Shouting, hitting, and prodding should be avoided. All personnel should stand quietly behind the crate, with the exception of one person who may tease the animals out by waving a cloth approximately 2 m in front of them. If off-loading is conducted at night, soft light should be provided in the passageway. It is advisable to use a sliding door at the start of the off-loading ramp to ensure that only one animal enters the passageway at a time. This will prevent the elephants from fighting and turning in the passageway.
Elephants occasionally reverse out of a mass crate.
If they cannot turn in the passageway, or are reluctant to walk backwards down the passageway, they should be encouraged to re-enter the crate to turn around. Do not Never mix differently sized elephants in mass crates. Larger elephants will bully and injure smaller calves. Never use brute force to load elephants - adequate crate training will allow the animals to be loaded with minimal persuasion. Do not mix tranquillized and non-tranquillized elephants in a mass crate.