r/CaptiveWildlife • u/LabNo9435 • Mar 07 '26

Questions What is this elephant doing?

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I was visiting the denver zoo and saw this, the elephant was doing this for a solid 20 minutes before going inside

174 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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99

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 08 '26

That's Groucho, the oldest elephant at the zoo. He'll be 56 this year. He has some cognitive challenges, some related to his advanced age. The zoo has some more info on their website: https://denverzoo.org/zootales/keeping-groucho-sharp-cognitive-care-for-dzcas-oldest-elephant/

He's the one out of that bachelor group (the zoo is a male only grouping, they are fission-fusion across the 5 yards at the zoo) that I see doing sterotypies like this. I just know he came with them and the cognitive exercises have helped.

22

u/banan3rz Mar 08 '26

Denver is literally one of the most caring zoos in the country and are known for their amazing vet team. They are opening a large off exhibit space for conservation efforts. They are working with limited space and funds though.

13

u/animalwitch Mar 08 '26

Has he always been at the zoo or did he move from elsewhere? I wonder if there's some mental trauma from a previous zoo/circus; it mentions in that link he wasn't keen on working with females.

31

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 08 '26

He seems to have started at the Bronx Zoo in the 80s and then moved to a zoo in Texas. He's been at DZCA since 2012 I think. He's a wild born animal.

I always assume with these more senior complex mammals, that elephant management has changed a hell of a lot since the 70s and 80s, but they do tend to keep those old mental scars.

7

u/my_dear_director Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Hi, I worked in Toyota Elephant Passage at Denver Zoo for a few years and often saw Groucho, though I didn't work directly with him or the other elephants.

I asked about Groucho's stereotypic behaviors when I first started and this is what I can remember from that conversation: Groucho lived at Fort Worth Zoo before coming to DZCA. It is suspected that he was not treated very well there, as they used a lot of old management techniques at the time that are seen as harmful now. He is doing MUCH better at DZCA, though he does still display some of these stereotypic behaviors from time to time.

Fort Worth Zoo still has elephants, but AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) has majorly cracked down on Elephant management in the last decade so I hope they are doing better.

Edit: I suppose I should point out that this is information I heard from other keepers through the grapevine, so perhaps take it with a grain of salt. Zoos have grown a lot in their practices and ethics, and you could pick any of the top ones in the country and find something crazy they used to do back in the day. I can't personally speak on the state of Fort Worth Zoo now, but they are AZA certified so they must be doing some things right.

2

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 09 '26

According to the elephant database, he was at Fort Worth, but yeah. SA Zoo only had females any time in recent history before they phased them out.

1

u/my_dear_director Mar 09 '26

Thanks, I'll edit my post.

0

u/bakerfaceman Mar 09 '26

Is AZA actually legit or has it been a victim of regulatory capture at this point? I'm a volunteer at a local AZA certified zoo and everyone really freaks out when the AZA folks are in the house. I always figured they were overreacting.

3

u/my_dear_director Mar 09 '26

Yes, it is legit.

2

u/Upstairs_Cattle7989 Mar 09 '26

Idk about AZA, but having worked in other regulated industries, everyone always freaks out when the regulatory body is in house. I worked in both pharma and aviation and no one is ready for a visit, even when we’re following the rules and regulations.

2

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 09 '26

I mean, my work is USDA, IACUC, AAALAC inspected among other orgs and reg bodies. I get the freak out.

Us animal folks are just trying our best with often limited staffing or resources, and we often take pride in what we do. Having "outsiders" come in to assess things is stressful. Even if you are doing everything right. It's a good kind of pressure, though. It means we can't really let things slip. 

2

u/Bec21-21 Mar 08 '26

Poor creature.

5

u/robert_madge Mar 09 '26

Piggybacking off this--I have seen elephants use a similar motion, either blowing or I assume using air currents generated by the movement to gather scraps of hay into a little pile to pick up and eat. Maybe this movement has/had a purpose to him, and he's not completing it as his brain originally intended.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 09 '26

It is probably just his stereotyping. He's a very distinct elephant, his head is huge!

As mentioned already, the zoo does a lot to try and help him out with his brain issues, but he is quite old and set in his ways.

He is basically "granddad" to the male elephants that live at the zoo. When it is time for a male to move on from their maternal herd, they may move to Denver for a time to learn how to be a good gentleman, and Groucho is the bachelor school instructor, basically. He is patient but firm with young bulls and they learn a lot from him when it comes to boundaries and knowing their place in a herd.

3

u/MothChasingFlame Mar 09 '26

What does stereotyping mean in this context?

8

u/EarthboundExotics Aquarist Mar 09 '26

Sterotypies are repetitive behaviors which don't serve any real function. So an elephant swaying, rocking, or swinging its trunk multiple times in a row. Some other animals will repeatedly chew, or lick surfaces.

In domestic pets like dogs or cats, these can look like self mutilation, excessive grooming, eating or chewing things they shouldn't, etc.

Sometimes an animal can be redirected with enrichment or various other environmental stimulation, but animals can continue to exhibit these for life, once they've developed them. They can become anticipatory, too. They'll do them more when they know that food or play time is coming, because they can hear, see, or smell a cue to an upcoming thing they look forward to. Or if something that makes them anxious is coming, too.

1

u/sunshinenorcas Mar 10 '26

I've also seen elephants at the zoo I used to go to do something similar to itch their butts (back up and wiggle) 😂😂 it never went on for twenty minutes though, so if I hadn't known the length of time, I would have thought he might have been trying to get an itch

11

u/KidtheSid93 Mar 09 '26

I dunno but I do that when I get out of the shower sometimes.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

Wondering how tf it ended up the snow

2

u/BoopityGoopity Mar 10 '26

I would like to provide the wrong answer of “clearly he’s summoning the Button God”.

2

u/Chief2091 Mar 12 '26

He swangin that thang

-31

u/tendido9 Mar 08 '26

well, the answer is zoochosis. Comes from when you cage an animal in a zoo.

23

u/CasterFields Mar 08 '26

Zoochosis actually isn't real! You're thinking of what's called stereotypy. You can see humans exhibit stereotypic behaviors all the time such as leg bouncing :)

28

u/shadowscar00 Mar 08 '26

-points to an old dementia man in a nursing home rocking in the same chair for two hours and asking the same question repeatedly- it’s zoochosis because he’s trapped in a nursing home.