SHIZUOKA, Japan (WIAT) — Visitors to a Japanese safari park are being treated to a more interactive safari experience.
The zoo in Shizuoka, at the foot of Mount Fuji, has built a swimming pool for its resident elephants.
The pool is 213 feet long, the approximate width of a river the elephants may need to cross if they were living in the wild, and has glass paneling to allow spectators to see for themselves how elephants paddle their legs underwater.
Staff at the zoo said the elephants now eat much more after swimming three or four laps a day.
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