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Pupy’s Treats Make Her Thirsty

June 2, 2025

African elephant Pupy wraps her trunk around a flake of hayThe longer that Pupy is at sanctuary, the more we are learning about her preferences and her little quirks. For instance, we know what tree she seems to enjoy eating the most and we’ve seen that she has a funny way of bringing sticks from the habitat closer to the barn to snack on if that’s where she wants to be. We’ve also found that she has a charming method of eating her snacks that we’ve not seen an elephant here do regularly.

When you are training or doing treatments with Pupy, she takes her reward treats and then goes over to the water trough to get a drink. Then she comes back and does the next necessary behavior, and after a few more rounds of behavior requests and rewards, she’ll go and get another drink. She doesn’t walk away and stay away, she just goes for a quick drink and returns to join you again. She will also sometimes dunk her hay in water as if she is dipping a cookie in tea. These are things she did at the ecoparque and she’s maintained the trait at sanctuary.  Pupy has a sweetly charismatic personality and we can’t wait to see what else she has to show us. 

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Comments(10)

  1. REPLY
    Terry says
    June 2, 2025 at 2:21 pm

    Pupy we are all watching girl! Dipping your hay in water…adorable!

    Thank you Sara and Elephant Sanctuary Brazil for giving us a glimpse into sanctuary life every day, for years now!!

    Hopefully we will hear about our other girls antics soon.

  2. REPLY
    Suzanne Eaton says
    June 2, 2025 at 2:34 pm

    What a charmer!! I love beautiful Pupy and so happy that I can support her. ❤️🐘

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      June 2, 2025 at 2:35 pm

      We’re so glad, too! Thank you ❤️

  3. REPLY
    Barbara L Smith says
    June 2, 2025 at 3:03 pm

    Pupy is adorable. I am sending her a 😘

  4. REPLY
    katherine says
    June 2, 2025 at 3:49 pm

    a real sense of discovery for Pupy and us!

  5. REPLY
    Zoi Flores says
    June 2, 2025 at 5:38 pm

    🤣🤣🤣 awww sweetheart… I immediately imagined her drinking tea in a fine porcelain cup and soaking a biscuit. You are so unique my dear Pupy. 💚🐘

  6. REPLY
    Doe Fowler says
    June 2, 2025 at 5:40 pm

    Love the ‘quirks’ of our little Miss! Dipping a tea in cookie analogy made me laugh. Thanks for caring and sharing! 💕 from ☔️ South Florida. 🌈

  7. REPLY
    Kenneth B. Newman says
    June 3, 2025 at 12:15 am

    Frankly, I can’t wait to see if Pupy and Kenya will get along…….and are there any MORE African Elephants in Circuses, Zoos, etc.. on the South American Continent? And can GSE rescue them?

    • REPLY
      Sara says
      June 3, 2025 at 12:26 pm

      We’re always having conversations with organizations, zoos, and other individuals about bringing other elephants to sanctuary. We can’t discuss specifics, but we are always working behind the scenes.

  8. REPLY
    Julie says
    June 3, 2025 at 5:21 pm

    I’m so happy for you all at ESB to have the opportunity to get to know and connect with a new elephant, not to mention to give her such an improved environment!

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