Yumeka, the painting elephant

Yumeka is originally from Ichihara Elephant Kingdom in Chiba prefecture, Japan. About 20 years ago, the owner of the Elephant Kingdom watched a TV show about a painting elephant. Then he (the owner) knew that training elephants from early age makes drawing skill much better so he decided to teach baby elephant how to draw when he will have one. Then Yumeka was born.

The daughter of the kingdom’s owner told me that each elephant has different skills but Yumeka has been trained by same trainer from Thailand since she was 2 so they have a strong bond. And also Yumeka always looks happy when she was praised after drawing. These made her skills better and better.

The zoo sells her paintings, goods and also LINE stamps (Please download the pictures from the above link). And Yumeka will use the money to have her baby. So we could say she earns part of her birth fee by herself!

Yumeka is planning to go back to Chiba in this Summer hopefully after she gets pregnant.