What is mud? It's, as you know, soil dissolved in water. The kind that makes washing clothes a nightmare if you get it on them. However, even though we call it mud, there are many different ways to use it. In fact, humans sometimes willingly apply it to their bodies for mud masks or facial washes.

African Bush Elephant TomuTom Let's talk about the case of a male () ( ). Lately, we've been having a string of hot days, and it's not uncommon for the maximum temperature to be higher than a person's body temperature. Even for an animal native to Africa, being outside in this kind of sun for extended periods is tough. People often ask me, "Aren't you good with the heat?", but it's not like I'm standing in the sun all the time...

On days like these, a bath is the best solution. Sometimes animal keeper spray them with water from a hose, and sometimes they bathe in the pool in the exercise area. However, the water evaporates too quickly. That's where a "mud bath" comes in. Mud retains moisture better than water, so it takes longer to dry, and its stickiness coats their bodies while they're still wet.


Tomu takes a mud bath
African Bush Elephant, which live in arid regions, have many wrinkles all over their bodies. These wrinkles have the effect of increasing the surface area of their skin, allowing them to release more heat from their bodies when it is hot, and when they are covered in water or mud, the wrinkles soak in and increase moisture retention. They can lower their body temperature by bathing in water, moisturize by bathing in mud, and then bathe in dry sand to prevent the mud they are covered in from drying out.

However, it seems that Tomu doesn't always follow that routine to get wet, as he uses various methods to cope with the heat, such as "water bath → mud bath," "water bath → sand bath," and "mud bath → sand bath."


Tomu, who had just gotten covered in mud, is washing it off in the pool.
On hot days, Tomu almost always takes a mud bath. animal keeper need to prepare a mud bath for him before he goes out into the enclosure.

I carry a hoe in the scorching sun, collect water, and go to cultivate the soil, but as I do it, I gradually start to forget which animal I'm in charge of. Even if I collect tens or hundreds of liters of water and create a muddy area while sweating so much that my shirt changes color, Tomu uses it all up in no time. After all, he's nearly 3 meters tall and weighs over 4 tons. On days when rainwater collects, it gets hot in the morning sun, so I have to do the extra work of changing it to cold water. All of this is so that Tomu can survive the daily heat. It's one of the mundane tasks of animal keeper.


The person in charge is tilling the mud.
You came to see African Bush Elephant but you find animal keeper playing with mud in the enclosure. If you happen to come across such a scene, you might get to see Tomu taking a mud bath afterwards.

[Tama Zoo Tama Zoological Park]

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(September 1, 2023)