article_snippet: ’ Pressure plates were  transported to the Adventures with Elephants safari park in South Africa (pictured) to study the foot pressures of elephants kept in semi-wild conditions with natural terrains .
article_snippet: We know that when these large animals walk, a huge amount of pressure is applied to these large animals feet.
article_snippet: ‘Preliminary data has indicated that foot pressure is more evenly distributed across the sole of the foot when the animals walk on natural grounds, but when the animals are walking on surfaces such as concrete the pressure is concentrated around parts of the foot that are more prone to disease, such as the lateral toes.
article_snippet: Working with Zebris Biomechanix in Germany, she has developed pressure platforms to measure the pressure and forces applied to elephants’ feet while forces are walking.
article_snippet: The plates were recently transported to the Adventures with Elephants safari park in South Africa to study the foot pressures of elephants kept in semi-wild conditions with natural terrains,’ she said.
article_snippet: The plates were recently transported to the Adventures with Elephants safari park in South Africa to study the foot pressures of elephants kept in semi-wild conditions with natural terrains,’ she said were trained to walk over the pressure platforms and the individual footsteps were processed using a state-of-the-art neuroimaging technique called statistical parametric mapping, which, in simple words, gives us a high-resolution image of foot pressure changes over the foot.
article_snippet: If a captive elephant walks over a pad and a different digital pressure pattern from normal is seen, this can be investigated further.
highlights_snippet: Researcher from the University of Queensland, Australia, has developed a pressure pad to measure the pressure exerted on elephants' feet .
  