Description of it's use by an American zoo keeper:
I wasn't sure about posting this but I thought if I educated people about it then some would not be offended. This is my angkus,other names are,elephant hook,bull hook. Most people think that these are used to hurt elephants and I'm sad to say that some trainers have used them for that. The proper use is for training and as a guide.Elephants are trained to move away from the pressure of the hook.Example,if you want an elephant to lift its foot you place the hook behind the foot you want,use a little pressure, say foot and they pick there foot up.Now we all we do is stand by the foot we want and say foot.
When we used to do educational demonstrations with our girls we always explained the hook and let people touch it.Our girls were not afraid of our hooks because we did not use them for harm or discipline. The hook is made out of stainless steel and its is kept very sharp,the handle is made out of hard wood.The reason it is kept sharp is to prevent scratching or tearing the elephants skin which is almost an inch thick.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Modern ankus or bull hook
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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4 comments:
How are elephants trained to move away from it?
Anonymous,
Nothing hard or difficult about it. The spur on the end is laid against them like a spur on a horse, and it only causes discomfort if you lean into it to resist, instead of "moving away" from the discomfort. Because you can not lead them successfully with a rope(I am not talking some "basic" stuff like a few Africans do in Europe)an ankus in essence has two spurs, for "moving" them away as well as to you.
Wade
How does keeping the end sharp prevent it from injuring the elephant?
Anonymous,
You don't have to use it much. Just like a spur, all horse's respond differently to different spurs. I think, but I am not sure that the zookeeper was meaning the the angle of the hook has to be exact or it will not "hold", instead it will drag and scratch the elephants hide. Don't try to make something out of "scratch." Like a kitten would do to your arm playing is the correct description, if you chose to quote me. The most important factor for using a hook properly is the angle of the hook out of the handle and the angle of the turned down tip. It is not a matter of welding a hook shape on the end of a rod.
Wade
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