Grand Trunk Car Wash: Elephants enlisted to wash cars
If you’ve seen one car wash, you’ve seen ’em all, right? Well, not quite.
Consider the dynamic duo of Tiki and Alice, a pair of African elephants at the Wildlife Animal Park in southern Oregon. This pair of pachyderms is currently doing double-duty as car wash attendants. Actually, Tiki and Alice are the car wash. Simply roll up your vehicle and these elephantine employees will blast away the grit and grime via high pressure water emanating from their trunks. Then the 39-year-old elephants adroitly finish the job with sponges. (Turtle Wax, alas, is not available.)
For motorists, the elephant car wash is a sure-fire way to get up close and personal with animals that actually dwarf a Chevy Suburban. Meanwhile, Wildlife Animal Park is using this new revenue stream to weather the tough economy: an elephant-rendered car wash will set you back US$20.
Park organizers say another motive behind the scheme is to promote conservation through education. As well, the elephants’ handlers claim Tiki and Alice are actually having fun washing cars. (Did we mention they’re charging 20 bucks per vehicle?)
Still, hats off to Wildlife Animal Park for coming up with such a novel way to bolster the bottom line – especially considering Tiki and Alice work for peanuts.
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Posted by: Aimee Middleton | 2009-09-24 12:55:58 AM
Isn't that animal cruelty? I thought circuses were bad, car washes? Yeah, they're really having fun!!!!
Posted by: Mary Anne Britnell | 2009-09-24 2:19:00 AM
I think this is great. It gives the elephants something enjoyable to do and exercise while earning their peanuts. It also gives the public the opportunity to enjoy a pleasant time interacting with them instead of just looking through bars at them. I'm all for it.
Posted by: Roshanali Lakhani | 2009-09-24 9:02:09 AM
Elephants in the job market?! More unemployed human resource!!
Posted by: ckim | 2009-09-24 9:18:06 AM
Great, another way to exploit animals.
Posted by: Maria | 2009-09-24 10:52:13 AM
I don't know how many cars they wash a day and whether they are using soap or not but my first instinct is that if they're having fun with water great.
I'd like to see them only do the rinse cycle and not get so popular that they don't have time to be elephants. Is anyone monitoring this?
Posted by: sla | 2009-09-24 11:19:34 AM
this is a definate sign of animal cruelty just so the zoo can earn some extra cash. I'm pretty sure the elephants don't enjoy this, or this wouldn't be some new attraction. And for the actual zoo keepers to come up with this is a sign of disgrace, aren't they suppose to promote conservation? This seems more like a touristic trap than promoting conservation. Your not really learning anything just that elephants can spray high pressure out of their trunks and (as if we didn't know this already) that they are taller than your average vehicle. This is the most ridiculous excuse to promote conservation i've ever heard of. Peta will be all over this.
Posted by: mike | 2009-09-24 11:52:02 AM
Get over the animal exploitation stuff.... there's still kids sewing sneakers why don't you do something about that first?
Posted by: Carli Harman | 2009-09-24 11:55:20 AM
What kind of soap are they using? Wouldn't that make them sick? I think it is great that people can see the elephants up close, but, as long as the soap wont make them sick, or eventually ruin their trunks??
Posted by: Shirley Cooper | 2009-09-24 11:55:55 AM
What a wonderful idea. Elephants love water and this is certainly a way to keep them entertained - not to mention the employees and people getting their car washed. Congratulations on coming up with such a unique idea!!! Works good all the way around (unless the elephants are getting soap up their trunks).
Posted by: Bruce | 2009-09-25 11:17:34 AM
How long till Syd Ryan gets ahold of these elephants?
Posted by: Jo | 2009-10-05 1:26:03 PM
Well that is something. Just not too long ago, Mr. Bob Barker was up in good old Edmonton, Alberta to preach about Lucy the Elephant that we have at our zoo for many years and how Lucy should go to a sanctuary. Obviously Bob lost, but at least he could keep busy and preach the car wash place about the cruelty of the elephants