The sand is used to keep the elephants’ feet in good condition, the zoo says. It keeps their nails nicely filed, I imagine.

Supplied with bucket, pallet forks and digging arm attachments, the Avant completes the elephant house task in less than three hours and is small enough to get into all the corners. It was chosen after Twycross looked around other zoos in Europe to see what kit they used.

The 635 model from Avant’s line-up of machines is powered by a Kubota diesel engine and has hydrostatic all-wheel drive, an articulated chassis for tight turns and a lift capacity of 1000kg. It comes with an offset, telescopic self-levelling boom that gives the operator a clear view of the attachment in use.