A jumbo-sized GoPro headpiece is giving keepers at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia an elephant‘s-eye view of the world on World Elephant Day. 
What do elephants think of World Elephant Day? While we can’t know their thoughts on this and other matters, a custom-fitted GoPro camera is allowing one representative pachyderm – “Gung”, from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo – a chance to show humans how he views his world and those who interact with him on a daily basis.
Gung is one of eleven elephants (10 Asian Elephants and one African Elephant) residing at Taronga’s Sydney and Dubbo locations. As a rambunctious adolescent, however, Gung requires an enclosure separate from the eight female elephants though friendly visits are conducted frequently. As such, Gung’s lifestyle necessitates close and trusting relationships with his human keepers – this mutual trust has been vital in Gung’s accepting the custom-fitted camera mount that holds a GoPro camera.
“It’s been fascinating for us to watch the footage and observe Gung’s thought processes,” states keeper Steve Westnedge. “We’re always watching our elephants to see how they move and interact with one another, but for the first time we’ve been able to see how Gung is viewing us and interpreting the way we move and interact with him.”
