This video, filmed at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, made me laugh. It'll give you warm fuzzies, too.
When I was (much!) younger, I used to visit the headquarters of the Kruger National Park in South Africa, situated at Skukuza. Among many other activities, the rangers hand-fed and raised orphaned baby animals there, including elephants (the African variety, rather than the smaller Indian elephant shown above). Occasionally I'd help them feed the babies, which was akin to a half-hour rugby scrum, usually conducted in copious quantities of dust and/or mud, depending on the season. When a 300-pound baby elephant wants to play, and trundles over to give you a love-tap, it can be memorable! Still, they enjoyed it, which I suppose is the main thing.
I also helped occasionally with baby cheetah at the Cheetah Preservation Foundation at the Cango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn. Around the same town, ostrich farms raised the birds for their eggs, feathers and meat, and I got to spend time with them, too. Babies of any species and genus and type appear to behave in much the same way, wanting to eat and/or play at the drop of a hat. I enjoyed the contacts I had with them, and now that I'm an old fart, I cherish the memories. They help keep me young.
Peter
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Near where I live is a zoo (they call it a Wild Animal Park) which I've been to lots of times. The animals live in as natural an environment as they can provide. One of the things that fascinates me about the big cats, having been owned by a number of domestic cats over my lifetime, is that no matter the size they all act the same. The zoo's black panther would lay in exactly the same position as my late black cat, on his back, front paws curled on his chest, back legs spread wide. Except for the fact that my cat was about the size of the panther's head they looked alike. The really fun, and familiar, one was when they gave the lions a big cardboard box.
Mark D
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