Emily the elephant can keep a beat. Here's how other animals at the zoo like to have fun.

NEW BEDFORD — Buttonwood Park Zoo's Emily the Elephant may be 58 years old, but she still has impeccable drumming skills.

Emily's drumming time, sometimes with her trunk wrapped around a drumstick, is part of several enrichment programs offered to the animals at the zoo on a daily basis.

"Enrichment is like my passion, it is one of the things that I really enjoy doing. It's one of the best things that we can do for our animals," added Stephanie Durette-Medeiros, a zookeeper who oversees several programs with the animals.

The activities offered are not for visitors to appreciate or for the keepers to be entertained — it's all for the animals.

"They would be doing it regardless if we were a wildlife sanctuary and we were not even open to the public," said Sarah Henry, executive director of the Buttonwood Park Zoological Society. 

"They would still be training them because things like this helps us care for the animals."

Some of the recreational activities

The five categories of enrichment, generally, are physical, sensory, nutritional, cognitive and social. Located inside the zoo area number of items such as balls, toys, a tambourine and other recreational props.

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“Enrichment programs are important for maintaining healthy minds within our animal populations," said Gary Lunsford, BPZOO director. "They provide our animals with opportunities to express natural behaviors and encourage them to explore and interact with their surroundings.”

There is also a refrigerator with sensory smells, to help introduce a new species into an area, such as raccoon urine. "They absolutely love it — the stinkier it is, the better it is," Durette-Medeiros said.

"A lot of what we have to work with is an enclosure that's X space by X space. So we come up with lots of things that fit perfectly in that space."

At the elephant enclosure, Kay Santos has been working with Ruth and Emily for over 22 years. When Santos takes out the bass drum, the enormous duo come running with excitement.

"Her tail is straight up, her ears are flapping, it means she loves this," Santos said of Emily's reaction.

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"She stopped what she was eating to come over and do this," Durette-Medeiros added. "Elephants have a wide range of hearing abilities, and lower frequency is something that they really enjoy."

How other animals like to have fun

Ruth, who has been at Buttonwood since 1986, and Emily, who came to the zoo in 1968, have been staples at the zoo. Well out-living the average life cycle of an elephant in the wild, Ruth recently turned 63.

"It's really fun to watch their relationship with Kay," Henry said. "She has a wonderful bond with them, and a lot of the stuff that elephants like to do is to interact with their keepers."

The same goes for Katie Harding, another zookeeper who works closely with the cougars. As she holds a stick with a blue ball on the end — called a target pole — the cougars will hit their nose with it before receiving a meat treat.

"You can train an animal to touch it with another body part, but typically it's their nose," Harding said. "Once they really understand that's the behavior you're looking for, you can use the target pole to teach them other things, for example, jumping up on things."

Harding will also use the recreational time to have them lift their paws or open their mouths to check to see if they have any injuries.

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"A lot of animals will open their mouths when they're smelling something, and they'll make some funny faces. That's called a Fleming reaction," Durette-Medeiros said.

The otters also participate in an enrichment activity in which they are given a bowl-shaped piece of ice with the job of freeing a herring frozen inside. Having three otters in their habitat also fulfills a social component, which is the zoo's most important recreational plan.

"This has made a lot of interesting changes in my personal life with my care, my animals at home even," said Durette-Medeiros, who has been at the zoo for over 11 years.

"Buttonwood Park Zoo is a good zoo. There's a lot of passion here, there's a lot of care, and everybody does really love their animals to the utmost. The animals come first."

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.