Elephant Ear Exhibit   This exhibit demonstrates how an elephant stays cool by flapping his ears. The concept is simple. The exhibit is not.

An elephant's earflaps contain miles of blood vessels that lie close to the skin's surface. They work like a radiator, allowing the huge animals to live in hot climates without collapsing due to their own body heat.   Here, water is circulated through a closed loop of tubing and kept warm by an electric heater. It passes through a large copper radiator, shaped like an elephant's earflap, at the top of the structure.   Two thermometers display the temperature of the water going into and coming out of the ear-shaped radiator. When the visitor turns a crank, fans blow air over the radiator and the reading of the second thermometer rapidly drops.