I have a wildlife zoo

Chapter 457 How many steps does it take to move an elephant?

Pingping ate a piece of apple, thrilled like a three-ton child!

Then she stretched her long trunk over, eyeing Fang Ye.

Fang Ye, in return, examined Pingping carefully, looking into her eyes and seeing a hint of anticipation.

Having been in contact with so many animals, his understanding of them had evolved into a kind of sixth sense.

Whether an animal is happy or angry, shy, gentle, or mischievous, he could get a general idea after spending some time with them.

Feeling that Pingping's temperament was quite good, he chuckled and stroked her trunk.

Pingping waited a moment, but after not receiving another apple, she withdrew her trunk disappointedly and ambled away.

A long iron chain was tied around her front ankle, dragging on the ground as she moved.

Next, it was time to get down to business!

There's a famous question that goes, "How many steps does it take to put an elephant into a fridge?"

The answer is three steps: first, open the fridge; second, put the elephant in; third, close the fridge door.

Of course, that's just humor.

But the question of how many steps are needed to transport an elephant is a serious one.

With a weight of 2700 kilograms, nearly three tons, transporting Pingping to the zoo was not an easy task.

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The first step was to customize a special transport cage based on the elephant's size and stature.

Pingping's transport cage was 4.5 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, and 3 meters high, with bars as thick as an adult man's thigh, and the cage itself weighed two tons.

The cage was covered with a dense wire mesh on top to prevent the elephant's dexterous trunk from sticking out, causing injury to others or herself.

So, transporting an elephant required advance communication and planning. Even the most basic cage couldn't be made in just ten days or half a month.

The second step was to train the elephant to enter and get used to the transport cage.

This task had already started two months ago!

The animal keepers scattered feed along the path to the transport cage, with most of the feed placed inside the cage itself to guide Pingping in and familiarize her with it. This training was conducted daily to reinforce her memory, all for the smooth departure today.

She could now freely enter and exit the transport cage and was very comfortable with it.

"Pingping!"

The animal keeper called out, summoning her to the usual outdoor training area for the transport cage.

After two months of training, Pingping went straight for the transport cage upon entering.

She didn't see any feed inside the cage but noticed the animal keepers outside preparing to load up and lifted her trunk, waving it flexibly like a human hand, twice as if to say, "What do you want from me? Where's my food?"

Then she turned her head to look at another keeper!

She gazed at the bustling scene outside before walking into the cage on her own.

There were more than twenty people outside: Fang Ye, Old Yang, animal keepers, construction workers, employees' families who had heard about the elephant transport and came to watch, and not to mention a huge crane and a truck parked there.

Breeder "Brother Zhong" called out, "Pingping, good girl, stand still and don't move, ha, here's an apple for you!"

Brother Zhong was also going to follow her all the way, as a familiar keeper to Pingping, to soothe her emotions during the journey.

Another keeper took out a piece of fruit from a bucket of fruit to reward her, enticing Pingping to move forward.

Pingping's trunk reached out through the feeding slot, curling up apple after apple, eating them one by one.

Meanwhile, Brother Zhong used a stick to reach into the cage, hooking her ankle chain and wrapping it around a pillar.

The purpose of the ankle chain was to fix the elephant's feet to the cage, limiting her movement.

It prevented the elephant from moving too much during transit, which could affect the balance of the vehicle and potentially cause an accident.

If the elephant was well-trained in behavior, the keepers could use target sticks to get her to place her foot on a bar and stay still, which made it convenient for foot care and, of course, for chaining the foot as well.

The rescue center used a primitive method, enticing the elephant to move forward with food, while Brother Zhong took the opportunity to tie the chains.

But Pingping seemed to sense something, feeling that today was different from usual!

She was not very cooperative, turned her head to glance at them, retracted her feet a bit, causing the chains that had been reached to retract again.

Brother Zhong shouted, "Hey, behave! Stop moving your feet!"

After being scolded, Pingping put her feet back out again.

Actually, there was a backup plan, if they couldn't tie her up they wouldn't. After all, they had never had an accident transporting elephants before.

Even ten years ago when transporting elephants, the transport cages were not so sophisticated—just a few bars without any wire mesh, but they managed the transport just the same.

It was just a bit rough, that's all.

Fang Ye communicated with Dumbo, an animal keeper he knew from the "Zoo Practical Knowledge Group" who raised elephants, and learned that his master's method of transporting elephants decades ago was even wilder.

Back then, there were no advanced cranes like there are now to lift the elephant into the transfer cage and then onto a truck for transportation.

They would directly accompany the elephant on a freight train, letting the elephant board and disembark on its own.

At that time, trains were slow, taking two days and nights to reach the destination, with attendants caring for the elephant's eating, drinking, and excretions, and calming the elephant to prevent any disturbance. They couldn't even get a good night's sleep, which was a huge test for the human spirit.

Of course, such methods would be impossible now; they are too dangerous.

If an elephant became uncomfortable and got angry, swinging its trunk or kicking out, there would be no way to dodge.

In the time it took to eat the pieces of apples, the chains were quickly secured.

Simultaneously, two sturdy metal columns were installed behind.

Once everything was ready, the onlookers spread out in a circle, the crane was hooked up, and they began the lifting process!

The truck's crane hook hoisted the steel wires at all four corners of the transfer cage, pulling it up slowly from the ground. Four or five people took a corner of the rope to keep the cage steady and prevent it from swaying in the air, as well as to control the direction, while a few others walked around the cage observing and coordinating, constantly shouting.

"Hey hey, this way a bit, this way a bit!"

"Careful, careful!"

"You can lower it now, lower, lower, be careful!"

The scene was very lively!

Pingping paced nervously inside the cage!

However, she was restricted by the cage and also had shackles on her feet, limiting her ability to move too much.

Her trunk constantly stretched out through the gaps, probing downward, as if trying to feel for the ground that had disappeared!

Because there were trees nearby, the crane couldn't transport the cage to the right spot in one go. After adjusting the position three times, they finally managed to get the transfer cage—with Pingping's rear facing forwards and head backwards—onto the truck.

They positioned her this way for safety reasons, to prevent the elephant's head from hitting the bars in case of a sudden stop.

After getting onto the truck, Pingping shook her head up and down non-stop inside the cage, her ears flapping continuously, and her trunk desperately probing downwards. Clearly, she was nervous, having been scared by being suspended in mid-air.

Next, they began to secure the cage to the truck and load the feed, all sorts of fruits like mangoes and apples for Pingping to eat on the road.

Brother Zhong took advantage of the loading time to start cutting apples by the side of the road, giving Pingping an extra snack to soothe her emotions.

The truck driver rested his arm on the window, ready to drive, with a deep gaze looking forward—a true air of a professional.

Not every truck driver gets the chance to transport elephants.

What came next was taking the ferry across the sea and driving all the way to the zoo.

After the feed was loaded, the truck started slowly.

The other staff waved from behind, saying, "Safe travels!"

"Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Pingping! Have a great time at your new zoo!"