At Ryan Easleys Suggestion

"Ryan, if you note the elephant on the far right. Her name is Billie an extremely dominant girl and probably the most dangerous animal I have ever been involved with(there are pictures of her on the blog, with my 3 year old son Adam at a different time in her life.) Note her heavier appearance in comparison to the others Nic, Sue, and Freida. She live in a pen with the 3 females for 7 years designed as a temporary shift pen for Nic's father. They of course were feed together, with Billie bulling most of the grain and hay. This picture was taken a year before I became involved with them. I managed to get Freida into the crush and Sue outside each day at grain time so their grain consumption was able to be better monitored. I would have preferred Billie in the crush, but a well know elephant trainer and a bear trainer had put her in the crush 7 years prior, and as the bear trainer described to me "worked her over", she would never go in again, in fact broke the up and down door many times over the years when it opened just out of anger. In the winter time, only Freida could be isolated in the crash for graining and Sue did the best she could in the pen with Billie. Billie would gain an incredible amount of weight in the winter time, as Sue lost weight. If you look for pictures of Billie at that site, 2700 acres has done her a world of good. I would judge recent photos she has dropped and kept of easy 750-800 lbs."
Maybe if you can move this to a new post, Wade. I just ran across this on the North Carolina Zoo's blog. Look at the condition of these elephants. For all that 2700 acres the elephants have access to, are they not just a little overweight? Wow
http://russlings.blogspot.com/2009/01/bi-species-friendship.html

"Ryan, elephants number 5 and 6 below and 6 and 7 above are two of the elephants in the video. When these photos were posted on the "history channel" last year, an elephant training friend of mine in Spain, said that another elephant person had thought the elephants looked thin. He mentioned that fact a while back on this blog, scoffing at the insinuation. I personally thought those two looked better then I had ever seen them, and also one other from the video that is not depicted here (she is the one that had a slight limp.)"

"Ryan, heavier then these old cows(the 3rd one died two years ago at 67) that physically can't do much any more, other then walk into the ring and do some basic salutes and sit ups? Why is something this old still working? Oh that's right, the love it and would miss it. Fact is there are no more to be had to replace them. My eyes may see a lot more then most, Ryan. That does not make me a "bitter" old man, as some anonymous may suggest. "Melancholy" would be more appropriate. "Saddened" would work also."
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The North Carolina Zoo for my money is one of the finest zoo's in North America, with a great, dedicated Director in Russ Williams. I think it was 84 or 85 when I first saw it, and I then judged all gorilla exhibits against what I had seen there. Great zoo recommended to any who are in the Asheville area.