Elephants lose over 11,000 pounds

A group of seven elephants at the San Diego zoo have been put on a diet. The elephants which were overweight compared to elephants in the wild gave up their snacks and treats to be more fit.

To get the elephants back in shape, zookeepers introduced a diet high in hay and stopped feeding them treats such as bread, corn and jelly beans.

Instead of three big meals per day, they get several small meals. Zookeepers also scatter the food around the yard so the elephants have to work to find it.

At the San Diego Zoo, keepers also trained the elephants to walk laps around their enclosure. Elephants at the Wild Animal Park are also encouraged to walk across their 3-acre enclosure. Workers rake the packed soil to simulate jogging on soft sand.

So basically the elephants did what our Dr's all tell us to do. Ate lower calorie diets and exercised more. No lap band surgery needed.