Luk Chai has started exploring the lower elephant paddock at night with his Mum and aunties and making the most of the beautiful Sydney evenings. At first we were nervous of his night time explorations, so we stayed overnight too, but it soon became obvious that we were just being over-protective parents. Our elephants can choose if they want to be in the barn at night or out and about in the paddock after dark, so this is a great natural progression for the youngest member of our herd and proves he is becoming a real little bull elephant. We’re also  are continuing to try and teach Luk Chai some manners, especially since we are getting ready to welcome another elephant calf into the Taronga herd soon and we need to make sure Luk Chai will be well-behaved and gentle. Training an elephant baby is just like teaching a young child; it’s usually two steps forward and one step back. Luk Chai knows exactly what is expected of him, he is very, very bright but his attention span is short and when he doesn’t want to do something, like waiting patiently for his bath he will chuck a tantrum and lie down on the floor and refuse to budge.  This can be challenging when you are working with a 350 kilogram ‘baby’. And so the lessons continue... I am sure many new parents can relate to this.