Elephants!
For most of her life, Pupy has lived in the center of a busy city, in what was once known as the Hindu Temple of the Elephants at Ecoparque Buenos Aires, far removed from the vast wild spaces that elephants need to thrive.
On Monday, April 14, Pupy and the transport team began the long-awaited road trip to sanctuary. On April 18, Pupy officially arrived at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil! Here she will have the space, care, and autonomy she needs to enjoy a more natural, dignified way of life.
Join us as Pupy takes her first steps onto sanctuary grounds.
May 5th: Pupy having a blast with dead trees:
About four and a half years ago, a fire swept through the sanctuary property. Those of you who followed us then will remember that no people, elephants, or other sanctuary animals were harmed, but the female African habitat saw heavy damage. We allowed the fire to run through that area because there were no elephants living there at the time, and we wanted to do our best to stop the fire in a safer place. As a result of the fire, there were a number of dead trees in the area, which we left in case the African elephants wanted something fun to destroy–and Pupy has been having a bit of fun with them. She seems to be getting a kick out of pushing the burned trees and knocking them over so easily.
We decided to walk along the fence line to see what the paths she’s making look like and what she’s knocking down. So far, she’s only downed one large tree and she’s definitely making trails, though she doesn’t always stick to them. For those of you who are worried about the number of trees she’s knocking down, she’s definitely going to remodel a bit. Pupy has about 13 acres of land right now and will soon get half of the 80 acre expansion more. With the new welding team, they are making great progress. None of the trees, except for a few large old growth trees (which we are protecting with fencing) in the female African habitat even existed when the sanctuary was opened; it was almost all pasture grass for cattle. When the land is given time to recover, it flourishes, so there’s plenty for Pupy to have fun with now.
We’re also taking note of what Pupy is eating inside the habitat. She will occasionally bring branches up to the barn, so she’s definitely not wasteful. We’ve also discovered that she has a favorite type of tree, and are drying out a sample to have it officially identified. But she’s having a ball stripping the bark off these specific trees to eat and also eating full branches. Aside from knocking around the dead trees, she’s mostly sticking to smaller trees for the time being. She seems to be discovering that all of this greenery is hers for the taking.
The Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation.
Elephants are the best and they are in trouble. It breaks my heart. You can follow their rescues at the web site. It’s a really great organization.