Elephant at Japan zoo goes on diet with help of visitors

Visitors to a Japanese zoo are playing their part in helping an overweight female African elephant make progress on a diet-and-exercise regime to prepare it for a groundbreaking attempt at artificial insemination.Mao, 18, gained some 500 kilograms when put on a special feeding program following the death of her mate in November 2018, and zoo officials have been trying to get her to shed weight to increase the chances of success of what will be the nation's first attempt to artificially breed an elephant in captivity.Since June 1, visitors to Morioka Zoo in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Jap…READ FULL ARTICLE