While recent downpour in San Diego caused some unfortunate, unexpected flooding around the county, it gave these happy baby elephants at the San Diego Zoo the perfect opportunity to play in some mud!
Shared on the @sandiegozoo TikTok, these adorable baby elephants embraced the heavy rainfall and had themselves a classic mud party, and I personally can’t help but want to jump in there and join them.
@sandiegozooIn honor of the downpoor in San Diego, enjoy baby elephants playing in the mud. #sdzsafaripark #elephants #babyanimals #rain
Being born and raised in San Diego, I know first hand that visiting the zoo when it’s raining can be pretty hit or miss. We just don’t get much rain here, so most of the time, none of us know what to do (and I mean that just in general). What do I wear? Why did everyone forget how to drive? Are places still open?
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But I’ll tell you what…if I knew something like this was going on, I’d be there in a heartbeat. While most animals hide away in their shelters, the sight of these gentle, playful giants splashing around in some fresh mud is a sight to see. I can literally feel their energy through my glowing screen, and I absolutely love it.
What do zoo animals do when it rains?
While it’s easy to assume that all animals would simply seek shelter in bad weather like humans, it’s not always true.
In fact, some animals are more active when the weather is cold and stormy. How many times have you been to the zoo and felt disappointed that the animals weren’t doing anything? Well, you have to remember, they’re animals—they typically don’t like to do more than they need to when it’s hot out.
So when the temperature drops, and even if rain is on the forecast, you’ll see certain animals behaving much more actively than you would on those warmer days. Obviously, elephants love the rain, but animals like tigers, leopards and even rhinos are known to embrace the coldness as well.
As far as your overall zoo experience is concerned, rainy (or colder) days usually mean lighter crowds as well, which can obviously be pretty awesome. There’s nothing like feeling you have the entire park to yourself. It’s a sense of freedom you would rarely experience otherwise and the zoo staff is often a little more personal as well.
Plus, many zoos have great indoor exhibits either way. A ton of your favorite animals spend most of their time indoors—regardless of the weather—so the rainfall hardly concerns them.
At the end of the day, as mentioned, some animals will scurry away and avoid the wetness. But at the same time, many of the animals prefer it.
I’ll happily admit that watching these baby elephants playing around on any given day would be a treat—rain or shine. That said, watching them having the time of their lives in a fresh puddle of mud is a total breath of fresh air, if you ask me.
And this adorable clip wouldn’t have been the same otherwise.
