AVONDALE, Ohio (WKRC) — Not many people can say that they’ve worked at the same place for 40 years and loved it, but it’s true for one man who cared for the elephant herd at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Val Nastold retired Friday after four decades as an elephant keeper. Nastold has seen it all — from the early days at the Elephant House, where close contact was common, to the opening of the five-acre Elephant Trek. He says he chose to work with elephants because of a connection and bond you can’t find anywhere else.
“It’s just something about them that they’re intelligent enough that you can call them by name,” Nastold said. “And so you do have that bond, and it’s just interesting that something as large as an elephant is trusting enough to listen to a 180-some-odd-pound member of the herd.”…