PORTLAND, Ore. – The young elephants at the Oregon Zoo are loving their new Elephant Lands habitat.
Samudra and his 3-year-old sister Lily spent their Friday afternoon enjoying a mud bath in their wading pool.
“They have a lot of fun splashing around out there,” said elephant keeper Shawn Finnell. “But mud baths can serve an important purpose too. On a warm day like today, they cool the elephants off and provide a protective coating to help prevent sunburn. A lot of people don’t realize it, but elephants can get sunburned just like us — the mud and dirt act as their sunscreen.”
