I gaze into the elephant’s eyes, his wisdom obvious. The elephant watches all of us, watching him, and is unable to keep the apparent grin off his face. He looks so happy, and he wasn’t even playing with the other elephant in the enclosure. He reaches with his trunk for the many abandoned orange peels laying around the edge of his fence, the only thing separating us. Sujatha looks at us and I can imagine his delight of being able to show off for us and get a treat out of it.

Meanwhile, the only other elephant in the spacious enclosure, Little Mac, stands obviously waiting for Sujatha to stop performing, and for food. He munches on his leaves and watches his zookeepers, knowing that they are up to something. Soon after, he hears the familiar crank of his rubber ball being dragged lower for him to play with.

However, Little Mac goes near it and grazes it, his ear brushing the surface. Quickly, Sujatha comes close and it seems that the two elephants have intertwines their trunks and have lost complete interest in their toys, only wanting the companionship and safety of one another.

And it seems, at the Santa Barbara Zoo, these two elephants are in their own world, separate from all the coos from the sign of affection and pictures being taken.