Huski helps the elephants come out and play

A Toyota Huski 5SDK8 skid steer loader has been the engine behind an enrichment program for the Trail of the Elephants exhibit at Melbourne Zoo.

Zoos Victoria recently purchased the 5SDK8 to help move various materials around the endangered Asian elephants’ precinct, which encourages the elephants’ natural behaviours.

Zoos Victoria partnerships manager, Daniella Jong, said the work is part of an enrichment program at Melbourne Zoo, which sees zookeeper Chris Lekos provide environmental changes for the elephants, both inside their night-barn and outside in their paddocks.

“Elephants are such intelligent creatures and Melbourne Zoo’s keepers are regularly making changes to their environment to keep them physically and mentally stimulated,” Jong said.

The Huski skid steer loader allows large volumes of enrichment materials to be moved in and out of the Trail of the Elephants.

For example, the Huski is used to regularly refurbish the elephants' night-den by moving huge amounts of coarse sand into mounds, which the elephants love to play on.

The Melbourne Zoo already had another Huski skid steer loader that was used in the recycling section of the Zoo where it was used to move food waste and other material for recycling as part of its net-zero carbon footprint program.

However, the zoo decided on purchasing a new one exclusively for use in the elephant exhibit so operators don’t need to keep washing the current one down and transport it to the other end of the facility for use every time.

Melbourne Zoo approached Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) Victoria with a fixed budget and a set of requirements, and TMHA Victoria was more than happy to deliver.

“Basically, their budget only stretched to a base model but they needed a lot of extras and that’s where we were able to find a solution to get the best deal possible for them,” said TMHA Victoria sales manager, Thomas Machar.

“We went through all our suppliers and they really supported us. Everyone came together to make it happen, which was a great feeling of accomplishment.”

The Toyota Huski 5SDK8 skid steer loader used at the Melbourne Zoo has an enclosed cabin with air-conditioning, heating and a HEPA filter fitted by Breathe-Safe, because of the dusty environment and OH&S considerations.

It also has a reverse camera fitted for additional safety in tight operating areas. The 4-in-1 bucket is from Norm Engineering and fitted with a straight cutting-edge, and the loader has a spare wheel supplied by Bearcat Wheels and Tyres.

With the new Huski working mainly in the elephant exhibit, it will get used every day or every second day, and also be available to work in other sections of the zoo.

“It is an absolute pleasure to supply a new Toyota Huski to help build new enrichment at the Trail of the Elephants exhibit at Melbourne Zoo,” Machar said.

“Elephants are, obviously, large animals, requiring both big and small enrichment activities and TMHA is proud to be able to be a part of their care within Zoos Victoria, an organisation that does so much to promote conservation efforts around the world.”

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