Taipei Travel

Do elephants at the zoo really have ''classes''? To build trust between multi-ton elephants and their keepers, and to reduce stress during daily care and health checks, zookeepers spend a significant amount of time each day ''training'' the elephants using positive reinforcement. Through this process, a strong working relationship is developed, allowing the elephants to cooperate with routine procedures such as weighing, nail trimming, physical examinations, and blood collection.Every Friday at 11:00 AM throughout May and June 2026, keepers will host a special talk titled ''African Elephant Training and Behavioral Enrichment Design'' at the African Elephant paddock (the smaller habitat near the Spotted Hyena area). Visitors are invited to come and discover what kinds of ''classes'' elephants take!

To enhance animal welfare while ensuring the safety of both animals and keepers, modern zoos use positive reinforcement training to guide animals in performing specific behaviors. This approach relies on ''reinforcers''—such as verbal praise, food rewards, or tactile contact—to increase the likelihood that an animal will perform a desired behavior at the right moment. When an animal completes a behavior correctly, it receives a reward; if it does not respond, the behavior is simply ignored without punishment, allowing the animal to learn that no reward will follow. With repeated practice, along with the use of hand signals or a target stick, animals and keepers can work together to carry out health checks and medical procedures in a low-stress manner.

Through ongoing training, the elephants at Taipei Zoo are now able to cooperate with keepers on a wide range of behaviors. These include stepping onto scales, lifting their feet for nail trimming or foot care, receiving injections, having their blood pressure measured, providing blood samples from the ear, positioning their trunks, and presenting either side of their bodies. These behaviors enable keepers to provide more precise and thorough daily care.

A glass-front viewing area is available at the African Elephant paddock (near the Spotted Hyena area), allowing visitors to observe the training interactions between keepers and elephants up close. During the Friday talks in May and June, keepers will also introduce the differences between African and Asian elephants, explain training methods, and share how enrichment structures are designed. Visitors are warmly invited to join and experience the fun of ''elephant school".