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Anchorage zookeepers are installing a 16,000-pound (7.3-tonne) treadmill to keep an isolated elephant from getting fat during the long, cold Alaskan winters.
The 20-foot(6-meter)-long treadmill was designed specifically for Maggie, a 23-year-old female African elephant that has become the subject of a national debate over the proper care for captive pachyderms.
"It looks just like a big people treadmill," said Patrick Lampi, assistant director of the Alaska Zoo.
Because this is the first treadmill ever built for an elephant, zoo officials and an Idaho company studied mining equipment and treadmills used for race horses and racing camels, Lampi said.
http://sify.com/news/offbeat/fullstory.php?id=13942420
The 20-foot(6-meter)-long treadmill was designed specifically for Maggie, a 23-year-old female African elephant that has become the subject of a national debate over the proper care for captive pachyderms.
"It looks just like a big people treadmill," said Patrick Lampi, assistant director of the Alaska Zoo.
Because this is the first treadmill ever built for an elephant, zoo officials and an Idaho company studied mining equipment and treadmills used for race horses and racing camels, Lampi said.
http://sify.com/news/offbeat/fullstory.php?id=13942420
