Elephant Program Design

1. Elephant Keeper Training Manual.
2. Trainee Keeper Training & Elephant Introduction.
3. Institutional Understanding of Elephant Program.
4. Mission Statement of Elephant Program.
5. Elephant Keeping as a Career.
6. Power of Observation.
7. Elephant program managers perspective, what should they know & how should they act.
   1. Observational skills.
   2. Visionary skills.
   3. ‘Team Geist’ development skills
   4. Departmental Organizational skills.
   5. Institutional philological knowledge.
8. Elephant program goal setting.
9. Develop your ability before your attitude.        

Working Routines

1. Morning wash routine.
2. Exercise routines.

Facility Design

1. Exhibit design
2. Natural breeding facilities
3. Elephant bull handling
4. Construction presupposition for elephant offspring
5. Construction presupposition for hands off elephants
6. Gates & Slices

Facility and Equipment Maintenance

1. What is clean?
2. How you are evaluated.
3. Organizational and animal health aspects of facility maintenance.

Appearance

1. Uniforms.
2. General appearance.
3. Dialogue.
4. Institutional standards & keeper orientation.
5. Image (how do people perceive you)

Vision and Goals

1. Step out of the box when concept building.
2. Know yourself; use your strength, not your weaknesses.
3. Set goals, professionally and personal.

Elephant Training and Handling:

1. Elephant restraint (leg restraint and ERC?)
2. Commands
3. Elephant hook usage
4. Rope slicing and knot tying
5. Chaining
6. Target training
7. Elephant shows and demos

Behavioural Enrichment:

1. Browse and root burial
2. Toffee stumps
3. Overhead browse feeding
4. Hay distribution
5. Watering cycles and pools
6. Cargo net feeders
7. Activity trees and feeder walls (automated)
8. Deep litter flooring in elephant houses
9. Swimming
10. Daily walks (automated)
11. Facility design

Elephant Profile and Herd Structure

1. Elephant profiling (which elephant to take?)
2. Herd dynamics
3. Herd planning
4. Social structure

Elephant Bull Management

1. Facility design
2. Musth
3. Protected contact
4. Target training

Nutrition

1. Basics for a healthy elephant diet
2. Diets and weights
3. Public feeding

Translocation

1. Prior conditions
2. Training
3. Medical preparation
4. Logistical preparation
5. Documents and permits
6. Technical requirements (Containers)
7. Loading (“Hands on”; “Hands off”)
8. Transport (Heating, ventilation, travelling time)
9. Accompanying keepers
10. Unloading (“Hands on”; “Hands off”)
11. Introduction into the new facility
12. Equipment & maintenance.