Bev Evans

When I first visited Longleat it was home to five magnificent elephants called Marge, Limbo, N’dala, M’bili and M’kali. They lived up in a far corner of the park under the care of keeper Andy Hayton, and Ryan Hockley worked in the elephant house with Bev Evans and Kevin Knibbs. They all loved those elephants, but they were particularly special to Andy. The elephants were like his children. He fed them, washed them and took them out for walks in the woods. When I think of Andy, I still see him spraying them down with his powerhose and then scrubbing them with a brush. One of the greatest privileges I ever had at Longleat was helping him give them their early-morning shower and taking them for a walk. The five elephants would walk in single file, holding each other’s tails with their trunks. It was like a real life Disney film.

The Accidental Naturalist, by Ben Fogle