.

Just as I was reporting this situation, late at night on February 28th last month, Tomu broke his left fang indoors. Then, on March 2nd, the crack in the fang broke again, resulting in it being about 60 centimeters shorter. It seems that he broke it while hitting the wall or fence in the room. There was some bleeding, but fortunately Tomu has been cooperative with treatment using a training fence, and we are proceeding with treatment together with the veterinarian.

It will take time for his tusks to heal completely, so this will be a long-term effort, but we will care for him so that magnificent tusks will grow again. Tomu is expected to one day become a vital part of Japan's African Bush Elephant. We will work carefully to ensure that he grows into a splendid male elephant.

[Tama Zoo, Tama Zoological Park]

(March 16, 2018)