Sabai has definitely grown in size over the past four years and is developing his tusks which are now visible.

At Taronga Western Plains Zoo the elephants are rotated throughout the week into different paddocks and social groups, this allows keepers to enhance their health and well-being through socialisation. Some days Sabai will be with older bulls like his older brother, Luk Chai and other times he will be with his natal group including his mum, aunty and step-sister, Kanlaya.

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"Being able to rotate the elephants through different social groupings allows Sabai to interact with elephants of various ages and develop his own social skills, this is an important part of becoming a well socialised bull," elephant Supervisor, Glenn Sullivan said.

Keepers have also been working closely with Sabai on a regular basis to develop his training. This is an important part in ensuring the overall health of an elephant.

Sabai is now following the direction of his keepers and has blood drawn on a fortnightly basis.

"This is a big milestone for the team as we have been able to achieve big goals in terms of being able to look after his health. Taking blood from him regularly is a big step forward in our ability to be able to monitor his health more closely," Glenn said.

"We look forward to watching Sabai growing and developing into a mature bull over the coming years that will hopefully one day see him become part of the breeding program in the future," Glenn said.

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