Baby was the star attraction — and knew it

DUBLIN Zoo’s Kaziranga Rainforest Trail, the new home for Asian elephants, was opened last week by the Taoiseach.

The elephants are among Bertie’s constituents and, as everybody knows, they never forget anything. It’s the wise politician who keeps them on board. Bertie, I am told, takes a keen interest in developments at the zoo. When he opened the Waldrapp Ibis Cliff there, a few years ago, I interviewed him for the Mooney Show. He seemed well informed about the birds.

The new elephant enclosure is an exhibit in itself. It’s approached through an imaginatively landscaped path which winds past a swiftly flowing stream and waterfall to a viewing stand, behind which a little playground has been created for toddlers, an inspired piece of planning. The elephants have two deep-water pools in which to bathe. Following the opening ceremony, the four-year-old female, an elephant teenager, gave a bravura swimming performance for the enthralled crowd, totally disappearing under water from time to time.