Syracuse, N.Y. — The last few weeks have been sleepless for Ashley Sheppard, the elephant collections manager at the Rosemond Gifford Zoo. Sheppard and her team helped deliver the first ever elephant twin birth in the united states and for almost three weeks they worked around the clock caring for them.
“Myself and my team have worked very hard to make sure that these calves are getting everything that they need and that mom and grandma and the rest of the herd are getting everything they need.,” Sheppard said. “So, we’ve been here for a very long time and we’re happy to see these guys thriving right now.”
It’s been a lot of long days and nights here at the zoo over the past few weeks caring for the twins, but Sheppard says that support from the community does not go unnoticed.
“This community has been incredibly supportive and it’s wonderful to see the community to have interest in conservation, even just walking through the doors they’re contributing to conservation,” Sheppard said.
One of those visitors, Catherine Roberts, saw the news about the twins on television, and bought a zoo membership for her great-grandson as a Christmas gift so they could visit the elephants together.
“He’s going to be excited, he’ll want to pet them. He’ll be excited,” Roberts said.
Taking care of two new baby elephants on top of the six already at the zoo is a challenge, but one that’s eased by the joy the twins give the visitors every day.
“To come here and see these babies on a cold day today the windows are full. When the weather is not nice, it’s still very busy here, busier than it normally is and it’s really wonderful to see people want to step up and support these guys and make sure that they are successful,” Sheppard said about the people she sees at the zoo every day.