At ZooTampa, the finishing touch on a family art project comes from a 13-year-old African elephant named Mpumi — and it arrives in a spray of white stars. The Painting with Elephants experience is back for August and September, pairing a take-home canvas with a close look at the training and daily care behind the zoo’s elephant program.
According to Tampa Bay 28, Mpumi is one of the stars of the experience, which gives guests a rare look behind the scenes while letting the elephant herd participate in the artwork. Visitors create a savannah sunrise or sunset, then allow Mpumi and her elephant companions to add the final details.
What Guests Get For The Ticket
ZooTampa’s official event page says the experience begins at the Center for Wildlife Conservation, where guests learn about efforts to protect wild elephants and start their painting. The group then visits the elephant barn to meet members of the Animal Care Team before watching a training session that supplies the painting’s unusual finale.
The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturdays in August and September and is open to guests ages 5 and up, with zoo admission included. Tickets cost $100 for members and $140 for non-members, while children ages 5 to 17 must attend with a paid, participating adult.
The Paintbrush Is Actually A Training Tool
The elephant artwork is more than a colorful photo opportunity. As Tampa Bay 28 reported, the elephants use a modified medical device with a blowing mechanism that can help monitor their health; during the experience, the device is filled with white paint.
Training the elephants to blow through the device is part of their care routine, and the resulting paint marks appear as star-like bursts across the guests’ work. In other words, the souvenir is also a small demonstration of how keepers turn familiar animal behaviors into enrichment and useful care behaviors.
A More Hands-On Look At ZooTampa’s Care Work
The painting event fits into ZooTampa’s broader lineup of behind-the-scenes programs. The zoo’s African Giants tour also brings visitors near the elephant and giraffe barns to learn how animal-care professionals prepare habitats, conduct training and support the health of large animals.
ZooTampa notes that encounter components can change because of animal, weather or staffing needs, so the elephant artists remain in charge of the schedule. For guests who do get a finished canvas, though, the stars are likely to be the most memorable part of the morning.
