Did you hear the one about the elephant with sore feet…?

(PRESS RELEASE)

Radmore & Tucker, Tracmaster’s authorised dealer for Devon, has recently supplied Paignton Zoo Environmental Park with a CAMON Rotavator for their elephant house. The Zoo’s Asian elephant, Gay, has been suffering with foot problems recently so Paignton Zoo senior head mammal keeper Julian Chapman and vet Sarah Hewitt tracked down an Australian company to make her some special elephantine slippers to help her aching feet. A s well as the footwear, the zoo has also put down one hundred tonnes of sand and rubber matting in the elephant house to provide Gay with softer surfaces underfoot and to make it easier for her to get up again should she choose to lie down. Paignton Zoo Environmental Park Director of Operations and Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said: “Gay is nearly 40 years old – that’s middle-aged for an elephant - and weighs around 4 tonnes. Some elephants can be prone to foot problems. Her welfare is our prime concern, so wedecided to have protective boots made which will help in the treatment of her front feet. “We encourage the elephants to exercise as much as possible by scattering their food outside and providing environmental enrichment, but they are not always keen! Given the choice they prefer to spend more time indoors as this gives them closer contact with the keepers, however the floor - up until now - has been smooth concrete, unlike the paddock, which is softer sand and earth.” The CAMON rotavator is being used for “fluffing up” the sand which becomes compacted after having the elephants walking on it. Radmore & Tucker have been a Tracmaster dealer for almost 10 years selling BCS and CAMON machines to a diverse range of customers including local authorities, private individuals, professional contractors and conservation groups to name a few. The CAMON C10 Rotavator is a compact yet powerful machine capable of providing superb results in the most demanding conditions. Its easy manoeuvrability makes it ideal for using in confined spaces whilst its powerful engine and 66cm digging width mean it is also a very efficient machine for digging larger open areas too. Tracmaster