Belfast Zoo is planning an ‘elephantastic’ weekend, on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May, to celebrate Yhetto the Asian elephant’s 34th birthday!
To celebrate this special occasion visitors will be able to enjoy a range of fun activities, including:
- elephant keeper talks;
- jumbo arts and crafts;
- face painting;
- meet the neighbours, including Rothschild’s giraffes, meerkats and Visayan warty pigs;
- decorating birthday presents for Yhetto and the other elephants – Tina, Dhunja and Jenny;
- watch the elephants at bath time;
- birthday games;
- visitors will also be able to help keepers make Yhetto a special birthday cake and of course sing happy birthday to the zoo’s birthday girl!
Elephantastic will be a weekend of celebration of the zoo’s elephants and will demonstrate how these amazing animals are cared for at Belfast Zoo, as curator Alyn Cairns explains;
“Each of our elephants has a fascinating story, at the weekend as well as celebrating Yhetto’s birthday we will celebrate our elephants, tell you their stories and the successes that we have had.”
Huge changes to the elephants at Belfast Zoo occurred during 2008, when two breeding age female elephants, Johti and Vishesh, left the zoo to join a herd in Ostrava Zoo in the Czech Republic. Belfast Zoo became a sanctuary for older elephants, and four females now live in Belfast, including the ever popular Tina. Subsequent changes to the zoo’s management techniques and facilities has helped create a superb retirement home and sanctuary for these elderly elephants, a much needed role as part of the European wide zoo conservation and breeding programme.
Alyn continues, “Recent proof that this was the right decision for us to make, was the fantastic news that one of our previous elephants, Johti, gave birth to a very healthy female calf at her new home in Ostrava Zoo! We look forward to welcoming visitors to the zoo’s elephantastic and promise there will be lots of treats and surprises in store for both our visitors and our elephants.”
For more information, call us on 028 9077 6277 or email events@belfastzoo.co.uk