August 12 has been set aside as World Elephant Day, to bring the world together to help these beautiful giant creatures that are seriously endangered.
I was lucky enough to have a great experiences last year with two female Asian elephants, Sujatha and Little Mac, at the Santa Barbara Zoo. You can read about my amazing day as a zookeeper - the day was so awesome I had to post it into Part 1 and Part 2 to share my full experience.
Getting up close and personal with these creatures was a highlight, and it boggles my mind that there are less than 40,000 of these animals in the wild.
After washing these ladies (which was quite an experience in and of itself), I was able to create this portrait (of course after they found some dirt to play in):
One of two female Asian elephants at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
Santa Barbara, CA
August 2013