Elephant Delivery

This film documents the delivery and transfer of one adult female elephant from the time she arrived at the Henry Doorly Zoo. The elephant's transportation container is slightly larger than her from side-to-side and in front, allowing room for her to shift weight and move her head and trunk freely in all directions, including the ability for her to eat hay from the base of her enclosure. The container extends above her head, obscuring any view during transport, and is covered with plywood and tarps in the front and on the sides, with the roof and backside open. Heavy-gauge chains secure the container and the elephant's shackles to the flatbed truck, presumably an 18-wheeler. Additional shots of a neighboring rhino habitat, and a resident elephant running and playing with his large rubber or canvas ball, provide some cheer during this somewhat tense film. As the container and elephant are slowly and carefully maneuvered with two forklifts, dialog between the handlers and forklift operators can be heard, as well as the occasional trumpet from the elephant. The process is precarious at times, highlighted by audible gasps from the small crowd of observers. In the end, she is successfully delivered to a temporary indoor enclosure adjacent to her new home in the Zoo's elephant habitat., The original film reel was digitized by Universal Information Services in 2015., UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections, 00:19:04
View this Object: https://library.unomaha.edu/_video/MSS0046_00X_m_vi_000006.html
Abstract/Description: This film documents the delivery and transfer of one adult female elephant from the time she arrived at the Henry Doorly Zoo. The elephant's transportation container is slightly larger than her from side-to-side and in front, allowing room for her to shift weight and move her head and trunk freely in all directions, including the ability for her to eat hay from the base of her enclosure. The container extends above her head, obscuring any view during transport, and is covered with plywood and tarps in the front and on the sides, with the roof and backside open. Heavy-gauge chains secure the container and the elephant's shackles to the flatbed truck, presumably an 18-wheeler. Additional shots of a neighboring rhino habitat, and a resident elephant running and playing with his large rubber or canvas ball, provide some cheer during this somewhat tense film. As the container and elephant are slowly and carefully maneuvered with two forklifts, dialog between the handlers and forklift operators can be heard, as well as the occasional trumpet from the elephant. The process is precarious at times, highlighted by audible gasps from the small crowd of observers. In the end, she is successfully delivered to a temporary indoor enclosure adjacent to her new home in the Zoo's elephant habitat.
Subject(s): Nebraska
Omaha (Neb.)
Zoos
Animals
Motion pictures
Visual works
Films
Videos
Digital moving image formats
Date Created: circa 1990-1995

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